The PR world is changing fast and it’s hard these days to have the right tools to stay on top. In the past, you could set a provision and calculate it as a budget entry that both parties agree is necessary. However, in today’s world that is not enough. Content distribution and other areas have an aspect of technology and analytics that is vital to a company’s success. Ignoring that reality will result in falling behind competitors who use the most current and effective resources available. Below is an updated list of the list I wrote in 2018 that should help you identify some of the best tools to help you navigate and thrive in this new PR world.

1. Knife rack

I’ve known Greg Galant since he started the Shorty Awards, and he’s always been committed to building a solid tool with Muck Rack. With their recent increase to 180 million, and resources behind the company, they are on their way to becoming an all-encompassing PR tool. Muck Rack’s robust capabilities can provide a comprehensive database of journalists, allowing you to search for relevant contacts and access their contact details, social media profiles and recent articles. With this database you can identify the right journalists for your media reach, compile media lists and properly manage your relations with the press.

2. Careful

Prowly is a company I’ve worked with in the past and I was immediately impressed. Through their efforts, they have built a PR and content marketing platform that simplifies PR workflows and improves media relations. Later they were acquired by SEMRush, a well-known SEO tool. The combination of the two should produce solid results by combining search and PR resources together. It offers features for managing media contacts, creating visually appealing press releases, and distributing content.

3. OnePitch

Onepitch is a PR platform that simplifies the media pitching process for PR professionals. Because while pitching is a relatively simple process for journalists, it can be a time consuming process. OnePitch helps users create and send concise and targeted pitches to journalists. Not only does that reduce the time and effort spent on traditional outreach methods, but it can also help achieve a greater success rate thanks to the database of journalists. The database analyzes and displays journalists’ preferences, making it easier to identify the right contacts for specific stories. As an added benefit, the streamlined interface is user-friendly and easy to master.

4. Ineligible

Some PR tools allow you to execute your strategy more efficiently and successfully. Others give you vital, data-driven feedback on whether your strategy is working or not and how you can improve it. Onclusive specializes in the latter. I haven’t worked with Onclusive, but I did use them when they were previously AirPR. It offers advanced analytics and insights to help you understand the reach and impact of your PR campaigns. Onclusive tracks and analyzes media coverage, social media engagement, website traffic, and other key metrics. With these hard numbers you can make better data-driven decisions and assess the value of PR for your organization.

5. PrPropel

PrPropel is a media outreach and relationship management tool designed to streamline your PR efforts. It allows you to find relevant journalists and influencers, pitch stories and manage your media relations all in one place. Propel offers personalized email reach, campaign tracking, and media response management, helping you build strong connections with journalists and maximize your media exposure.

6. Grammarly

While not specifically a PR tool, Grammarly is an essential tool for any PR professional or communicator. Good writing is at the heart of effective PR, and Grammarly helps you improve your writing by checking things like grammar and spelling. It doesn’t just signal glaring errors, either. Grammarly has more refined features, such as highlighting passive voices and identifying ways to make your written voice more active. Since it’s often not cost or time efficient to run every single email and word written through a human editor, Grammarly is a quick way to check before you hit “send.” The extra click or two is worth it. Keeping your press releases, pitches, and other written communications neat and error-free improves your credibility and professionalism.

7. Decision

Cision offers a comprehensive platform for media relations, media monitoring and content distribution. With Cision, you can identify and connect with relevant media contacts, track coverage across multiple channels, and distribute press releases. It also includes analytic features to measure the effectiveness of your PR efforts. Cision’s software has a proven track record and is trusted by PR agencies, businesses and government organizations worldwide.

I’m not going to lie and say that the PR world isn’t more challenging than ever. It is an unfortunate reality as the nature of journalism and media has changed with evolving technology. There are fewer journalists with a larger number of publications and there is a lot of noise. The bright side, however, is that there are tools specifically designed to help you make better pitches, reach journalists, and track results. As these tools evolve, there are ways for you and your staff to incorporate them into your processes with great results. By being selective and using the best PR tools for your specific purposes, you can see more success and get noticed in the industry.

By Juan José Pérez, President, National business solutions.

