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Media Coverage for a startup

by Dharmi
10 replies
Hello,

We are startup business.
Wanted to know about the effects of media coverage to any startup?
Also how to develop journalists contacts, for media attraction?
Obviously media coverage plays crucial role for a startup.
But at the same time it is very difficult to attract them.
#coverage #media #startup
  • Profile picture of the author pauloadaoag
    Administrator
    This might help - Submarine

    Is your startup part of an accelerator? Or a startup program? In my previous startup, joining (and winning) hackathons, pitch competitions, getting accepted into an accelerator batch usually came with PR hits. When the opportunity comes, make sure to present yourself in the best light possible so that any journos/bloggers in attendance will write a good story and will remember you.

    That said, all the good glowing press didn't actually help us in growing the company sustainably, but it did lead to a few cold calls from interested clients. We still had to dedicate *some time* to running a normal content strategy afterwards - having the normal social media pages, having an updated website and blog.
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    • Profile picture of the author Dharmi
      Originally Posted by pauloadaoag View Post

      This might help - Submarine

      Is your startup part of an accelerator? Or a startup program? In my previous startup, joining (and winning) hackathons, pitch competitions, getting accepted into an accelerator batch usually came with PR hits. When the opportunity comes, make sure to present yourself in the best light possible so that any journos/bloggers in attendance will write a good story and will remember you.

      That said, all the good glowing press didn't actually help us in growing the company sustainably, but it did lead to a few cold calls from interested clients. We still had to dedicate *some time* to running a normal content strategy afterwards - having the normal social media pages, having an updated website and blog.
      We are looking for seed accelerators for our startup
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    • Profile picture of the author TheBigBee
      As a former member of a start-up accelerator I must admit it was the worst possible decision I've made. When you join an incubator / accelerator you have to understand that you're the product. The start-up incubator business model is very clever. It's based on a mixture of affiliate sales, tax incentives, mixed in with the occasional oppty to cash out on future rounds of funding... Yuck. Never again.


      Originally Posted by pauloadaoag View Post

      This might help - Submarine

      Is your startup part of an accelerator? Or a startup program? In my previous startup, joining (and winning) hackathons, pitch competitions, getting accepted into an accelerator batch usually came with PR hits. When the opportunity comes, make sure to present yourself in the best light possible so that any journos/bloggers in attendance will write a good story and will remember you.

      That said, all the good glowing press didn't actually help us in growing the company sustainably, but it did lead to a few cold calls from interested clients. We still had to dedicate *some time* to running a normal content strategy afterwards - having the normal social media pages, having an updated website and blog.
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      • Profile picture of the author pauloadaoag
        Administrator
        Originally Posted by TheBigBee View Post

        As a former member of a start-up accelerator I must admit it was the worst possible decision I've made. When you join an incubator / accelerator you have to understand that you're the product. The start-up incubator business model is very clever. It's based on a mixture of affiliate sales, tax incentives, mixed in with the occasional oppty to cash out on future rounds of funding... Yuck. Never again.
        Well I agree somewhat that a lot of startup accelerators nowadays are kinda sketchy and are really just in it for the revenue instead of helping you succeed. Personally I think we lucked out that we got a really good deal in the accelerator we got into, but they could have done a wayyy better job.

        Back on topic: PR hits really depend on cultivating relationships with individual members of the media. TheBigBee nails it somewhat. You kinda want to make it super easy for them to write the story on you - make yourself relevant to whatever topics they cover, make writing the actual piece easy (write/prepare as much of it yourself), etc.
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  • Profile picture of the author pauloadaoag
    Administrator
    We are looking for seed accelerators for our startup
    Cool and I wish you luck. You have an incredible journey ahead of you.
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  • Profile picture of the author spearce000
    If you're looking to develop contacts with journalists, a press release would probably be your best bet.
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  • Profile picture of the author IMMer1975
    In the B2B software space, the media and journalists are rarely moved or excited about yet another PR that touts some new amazing piece of software or tech. Obviously there are exceptions (even more so in the startup world) but by and large they're inundated with noise.

    Instead, they want a story.

    For example, a release of "Company XYZ announces version 1.0 of their leading edge perpetual motion machine software" .... BORING. Every vendor is claiming to release new stuff. This isn't a story.

    Compare to:

    "Company XYZ announces GE, Microsoft, Apple and Starbucks cut costs by 10% and increased revenue by 12% using their new software"

    (excuse the phrasing ... you get the idea)

    The second one is a story. A journalist can get excited about that.

    So if your startup can at least show some initial pilot/POC results, you can spin that into something a little more meaningful than just another PR.
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  • Profile picture of the author TheBigBee
    Hello,

    I was able to hustle my way into the pages of Bloomberg Businessweek and here was my exact playbook.
    1. I cultivated a very small and targeted list of journalists covering my sector.
    2. I thoroughly read ALL their stuff relating to said topic.
    3. I brainstormed ways to enahnce, improve, ghostwrite their future articles. Essentially, I tried to "generate article ideas" for them.
    4. Using the article ideas I generated for them, I gave them source material; first person anecdotes, DATA, DATA, my story.
    5. They reached out and had me come to the HQ...
    6. I was careful not to spill every bean until I had some type of assurance that I'd get mention in the article. Journalist ethics preclude them from trading "I'll cite you as a source in exchange for your info..." But, I was able to artfully get an implicit promise - that was kept.

    Getting the attention of journalists is like consultative selling - lead with value. REAL value.

    If I can be of further help - let me know!

    FOOTNOTE: MY MEMBERSHIP TO A STARTUP ACCELERATOR / INCUBATOR HELPED ME GET ZERO PRESS AT ALL. I GOT THE PRESS BEFORE I GOT THE INVITE.



    Originally Posted by Dharmi View Post

    Hello,

    We are startup business.
    Wanted to know about the effects of media coverage to any startup?
    Also how to develop journalists contacts, for media attraction?
    Obviously media coverage plays crucial role for a startup.
    But at the same time it is very difficult to attract them.
    Signature
    FILL IN THE BLANKS!
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[11012006].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Bharathipriya
    Post your startup in producthunt.com. And reach out to HARO and similar sites to get high authority links from news websites. Also, submit your startup in all startup directories.
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  • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
    I'll just echo something an editor friend of mine tells publicity seekers multiple times per day:

    "If you want a news story, give me news I can use. If you want an ad, just buy a [deleted by legal dept.] ad."
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