PR for your business: the easy wins and the tools that actually work

Getting featured in the press can feel like a mystery. Something reserved for big consumer brands with dedicated PR teams, or the ones with the right contacts. But press coverage remains a very effective way to build credibility, trust, and visibility for your business. And you don’t need a big campaign or a full-time PR hire to start using it.

Whether you’re running a consultancy or a tech-enabled service, media coverage helps people discover your brand, understand what you offer, and build the kind of recognition that’s much harder to buy through ads. With a clear angle, a bit of consistency, and the right systems behind the scenes, you can build a sustainable PR presence, without the PR agency retainer.

Here’s what’s worked for Upsource and our clients.

Know your angle

The best PR connects your story to a bigger conversation. Maybe you’re launching a product that chimes with what’s in the news, there’s an industry trend you can tie to what you’re doing, a framework that’s unique to your business, or your own founder story.

What is your story, and why does it matter right now?

If you don’t already have a bank of pitch-ready angles, short blurbs about your niche, a media bio, a founder story, a handful of topic ideas, Upsource can help you build this out, so it’s ready to send whenever the right opportunity turns up.

Be strategic about your targets

It’s tempting to chase every relevant-looking callout and bend your story to fit. Don’t. 

Focus on opportunities that align with your values, brand, and offer. If you’re B2B, speak to specialists, or lead with values, target the publications and journalists in that space. Your pitches will feel more authentic, and you’ll build the right relationships rather than a scattergun list of one-off mentions.

Say yes to the small stuff

A seemingly small action can build into a fruitful PR relationship. An anonymous quote, a bit of background context for a journalist, a favour with no byline attached. Being clear, quick, and easy to work with and your new journalist contact may well come back to you with a bigger opportunity.

Upsource founder Caroline’s own route into a print feature in Grazia magazine started months earlier with an anonymous mention in a completely different story. A quick, friendly response built the relationship, and that relationship is what eventually led to a named feature.

Keep pitching

Honestly, the most common response to a press release or pitch is silence – believe me when I say that we have been there. But that doesn’t mean failure, it might just be the wrong moment for your particular angle. Weeks or months later, the same journalist could come back when your story finally fits their brief. 

Keep your message clear, keep it relevant, and keep trying. Your Virtual Assistant can build and manage your media list, draft and send press releases, and handle the follow-ups so your own to-do list doesn’t become unmanageable.

Make it a habit

PR works the same way marketing and social media do: you get out what you put in. A few minutes a day or week builds momentum, even without a specific launch to talk about. There’s always room for timely pieces of thought leadership, and you never know what a magazine’s next issue might be built around.

Systems and consistency will make your PR drive sustainable. You VA can monitor PR platforms, flag requests that feel like a good fit, draft responses, and keep a tracker so nothing slips.

The PR tools we recommend

Editorielle remains one of the more accessible platforms for UK founders. A daily roundup of journalist requests, filterable by category. Pricing starts at £10/month for the daily digest, with instant category alerts costing an extra £5/month each. Worth it if you want a steady, curated feed.

PressFlow is still free at its core and is growing its offering. It now uses AI matching to flag requests against your profile and has added a paid “Plus” tier for teams wanting more. 

The Lightbulb Facebook Group is a private community where journalists post call-outs directly for a small monthly charge. It’s a genuine industry favourite. Worth noting: since it lives on a personal Facebook profile, delegating this to your VA means giving them a bit more personal access than the other tools on this list.

ResponseSource is a well established UK tools, and has recently been integrated more closely with its sister platform Vuelio, to give a fuller view of both requests and media contacts in one place. There’s a free option, with fuller access typically reserved for agencies.

PR Dispatch, for eCommerce and product businesses, has a proper Kanban-style pitch tracker and built-in AI tools to help structure pitches faster. It’s a bigger commitment in cost and time than the others, but if you’re serious about DIY press, it’s worth it.

The PR Set is full DIY PR membership – live requests, community support, and training. Good for founders who want structure and accountability alongside the opportunities themselves.

Twitter/X has been a #journorequest stalwart in the past, but activity on the platform is visibly declining as more UK journalists migrate over to Bluesky. If you’re relying on X alone, it’s worth having someone monitor both.

HARO the well-known US-based platform you might have heard of, shut down at the end of 2024 and has recently been revived under new ownership as Connectively. It’s less UK-focused than the rest of the tools on this list, but it’s back and growing again if you’re working internationally and pitching to US press too.

There’s no magic tool that will answer all your PR needs and give you access to the right opportunities at the right time. Most will give you a mix of relevant and totally irrelevant requests, and some weeks you’ll get nothing useful at all – it’s all part of the chase! Staying visible, consistent, and ready to respond is what will make you successful. 

Your VA can flag the right requests, draft replies, and keep track of what’s gone out, so PR becomes part of the routine, with warm and established relationships ready to be called on when you’re publicising your next launch.

If you need help crafting your brand story, getting your press releases right, or handling the day-to-day outreach and follow-ups, our team can help you build PR into something sustainable. Get in touch.