In the last post, we discussed the importance of beginning any planning with business goals.

One option is to find the page in your company's strategic plan, copy those goals into the plan, and write the plan. This works.

A better option is to understand the business goals in depth. I recommend that you answer the following four questions and then schedule some time with your CEO and other leaders to hear their answers. The

We usually hear two responses when asking CEOs or other senior executives why they need PR.

The first sounds something like, "Our company need to be more visible." We'll call this Door No. 1.

The second sounds something like, "We need media coverage" or "We need to be in social media." This will be Door No. 2.

Neither door is the right place to start in the process.

Behind Door No.

I've been playing with some thoughts about how PR/marketing/communications is evolving.

The purpose of marketing is still the same: help organizations achieve desired results. Too often we forget this one, but the CEO never does. So, results are one end of the marketing continuum.

The other end of that continuum is distribution -- the many ways we reach clients and prospects. This is where most of the change is happening.