Forget the press release - use this format better.
I'm tired of millions of tech-tech entrepreneurs (something has come to you a lot), and some PR people who have no idea how to advertise your project to me and other news sites. Their self-promotion is long and incoherent. And they always ask me if they can send additional information. Yes, I do not care - how do I know if it will be interesting or not, before you send it to me ?!
Many ask to meet me at dinner or in a cafe. Thank you, but I prefer to sit in a bar with my real friends - unless you turn into a person with whom I would be interested in a drink.
If I accepted all these offers, I would not have to pay for food or coffee - but I would not be able to work. Of course, it is always useful to try to form a relationship with a journalist before advertising your idea to him. And it is always better to do a little research on what topics this journalist usually writes. But you will not interest me if you do not provide information concisely and in the case.
')
All of the following applies more to startups who have no idea how to communicate with the media. Surprisingly, I often come across PR people who are not able to cover all the basic questions in their address. In any case, the first lines of their letters are reduced to: “Hello, we exist. Can you write a post about us on Techcrunch? ". Stupidity.
The best advertising is obtained when your topic coincides with current events. For example, Apple produces some headphones, and your startup just has to do with music, or with headphones. At this point, you need to sit on the tail of the media - when your story is a topic, and you can join in after the hot news. And not after 6 months, when everyone has already forgotten about these headphones.
Many letters are too simple and do not answer basic questions. Many even ask for some reason: “Can I send you a press release?” Really? And I need to spend ten seconds of life on an answer like: “Hello, I have no idea if you need to send me a press release, because you know what is inside of it, but I don’t. Therefore, let's join the party in my Inbox. ”
Save our time and our visits to psychotherapists by simply highlighting the basic issues.
Basically, press releases are written as a PR client would have written the news. They are rather messy, and are designed to appease the client, and not to help the journalist in his work. So I think press releases are dead.
I made a list of necessary things that need to be covered in your advertising, before the process starts with questions and answers. I even gave examples of real proposals. The most observant will be able to notice that this is just a rough instruction. If you can explain why your company is the coolest, in one sentence - cool. In three - normal. In the 50's, I'm sorry, but you have problems understanding what you do.
Are you going to send me more than 70 offers? Do not. But be sure to try to highlight all the basic questions. It will be very good if you arrange it in an easily digestible format so that the journalist can quickly understand whether it makes sense to talk with you. If this is not your style - well, try something else. Write "War and Peace." But I explain to you how to save my and your time - and time in the media business is very important.
Naturally, the resulting article can go deep into the details of your design, and can become very long. This is decided by the journalist. But if your first acquaintance with the media begins with a text similar to the chapter "War and Peace" - you have problems. I believe that 50% of a startup is the ability to communicate. If you want to "change the world", you need to be able to convey this idea.
First, before you advertise something that you think of as news, make sure that this is real news. Something new, hitherto unknown. Savvy PR people will send a press release to the client (this product is the coolest in the world, etc., etc.), but in communication with a journalist they will help him using the format described below.
Please also read the slides and watch the video where I have been teaching startups over the past few years.
Tips: All TechCrunch journalists can be found by email Tips [@] TechCrunch.com. There are many letters, but they are read. And European journalists - at EuroNews [@] Techcrunch.com
Personally, I’m at mike [@] techcrunch.com
Regarding the letters and the first sentences: the topics should look like news headlines: "Catty, Uber for cats, raised $ 20 million of investments." The first sentence in the letter should not be: “Hello, Mike, how are you? It's hot in London, eh? ” It should look like: “Mike, to catch up with the news that Uber has introduced the service of delivering cats to order, I suggest looking at a startup that will gallop them on all fronts - exclusively for you.”
Much of what is written may seem arrogant to you. Maybe. I do not dig coal and do not fall under the bullets of terrorists. I was lucky. But journalists have to sift through a lot of information at a very fast pace. Therefore, I am trying to clearly and clearly explain to the senders of what to do to be noticed.
Comments, based on feedback received after the first publication.
