Remember last January, when you wrote that PR plan that outlined all you wanted to accomplish this year in one place? Have you looked at it since then? If you haven’t, and even if you have, pull it out and see how your achievements measured up. You still have time to hit a few benchmarks that might have fallen off your radar, so consider some remedial work. Here are some questions to have in mind as you start the process:
- Have your goals changed since you wrote the plan in January? This should be a key consideration.
- Did you place emphasis on one aspect of your PR program in your planning, only to see something else become much more important? A good comparison between your plan and what actually happened can go a long way.
Although you’re probably knee-deep in budgeting for next year right now (and, if you haven’t read these posts on budgeting, go take a look), start building your plan for your law firm’s public relations strategy in 2012 now. Once you’ve taken the time to prepare a bit and consider what you learned and discovered from your 2011 PR efforts, the ideas will flow naturally. This preparation will help you create a PR plan for 2012 that will better meet your goals.
Oh, and while you’re at it, set up reminders for March 15, June 15, September 15 and December 15 of next year to review 2012’s plan as you go along. If at this time next year, you again haven’t looked it over to check on achievements since January, you and I will have to have a chat. A nice, loooong chat.