The changing nature of the PR industry has been a topic of discussion and debate for years. Now, we’ve reached a point where it can’t be argued anymore whether going digital is the right move; it’s vital to be able to offer integrated communication services in order to not only survive in this competitive market, but to make sure you offer the best results possible for your clients across all platforms.
While attending relevant industry events, taking webinars or even digital training is always beneficial in terms of professional development and taking your business to the next level, what was missing was a hands-on guide, a PR toolkit where professionals can turn for advice and tips on how to modernize their workflow via the use of digital tools. Before PRStack no one had thought to bring these multiple technologies together for the benefit of PR practitioners, especially for free.
There are countless tools on offer, from those we use to engage with online influencers to how we manage online communities, and PRstack aims to cut through the noise that characterises the public relations third-party tool market, and help PR practitioners get the digital education they deserve and get better at digital PR.
So … the second PRstack book is out since the first of October and I couldn’t be prouder of being a part of this amazing project. If you’re in this industry and you’ re looking to find out more about how to be more digital, look no further – PRstack is an invaluable resource for anyone who works in PR circa 2015.
What you need to know
In case you are not aware, #PRstack is the largest crowd-sourced education effort in the history of PR practice, collecting 250+ PR tools and 48 guides in total.
Each agency or communications team has its own approach and favoured tools and vendors but there is limited understanding of how an individual tool fits into modern workflow. Vendors often push features over outcomes and the market is complicated by a huge number of options – PRstack was developed with that very thinking in mind, to help PR professionals make sense of the growing market of tools’ vendors.
The story so far
The first PRstack book started from Stephen Waddington ‘s idea of applying the cooperative spirit that exists in open source communities, especially when it comes to tackling issues that the industries are facing and aid learning and development.
The PR industry tends to be quite introvert and competitive, but many professionals have gathered to prove that PR can too, do open source – and through collaboration and open learning, PR Stack was born. The project started with a Google doc as a crowd-sourced list of PR tools; a community gathered around the idea of making sense of the PR tools market and shared their favourite tools.
PRstack volume two
The second #PRstack book aims to improve the public relations workflow and comprises a series of case studies by public relations practitioners exploring modern aspects of PR practice. 30 contributors created over 40 practical examples of tools used in public relations, content marketing, and search engine optimisation (SEO).
Contributors share practical advice on different areas of public relations workflow including planning, content, engagement, and monitoring and measurement. There’s also guidance from experts on implementing change within an agency or communication team, and some simple hacks to get you started.
Anyone can now access the chapters online or download the complete book for free on prstack.co. It is also available in print from Blurb.
The 124-page book is distributed free under a Creative Commons license via the PRstack community. The second book, like the first, is available as an ebook (12MB PDF download) from Prezly and in print from Blurb priced £16.00.
During October, a new mini-chapter of the book gets published every day on the website as well, if you want to get a little digital nugget each time. I will do a separate blog post on my mini-section of the book focusing on Sysomos, after the post is live on prstack.co.
Contributors to the second #PRstack book
Many thanks to: Matt Anderson; Matt Appleby; Stella Bayles; Michael Blowers; Liz Bridgen; Stuart Bruce; Gini Dietrich; Erica Eliasson; Helen Laurence; Rich Leigh; Hannah Lennox; Tim Lloyd; Kevin Lorch; Maria Loupa; Rachel Miller; Lauren Old; Adam Parker; Laura Petrolino; Andy Ross; David Sawyer; Aly Saxe; Laura Sutherland; Max Tatton-Brown; Frederik Tautz; Abha Thakor; Frederik Vincx; Angharad Welsh; Livi Wilkes; Arianne Williams; and Michael White.
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