1. Question: Should I contact a journalist via Twitter? Type: "@mikebutcher Hi Mike, read about the death of the press release, and decided that you would like our application. We have users and monetization."
Answer: And how much information will you put into such a message? Can you answer all the questions? Better to write an email, and on Twitter, mention: "Cat.ty is a Uber for cats, just threw you an email about him."
2. Never ask journalists to advertise your startup on Twitter, or put a plus in Product Hunt, etc. This is insulting. We are not free PR people. Do your own marketing. If a journalist wants to tweet about you, fine. But they have their own, real work that they need to do.
3. If you have issued an exclusive to a journalist, and for some reason another journalist dug up this story and laid it out first - tell the first one immediately. At once. Without waiting for the date on which she was supposed to go out initially. Why? Because you will help the first journalist to do his work, and he will be grateful to you for this - if you explain how it happened that the second journalist somewhere dug up this story and laid it out faster. If you do not warn the first journalist, in the future he will not want to work with you. And if you yourself gave out the story to several journalists, and each was told that it was exclusive, then change your identity and emigrate.
4. If you want your limbs to be torn off by a journalist who is wanted for your murder, give him a story about which you already wrote a month ago as “new.” Do not report that the product has already been written. And wait until the journalist endeavors that the product is already written in Wired / The Times, or somewhere else, and finds out that the whole "news" is that you have opened a new office in Belize, where two employees work, one of which is a monkey. Even if the monkey used to work at HP.
5. A good way to prevent a journalist from visiting your presentation or other event is to send him an invitation in the form of a nice and beautiful graphic card from which it is impossible to extract information to add it to the calendar. This is stupid. In the worst case, just send the information in the form of text - you can select and paste it into the calendar. The smartest can send a calendar invitation, with all the information recorded in the “notes” section. He will have to press the “yes” button and then, most likely, he will come.
Dear startup. I no longer accept ads that do not cover basic issues. Come back to me in the specified format. I’ll clarify that even if you do everything right - the lighting of your startup does not guarantee it.
What is in the news now that is directly related to your work?
Maximum 5 offers.
What, in general, is your startup?
Maximum 5 offers.
What problem does your company solve?
Maximum 3 offers
What was your personal problem?
Maximum 5 offers.
Describe the origin of the product
Maximum 5 offers.
How did the product solve this problem?
Maximum 5 offers.
What is he really doing?
Maximum 5 offers.
Describe it in the way you would describe to the first person you meet who does not understand the technique.
Maximum 3 offers
How many users do you have?
Real visitors per month, per day, and not just downloads and registrations.
Now describe in detail the work with your product.
Maximum 10 offers.
Who are your competitors?
Maximum 3 offers
Key points that differentiate you from competitors?
Maximum 5 offers.
Why is your product better than them?
Maximum 3 offers
How are you going to make money on it?
Maximum 3 offers
Market size?
Maximum 3 offers
What is the next round of investment?
Who are your investors?
How much funding is received?
Where exactly will the money go?
If there is no funding, why? Do you finance yourself? Investing profits? Or are you looking for an investor?
Maximum 2 offers
Describe the command.
Maximum 3 offers
Where is your headquarters?
Maximum 3 offers
Do the founders have an interesting personal story?
Maximum 5 offers.
What did they do before?
Maximum 3 offers
Is this story exclusive?
(tip: you need the answer to be yes)
Why do you think that readers of our resource will be interested in your story? I'm working for them.
Maximum 3 offers
All information is sent by email, without any PDF, DOC, etc. (journalists often sit on smartphones).
Contact information for the founders - telephone, skype, etc.
Related links to previous TechCrunch articles
Links to previous relevant articles on other sites. But only on old articles. Never advertise a startup if it has already been described somewhere.
No damn investment in e-mail!
Links to video
Links to your CrunchBase profile
No pdf-ok! It is tiring. Of course, you can duplicate the contents of the PDF in the text. But when my Gmail box is clogged up, I delete the letters from the PDF, and with your contacts. Provide a link to the PDF so that you or your PR person pay for storing files online, not me.
