Best PR Tools for Small Business Owners (are free)
Sometimes, when I’m driving around Austin, I see people cycling and they have all the fancy gear. Their bikes are top of the line, they are wearing special socks, and their helmets are made for speed. Everything from the top of their head to the tips of their toes looks professional.
But this is a PR blog, so why am I talking about cycling?
The thing with PR is that just like cycling, you don’t have to have all the professional gear to get the benefits.
You just need to hop on a bike and pedal to get some exercise or go see a friend. No fancy gear needed.
The same is true for PR, you just need to get your pitch out there if you want media attention and you don’t have to invest in expensive PR tools to do that.
This is one of the reasons I wholeheartedly believe you can be your own publicist: the best PR tools for small business owners are free. You don’t have to spend a pretty penny to get professional gear and it really doesn’t make sense to invest in PR tools unless you’re going to do it full time. Even as a publicist myself, with access to the fancy PR tools, I still use free resources all the time.
In this blog, I’m going to show you four of my favorite PR tools that are totally free.
PR Tool #1: The Google Suite
Google’s free tools are amazing. I use Google Drive to keep all my PR materials organized. I use Google Docs to draft my pitches. And I use Google Sheets to keep track of my media contacts.
When you create a doc (or any kind of file) with Google’s tools, you can easily share it with your team and edit it together in real time. It makes it so easy to collaborate and keep track of changes.
If you already have Gmail, you’re just a click away from the rest of the Google Suite. But even if you have never used any of these tools before, they’re still free with a (also free) Gmail account.
PR Tool #2: LinkedIn
Out of all the social media outlets, I find LinkedIn to be the most useful for PR.
What you want to do is use their advanced search to find the publication you are targeting. The publication should have a profile on LinkedIn with a section that lists all of their employees.
From here, you can browse through their reporters and find the contacts you need to pitch.
PR Tool #3: Google News
Google News is great because it pulls stories from all types of publications. I go to Google News and search for keywords that make sense for my client’s brand and see what stories pull up. I usually am surprised by just how many publications are out there that I’ve never heard of...even after working in this industry for a decade!
Once I have found a story that is similar to what I want published about my client, I reach out to that publication and reporter.
Another thing you can do with Google News is search for what is being published about your brand.
So easy.
PR Tool #4: ProfNet and HARO
ProfNet and HARO are similar services that help you connect with reporters. The way it works is that a reporter will post about what information they need for a story they are already working on and people like you can respond with that information.
What I like most about these services is that journalists and bloggers are already working on the topic, so your effort is super targeted.
Both of these services have a free and paid version. It’s not totally necessary to pay for it, but if you find the free version useful, the paid one is not too expensive either.
Hopefully you can see that the best PR tools to manage a PR campaign are already at your fingertips. Don’t wait until you can invest in the professional gear. Hop on the bike today!
If you want to learn more about DIY PR, check out my PR Foundations course for small businesses.