
How To Get Covered In a Major Tech Blog - dshipper
http://dshipper.posterous.com/how-to-get-covered-in-a-major-tech-blog
======
Mystalic
Actually, this is pretty much in line with the advice I give to entrepreneurs
when they're pitching me for a story on Mashable.

The big things to remember:

\- We get hundreds of emails per day. I can barely keep up, so I need to use
personal filters to weed out stories I'm going to follow up on. That means I
trash long emails, emails that don't get to the point, and anything with
buzzwords.

\- Best thing is always an intro from somebody I know about the
company/product. Cold pitches have a much lower chance of working.

\- Short, pithy emails. Get to the point in less than a paragraph and then ask
if I want to learn more.

\- Know the audience. Mashable is a consumer-centric publication -- we don't
cover a lot of enterprise news or startups. Our readers DEVOUR great consumer
products that help them manage their digital lives though.

\- Know the reporter. Mashable has two reporters that focus on startups. Most
of my time is spent editing, which means I have less time than I'd like to
write about startups. Some reporters focus on entertainment, others on mobile.
Know which one focuses on what and try to get the appropriate person to pitch.

\- Don't pitch via Facebook, Twitter or anything but email or in-person if
you're at an event and find me. Even then though, I'll ask you to email me in
case I want to forward it to another reporter.

~ Ben

~~~
dshipper
Wow I did not expect to hear from the Editor-At-Large at Mashable. Thanks so
much for the comment - really valuable to stuff :) Interesting point about not
pitching via Facebook. Maybe I should remove that. Do you think that it goes
over the line, or is it just annoying?

~~~
Mystalic
Use Facebook to figure out who our mutual connections are, but don't send the
pitch in a Facebook Message. Facebook is my personal space and I like managing
my pitches in one central location.

Other journalists may have different feelings, but I think most of us prefer
email.

~~~
dshipper
Now that I think about it I wonder if there's an opening for an app that helps
journalists manage and keep track of pitches.

Does something like that exist? I feel like email isn't necessarily the most
efficient system for it.

~~~
Mystalic
I've thought about it -- I know one or two make Google Docs for pitches.
Problem is getting the people who email me to change their behavior.

~~~
dshipper
What about being able to copy paste code that would hook the submit a story
form on your site into the CRM?

------
patio11
Convince the reporter you are speaking to that you are about to get covered in
_another_ major tech blog.

This works with dead tree media, too. Also works after you've been covered,
since then you are an Officially Credible Source. There's a reporter who calls
me every time she needs a Japan quote. I know why, theoretically, but "Say,
did you see the soccer game? Can you sum up how Japan feels about winning? Is
it a sign that the country is turning the corner and finding something to be
proud in again?" at 4 AM always strikes me as funny.

I suppose if I cared to keep getting called at 4 AM I should give her the
story she so transparently wants to write...

------
Eliezer
Have an interesting startup, one that's doing something that will make a large
difference to a large number of people and doesn't look just like every other
startup begging for coverage.

------
mikeleeorg
Here's a nice tool to help you find out how you're connected to journalists on
Facebook & LinkedIn: <http://www.gohachi.com/>

Hopefully an email from a direction connection on Facebook or LinkedIn would
annoy a journalist less than a cold Facebook or LinkedIn message from you.
(re: Mystallic's comment)

------
hxf148
From my personal experience you have to keep at it. We are a small team
(<http://infostripe.com>) and we go in cycles of development and promotion.
Throughout our beta as we reached each major milestone we have turned to
journalists and tech blogs for coverage. With varying degrees of success.

Honestly it's hard to get attention when you are small, without major funding
or in the right network circles. But we have pushed on and with each major
update we get a little more traction with coverage and learn from our efforts.
Our users love us but convincing the filters that be that we are worth their
500 words is a challenge that we underestimated. Thanks for your post, there
are some good points in there and has provoked some interested responses.

------
jsm386
Following up on this, once the first 'major tech blog' has covered you it is a
_whole lot_ easier to get the others. For my last project, GroupTabs (didn't
work out, but that is another story) we id'd a journalist who had been working
our beat (LBS). He was very receptive
([http://venturebeat.com/2010/08/09/grouptabs-rewards-
groups-f...](http://venturebeat.com/2010/08/09/grouptabs-rewards-groups-for-
checking-in/)) and once that hit, Mashable followed (spark of genius is
invaluable press opp).

After that the bloggers started coming to us.

People also did seem to like our video as an 'outrageous' pitch:
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACh-FqQqU4Q>

------
start123
I am tech-blogger and I receive a lot of mails from startups. So, I will spell
out few tips on how to pitch better.

1\. You need to have a story to tell. Don't worry if its not too dramatic, but
you need to add that human element. 2\. Catchy Subject lines: I remember a
mail which had the subject "Two 17 year olds create the first RSS based social
networking site". Could never ignore that. 3\. Resources: Please provide us
with relevant resources like a logo, a screenshot and a press release(if any).
4\. About your company: Please tell us a bit about your company, who the
founders are, investments made and any press mentions. 5\. Do not spam: Do not
send more than three mails asking us to feature you. That is frowned upon.

------
RobIsIT
How much effort is coverage in a major tech blog worth?

Thinking about Moore's Chasam, doesn't coverage in a major tech blog encourage
more early adopters that will consume the few startup resources you have
before they move on to the next startup covered?

Or...

Is coverage worth it? Do a shockingly strong percentage of early adopters
reliably become paying customers or engaged users?

I know the answer to this will be subjective, but in my mind, this is why I've
never pushed for coverage in major tech blogs. If they pick something up on
their own, that's fine... but I've never been sure if the effort is worth the
cost and reward.