Links to the press kit on DropBox
Links to screenshots of the application, if you have them
Look like that's it.
Did I mention not to send the PDF? No pdf!
Many ask to meet me at dinner or in a cafe. Thank you, but I prefer to sit in a bar with my real friends - unless you turn into a person with whom I would be interested in a drink.
If I accepted all these offers, I would not have to pay for food or coffee - but I would not be able to work. Of course, it is always useful to try to form a relationship with a journalist before advertising your idea to him. And it is always better to do a little research on what topics this journalist usually writes. But you will not interest me if you do not provide information concisely and in the case.
')
All of the following applies more to startups who have no idea how to communicate with the media. Surprisingly, I often come across PR people who are not able to cover all the basic questions in their address. In any case, the first lines of their letters are reduced to: “Hello, we exist. Can you write a post about us on Techcrunch? ". Stupidity.
The best advertising is obtained when your topic coincides with current events. For example, Apple produces some headphones, and your startup just has to do with music, or with headphones. At this point, you need to sit on the tail of the media - when your story is a topic, and you can join in after the hot news. And not after 6 months, when everyone has already forgotten about these headphones.
Many letters are too simple and do not answer basic questions. Many even ask for some reason: “Can I send you a press release?” Really? And I need to spend ten seconds of life on an answer like: “Hello, I have no idea if you need to send me a press release, because you know what is inside of it, but I don’t. Therefore, let's join the party in my Inbox. ”
Save our time and our visits to psychotherapists by simply highlighting the basic issues.
Basically, press releases are written as a PR client would have written the news. They are rather messy, and are designed to appease the client, and not to help the journalist in his work. So I think press releases are dead.
I made a list of necessary things that need to be covered in your advertising, before the process starts with questions and answers. I even gave examples of real proposals. The most observant will be able to notice that this is just a rough instruction. If you can explain why your company is the coolest, in one sentence - cool. In three - normal. In the 50's, I'm sorry, but you have problems understanding what you do.
Are you going to send me more than 70 offers? Do not. But be sure to try to highlight all the basic questions. It will be very good if you arrange it in an easily digestible format so that the journalist can quickly understand whether it makes sense to talk with you. If this is not your style - well, try something else. Write "War and Peace." But I explain to you how to save my and your time - and time in the media business is very important.
Naturally, the resulting article can go deep into the details of your design, and can become very long. This is decided by the journalist. But if your first acquaintance with the media begins with a text similar to the chapter "War and Peace" - you have problems. I believe that 50% of a startup is the ability to communicate. If you want to "change the world", you need to be able to convey this idea.
First, before you advertise something that you think of as news, make sure that this is real news. Something new, hitherto unknown. Savvy PR people will send a press release to the client (this product is the coolest in the world, etc., etc.), but in communication with a journalist they will help him using the format described below.
Please also read the slides and watch the video where I have been teaching startups over the past few years.
Tips: All TechCrunch journalists can be found by email Tips [@] TechCrunch.com. There are many letters, but they are read. And European journalists - at EuroNews [@] Techcrunch.com
Personally, I’m at mike [@] techcrunch.com
Regarding the letters and the first sentences: the topics should look like news headlines: "Catty, Uber for cats, raised $ 20 million of investments." The first sentence in the letter should not be: “Hello, Mike, how are you? It's hot in London, eh? ” It should look like: “Mike, to catch up with the news that Uber has introduced the service of delivering cats to order, I suggest looking at a startup that will gallop them on all fronts - exclusively for you.”
Much of what is written may seem arrogant to you. Maybe. I do not dig coal and do not fall under the bullets of terrorists. I was lucky. But journalists have to sift through a lot of information at a very fast pace. Therefore, I am trying to clearly and clearly explain to the senders of what to do to be noticed.
Comments, based on feedback received after the first publication.
1. Question: Should I contact a journalist via Twitter? Type: "@mikebutcher Hi Mike, read about the death of the press release, and decided that you would like our application. We have users and monetization."
