At lunch with Mhairi Petrovic of Out-Smarts on Tuesday, we decided to form a strategic partnership between our two companies. It has, I think, been obvious to both Mhairi and me since we first met in February of this year at Northern Voice that we had similar outlooks on business, life, and success, as well as complementary skill sets that could benefit clients.

Within minutes of our arrival at the Waazubee Cafe it was also apparent that our mutual passion for strategic marketing communications and our love for the kind of technology that makes your life easier can only lead to good things.

I tried to order the butternut squash tortellini and was dismayed to hear that it hadn’t actually been on the menu for six years. That seemed odd to me, since I’d only checked the web site Saturday and it was on the downloadable food and drink menu then. I’m not actually a picky eater, but the online reviews I’d found were confusing – at one point I saw a reference to the cafe as a Japanese eatery and then saw another comment that asked why the cafe was listed as a Japanese restaurant, since it’s not. (Disclosure: I don’t eat uncooked fish, meat, or poultry and I have a few food allergies.)

When I mentioned the web site and the reviews to our server, she rolled her eyes and said, oh yes, that’s because we can’t access our own web site or find our web designer to change anything on it. Mhairi and I immediately began to think of solutions to this problem: switch your hosting provider, said Mhairi. Educate and inform clients that when they contract with a web designer, all files created are their property, not the web designer’s, I said. And don’t pay the final web design bill till you’ve received the files via email!

It was a nice example of how well we work together and of the kind of rich and deep knowledge and skills we can offer clients. Marketing communications, one of the many areas of public relations specialization, cannot possibly succeed or benefit clients who don’t actually have both a business strategy and a marketing strategy in place. Since marketing in general and internet marketing in particular are Mhairi’s specialities, No Spin PR clients who don’t have marketing plans can benefit from her knowledge, expertise, and results-oriented approach to create cost-effective strategic marketing plans. And Out-Smarts clients will be able to broaden their reach and ensure they’re not failing to reach all their target markets. There isn’t a company in existence that can’t benefit from public relations, whether it’s a traditional media relations campaign that results in print, radio and television coverage, a comprehensive, integrated social media strategy, or managing internal communications to help attract and retain employees or position you as a thought leader in your industry.

Public relations supports both business and marketing strategies. Make sure you’ve got yours in place. Get in touch and we’ll start to make it happen for your company: mhairi[at]out-smarts.com; ruth[at]nospinpr.com.

P.S. The Out-Smarts blog is rich source of info and tips on social media, and internet marketing. Sign up for the feed. I’ve learned a lot from reading it, and chances are you will too.