Seminar at BeeraTech Jerusalem - PR for Startups

1. STORYSTACK
The Role of Narrative and StoryTelling inYour Startup
& How it Can Lead toYour Getting Media Coverage
June 1, 2014

2. WHO’S HERE?
• Need 3 volunteers / 2 minutes each
• What’s your story?
• What makes you interesting?
• Who’s had media coverage?
• Where do you think you need to be covered?

3. PRESENTATION
• Live on www.alanweinkrantz.com blog & Slideshare
• Ask questions….I’m not here to “lecture…”
• Based on belief sets, principles, and experimentation
• Real world examples
• Premise based on your doing much of this yourself - and as a
team…

4. ABOUT
• Tech PR / Branded Journalism
• 30+ years…. been through major shifts & cycles
• 20 years back and forth to Israel
• U.S. and Israel

6. TODAY
• Learn about the role of narrative and story telling for your startup
• Take-away five steps you can apply through the end of 2014
• Build a body of work that will contribute to your being discovered
• How it can help lead to media coverage
• Add a layer of value to your brand

7. A huge, global volume of startups….
all vying for attention in the media

8. Just get us some press…

9. Do you have the right contacts in the
media to get us a huge story in….. ?

10. We have a huge (and
important) announcement
next week and we need to
be covered everywhere….

11. _____ is on our Advisory
Board….our team came from
the IDF….we have the most
disruptive technology in the
history of man-mind….we are
going to be the Google of
______, etc….

12. I heard that if you _________
with journalists, it’s a sure way
to get__________. At least
that’s what a friend of mine at
another start-up did….and got
covered in ______…

13. Our space is very unique, and
unless you have relationships
with media in the ____ sector,
how can you help us?

14. There’s always a story behind the
story, and what it took to get there….

24. ALAN’S PRINCIPLES OF
“GETTING PRESS”
• Listen
• Build a sustainable body of work
• Pitch - with expectations
• Keep listening and contribute to your ecosystem

25. LISTEN…
• Identify the writers, bloggers, analysts who you think matter
• Come up with 15 - 20 as your target and assign the founders the
responsibility to tune in, read, and just listen…
• Share your insights with the team on what they write about, say,
issues they cover, what they could be missing, and most of all,
where you can help them.

26. A BODY OF WORK
• Depends on what you are doing… use common sense
• Social, of course,
• Blog is best.
• Helpful content. Not self-promotional.
• Write to help the media discover you and be an authoritative
source…”thought leader…”

27. PITCH - EXPECTATIONS
• Introductory email
• Various ways to “pitch”
• Meeting and following up at conference is a good way
• Commenting on articles can help you be discovered
• Not every pitch sticks

28. As story tellers you have the
opportunity to add a massive
layer of value to your startup

29. What’s Branded Journalism?
The art of applying story telling and
building narratives to support and
reflect a brand’s values…

30. Having a body of work separates your
startup… all vying for attention

31. The new tools of building your startup

32. Technology Stack LAMP
Java
Python
OpenStack
Ruby
AWS
Rackspace
Microsoft
IBM / Softlayer

33. StoryStack
Blog
YouTube
Instagram
Twitter
LinkedIn
SoundCloud
FaceBook

34. WHY
• Builds a new type of defensible position
• Your body of work helps you define who you are
• Media can discover and cover you
• Can lead to new types of unexpected deal flow

35. StoryStack
Story
Narrative
Voice
Engagement
Discovery

36. STORY
• Sets the stage for the heart
and soul of your company
• Builds and expresses culture
• Attracts customers, partners,
media, etc

37. NARRATIVE
• Connected events
• Gluing your story together
• Ties your channels together
• Helps you express, connect
and engage with your
ecosystem

38. ENGAGEMENT
• Lets you listen
• Give your customers /
partners a voice
• Enables amplification of
your story
• Which can lead to….

39. WHAT’SYOURVOICE ?
• Techie
• Fashion
• Sports
• Music
• Culture

40. DISCOVERY
• An act of faith
• People are searching for you
• Let them discover you
• Find others
• Get discovered, covered by media

41. content
(curated,
contributed,
posts)
socialcommenting
writing
Branding your startup
with content adds a
unique layer of value
Your Startup’s Voice

42. BRANDED JOURNALISM
EXAMPLES….
• News
• Content
• StoryTelling
• Media

43. EXECUTION…
• Agree to some basic milestones
• Don’t be afraid to write
• Don’t publish until you feel comfortable doing so
• Build out an editorial calendar
• Share the responsibility with your co-founders

44. EXECUTION
• Decide on the outposts (channels)
• Allow 90 days to get the process going
• Use stock tools
• Your SmartPhone is a very powerful story telling platform

45. SUGGESTED READING
!
• www.adweek.com/topic/branded-content
• www.digiday.com
• www.battellemedia.com
• www.ragan.com
• all photos (except forThe Beatles, BB King, etc) by me.

46. LET’S CONNECT…
• Twitter
• Facebook
• LinkedIn
• Instagram
• SoundCloud
• YouTube

47. ThankYou.
alan@weinkrantz.com
www.alanweinkrantz.com
all photos by me…