Easily actionable tips for PR, written especially for startups.
Table of Contents:
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What is PR?
Why Do you need it?
How can it help you?
PR vs Marketing
When do you need PR?
Examples of PR
2. THE BASICS
• What is PR?
• Why Do you need it?
• How can it help you?
• PR vs Marketing
• When do you need PR?
• Examples of PR
http://bit.ly/1b1QSom
3. Why do startups need PR?
Public relations (PR) are used to establish and maintain goodwill
and mutual understanding between an organization and the public.
PR helps you communicate with your audience to make sure they
understand and value your company/service.
It also helps build a positive image in the public mind.
5. http://linkd.in/1E9V3to
PR & MARKETING
Great Product + Bad Reputation = No Sales
Social media is blurring the boundaries between
PR and marketing, but the difference is...
Marketing sells products and services
PR develops relationships and builds reputation
6. http://prn.to/1yxoZhP
How can PR help you?
One good article placement can lead to a substantial increase
in sales and tremendous growth.
Consumers believe Third party endorsements more than Ads.
7. http://bit.ly/1b1QSom
When do you need PR?
“You always need to think about PR, but that doesn’t mean you should
chase press coverage as soon as you’ve got a company name”
“Startups should not hire a PR firm till they have customers as proof-of-
concept”
Shalini Singh, Founder of Galvanise PR
8. Company Announcements, Milestones, Recruiting,
Business Development, Fund Raising, Staff Morale, B2B
& B2C Sales, Future PR, M&A, Customer Acquisition,
Strategic Partnerships, etc
There’s a lot of noise in the tech industry.
Having a PR strategy helps get your message out,
and is crucial to a startup’s growth for:
9. Cloudike
Project:
• Build company story to support global
business aims
Process:
• Interviewed founders. Built company
intro and press kit. Distributed story to
global media
Achievements:
• (Eventually) Achieved coverage on
TechCrunch, which resulted in a 10 X
increase in enquiries for the service
• Achieved coverage on regional
technology publications in Asia
– http://tcrn.ch/1Him39g
10. The Press Kit – “Pure PR”
1. The Boilerplate - a boilerplate is a unit of writing that can be reused over and over
, for multiple press releases, without change
2. The Elevator Pitch - an elevator pitch is a short description of your
product/service
3. The Press Release - PR announcement issued to the media
4. Images
5. Other items
11. Boiler Plate
Points To Bare In Mind
• Include what your company does and for whom
• Describe your strengths
• Include your organization’s tagline
• Use appropriate keywords for SEO
• Include specific metrics
• Use words that position you against competitors
• Include a link to your website
• Include contact details
Keep it short and simple: 100 – 150 words
http://bit.ly/1mGzs4O
12. The Elevator Pitch
• An elevator pitch is a short description of your product/service
• In one sentence you should be able to explain your company’s mission
• “my company, _(insert name of company)_, is developing _(a defined offering)_
to help _(a defined audience)_ _(solve a problem)_ with_(secret sauce)_”.
• Imagine you’re on an elevator with a potential investor and you can only pitch to
him/her during the ride
111 words
13. 10 Tips For Writing A Press Release
1. Have a good reason for sending a press release
2. Grab attention with a good headline
3. Get right to the point in the first paragraph
4. Answer who, what, when, where, why and how
5. Include hard numbers or data points
6. Make it grammatically flawless
7. Include quotes whenever possible
8. Make sure it is appropriately targeted
9. One page is best, two is maximum
10. Provide access to more information
14. Images
Your Logo
• Use a high-quality image of your logo that is sharp and visible
Product Photos
• 1-2 should be sufficient. Make sure it’s the product you talk about in the release
Shots of people
• Make these appropriate to the audience
Video
• The video should clearly back up what is said in the release
• Keep it to 60 seconds or less
15. What is a press list
“An effective press list is actually not a list,
it’s a collection of personal connections”
Effective PR relies on strong media connections. If writers already know you, they are
much more likely to listen like friendships, building strong media connections will take
time.
So… a press list will take time to develop, and should be looked after, like you look
after your friends. Writers might change jobs, but you should keep the friendship.
http://bit.ly/1yRaDdk
16. How to build a press list
• Identify target publications
• Identify writers who cover your ‘beat’
• Record contact information and build writer profiles
• Connect with them and start interacting early
• Get to know their preferences / interests
http://bit.ly/1yN8sYd
17. How to contact journalists
“Spamming 1,000 ‘cold’ contacts will not be nearly as effective
as pitching 10 relevant people you know very well”
How to make friends with journalists
• Add value to their work
• Follow them on Twitter
• Share their relevant work
• Comment on their Writing
• Try Snail Mail
• Buy them a beer
• Send a highly personalized e-mail
• Keep them informed
18. Tips on connecting with press
• Target relevant writers
• Ask writers how they like press kits received
• Send 1-2 reminders
• Develop meaningful dialogs
• Focus on the 5 W’s
• Show your appreciation & keep the dialog
going
• Keep in touch with writers
• Offer support with other related stories
• Don’t demand coverage
• Don’t chase up more than twice per press
release
• Assume all writers have the same
preferences
• Use excessive superlatives
• Don’t treat Reporters like your soapbox
• Don’t make writers feel like an after-
thought
• Don’t mistake ‘No’ for ‘Never’
Do Don’t
http://bit.ly/1BNrzeY