brilliant pr on a startup budget

INTRODUCTION

BRILLIANT PR ON A STARTUP BUDGETCourtney Boyd Myers Founder, audience.io & 3460 Miles

INTRODUCTION

‣Working with Fueled, Makeshift, Transferwise, SecretEscapes + Percolate ‣Director of Audience Development at General Assembly London ‣Member of #10’s Tech City Advisory Group ‣Writer at Wired UK, The Daily Beast & The Next Web ‣Mentor at BBC WorldWideLabs, Seedcamp, Ignite100 ‣Community Member of Sandbox, Summit Series & ICE

COURTNEY BOYD MYERS (@CBM) FOUNDER, AUDIENCE.IO & 3460 MILES

AGENDA

‣Setting the Foundation ‣Marketing 101 ‣Defining PR ‣Tools of the Trade ‣Media & PR ‣Q & A

4

FIRST RULE OF PR: !

BRILLIANT PR ON A STARTUP BUDGET

DON’T PROMOTE A SHIT PRODUCT


‣ Vision: The company’s long-term, aspirational business goals. What's the change you want to make in the world?

!‣ Mission: The company’s purpose and reason

for being. What are the big first steps to make that change?

!‣ Values: How will you make those choices,

changes and first steps?

MISSION, VISION + VALUES


VISION: To become the world’s largest community for dreamers. !MISSION: To create the world’s best app that helps people remember and record their dreams. !VALUES: Curious, Data-Driven, Exploratory, and Secure


“Many companies try to dive into driving awareness for their product or service before they figure out who they are, what they stand for, and what they are driving for. At Eventbrite, we set out 6 years ago to democratize the ticketing industry through innovative products and top notch support. The great news is that through all the growth we’ve had – in customers and in company size – these are still our primary areas of focus.”

-Julia Hartz, Co-Founder of Eventbrite


MESSAGING

Text

It’s is the one thing you want to tell people about your startup. !-It needs to be compelling (NO BS!) and different from your competition.

Source

http://www.cezary.co/post/35062231564/startup-key-message


MESSAGING

Text

It’s is the one thing you want to tell people about your startup. !-It needs to be compelling (NO BS!) and different from your competition. !!

Text

A fun online world where kids can adopt their very own monster, go on adventures, play games, solve puzzles, be creative, and communicate with their friends.


TextText


MESSAGING FOR A TWO-SIDED MARKET


PRESS - ARE YOU READY?!“Patience is important. Media coverage is easier and more effective once you have a killer product. If you’re trying to create buzz too early, you’re doing it wrong.”

-MICHELLE ZATLYN, CO-FOUNDER OF CLOUDFLARE

!


WHY DO YOU NEED PRESS?

1. Users 2. SEO 3. Building Credibility + Trust 4. Raising Money 5. Testing Out a New Idea 6. Recruitment

Source

http://www.forbes.com/sites/theyec/2012/08/24/7-goals-to-help-your-startup-craft-a-more-targeted-pr-strategy/


I NEED USERS!‣ Common but often misguided ‣ Entrepreneurs tend to set expectations too high ‣ Viral and WOM marketing are usually more

powerful channels for startups, but press is a great way to get the loop going.

‣ Target: Whatever your perspective customers or users read. A tool for small business might pitch Inc., while a sports app could target ESPN.

Source



SEO‣ Getting wide press coverage across a variety of press outlets w/ PR 5+ scores is a great way

to boost your SEO

Source‣ Target: Low-hanging fruit; smaller blogs, sometimes the ones no one has heard of! And PR newswires.



BUILDING CREDIBILITY

Source‣ Target: Go for big names!



RAISING MONEY‣ This is repeatedly the number

one benefit of getting press that startups mention to me

‣ To aim your story at investors mention impressive usage metrics or key hires

Source‣ Target: TechCrunch, The Next Web, GigaOm and the Wall Street Journal.



TESTING OUT A NEW IDEA‣ Without more than 100 users, how can

you know if your MVP is right for the market? !

‣ It’s very tempting to use press to test an MVP but if it’s a total flop it will be burned permanently on the Internet

Source



RECRUITING‣ Attract new hires by showing off

your company’s culture or office space

‣ ZenDesk, GitHub, Evernote, and Fueled have all done this really well

Source‣ Target: Where your potential hires read! e.g. If you’re hiring developers,

try to get posted on Hacker News



BEFORE PRESS‣Your product has been thoroughly alpha tested with not only friends, family but a wide group of users so you know it works

‣mTurk.com, followerwonk.com, usertesting.com, betali.st

‣You’re familiar with the media landscape and can name at least three journalists...


UK/EUROPE TECH MEDIA@TheNextWeb • @MartinSFP !@TechCrunch • @MikeButcher • @IngridLunden !@TechCityNews

@AlexWoodCreates !@Informlio • @BenJRooney

@WiredUK • @Olivia_Solon !@tech_eu • @RobinWauters !@Telegraph • @Kate_Day !@GuardianTech • @CharlesArthur !!!


