Publicist for Hire

Your competitors are writing the bylines you could’ve written (the opportunity cost of not doing PR) I was talking with a cybersecurity company. They said they might be interested in PR sometime in 2025. We haven’t chatted since our initial conversation. I was looking through Dark Reading today. And saw a byline. Their key messages. And value proposition. But it was written by a competitor. You could swap out the names of the two companies. It’s a missed opportunity. And a triple whammy. 1?? The competitor is now positioned as an expert when customers research those keywords. And they likely distributed it through their socials. In their newsletter. Re-printed it for trade shows. Meanwhile, the company I chatted with doesn’t have any visibility around their value proposition. Because they’re still waiting to do PR. 2?? If the company decided to write a byline tomorrow, we would have to develop a new angle. Because the competitor put a flag in the ground. If we tried to use the same messaging, editors would view it as old news. 3?? The longer they wait, the more likely their competitors will have an edge. It’s like running a race and giving competitors a head start. Because they already have visibility. And perception is reality. The best solutions don’t always win. The best marketers often do. And potential customers will say: I see them. I don’t see you. I’ll go with them. What’s your story? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? Hi! I’m Rob. I help cybersecurity companies accelerate growth by boosting awareness, amplifying authority, and building trust. Want to chat? ?? #publicrelations #cybersecurity #techpr?

How cybersecurity CEOs can get in front of more customers (repurposing content for PR) Watched a cybersecurity webinar this week. And read a cybersecurity report. Here’s a list of potential bylines I put together using their content: -Where does cybersecurity end, and where do threats begin? -Attackers are testing your cybersecurity all the time. Why you should do the same. -CISOs are underutilizing the tools they have and not testing them enough -Many teams still lack access to the right data feeds necessary for effective threat detection -Collecting, normalizing, and integrating security data remains one of the biggest operational challenges -As threats grow more sophisticated, we can’t rely solely on vendor-provided detections and manual triage. Here’s why. -Detection engineering is still misunderstood in some organizations. X reasons why it’s critical. -Threat modeling has emerged as a key skill for teams looking to level up. Here’s why. -Organizations are shifting from tactical alerting to custom-built detections. Here’s why. -How detection engineering teams reduce blind spots and minimize risk. -The three most important capabilities security professionals need to develop for the future (threat modeling, data engineering, reporting and communication) -Nobody gets into security to babysit rules all day (love this quote) -Behavioral-based is the top-ranked type of detection found to be most effective [analyzing patterns and deviations in system behavior correlate multiple data points and alerts to detect more complex attack patterns real-time threat feeds and indicators] -Detection engineering isn’t just a technical function—it’s a strategic business enabler? If you want to get in front of your customers. Repurpose your existing content to develop thought leadership bylines. And I’ll pitch them to outlets like Dark Reading, InfoSecurity Magazine, and Security Boulevard. Boost awareness. Amplify authority. Build trust. What’s your story? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? Hi! I’m Rob. I help cybersecurity companies accelerate growth by boosting awareness, amplifying authority, and building trust. Want to chat? ?? #publicrelations #cybersecurity #techpr?

How to reach your target customers through publicity (and amplify your existing content) Saw a LinkedIn post: The FBI received 3.26 million cyberattack complaints between 2018 and 2022. And the attacks have only continued to climb. A must read for protecting financial institutions! The blog post provided 5 Cyber Attack Vectors in Banking and How to Prevent Them. 37 likes 5 reposts (from company employees) 1 comment from yours truly. Not too bad. But imagine if the company’s co-founder and CEO delivered this message in… American Banker ABA Banking Journal American Banker podcast And secured a thought leadership byline in… Dark Reading Securuity Boulevard Security Magazine Amplify authority. Boost brand awareness. Build trust. And get in front of your target customers in the outlets they use to make purchasing decisions. Through publicity. If you’re a small to mid-size cybersecurity company struggling to get in front of your target customers… I can help. What’s your story? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? Hi! I’m Rob. I help cybersecurity companies accelerate growth by boosting awareness, amplifying authority, and building trust. Want to chat? ?? #publicrelations #cybersecurity #techpr?

