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Why should a business person be interested in studying or using public relations? It can be a way of getting highly effective advertising or promotion for your business, your association or yourself for a minimal cost. P.T. Barnum once said, "Without publicity a terrible thing happens:  Nothing!"

Public relations expert Raleigh Pinskey shares the key concepts of public relations in her wonderful little book, You Can HYPE Anything!

Here's how Raleigh illustrates the different forms of promotion:

"When your circus comes to town and you put up a sign, that's advertising."

"If you put the sign on the back of an elephant and you march the elephant through town, that's sales promotion."

"If the elephant, with the sign still on his back, tramples through the mayor's flower garden and the paper reports it, that's publicity."

"If you can get the mayor to laugh about it and forgive the elephant and ride in the circus with no hard feelings, then you've mastered the art of public relations."

The main tool for public relations is the media release. According to Raleigh, there are five different types of releases with different purposes:

• "A Media Release conveys to the media basic information that they can release to the public or the trade."
• "A Calendar Release uses the media to tell the public to mark a date on their calendars."
• "A Camera Opportunity tells the media to bring their cameras because you have a picture for them to take."
• "A Media Alert tells the media that something is happening and that they should attend."
• "A Pitch Letter provokes the media to interview a subject."

If you are serious about promoting your business, your association or yourself, you'll agree that public relations is a valuable tool to add to your arsenal of skills and techniques. You Can HYPE Anything is a great place to start in learning and applying the powerful concepts of public relations.

You can visit Raleigh Pinsky's website at www.promoteyourself.com.

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