What is Public Relations?

Most people make little distinction between the terms public relations, publicity, marketing and advertising. 

While each of these elements contribute to a person or a company's image or "brand," there truly are differences between them.

This website focuses only on the field of public relations. 

Public relations, which is also commonly called by its initials, PR, is an ongoing, day-to-day function that's an important part of all businesses large and small, regardless of whether the business maintains a separate PR department.  

Public relations includes, but is not limited to, brand awareness and name recognition, product launches, maintaining a positive public image, providing important news about the company, community involvement, dealing with negative publicity crises and much more.

Effective public relations can result from simple one-on-one customer service at the retail level, to multi-million dollar campaigns aimed at generating dozens or even hundreds of mentions in the traditional media (radio, TV and print) or "new" media (the Internet and "social" media).

Any business can benefit from good public relations, and this website is dedicated to helping all businesses. regardless of their size and scope, gain an understanding of public relations principles, strategies and tactics.