
Confessions of a tech journalist: my advice to startups pitching the media - SeanBlanda
http://seanblanda.com/blog/feature/confessions-of-a-tech-journalist-my-advice-to-startups-pitching-the-media/
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Mystalic
From my perspective as a former tech journalist, Sean nails the key points.
Keep it short, sweet and remember that journalists see dozens of pitches per
day -- your startup doesn't deserve press because it's your baby. It needs to
stand on its own merits.

I have one additional thing to add, and this is important: build relationships
with journalists BEFORE you need them. Build a friendship, ask for their
advice, meet them for coffee, comment on their work. When the time comes and
you're pitching your startup...you're going to be in a far better position and
be far more likely to get covered.

The other alternative: have somebody the journalist knows well introduce you.

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randall
I'd say journalists are just like investors. They have a lot of people who
want their time, and it's difficult to discriminate when you don't have
filters. Social proof is one kind of filter... intros are another.

AngelList could really act as a really great filter too, if they built up the
site to support journalists. _hint hint Nivi and Naval._

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jordanb
This guy seems kinda full of himself. Although I suppose that comes with the
territory when hundreds of people are constantly begging him to give them a
bit of attention.

But I also think that the importance of the "tech press" is often
overemphasized by startups. I was involved in a company a bit ago that spent a
great deal of energy chasing after the TechCrunch coverage, when in fact its
target customers were middle-aged middle-america types, who don't read
TechCrunch.

Granted, the tech media may help just about any company get funding. But then,
I imagine having plenty of customers is going to look better to investors than
TechCrunch coverage.

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morisy
As a current tech journalist AND entrepreneur, I can definitely see your point
regarding TechCrunch. Our mentions in "buzzier" publications got us a huge
strike in interest with about zilch market fit. This writer's suggestions,
however, really apply well to trade and niche press journalists, too.

The right mention in the right publication is worth tens of thousands or
hundreds of thousands of dollars, and it's much more about whether they reach
your market rather than whether you've heard about them.

And yes, it's literally hundreds: I get about 300 pitches a day (a lot of them
are "robopitches" that go out only semi-personalized), and his advice is key
for making your story standout.

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rokhayakebe
You can skip the whole thing and simply jump to the last part "Questions you
should be prepared to answer".

Journalists think a little bit too much of themselves and startups think a bit
too much of their product. My advise is have a simple two three line pitch and
below your signature copy and answer the question he has given. If the
journalist is interested in your pitch they can read the additional info
below. Second advise is keep at it. If you email a journalist and they do not
respond, email again when you have made changes to your product, acquired more
customers etc... In the end they will give in and give you a chance.

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startupstella
As someone who has been doing PR for a startup for over 2 years, this article
was spot on. The only point I'd bring up is that the author is speaking from
the perspective of a local tech beat. Getting the attention of national
reporters is much more difficult and takes a lot of effort before you have any
news at all. PR is a lot of work...which most startups don't realize.

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mpclark
One more point -- just a little one -- is "don't pitch a journalist and then
refer him/her to a story recently published by a competitor publication for
the details."

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serkanh
Is it me or the choice of font in this website makes terribly hard to read the
article. I m using google chrome btw.(I think it's
<http://www.google.com/webfonts/specimen/Oswald>)

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azylman
Was very hard for me to read, too. The text looked pixellated, like it had
chunks missing. It was fine after I zoomed in. (Also Chrome)

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drunkenmasta
I like the choice of colors.. And the code is well done imo.

