We recently wrote about about how social media and things like Twitter, LinkedIn and other social mediums have and are changing the relationship between PR professionals and journalists and media outlets. If you missed that post, you can read it here (and of course we hope you will) (because it’s good) and also because it contains information and links about chats and PR groups on Twitter that you might find helpful.
Social media, combined with the business community’s growing comfort level with the Internet (God, I love the Internet) (don’t judge me) have led to a lot of very smart people realizing that they can quickly and easily create their own databases, reference guides and sometimes even tools, often for free is, well, pretty awesome. Power to the people.
Peter Shankman and his Help A Reporter Out is a great example of a free online source that is used daily by reporters and writers to find information, experts and sources on things they want to write about and/or when they need quotes. There’s much more to HARO than we’ve mentioned here, and if you’ve not yet nosed around there, we encourage you to do so. In our opinion, HARO is nothing short of brilliant. Thank you Peter.
Another one of our favorite tools created in By the People, For the People mode (there’s that Internet again) is PressWiki. PressWiki is a media database that includes an ever-growing list of entries about reporters and media outlets and their contact information. Bonus!
It’s easy to create an account or edit contact info and the Wiki often includes handy dandy information like Twitter handles, links to past articles and tons of other great info. The database is editable by anyone and contains a wealth of information about news directors, editors, publishers and reporters and is a not only a tremendous resource for PR pros, but for small business owners, too.
We also use paid media distribution services (we’re trying out PRNewswire right now) and have used Cision in the past. One thing that many of our prospective clients have in common is that we find they’re often overlooking the power of PR in their marketing and communications efforts and, when we get involved, we do all we can to try and remedy that if the situation warrants. PR is an important element of just about any integrated marketing effort. Period.
We also love Jason Kintzler and Pitch Engine, which he developed sitting in the mountains of Wyoming. Pitch Engine offers a free option that you can use to test drive the service and, if you do, we’re pretty sure you’ll like it as much as we do. Pitch Engine allows you to create and share press content that includes images, videos and attachments and helps you craft releases that are not only SEO optimized, but which look killer, too. We use Pitch Engine’s paid service and find it well worth the cost, so give it a test drive, but if you like it, consider the benefits of the paid service. Another bonus!
What are other great tools or products have you discovered and/or are experimenting with? We’d love to know some of your secret sauce. And there might be some cupcakes in it for you if you share. Red Velvet. Mmmmmmm.
Photo Credit: The Very Talented Veronica Miramontes
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