As I drove past two petrol stations with signs saying “no diesel” this week I saw the amazing power of public relations in action – proving that what we do is worthwhile and important for businesses.

Journalists and cynics always seem to mention public relations in terms of a “PR stunt” or “PR puff” as if it is somehow a worthless bit of frippery.

In fact the whole point about public relations is that it can inform millions of people very quickly, change their habits and their perception of the world.

Nobody has put an advertisement in any media telling people to fill up their tanks with fuel because there might be a shortage; nobody has sat around planning an integrated marketing campaign aimed at persuading people that really they should fill up their cars early rather than wait until the tank gets low.

There aren’t any buses, 48 sheet posters, television advertisements, mouse mats, leaflets or text messages telling people that fuel is running out.

What there has been are stories in the mainstream media and we have all seen for ourselves how quickly the public will change their habits and more importantly for businesses: buy something.

The fuel crisis is purely a public relations driven event. It shows that the Government do not fully understand the awesome power of this tool that we at Empica use every day for our clients.

I’m sure that in the next few weeks there will be lots of people popping up rambling on about the role of social networking in the crisis. But I parked up after passing those fuel stations and checked Twitter – Justin Bieber was mentioned twice in the UK trending topics but there was no mention of fuel.

I’m sure that some people saw things on social sites that played a part in persuading them to change their habits and buy fuel early – even queueing for something that is not yet in short supply. But really it was just another media and the real power was not in the delivery of the message but in the message itself.

So whether you bought fuel because you saw something in a newspaper, heard it on the radio, saw it on the TV, chatted to a mate at work or saw it on Facebook it was the story that grabbed you and that is PR and media relations at its most powerful.

Now I can reveal that public relations is soon going to be in short supply. We at Empica have limited stocks so you need to buy it now – and lots of it – pay in advance if you possibly can to secure your future supplies. Panic now!

Public relations has been named in an American survey as one of the top 10 jobs to have – but has also come seventh in a list of the most stressful.

In some ways the two things go together. A really good job has to have an element of excitement and the down-side of excitement can be stress.

Public relations can be incredibly rewarding getting great results for clients and it can be pretty stressful – especially if, like us, you are in the media relations business and find yourself being barked at by journalists.

My encounter with a freelance following up a story for the People recently was not something you would wish on your worst enemy. Sunday tabloids are obviously looking for the sensational and this particular journalist bowled every difficult question he could think of at me one after the other, without hardly pausing for breath.

Attempts to explain that I may have to check the facts on one or two of his questions were met with a degree of cynicism. Apparently I should know everything about everything all the time. I wish I did.

Thankfully he calmed down eventually and the information he required was given to him – along with a realisation that the story he was chasing was not exactly how it seemed.

The adrenalin from the stressful encounter was exactly what makes PR one of the best jobs in the world – together with the fact that you never know who you will be chatting to next and where you will be.

Besides journalists and broadcasters I have this week been talking to a coach tour operator, a baker, a property agent, an accountant, the world’s first test-tube baby, a firework specialist, a publisher, a care home operator, a paramedic, an accountant and a person that runs an alcohol abuse rehabilitation unit.

What other job gives you the chance to see such a cross-section of life in just a few days.

I often hear people say “It’s just a PR exercise”, implying that our noble profession of telling people what is going on is somehow worthless!

Agreed there is a lot of PR puffery about but there is equally a lot of brilliant work that makes a real difference to the world. Cutting back on public relations in these tough times is easy but could have consequences.

The British Heart Foundation campaign with Vinnie Jones starring in a television advertisement showing people how to carry out CPR to the Bee Gees tune of “Staying Alive” was my favourite piece of quality marketing in January.

But it was the public relations element of the campaign that I noticed. I did see the advertisement once on television but by then I was very familiar with it having read about it in the newspapers, seen it on BBC Breakfast television and heard it talked about endlessly on the radio.

It was a PR campaign that can genuinely save lives and shows the power of what we do.

Locally campaigners are hitting out at North Somerset Council after a death of a pedestrian was put down to the fact that they have saved money by switching off street lights in the early hours.

The campaigners have many valid points and certainly the issue needs to be carefully considered. But some have criticised the council’s regular magazine to residents saying it is an example of a waste of money and “just PR”.

But the magazine contains vital information that can also save lives around the patch. Scrapping the magazine could have an effect on the lives of the most vulnerable in the district.

People need to be informed and at least some of the things that PR agencies and PR departments produce is vital to our lives.

Every day we are bombarded with stories from the media. They crop up on breakfast TV, shout at us from websites, drone out of the radio and the faces of those we meet!

Stories are the heart of what makes public relations work. At Empica we believe our core skill is finding the story in the things that our clients do that perfectly illustrates the message they want to get across to an audience.

Then it is a question of making that story interesting and placing it somewhere that people will see it. If possible we then want something magical to happen – we want the people who we have told that story to pass it on to others.

