PR 2.0 Tools & Resources – MyPRGenie

There are so many new, great PR 2.0 tools and resources that deserve recognition.  Today’s blog post focuses on MyPRgenie (www.myprgenie.com), which touts itself as a public relations delivery platform for the 21^st century. Whenever I come across a service that I find interesting for PR professionals, I always ask my PR team to evaluate the offering.  Here are a couple of uncensored reviews of the MyPRgenie delivery platform:

Jacqueline Dodd, PR account executive

MyPRGenie is yet another web-based tool on its way to revolutionizing the already evolving PR industry.  PR professionals currently use a multitude of different technologies and tools that support their clients’ growing needs: list building, wire services, email blasts, media queries (HARO), the list is endless and the process can often be time consuming. Not to mention, the costs incurred from utilizing several different tools can certainly burn through your budget.

In addition, as PR pros we are also constantly perusing the social media landscape to develop and nurture relationships, share industry news and innovative strategies among other types of content.

MyPRGenie is centralizing the above mentioned into one platform.  Build media lists, submit press releases, receive expert queries, publicize events, and receive real time tracking and reporting on PR efforts. The ability to execute PR campaigns, develop relationships with members of the media community, and monitor results from a single dashboard makes MyPRGenie is an asset to the industry.

Greg Padley, Sr. Account Manager

MyPRGenie is a great new online PR tool that combines traditional publicity means (such as a distribution service and a searchable media database) with a slew of Web 2.0 functionality and puts it all in one place, controlled by an intuitive dashboard.

After signing up, you create a profile for yourself and your company or client/s. Each profile page contains as much info (copy, images, videos, etc.) as you’d like to upload. Then, you build your list and send out your releases via MyPRGenie.

The 500,000+ media contacts in the Genie’s database can be selected by a number of variables allowing you to target your pitches to the right contacts. You can also upload your own contact list or select from the Genie’s pre-made media contact lists. For large in-house departments or
agencies, your lists can be shared easily with other registered users.

All of your company’s or client’s uploaded info is there on PR Genie for the media to access at their convenience. It’s sort of like an online media center housing all of your assets but it connects you right to your media lists, sources of information and Web 2.0 functionality.

Similar to LinkedIn’s Q&A, a community area lets users post questions and invitations for each other to participate. And like Help A Reporter Out (HARO), where editors and producers post their immediate needs for PR pros, the Genie has a searchable database of requests in an area called “Expert Query.”

One complaint (and it’s more about the marketing of MyPRGenie than a real complaint), is that the Genie website compares itself to FaceBook, LinkedIn and Xing. In my opinion these are not really competitors for this tool. Sure, they do all share certain aspects but I’d rather see a comparison to HARO, Cison and Pitch Engine.

One of my favorite things about the Internet is tracking. With MyPRGenie, you can track each of your releases. Find out how many visitors each one gets. Check how many ‘views’ your client’s or company’s profile has received. You can also get a report showing online coverage of your release (when sent via PR Newswire service via PRGenie) within hours after it was sent live.

So, if I rubbed the magic bottle and My PR Genie appeared to grant me my three wishes, they would be…

Provide a way for users to connect with LinkedIn and Face Book contacts so they can be integrated in this platform.

Let users grab some code from PR Genie than can be set into their company or client website newsroom. The code would pick up releases directly from the Genie so the time spent updating a News Release webpage after a release gets distributed can be used more effectively.

Don’t tell my boss that since this is an Internet tool I can work anytime from anywhere (as long as I have an Internet connection and browser)….

Thanks to Jacqueline and Greg…there you have it, two good reviews and one happy boss, who loves the fact that the PR person’s job is made easier with PR 2.0 resources!