PR Musings For Lean Startups: Learn and Apply

“If people don’t talk about me (whether it’s the truth or falsehood), then I worry. Because it means I ain’t nobody. So either way people better be talking about me.” – 2face

Public Relations is never an easy game, it’s tough, makes you anxious and sometimes very frustrating especially if it’s with a Lean Startup. I should use the next few lines to shed light on what I mean by “Lean startups” before I proceed. Over the past few years, the economy took a huge tumble, stocks lost their value, interest on moneys put away declined and ultimately investors lost a lot of money. As a result, it became incredibly hard for companies to get loans and it trickled down to smaller startups. Entrepreneurs who sought seed funding had to start cutting back on how much they asked for and sacrifice some aspects of the start-up that they had anticipated in order to succeed. This is where the term “Lean Start-ups” apply. When a start-up cuts its expenditure to fit a smaller budget while still optimizing products.

PR in itself isn’t easy, it’s even more difficult when you are Lean and fresh off the tracks in your start-up journey. I have seen both sides of the table, I’ve been involved with an established company that had no problem getting their press releases to the top news outlets, and most recently with a fresh off the tracks start-up with no reputation acting as wind beneath its wings. My experiences have shaped the way I think PR should be applied and how I talk about it with people. Despite all the differences, there’s still a universal agreement in what makes you succeed in PR: Make yourself/brand unmissable.

It’s normal, every Tom, Dick and Harry want their stories and press releases published in BusinessWeek, CNN, VentureBeat etc.. why not? those are the most popular news outlets. Even blogs like TechCrunch and Mashable are constantly receiving several hundreds to thousand pitches per day! So getting your new start-up published in any of those is almost as easy as walking through the eye of a needle. Based on my experiences so far, I have found some tips that could help New Entrepreneurs on their way which I’ld like to share.

1.) Don’t hire a PR Firm. I have nothing against PR firms, some of them are awesome and do amazing work. However, if you are a fresh off the tracks start-up with “Lean” on your mind, you know for damn sure that you can’t afford a PR firm. PR firms charge somewhere between $5k to $20k per month for their services. Besides the astronomical cost, the way I see PR, is different from the way many other people see it. You want to be a brand, a movement that people can relate to. With PR firms, that could get tricky. I have found that the most success comes from having a PR person who is part of your brand, speaks the brand language and HAS solid experience.

2.) Put yourself where you can be seen. For all the hype about social media and how it helps localize PR, I am of the school of thought that offline PR is still as important if not more important than online PR. Networking is absolutely vital for new start-ups and the more connections you make in person, the better your chances of getting heard. This sort of ties in some ways to the point I made above about PR firms. The physical connections that will be made via PR firms vs. those they make online for your start-up is a very small fraction. You want to interact and mingle with people who can make an impact for you. I have always been a fan of TechCrunch events, SXSW etc… these are the sort of places where lasting impressions can be made. Twitter is an example of a startup that found fame by putting itself where it can be seen. They chose to launch the service at SXSW interactive in 2007, we all know the state of Twitter at the moment. I always advise Entrepreneurs to go out and meet other Entrepreneurs, mentors, journalists and even Investors at these sort of events, you have a better chance of getting heard by meeting in person rather than being one of the 1,000 people sending them emails daily.

3.) Interact More, Pitch Less. When you are doing PR for your start-up, make sure you cut down on the pitches and interact instead. Even on my blog, I get many emails from people pitching their startups to me. I only put out very few of those on the site, and that’s only because of the way I was approached. When you talk to people about your startup, be the one who stands out, be the one who doesn’t pitch. It’s far easier to approach the situation as though it’s two random people, meeting for the first time and simply talking about their careers. It’s just more relaxed and less “in your face” when done this way.

4.) Focus on the smaller News Outlets. One method that has always worked for me and start-ups I’ve been a part of is starting on a small scale. When you contact smaller, less popular news outlets and blogs, you have a better chance of getting a positive result than when you contact a national/international outlet. Most of the smaller syndicates don’t get pitches or stories sent in from the bigger companies, so they are more receptive when smaller start-ups reach out to them. On the other hand, if you really have to get in touch with the bigger news sources, make sure you are contacting the junior writers rather than the Chief Editor. The later most likely receives 5 times as many pitches as the junior writers do, so you stand a better chance scrolling down the staff list. Either way, you are getting some “air time”!

5.) Build Relationships early with Journalists in your Niche. Getting press is the fastest and best way to endear your brand to your customers. We all know this, your start-up would either succeed or fail depending on how it is received by the customers. Your ability to secure top talent to join your team, raise capital and convert members all boils down to how solid your PR campaign is. That being said, nothing drives PR faster than Journalists. Their views and opinions about your start-up could make or mar your chances of making a splash.

For those who have tried pitching journalists, you know it’s rare to get a call back or reply email if you are part of a fresh off the tracks start-up. The key is relationship building. You need to start interacting with the journalists you intend to reach out to in the future on a regular basis and long before you need them. You need to comment on their articles, e-mail/tweet your thoughts on their previous articles and get them to know you. After a while, you name sticks out, they know who you are and start respecting your views. Soon enough, when you contact them with a NEWS-WORTHY article from your start-up, the chance of them working on it is far greater than if you are a random PR guy emailing them just like every other person does.

In summary, never forget that PR is all about getting people to know about you. Come up with creative ways to do this so you can make a lasting impression. This guy did it, even though he was selling himself and not a brand, but you get the message. He created ads on google for the names of the bosses at the company he wanted to work for, so that when they google themselves, they see his ad asking for them to hire him. Creative eh? Be that guy! Be daring, adventurous and you might just be ripping rewards sooner rather than later.

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Tagged as: lean startup, Public relations, social media, twitter