It is having that skill of knowing what sort of stories people will tell others that can lift an average bit of PR into achieving great things.

One tip is to look at the BBC website section that shows what stories are the most shared – rather than looking at what the BBC journalists have decided are the most worthy and exciting.

Often these are not one and the same. As I write this the big story of the day is the Government’s plans for a ?33 billion High Speed Rail network. There is no doubt this is a brilliant story featuring a huge amount of cash and with relevance to just about everyone in the country – after all transport is vital.

But in the “most shared” ranking this story has interested less people than one about two kittens in Hampshire that have been found with 18 extra toes between them. It says something about people – but it also says something about what makes a story.

If you have a kitten with extra toes we can get you national publicity!

We never like to miss an opportunity to get publicity for the businesses we work for – but the festive period is one of the trickiest for getting the tone right.

The combination of family celebration, religious festival, consumerism and people just wanting a rest at the end of the year means that publicity stunts and hard sells are often the last thing that people want to hear.

Add to that the fact that everyone is at it – thrusting their 2012 desk calendar in your hand, ostentatiously donating to charity and taking people out for a drink and mince pie – and you will be lucky if your publicity stunt is noticed in the noise.

Plus the fact is that everything done before Christmas runs the risk of being forgotten during the week of turkey, tinsel, TV specials and Tia Maria!

So our PR advice is send off your corporate branded Christmas card – or like Empica make it an e-mail and a donation to a worthy cause; make sure you show your best customers you remember them at this busy time.

Put on some staff event that thanks everyone for the year and celebrates the festive period.

Then start planning the way you are going to gain publicity in the New Year with a well-targeted campaign aimed at your customers – whether they are the public or businesses – once they return in January.

Merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year!

There seems to be a networking opportunity every day in business these days and nobody can deny that spending some time with other business people is likely to lead to you doing more business.

I’m not a great fan of the formal networking organisations. I’ve never been shy or found myself as a wallflower at an event so their techniques to get people talking are more useful to others than to me.

I’m also not backwards in trying to sell my services to others so the pressurised methods of ensuring people swap leads with each other seem just a little too forced for my liking.

In fact rather than networking I think people should be volunteering. It has the same effect on business but the emphasis is on giving rather than receiving.

Volunteer to get involved in an organisation and put something into it and pretty soon you will find that others involved in that organisation are willing to give you the time of day – and maybe buy something from you.

Going with the attitude that you are a volunteer, with something to contribute, is far less passive than going with the attitude that you are going to “network” in the hope that some benefit will come your way.

Of course the key thing is to pick the right organisation to which to offer your volunteer services. It could be a trade association; something that your clients are interested in; a big project in your town or city or even a charitable cause.

Pretty soon volunteering becomes a way of networking. But networking with a purpose.

Our regional newspaper has just had a makeover. The Bristol Evening Post has gone for an exciting new colour scheme and sections with headings such as “24 hours” “focus” and “highlights”.

It was a much-needed revamp and it has made us look again at the newspaper and its content. OK the headings could have read “news” “features” and “entertainment” but print media has to do something to attract a second-look in these internet-dominated days.

In fact changing the look of something can have a great effect. From time to time I buy a shirt that’s too big for me just so that I can enjoy a couple of weeks of people saying: “you?ve lost weight” without having to work hard at the gym!

Perception is reality and if people think you have changed?- then you have changed. It is a key lesson for products and businesses.

If your product and service looks the same all the time then soon it will become part of the background and you are missing a PR trick.

Make changes and shout about them. Of course changes for the better are always preferred. It may mean a change to packaging, the website, the way you do things or the introduction of a new service.

Changes are also an ideal catalyst around which you can build your public relations campaign.

It seems incredible that 10 years have passed since the world-shattering events in New York unfolded before our eyes.

Unsurprisingly the anniversary of the fall of the World Trade Centre has been high on the news agenda and it brings into sharp focus what shapes the decision-making of news editors on what should or shouldn’t be published as news.

It also demonstrates the public relations power of the landmark anniversary. At Empica we have been involved in promoting many anniversary events. They are important milestones that will always grab the attention of the media and the public.

At there best they can be used to reflect on progress made – some of the most fascinating news stories over 9/11 have been about the work going on to transform Ground Zero into a fitting memorial and a lively thriving part of New York in defiance of the terrorists.

Anniversaries are also a good time to look back and reflect on the original events with hindsight. With organisations this is often a chance to re-evaluate why things were created and how changes have been made to them since. With 9/11 it is a chance to look again at what happened on the day – hail the heroes and learn whatever lessons can be learned for the future.

Marking anniversaries also provide a chance to look forward to the future, set new goals and make promises about intentions for change within an organisation.

Do not miss the publicity opportunities that come from the anniversaries of your business or organisation. Plan them well in advance and you will find they are a fantastic hook for gaining media coverage and educating the public about your product or service.