The first sign of a pump and dump artist is their forceful sales approach. They will act like your best friend offering all kinds of advice. You’ll start to feel that this rapport is genuine and you’ll ask them for their opinion on a competing IR firm. They’ll act like their doing you a favor when they take out their phone and make a call to their contacts guy to do some quick research to help you out. Whether they got through to they’re guy or not they’ll come back with an answer like, “he just said to be careful with that one”. You’re relieved because your new buddy just kept you from making a big mistake but he sees it as assuming the sale.

Pump and dump vampires will expect to be placed on the S1 with their free trading shares in tact even before you’ve closed the deal with a contract and in most cases they’ve never actually revealed their IR strategy that is supposed to create the market for your new public company or turnaround the public perception of your struggling public entity. You’ll ask them for specifics and they’ll beat around the bush, never giving a straight answer. The contract will be a boilerplate template that does nothing but secure their shares in your company.

Keep in mind, the P & D Vampire will be personable. They will be that breath of fresh air that seems to bring order to the otherwise chaotic process of the public process. You’ll be soothed to sleep at night as you recollect the days conversation with your new buddy and how his process is going to miraculously take your.05 cent share price to $1.85 in 30 days.

But after the contracts are signed, the equity is legally distributed and the process is supposed to begin, your new friend will be hard to reach on the phone and when you get them on the phone they’ll say things like, “I never agreed to this…” or “it’s going to take time” or “just be patient” and then when they are just about to lower the hammer they’ll begin to put the failure of the campaign on you by saying things like, “your company needs to announce an acquisition” (even though your company is only 30 days into its public existence) or “you need to restructure your management and we’ll put out press releases about it” on and on.

Be careful out there. Your best bet for real and absolute Investor Relations strategies is to go back to the consultant that helped you facilitate the structuring and going public process. If you didn’t have a consultant take you through the process, most likely, that is your problem right there. You can’t possibly navigate your way through this turbulent industry of con artists and legal red tape on your own. Find a professional that can bring in his contact base and strategic relationships so that you don’t lose time, money and eventually your company.

Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=James_B_Scott

I spent hours talking to this guy. He sounded so convincing, sure he’d dodge the questions about process and ‘how to’ but I figured we’d eventually get to that. We eventually met in New York, at our first meeting he picked the restaurant, he ordered lunch, I bought. He was so smooth with his tactics and his con was so polished. He was an older gentleman with a very specific and well manicured professional pedigree, pure fiction of course but I found myself wanting to believe that this guy was telling the truth. He told me how much he loved the company I was taking public and how he believed in what we were doing and how the company’s expansion was going to make such a great story post public to attract investors and create the market on and on.

This banter went on for about two months and then as we were getting closer to our opening dated I started to press him for a process to bring together everything that he had been telling me. I wanted him to show me a track record with trading symbols, only the ones that he mentioned to me that went from .10 cents to $1+ (I should have bailed at that point but I was still curious). I wanted him to break down how he was going to create the market for this company, I just wanted details. A few days had passed and obviously up to that point there had been no exchange of contracts since there was no process to agree to or anything professional from him to solidify the deal only words. Then our S1 went up and he got an Edgar link. He was furious that he wasn’t on that S1. I got an email from his partner who I didn’t even know existed giving me the digital version of a tongue lashing, all caps, exclamation marks, bold print, you get the idea.

This was when I realized that no matter how objective I was and no matter how many angles I looked at this guy and his company and no matter how badly I wanted to believe that this was the one legit guy in a sea of razor blades and shark infestation that we call Investor Relations it was all just smoke and mirrors. He was a con artist, a confidence man.

I am by no means a new comer. I was going to outsource the IR for this particular client so I could focus on other aspects of their company that needed structuring attention. I’ve been submerged in every aspect of this industry for over 12 years and I assist global corporations on the intricacies of going public, staying public and globalizing their strategies but sometimes we believe that we can meet someone that will shatter the prototypical mold of the realities we face every day. Investor relations is the one aspect of the industry that demands you to watch your back.

Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=James_B_Scott

Officers involved with it should be on toes with the current and upcoming issues of various departments in an organization. This sparks the necessity to interact with people from various sections of the organization including financial officers, legal advisor and even the Chairman or President of the company. Moreover, the communication is not a single day’s affair. Constant and timely communication is involved in meeting the demands of investor relations most effectively.

When so many people, that too of such high merit are to be involved in a conversation,  the meetings need to be crisp and clear. Face to face meetings under such circumstances is highly impossible since it will eat up a lot of time and energy of all parties involved. Meetings through audio and video conferencing services work most effectively in a situation like this. With conference call meetings, the time involved in preparation can be avoided and the information can be exchanged at the earliest. Video and audio aids should be able to accomplish the communication required to be made in this case.

These audio and visual aids can also be used effectively for intra organization communication. For example, imminent release of quarterly corporate earnings can be best propagated through audio, video and web conferencing services, in this case web being the best mode.

Investor relations also involve broadcasting of a company’s data to a certain public audience. Of late, businesses around the world vouch for audio and video conferencing services in doing so. Moreover, the calls can be recorded and used whenever necessary. This flexibility makes these services most apt for a situation such as this.

Business houses use conference calls to deal with many business matters including mergers, acquisitions, stock splits or reverse splits, or relevant political or economic developments. The support these services offer in investor relations is indeed remarkable.

Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Vikas_S

Well, they’re wrong. Ask any manufacturer, entertainment executive, restauranteur, innkeeper or book publisher how important product reviews are, and they’ll tell you there is a direct line to purchases.

When you read a review for a new restaurant, or note a nice pair of unusual earrings in a holiday gift guide, or observe Kate Winslet wearing the latest fashion designs, you’re seeing the direct results of public relations. Sales skyrocket.

