Help A Reporter Out
 HARO
Image via HARO

Help a Reporter Out (HARO) is a service represented by Cision. HARO is one of the most popular sourcing services that connects journalists with expert sources in order to meet deadlines while enabling brands to tell their stories. An email of about 40 queries is sent to subscribers three times a day: in the morning (5:45 am), afternoon (12:35pm), and evening (5:45 pm). HARO is used by media outlets including Time Magazine, The New York Times, Mashable, Reuters, The Wall Street Journal, and more.

For PR Pros, using HARO can lead to a substantial return for a minimal time investment. These journalists are on a deadline and are looking for quick, useful information, so get relevant information to them fast and you have a good chance of being included in their piece. But don’t forget to follow the rules for sources or else you can get kicked out of your subscription.

To sign up for HARO, click here.

Rapportive
Rapportive
Image via Rapportive

 

Rapportive helps you get to know those that you are emailing as more than just a name in your inbox. This free plugin is available with the Chrome browser that is added to your Gmail account. It provides information on your contacts including a photo, company, job title, social media accounts and more. Need further information on your contact? Rapportive provides a button to directly connect with your contact on LinkedIn (provided that the email is associated with their account).

This plugin makes the lives of PR Pros easier in terms of cold pitching. Many times, all we have is a name and an email. Rapportive adds context to the conversation that helps build relationships. Unsure if the email you have is for the correct person? Rapportive is a good start for the investigation.

Click here to install Rapportive to your Gmail.

Google Alerts
Google Alerts
Image via Google

Google Alerts are an easy, free way to aid in monitoring your reputation. This Google application sends email alerts daily on any topic of your choice. All you need is a Gmail to start.

If you’re a PR Pro, considering setting up the following results:

  • Your name: A basic approach is creating an alert for your client’s name, company, product, etc.
  • Links: Creating an alert with your website link will show you who is linking back to your site
  • Competition: Know what your competitors are up to by setting up an alert with their name and/or website link

To get the most out of Google Alerts, follow these tips:

  • Use quotation marks (“ “) around the search query to improve accuracy and to ensure the search results only contain the phrase, rather than results of the words separately. This is especially important with names.

Example: “Jane Doe”

  • Use a minus sign (-) to exclude terms that are irrelevant to your search query. If you have the same name as a famous basketball player and you don’t want those results to come up in your results, follow the format of the following example:

Example: “Jane Doe” –basketball

  • Combine a topic and a website link for alerts resulting in that contact only on the specific website

Example: “Jane Doe” site:forbes.com

Click here to set up Google Alerts on your email.

Coyne PR Hotsheet
Coyne PR Hotsheet
Image via Coyne PR

Think your campaign is “HotSheet”? The Coyne PR HotSheet is a weekly recap of the best campaigns, advertisements, promotions, and ideas of the week.

Recognize the name? Coyne PR is the well-known full-service integrated communications agency headquartered in Parsippany, New Jersey, with offices in New York and Los Angeles. Prominent clients include Chrysler, Hard Rock International, The Walt Disney Company, Pfizer, and more.

Each day, Coyne’s team searches all over the web to find the most creative and thought-provoking stories in the industry. For PR Pros, the HotSheet is an easy way of keeping up-to-date with the biggest news in the field, as well as serves as a weekly refresh and burst of inspiration for creative and effective ideas to use in one’s own strategy. You can subscribe to the Coyne PR HotSheet here.

 

Does your company need help with with PR initiatives or reputation management? Contact the professionals at Today’s Business Today!