Buy balloons, banners and some pop for the grand opening. Write a news release, or call the television stations to "come do a story."  Mark the calendar to have anniversary sales and notify the media. There you have it: do-it-yourself public relations for small business.

But that was yesterday. Public relations for small business, for any business, has changed from balloons to blimps, from simple press

releases to colorful media and sales kits, and from isolated warm and fuzzy Saturday events to an integral part of general and strategic marketing.

Today’s public relations is a fiercely competitive contact sport, and competitors, large and small, vie for the brass rings of public adoration and profit.

The image making that you observe among the likes of Nike, NASA, and Nabisco is not reserved for the big players. Eighty percent of American business is classified as small business, but that does not mean small PR. Small business can compete with big business in the image game.

Credo one: Think big. There are no "small" ideas in public relations.

Credo two: Think small. Even small businesses can get great PR with a big idea.

Business people too often view advertising and public relations as separate, distinct and mutually exclusive communications tools. From an investment standpoint, that might be true, but as part of an overall strategic marketing plan, they go hand in hand in what I call Smarketing.

Smarketing is the wedding of advertising with either issue-oriented public relations or community involvement – corporate citizenship. There are a couple of ways to approach the concept, either as a single campaign that uses ad space for PR purposes, or as separate ad and PR campaigns, but both going in the same direction, and that is meeting the business world’s obligation to be a part of its community.

Credo three: Don’t lie; don’t prematurely deny.

Small business should be ever mindful of the PR disasters that have befallen huge corporations because small businesses often do not have the resources to recover. The tobacco industry lied and denied, and the rest is history.

In the Florida Everglades crash, ValuJet, on the other hand, was wise in its decision to respond to allegations of safety violations with, "We honestly don’t know what happened and won’t until a thorough investigation determines what happened." The public respects candor.

Speaking of truth-telling, there are still women and minorities who fear discrimination and loss of business and, thus, try to hide the fact they are the owners of their businesses. Pride and drive help them achieve that status. Hiding it is spinning a public relations spider web.

Credo four: There are no do-it-yourself kits for small business public relations. An analogy might be that disclaimer you always see for vehicle stunts on television: "Driven by professionals." In other words, do not try this at home.

A decision in my hands as to which PV valve to use in a rocket engine could be about the same as a rocket company’s CEO deciding on her own to answer any and all media questions about alleged safety defects in the manufacturer’s PV valves. Just as the CEO should first consult with her engineers about the allegations, she also should consult with in-house public relations or an outside agency.

Public relations for small business should be driven by professionals.