In today’s increasingly unpredictable business landscape, small and medium business owners face a range of challenges and uncertainties that can disrupt their operations and hinder their growth.

Some of today’s largest risk exposures stem from economic conditions, with a recent survey of our company two thirds of entrepreneurs expect a recession in the next six months – and the majority of this group expect it to be worse than the Great Recession of 2007 to 2009.

On top of these economic pressures, business owners face increased complexity due to digitization and rapid advancements in AI, cybersecurity vulnerabilities, supply chain challenges and changing government regulations. They also face newer risks, such as geopolitical uncertainty, decisions about when (and if) their workforce should return to the office, and much more.

Navigating today’s volatile business environment – and preparing for the next setbacks – requires comprehensive risk management strategies. It is understandable that many entrepreneurs do not have the expertise or time to tackle this on their own. That’s where risk management partners, including financial advisors, insurance professionals, attorneys, cybersecurity experts, banking partners, and others, can act as critical resources, providing expertise, guidance, and solutions to help protect businesses from potential pitfalls. (Full disclosure: My company offers some of these services just like others.)

Here are some key considerations to help you identify and engage effective risk management partners.

1. Start with a quality financial professional or advisor.

If you don’t have one or you’re wondering if existing partners would be the best fit for your business, you can start by talking to other business leaders in your network. Their experiences will often tell you more than any website or marketing brochure. Once you’ve identified a few candidates, I recommend the following steps:

• Taking interviews. This will help you find the partner that best suits your needs. You can expect them to ask questions about your current investments, financial goals, insurance needs, retirement plans and level of investment risk. Be sure to ask for references.

• Check their credentials. Certifications do not guarantee competence, but it is ideal to work with a licensed professional. Common designations include Certified Financial Planner (CFP), Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA), Chartered Financial Consultant (ChFC), Certified Investment Management Analyst (CIMA), Certified Public Accountant (CPA), and Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU).

• Ask how they are compensated. There is no right or wrong way, just make sure it matches what you feel comfortable with. Some investment professionals are paid a commission, others charge a fee, and some charge a fee plus commission.

• Learn about their connections. A financial professional or advisor can often serve as a “risk management quarterback” by connecting you to other more specialized partners in their network, including commercial insurance agents, benefits advisors, lenders, attorneys, or information technology experts.

2. Focus on your most important asset: your talent.

With many fearing the worst in terms of economic conditions, it’s easy to let emotions drive decision making. However, it’s important to remember that cutting your top talent or not investing in the benefits or compensation that would make them want to stay with your company comes with a deductible. When economic conditions improve, you want to be ready to take advantage of the environment instead of watching your competitors do it while you rebuild your team. If you don’t understand your options, you risk losing your most important asset: your people.

When looking for a financial advisor, look for one with a strong network of key partners who can help provide guidance and support in areas such as compensation planning, financial wellness programs and succession planning. They should also be able to help you put together a competitive pension package. The recently passed SAFE 2.0 Act makes it easier and more affordable for business owners to offer employer-sponsored retirement plans, but this new legislation can be difficult to navigate alone. In fact, our research found that small and medium-sized business owners have limited knowledge of the provisions of the new legislation that make it easier to provide employee benefits. A competent partner should be able to help you navigate such legislation for the best outcome.

3. Think broadly when planning for risk.

Most organizations face avoidable, strategic and external threats that can be managed by identifying and planning for risk. When the pandemic hit, many business leaders were blindsided by risks they could never have imagined. When quarantines started, a 2020 study found that businesses with monthly expenses over $10,000 had only enough cash on hand to last about two weeks. The pandemic was a harsh reminder of how important it is to think ahead and prepare for the unexpected. A good risk management partner can help provide this forward thinking and contingency planning.

When engaging new or existing risk management partners, ensure your discussion includes the following types of risk to identify potential gaps in your strategy.

• Human risk: Does your company provide the benefits, resources and incentives to attract, retain and develop the workforce you need to sustain and grow?

• Financial risk: How would rising interest rates, an economic downturn, prolonged inflation, or interruptions in your company’s cash flow affect your ability to meet customer needs?

• Liability risk: How would a weather event, accident or lawsuit affect your business? Does your insurance cover everything you think you’ll do? Are you overlooking a liability issue by not working with a lawyer?