FINDING THE JOURNALIST1. Do your homework !2. STALK / NETWORK !3. Get an introduction! !4. Invite them to a party! !5. Cocktail party rules apply !6. Give them a scoop!


NOTHING BEATS NETWORKING

“The single most effective way to get an article on any publication is to know

someone at the publication.” - @DavidSpinks


TOOLS OF THE TRADEHARO: “Help a Reporter Out” Help A Reporter connects news sources with journalists looking for their expertise. !MuckRack: Track Journalists and key words on Twitter, Facebook and Linkedin !Twitter


READ!Blogs ‣Fred Wilson (A VC) — http://avc.com ‣Chris Dixon — http://cdixon.org ‣Paul Graham’s Essays — http://paulgraham.com ‣Hacker News — http://news.ycombinator.com ‣The Full Start - http://fullstart.com !!Newsletters ‣The Fetch http://thefetch.com ‣3460 Miles http://3460miles.com ‣Startup Digest http://startupdigest.com

http://avc.com

http://cdixon.org

http://paulgraham.com

http://news.ycombinator.com

http://fullstart.com

http://thefetch.com

http://3460miles.com


PR AGENCY COSTS

‣ $3K - $30K per month

‣ Try negotiating a "success-based" PR package that gives you the security of knowing that you will only pay for PR if certain pre-determined goals for coverage are met.

‣ If those goals are not met, you wont have to pay. If the goals are reached, you will be happy to pay, because you’re paying for actual results.


STORY ANGLES‣Tell your story in different ways to different outlets that will appeal to the difference readerships. ‣Audiences vary widely across different brands, websites, and blogs


WHAT’S THE STORY?•“We’ve launched” •Funding •Trend Stories •We’ve hit X # of users •New features •Acquiring •Big, new hire •Future plans


PRESS GETS YOU MORE PRESS‣ Journalists read other publications to find

ideas for articles !

‣ Getting a good article on the right publications will lead to more press. For example, Feast, a SF based startup, landed an article in Greatist, which led to articles in Men’s Fitness and The Bold Italic.


WRITING THE PITCH1. Be brief. 2. Craft an eye-catching subject line. 3. Don’t copy paste! Oh Hey Caroline at The Next Crunch.. !4. Give a reasonable time frame. 5. Say why it's DIFFERENT 6. Avoid jargon like DISRUPTIVE, CURATED, HYBRID, INNOVATIVE, GAME-CHANGING etc. !7. Give an offer if you can: Beta invites. App Codes. Exclusive details, etc.


Courtney B of the deep blue sea, Would you could you should you if you please When you’ve got a moment so free Let known when you could lend your ear to me?

BRILLIANT PR ON A STARTUP BUDGETSubject: Exclusive for TC: Launching XXX- make any blog look like a sexy iPad app !Hey Mike, !I’m George, the founder of XXX. !Launching XXX next week, on Thursday at noon EST and TC gets free reign on an exclusive before then. XXX makes any blog look and

behave like a native iPad app. We’re talking accelerometer aware column resizing, swipe to advance articles, touch navigation, home screen icon support, and more. We’ve built somecool tech to make this happen smoothly, and it works with your existing layout... !PS- Would also be happy to do giveaways to TC readers. Thanks again and feel free to reach out if you have anymore questions

(skype,phone,etc. listed below). !

Video Demo: http://vimeo.com/13487300 Live demo site (if you’re on an iPad): jasonlbaptiste.com Feature overviews: http://padpressed.com/features My contact info: [email protected] , Phone:xxx.xxx.xxxx, Twitter: @xxx, Skype: xxx !-George

#xxx.xxx.xxxxYou Should Check Out xxx.com

http://vimeo.com/13487300

http://jasonlbaptiste.com/featured-articles/how-i-pitched-techcrunch-and-13-ways-to-get-press-when-you-launch-your-startup/jasonlbaptiste.com

http://padpressed.com/features

mailto:[email protected]


GIVE WRITERS EVERYTHING THEY NEEDProvide external links (not attachments) to: •Awesome Videos •Beautiful, High-Res Photos •Company Facts: Founded Date, Funding Details, # of employees, Founder’s Names, etc. Be Available! !


AFTER THE PITCH

1. Follow up! - Appropriate time on this? One week? 3-4 days? !2. Handling multiple outlets. Tell Multiple Stories. And Don't be misleading. !3. Don't break your own embargo. !


TIPS FOR YOU-Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Is this on or off the record? What’s the story angle? Do they require exclusivity? !-Don’t say “we have no competitors” -- choose your competitors are or the media will choose for you. !- Put yourself in the mindset of the journalist. How will this story get them on Techmeme or featured by their editors? Is it like stories the journalist has written before? !-Be good to the journalist. Don’t just hit them up when you need them. They want your scoops, tips, etc. since you’re on the ground in the midst of it all.


TAKE NOTES FROM


WAKEFIELD’S PAPER NAPKIN PITCH ‣ The Paper Napkin Pitch started because TechCrunch said they’d

write about one of Wakefield’s events but needed a new angle other than just an event cover.

