1. ABOVETHE CODE
- How to PropelYour Startup PR With
Smart Communications Strategies -
Tel Aviv University - February 16, 2015

2. ABOUT
•33 years - yup, I am an old school PR guy.... and believe in the real
power of PR
•San Antonio &Tel Aviv - mentored at Wayra Buenos Aires in 2013
•Involved with Israel’s traditional tech sector for the last 20 years
•Sponsored by Rackspace to #BeHelpful

3. TODAY...
•Thank you to fellow panelists
•Presentation online @ www.alanweinkrantz.com
•Share in real time @alanweinkrantz
•Sharing principles, methods, approaches... each company is different
•Practical tips, hints and actionable steps you can take and succeed in
2015

4. $24,000.00 in hosting / cloud / email credits for 12 months
I am sponsored by Rackspace Startup Program

5. GOOD NEWS :)
•Very low cost / no cost to
create a start-up
•Big Idea
•Core team
•Strong will
•Servers / hosting

6. BAD NEWS :(
•Someone in NewYork, Madrid, San Francisco, Singapore, Mumbai…
or Tel Aviv… is thinking the same thing as you are :(
•Hard to have a defensible position
•Hard to protect your IP
•Getting traction is tough

7. MAIN CHALLENGES
•Defining who you are
•Reaching journalists / bloggers / analysts
•Building a story and narrative
•Thinking like an editor- not just “a startup” product manager or
founder
•Identifying “media” you want to be helpful to

8. 5 PRACTICAL WAYSTO PLAN
FOR 2015
•1. Identify who you want to reach
•2. Listen and get inside their head
•3. Watch and listen to how others you compete with or on the
periphery do it
•4. Build a body of work that defines who you are and helps you get
discovered - start thinking like an editor / brand publisher / media
company
•5. Reach out and pitch

9. 1. WHO DO I WANTTO
REACH?
•Define the space - and the place you think you belong
•Rank the order of importance - it’s ok to dream
•news.google.com is your friend. So is twitter…
•Track competitors, subject matter, people, thought leaders in your
space

10. www.angel.co

11. Text
www.twtrland.com

12. www.listorious.com

13. MuckRack.com

14. www.helpareporter.com

15. 2. DEFINE WHOYOU ARE
•Marketing
•Business
•Technical
•Legal
•Medical
•Social

16. WRITE FOR STORYTELLING
•You don’t have to be “a writer…”
•Write like you speak…
•Your potential investors, partners, maybe an acquisition are reading
your content to see what’s in your heart and soul and why you care
about what you are doing.

17. WHYTHIS MATTERSTODAY...
•Story telling, having a voice, and the on-going narrative is a reflection
of your startup / company’s heart and soul
•It becomes the body of work that helps you recruit talent, attract
investors, customers, build partnerships, and be discovered by the
media
•Someone at the other end of the periphery of the web just might find
you and use your content to share your story.

18. 3. LISTENTO COMPETITORS &
THE PERIPHERY
•Is there someone ahead of you?
•Who is not competing, but on
the periphery?
•Who is not competing and in
another complementary space?
•Where is the periphery?

19. 4. BUILD A BODY OF WORK
•Focus on your startup’s blog
•Builds credibility
•Increases your chances of being discovered
•Enables you to provide background material when you pitch
•Helps you self-define your startup

20. YOU’RE REALLY A MEDIA
COMPANYTHAT....
•Creates and makes media
so you’ll be discovered,
found and shared
•YouTube
•Twitter
•Facebook
•Blog
•Pinterest
•Instagram
•SoundCloud
•Google Plus
•LinkedIn
•UStream

21. April May June
F1
F2
F3
F4
90 Day Editorial Calendar Planner
2x topics per month from each - 24 posts per quarter

22. HAVE A MISSION
•We’re out to make __________ better
•We want to help _____ do _______
•We want to help others the opportunity to ________
•We’re connecting _______ with ______ so they can ________
•We make it easier to ____________
•Have your voice be heard about _________

23. HOWTO PITCH…
•Start story telling
•Write a simple, introductory
email… as an inquiry.

24. HACKYOUR OWN
COMMUNICATIONS
•Think of yourself as a reporter &
story teller
•Much of this you can initially do
yourself
•Leave digital bread crumbs

25. PLAN....
•Post and write relevant content
so you can be a source to media
on your field of expertise
•Develop & publish infographics
you can share
•Follow a wish list of 20
journalists you think should
cover you
•Read and comment on relevant
articles without being self
promotional.
•Ask end user / beta customers if
you can refer to them to media
•Create your own editorial
calendar

26. BEFORE MARCH 15
•Make a wish list of where you
belong
•business / tech / bloggers
•media appropriate to your
space
•analysts / influencers
appropriate to your space
•track competitors or
companies in your periphery
on news.google.com to see
who covers and writes about
them
•track competitors on Angel.co

27. PLAN FOR PR
•If you follow some of these basic
principles, you’ll be further
ahead.
•This process takes at least six
months to one year to really get
on a journalist’s radar and be
sticky - sometimes you can get
lucky
•Get everyone on your team to
make this part of their regimen
as it will make them aware of
the opportunities that await you
when you are ready.
•Bring up PR in your team
meetings in a “what if...” scenario.
Be Ready For PR SoYou Can Succeed

28. THIS HASTO BE…
•A team effort
•Sustainable. Start now…
•Listen. Listen. Listen. Always be in discovery mode.
•How can you help

29. $24,000.00 in hosting / cloud / email credits for 12 months
I am sponsored by Rackspace Startup Program

30. please share:)
ABOVETHE CODE™
alan@weinkrantz.com

31. alan@weinkrantz.com
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© Alan Weinkrantz And Company 2014 AboveThe Code ™
(c) Alan Weinkrantz 2015