• Partner risk: Do the institutions and individuals managing your company’s risks have the track record or the financial strength to demonstrate that you can count on them to be there when you need them? Do they have certifications that align with industry-wide ethical and business standards? Does their reputation and brand match yours?

When you identify the gaps in your strategy, you may see the opportunity to use existing partners to address them, or the need to bring a new partner to the table.

Entrepreneurs are risk takers by nature. But hoping for the best and figuring things out as you go can put you at an avoidable stumbling block. A good risk management partner should be willing and able to help you identify and manage risk to strengthen your business’s resilience, protect your reputation and capitalize on opportunities amid uncertainty.

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By Rieva Lesonski

Members of Generation Z (also known as Zoomers) are growing up. The vanguard of the generation enters the labor market and is prepared to spend money. But before you can sell to them, you need to know what Gen Z cares about and how they shop.

Insider intelligence recently spoke to Zoomers to find out what motivates them to spend money.

How to sell to Gen Z: Find out what motivates them to buy

Sustainability on a budget

For years, we’ve been told that Gen Z is “one of the most enduring generations.” But most Zoomers are still in their teens or early twenties. And while they care about the environment, they are on a tight budget and “choosy” about how they spend their money.

Insider intelligence says this mindset is one of the reasons thrift stores have become so popular, allowing Zoomers to buy the brands they like while also being environmentally conscious by avoiding throwing an item out.

Brand awareness

Consumers, particularly Gen Z, are more aware of the actions and views of corporate brands as they monitor them through social media. This can be beneficial for businesses, especially small businesses, that can showcase the human side of their business, making them more recognizable. Insider intelligence says: “Social media presence adds a human element, making [your business] more about the people than about the products.”

However, it can also expose views and actions that Zoomers disagree with, causing them to quickly abandon your brand and look for a company that better aligns with their values.

Who do they trust?

TikTok is extremely popular with Gen Z – indeed it is their “preferred platform to discover new products, especially in the beauty category.” A Zoomer told it Insider intelligence that TikTok gives them more current content and exposes them to more new products or products that have gone viral than YouTube.

But like most consumers of all ages, Zoomers say recommendations from friends and family influence them the most when making a purchase.

They are less loyal

Since Gen Zers are “very aware of how much they consume”, they are less loyal than older generations. One Zoomer said she’s “a departure from loyalty programs that make you try to buy more.” Instead, she opts for loyalty programs that focus on sustainability or offer discounts.

More articles from AllBusiness.com:

They don’t shop in the metaverse

While there’s been a lot of buzz about the metaverse, Zoomers aren’t shopping there just yet. Some believe the metaverse will “evolve” into something they can use one day. But Insider intelligence says to keep an eye on the next generation (Generation Alpha), which may be more inclined to shop in the digital universe.

Another survey, Square and Afterpay’s State of Retail report, shows that younger consumers (Zoomers and millennials) are increasingly shopping via mobile commerce. It reports, “Over the past year, two-thirds of Millennials and Gen Zers’ online Afterpay transactions were made on mobile devices, with the volume of Afterpay transactions increasing 196% since 2020.”

These younger consumers also use their mobile devices “as their main customer support tool”.

“Buy now, pay later” has arrived

The retail report also shows that while Zoomers and Millennials are the leading users of “buy now, pay later” (BNPL) services today, Gen Xers and Baby Boomers are increasingly adopting BNPL options.

One of the reasons Zoomers are embracing BNPL is that they buy more luxury items, which obviously cost more money. Gen Z’s share of luxury spending is now 16%, down from 13% in 2019, while Millennials’ luxury spending has fallen from 56% to 45% between 2019 and 2023. This is partly fueled by returns after the pandemic to the office. Square reports a year-over-year increase in sales of workwear such as dress shirts, oversized blazers and dressy sneakers.

Conscious consumerism

The retail report also touches on sustainability, saying millennials and zoomers have spent 69% of their spending on eco-friendly products so far this year. It suggests that companies “create partnerships with sustainable brands by collaborating on give-back programs, marketing campaigns, and stocking their products.”

Insider intelligence advises business owners that to attract Zoomers and millennials, they should be “deliberate about running their businesses in an environmentally conscious way without being seen as performative.”

