As a small business owner, you know how important it is to build your brand and get noticed by the market. That’s where public relations come in, but how does a small business afford to do any PR? Traditionally it has been the domain of the big guys with deep pockets. When PR is done right, it can mean a huge increase in sales for a company, but unless you are lucky enough to get on Oprah, for most smaller businesses the cost of a truly effective PR campaign has been out of reach. Until now.

With the internet and the launch of Web 2.0, a whole new box of PR toys is available to those business owners creative enough to use them. And the best part? The cost is low while the reach is high. 

I have been watching the phenomena of social media for the past few months now; I have a blog and I dabbled a little with LinkedIn and Facebook but I knew I wasn’t using these tools to their full maximum. One of my quarterly goals was to increase the presence of my company on the web, which meant I had to learn how to use social media to build my business.

So I sat down over coffee with Deborah Collins and Jacqueline Voci, owners of Soya Marketing (www.soyamarketing.com), Canada’s first Web PR agency and asked them some questions.

What does Soya Marketing do?

“We help companies establish a presence on Google, YouTube, Facebook – and all across the Web. We consider this the new branding. People are using the Web as their go-to source for news and information so it’s the place you need to be if you want buzz.”

Why would I, as a small business owner, want to bother with Web PR? 

“You can catch the attention of your target markets very quickly. The big benefit of Web PR is brand-building. If you want people to know who you are, if you want them to choose you instead of a competitor – then you need to do web PR. As a small business, it’s critical.

“Small businesses don’t have the budget for ‘old-style’ branding which includes pricey print ads, TV commercials, direct mail campaigns and telemarketing. The good news is, those ‘old-style’ techniques have diminished in impact since people don’t use traditional media in the same ways they used to.

“This gives small businesses the chance to get ahead of larger competitors by jumping into new, online branding tactics. You can have a big presence for a fraction of the cost of traditional brand-building.  It’s a great way to find customers and build loyalty with them.

“And it’s not just limited to the younger market. The fastest growing segment of Facebook users are adults over 40.”

What kind of success have your clients experienced with Web PR?

“We managed Canada’s first-ever social media back-to-school campaign for Park Royal shopping centre. We also managed Canada’s first-ever social media restaurant launch for Opus Hotels’ Koko Restaurant & Bar. Both of these campaigns garnered big attention online that led to big results. Koko is now one of Montreal’s hottest nightspots and Park Royal has tapped into the Gen Y market in an entirely new way.”

I walked away from this interview very excited – Web PR is my business dream come true. A way to build my brand, attract more customers, interact with prospects and clients, and build networking opportunities – for a reasonable cost. And it works fast.

Just using LinkedIn more effectively has already brought me several new business opportunities. I did this by first updating my profile to make it more complete.  Then I went through my contacts list and invited people to connect with me on LinkedIn.

My next step was to review the contacts of all the people in my LinkedIn network and to ask for introductions to companies I wanted to do business with.  I think LinkedIn is the best prospecting tool out there for service-based businesses!

In these uncertain economic times, it is even more important for small businesses to market themselves as effectively as possible. My challenge to you this month is to pick one Web PR tool and put it to work for you. I bet you’ll be pleasantly surprised at the results.

Fiona Walsh is one of only three business coaches in North America approved to provide the highly successful and popular Ghost CEO coaching program. An expert in sales and business development, she offers tips for growing your business at www.fmwalsh.com.