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ABOVE THE CODE- How to Win in 2015 -
Successful Startup Communications Strategies
Herzliya - December 23, 2014
ABOUT
•33 years - yup, I am an old school PR guy.... and believe in the real power of PR
•San Antonio & Tel Aviv
• Involved with Israel’s traditional tech sector for the last 20 years
•Sponsored by Rackspace to here November, December, January…and maybe beyond…
TODAY...
•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
$24,000.00 in hosting / cloud / email credits for 12 months
I am sponsored by Rackspace Startup Program
I am not here to “lecture.”This is a discussion.
Let’s learn from each other.
INTRO...
•Who’s in the room?
•Startups: Status / Funding / Distribution / Partnerships
•Companies: Technology / Product / Markets
•Communications challenges
•Communications plans for 2015
•Media coverage?
I’M HERE....
•To help you....
• think about the importance and role of strategic communications and PR in your startup and do ti with some practical, easy ways…
•connect in a whole new way that a few years ago was left to the marketing department or an external ad agency or PR firm
•discover and build the editorial fabric of your startup and help you succeed in 2015
GOOD NEWS :)
•Very low cost / no cost to create a start-up
•Big Idea
•Core team
•Strong will
• Servers / hosting
BAD NEWS :(
•Someone in New York, Madrid, San Francisco, Singapore, Tel Aviv, Mumbai is thinking the same thing as you are :(
•Hard to have a defensible position
•Hard to protect your IP
•Getting traction is tough
MAIN CHALLENGES
•Defining who you are
•Building a story and narrative
•Thinking like a media company - not just “a startup”
• Identifying “media” you want to be helpful to
•Getting coverage, when possible
5 PRACTICAL WAYS TO 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 a brand publisher / media company
•5. Reach out and pitch
1. WHO DO I WANT TO 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
Live Demo… need a couple of volunteers…
Live Demo… need a couple of volunteers…
www.angel.co
Text
www.twtrland.com
www.listorious.com
MuckRack.com
www.helpareporter.com
2. DEFINE WHO YOU ARE
•Marketing
•Business
•Technical
•Legal
•Medical
•Social
WRITE FOR STORY TELLING
•Why is what you are working on important?
•How are you improving lives?
•How are you helping people hack their own lives?
•What are you seeing in the way people are taking responsibility for their own health
LOOK WHAT YOU DID!
•Solved a problem
•Figured out a way to connect two or more things and do something special with it
•Codified a process, expertise, method or a discovery
•Delivering of new type of experience on the devices & platforms we are using today - and in the future
GUIDES TO WRITING
•Write like you speak...record yourself and transcribe what you say
•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.
•Pretend you are speaking to an audience.... write in front of a mirror (seriously...)
•Make this a team effort - including the programmer / coder
WHY THIS MATTERS TODAY...
•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.
3. LISTEN TO 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?
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
YOU’RE REALLY A MEDIA COMPANY THAT....
•Creates and makes media so you’ll be discovered, found and shared
•YouTube
•Blog
•SoundCloud
•Google Plus
•UStream
F1
F2
F3
F4
Role. Tone. Voice.
CEO: Serious. Thought Leader.
CTO: Technical. Knowledge. What’s Next.
Biz Dev: Forward. Opportunity. Open.
Lead Dev: Innovator. Code. Team.
“F” = founder
Jan Feb March
F1
F2
F3
F4
90 Day Editorial Calendar Planner2x topics per month from each - 24 posts per quarter
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 _________
HOW TO PITCH…
•Start story telling
•Write a simple, introductory email… as an inquiry.
HACK YOUR OWN COMMUNICATIONS
•Think of yourself as a reporter & story teller
•Much of this you can do yourself
•Leave digital bread crumbs
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
•Follow editorial calendars
•Create your own editorial calender
BEFORE DECEMBER 31
•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
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 So You Can Succeed
THIS HAS TO BE…
•A team effort
•Sustainable. Start now…
•Listen. Listen. Listen. Always be in discovery mode.
•How can you help
$24,000.00 in hosting / cloud / email credits for 12 months
I am sponsored by Rackspace Startup Program
PLUS….
When you become a Rackspace Startup Program member, I adopt you and can help you in your journey.
please share:)
ABOVE THE CODE™
054-321-6176
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© Alan Weinkrantz And Company 2014 Above The Code ™
(c) Alan Weinkrantz 2014
