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With marketing, you pay.  With pr you pray.  Nothing builds or breaks a brand like personal recommendations.  Word might have traveled fast with the power of the media but with social media it’s immediate and in real time.

There are new currencies on the table beside money that you can invest in to grow your visibility. Goodwill, a great work ethic, and the value of really adding value will take you farther than any snappy ad you can conceive.

This is great news. It’s a seismic shift. The customer has finally become right again. We’ve returned to the mantra that lost it’s luster for a while – but some founders of great American corporations knew what it meant.

Take Thomas John Watson of IBM, or Morgan Stanley of Morgan Stanley. And while we’re at it, let’s look at Zappos - Nick Swinmurn’s idea of selling shoes online was revolutionary.  Of course, search engine marketing was key in driving Zappo’s revenues from $1.6 million to $370 million in a matter of five years.  While marketing played a role in the rapid growth of the company, Swinmurn attributes much of the long term success to customer service.  Any and every business should follow this model – the customer’s satisfaction is key to return business and word of mouth, pr that you can’t buy, beg, borrow, or steal.

Yes it’s easier to buy an ad campaign than to build a reputation.  But, believe me, your reputation means a hell of a lot more than your tag-line.  Your public relations are built on your character.  I won’t recommend a company I can’t trust.  A bad recommendation can sour my relationships with my own colleagues and really what we’re looking for in these type of exchanges is a way to not only help the company out, but to take a little credit for the awesome find.  If I go around touting people that don’t follow through, are difficult to work with, or otherwise hinder business progress for their clients, what does that say about my judgment?

Yes, your work and/or product have to be stellar.  That’s part of the word of mouth, too.  It’s so fantastic that people can’t help but want it.  But in striving for an excellent product, I think a lot of people forget the basics.  Good etiquette, good manners, and good graces.  Most of us don’t have time to put up with a lack of these, even for the most amazing product.  We’d rather have a pleasant experience with a good provider than a lousy experience with a great one.

How are you paying for your pr?