DIY Public Relations Advice for Startups and SME

As a startup business, attracting the eyes and ears of the media can be an extremely challenging. However, it is a very rewarding experience that all entrepreneurs will go through at some stage.

If you’re planning to take the reins and command your own public relations, an educated guess would suggest that budgets are restricted and staff are thin on the ground therefore, generating buzz for your company is going to be tough. So go ahead and use our tips and tricks to help you attract the eyes and ears of the press in no time.

The initial press coverage your business receives, could be anything from a journalist covering your launch night or a local blogger recommending you. Nonetheless, either can make or break your startup so it is paramount to get it right first time. Good press from the the word go, can rapidly expand your customer base, pushing your startup through those crucial early stages that matter most.

Doing your own public relations is not an easy task and one you must definitely not rush under any circumstances. So, before you begin firing off those emails to the likes of Tech Crunch, Venture Beat and all the other famous blogs, you need to stop, brainstorm and actually think about what is newsworthy.

News is a very harsh world, millions of decisions are made by the media each day deciding what and who to cover. If your story is just another boring launch email, the chances of making publication are nill. Unfortunately, lots of press releases issued by startups are just not newsworthy or they actually add no value when compared to competitors in the same industry or other news.

If you truly think that your business has churned out a slice of newsworthy goodness, then figuring out the right angle of approach towards the correct media outlet is vital.

As a startup, your news can only be of a few common entities such as the launch, product, offering etc…

One of the most common mistakes when trying to gain coverage is targeting the wrong journalist. A ‘journo’ who writes about the latest sports cars doesn’t want to hear your press release about a beauty product. The chances are that it will definitely be ‘junked’ but even more risky, added to the the global spam list. This basically means all your future press release won’t even reach the inbox! Not great, all that effort wasted!

We recommend that you first make a list of the top Newspapers, Blogs, Magazines, Websites within your industry then narrow down the sector specific journalists who write within those.

So if your business startup news is within the health sector it would make sense to dig out the journalists, reporters and editors who have previously covered health news.

It would make sense to compile a database with full names, phone numbers and all the relevant details so you can quickly contact the necessary media outlet with ease.

Once you have compiled a list of the journalists you wish to target, it makes sense to keep them in the loop with the news based around your company showing them that your business is active and most importantly legitimate.

Don’t fall foul of the common mistakes which most people make when trying to do a bit of DIY PR which is emailing the journalists with the same boilerplate email and no individuality…they hate that! Personalise your email for each journalist.

We cannot stress how VITAL it is to take the time to address a ‘real person’ on the other end, they will at least read it and the likelihood is it will reach their eyes before the the delete button is pressed! Starting with their name is the most obvious, delving deeper into past articles may also be a great angle to pitch if done correctly. Here you must ensure that your sources are accurate.

One of the quickest and most fruitful ways to gain press coverage for your startup is to ensure that you always submit your newsworthy press releases through a press release news distribution wire. This will help your brand expand flourish across the online sector. Most PR platforms now let you create a social media press release where you can attach a barrage of images, videos, documents and everything else to make your release sharable across the web.

If you’re struggling to construct a press release then take a look at our sample press release template which is free to use and download.