About the author

Rieva Lesonsky is CEO of GrowBiz Media and SmallBusinessCurrents.com and has been dealing with small businesses and entrepreneurship for over 30 years. Get a better understanding of business trends by signing up for her free currents newsletter.

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In addition to providing capital, should VCs provide some level of pastoral care to their portfolio founders?

Well, even if judged purely commercially, the answer to that question could be yes. It can take many years to get a startup company to the point where an exit can be achieved and a lot can go wrong in that time. The entrepreneur may lose focus, burn out, or simply find that he or she no longer has the heart or will to give 100 percent to the job. So if a VC wants to recoup its investment, it makes sense to take care of the geese that have the potential to lay the golden eggs.

And according to a report published last week by Balderton Capitall – a London-based VC that invests in early stage and growth stage European companies – there is evidence that at least some founders are struggling to cope with the pressures and challenges of growing their businesses in an increasingly more competitive environment. Concurrent with the research results, Balderton has launched his own “Wellbeing and Performance” platform, designed to provide help and support to his cohort of portfolio entrepreneurs.

I spoke to Suranga Chandratillake, a General Partner at Balderton to find out more.

The equation work/success

It should come as no surprise to anyone that founders of venture-backed companies are often driven people who work long hours. Indeed, 90 percent of those who took part in the Balderton survey acknowledged that they push themselves to work harder and longer. A slightly smaller subgroup – 84 percent to be exact – said entrepreneurs had to work hard to be successful.

Where do those expectations come from? Sometimes from investors, it seems. Just over half of respondents said investors and board members put pressure on them to be constantly available.

Diminishing returns and bad decisions

This is where things start to get tricky. People starting their own businesses are usually not afraid of hard work and a culture of long hours can become something of an indicator of commitment. But spending too much time in the office can be counterproductive at worst and a little pointless at best.

More than four-fifths of business owners surveyed said there was diminishing returns from “simply working more hours”. And if you take a step back to look not only at the work culture, but at the stress and worry that come with running a business, there’s a danger that performance will suffer. Entrepreneurs are well aware that burnout, anxiety and depression are the bedfellows of bad decision-making.

So how do you get the balance right between working hard and pushing yourself to the point where things start falling apart? And if you’re one of those people who knowingly stays late at the office for no good reason, but keeps doing it anyway, how do you change that behavior?

As Chandratillake sees it, investors can play a role in supporting founders through difficult and stressful times, but this is often on an informal basis. “As a company, we have spent years helping founders and CEOs with the challenges they face,” he says. In practice, that can simply mean having a conversation about a particular problem.

The company’s Wellbeing and Performance platform has introduced something more structured. As Chandratillake explains, the initiative aims to provide assistance in three areas: health and wellness, coaching, and peer-to-peer conversations. But what does that look like in practice?

“We have a physical program run by medical experts,” says Chandratillake. “They’ll test you and make recommendations — about diet, exercise, or sleep, for example.”

In addition, Balderton has hired an executive coach who will provide a program of meetings to discuss management and decision-making issues with individual founders.

And finally, Balderton has arranged for startup leaders to meet in groups of five to seven. “We organized it to bring together CEOs who live in the same cities. It is a program where founders of non-competing companies can connect with each other and discuss common issues.”

As Chandratillake acknowledges, the initiative is only open to CEOs and founders in the Balderton portfolio, but he says he’s willing to discuss similar programs with other VC firms.

A long trip

But is this initiative just a good deed in an evil world or is it driven by commercial logic?

“We’re not selfless,” says Chandratillake. “We invest in companies and the journey can take 5, 10 or 15 years. During that time, anything we can do to help the CEO stay focused is positive.”

The arrangement is voluntary, and Chandratillake insists that while Balderton pays for health checks and coaching, the company is not personally involved. For example, conversations with medical professionals or even the executive coach are confidential. “So we don’t know about your cholesterol level or anything like that,” he says reassuringly.

That should encourage more founders to participate and could be an incentive to adopt habits and practices that improve performance and reduce stress. With 72 percent of respondents saying they found it difficult to prioritize wellbeing and 61 percent saying finding support was difficult, outside help can be helpful.