PR can be a powerful tool to establish credibility, garner good will in the community and attract new business. Yet, too often organizations don’t show enthusiasm or interest for their own product or service. It brings to mind that classic line from the movie Jerry McGuire, “Help me help you!”

If you’re going to (wisely) invest valuable marketing dollars and hire PR professionals, make the most of your funds by learning how to be a “smart” client. Smart clients – those who get bang for their buck – are actively engaged in the public relations process.

The following characteristics will help you become a smart client and have positive results to show for it:

Assist your PR team in learning your business.

No one knows more about your organization than you. Take the time to educate your public relations team on your product, growth plans, target audiences and industry sector. Even if your PR pro has worked in that sector before, every organization is unique with its own story to tell.

Pass along trade magazines relevant to your industry sector.

There are literally thousands of industry specific magazines and e-newsletters available, and the number continues to grow (the Internet’s cost-effectiveness has enabled online publications to flourish). Don’t assume your PR person knows that a trade publication important to your organization even exists. In today’s day and age, there are just too many to keep track of unless they directly affect your business.

Be responsive to requests for information.

It’s flabbergasting to work with a client that asks for help promoting an item, idea or service, but doesn’t respond to requests for information about the topic. It’s this simple: a good PR consultant knows how to use the media and other outlets to help tell a story, but they need ammunition to do so.

Most clients have a wealth of information at their fingertips. Take a moment to jot down a few notes, pick up the phone or send an email to your PR person so they can learn about a particular topic and determine how to best position your organization for maximum visibility.

Show enthusiasm about your organization or project; it’s infectious.

Enthusiasm is contagious, inspirational and empowers your PR team to share your vision with key audiences. You hired public relations help because you think you have a worthwhile product or service. So, “pitch” your story to your PR people as if they were a potential customer or investor. This will enable your team to show a similar level of enthusiasm when pitching the story to reporters and other target audiences.

Let your PR team review your letters, sales pitches, collateral and web copy before it’s made public.

Public relations professionals specialize in copywriting. Take advantage of their expertise to ensure your organization has consistent, concise, grammatically correct, jargon-free and compelling content.

Remember to share information about your organization’s internal events and milestones.

You never know when a seemingly routine internal development might be newsworthy. A good public relations pro is always looking for ways to link your organization’s milestones or anomalies to current events – one of the most effective ways to get a reporter’s attention.

Realize that good PR is about building relationships. This takes time, patience and persistence.

Again, it comes down to a candid and constant flow of communication between you and your public relations team. Set up weekly conference calls, share information via email and meet in person periodically. The more your PR professionals understand your core business, the better job they’ll do in helping to showcase your organization with reporters and other influential audiences.

A pyramid never allows anyone coming in on the bottom to ever reach the top. Everyone pays some sort of association fee, works together under a team just to receives the same gift. In a pyramid, only those at the top profit. In a pyramid, your team members encourage you to attend meetings, conference calls, and annoy those you love to get the sale.

Giving private gifts to one another is an expression of kindness, which has been going on for centuries. Governments have allowed its practice for individuals to share their wealth with families, friends and others. It has been a means of helping and blessing others on special occasions or when the need arises.

Churches, civic groups and people from around the world have participated in organized gifting for over 300 years. Laws state that it is legal for individuals to exchange gifts. In the United States we have the Preamble, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights to protect a private citizen’s rights to earn, pay taxes and give away property and cash as long as it is done according to the laws and codes of this country.

The law states that one or more individuals can give a gift to another individual of up to $11,000 each per calendar year without any tax liability to either the giver or receiver of the gift, because the tax on the gift has already been paid.