5 Time-Saving + Free Digital Tools for PR/Marketing Pros
When doing a million things a minute and trying to stay ahead of the avalanche of news and information overwhelming our streams, feeds and inbox, a few time-saving tricks can be the difference between taking that espresso break and being able to simply power through. Here are five freebies that can help improve workflow and increase efficiency.
Find Creative Commons Images with Compfight
Working on a blog post or presentation and need a creative commons image fast? Forget mining through old image files, or worse, pulling a copyright image from Google — head to Compfight instead. This search engine is a Flickr search tool that allows you to filter by license and serves up related images fast. If you decide to go the stock imagery route, Compfight will show you paid options as well.
Resize hi-res images quickly with Shrink Photos
Did your client send you enormous print-ready images for your web project (again)? Forget opening up Photoshop or putting in a task for your creative team. Just use Shrink Photos. It’s not pretty, but it gets the job done so you can get back to doing yours.
Make your clients flip with Issuu
Working on a new business presentation or looking for an engaging way to share KPI reports with clients? Take your final file and upload it to Issuu for a page-flip, magazine-style experience clients love! This works great for annual reports too, and you can embed the lookbook on your website, Facebook or share it through other social media channels. So savvy!
Add Pinterest to Your Facebook Fan Page
So you have a robust Facebook page, but your Pinterest might as well be collecting dust bunnies. Use Pinvolve to bridge the gap and set up a Pinterest tab on your Facebook page for free — no tech experience required. Send a bit of your Facebook PPC traffic to the tab and watch your Pinterest community grow!
Use your email signature wisely with WiseStamp
Never miss the opportunity to turn an email conversation into a social connection and remove the awkward “hey, if you want, follow me on Twitter” part of the conversation. Use WiseStamp. Awarded the “Best Social Media Gadget” in 2009 from Mashable, this easy plugin allows you to embed images, bold text, italicized text and apply web colors to your email signature, as well as connect 14 different social networks to each email you send. It’s snazzy and smart. Plus, it makes people email you back just to ask, “How did you get that fancy email signature?”
What tools and apps do you use on a daily basis?
Crosby Noricks
Crosby Noricks is the founder of PR Couture . Named one of 25 Essential PR Blogs by PR Web (2011, 2010), PR Couture explores the role of public relations, marketing and social media in the fashion industry. Crosby is also author of "Ready to Launch: The PR Couture Guide to Breaking into Fashion PR."
