When spending money on public relations, entrepreneurs often go more on faith than proof. They assume their dollars are being spent wisely, but without effective measurements, they may be wasting scarce resources that could be better used.

Whether your campaigns are handled internally or through outside agencies, "public relations is often a black hole for marketing dollars," says Joe Reischel, vice president/public-relations director for Loren/Allan/Odioso in Cincinnati. "Money goes in, some stories get placed and tacked on the wall, but the return-on-investment evaluation never takes place."

Here are five steps to ensure wise use of every dollar you spend on PR:

1. Keep your eye on the prize.

PR is about "raising the awareness of specific qualities of a company to a broad audience, including existing and potential customers, investors, employees, potential acquisition targets, potential third-party vendors and partners, among others," says Loretta Mock, vice president of Citigate Dewe Rogerson, an investor-relations firm in New York.

But the bottom-line reason most start-ups want to generate publicity is to attract more business. This was true for Ultimate Security Systems Corp., a three-year-old Irvine, Calif., firm that developed and markets PowerLock, an antitheft device that prevents thieves from hot-wiring and stealing vehicles. To gain visibility and customers, Ultimate issued news releases about its antitheft device that coincided with insurance and other companies' announcements about high-theft car models and cities.

The news releases highlighted the company's Web site and toll-free 800-number. Ultimate determined it received mentions in more than 400 newspaper, television, radio and magazine stories and more than 6,000 qualified sales leads through the toll-free number and Web site.

Dave Yewman, general manager of Weber Shandwick Worldwide in Portland, Ore., says start-ups should ask two questions when considering PR campaigns: Whom do I want to reach and what do I want them to do?

Says Mr. Yewman, "If they did this [first], they'd spend a lot less time lusting after The Wall Street Journal or Business Week and lot more time answering sales leads from potential customers."

2. Define your PR objectives.

List the milestones you want your PR to achieve. Do you want to increase visibility or sales? Do you want to attract venture capitalists or boost visits to your Web site? Once you've determined your objectives, establish time periods for tracking your progress.

MonitorForHire.com, an Internet-based resource-management company, matches pharmaceutical companies and other sponsors of clinical research with prescreened, qualified independent "monitors" who will oversee clinical trials. These biotechnology experts, nurses and other health-care professionals help ensure the scientific studies comply with U.S. Food and Drug Administration regulations and procedures.

But when it was founded in 2001, the Lower Gwynedd, Pa.-based company needed sponsors and monitors. It turned to PR to build brand awareness to help with recruiting and attracting clients for its services. Its campaign included trade-show participation; speeches by company officials at industry seminars and conventions; and news releases.

3. Monitor implementation and performance.

Denise Bauwens, a Media, Pa.-based PR consultant, advises start-ups to closely monitor the implementation and progress of their PR campaign. "[Ask for] monthly reports that detail which journalists have shown interest in a particular subject, what interviews have been conducted, which stories are scheduled to run and which will appear in that given month," she says. As in sales, if there's nothing in the pipeline, the plan isn't working and needs to be re-evaluated.

A strong PR plan will include editorial-calendar tracking, case studies, analyst briefings, competitive-media tracking, speaking opportunities, bylined and op-ed articles and letters to the editor, she says. Entrepreneurs should look "for signs that the PR firm is using the most up-to-date techniques. For example, clients should be wary of any PR program that relies heavily on news releases. Most daily-news outlets brand the release 'old news' the instant it crosses the wire," says Ms. Bauwens.

To measure the effectiveness of its PR campaign, MonitorForHire.com posted a form on its Web site requiring visitors who registered to say how they learned about the service. More than 70% of respondents said PR activities were the reason.

According to company executives, the PR effort helped MonitorForHire.com surpass its goals for its first year. It recruited more than 730 monitors in 21 countries overseeing the research work of more than 100 companies and generated $5 million in revenues.

4. Quantify and qualify results.

How you measure the effectiveness of your PR campaign -- and the cost of measuring them -- depends on the goals of the campaign. For instance, you might need to pay only a few hundred dollars monthly to have a news-monitoring service find and send stories written about your company or product.

If your objective is to increase Web-site visits, hire a Web-monitoring service such as Webtrends to track them for you.

Don't assume that the more press you get, the better. "Unless PR gets the right messages to the right audiences, it's a waste of time and money," says Keith Raffel, chairman and founder of Upshot Corp., a customer-relations-management software firm in Mountain View, Calif. "Counting column inches won't tell you much."

He believes every CEO should want to know:

• how many leads came in because of PR;
• how many of those were qualified leads; and
• how many turned into customers.

"Unless a company can track leads -- and sales -- by source, it won't know which programs make sense and which don't," he says. "Once it has that information, it can focus its attention on the programs with the best sales impact."

Ultimate Security Systems set up a spreadsheet using Filemaker Pro to track calls to its toll-free number and hits to the Web site, and retained media monitoring services to document the news coverage. CEO James Cooper says the company now knows that 80% of its sales leads were generated by the news coverage, that more leads came from the Web site than by phone and that a majority of leads turned into sales.

Upshot tracks the source and progress of all sales leads generated by its PR and marketing efforts. "When they come in, our workflow engine automatically routes leads to the right sales reps, who are notified by e-mail. Thanks to these tools, we no longer have to guess about the effectiveness of a [public-relations] program or campaign," says Mr. Raffel.

Other assessments, such as focus groups with representatives of your target audience, may be more subjective and expensive. If you hire a PR firm, expect to spend between 5% and 10% percent of your PR budget in staff time and expenses to measure the effectiveness of your campaign, says Norman Birnbach of Birnbach Communications Inc. in Marblehead, Mass.

5. Know when to pull the plug.

One of the hardest marketing decisions is when to end a PR campaign. Anthony Mora, president and CEO of Los Angeles-based Anthony Mora Communications Inc., says many start-ups don't pay attention to PR timelines. "In their understandable rush to launch their new business, they often implement a PR campaign for 30 to 45 days, pulling the plug on the campaign if it hasn't achieved the desired objectives in that time frame," he says.

Keep tabs on results so you can decide whether to continue your efforts, he says. "You don't want to keep an ineffective campaign in place, yet what often happens is that a company invests in a campaign, gets nervous in 30 to 60 days and [ends it]. It's akin to getting off the operating table mid-surgery because the procedure is taking longer than expected," he says.

Making hasty decisions isn't wise, but neither is throwing good money after bad. If you're losing sleep over a campaign that's not producing results and you have more pressing needs, you may want to halt your efforts temporarily.

Adopting Good Causes
Can Promote Your Firm

By EDWARD SEGAL

Have you considered marketing your business through community involvement? This strategy can pay important dividends by helping you become known in a beneficial way. In fact, you may be surprised by the degree that goodwill gestures can help your company prosper.

By giving back to the community, your business may acquire a "halo effect," says ArLyne Diamond, a Santa Clara, Calif.-based management consultant. "If people are perceived to be good about community service, the assumption is that they're moral, ethical people and their product and/or service is worthwhile," she says.

The 1% Solution

When Mark Benioff founded his business in 1999, he wanted it to be a commercial and philanthropic success. Based in San Francisco, Salesforce.com provides online and software customer-relationship-management products.

To reach his goal, Mr. Benioff's chose the "1%" solution: from day one, the company has donated 1% of its equity, profits and staff time to worthy projects and organizations through a philanthropic arm, salesforce.com/foundation. The foundation develops partnerships with organizations that provide access to technology for underserved youth.

Mr. Benioff put his money where his mouth is, personally donating $2.5 million to kick off the foundation. Not only has the company done well -- more than 3,800 customers world-wide use its products and services -- it also has compiled an impressive track record of community accomplishments. In the past 18 months, its 150 employees have donated 1% of their office time -- more than 1,800 hours -- to their favorite or company-supported charities. The foundation also has helped establish 17 technology centers for underprivileged youth in the San Francisco Bay area.

Salesforce.com's work in the community has helped build morale and teamwork among employees. "When you give people a chance to work together, they begin to break down barriers between their departments," says Suzanne DiBianca, the foundation's executive director. "This is good for people, good for morale, good for teambuilding and good for the company."

It also has been good PR. The firm's philanthropic activities have been highlighted in several stories in The San Francisco Chronicle newspaper, and San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown has praised the company "for its compassion for our youth and its sense of civic responsibility."

Recruiting Goodwill

When San Francisco entrepreneur John Doffing started a high-tech recruiting firm two years ago, he wanted to create a company that would change the way recruiters are perceived. "People tend to place recruiters somewhere on the credibility spectrum between lawyers and used-car salespeople," he says.

The key to achieving his goal was philanthropy. "Our business, at its most fundamental level, is about connecting people, and our philanthropic involvements are definitely in keeping with this goal," says Mr. Doffing. "Corporate altruism and running a profitable business don't have to be mutually exclusive, even for a small company like ours."

From its inception, StartUpAgent Inc. has provided pro-bono recruiting services to local nonprofit and charitable organizations, donating the time and talents of its recruiters, marketing and PR experts. The company has spent thousands of dollars on underwriting events for various local charities, including two Bay-area nonprofits: artAngels, an arts organization, and Best Buddies, which works to enhance the lives of people with developmental disabilities. Employees also are encouraged to use corporate time and resources to support personal philanthropic causes.

StartUpAgent's goodwill gestures have differentiated the company in a crowded marketplace and led to new business. Giving to the community has attracted high-quality job applicants and clients that share the start-up's philanthropic philosophy, Mr. Doffing says.

The following steps can help you to create a halo effect for your start-up.

1. Do your homework.

Conduct research to be sure you select a charity that deserves your support and that you'll feel comfortable working with. To check an organization's credentials, start by visiting its Web site, reading its materials and meeting with its executives. Ask them about their goals, objectives, projects and successes.

Check online news databases to find past articles about well-known or larger charities. To learn more about a local group's work and reputation, seek information from community and business leaders.

Protect yourself against scams or would-be charities. Screen unsolicited communications from organizations that try to pressure you to send a check or other donations. Ask callers to submit requests in writing and to send background information about their charity. Contact appropriate authorities, such as your state attorney general's office or secretary of state, about the legitimacy of the organization and whether any complaints or lawsuits have been filed against it. If you have any doubts or concerns about supporting a particular charity, then don't.

Find out how the organization plans to use your money or other contributions; avoid charities that spend more money on staff salaries and other overhead expenses than they do on actually helping people. Ask for verification of how much of each donated dollar is spent on problems it's trying to solve.

Ask for references from benefactors. Touch base with other supporters to learn for yourself about their experience working with the charity. Finally, observe the group and its officials in action by attending activities and events.

2. Set goals.

As with all limited resources, decide what you'd like to accomplish with your donations of time, energy and funds. It's wise to plan and implement goodwill gestures just like any other business-related activity, says Ms. Diamond.

"How these gestures should be planned depends on the size of the startup, its resources, and the interests and values of the CEO," she says. "Clearly, there should be a budget for money and time. If the company is large enough for an employee to handle requests, this person should [know] what areas are of value to the CEO personally and the company's growth."

Your objectives may be as basic as better marketing or increased networking opportunities. The smaller the cause or organization, the bigger the impact you're likely to have.

3. Look for a good match.

When seeking opportunities and building companies, entrepreneurs should demonstrate "selfish altruism," says Deborah Rosado Shaw, an entrepreneur, author and coach in Chester, N.J. "Small businesses must have a giving strategy that's consistent with their overall strategic objectives," she says.

Through your research find out whether an organization's work, goals and objectives match your beliefs, preferences, priorities and level of professionalism. Ms. Rosado Shaw recommends that a firm's philanthropic activities parallel its marketing efforts. If you don't have money to spare, donate time instead. Learn where industry opinion shapers and decision makers spend time, then become involved in the same concerns, such as serving with them on a charity's board or event-planning committee.

Doing good requires more than lip service, adds Ms. DiBianca. "Too many companies think they can make a difference in the community by just dropping off supplies or sending in a check," she says. "To make a real contribution, it's important to create a partnership with a community organization."

4. Start early.

When should you become a Good Samaritan? As soon as you start your company, says Mr. Benioff. He believes philanthropy and community service are important cultural values that should be incorporated in a business from its inception.

Announcing good intentions sooner rather than later has marketing or public-relations value, since your business will become known as a good corporate citizen and its business efforts will be viewed more favorably.

However, avoid making empty or meaningless gestures that have strings attached. Your good intentions may sound great now but they could come back to haunt you and the charity if you don't follow through.

Start-ups that donate stock options to local charities are prime examples. The donation may seem generous and likely will generate publicity. However, if the options prove worthless, negative press may result.

5. Know when to say when.

Charitable activities are important but your first objective is to make your business succeed. Know when and where to draw the line on how much time and energy you donate and keep your priorities straight.

There's a danger of getting carried away so that your efforts do more harm than good to your business, says Keith Thirgood, creative director of Capstone Communications Group, a marketing agency in Ontario, Canada.

"Each company [must] decide what they want to get out of a donation program or other goodwill gesture," says David Kleinberg, senior vice president of marketing for Digital Impact in San Mateo, Calif. "Their first imperative is to survive. After that, they can do more things in the community."

Helping Company News
Reach the Right People

By EDWARD SEGAL

For entrepreneurs, the time-honored news release has become more than a communications and marketing tool. Press releases can serve as an insurance policy of sorts when they're sent directly to clients, prospects and analysts as well as to the media.

This way, even if reporters and editors ignore the information, the intended audience will see it nevertheless.

Dallas-based Titan Ventures LLP used press releases to get off the ground when it opened in October 2001. The company wanted to buy and resell underused or abandoned software-related intellectual-property assets of Fortune 500 companies, failed start-ups, venture-capital firms and other businesses and educational institutions.

But Titan didn't have software to resell. To build its product inventory quickly, the company sent a news release to the media announcing its launch. It also sent the same announcement by e-mail to more than 400 business executives, venture capitalists, universities and networking contacts culled from the Rolodexes of the four founding partners. The e-mails included a personalized message from a partner asking for acquisition leads.

Recipients began forwarding the message on to friends, colleagues, and potential acquisition candidates with immediate results, says chief executive officer Reagan Lancaster. Within hours, company executives began receiving phone calls and return e-mails seeking more information and offers to sell rights to software products.

Other Good Uses

Todd Defren, managing director of the San Francisco office of PR firm Sterling Hager, Inc., calls press releases "the most cost-effective and versatile types of marketing tools on the planet." You may want to use them to get the word out about your company because of these strengths:

• Flexibility. News releases can serve many important PR purposes, whether to introduce your company to the media, help generate stories about products or position you as a source of information or interviews to reporters.
• Easy to create. News releases needn't and shouldn't be lengthy, because most readers have short attention spans. The most effective releases are no more than two double-spaced pages long and concise, with a succinct headline saying what your news is about.
• Control. News releases provide the ultimate in message management. You decide not only what, when and how to say something, but also whom to say it to, how often to say it, and who will receive it.
• Low cost. News releases cost only pennies to send via mail, fax, or e-mail. For Titan Ventures, the cost of sending its news release was about two dozen hours of staff time to prepare the e-mail distribution list.
• Longevity. News releases can enjoy an almost unlimited shelf life. Once an announcement is stored in searchable databases, reporters can find, refer to and use the information in it for years to come.

Essential Rules

To ensure news releases work hard for you and that your target audience sees the information, consider the following tips:

• Have something newsworthy to say.

A news release should have something newsworthy to announce. Don't use them simply to rehash advertising or brochure copy or include hype that may deter readers. "Press releases should reflect real business activity," says Mark Devaney, PR director of Grafica Group, a marketing firm in Chester, N.J. Appropriate topics include new clients or partnerships, new technologies and awards or other recognition your start-up receives.

Denver-based Authentor Systems Inc., founded in 1998, develops and markets Web access-control security software. To help stir up interest and business leads, the company pumped out a series of press releases to news and nonnews contacts alike -- 17 announcements between April and November of 2001.

The releases were embedded in e-mail messages and sent only to reporters who would most likely be interested in each particular topic. Recipient groups included local business writers in Denver, trade-publication reporters who track e-business security issues and journalists on financial-services, health-care or government beats.

But what did this young company have to talk about? Plenty, including new products, customers, partnerships, staff and funding from venture capitalists. Since a continuous drumbeat of company news can bore recipients, founder and executive vice president Bob Forbes varied the topics of the releases.

"The key is to mix the content so that it's something different every time," he says. "Each release was designed to explain another piece of the Authentor pie, so people didn't get the same message over and over again."

• Don't overdo it.

Know where to draw the line, and check your ego at the door. Simply churning out announcements mindlessly or to meet an arbitrary quota can backfire. "Pumping out press releases when an exec sneezes will ultimately make the start-up look silly," Mr. Devaney says.

Keep press releases short and free of jargon or buzzwords. But don't forget to include details any reader will want to know: who, what, when, where, why and how.

• Know what you want to accomplish.

Establish clear and realistic goals for the results you'd like to achieve from your releases. This can include communicating momentum about your company, generating traffic on your Web site, increasing sales, keeping investors updated on your progress, or establishing or protecting your position in the marketplace.

Mr. Forbes says his firm's releases were designed to demonstrate and communicate the company's growth and momentum to new business leads, potential alliance partners and industry analysts.

Grafica's Mr. Devaney says a start-up also can use news releases to "put their stake in the ground" for a new product, service or technology, which can help establish or maintain an advantage over competitors.

Once you know what you want the release to do, write it so that it addresses the interests, needs or concerns of target readers, whether they're investors, prospects, customers or employees. Tailor the contents by using appropriate headlines, facts, figures and quotes from company officials.

• Spread it around.

Don't be shy about giving out copies of your release. "Spread your net as wide as possible," says Denise O'Berry, president of The Small Business Edge Corp., a small-business consulting firm in Tampa, Fla. Be sure that your contact lists are accurate and up-to-date. If sending releases by e-mail, provide recipients with the opportunity to unsubscribe from the distribution list.

If you distribute your news releases via a private distribution service, such as PR Newswire or Business Wire, it may be included as content on major Internet sites, including Yahoo! and Lycos, or featured on specialized Web sites that follow the news of particular industries or professions.

Both services require an annual membership fee to post releases, plus several hundred dollars extra to send the release to reporters via e-mail and be stored in an online database. The fee is based on the length of the release and the distribution list.

Ms. O'Berry also recommends that entrepreneurs hand out news releases at networking events, business expos and trade shows; fax or mail them to local chambers of commerce; and post copies on company Web sites. Authentor posted news releases on its Web site as often as three times a month. It also sent e-mails to business contacts alerting them to the latest release and inviting them to read the entire text online.

A lot of people apparently have. The company gets about 100,000 hits on its home page monthly and about 30% go on to read one or more of the posted releases, says Mr. Forbes. The firm's "news room" is the most popular feature on the Web site, he adds.

• Keep your eyes and ears open.

Create a system to help track and monitor responses or comments you receive from your news release. When appropriate, be prepared to act on the feedback you receive. "People thought at first that we were looking for failed software," says Mr. Lancaster. "We had to emphasize later that we were seeking only the best software in the business.

Sending the news release to nonnews organizations helped define, explain and promote the company's position and business strategy. "The feedback also changed our definition of what we thought was a good deal for us," says Mr. Lancaster. "Our guidelines for the caliber of the software we were interested in buying changed and raised our levels of expectations."

• Be prepared for success.

Its difficult to know what reaction your news releases will generate, but be prepared to handle the response, no matter what happens.

At Titan Ventures, the early stream of responses soon turned into a flood. Mr. Lancaster recalls being buried almost immediately by the volume of e-mails and phone calls. The partners soon realized they couldn't keep up with the deluge and hired three full-time staffers to manage the leads.