‣ So the Founders came up with the idea of having attendees write ideas on napkins and win prizes: “The Paper Napkin Pitch”.

‣ They submitted it to TechCrunch, but didn't hear a damn thing so they put it on the back burner.

‣ Then day of their event came around and TechCrunch published the article so they had to cobble it together with last-minute prizes.

‣ But now the Paper Napkin Pitch is their most desirable sponsorship picking up brands like American Airlines and SXSW.


SLIDEBEAN‣ Scored blog posts on TechCrunch and The Next Web ‣ Took 3 months to plan in advance ‣ Took Time to Develop Relationships ‣ Followed + interacted w/ journalists on social

networks ‣ Took photos personalized for journalist in their

travels around the world ‣ Kept pitch email short + sweet ‣ Submitted through Tips to TechCrunch

Source

https://medium.com/on-startups/how-to-get-featured-in-techcrunch-and-not-die-trying-e344cd52c74


BESPOKY‣ To showcase their startup’s progress, they developed

an Instagram strategy where each week they collate all the work they've accomplished into an animated GIF.

‣ While basic, it’s a great way for people to see what they've been doing

‣ It’s also a weekly reminder to keep the momentum going and accomplish great new Instagrammable things!

‣ http://instagram.com/p/oJKdQjhsQq/

http://instagram.com/p/oJKdQjhsQq/


STUNT PR


FRECKLE’S EVERYTIMEZONE


BABELVERSE‣ In 2012, Babelverse live translated the US

president Barack Obama’s 2012 State of the Nation address into up to 6,796 languages (ie all of them) !

‣ The press releases duly went out and TechCrunch and CNN were among those to pick the story up. !

‣ Meanwhile, Dunne, de Bornial and their designer did an all-nighter to pull it off. “We were like – ‘make it live, make it live!” Dunne recalls.


SHUTL‣ Shutl, a venture capital-backed UK startup

that delivers goods purchased online with haste, has sent a letter to Usain Bolt, whom I trust does not need an introduction. !

‣ In it, the company promises the man 1 percent equity in the venture and “all the McNuggets” he needs. In return, Bolt has to spare up to 2 hours of time to help Shutl set the world record for fastest delivery – again.


USING SOCIAL GOOD AS PR

Your actions speak louder than words.


EVENTS AS PR


CONTENT MARKETING AS PR• Write brilliant blog posts

showcasing your expertise !

• Content marketing can be easily enhanced with social media marketing and content syndication !

• Your content marketing should support your company’s SEO efforts


WHEN IN DOUBT, HIT IT BIG ON YOUTUBE

!!!

•Viewed more than 12.5 million times •Instantly went viral + jointly conveyed the brand personality and the benefits of the service deftly.


AMPLIFY YOUR PR WITH SOCIAL MEDIA •Improve your inbound !•Make more original content !•ENGAGE!- Like, Share, RT; Answer questions, tweets, comments, etc. !•Be opinionated !•Throw a Party (Get to know people IRL first) !•Make your details public + up to date !

51

SOCIAL MEDIA: TOOLS OF THE TRADE !


•Facebook •Twitter/Twitter Ads •Pinterest •Tumblr •LinkedIn •Foursquare •YouTube •Instagram •Mention •Hootsuite •Buffer


IF ALL ELSE FAILS, GET NAKED


RELATIONSHIPS, RELATIONSHIPS, RELATIONSHIPSGet Involved


RELATIONSHIPS, RELATIONSHIPS, RELATIONSHIPSGet Involved !Make Friends with Founders, Investors, Journalists, Startup Wannabes, Coworking Space Heads, the Cleaning Ladies and everyone in between


RELATIONSHIPS, RELATIONSHIPS, RELATIONSHIPSGet Involved !Make Friends with Founders, Investors, Journalists, Startup Wannabes, Coworking Space Heads, the Cleaning Ladies and everyone in between !READ, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD READ. !


RELATIONSHIPS, RELATIONSHIPS, RELATIONSHIPSGet Involved !Make Friends with Founders, Investors, Journalists, Startup Wannabes, Coworking Space Heads, the Cleaning Ladies and everyone in between !READ, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD READ. !Tweet.


RELATIONSHIPS, RELATIONSHIPS, RELATIONSHIPSGet Involved !Make Friends with Founders, Investors, Journalists, Startup Wannabes, Coworking Space Heads, the Cleaning Ladies and everyone in between !READ, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD READ. !Tweet. !Write.


RELATIONSHIPS, RELATIONSHIPS, RELATIONSHIPSGet Involved !Make Friends with Founders, Investors, Journalists, Startup Wannabes, Coworking Space Heads, the Cleaning Ladies and everyone in between !READ, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD READ. !Tweet. !Write. !Be happy. But know it’s OK and TOTALLY NORMAL to be sad, angry, frustrated, disappointed and insanely crazy too.

brilliant pr on a startup budget

Small Business & Entrepreneurship

coworking

paper napkin

source brilliant

startup budget

startup budget

startup budget

brilliant

startup wannabes