You Received Some Great PR, Now What?

Image savvy business owners work very hard and sometimes pay a lot of money to get positive press in the aviation industry. However, after you receive a great story in the media, look for ways to leverage the coverage to maximize its benefit.

In addition to flying, I love to sail and was once featured in the Profits & Passions section of the Westchester County Business Journal. It was a great opportunity to build awareness of my business through my hobby – but I didn’t let it stop there.

Start Spreading The News

I added a synopsis of the article to my email newsletter and sent it to everyone in my email database: friends, colleagues, clients, vendors, even though directly removed from the aviation industry I serve.

You would be amazed at the conversations it sparked, even among my pilot friends, and the connections that ensued. That’s just one way to leverage your press. Here are some other ideas to get the most out of your PR coverage:

1. Create a sell-sheet to mail to your prospects and customers.
2. Put a copy of your press coverage and any photos on your website.
3. Refer to the story in your blogs and on social media sites. Put links to the story on your website.
4. Create a “Media & Press” section in your website. Include links to newspapers, TV, or radio stations in your market or industry. Include photographs, videos and podcasts as well.

Recycle and Refresh!

Don’t be afraid to recycle your press coverage; the more your name is out there, the more apt it is to be fresh in the minds of prospective clients, vendors, and future employees.

The bottom line is, don’t let the public relations end with the story. Use it again and again in any number of ways to get the word out on your business, product, service or event. Click here to see PDF of Profits & Passion article.

Deirdre N. McCloskey, author of Bourgeois Dignity.

In these tough economic times there has been much discussion of how to get the economy moving again: TARP, QE2, Keynesian Economics versus Supply Side Economics. Historically, however, Government is not what drives economic growth – innovation driven by intrepid entrepreneurship is the real engine.

National Review columnist Rich Lowry recently wrote an excellent article on this subject based on the book Bourgeois Dignity by Deirdre N. McCloskey, in which, she writes,

“In 1800 the average human consumed and expected her children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren to go on consuming a mere $3 a day. With their $3 a day the average denizen of the earth got a few pounds of potatoes, a little milk, an occasional scrap of meat.” The only people who enjoy more that a $3 a day existences were the few Lords and Earls of nobility, or the Bishops and Cardinals of the church – it had been this way for all of recorded history – in short, “all the world was Bangladesh.”

Literacy and life expectancy are rising – liberty is spreading and tyranny is retreating

National Review columnist Rich Lowry expands on this excellent observation. “Then something happened that changed everything and even though the world has more than 6.5 billion more people than it did two centuries ago, starvation worldwide is at an all-time low and falling – literacy and life expectancy are at all-time highs, and rising – liberty is spreading and tyranny is retreating.

How did this happen? According to author Deidre McCloskey and expounded by Lowry, it wasn’t foreign trade (too small), it wasn’t imperialism (it didn’t enrich the ruled countries), it wasn’t the establishment of property rights (they had existed before), and it wasn’t the Protestant work ethic (hard work wasn’t new).

It was simply a new attitude toward wealth and its creation. McCloskey calls it the “Bourgeois Revaluation.” Her basic argument is that the world developed a new respect for the bourgeoisie – the creators of wealth. It afforded the shopkeeper the dignity that he had always been denied because he wasn’t a lord, a military officer, or a priest.

It began roughly 200 years ago in Holland and Britain. Combining this new dignity with liberty led to the amazing run-up in the world’s wealth over the last two centuries in contrast to what had been relative stasis throughout the rest of human history.

Innovation is the driver of wealth – the ceaseless search for the new, the better, the cheaper.

In McCloskey’s view, many attribute this success to “capitalism,” but she argues the word is insufficient, because the mere accumulation of capital is not enough to bring about prosperity. Many kings and queens accumulated tremendous wealth, but there was no rising prosperity for their subjects, and no economic miracle ensued.

It’s innovation that’s the driver of wealth, entrepreneurial “alertness,” the ceaseless search for the new, the better, the cheaper.

While our nation struggles with 9.8 percent unemployment and the Congress and President posture to special interests that pursue anti-innovation trade and regulatory policies to protect the status-quo, Lowry and McCloskey reason that the basic recipe for economic recovery is simple, if not necessarily easy:

Celebrate, reward, and create the conditions for entrepreneurial innovation.

Low-cost marketing tips that will keep your charter company flying

The economy has been in a slump for some time, and while there are signs of improvement, the recovery is not here quite yet. Unfortunately, aviation has taken a disproportionate hit during these tough times, undeservedly positioned by the media as a prime example of corporate excess. Automobile executives flying corporate jets to Senate hearings only added fuel to the fire, and flamed an anti-aviation agenda in the news media.

Even those not hard hit by the economic downturn feel it is bad taste to flaunt their wealth. For example, a neighbor is installing a luxury pool in their backyard, but won’t allow the contractor to place a lawn sign advertising the pool company so as not to draw attention to this display of wealth.

