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Hacking PR Getting Press for Technology Companies

Hacking PR: How To Get Media Coverage For Your Startup

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PR is a system. It's not an art, it's not abstract or nebulous. It can be optimized and refined. There are three key components to a good pitch. By understanding these three pillars you can pitch more effectively, and get much better ROI on your time working on PR. Pitches should follow along Trends Press cycles move along trends (Groupon is amazing, Groupon is growing like crazy, Groupon is a scam, Pinterest!). Reporters write about trends because it's easier to predict that people will enjoy, read, and share those stories. Wrapping your PR in context of a trend helps reporters see the value of your pitch. It serves as a signal to reporters that makes your pitch much more effective. Scarcity Reporters don't want to break the same news that everyone else does especially after others have written about it. If reporters feel that you're just pitching everyone, the story is not as valuable. An easy solution for this is to provide reporters with embargoes and/or exclusives. An embargo means that reporters will not cover a story until a set time. This provides reporters with some assurance that by the time they cover it, it will not be widely written about it. Another solution is exclusives, where you guarantee a reporter that they will be the only ones to get the story. Avoid Meta Stories Entrepreneurs have a compulsion to try and get reporters to write meta stories. Stop. Meta stories are hard and intensive to write about and can often fall flat. However, hard news (fundraising, product announcements) is easy for both reporters and readers to digest. So from an ROI perspective, spend your time pitching hard news. It's a more efficient, more effective pitch. Use these three pillars to hack your PR. Spend less time, get a better response, get more press.

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Page 1: Hacking PR: How To Get Media Coverage For Your Startup

Hacking PRGetting Press for Technology Companies

Page 2: Hacking PR: How To Get Media Coverage For Your Startup

PR

It’s a system...And all systems can be hacked.

Page 3: Hacking PR: How To Get Media Coverage For Your Startup

Why is Press Important?

• Free

• Social Proof

• Trust - More weight than marketing messaging

• Starts inbound interest

Page 4: Hacking PR: How To Get Media Coverage For Your Startup

STRATEGY

Page 5: Hacking PR: How To Get Media Coverage For Your Startup

REPORTERS DO NOT

WANT TO WRITEMETA STORIES

STOP TRYING TO GET THEM TO

</META>

Page 6: Hacking PR: How To Get Media Coverage For Your Startup

NODEv

INFLUENCER

Page 7: Hacking PR: How To Get Media Coverage For Your Startup

NODE

• Well read by everyone

• Significant Distribution

• Often an “aggregator”

Page 8: Hacking PR: How To Get Media Coverage For Your Startup

INFLUENCER

• Not read by everyone, but influences nodes and influences early adopter thinking

• Personal blogs of Chris Dixon, Fred Wilson, Mark Suster, Brad Feld, etc.

Page 9: Hacking PR: How To Get Media Coverage For Your Startup

TECH PRESS LANDSCAPE

Page 10: Hacking PR: How To Get Media Coverage For Your Startup

TECH PRESS LANDSCAPE

Influencer Node

Very Important

Less Important

Page 11: Hacking PR: How To Get Media Coverage For Your Startup

TRENDS

• Daily Deals! iPhone Apps! Facebook Privacy! PINTEREST!

• Tech Reporters love covering trends

Page 12: Hacking PR: How To Get Media Coverage For Your Startup

LIFE CYCLE OF A TREND

Influencers Start

Nodes Pick it up

Audience Cries, Please Stop!

People write sarcastic pieces

Page 13: Hacking PR: How To Get Media Coverage For Your Startup

WHAT MAKES A GOOD PITCH?

1. NEWs, not meta

2. Right part of the TREND CURVE

3. SCARCITY (via Embargoes, Exclusives, etc)

Page 14: Hacking PR: How To Get Media Coverage For Your Startup

Thank You!