How to get media interested
- Respect journalists and their craft
Be short and clear. Don’t write a lot of text. Leave the writing to the pros.
- Be newsworthy
Is this worth telling others about?
- Tell your startup story
What's your unique story that is worth telling to the world?
- On connections
Start building them with journalists early. Get their cards at events, get friends of yours who know journalists to invite you to their party etc. befriend them before you need them. Thanks for this one, Mark.
Do this:
- Set your own goals
What are you looking to get out of the PR?
(Sales, Hires, Creating interest for the next round)
Use the buzz you are generating to get to your goals faster.
- Use this Notion template to structure and organise work
Big thanks to our portoflio company Digitail and our friends Byfounders.
- Never post your own PR announcement
Wait until someone writes an article then repost.
Include this:
(when contacting the journalist or paper)
- A clear one-liner. What do you do, what’s the tech you are using, and who is your buyer?
- Traction. What have you achieved so far? Told in three bullets.
- Have you raised funds? Tell us about notable investors onboard.
- Your phone number. Journalists still like talking on the phone.
- A link to your preferred meeting booking software (I’m a Calendly power user). Propose a 15 min meeting if they want to know more.
Exclude this:
The two full-page PR announcement that took you four days to write.
If the journalist is not interested ask what it would take to get on for the next time. Take notes, learn and save them for later.
Pro tip: Use your network and investors to get warm intros to journalists.
Getting into press difficulty:
Local - difficulty, easy > raised.
National media - difficulty, medium > raised a pre-seed up to €1M.
International media (TechCrunch)- difficulty, hard > raised at least a good seed round €2M+ gets easier with more raised.
Start International If no luck > go National If no luck > Go local If no luck something is wrong with what you are doing mate.
TL;DR:
- Define the goal with the PR announcement
- Make sure you are newsworthy
- Give the journalist your story
- Structure and organise, involve others and get help [Template]
- Communicate short and clear, and let the journalist write the story
- Use your network to get warm intros
- Learn from both getting PR and the rejection
Let's connect if you want to talk more!