The company eventually received more than 1,000 acquisition leads, about 100 of which were worth further discussion. To date, deals have been signed to acquire the software-related intellectual property of 11 companies and more contracts are in the pipeline.

So that no opportunities slip through the cracks, "make sure you answer all of your responses in a timely manner and aren't overwhelmed by them. Speed counts, and you shouldn't be afraid to hire someone to help," Mr. Lancaster says.

Don't Let Your Marketing
Backfire in Times of Crisis

By EDWARD SEGAL

It's difficult to plan for every potential worst-case scenario that might impact the marketing activities of your new company. Knowing how to respond to a crisis, however, means you'll be better prepared to take whatever action is necessary to ensure your start-up's promotional efforts remain appropriate and on track.

Here's how two recent start-ups responded to the marketing consequences of something that no business plan could have foreseen -- last fall's terrorist and anthrax attacks. Their experiences provide important insights on how to respond when the unexpected happens.

Modify your message.

Sometimes a marketing message that was once on target must be changed or fine-tuned so that it remains relevant to customers.

Impromptu Gourmet Inc., based in Valley Cottage, N.Y., makes a variety of ready-to-cook gourmet meals. The dinner kits are available through high-end grocery stores in New York City, and via overnight mail and delivery service.

When launched in 2000, Impromptu Gourmet targeted busy consumers with the message that they should "treat themselves" to a gourmet meal. Favorable reviews followed, including coverage by New York and Gourmet magazines and feature stories on NBC's Today Show and Martha Stewart Living.

After Sept. 11, however, the company's message seemed irrelevant, if not inappropriate. A marked shift had occurred in consumer preferences and priorities, says corporate spokesperson Paula Keung. Personal indulgences or extravagances were out. Nesting -- activities that emphasized home, family and home life -- was in.

That shift, says Ms. Keung, forced the company "to change the focus of our marketing efforts from one that emphasized the consumers' desire for luxurious gourmet meals to one that reflected a new desire to dine at home with loved ones." Although the company stopped short of creating a slogan to promote this new approach, the mid-course correction to its marketing message was reflected in Impromptu Gourmet's correspondence to customers.

Months after the attacks, that new strategy is still in place and is mirrored in the Impromptu Gourmet's current public relations and marketing activities. "We continue to use our new message in all pitches to the media, as well as in any marketing materials we use," says Ms. Keung.

Stop the presses.

Under some circumstances, the best thing might be to cancel your marketing campaign altogether. This was the case for Marketplace Bank, a Maitland, Fla., company that operates banking facilities in 128 Winn-Dixie grocery stores throughout the state. Founded in 1999, the bank had planned to launch a new marketing effort on Sept. 14 to promote its no-fee checking accounts. The campaign included a newspaper ad plus posters and 90,000 flyers featuring the graphic of an exploding wall and a tagline that read "Breaking Through."

The bank cancelled the ad on the day of the attacks, says Michael Ertel, its former manager of public relations and employee communications. "Given the gravity of the day's events, I felt it wasn't in good taste to promote ourselves so soon" after the tragedy, he says.

Mr. Ertel later told the Orlando Sentinel that "our exploding wall is probably gone forever. It's unfortunate -- it's a great-looking piece. It just isn't appropriate."

It was also an expensive decision: $20,000 in production and distribution costs for promotional materials that would never be used. The bank, which has no plans to reschedule the newspaper ad, is now including information about the checking accounts in its regular statements to customers and as part of its continuing marketing activities.

Your marketing insurance policy

Of course, a crisis doesn't have to be on a par with the Sept. 11 attacks for it to affect the marketing of your start-up. Your "disaster" is more likely to be more local in scope, such as a fire, flood or computer virus.

Here are tactics that can help ensure a crisis doesn't derail your marketing plan.

Assess and reduce risks. Before anything happens, list the most obvious ways your promotional efforts could be at risk if something should go wrong and the immediate steps you can take to lessen the consequences.

For instance, if you're the only one who has a camera-ready copy of your ads, brochures or other marketing materials, consider what might happen if you were in an accident or the originals were stolen or destroyed. Make back-up copies of these and other key materials and distribute them to a handful of staff members or other individuals inside and outside the organization.

Evaluate your Web-site security. For many start-ups, an Internet site may be a key component of the marketing plan. Be sure your Webmaster or Internet service provider has contingency plans in case the server goes down, a virus invades the computers, the power goes off or another event causes the site to go dark.

Know whom to call. Don't waste time during an emergency trying to decide whom to contact. Make a list of people who should be notified, such as your advertising, PR and IT consultant, staff members, lawyers, investors and local news organizations. Keep copies of their daytime and evening contact information, including phone numbers, pagers and e-mail addresses, in your office, home and car.

Gather intelligence. Before taking action, gather all the facts you can about the situation. Monitor local and national TV and radio newscasts and Web sites for up-to-date and accurate information. Seek reactions and opinions from clients, customers, and vendors. How upset or concerned are they that it will affect their lives or business? How and to what extent will the event impact their relationship with you?

For an additional reality check, ask friends and colleagues for their comments and reactions. Ask what they're hearing from their contacts, and what, if anything, they plan to do. Based on this intelligence, it may be appropriate to do one or all of the following.

Show you care. If the situation warrants it, assure the public you're sensitive to the situation and take steps to communicate or demonstrate your concern. This includes placing appropriate information or statements on your Web site, sending e-mails to customers and clients, changing your voice-mail greeting, or even modifying how you conduct business.

In response to the anthrax scare, Media Distribution Services (MDS), a public-relations media, printing, mailing, fax and e-mail service firm in New York, established emergency procedures for handling mail on behalf of its clients.

Company president Daniel P. Cantelmo says that, until further notice, MDS wouldn't send mail without a return address to the media and other audiences. In addition, MDS now labels all parcels it sends as "Promotional Materials." This label gives "a better idea of where a mailing piece came from and who sent it, since most of the anthrax-tainted mail was handwritten and lacking some or all of these identifications," says Mr. Cantelmo.

Now that a few months have passed, "these precautions don't seem as critical," says Mr. Cantelmo. However, he believes they still have value, especially to those who are anxious about opening handwritten mail.

Change your distribution tactics. Although your message may change somewhat, you'll want to keep sending out information about your products or service. In some cases, using other distribution methods might make sense.

In the midst of the anthrax scare, for example, many news organizations refused to accept or open mail. Entrepreneurs immediately turned to faxes and e-mail to ensure that their news releases were being delivered to reporters in a timely manner.