Cybersecurity marketer: “So you place stories or…How does publicity work?” (why publicity is like sales) Cybersecurity marketers want to boost growth. So they hire a PR consultant to generate publicity. To get in front of more customers. But most don’t understand how publicity works. And the PR industry hasn’t helped. Media placements Media hits Earned media coverage Doesn’t accurately describe what we do. Securing publicity is more like sales. But we’re selling stories instead of solutions. And we’re not placing stories. We’re pitching them. A pitch is a short email to compel reporters to interview the company’s CEO. It’s the equivalent of a movie trailer. Most of my clients are small to mid-size cybersecurity companies with limited budgets. So I typically focus on four areas to generate media coverage: Hard news Expert source Opportunistic news Thought leadership bylines I’ll explain what a pitch might offer for each. HARD NEWS New solutions, hires, reports, surveys, and partnerships. For those, I’ll write a press release. I may distribute it on a newswire like PRWeb. And send a pitch with the release to reporters. Ransomware attacks are evolving. Our threat report explains how. EXPERT SOURCE Pitching spokesperson or CEO to share insights, quotes, or point of view because of reporters' beat, source request, or editorial calendar feature. I know you cover email security.? CEO can share the top 5 ransomware attacks to expect in the next six months. I know you have an email security feature for September.? CEO can share the top 5 ransomware attacks to expect in the next six months. OPPORTUNISTIC NEWS Pitching spokesperson or CEO to share insights, quotes, or point of view in conjunction with a trend, time of year, or legislation. Threat actors are focusing on larger, high-profile organizations that yield bigger payouts. CEO can provide three things bigger institutions should do today to prepare. This is why generating publicity takes time. Because it involves researching trends. And writing pitches to send to reporters. Who may or may not want to interview your CEO. And following up with more reasons to speak with your CEO. THOUGHT LEADERSHIP BYLINES 800-word commentary pieces. Focus on “how to”, “best practices”, and “what’s coming next”. No selling. Because the news cycle moves so fast, I write the byline. And pitch the editor with a relevant synopsis and the byline included in the email. The editor still determines whether or not they will publish it. And they may edit it. It’s not placing a story. It’s pitching one. That is why there are no guarantees. And why generating publicity takes time. What’s your story? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? Hi! I’m Rob. I help cybersecurity companies accelerate growth by boosting awareness, amplifying authority, and building trust. Want to chat? ?? #publicrelations #cybersecurity #techpr?

Media relations is like being a detective. Listening. Researching. Asking questions. Gathering evidence. Conducting interviews. Gathering intelligence from reporters. Collaborating. Documenting. Looking for clues. Trying to connect the dots to see the bigger picture. To figure out the story. We don’t participate in raids, though. At least I don’t. What’s your story? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? Hi! I’m Rob. I help cybersecurity companies accelerate growth by boosting awareness, amplifying authority, and building trust. Want to chat? ?? #publicrelations #cybersecurity #techpr?

Cyberscecurity CEO: “Our new threat management solution is amazing!” Me: “Cybersecurity media doesn’t really cover solutions.” Most cybersecurity CEOs want leads. Because they want to scale. So they hire a PR consultant or agency. Because they believe publicity is like marketing on a budget. And they believe publicity will drive sales. But here’s the problem. Most media outlets don’t write about new solutions. I did the research. Here’s how cybersecurity media cover solutions: -Dark Reading (posts press releases) -Cybernews (posts press releases) -Cybersecurity Dive (posts press releases) -eSecurityPlanet (reviews) -Help Net Security (will post about new solutions) -Security Boulevard (contributed byline post) -TechRepublic (best products roundups) TechTarget (reviews) That’s it. So what opportunities are available for publicity? ?? Expert source/opportunistic news Commenting on trends ?? Threat reports/surveys Cybersecurity media loves data points and trends. ?? Thwarting a threat Stopped ransomware from executing. Identifying new ways bad actors are executing threats. Cybersecurity media doesn’t care about your solution. They do care about your insight. And expertise. That’s where we can position you and your company as an authority. And the more your ideal customer sees you as an authority… The more they’ll trust you. And be more interested in buying your solution. What’s your story? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? Hi! I’m Rob. I help cybersecurity companies accelerate growth by boosting awareness, amplifying authority, and building trust. Want to chat? ?? #publicrelations #cybersecurity #techpr?

