Change is afoot. 2009 is a different kind of year, full of challenges and opportunities. My communications ‘toolkit’ is all about honing skills which allow for quick situational response, minimal investment and sure results—in other words, I am providing more basic public relations services.

Why? Simple. Most of my clients will be looking for ways to do more for less. Public relations can reach key audiences in media, consumers and social networks with highly credible messages. PR can also be often be delivered by a single consultant rather than a costly team. If well executed and prepared to make life easy for editors, PR secures valuable press coverage and also lets publications win with timely, appropriate content for no cost.

2009 is just the right time to come clean and shed some extra print media marketing baggage. Focus on improving delivery of PR materials with online press centers that respond to the editors and publications most requested press kit items—concise backgrounds, direct quotes and a selection of images in several resolutions. A single press center webpage can provide on-demand materials while making it easy for journalists to download materials as needed, rather than finding unwanted attachments crowding their inboxes. Plus, it’s easy to measure success by verifying downloads and hits at a press center webpage.

No surprise that there is a continuing decrease in generalized communication projects lacking strong measurable results. This is a great time for PR to shine and deliver real value and essential services, keeping brands highly visible in press, media and online.