Startup PR: Getting Press on a Tight Budget

Name: Startup PR: Getting Press on a Tight Budget
Rating: 4.2 (179 reviews)

Tech journalist Erica Swallow shares her public relation strategies for getting press for your startup.

Created byErica Swallow

Last updated 11/2015

English

What you'll learn

In this course, you will learn how to perfect your startup's pitch and effectively communicate with the press.
By the end of the course, you will have the tools and knowledge needed to catch the attention of almost any journalist you're attempting to reach.

Course content

6 sections • 13 lectures • 38m total length

Introduction and What You'll Learn2:09
An introduction to the course, what you'll learn, and your instructor, Erica Swallow.

Craft a Concise, Value-Driven Message3:56
Before sending out any pitches, take time to craft your company’s message. Be able to explain your startup in one sentence so that anyone — techie or not — can understand its purpose. In this lesson, you'll learn how to craft a concise, value-driven message to explain what your startup does.
The One-Sentence Pitch0:19
It's important that startups have a go-to, one-sentence pitch that explains what they do. In this lesson, you'll learn how to write your company's one-sentence pitch.
Know What's Newsworthy6:42
Before you begin pitching your startup, stop to think about what is truly newsworthy, especially to the publications you’re targeting. A few starter ideas for newsworthy events:
The startup’s launch
The launch of a new product, feature or offering
The release of a compelling study or interesting data
The company’s response to a current event
News of a high profile partnership
By only pitching newsworthy events, you're more likely to get a higher response rate from journalists and you'll be ever so closer to getting a coveted press mention. The goal here is not to inundate writers, but to supply them with interesting, relevant news when it arises.
Offer Up Unique Data1:52
When pitching, include data and numbers that support your ideas when possible. In fact, an interesting study, infographic or other data sometimes warrants its own pitch. If your company has gathered proprietary information that tells a compelling story, pitch it.
Newsworthy Pitches

Understand the Journalist's Coverage Area4:23
Journalists are flooded with emails every day. If you want your messages to stand out, you'll need to approach them from a genuine place of common interest. It's all about making a connection. This lesson will introduce the concept of treating journalists like humans - an oddly little-known secret to dealing with the press - and arm you with some actionable tips for researching and getting to know journalists.
Know the Lingo2:36
If you aren't well-versed on journalism lingo, there are at least two terms you should understand: exclusive and embargo.
Reporter Vocabulary
Send Awesome Emails8:24
A majority of startup pitching occurs via email, so your job is to become an Inbox Maven. This lesson will provide you with some of my best practices for engaging with journalists via email.
Emailing Like a Pro

Tweet It Up2:58
Because Twitter is a conversation-focused social network, many journalists seem to spend a lot of time on it, sharing and consuming news. The microblogging site is a great place to connect with writers and journalists of almost any stripe.
Behold the Power of Reverse Pitching2:05
Instead of pitching reporters, let them pitch you. Sound like a dream? Nope. It's reality! Learn how you can benefit from reverse pitching.
Getting Press via Reverse Pitching

Final Tips for Success1:42
You're just about finished with the course! Here are my final works of wisdom as you get ready to rock the startup PR world.
10 Essential PR Tips for Startups7:00
As a final review for this course, read my article, "10 Essential PR Tips For Startups," as first seen on Mashable. It's a basic look at what you've learned in this course and should help tie everything together.

Demystifying PR for Startups1:18
While this video may be a few years old, the commentary is as relevant as ever. This is one of my favorite panels on the subject of startup PR and is perhaps the most informative panel I've ever sat on or been a part of, featuring the following speakers (titles and bios circa 2010):

Press
Nick Saint, Reporter, Business Insider/SAI.
Erica Swallow, Assistant Editor, Mashable.
Devindra Hardawar, Lead Mobile Writer, VentureBeat.
Startups
James Moran and Vin Vacanti, Founders at Yipit. Featured in over a dozen publications like The New York Times, Wired Magazine and national TV.
Ben Kessler, Director of Communications at SeatGeek. Ben previously worked at LaunchSquad PR, a boutique agency that serviced top-notch tech startups like SeetGeek.
Jordan Goldman, Founder at Unigo. Jordan is master of getting press and telling stories, with Uniqo covered in a New York Times Magazine expose and literally every other major outlet out there.
Agency
Adam Isserlis, Director of Digital Media at Rubenstein Communications. Although Rubenstein is famous for their account with the New York Yankees, Adam's led the agency's digital efforts in recent years with key relationships throughout the industry.
Moderator
Dave Ambrose, co-organizer of Hackers and Founders, knows a thing or two about getting buzz. He started his career at Burson-Marsteller, one of the largest PR agencies throughout the world and then transitioned into his own startup journey with his college roommate to create Scoop St. - helping New Yorkers discover their city with unbeatable deals powered by group buying. Scoop St.'s been featured in The New York Times, Time as well as The Business Insider, among others.
Raw and off-the-cuff, this video should be a real treat. Enjoy!

Requirements

No previous public relations experience is required and all materials, tools, or services referenced will be supplied or easily found on the Internet.

Description

Join tech journalist Erica Swallow for an overview of public relations strategies to interact with journalists and ultimately gain press for your startup.

You'll learn the basics of public relations strategies for startups, including how to engage and build relationships with the media, how to craft an amazing pitch, what "exclusive" and "embargo" mean, which assets are useful for journalists, what not to do, and a boatload more.

This class will also include a number of case studies from recent pitches that Erica has received from fledgling startups. She will show you a behind-the-scenes look at how she was pitched and how each pitch panned out.

After taking this course, students should understand the basics of public relations strategies and engaging the press and be on their way to coverage!

Who this course is for:

Entrepreneurs
Startup Employees
Public Relations Rookies

Startup PR: Getting Press on a Tight Budget

What you'll learn

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Course content

INTRODUCTION1 lecture • 2min

PERFECTING YOUR PITCH4 lectures • 13min

COMMUNICATING WITH JOURNALISTS3 lectures • 15min

FINDING JOURNALISTS2 lectures • 5min

CONCLUSION2 lectures • 9min

BONUS: STARTUP PR PANEL1 lecture • 1min

Requirements

Description

Who this course is for: