Public relations practitioners tend to carry around a tactical toolbox stuffed with press releases, media alerts, press briefings, bylined articles, speaking engagements, press kits, message points, awards nominations and much more. Add to this established mix the somewhat quirky tools from social media: tweets, fans, followers, friends and so forth.

There's no shortage of tactics to try when you are doing your own public relations. Unfortunately, too many entrepreneurs who tackle PR themselves choose tools before they determine the ultimate results they desire. They fail to take the time to be thoughtful and strategic. It sounds simplistic, but the truth is: To be successful in PR, you have to decide why you want to achieve the PR result you are seeking before you spring into action. Asking you to slow down and think strategically runs a bit counter to today's fast and furious world. We are living in an era where time often is measured in seconds and minutes, rather than days, weeks or months. But if your PR outreach is fast and furious without enough thought, it's doubtful you'll achieve what you're looking for.

Here are three suggestions to help you keep your PR campaign on course.

Create a One-Liner
Be very clear about why you want PR. The clearer you are at the beginning about the desired outcome, the closer you'll come to achieving it in the end. Create a one-line statement that sums up what you want to achieve by using PR--and then use it as a yardstick to measure whether you are on target. For example, if you're a professional service provider, you could write: "My goal is to have our firm known for having experts who are very knowledgeable about all of the confusing changes in our industry--and therefore gain more clients." Or, for a retail business, "My goal is to gain respect and awareness in our local community for the many community-minded and philanthropic activities we do through the year--and therefore gain more customers." Any kind of company could decide, "My goal is to let top-quality job-seekers know that our company has a tremendous work environment--and therefore attract the best employees."

As you can see, these goals are general in nature, not specific. And that's a reflection on the nature of public relations. Unlike advertising, which operates in a world of concrete numbers and detailed specifics, public relations activities generate more abstract results. You can state that you want five more clients or 50 more customers, but the truth is, public relations is better for building credibility and increasing the public's comfort level with who you are and what you do. You will get more clients or customers, but the line drawn between the PR activity and the ultimate sale of your product or service can be a bit circuitous, rather than completely straight. Your PR results will usually be intangible and definitely more difficult to measure. That's why the yardstick you use to measure should be stated in general terms, not specifics.

Don't Lead With Your Ego
One of the most common mistakes is letting your ego drive your PR efforts. One of the positive aspects of PR is the ego boost that typically accompanies good media coverage of you and/or your company. This goes with the territory and, of course, it's wonderful to be recognized for your good work and better still for the recognition to be read or viewed by hundreds, thousands or even millions of people. When a story is focused on the right angle, you can have your cake and eat it, too. In other words, you can get your company's correct message into a story and also feed your ego with wonderful coverage. Definitely a home run when this happens.

However, in contrast, some stories do nothing to contribute to your company's PR goals, which may range from helping increase customers to attracting more qualified employees to enhancing your company's industry or community reputation. When you divert your attention from gaining coverage that will further your goals, your PR efforts will feed your ego but not your bottom line.

Before you seek coverage, stop and think carefully about what aspects of your company should be publicized and what publications would be the best vehicles to carry your messages. One example of media coverage that might not be aligned with your goals is an article aimed at consumers, when your product is strictly B2B. If no one except a narrow niche of industry buyers is looking for your product, it's best to focus attention on vertical publications read by that narrow group of potential buyers. Be strategic in seeking media attention: Will a feature story in a community newspaper be more or less valuable than a bylined article in your key industry publication? There's no right or wrong answer to that question--the right answer will differ with each company. It might even differ from year to year.

The Name Game
Think carefully about the name, or names, that are publicized through PR. This is sometimes more complicated than it appears. If you aren't crystal clear in communicating the name(s) that you want to see, the results will be muddy. This is another reason to think carefully before embarking on your PR campaign. Some companies have multiple names. While everyone internally understands the distinctions, external audiences can be perplexed over what appear to be confusing contradictions. In these cases, decisions should be reached on which name(s) will become known to the general public.

On the other hand, a smaller organization, such as an attorney or financial advisor, may have to decide whether to promote her own name or the practice's name.

There is no right or wrong decision, but a decision should be made prior to beginning the PR work. For example, decide whether the company name or the product name is the moniker you want to become well-known. The right decision is the one that will help you achieve your PR goals. If you don't sort out your name priorities in advance, the media will do this for you. And it's likely they will choose to focus on the name that is less important to you or will use the names interchangeably, leading to fuzzy branding.

Other naming issues arise when you decide which person's name will become known through media coverage. If the same person is the founder and CEO (or president), this may be a non-issue. But if the founder now has turned the reins over to a new CEO or president, the media spokesperson can be either person. Decide who would do a better job at this and best represent the company. Again, don't let ego interfere with this selection.

All three of these suggestions have one thing in common: Think before you act. Make strategic decisions, not decisions grounded in ego, haste or just lack of clarity. PR can be an extremely valuable addition to your marketing arsenal, but only when you take the time to think it through.