
Getting Press for Your Startup - endswapper
http://www.themacro.com/articles/2016/09/getting-press-for-your-startup/
======
Briel
Here's the process that works (with some persistence) even if you don't have a
revolutionary product:

1\. Go to Google, toggle to news and enter the name of similar startups

2\. Go through each recent article and add the journalist to a spreadsheet

3\. Go on Email Hunter or Email Format to find how the publication formats
their email addresses to guess the journalist's. Journalists also tend to use
firstnamelastname@gmail.com for their personal emails.

4\. Email your pitch in 3-5 sentences max. Don't just describe what your
startup you does, use an interesting angle or story to show its impact.

Instead of: "We do delivery logistic optimization."

Story: "Why the heck is your technician always 5hrs late? Cause it took
forever to fix the issues of the guy before you.

We're helping our customers like Comcast and Oracle smart schedule all their
appointments based on data like a) how long issue x typically takes to fix and
b) real-time traffic conditions.

In high school, I worked taxi dispatcher, seeing firsthand the inefficiencies
in coordinating drivers."

Journalists don't want to advertise your startup for free, they care about
writing a story that entertains and educates their readers. Feed one to them.

Good roundup of pitch templates using different angles:
[http://www.artofemails.com/pitch-press](http://www.artofemails.com/pitch-
press)

------
andreasklinger
Small tips i learned when doing interviews (as journalist and as tech
founder):

Ask the journalist what kind of story s/he wants to do and what role you play
in this story.

It doesnt matter if it's about you or a general topic - understand what kind
of basic arc/message/pov s/he wants to do. In 99% of the cases their job is
not to be "investigators" but tell entertaining stories and they are usually
happy to share their idea of the article.

\- Help getting to the content s/he needs. Share the right infos, the right
contacts, industry insights. Essentially help as much as you can creating the
ideal article.

\- Also make sure to create soundbites that work as quotes. Quotes tend to be
highlighted in articles.

\- Make sure to connect the journalist with more useful contacts and help
finding new ideas for articles.

\- Last but too often forgotten. Have good press images ready of you and your
product. Some that work portrait, some that work in landscape. Some that show
a business look, some that show a more personal look (depending on the story
the journalist goes for)

hth - good luck!

~~~
vonnik
This is one of the best roundups of PR advice I've seen. (andreasklinger's
points are also spot on.)

Couple things to add:

1) Remember that embargoes need a journalist's opt in. You can't give them the
news and order them not to publish until a given day and time. If you give
them information without their agreement on an embargo, they can publish any
time they want. So you need to keep some major details back when you ask for
the embargo: e.g. "Our startup has some funding news to announce -- would you
be interested in the embargoed press release?"

2) Just like with BD, building a relationship means helping reporters out even
when you don't need them for a pending announcement. 5-minute favors, intros,
explanations about the tech in your sector. That's how you can help...

3) Quotes: Many reporters have to adopt a relatively neutral voice in their
writing. They face constraints on what they can say. They use quotes to spice
up their stories. So try to make your soundbites _more_ exciting than the
surrounding newsprint, not less. They'll have a better chance of getting
published.

4) Aunt Agatha: Journalists are professional explainers. If they write for a
general readership, they're really writing for intelligent outsiders who do
not have great familiarity with what you do. So avoid jargon. You words that a
normal, intelligent person would understand. Reporters sometimes call that
reader Aunt Agatha.

5) Exclusives. I disagree with Michael in some situations. If you have big
news, and you give a reporter an exclusive, you cannot give it to any one
else. Which is a huge missed opportunity. Instead of blowing your chance for
coverage every else, try to find ways to tailor stories to specific outlets;
i.e. "We can't give you an exclusive, but we can work on this angle
exclusively and I'll only put you in touch with certain members of the team
for interviews..."

I was a journalist for 10 years, full time PR for 2, and now I devote my 5%,
like Michael, to maintaining relationships. I used to give talks on PR. Some
of this material might be useful:

Talk
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VAWZBdLVj24](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VAWZBdLVj24)

Slides
[https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BzcEIIxKcYncOHd4VTBrU29ObFE...](https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BzcEIIxKcYncOHd4VTBrU29ObFE/view?usp=sharing)

PR Handbook (2013)
[https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BzcEIIxKcYncbUk2ZjRHS1hmQUk...](https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BzcEIIxKcYncbUk2ZjRHS1hmQUk/view?usp=sharing)

~~~
VonGuard
One more thing I will add (journalist here) to these excellent tips is this:

Find your niche reporter. There is some reporter out there at some publication
you've never heard of, and they are likely your perfect target for all of your
news. You just have to find them and cultivate them. If you are a photo app,
get to know an old world photography journalist, someone who writes for camera
magazines. If you're a real estate application, find the regional real estate
publications. A home shopping app, find local magazines, like (some local Bay
Area examples) Oakland Magazine, Alameda Magazine, Diablo, 7X7 (or whatever
fashionable SF and decorating focused mag still exists there.)