Answer: And how much information will you put into such a message? Can you answer all the questions? Better to write an email, and on Twitter, mention: "Cat.ty is a Uber for cats, just threw you an email about him."
2. Never ask journalists to advertise your startup on Twitter, or put a plus in Product Hunt, etc. This is insulting. We are not free PR people. Do your own marketing. If a journalist wants to tweet about you, fine. But they have their own, real work that they need to do.
3. If you have issued an exclusive to a journalist, and for some reason another journalist dug up this story and laid it out first - tell the first one immediately. At once. Without waiting for the date on which she was supposed to go out initially. Why? Because you will help the first journalist to do his work, and he will be grateful to you for this - if you explain how it happened that the second journalist somewhere dug up this story and laid it out faster. If you do not warn the first journalist, in the future he will not want to work with you. And if you yourself gave out the story to several journalists, and each was told that it was exclusive, then change your identity and emigrate.
4. If you want your limbs to be torn off by a journalist who is wanted for your murder, give him a story about which you already wrote a month ago as “new.” Do not report that the product has already been written. And wait until the journalist endeavors that the product is already written in Wired / The Times, or somewhere else, and finds out that the whole "news" is that you have opened a new office in Belize, where two employees work, one of which is a monkey. Even if the monkey used to work at HP.
5. A good way to prevent a journalist from visiting your presentation or other event is to send him an invitation in the form of a nice and beautiful graphic card from which it is impossible to extract information to add it to the calendar. This is stupid. In the worst case, just send the information in the form of text - you can select and paste it into the calendar. The smartest can send a calendar invitation, with all the information recorded in the “notes” section. He will have to press the “yes” button and then, most likely, he will come.
Dear startup. I no longer accept ads that do not cover basic issues. Come back to me in the specified format. I’ll clarify that even if you do everything right - the lighting of your startup does not guarantee it.
Go
What is in the news now that is directly related to your work?
Maximum 5 offers.
What, in general, is your startup?
Maximum 5 offers.
What problem does your company solve?
Maximum 3 offers
What was your personal problem?
Maximum 5 offers.
Describe the origin of the product
Maximum 5 offers.
How did the product solve this problem?
Maximum 5 offers.
What is he really doing?
Maximum 5 offers.
Describe it in the way you would describe to the first person you meet who does not understand the technique.
Maximum 3 offers
How many users do you have?
Real visitors per month, per day, and not just downloads and registrations.
Now describe in detail the work with your product.
Maximum 10 offers.
Who are your competitors?
Maximum 3 offers
Key points that differentiate you from competitors?
Maximum 5 offers.
Why is your product better than them?
Maximum 3 offers
How are you going to make money on it?
Maximum 3 offers
Market size?
Maximum 3 offers
What is the next round of investment?
Who are your investors?
How much funding is received?
Where exactly will the money go?
If there is no funding, why? Do you finance yourself? Investing profits? Or are you looking for an investor?
Maximum 2 offers
Describe the command.
Maximum 3 offers
Where is your headquarters?
Maximum 3 offers
Do the founders have an interesting personal story?
Maximum 5 offers.
What did they do before?
Maximum 3 offers
Is this story exclusive?
(tip: you need the answer to be yes)
Why do you think that readers of our resource will be interested in your story? I'm working for them.
Maximum 3 offers
Other requirements:
All information is sent by email, without any PDF, DOC, etc. (journalists often sit on smartphones).
Contact information for the founders - telephone, skype, etc.
Related links to previous TechCrunch articles
Links to previous relevant articles on other sites. But only on old articles. Never advertise a startup if it has already been described somewhere.
No damn investment in e-mail!
Links to video
Links to your CrunchBase profile
No pdf-ok! It is tiring. Of course, you can duplicate the contents of the PDF in the text. But when my Gmail box is clogged up, I delete the letters from the PDF, and with your contacts. Provide a link to the PDF so that you or your PR person pay for storing files online, not me.
Links to the press kit on DropBox
Links to screenshots of the application, if you have them
Look like that's it.
Did I mention not to send the PDF? No pdf!
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/293846/
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