Fiercely combative business, non-profit and association managers use every PR weapon they can lay their hands on. Which means they employ strategic, rapid-fire print and broadcast tactics every day of their business lives.

Still, many realize they need more than that to win the long-range battle. Fact is, they need a public relations budget that can deliver results far beyond publicity tactics.

The fierce and the smart know they need real behavior change among their most important outside audiences that leads directly to achieving their managerial objectives.

So they make sure they persuade those key outside folks with the greatest impacts on their organizations to their way of thinking, then move them to take actions that help their department, division or subsidiary succeed.

The really fierce use a public relations blueprint something like this one: People act on their own perception of the facts before them, which leads to predictable behaviors about which something can be done. When we create, change or reinforce that opinion by reaching, persuading and moving-to-desired-action the very people whose behaviors affect the organization the most, the public relations mission is accomplished.

If that