Approach different news organizations. Daily newspapers or TV news programs are likely to be focused on current events, so when pitching stories about your company to reporters, you may have better luck approaching trade publications. These news outlets, which include magazines and newsletters, have longer lead times than the daily media.

"While the mainstream publications are more likely to cover developments in breaking stories, trade publications may be a better target for your story angle," says Kate Casey Foley, media-relations specialist for Levick Strategic Communications in Washington, D.C.

After Sept. 11, seeking story placement in high-end lifestyle news outlets was no longer a top priority for Impromptu Gourmet. Instead, "we really targeted journalists who were doing gift round-ups in order to present ourselves as a perfect holiday gift" for good friends and family members, says Ms. Keung.

Seek outside counsel. If you don't know what to do or how to do it, or whether to modify your marketing activities, seek outside help and advice. Ask for advice from a marketing firm, public-relations consultant, staff members at your trade or professional organization or other trusted professional.

Turn a lemon into lemonade. Depending on how much your company has been affected by the event, you may gain marketing mileage by publicizing your experience and explaining how it could benefit others. If appropriate, issue a news release or contact reporters to gauge their interest in such a story. A more low-key approach is to share your comments and observations with clients or customers via your Web site, e-mails, phone calls or correspondence.

Be careful to not say anything that may be perceived as exploiting a tragedy or unfortunate situation. Timing is everything and you may want to simply lay low and wait before pitching a new story about your start-up. Says Steve Greene, president of Sperling Greene Associates, a PR agency in Tenafly, N.J., "Today's inappropriate business release could be tomorrow's headline."

Spread the word. Don't keep your crisis plans a secret. Tell everyone in your organization what to do in the event of an emergency and designate a second-in-command to act on your behalf if necessary. Make it easy for them to access and activate the procedures if you aren't there or can't be reached. Remind staffers periodically about those procedures so they stay fresh in their minds. Empowering employees to act during an emergency is another way to keep its impact on your marketing activities to a minimum.

Make a Good Impression
With a Superior Web Site

By EDWARD SEGAL

Making a good first impression online is important for start-ups. To convince visitors to take a chance on a new company, your Web site must convey that yours is a credible and reputable business. Easier said than done. But there are steps that you can take to help build customers' comfort level with your company.

The Personal Touch

Personal communications with customers is central to the strategy of Boston-based Zipcar, a car-rental company founded in 2000. Because it relies on the Internet almost exclusively to process applications and make reservations for its fleet of 65 cars near transportation hubs in Boston and Washington, D.C., its Web site takes pains to foster its customers' trust in its service.

For example, each customer e-mail receives a personal reply. In fact, there's a company-wide ban on automatic responses. This personalized approach has helped Zipcar to attract about 150 new members each month and 1,200 loyal customers. Robin Chase, the firm's chief executive officer, says she uses an informal writing style and signs all e-mail messages with only her first name.

"I work very hard to write our communications as if I am writing to one individual whom I know well," she says.

For example, when a customer wrote to ask why Zipcar's rentals are all either white or lime, Ms. Chase responded: "We chose white for the bulk of the fleet for a couple of reasons: We wanted most the of the cars to be the same color so that they would be identifiable to members and nonmembers as Zipcars. White, black, red, silver are really the only color choices that are remotely consistent across auto manufacturers. Ray Magliozzi (co-host of National Public Radio's "Car Talk" program) told me that it was true that red cars get in more car accidents than any other color. The white cars show dirt the least (I spent a number of days watching every car that went by and can verify this)."

Your Input Is Welcome

Epinions.com, an online shopping catalog and price guide, builds trust by letting customers share their comments about the products and services it offers. Site visitors have written more than 1 million reviews for the Brisbane, Calif., company, which was founded in 1999.

In one example, a reviewer titled her comments on an Epilady TweezEpil hair-removal product: "Uh, Did I Get a Dud?" The product, she says, "doesn't deliver on [its] promise [and has a] shoddy design."

"By allowing consumers to repeatedly see these strong statements, in conjunction with having favorable experiences using the Epinions service, they'll increasingly build a level of online trust," says Merilee Kern, president of Las Vegas-based Kern Communications.

"Trust is not something for which we have a single strategy; rather, it permeates everything we do," says Nirav Tolia, co-founder of Epinions. The site adheres to three core principles:

1. Transparency: users can see who writes content, why it's sorted a certain way, and what other users think of it;
2. Objectivity: the site doesn't write, edit or rate the content -- members determine what and where content appears; and
3. Feedback: members can comment on products, reviews, people and the site itself.

How to Build Confidence

Of course, the old rules for establishing a strong reputation still apply. You must deliver the product on time and make sure it works. But to succeed in a competitive business environment, "to truly succeed in building trust, companies will need to follow a model that revolves around the customer," says Dave Steer, communications director for TRUSTe in San Jose, Calif., a nonprofit that offers a third-party "seal" program designed to alleviate Internet users' concerns about online privacy.

How can you make your Web site a more effective -- and trusted -- marketing tool for your start-up? Consider the following tips from professional marketers.

Ask for feedback. Ms. Kern encourages companies to establish a bulletin-board system that allows visitors to post comments related to a specific topic. Call it "How Are We Doing?" "Customers Sound Off" or "Members Q&A."

Zipcar's site includes a chat room for its members and links to info@zipcar.com on every page. When appropriate, the company will make changes to implement the suggestions it receives. For example, a member told the company: "I rent at only one location, but it takes me three clicks to get to that screen." It would be more convenient, he said, if the site was designed "so that when I log in, it automatically goes to the location of my last reservation." The site was reprogrammed to do just that.

Epinions has several forums for feedback, including one for general comments about the site. "We believe that it is crucial to develop an ongoing dialogue with our members. In addition, some of our best ideas have been provided via member-generated feedback," says Mr. Tolia.

Keep your site updated. Evaluate your site on a regular basis to ensure it continues to reflect your business, marketing and the competitive landscape accurately. Know what's newsworthy, timely and relevant to your target audience, and update your site accordingly, says Ms. Kern.

The same goes for your list of frequently asked questions (FAQs). "FAQs should be an ongoing work in progress, in that they are never done," says Ms. Kern. Keep track on a periodic basis of the questions people send and revise the FAQ page as necessary. Epinions updates its FAQs almost every week. Zipcar updates its list every two months or when an issue arises that calls for a revision.

Post a privacy statement. Epinions and Zipcar post links to their privacy policies at the bottom of the page.

A privacy statement should tell users what you will and won't do with visitor information -- and follow through on your promises. Don't expect customers to just take your word. Additionally, consider asking a respected third-party organization such as the Better Business Bureau or TRUSTe to review and verify your policies and activities, then display its "seal of approval" on your Web site.