Aircraft Charter Especially Susceptible in Tough Times

In good economic times, wealth expands, allowing for discretionary dollars to flow towards activities like private jet travel. During a recession, the opposite occurs, and businesses look to cut costs. They limit air travel in general and air charter in particular. Because an air charter company’s aircraft and infrastructure costs remain fixed despite the economic climate, an extended downturn can have a major impact on the company’s ability to sustain itself resulting with a number of high profile companies like JetDirect going bankrupt.

Smart Marketing Can Help Your Air Charter Company Get Through Tough Economic Times

In a down economy, aircraft charter companies that are able to maintain – even increase their marketing and sales efforts, through a smart, low-cost marketing program – will be best able to weather the downturn and emerge even stronger when the economy eventually improves.

Aircraft Charter Recession Strategy

PART I: Utilize cost-effective marketing tools

The first part of the air charter recession strategy is to utilize low-cost marketing tools that can have an immediate impact in generating sales. Look no further than your website.

1. How easy is it to book a flight or request a quote from your website? Many air charter websites have the ability to request a quote right from the homepage. Prospective customers may visit two or three websites. The one easiest to use, wins the business.
2. Is your website optimized for search engines? Will a prospective customer find you via a Google, Yahoo, or Bing search for air charter in your particular city? If you type “aircraft charter (your city)” into Google and your website does not appear in the first three pages, then you are at a definite disadvantage to those competitors that appear higher in the search ranking.
3. Are you active in industry groups that serve aviation as well as industries that use air charter services? Networking is still a great, low-cost way to meet new customers and build a network of associates who can refer business to you.
4. Are you getting your story out to the press on a consistent and frequent basis? An on-going public relations campaign is another relatively low-cost, but effective way to build awareness for your air charter business with prospective new customers.

PART II: New Opportunities Exist, Find Them!

Lady Gaga would find charter more comfortable in her crazy costumes

The second part of our Air Charter Recession Strategy is to be on the lookout for new opportunities – even when business turns south.

1. Corporations that have closed flight departments. Many of the aforementioned automakers have sold off their corporate jets, and closed or reduced their flight departments. However, these high-level business executives will prefer not to fly commercial if a practical charter alternative is made known to them.

2. Individuals who have sold their private jets. Like those celebrities that have traded Humvees for a Tesla, owning a private jet these days is considered much too bourgeois. But Lady Gaga must travel, and she’s not going to feel comfortable in one of her crazy outfits, even if she flies first-class.

3. Companies sending teams of people on location. Any company that needs to send a team of employees to service a client’s needs on location is going to find air charter an attractive and cost effective alternative to commercial air travel. Research engineering and consulting firms or other industries that need to transport teams of staff to the same locale. Reach out to them and show them how a private charter flying direct to their destination can provide considerable savings in cost and time.

4. Companies doing business in locations not served by major airports. If a business executive needs to book connecting flights into regional, rural or secondary airports, the cost for commercial flying rises dramatically. Educate these companies about the savings air charter can provide in terms of money and time when travelling to regions not served by major airlines.

The elimination of the “taxi to” phrase will apply only to departing aircraft. Arriving aircraft will still hear the phrase “taxi to” when instructed to taxi to the gate or ramp. However, controllers in these situations still will be required to issue specific crossing instructions for each runway encountered on the taxi route. For more information on the change, refer to FAA Order N JO 7110.528, which can be found at: http://www.faa.gov/documentLibrary/media/Notice/N7110.528.pdf.

One interesting business travel alternative was recently introduced by Panorama Flight Service, a mid-sized charter firm located at Westchester County Airport just outside New York City. The new program, Your Flight Department (YFD), is essentially your own, private mini airline ready to fly at your convenience, 24/7, whenever and wherever you need to fly.

With YFD, a fast, high-performance aircraft with experienced, certified pilots are assigned exclusively to you. Designed to accommodate up to three passengers, YFD will transport you and your team anywhere within a 600 mile radius in less than 3 hours. The best news is that the service is surprisingly affordable, significantly less than flying first class, and without the hassle of flying commercial — no traffic delay driving to the airport, no waiting at the terminal, no security hassles, no connecting flights. It is simply parking lot to runway: 20 minutes tops — and, yes, you can keep your shoes on!

This personal flight service is not exclusively for the Fortune 500 CEO; the program offers significant tax advantages, which drops the cost down for small business owners and executives who travel frequently. With YFD, your time becomes more productive with added flexibility and convenience in travel arrangements.

With the YFD, Panorama handles all aircraft management and staffing. All you do is call and let them know where and when you want to go; your aircraft and pilot will be waiting on the ramp.  There you have it: your own mini airline for less than flying commercial.

Panorama is clearly on to something. With commercial air travel becoming one big headache, smart aviation executives are providing cost-effective travel alternatives to the big airlines. Hey, just the savings on aspirin alone makes the program worthwhile.

Listen to a podcast on this topic Your Flight Department (YFD)