Stop pitching Tech Crunch, start pitching the Austin American Statesman or the
Atlanta Journal Constitution. Your original hometown newspapers are great
places to get "local boy makes good" type stories, and the Valley is super
duper myopic about offline, regional media.

~~~
outdooricon
I'm curious, what value do you gain from something like the Austin American
Statesman? I assume the main goal here of the PR is really to get links back
to your site, so a higher value site like Tech Crunch would get you a higher
value link back. Or, am I wrong, and the real point here is that something
just needs to come up when someone Google's your startup.

~~~
jacques_chester
Larger publications watch smaller publications -- newspapers, local blogs etc
-- for story ideas.

~~~
VonGuard
Indeed, but also, hitting a newspaper read by 1 million people who are semi-
technical is far better for a consumer product company than hitting an online
audience of 10 million super tech users. The 1 million might just be hearing
about you for the first time, while the 10 million online may already know
you, seen other articles, moved on to the new hotness.... Those newspaper
readers, though, they're wild, fresh and unmolested. Virgin ground for new
customers.

------
bestmomproducts
There is a lot of great advice here. I started as Larry Ellison's handler
almost 20 years ago, wrote a book on publicity (Barbara Corcoran endorsed) and
teach an online PR class.

Media has changed a lot in the last 5 years. It is important to familiarize
yourself with the outlet and how the journalist writes. (ie) is the outlet
known for listicles? (article to start and then '7 ways to crush it on a
start-up budget.' Or, do they prefer pitches based on their editorial
calendar?

Identify your target customer and find out what they read, listen to and
watch.

If you have a tech product, focus on where a more technical audience might be
like podcasts. You'd be surprised but it's not always the most well known
outlet like Mashable that will drive sales or users. While that is great
credibility and exciting, there are many opportunities out there.

RESOURCE: HARO www.helpareporterout.com is a good resource to sign up for -
free opportunities 3x a day that journalists are posting. Since you will have
the "lead" already, keep your response short and to the point.

NEWSWORTHY: To make something newsworthy, look at what is trending in the
media. (ie) Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt getting divorced and then think about
all the relevant angles.

Angles could include being a divorce attorney and contacting your local news
to talk about the issues they each face or if you have created a divorce app
that helps with custody sharing, etc... you could discuss how that would work.

We are in an era of high content consumption online and outlets like Forbes,
Entrepreneur and Huffington Post rely on contributors. Forbes, for example,
turns out 300 articles a day ... a DAY! There are more opportunities for your
company to be featured now than in the past so that is good news for you.

Try not to get discouraged. It can take time to figure out what works and come
back to the journalist with different angles. I've found consistent follow up
works.

I know that I was rambling a bit but hope that helps.

I have some free info on my site www.rachelaolsen.com if you're interested
including audio interviews with a Forbes contributor and a writer for US
Weekly, Men's Health and Rolling Stone.

------
mwseibel
Man - I wish I could be in here answering questions about the post but I'm on
the YC World Tour and currently meeting startups in Lagos - I'm glad you all
liked the post

------
sssparkkk
Any advice on how to get some traction when entering a foreign market?

In my experience the media mostly write about startups that already have
significant traction, or about new products released by the big boys
(Facebook, Google etc).

Acquiring users through Facebook/Twitter advertising might be an option for
some, but could also easily mean you'll be spending tens of dollars per active
user.

So what's left? I think it basically boils down to Hacker news & Product Hunt
to get the ball rolling.

~~~
slgeorge
The first thing is that "marketing" vs "PR" is a choice about where you think
investment will be most successful. They're complementary rather than in
conflict. PR is top of funnel, marketing is lower down.

It depends on the size of your start-up, but here's a method I've used with
success for PR and new markets.

My first bit of advice goes against the article. It depends on how 'distant'
the new market is from your existing market(s) but I think you should hire a
PR agency. The press is different from the east coast to the west coast USA,
the British press (more snarky generally) are different to the USA press and
those all share the same language - if you're trying to break into an Asian
market as a North American startup it's tough (and vice versa) as you don't
understand the culture, the process and don't know the people.

Like any professional hiring, PR agencies vary so finding one with the skills
and the fit is key. Find a couple that work in your area (e.g tech and b2b or
b2c), you can do this by looking at stories from your target market from tech
firms and seeing who the PR agency is plus going to some industry events and
personal contacts. Select three agencies and ask them to pitch a six month
plan - then select the one you think will work. It's generally best to work
with an agency where you are important to them, and where you have a
consistent team that gets to know you. Work closely with the agency so they
understand you and you them - they are representing you after all!

Second bit of advice is understand the news/PR situation in that market.
Essentially, the articles advice is to find the right sources and journalists
for your start-up - that totally makes sense. The agency should be able to
tell you about each news location, what they focus on, who the journalists are
and what they focus on. Then look for news and ways you can relate to their
objectives. One advantage that you have is that you're _new_ and an _outsider_
which brings a different perspective: ultimately this is what journalists and
news sources need, something original and different. A good way to do this is
each month pick a theme/idea and pitch that to a _section_ of your news
contacts - if you have a PR firm that should be the main way in which they
help.