Use endorsements. Take the seal-of-approval strategy a step further and include customer endorsements. John Bell, senior vice president/creative director at Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide in Washington, D.C., encourages companies to use their customers' names. Doing so will help convince visitors that "real people had good things to say about their experience," says Mr. Bell.

If you can, feature quotes or reviews from news organizations. "Consumers put a lot of weight on commentary and seeming endorsements from the media, and [you] should exploit those, in a good way, every chance [you get]," says Ms. Kern.

List contact information. In addition to its e-mail address, Zipcar lists its phone number on every page. On its "About Us" page, it lists its postal mailing address. Marketing experts suggest going even further and including a toll-free phone number, fax number and e-mail address on your site. Even if yours is a strictly online business, include your postal address anyway. While people may not send you letters, knowing where your company is located may give customers some assurance of your trustworthiness.

Use password-protection. Customers who have the ability to create their own user names and passwords in order to access Web sites are more likely to think their privacy and security are being safeguarded. "Having that sense of security can be the first step towards trusting the company that operates the site," says John Mills, director of regulatory affairs for Myhealthbank, an online service based in Portland, Ore., for managing employee health benefits.

Promotions Can Help
Launch Your Business

By EDWARD SEGAL

Contests, promotions and special events can result in a marketing bonanza by attracting customers to and media interest in your start-up. The challenge is to make these activities interesting to your target audience and newsworthy to skeptical reporters who think they have seen and heard it all before.

Finding the Needle in the Haystack

Haystack Toys' Great American Toy Hunt is an example of how these attention-getting strategies can work successfully.

In 1999, Dan Lauer co-founded Haystack Toy Co. in St. Louis to help find and bring new toy ideas to market. He knew the trials of inventing, manufacturing and marketing toys -- he was the brains behind the popular Waterbabies® doll a decade earlier and sought to make it easier for fellow toy inventors to turn their dreams into reality.

Thus was born the Great American Toy Hunt, a national contest that invites inventors to demonstrate their ideas for safe, reliable and innovative toys for children ages three to six. Entrants have 15 minutes to make their pitch to a panel of judges who include toy experts, former toy executives, futurists and the start-up's marketing staff. Each of up to 10 winners is promised a $5,000 advance, a 5% royalty, and Haystack Toys' commitment to spend $50,000 to develop the toy.

In its first year, the company received thousands of applications, met with 700 people, reviewed almost 1,000 toy ideas and selected five new toys to bring to market the following year. The company now stages these new-toy demonstrations in seven cities across the country every year, usually in a children's museum or other family-oriented venue.

The contest has generated publicity that has led to hundreds of stories by Newsweek, the Associated Press, National Public Radio and other national and local news organizations. The coverage not only helped increase awareness about the start-up, but also helped the company raise millions of dollars in capital, open negotiations with several national toy specialty retailers, and begin merger/acquisition discussions with a handful of major toy corporations. Haystack Toys now sells its products online and at major retailers such as FAO Schwarz and Zany Brainy and hundreds of specialty retailers.

Guerilla Marketing

Guerrilla marketing is another low-cost strategy that can garner big attention for a small company. Consider the launch of Change.com, a business-to-business site that sought to link procurement professionals with suppliers of everything from toilet paper to steel beams. It made its debut in spring 2000 with guerrilla marketing at the National Association of Purchasing Management meeting at the New Orleans Hilton. While the company fell victim to the Internet bust five months later, its effort remains a case study of how this strategy can be used successfully.

Rather than spend the money on a booth, Change.com representatives parked an Isuzu Trooper decorated with the company logo on the street outside the hotel. They made their case to attendees on the street and in lobbies and receptions. They distributed more than 400 bags of promotional materials, which, in addition to a news release announcing the company's launch, included chocolates, a pen, baseball cap and T-shirt with the company's logo and plastic stress-reliever.

Reps also doled out tickets for beer at the hotel bar. At the bar, a magician performed magic tricks as he talked up the benefits of Change.com. Reps also crashed the convention's hospitality suite (they weren't registered for the meeting) and spoke to attendees about the problems and challenges of the purchasing function.

The total cost: $15,000. More than 1,000 purchasing managers registered to use the site as a result, and the company received insight into the needs of its customers, says Robert Pickell, Change.com's vice president of marketing. Despite the success of the promotion, Change.com was unable to attract enough customers. In September 2000, Change.com agreed to be acquired by Business.com, another business-to-business Internet company. Still, its guerrilla marketing effort remains one that other start-ups could emulate.

Tips for Successful Promotions

Do you have an idea for an event, contest or other promotion to help launch your company with a bang? Before plunging ahead, consider the following advice.

Be Creative

Brainstorm interesting or creative ways to get the attention of your target audience. Standing out from the crowd will be crucial: The Promotion Marketing Association in New York reports that in 2000 companies spent an estimated $200 billion on promotional activities ranging from contests to premiums.

Don't go overboard. Keep your promotions in synch with your business or reputation. "Once you've come up with your idea, make sure that there's a correlation between your idea and your brand and corporate image," says Sabine Heller, director of public relations for UGO Networks Inc., an online game and entertainment company in New York. "But don't be afraid to take risks; some of the best gimmicks are those that seem totally offbeat or untraditional."

An example of an offbeat promotion is the Gary Coleman Web-A-Thon that UGO Networks created and sponsored in 1999. The goal: to raise money for the former child actor who had recently declared bankruptcy. The online fundraising campaign auctioned off several of the star's personal items, as well as a date with the actor. The promotion raised $10,000 for Mr. Coleman and drove three million hits to the Web-A-Thon site.

Focus on Your Audience

Who the company wants to engage and what action it wants them to take can get lost in marketing and public-relations campaigns, says Christian Gunning, who teaches public relations at the University of Southern California. Be realistic about what your promotions can accomplish. "People who paint a 'we're-going-to-move-the-world' picture aren't analyzing the downside," says Mr. Gunning. "Any decision...needs to include a long hard look at the possibility of failure. Whom do you really want to reach? What do you really hope to achieve?"

Keep It in Context

When planning your promotion, make sure it's newsworthy. "See what people are covering and how you can fit in rather than relentlessly try to push the messages you want to be made public," says Ms. Heller. "Ask yourself what the public enjoys reading about or watching on TV and draw from that." To ensure that your event or promotion attracts the largest possible audience, make your announcement on a slow news day, such as a holiday weekend.

Keep It Clean

Examine every aspect of your marketing promotion to help ensure its integrity and guard against any embarrassing snafu. A recent case in point: the Federal Bureau of Investigation uncovered a scam involving an executive at the company in charge of security for McDonald's Corp.'s give-away contests who stole and sold high-level winning game pieces.

