
A Developer’s Guide to PR and the Media - GarethX
http://blog.fogcreek.com/a-developers-guide-to-pr-and-the-media-interview-with-conrad-egusa/
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comrh
An interview that right away gives you the option between video, audio or
transcript? Yes please.

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a_shane
There are some really great points in here, though I don't know if I'd agree
that having a fully finished product is always necessary before putting out a
press release - in many cases you can generate a ton of content by sharing
articles and updates pertaining to the development of the product as it
happens after you've done a press release about it.

People find out about the project through the press release, and ideally will
join your mailing list, follow you on social media, etc in order to keep up
with the project/product as it develops.

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egusa
podcast speaker here: the problem with releasing content ahead of a finished
product is that when you first contact the media about the launch
announcement, this is your startup's introduction to the market. a journalist
will google search your company to see if there has been any prior coverage.
if, for example, a small blog covers your company, and 3 weeks later you reach
out to TechCrunch, a journalist there will see the earlier coverage and may
pass on covering the announcement (as the "launch" of the company was earlier
covered). i am 100% for content marketing, but prior to the launch this is
something a company should be more careful about. i hope the above makes
sense.

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slgeorge
Totally agree with you Egusa. Perhaps the key thing is to know which
publications/sites you are targeting and what counts as 'news' for them.
Traditional news outlets (eg TechCrunch or InfoWorld) only want something that
is substantive and new - the end result. Content campaigns are often more
informal - about sharing the journey.

A content campaign aims to inform a much wider base of people. It's best done
ahead of any specific traditional 'PR campaign' for a launch. An easy way to
do this is to create two lists of contacts: for your content campaign you
might target amateur bloggers, industry influencers and your existing
advocates.

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a_shane
Exactly. Knowing the type of audience you want to reach before making a PR
move of any sort is crucial, and can vary widely depending on the type of
product you're developing/the kind of company you are/the kind of coverage you
want.

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mozumder
This is great, especially from the perspective of a tech-startup.

Every founder needs to understand the basics of PR, and this interview goes
through that perfectly.

