Basically, we can assist management and/or your internal staff in preparation of all forms of corporate financial information such as annual and quarterly reports (up to turnkey if wished), personal contact with the financial community and setting up meetings for management, analyst/broker meeting reprints, news releases, "active" corporate profiles and four page summary fact sheets, audio visual and multimedia presentations, webcasting, web pages, financial advertising and special shareholder mailings and surveys. We have some expertise in unmasking and reaching institutional beneficial owners and can advise on proxy solicitation coordination. We are adept at increasing the consistency of corporate coverage by trades or the national, regional and local financial media and national or regional investment advisory services, data-bases and financial newsletters. We can show you how to increase the impact of the average teleconference.

We have evolved cost-effective program tactics and techniques based on notable achievements for hundreds of successful corporations whether over-the-counter including Bulletin Board, on the American Stock Exchange or the New York Stock Exchange. An IRC-created annual report won the Financial World Magazine "Best of Industry" award for "financial institutions with $1-10 billion in assets" and another annual report won "Best of Industry" in the construction/machinery market from the National Association of Investment Clubs.

In all these areas we provide the complete package or a portion of it as part of an ongoing program aimed at stated corporate investor relations marketing objectives we help you set. Later, you can measure results against criteria we establish with you at the onset.

Are you truly marketing your company or just going through the motions?

A key thread that runs through all our activities is modern marketing. Our in-depth marketing abilities are brought to bear, complementing our award-winning financial knowledge. The result is an intelligent stock marketing plan - from goals and activities through anticipated results and measurements.

Modern marketing does not mean being overly aggressive or "stock touting." Modern marketing means adequate preparation and forethought, knowing the market and approaching it in the most effective ways to assure long term success. Today's modern marketing also means providing computer-based niche and data-base abilities to take advantage of "targeting," "segmenting," "customer profiles," "repeat business," and "affinity groups." IRC aims to make these concepts work in IR.

In the 90s, IRC's Chairman Sherwood Lee Wallace chaired a seminar for the Financial Communications Section of the Public Relations Society of America on applying modern marketing to IR. Featured speaker was Ann McGill, associate professor of marketing, Kellogg Graduate School of Business, Northwestern University. Ms. McGill also was a consultant to IRC on this subject. By applying modern marketing techniques to IR, IRC aims to excel in creating better marketing follow-up to capitalize on initial investor interest.

This emphasis has been further embodied and embellished in our very popular book "New Dimensions in Investor Relations, Competing for Capital in the 21st Century," published by John Wiley and Sons as part of its Frontiers in Finance series. The book can be ordered at most book stores, on Amazon, through The National Investor Relations Institute or from IRC. It has been one of the top ten best sellers of The National Investor Relations Institute book selling division. Key industry leaders have called it the best book ever written on IR.

While the main thrust of the book continues to be extremely valuable, there is an addition to make. The type of marketing to be applied to IR for small and medium sized companies has changed a bit in the last couple of years. The financial community landscape has changed, as most people are aware. Whereas modern marketing could have been the only type of marketing integrated into a program, recent circumstances require some revision of this position.

Small and medium size companies in general are finding it more difficult to develop support from the professional investment community (truly outstanding IR can make the difference). The structure is there but much of the substance is no longer there. Market makers do not support stocks like they used to and brokerage houses no longer write nearly the number of research reports on small or medium size companies. Indeed, all but the smallest brokerage houses generally discourage their representatives from selling small cap stocks (although some reps, especially larger producers, successfully buck the trend and IRC spots those). Many investors have become do-it-yourselfers through discount brokers who do not guide them toward any investment. These investors are more reachable, though, at a reasonable expense online.

That is why a growing list of orphaned companies are also becoming do-it-your-selfers. Some unfortunately embrace a limited sort of mass marketing conducted by people that could rightfully be called promoters. Companies are paying comparatively exorbitant sums, from $25,000 up to $250,000 a year, to reach 500,000 to 1,000,000 investors through mailings, e-mailings and telemarketing that are nothing more than shrill puffery, and sometimes worse. IRC does not believe in such ostentatious and sometimes one-sided promotion divorced from firm IR principles and goals. A one-or-two-time hit no matter how large is not marketing. Nevertheless, this trend will continue as long as smaller companies are cut off from the mainstream of the financial community and they become desperate to reach more investors.

IRC has been developing additional ways to help these companies integrated within a legitimate IR program. IRC is prepared to dovetail efficient (more affordable) limited mass marketing techniques within its IR programs to reach more investors. We have seen this work. We continue to seek out the most expeditious ways to blend modern marketing with limited mass marketing for better results.

The IR Marketing Program

With all information gathered, IRC then fine tunes an action program for comment and approval. The tailored program encompasses a rationale for its recommendations and appropriate tactics aimed to further your corporate objectives and specific needs in marketing your company. It also includes agreed upon measurement criteria. There are two key pages in the program that break out in great detail each major category of activity including the amount of hours, and how many dollars that represents, that IRC estimates to put in during the first 12 months of the relationship.

Our monthly activity calendars and extremely detailed fee billing statements follow very similar formats so a client can follow the process from one through to the other. In that way, all parties have a very good meeting of the minds as to what is to be done, what is getting done and what are the results of the efforts.

In representing clients there are times when all the activities one normally thinks of can only go so far. There is always some art in IR. For instance, a company that wants its stock to sell at a premium to its peers must have available proactive investor relations representation that has, in the words of one money manager when referring to IRC's services, "...devoured the essence of management (an art)," and can have the experience, talent and judgment (art) to appropriately direct investors' attention beyond the historical financials toward valuable non-financial or "soft" information (art) such as a capable management with a solid strategy and plan. The experienced investor relations professional can address, for example, those real management team and leadership qualities exhibited by the executives. This discussion, coupled with an appropriate strategy and commensurate plans, builds a platform for outstanding successes. In our programs, we provide tailored communications strategies and activities aimed at investors of various types, the business media and shareholders as agreed to prior. We are prepared to implement a full or partial program including the most essential ingredients for success.

The corporate communications included in our services may be aimed at investors, or at times to employees or your surrounding community. Also, at times, our clients face a crisis. In those emergencies, IRC is able to react quickly to assist your crisis plan.