Hi everyone. Crayton Webb here, Owner and CEO of Sunwest Communications. Thanks for joining us for Two Minutes of Advice from Sunwest. So it’s budget season and you’re in Public Relations, Communications, Social Media, PR, whatever, and you’re trying to justify your budget request for the coming year. It all happens right now. And of course you’re told time and time again by management and executive leadership that you’re a cost center, and not a profit center. So today I want to give you three tips as you budget for your communications programs and initiatives in the coming year.

What company problem can your PR work help fix?

First, how can you ensure that your communications programs align with the corporate goals? What problem are you and your department uniquely positioned to help your company, brand, organization fix. That’s number one.

Media Coverage Wish List

Two: What media coverage in the last year did you get – or not get – that is on the wish list of every member of your executive team? If you got great media coverage, you can make the case that in order to get it again – or something similar – you’re gonna need more resources. If you didn’t get it, you can also make the case that if you have additional resources, you’re gonna have a better chance in the coming year of getting great media coverage – whether that’s earned media, social media, or even owned media that you all might put together.

Anticipating Crises NOW

And third: Crisis. What crises are you anticipating? What reputational issues are you and your company’s brand, your organization, or even your industry anticipating you might face, and how do you ramp up in order to make sure that you’re prepared now while times are good so you don’t have to engage some help at the last minute when you’re in the midst of crisis.

So good luck with budget season and that’s Two Minutes of Advice today from Sunwest Communications.