PR for Startups with PressDoc

PR for Startups

Thursday, February 14, 13

•Getting coverage for a product that is not ready

“We are in pre-alpha, but we want everybody to sing up!”

5 PR #fails for Startups


•Spamming media contacts

“I’ve sent my press release to all my 1000 media contacts in BCC”



•Rely on content to get word-of-mouth for your startup

“I blogged about it, now they will write.”



•Push a story that is not news, and then harass them to

cover it “We have a Kickstarter project, can you write about it?”

“We 'exist', hurray! Can you write a post?”



•Not invest time in constant PR

“Bloggers and journalist can find out what my news is about, on their own.”



5 PR #wins for Startups


•Form relationships with key journalists. PR = Personal Relations- Give heads up about news- Get to know them before you need them- Do your homework- Be a source- Aim for a publish ratio of >51%



•Media likes to talk to founders, especially when it comes to startups.- How about a PR firm?



•Use embargoes and exclusivity for bigger hand picked media- Be honest (who else got the embargo)



•Invest time and attention in PR constantly.



•Build a great product that people love and care about!- Media likes to write about companies people like (people click on)



•Key message (2 - 3 paragraphs)

•Basic info about your company (boiler plate)

•Fact sheets, howto’s, more in depth info

•FAQ

•Media list

What do you need?


•Title and subtitle

•Body content

•Quotes

•Contact details

•Basic info about your company (boiler plate)

•Relevant media (pictures etc.)

What to include?


Do extended research on the journalists and bloggers covering your industry. Target your news to the outlets you've carefully handpicked for a good reason.

Jamillah Knowles, UK Editor at The Next Web

“Making sure your pitch is something that is suitable for an outlet is important. There’s no point pitching a car engine part to a fashion

writer.”

How to effectively pitch journalists


http://blog.pressdoc.com/2013/02/how-to-pitch-journalists-with-jamillah-knowles-uk-editor-at-the-next-web.html


Be sure what you wish to announce is news (ask yourself what you would want to read about other startups).


“News lines like mergers and acquisitions, funding news and product releases are good

solid fare.”





Be straight to the point and short! Try to fit everything in a couple of paragraphs. Your startup idea is really good, but it won’t save the world.


“The first point is to be very clear. Explain what the news is and what you do.”





Always point out why the news is interesting for the readers.


“Writing to female journalists and pushing a product ‘because you’re a girl’ is not great for

obvious reasons.”





Journalists like exclusivity, consider giving them the news under embargo some time before the release to the general public.


“The ones I give attention to are the ones that are a nice early heads-up with an embargo we can work with and of course interesting news.”





What does a PressDoc look like?


Why create a PressDoc?

•Template makes it easy to create professional online press releases•Include all relevant media (hi-res images, video, sound, audio)•Press releases are optimized for social sharing•Have all news in one central place•Use PressList to easily pitch journalists


Custom headerHi-res attachments


Embargo feature


Startups category


OpenPressRoomThursday, February 14, 13

PressList


Thank you!


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PR for Startups with PressDoc