

How do you get (free) publicity for your brand new startup? - krausejj

so, we've launched a site (http://skychalk.com - check it out!)... and now we need people to visit it.<p>"build it and they will come" doesn't seem to work on the web! for those who have successfully launched sites/startups and garnered traffic, what is your strategy?<p>ignoring the simple answer - have a great site that people want to visit - how do you let person X across the street know your site exists?<p>is it possible to get publicity and write ups if you don't have funding or famous entrepreneurs at the helm of your project?
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steventruong
_how do you let person X across the street know your site exists?_

Go across the street and tell them about it. Not everyone will sign up and its
a slow and painful process, but this is the best way to get to know your users
and their needs early on. Ideally you should have iterated the idea before
touching a single line of code or design with a group of interested people who
not only like the idea or what you're saying but would have been committed to
trying it out and actually offering feedback on whether or not the idea is
something they would be interested in.

I'll assume the above was never done and you guys went ahead and got the site
build out anyway. The best alternative is to reach out to the people around
you (like your neighbors directly), as well as communities online that relate
to the sort of problem you're aiming to solve (hopefully there is a problem
you're solving and not just a solution). Blogs, forums, competing sites,
etc... The trick is not to be intrusive and try to offer a compelling solution
and get feedback.

 _is it possible to get publicity and write ups if you don't have funding or
famous entrepreneurs at the helm of your project?_

Yes but this is not a long term strategy to retain or attract the right set of
users needed to get the site up and running. Early on, it is better to get a
few users on board during the beta who absolutely loves your product and is
willing to grind through it and give you feedback than a bunch of people who
half heartedly like your site.

Hope that helps.

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nreece
Couple of ideas:

1\. Start a site blog and write about the industry or the technology that your
service relates to. Share your blog posts on HN, Reddit, Digg, Twitter,
Facebook, Google+ etc.

2\. Get some advisers on board. They can not only help you shape your service
but they can also spread the word for you through their social network.

3\. Email some tech bloggers about your service and request them to write a
review.

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krausejj
thanks! good ideas. for #3, have you or others had much success with this
strategy? it seems like tech bloggers are inundated with these requests. any
tips on how to stand out? or blogs that you'd recommend?

~~~
nreece
It's best to contact small bloggers (with under 1000 subscribers) who write
about a niche. Human rights blogger, for example, and tout how your service
aggregates anonymous comments from a Occupy meetup.

It's a bit of ground-work to do, but then startups ain't easy.

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mburst
Since you seem to be targeting local discussions it may help to get local
newspapers involved. Local newspapers pretty much live off of people in their
community doing potentially big things.

As nreece said, contacting tech bloggers is a really good way to get started.
Here is a really good article detailing some ideas
[http://jasonlbaptiste.com/featured-articles/how-i-pitched-
te...](http://jasonlbaptiste.com/featured-articles/how-i-pitched-techcrunch-
and-13-ways-to-get-press-when-you-launch-your-startup/)

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mudge
Hey krausejj, you could pledge for a cheap advertisement on
<http://1000milerunningman.com>

The ad will be free unless I actually do run the 1000 miles, which depends on
if I get enough sponsors/advertisers.

But if I do run the 1000 miles, your ad will be worth it. With the traffic I
will get and how the advertisements are featured on the website, you will get
traffic.

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nbalce
Have you tried betali.st? they send me sites of new startups every day. They
are also European, so you also get global readers to see your site. Good luck!

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guruz
Hm, you could pre-fill the page with geotagged tweets. Then it doesn't look so
empty for areas outside SF and more people might consider using it?

~~~
nreece
Then the messages won't be anonymous anymore, but not a bad way to start
seeding the location comments (maybe strip-off the twitter Id).

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ABrandt
I only took a quick look at your site, but it seems ripe for some cool
promotional event to kick things off. Use your app to chalk up your city with
all sorts of hints that lead to a prize. Kind of like a virtual scavenger
hunt. Then write about it everywhere you possibly can (local blogs,
craigslist, social networks etc.). Could lead to some real publicity as well.
Good luck!

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ypcx
Besides the other specific/great tips in this discussion, get a top tech
journalist to write about your startup. This will usually happen if you are
very interesting _and_ you offer some form of exclusivity - e.g. during a
closed beta, etc. Quora has a whole section on this topic, and it's very good.
I remember Scobleizer himself giving advices there, if I'm not mistaken.

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glimcat
I only visited your site because you forgot to say what it does. I'm still not
that sure what it does, or how, or why.

Fixing that would be a big step forwards. You want to always be communicating
about your service, and in a clear way, and focusing on why I should care
rather than on why you're awesome.

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krausejj
Thanks for all the ideas. There is clearly no silver bullet or shortcut but
this is some good stuff. Appreciated.

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Stealx
Unrelated, but I'd recommend using the same header with links on your welcome
page too.

