In support of our local rural Community Enterprise we are in the process of developing a PR strategy.  Following discussions with PR friends so far, my experiences and messages picked up from twitter friends I arrived at the following ‘checklist’ as a starter.

Posting here as it may help others but also to seek more help in developing this strategy. We will be meeting as a publicity sub-group early next week with potential professional help so any comments, amendments or additions to the following more would extremely welcome.

• Think vision not project – Keep pushing the vision and objectives – why are we doing this
• Make the message come from the community, from the children NOT the committee
• Be clear on the strong good news messages we can talk about
• Keep message consistent
• Politics of the moment is on our side use it – local, local local / sustainable rural communities /green / sports, health etc / better travel etc
• Use first person talk not corporate talk – we want to start a ‘conversation’ and be more engaging
• Use stories – or tell a story in the message – make it real
• Include quotes, references, endorsements and testimonials from respected people (in the community, of standing, nationally known)
• Be visible –
  • Use new viral web sources that can be picked up bt many sources – eg Facebook groups, on a blog, and promote via twitter
  • Target those who will spread our message (‘mavens’ and ‘connectors’ )
  • Use all traditional forms – noticeboards, newsletters, local press, free press, advertorials, national etc
• Identify our audiences – what do they read, listen to, will be different for different groups
• Be different – we need to get people to read past first sentence
• Be professional but personal – we are asking for big money
• Be consistent

Thanks