~~~
dreamdu5t
I would personally rather have my product or service good enough that
customers will market it for me.

To me, being featured in a publication like TechCrunch would only be exciting
because of the traffic. Too many people see it as validation for their
product/service when it's anything but.

------
indec
Was there particular value in the YC Y U NO coverage? Seems like coverage for
coverage's sake. Networking value, perhaps?

~~~
dshipper
Yes! There was a ton of value in it because it came a few days before we
interviewed at YC. So it drove signups to our app and we got to show the
partners that we were able to build an app in two days and get it on
TechCrunch. We didn't wind up getting funded but I think it certainly helped
our case :)

------
jacques_chester
Short version: promote yourself.

~~~
dshipper
Even though that may seem obvious I think a lot of people don't do it
correctly. I hear a lot of people who say "Oh I submitted it to TechCrunch and
didn't hear anything so I don't think it's going to get covered." That's the
exact wrong mentality to have. Getting coverage is a game of percentages, and
anything you can do to maximize those percentages should be taken advantage
of. Don't pin all of your hopes on TechCrunch. Build an awesome product. Craft
a great story. Then shout it from the rooftops, and leverage any connections
you have to get people talking about it.

~~~
jacques_chester
> Then shout it from the rooftops, and leverage any connections you have to
> get people talking about it.

In short: promote yourself.

Including writing stories about how you promoted yourself. Well done sir.

My mum used to raise money as her profession, I've seen how effective it is to
work the phones for publicity.

~~~
dshipper
Thanks man. Just trying to share my experience :). It's funny how much
different marketing is now from back when people had to work the phones. I
don't think I've ever gotten any type of coverage or connection from a phone
call. Now it's all emails and social media. Things have certainly changed - I
imagine it's way easier now than it ever was before. Especially for someone
like me who's still in college.

~~~
jacques_chester
The principles are the same, though. You have the gist of it: contact everyone
you know. You're working the emails and tweets.

The downside is that without being careful you can come to be seen as a user.
I see this mostly with people who get sucked into Amway or some other such
can't-legally-refer-to-it-as-a-pyramid-scheme.

I wonder if the startup economy has sprouted any fixers yet -- those
infinitely connected people everyone goes through because everyone goes
through them.

~~~
dshipper
Definitely true. I think they certainly exist in the startup economy just
because that's the way things seem to work. It's the 80/20 rule. The vast
majority of people are connected to a smaller subset that make it their
business to know everyone.

------
dredmorbius
How to get your blog read by grumpy HN folks: don't use a f*cking gray font
color.

Too little contrast. Didn't read.

~~~
dshipper
Damn default posterous themes :) sorry about that