For service industries, however, that “line” to sales is indeed murkier. The power of public relations is built in a layering effect, in which each mention in the press heightens your visibility, adding another layer of credibility to your company. This credibility in turn creates a desire among viewers and listeners to pay attention to you. In effect, you’ve been sanctioned by a trustworthy, objective third party.

If the New York Times calls on someone for an opinion, he must be good. Hey, the Wall Street Journal is quoting this guy too. And now he’s on CNN. He must be very good. He must be important, a leader in the industry.

Chances are good, you’re already an expert in your industry. You just haven’t been positioned as such to the writers, editors and producers who need experts to comment on issues and stories of the day.

No matter what your business, you’re selling an image of yourself, your products and your services. Public relations manages that image. Whether you represent a Fortune 500 corporation or a private company, media placements–interviews on radio and TV and in print–increase your perceived worth, and the worth of your company, in the eyes of your customers, clients and your industry. All because of media exposure.

Even on the golf course, people will comment that they saw you quoted in Forbes or Investors Business Daily. Don’t underestimate the power of radio, either. Commuters and salespeople listen in their cars, but many office workers and entrepreneurs keep their radios on all day every day.

It is the function of public relations to consistently get your message out to the media. Here’s how it works: PR people read and watch and listen to the news, always on the lookout for stories that may dovetail with your message. Then they call the writers, editors or producers responsible for that news with a story angle, suggesting you, your product or your service as a focus point. They answer the question the media always wants answered: “Why you? Why now?”

PR specialists also push “perennial” or “timeless” stories, those not dependent on an event or particular news story. These feature stories can be invaluable when added to your corporate marketing materials and sent to clients and prospects.

Another way PR firms make sure you’re quoted in stories is to focus on issues of the day. Politicians aren’t the only ones who have opinions on issues. In every industry, including politics, there are issues that need to be aired. If your competitor tells one side of the story, public relations makes sure you voice your opinion. Having an opinion is especially effective in industry trade media, where you’ll reach your niche audience.

For those in highly competitive industries, PR can be an effective means to outwit your competition. How often have you seen a guest being interviewed over and over again, even though you know their products or services aren’t necessarily the best in the business? That’s effective public relations. Shouldn’t you be quoted in articles and interviewed on TV and radio so you have a leg up on your competition?

Although PR professionals have often been called “spin doctors,” sometimes spin is exactly what you need. There are times when bad things happen to good people. How do you manage a crisis? With persistent, consistent public relations. “Tell the truth, tell it all, tell it fast” is the most effective recipe for crisis management.

Creative positioning can take your company, no matter what level you’re at, up a notch within your industry. You may feel your services are geared only to your city or region. National and international media placements, however, can put you head and shoulders above your local competition, because clients and prospects will perceive you to be “better” than just the local Jane or Joe. Clients like to be associated with winners; appearing in the national or international press makes you a winner.

Public relations creates marketplace demand for your products and services, which will increase your sales. It may not happen overnight, but like the best word-of-mouth campaigns, the media’s nod of approval can be one of the most powerful sales tools in your arsenal.

Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Gaye_Carleton

The same goes for consumers, who under anonymity feel more comfortable reviewing, chastising, and criticizing a company or product. Then, there’s the counter argument, that anonymity coarsens public discourse, and provides a water cooler for ugly, offensive remarks.

It also erodes the value of comments themselves. Without transparency, anyone can say anything at any time without impunity. The media knows that continued lack of accountability will kill what has become a golden goose of online reporting — comments, which can often attract more readership than the article itself and provide a scorecard for editors to determine what is most interesting to any given audience.

Some media are already moving to add a new level of transparency, and along with it, authenticity, to their reader comments. The Sun Chronicle in Attleboro, Mass., recently introduced a new system that requires commenters to register their names, addresses, phone numbers, and credit card numbers.

The Sun Chronicle charges a one-time fee of 99 cents to activate the account. Commenters’ names then appear online along with their posts. The Wall Street Journal has required names to appear with reader comments since 2008.

From a public relations point of view, there is real value in transparency. Anonymity makes it nearly impossible to assess the validity of an allegation or defamatory remark made against a client online.

At the same time, as an industry, we are bound ethically to disclose our representation when commenting online in response to the media or on review sites. In that respect, transparency would level the playing field, requiring both sides to come clean as to who is behind a comment online.

Yet, complete transparency is unlikely to happen. Right now, the media place great value in online reader comments as an eyeball aggregator and a way to score reporters and stories. Required transparency would put a brake on the number and frequency of comments.

What’s the answer? How about a hybrid system whereby commenters could chose to be anonymous or not? Those commenters who opt to give their names — and validate them with e-mail and credit card verification — would have their comments posted higher than those who remain anonymous.

Those who don’t take off the mask would be relegated to the end of the list of comments, defusing their impact. To further encourage transparency, reporters would be encouraged to engage with those commenters who disclose their identity through a special two-way feature of the blog or site. Such attention would trigger even more comments.

No doubt, those of us who read the media would be more likely to give greater credibility to named commenters. After all, these commenters are assuming the real risk that flows from public comments, even if it’s just a negative response from the crowd. And at the same time, this hybrid system of opt-in transparency would still allow the rabble to rouse and the media to score themselves against the visceral response of the masses.

So commenters could choose between transparency and anonymity. But we would all have a better understanding of who is saying what, for what purposes, and for which intended results. At the same time, the public relations industry would gain an additional, more credible tool for correcting the record, responding to misstatement of fact, resetting agendas, and gaining legitimate visibility.

Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Greg_Matusky