Ultimately, this is the key you have to have something new (so pick an angle)
that journalist can use to get published (so make it easy for them) that the
news source thinks its' readers will care about (so target subjects their
readers care about).

Consistent cadence is important, someone else made the point that it's a
"marathon not a sprint" (one of my favourite phrases). Developing a reputation
with a publication for being interesting and 'giving good copy' helps. For a
new market it could take six months to get any sort of interest and really up
to a year before you'll be well-known enough to get consistent coverage. The
team has to invest in the market, CEO has to physically go there to meet
journalists (as a normal part of opening up that market). PR should just be
one element in the general plan for opening the new market (e.g. events,
sales, analysts, marketing, pr, hiring etc).

My last comment would be know when to withdraw. It's possible that there just
isn't a good PR approach in a market, because it's focused in a particular
area - for example, I personally found doing PR in Taiwan difficult because we
were software and the entire market is focused on the hardware space so the
only coverage we could get was our commentary on the hardware space which
didn't achieve anything from my perspective. Try a few different cycles with
the PR agency, network with other companies to see their approach and if it
doesn't work put your investment into a different approach or market.

------
ozgune
Good read! I also found the following post useful and practical for getting
press for startups: [http://www.craigkerstiens.com/2015/07/21/An-intro-PR-
guide-f...](http://www.craigkerstiens.com/2015/07/21/An-intro-PR-guide-for-
startups/)

------
hamhamed
Warm intro's work better, but I'd also wager that good cold emails work as
good. For example; if you can connect with the writer about one his articles,
and transition into your startup..this is a good 25% chance to get covered
(assuming your story is good).

Don't just submit a "tip" or go to the contact page, actually find the person
who has written similar stuff and find his email

------
devindotcom
I just participated in a panel on this very topic. The takeaways were to know
who you're pitching, build a relationship, and be honest and succinct. If you
have a good product relevant to that publication's readers, a good news editor
or writer will pick up on that.

------
danieltillett
I have often wondered if it would just better to get straight to the point and
outright bribe journalists. Most are making a pittance and a few thousand
dollars in cash handed under the table should make any startup story come out
like it is the new Uber.

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jldugger
> i.e. wait until you’re 25% past the milestone to announce - so that you’re
> that much closer to announcing the next milestone.

I wouldn't be surprised to hear this violates a securities law.

~~~
vonnik
If we're talking startups, then the securities law you're thinking about
doesn't apply. These are private companies.

------
hrgeek
Does it really work?

~~~
koonsolo
Unfortunately, yes. If you don't know the journalist, you can forget about
your news item or press release being published.

It's sad really, that news items get picked on who you know, instead of what
the news is about. If you live in Europe, you're basically fucked. Unless they
can't ignore you anymore, like Minecraft.

That's why I don't do PR anymore, because I'm not based in US and don't have
any journalist contacts in my social network.

~~~
slgeorge
Using PR to generate top-level interest is just one approach to marketing,
there are others that might be more suited to your situation. But, I do think
you can develop good PR in North America even if you're based in Europe. In my
experience much of the English speaking readers and PR outlets take the lead
from North America, so if you have profile in their outlets then it's easier
to build profile elsewhere. Perhaps the key if you're not the size of
Minecraft is to build profile with particular niche journalists/locations -
perhaps starting with online blogs/news sites and then working upwards from
there.

------
untilHellbanned
Lol b/c other YCers say don't waste time getting press.

~~~
the_watcher
This is a wild oversimplification. Getting press is a good thing. Wasting time
trying to get press without a plan that works is a bad thing. It's easy to
fall into the trap of the latter, which is the entire point of this piece.

------
amirhirsch
Flybrix is having a very successful launch today driven by a PR strategy that
goes against Steps 2 and 3 of this advice. We hired a great PR firm to manage
contacts and we got blanket coverage everywhere because of a press embargo.

I don't think I could have managed this on my own and on the timeline we did
it.

------
trjordan
It's common knowledge around here that PR is wasted effort for startups. So
why do this?

For startups and for any company, brand makes things nebulously easier. Sales
require one fewer call, hiring pipelines are slightly more full, fundraising
intros are easier. The point about creating News is really at the core: if you
can make News one of the consistent outputs of your company, and you can see
the results of News on your actual work, then you should do it.

Like everything else at a startup, brand is one tool. Don't use that tool
unless the founders are strong with it and there's a well-defined path between
that brand and traction.

~~~
rickyyean
PG once said "PR is the news equivalent of search engine optimization; instead
of buying ads, which readers ignore, you get yourself inserted directly into
the stories." And it's a way for startups to compete because they can't
outspend the big guys on advertising.

[http://www.paulgraham.com/submarine.html](http://www.paulgraham.com/submarine.html)