Watch Your Budget

While promotions can result in news coverage, it's important that you don't spend your entire promotional budget for just one project or activity. Further, what you do spend should help achieve your marketing goals. "Be very, very careful," says Mr. Gunning. "It's easy to spend a lot of money on an event that has little or no return on investment."

E-Mail Newsletters Can Be
Affordable and Effective

By EDWARD SEGAL

Periodic free e-mail newsletters can be one of the most cost-effective ways to market your business. The primary benefit is in the branding they can afford new companies.

Just ask Mitchell Levy, president of ECnow.com, an e-commerce management firm in San Jose, Calif. He sends a free monthly e-mail newsletter to thousands of subscribers.

"Readers around the world are reminded every month that I'm here. When opportunities for potential business arise, the monthly e-mail helps them remember that I can meet their needs," says Mr. Levy, who teaches e-commerce management at San Jose State University.

In addition to branding, e-mail newsletters can help you find a steady stream of qualified leads, establish and maintain client relationships and position you and your company as experts in your field. For example, Mr. Levy's newsletters help sell his book, "E-Volve-or-Die.com" (New Riders Publishing, 2000), fill his marketing seminars and secure speaking engagements and consulting assignments.

The tv Corp., a Los Angeles start-up that markets and sells domain names with the extension ".tv," says its monthly HTML e-mail newsletter has helped generate immediate sales, as well as preregistrations for new product offerings. Up to 8% of its approximately 180,000 subscribers become customers, according to the company.

The newsletter also serves another important function: to test-drive and fine-tune new marketing promotions. The company tracks the responses via special purchase codes.

"As a start-up that can't afford to turn to expensive market-research firms, we've been able to [use the newsletter] to make key decisions on what we choose to offer on our site and what new products to offer," says Aviva Rosenthal, a company spokeswoman.

Do-It-Yourself?

Whether you can produce these marketing missives yourself or should outsource this function depends on the complexity of your newsletter and the depth and breadth of your resources. Skills you'll need include copy writing, database marketing and graphic design, says Tricia Robinson, vice president of marketing communications for Socketware, an Atlanta seller of software that helps entrepreneurs use e-mail to market their companies.

Every two weeks HireStrategy, a recruiting firm in Reston, Va., sends 9,000 recipients a newsletter that's researched, written and produced in-house. The greatest cost incurred is the staff time -- at least 15 hours per newsletter -- to write, research and format articles. Production is easy since the company uses a template and sending it "takes a minimal amount of time," says M. Scott Laemmle, HireStrategy's director of operations.

Are e-mail newsletters the right way to help promote your start-up? With only so many hours in the day, entrepreneurs must carefully choose what will provide the best return on their investment of time, money and resources.

While Mr. Laemmle admits the time spent on the newsletter could be spent elsewhere, he says, "we believe that we receive significant benefits from the newsletter that more than justify the costs."

Outside help to produce and send your newsletter can cost anywhere from a few hundred dollars to several thousand, depending on its complexity, use of graphics and frequency. There are several vendors that can help distribute a newsletter, including Lyris, Microsoft's bCentral and Listserve.com. The costs can begin at a few hundred dollars a month.

The following are steps you can take to make sure that your e-mail newsletter is worth the effort.

Define Success

Determine how many units of your product you'll need to sell through your e-mail newsletter in order to make it worth your while. Then, outline your goals and list the results you hope to achieve.

"Too often, companies decide to begin a newsletter program without understanding what they hope to accomplish," says Mr. Laemmle. "This reminds me of the saying that if you don't know where you're going, any path will take you there."

Before launching its newsletter, HireStrategy reviewed its overall marketing program and decided which audiences it wanted to reach. This exercise helped shape its newsletter's content, format and frequency. "One reason for the success of our newsletter is that the content matches our overall marketing effort and is tied into our other viral or guerrilla marketing strategies," he says.

Get Permission

It's important to get recipients' permission to send a newsletter to them in the first place. "Even though you have e-mail addresses from direct mailings or point-of-purchase sign-up sheets, make sure you have permission from them before you send e-mail," says Ms. Robinson. How? Send a direct-mail postcard or a one-time e-mail asking for their approval to include them on your distribution list. "If you don't ask permission, you run the risk of [annoying] people and being labeled a spammer," she says.

You can invite members of your target audiences to subscribe and make it possible for them to do so on your Web site. Plus, encourage people who like the content to forward the newsletter to their friends and co-workers. When you speak with someone on the phone or make contacts at networking events, ask if they would like to be added to your newsletter.

While it might be easier to simply buy a list of potential subscribers from a vendor, a list grown in-house, says Mr. Laemmle, "will be more robust, more interested in your content, more likely to respond to your message and less likely to unsubscribe."

Concentrate on Content

Avoid the temptation to turn your newsletter into a commercial for your company. That's a sure way to turn off your subscribers. If you want people to read your newsletter, it must contain content that's interesting and useful. If you understand and write for your audience, you'll do a better job of providing information recipients want to read.

Ms. Rosenthal says her company offers a tips section in its newsletter that includes a frequently asked question (FAQ) drawn from a poll of customer reps. "We see a huge -- more than 50% -- drop-off in that question being asked," she says. "That tells us not only is our customer base receiving the newsletter, but they're reading it and can retain the information we provide."

Honor Your Subscribers' Privacy

As important as the information you send to subscribers is your obligation to protect their privacy and trust in you. Don't sell or trade your subscription lists, and don't send unsolicited copies of newsletters just to inflate your list of readers. Once you've lost the trust of your audience, it can be difficult, if not impossible, to get it back. By producing a quality e-mail newsletter, you have the opportunity not only to effectively and efficiently promote yourself and your company, but also increase the knowledge and understanding of your audience as well.

How to Attract the Media
To Your Business Launch

By EDWARD SEGAL

When Tom Evslin, former head of AT&T's WorldNet Internet service, started an Internet-telephony company in 1997, he couldn't afford advertising. Working from their New Jersey home, he and his wife sent news releases via Business Wire, a fee-based news-release distribution service. "We literally launched [the company] through a series of press releases," says Mary Evslin, its vice president of marketing.

In the weeks that followed, news coverage about the start-up included more than a dozen articles in such publications as Business Week, the New York Times, Red Herring, Barron's and Fortune. The stories led to new business leads, as companies around the world contacted Mr. Evslin about his services.

His company, ITXC Corp., continued to rely exclusively on news releases and public-relations activities to promote itself until 1999, when it added print and banner advertising. The Princeton, N.J., company is now a leader in wholesaling Internet telephony. Its customers include 14 of the top 15 U.S.-based international long-distance providers, most European carriers and many government-owned telephone companies.

Issuing a news release can be one of the most cost-effective ways to get word out about a new company. If properly prepared, that one release can lead to news coverage that can help put your company on the map.

But journalists throw away as much as 99% of the news releases they receive, according to a study conducted by PR Week, an industry publication. Why? Because the announcements don't fit their needs, don't include worthwhile information or are poorly written. How can you ensure your announcement will make the news and not the circular file?

Writing a News Release

While preparing effective releases isn't brain surgery, neither is it second nature to most entrepreneurs.

The main thing to keep in mind is that information in the news release must be "newsworthy."

"It must be timely, relevant and important," says Beth LaBreche, president of LeBreche Murray Public Relations, an agency in Minneapolis. "Does the information impact a community, industry, customers, employees or investors? If so, put it into the news release."

Understand how the news media works and what it needs to prepare stories. This is the hardest thing to explain to a hot-shot entrepreneur who expects to be on the cover of Time magazine because he thinks "no one else is doing what he does," says Scott White, president of BizCom Associates, a public-relations firm in Dallas.

Put timely and factual information that hasn't been presented previously in your news release -- not warmed-over advertising copy or excerpts from a marketing brochure. And include the details reporters will need to do a story about your announcement, including who, what, when, where, why and how.

"The headline should grab the reporter's interest immediately. The first sentence should give a conclusive picture of the remainder of the news release," says Eli Kuo, director of public relations for Invoice Dealers Network, an online car-buying service based in Palo Alto, Calif.

To publicize the network's launch in June 1999, Mr. Kuo sent a series of releases about the advantage of using such a service and its activities and accomplishments. One of the first releases scored a hit when a radio reporter used it as the basis for a commentary on a computer show that aired on the Associated Press Radio Network. The commentary not only explained how the network was different and better than its competitors, it ended with the address of the Web site.

The release was a proverbial win-win: It provided the journalist with a good story for his audience and gave the start-up coverage. The network's campaign ultimately generated 200 printed articles, including one in USA Today, and stories on more than 300 radio stations.

Target Your News

It's also important to understand the market for your news. A generic news release may not meet the needs, or even capture the interest, of all the news outlets you send it to. You may have to customize the release for maximum impact and carefully select the news organizations that receive each version.

"What may be perfect for a business brief in a small local newspaper isn't appropriate for the Washington Post. Don't waste your time sending news releases to the wrong news organization," says Kimberly McCall, president of McCall Media & Marketing Inc., a Freeport, Maine, business-communications firm.

To find out what stories might interest which news organizations, read their publications or listen to their programs. Then target and customize your announcement for the reporters and editors who cover your industry, products or services.

Avoid Hype

While you may be justifiably proud of your company's products or services, chances are good that they aren't as "revolutionary," "unique" or "leading edge" as you'd like to believe. That kind of bragging is a sure way to turn off reporters, who have seen and heard these and other claims to greatness from countless eager entrepreneurs.

"Proving that your product is indeed the 'best' is next to impossible. So don't," says Todd F. Brabender, president of Spread the News Public Relations Inc. in Lawrence, Kansas. "Simply state the specific benefits of your product in a matter-of-fact manner. Let the consumer decide which product is best. As long as you have a quality product, something that should be evident by the time you implement a publicity campaign, you won't need to claim that your product is the 'best ever' or 'No. 1.' "

Play Devil's Advocate

Once you've completed a draft release and believe it's the best it can be, think again.

Steve Winston, director of public relations for the Comforce Corp., a staffing, consulting and outsourcing company in Woodbury, N.Y., suggests you conduct the following exercise.

Put yourself in the position of the reporter or editor who's going to read the release, and then re-read it. Is it something that might be of genuine interest if you were on the receiving end? "If you can't answer that question with a resounding yes, then write the release again," he says.

Get Help

As an entrepreneur, you may consider yourself a jack-of-all-trades and able to do whatever it takes to promote your start-up. Unfortunately, you may be too busy or simply lack the skills to write an effective release.

Of course, there are plenty of places to turn to if you need assistance -- seminars, workshops, writing classes, how-to books and articles.

But getting an expert's opinion on what's newsworthy about your company is likely to increase the chances that you'll get news coverage. A professional can be objective and may identify an angle that will interest the media most.

After weighing the pros and cons of doing it yourself, says Ms. LaBreche, you may decide to hire an agency, "so you can concentrate on what you do best -- building your business."

A Marketing Plan Is
Critical to Your Success

By EDWARD SEGAL

What determines whether your start-up succeeds or fails? The decisive factor may be the caliber of your marketing plan -- the roadmap you'll need to help generate awareness about and attract customers to your new company -- and how well you execute it.

Dave Buchanan, a two-time entrepreneur who started his first company from scratch and sold it in 1996 for $300 million, says he can't overstate the importance of a marketing plan.

"If you don't have a plan for marketing, then you don't have a plan for success," says Mr. Buchanan, now chief executive officer of Cybrant Corp., a software firm in Mountain View, Calif.

He notes that the sooner you have a plan in place, the better. Quoting World War II Gen. George S. Patton Jr., Mr. Buchanan says, "A good plan today is better than a perfect plan tomorrow."

Unfortunately, there's no such thing as a good "one-size-fits-all" marketing document. You'll need to customize your marketing plan to meet your start-up's unique challenges, needs and concerns. Indeed, the most effective plans are created when entrepreneurs carefully select what's right for them from among the dozens of possible promotional strategies, tactics and techniques.

As the following two examples attest, good common sense and a realistic understanding of the marketplace are necessary ingredients as well.

Bazillion -- A Tale of Two Headlines

The headline in the Puget Sound Business Journal in March 2000 said it all: "Millions Back Bazillion." According to the paper, Bazillion, a new DSL provider based in Seattle, had quickly raised $30 million from investors toward a goal of $400 million by the year's end.

Fast-forward to January 2001, when the Seattle Times carried a story with this headline: "Bazillion Scrambles for Buyers." The article reported that the cash-strapped business had shut down and was seeking purchasers.

What went so wrong in such a short period of time? According to Ted Leonhardt, president of the Leonhardt Group, whose Seattle branding and design firm worked for Bazillion, the problems were caused by greed. The company was more interested in using its marketing plan to raise money than to attract customers, Mr. Leonhardt says.

"Bazillion didn't use its marketing plan to develop a sufficient base of customers and build the company from the ground up," he says. "They were too dependent on fund raising and hoped that investors would continue to pour money into the company."

Bazillion's experience shows that marketing plans can't guarantee financing or a steady stream of customers. As the company said when it told subscribers it was closing down: "The financial markets' support of new telecommunications companies has become much tighter in the last six months."