Cybersecurity marketers: I can spark a reporter’s interest, but SMEs need to deliver (10 things to make our publicity program successful) Some cybersecurity marketers believe PR is “placing” stories in tier-one media. Set it and forget it. Just let the PR person do their thing. And media coverage will magically appear. But that’s not how it works. Clients need to have skin in the game. I can open doors with reporters. But SMEs need to walk through them. Here are 10 things to make our publicity program successful. 1?? Prioritize interviews Treat reporter interviews as high-priority tasks Schedule them promptly Show up prepared 2?? Tailor messaging Align quotes and insights with outlet's audience so it’s relevant and compelling. 3?? Deadline discipline Commit to providing thoughtful quotes and responses well before the reporter's deadline. 4?? Value-Driven content Educate and provide meaningful insights Avoid promoting the company or its products/solutions (unless the opportunity is a product review or solution update). 5?? Collaborative messaging Craft clear, concise messaging balancing company objectives with outlet’s needs. 6?? Thorough preparation Commit to reviewing reporter's background, outlet, previous articles, and editorial focus. 7?? Proactive article reviews Review articles for accuracy and provide context or clarification when requested. 8?? Responsive communication Be readily available for follow-ups to clarify. 9?? Media training Learn how to sharpen messaging, manage the interview, and handle difficult questions before interviewing with a reporter. ?? Cultivate lasting relationships Build strong, respectful relationships with reporters by consistently offering high-quality insights,? respecting deadlines,? and avoiding unnecessary follow-ups to become the preferred source reporters interview. I can set up reporter interviews. But subject matter experts must deliver what reporters need. To make our publicity program successful. What’s your story? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? Hi! I’m Rob. I help cybersecurity companies accelerate growth by boosting awareness, amplifying authority, and building trust. Want to chat? ?? #publicrelations #cybersecurity #techpr?

Pitching the media is like Michelangelo’s David It's simple. I just remove everything that is NOT the story. ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? Hi! I’m Rob. I help cybersecurity companies accelerate growth by boosting awareness, amplifying authority, and building trust. Want to chat? ?? #publicrelations #cybersecurity #techpr Photo by Mateus Campos Felipe on Unsplash

You’re missing opportunities to be a cybersecurity authority (the cost of not doing publicity) I talked with a cybersecurity CEO a couple weeks ago. He was kicking the tires on PR. He shared five trends with me during our conversation. One of them was the cybersecurity risk of sensitive data and LLMs. I sent a proposal and haven’t heard back. I saw a Wall Street Journal article yesterday. Headline: Large Language Models Pose Growing Security Risks The second paragraph: There is, for example, a danger that sensitive corporate or personal information inadvertently or deliberately will be exposed to models widely accessible to the public. There is also a possibility models can bring unsafe code or data into a company. Then I searched the news. Fast Company: 6 steps for mitigating LLM security concerns amid rapid adoption Security Boulevard: CISOs Brace for LLM-Powered Attacks: Key Strategies to Stay Ahead Dark Reading: LLMs Are a New Type of Insider Adversary Media outlets are covering the trend he discussed with me. But he’s not part of the conversation. And if you’re not leading the conversation. Your competitors are. And here’s the kicker. It’s over once reporters cover this angle. They’re not covering it again. They’re already looking for the next angle. The news moves fast. So if you miss this wave. You have to keep paddling back out to catch the next one. The good news in cybersecurity is there are more waves. But now he has one less angle to pitch to the media. And he’s missing an opportunity to position himself as an authority. What’s your story? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? Hi! I’m Rob. I help cybersecurity companies accelerate growth by boosting awareness, amplifying authority, and building trust. Want to chat? ?? #publicrelations #cybersecurity #techpr?

One amazing article won’t drive sales (Why PR is a long game) Sweet Sensations Pastry was a small neighborhood bakery. I loved the Chocolate chunk cookie Poppy seed pastries Lemon meringue cupcakes So I offered to do some publicity for the owner. I secured articles in high-traffic Chicago media: Daily Candy The Red Eye? Chicagoist Timeout Chicago Steve Dolinsky, The Hungry Hound on ABC 7, did a segment on her bakery. I asked about her foot traffic after each article. She said she’d get a bump. People came in and said they had no idea the bakery was in their neighborhood. And then foot traffic would fade within a week or two. Until the next placement. Bump. Fade. Most cybersecurity CEOs want tier-one media coverage to drive sales. But that’s not how it works. An article in Dark Reading might give you a bump. But PR is a long game. Boosting brand awareness requires sustained activity over time. Because audiences will read about you. And then move on with their lives. And forget about you. Until they hear about you again. Bump. Fade. Bump. Fade. A sustained publicity program provides: Frequent bumps. Less fade. And that can build brand awareness. And support sales. What’s your story? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? Hi! I’m Rob. I help cybersecurity companies accelerate growth by boosting awareness, amplifying authority, and building trust. Want to chat? ?? #publicrelations #cybersecurity #techpr?