There are a number of online tools we use at Gem PR & Media almost every day. So, we thought we’d share these with you – especially as most of them are completely free!
One of our favorites. Wetransfer.com allows for the sharing of large files without subscribing to the platform – and it’s free. You simply upload, or drag and drop, your files onto the page, type in the recipients email, add a message if you want, and send. You’ll not only receive an email to confirm that your files have arrived safely, but you’ll also get an email when the recipient has downloaded the files. The only drawback is that the files must be downloaded within a certain time, about a week, however you are sent an email notifying you if the files have not been downloaded about two days before deadline, which is handy because you can remind your recipient to do so. When you’re editing magazines from around the world, like we do at Gem PR & Media, this tool is invaluable.
At Gem PR & Media we time keep so that we can measure our effectiveness in managing client accounts and track other activity such as admin, or our own PR, for example. Toggl is free and easy to use. You can also add members of the team to your account so you’re all recording to the same timesheets. There’s also an opportunity to download projects, which is extremely helpful for ad-hoc clients.
Canva.com is fantastic for creating images for social media. Now, we have some pretty creative people in our team, such as Courtney who’s a whiz when it comes to Photoshop and video, but I’m better with words so Canva is perfect for me. What I like about Canva is it’s pretty foolproof. You can upload your own images, add text and download to your desktop. The images are even sized for the various social media platforms – which is fabulous!
An obvious choice right? As a team, we don’t just use Facebook for the promotion and marketing of our clients, we also use messenger to communicate, especially if there’s more than two of us involved in the conversation and we’re working remotely or it’s the evening and we’re watching TV with our cell phones in hand.
I was a skeptic, at first, when I came to grammarly.com but now, I wouldn’t be without it. Essentially, Grammarly.com is an automated proofreader – anything I write online is tracked and when there’s a typo or a missing comma grammarly.com suggests a correction. This is great if you’re multi-tasking or in a hurry. I love to get my red pen out and proofread, but when you’re in the middle something and you have to quickly add a post to Facebook, the phone is ringing, and you’re in the supermarket – Grammarly.com has your back!