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Free Or Nearly Free Public Relations Tools

Written by: Cori Keeton Pope

Article Overview: From story ideas to media tracking, many of the tools used by public relations pros each day are free. Here's an overview of some of the must-haves.

Free Or Nearly Free Public Relations Tools

I was pleasantly surprised when I realized recently that several of the tools I use on a daily basis as a public relations consultant are free, or so inexpensive they may as well be.

Whether you’re a public relations pro or a small business owner trying your hand a getting the word out about your company through PR, here are a few tools that won’t cost a penny – or at least, not very many pennies:

HARO - free. If you’re interested in getting some media attention and you only have one tool in your arsenal, this is it. HARO, which stands for Help A Reporter Out, sends three emails each day chock-full of reporters who are currently on deadline and looking for story sources, complete with contact information. If you’re the source they’re looking for, you could see your name in print as soon as this afternoon.

Google News Alerts – free. A great way to monitor what’s already being said about your company, your competitors, or your industry in the news. Just enter keywords, and Google News will send you emails when those words appear in online news stories. Google provides several free services that are useful to PR types, including Google Trends and Google Reader.

Online AP Style Guide - $25 per year. A dream come true for AP style junkies like me. This puts a constantly updated, searchable AP Stylebook at your fingertips, anywhere you have Internet access. $25 for the year, but so useful you won’t care.

Twitter – free. A great way to stay on top of what’s happening in the news or in your own network, but most useful to PR types because of the instant exposure to the needs of the media. Follow people like @skydiver and @ProfNet for updates about media folks on urgent deadlines and needing story sources immediately.

Video Monitoring Services – varying. A handful of companies are in the business of monitoring television programs nationwide and updating companies about when and where they’ve appeared on t.v. Purchasing the videos costs a small fortune, but for somewhere in the $15 range you can get the closed-captioning text of your segment, as well as total run time, estimated number of viewers who saw it, and what it would cost to purchase the same amount of advertising time. Check out Cision or VMS.

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Article Tags: ap style, ap stylebook, daily basis, google, google trends, junkies, media attention, media folks, monitoring services, pennies, profnet, public relations consultant, skydiver, small business owner, small fortune, story sources, television programs, twitter, urgent deadlines, video monitoring



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