How to get press for your startup in 24 hours!

There’s nothing quite like media coverage for a startup—it can introduce your company to new customers, drive traffic to your website, and generate word-of-mouth referrals. Reporters are looking for stories worth covering. They want to write about things that will interest their audience and have a good chance of going viral.

Here are few tips that can help you get more publicity

Before you begin approaching journalists, here are a few things you can do on your own.

First and foremost, think about who your readers are. Once you have a profile of the person reading your story, it will be easier to determine where to pitch it. If you're creating something geared toward children, for example, pitching to a tech blog is probably not going to work out very well. If your product is intended for pet owners, trying to reach a fashion magazine likely won't work either.

When is the best time to do PR?

The first thing you need to know is that the worst time to do PR is when you have nothing to talk about. The most important time to get exposure for your startup is when you have a finished product and/or an audience.

In other words, it's not when you're just starting out, but after you've launched.

The reason why is because journalists and bloggers are looking for stories. They want to write about things that are new and exciting. Oftentimes, they're looking for something new in their lives too. Sometimes they just want something fun to read about during their work day.

Identify your story

Identifying your story is a crucial first step to getting the media's attention. What makes your product or service interesting? How will it change the world? Why do people care?

Identifying your story also helps you understand what media outlets would be interested in covering it. If you can't narrow down your story, you can't target your pitches to specific outlets.

Example: If you're launching a new messaging app that lets users send 1-minute videos instead of text messages, and it's available for both smartphones and tablets, then you have a lot of potential angles: You could pitch tech sites on its innovative features, lifestyle sites on its usefulness for busy professionals and parents, general interest sites on its celebrity fan base.

Create a great pitch deck

Your pitch deck is the first thing potential journalists will see, so it needs to be professional and polished. A great pitch deck should have the following:

1) A killer headline — This is really important because this is what editors or journalists see first. It has to be catchy, interesting and engaging enough that they want to read more. I know it sounds obvious but you'd be surprised at how many people don't do this. If you can't come up with a good headline, hire someone who can help you with this because it's really important.

2) A good summary that highlights the top three points — This is going to be the next thing they see after the headline so it has to quickly tell the whole story of what you're pitching in just a few sentences. Again, you want them to be able to read this and immediately

Find The Right Journalists To Contact

Finding journalists who cover your industry is relatively easy if you know where to look. Start by researching your competitors and see if they've been written about recently. If they have been, take note of who wrote the article and contact that person directly. You can find their contact information by visiting their company profile page on LinkedIn (if they're connected) or simply looking up their work email address on their personal site or Google search results.

Connect with reporters using Twitter

If you don't know anyone in the press (or even if you do), start following reporters on Twitter. Search for terms like "startup" and "technology" and follow everyone who comes up. Now you have a list of people who are likely to be relevant to your company.

When some event related to your business is happening, tweet it out with the reporter's handle in the message. That way, he or she will see it when they check Twitter in between assignments.

The key is finding reporters who cover topics related to your business and following them on Twitter. Once they know you exist, they'll likely follow back and start reading your tweets.

Pitch to multiple reporters simultaneously

if you only focus on pitching one journalist at a time, you'll never get far. The obvious solution is to find a site like HARO (Help A Reporter Out) or Muck Rack and use those sites' search functions to find reporters who cover topics related to your business.

When you're pitching through these services, be sure to target only journalists who have written about similar companies in the past. You don't want your pitch buried in a pile of requests from PR firms looking for coverage of big brands.

Another option is to use tools like BuzzSumo or FollowerWonk to find the most influential people talking about topics relevant to your business and then look for them on Twitter or Facebook. When you see that someone has shared one of your startup's competitors' products online, send them an @ message asking for their opinion of your product.

Conclusion:

While the tips above will help you get started, there's no guarantee of coverage. Press outlets have their own deadlines and agendas and are often understaffed. They're also human beings who can make mistakes or be turned off by certain things, such as PR pitches or certain kinds of self-promotion.

Getting press is a process, not an event. It's an ongoing effort that requires some serious commitment and dedication to keep going as long as it takes (although hopefully not years).

Further Reads:

1) "The Art of Crafting Your Story and Getting Press with Kristen Mirelle" by Kristen Mirelle [Podcast]

2) "Non-Targeted Broadcast Public Relations Pitches Are Spam" by David Meerman Scott