

How to get publicity for a startup? - dsthysd

I don't have a startup but am thinking of trying something out. What is the process of getting publicity for a startup without any connections or investors to help? Not "word of mouth", users are needed first. (and don't write "Post on HN" :P)
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dirkdeman
As a former PR professional, I can tell you that publicity can be bought. Good
publicity however, can't. A post on TechCrunch/Mashable/Wired/whatever is
infinitely more valuable than a facebook ad alone. Having said that, you
should develop a strategy that involves both paid and free publicity. If you
set up a guerilla marketing campaign, an advertising campaign and a free
publicity campaign they will fortify each other. Someone sees your facebook
ad, and a litte while later reads an article about your startup on TechCrunch.
A few days later he sees your brilliant guerrilla marketing thing, hears from
other people that they've signed up and signs up himself.

There is no single way of getting publicity, no silver bullet. It's a snowball
effect, several small pebbles thrown in the right spot at the right time will
cause an avalanche.

And yes, you should post on HN first.

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OpenAlgorithm
The best way to get the best publicity is to have an incredible product that
people need to hear about.

But failing that or having a less revolutionary product, I would highly
recommend blogging, whatever your start-up you must have interesting insights
and tips about your industry that you could share.

If your not committed to regular, high quality blogging and for many founders
that doesn't fit into their skill-sets then think about creating one time big
research reports that would shake the industry or provide some highly valuable
new information.

Blogging and reports are perfect for a start-up because there is virtually no
cash cost, so if your bootstrapping or just playing it smart then these are my
top two.

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glimcat
If it was an easy, solved problem then I could probably fire my non-technical
cofounder.

This is something that requires significant creativity to do well. One of the
biggest problems today is not getting your message out there - we have more
channels than ever before for that - but rather getting your signal-to-noise
ratio high enough that you're not lost in the background.

A good trick is simply to always be making connections about the brand. Most
of them will have a small overall contribution to brand awareness, but they
can be meaningful in aggregate and there will be a few contacts which generate
a large payoff.

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mjs00
Start by being very clear in you mind _who_ the target of your product is, or
your reason for publicity. HN/TechCrunch won't help you much if you are
targeting Accountants or Moms. For a startup you generally want to have a
sustainable, differentiable, competitive advantage. Pick one key part of the
'what's different/new', and pitch or place that point with bloggers, online
groups, editors, etc, who are focused on your target as an audience. Overly
simplified, but doesn't require pre-existing network, just doing outreach to
those that might have interest in exploring 'what's new' with you.

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gallerytungsten
1\. Create great stories about your startup and product.

2\. Develop a list of media contacts.

3\. Follow what the contacts on your list write about.

4\. Look for connections between their stories and your stories.

5\. When you find these connections, pitch the story.

If you've done steps 1-4 correctly, you'll find step 5 easy.

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nandemo
Sorry if this is too obvious, but how about ads? They seem pretty cheap now.
Especially if you're doing a startup that actually charges money.

And yes, word of mouth. You'll find the first users among your friends, HN and
reddit.

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djloche
Start a blog, start slagging your competitors, back it up with actually being
better than your competitors. The tech blogs love a good mud fight.

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profitbaron
I'm still not 100% sure on which question you would like us to answer because,
at first you ask:

    
    
         What is the process of getting publicity for a startup without any connections or investors to help? 
    

However, you then go on about how,

    
    
        users are needed first
    

I'm not sure which question you would like answering - how to get _publicity_
or how to get _users_ because, whilst the two are connected in that publicity
_can_ bring users it doesn't necessarily mean they will.

However, if you want a TON of publicity then just do something that will get
you noticed for instance, just look at how Richard Branson does publicity for
some of his brands - [http://www.businessday.com.au/small-business/smallbiz-
market...](http://www.businessday.com.au/small-business/smallbiz-
marketing/hellraiser-six-flamboyant-branson-publicity-
stunts-20111004-1l615.html)

Likewise, if you want a users then there are loads of methods of doing it and
although you don't want us to mention it "word of mouth" is the BEST form of
publicity & user signups

Nevertheless, if you can clarify which one you would like answering I'll
gladly help and I'm sure the rest of HN wouldn't mind helping either.
Moreover, if you can mention what your startup does or even the industry its
in, we can be a little more specific because, there's no point telling you to
reach out of X, Y and Z if they won't get you the users you need :)

