Hi, thank you for submitting your question to Answers.Google, I hope I
can provide the information you are seeking.
A lot of people are constantly struggling to do exactly what you want
only from a slightly different angle ? we?re called reporters.
We are seeking answers while you are seeking to provide answers but
the methods used to accomplish the goals are essentially the same.
There is no one single generic approach, but a set of generic
approaches, or you can view this entire answer as a unified generic
approach.
One strategy is to buy one or more shares of stock, then go to the
annual meeting where many businesses have rules which require them to
listen to you in a public forum.
Another strategy is to search their Web site for contact information
which is related to the area of the business you are making
suggestions about.
For example, you might find one for Google posted at the bottom of
this very screen. I would certainly try that sort of direct contact
first and wait a few days for a reply before moving on to the more
difficult methods.
If they aren't posted pretty obviously, a good way to find these
addresses is to use the Google sitesearch: tool. First find the basic
URL for the company, then go to Google, click on advanced, and enter
the URL in the dialog so your search is restricted to that site. Then
try a few search terms such as ?suggestions.? And see what results you
get. If you are an advanced user, just use sitesearch:www in the main
Google search box.
Yet another way is to simply contact the investor relations department
if it is a public company. Even if you don?t own stock, they will very
likely respond since they are also looking to attract new investors.
You should ask them to both provide you with another contact, and to
forward your idea themselves because anything coming from an insider
will be given priority.
Now for the major tool used by every successful journalist I know.
Simply use the shotgun approach. That is, locate every e-mail address
you can find for the company and fire off a message. It isn?t elegant,
but it works.
Before you try that I would definitely try any published press contacts.
You could also post a request for specific contact information for
each company here in answers.google. I would recommend a very low
price, $2 should be enough for each company.
Finally, the big secret in getting to really big corporations (it
doesn?t generally work with government agencies), is to just write a
personal letter to the CEO/President. I have tried this with success
and also heard of many instances where people have tried this and it
is amazingly successful.
As a last resort where everything else has completely failed, check
the news about the company and find any dissident member of the board,
then go through that person. I?ve tried and had success with all the
other methods I?ve mentioned here except for this last one which is
more of a shot in the dark.
You didn?t ask about the way you might want to protect your idea but I
suspect you know them, for example, place a sealed envelope in your
atty?s safe, or something similar.
Thank you again for turning to Answers.Google for help. Good luck with your ideas. |
