1 minute read

Simple lessons from Agile for PR Agencies

by Gary Preston

I’ve been re-reading “Getting Real” from the genius team behind basecamp today. Since switching focus from building an agency (propellernet.co.uk) to building a product (coveragebook.com) I must have read it at least 10 times. It’s packed full of wisdom. My favourite page right now is about the value of ideas vs execution from the point […]

3 minute read

PR teams. 3 ways to measure your impact using free Google Data

by Gary Preston

1. You’re a world class link builder. And you probably don’t even know it. Getting a brand to appear in Google’s organic search results is big business. Millions of people turn to Google to search for their next loan, dress, luxury holiday, car, wedding dress…the list is endless. Most have not yet made a brand […]

2 minute read

Beginners guide to Google Analytics for PR Teams

by Gary Preston

So many PR measurement gurus talk about the benefits of Google Analytics. Very few actually share any plain english advice. That’s a shame as whilst an amazing tool it’s a bit of a beast to get your head around. Once you do you can measure how well you’re doing. Or not. Which of course is […]

2 minute read

Using Google Suggest to read the minds of your target customers

by Gary Preston

Google provides lots of tools to help public relations planning. Google Suggest allows you to read the minds of your audiences or publics. Almost. Google search is a wonderful thing. You’d never ask your facebook friends.. But ask Google and you know it’s private and they’ll connect you to a good answer from somewhere. The […]

1 minute read

Juicy free PR Coverage Tracking: cooking time 3 mins

by Gary Preston

Today we’ll be cooking a delicious IFTTT Recipe with a dash of sweet Google Alerts. You know Google Alerts is a great free way to keep on top of your online coverage. Especially when you can’t afford one of those fancy paid tracking tools. But copying & pasting email alerts into a spreadsheet coverage tracker is mind numbingly […]

2 minute read

PR Reporting startup CoverageBook raises $2 million from large group of angel investors to fund existing & new products

by Gary Preston

CoverageBook, a dedicated reporting SaaS tool for public relations, has announced a funding round of $2 million from a large group of over 1,500 angel investors. With new investors coming on board every day. Instead of equity these investors — commonly referred to as “customers” — are given access to the software product each month. This revolutionary […]

1 minute read

PR teams: How to give better estimated view metrics for your online PR Coverage

by Gary Preston

Everybody includes those big OTS, Estimated Visitor numbers next to their coverage. You know the ones. my guardian coverage:theguardian.com/my-client-is-going-to-love-this OTS = 150 million (using a tool like similarweb to get traffic estimates — http://www.similarweb.com/website/theguardian.com ) How many times has a client laughed in your face for reporting a number like this? I’m guessing they don’t. Which is […]

2 minute read

Why don’t PR Teams use CRM tools to keep tabs on their influencer relations work?! Is Excel really that good?

by Gary Preston

It turns out the experts in cultivating relationships have in the main opted out of super-charging their skills with a little help from technology. Does this sound familiar? You:“Where is that big list of mummy bloggers you made for client x again Sarah?…” Sarah:“I can’t remember….somewhere on the the P,Y,X drive. It’s on the newtwork […]