pr toolsPublic relations professionals face many challenges in their day to day roles. In addition to multitasking daily projects, PR pros need to stay on top of the latest news about their industries and clients as well as advances in technology.

We recently wrote about social media tools that brands should be using for effective social media monitoring, listening and interaction. Here are a few PR productivity tools from PR Daily to add to your PR toolkit that are designed to make you work smarter, not harder.

  • Muck Rack Pro – the paid version of Muck Rack connects journalists and sources online. You can receive alerts, organize media lists, send PR pitches, search for journalists and more.
  • Scripted – this online services matches freelance writers to businesses needing copywriting for various content projects like web site copy, white papers, blog posts and more.
  • Boomerang offers free online event management and registration software. Too busy to do it yourself? They also have staff onhand if you need to outsource digital marketing efforts such as email and social media marketing.
  • Dropbox for iPhone – centrally manage your important files and view, upload and share documents, images and media easily and quickly.
  • Rapportive adds a fuller profile of your contacts right inside your inbox. See their picture, contact information and social network handles within your email. And even better, it’s free. I use Rapportive and it’s a really handy tool – like having CRM inside my Gmail.

Some other tried and true public relations resources and tools include:

  • Help A Reporter Out, a free email newsletter that lists journalist queries by topic looking for sources.
  • Fiverr marketplace connects you with a services professional for low cost (starting at $5.00) graphics & design, online marketing, writing & translation, video & animation, music & audio, programming & tech, research and many more online services including fun & bizarre topics.
  • Cision’s EdCals Tool – A free search tool for editorial calendar topics so you won’t miss out on topics related to your business.
  • MailChimp – A free online email marketing service. Design snappy email newsletters for your company and your clients – no IT knowledge required. Service is free up to 2,000 contacts then there is a paid structure by volume.
  • Feedly – Stay on top of industry trends and client & competitor news with this RSS feed reader. Scan the daily headlines while you sip your morning cup of coffee.
  • PicMonkey is an excellent, free online photo editing site. Add text, use filters and create graphics with impact without the headache of Photoshop.
  • Piktochart – Design easy infographics online and share with the world, no design experience required.
  • Powtoon – Create animated videos and presentations with this free business presentation software.
  • Red Stamp – Modern correspondence in a digital world. Send thank you notes and postcards from your iPhone on the fly. They will even mail them for you.
  • Shoeboxed – Scan your travel receipts and submit digital data painlessly with this online service. Free and paid subscriptions.
  • Tweak Your Biz Title Generator – When you need to come up with a snazzy blog post or article headline, this is your bookmark.

What are your favorite PR tools that you can’t live without?

Image courtesy of Dan / FreeDigitalPhotos.net