All posts about tips

5 Things You Must Do Before Your Startup Launches

by Robin Cangie on May 16th, 2012

When your startup is in its early stages, your focus is probably more on product than on PR, and rightly so. But don’t ignore PR altogether. We’re starting a short series on the 5 things you must do before your company or product launches.

Over the next few weeks, we’ll explore each of the topics below in detail. For now, here’s an overview of what we’ll cover:

  1. Develop the story of your brand. Answer the following question: who are you , what makes you special, and why should I pay attention? Your story informs the rest of your PR efforts, from pitches to press releases, and eventually marketing campaigns.
  2. Draft your PR launch plan. You don’t have to identify every single date and tactic, but your plan should include your launch goals, target dates, and the strategy you’ll use to achieve them. At this stage, keep your plan simple and flexible.
  3. Understand your competitors. Watch your key competitors closely. Analyze their failures and especially their successes. YThe things your competitors do well can teach you a lot about how to conduct your own launch.
  4. Identify a budget. When you’re operating on a shoe string, dedicating money to so-called “soft” activities like PR can feel wasteful. But launching a company costs money. Think carefully about what’s important to you, and spend wisely. But spend something.
  5. Build anticipation. Whether it’s making your beta version invite-only or sending a series of teaser emails to key analysts, find ways to build excitement. When you are finally ready to launch, you’ll already have a line of people eager to hear your story.

Next week, we’ll dive a little deeper into the first point on the list: Develop the story of your brand.

In the meantime, are you in the midst of launching a startup, or have you been there in the past? Please share your lessons in the comments.

by Robin Cangie
on May 16th, 2012


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The Key to Building Relationships with Journalists

by Robin Cangie on May 9th, 2012

The reach of your PR initiatives is highly dependent on the quality of your relationships with the journalists in your field. The key to strengthening these relationships is simple – help journalists become better journalists.

Take the time to show that you care about journalists and their profession, and not just about breaking your latest story, and you become more than just another PR person. You become someone worth listening to, maybe even worth talking to. Prove yourself valuable enough, and journalists might even start coming to you for stories, rather than the other way around.

Here are a few ways you can start building those relationships now:

  • Learn what journalists care about. It really should go without saying, but we’ll say it anyway – know your audience. If you’re irrelevant, you will be ignored.
  • Send them story tips. And not just yours. Demonstrate that you’re an invaluable source for industry information, not just information about your company.
  • Make helpful introductions to people in your network. The more you help a journalist build his or her network, the more likely they are to help you grow yours.
  • Share their articles and praise them publicly. Be genuine, not self-serving. When your next big story comes out, they’ll be far more likely to return the favor.

It takes time, patience, and a willingness to give more than you receive, but the rewards are well worth it.

What’s your approach to building relationships with journalists?

by Robin Cangie
on May 9th, 2012


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5 Press Release Writing Mistakes to Avoid

by Robin Cangie on May 7th, 2012

Your press release is the foundation of a successful PR strategy, but most of the releases we see fall far short of remarkable. Whether you’re writing your first press release or your 1,000th, this collection of writing tips and common mistakes from PR Daily is a fantastic guide to crafting a release that’s powerful, relevant, and gains visibility for your brand.

1. Lack of focus. Many writers try to cram too many themes into one message, with the intent of appealing to multiple audiences.

Why it’s a problem: People seek specific information, and search engines reward it. Unfocused content is likely to fall by the wayside in social networks, going unshared. Furthermore, search engine algorithms—which are designed to analyze on-page content and categorize the information accordingly—are likely to conclude the content is effectively about “nothing” when the focus is too watered down.

2. Unnatural writing. From the “speed bump” that starts many press releases (for example: “Company Name, a global innovator and provider of world-class end-to-end turnkey solutions for ….”) to stilted quotes from execs declaring their excitement about some sort of mumbo-jumbo, many press releases are the antitheses of natural, interesting writing.

Why it’s a problem: Jargon and stiff “corporate-speak” slow down (and turn off) readers, and they distance your audience from your organization by being less relatable. Additionally, search engines are amazingly good at detecting natural language, and they reward it: content that is too machine-like may be penalized.

3. One-dimensional formatting. Many news releases are written as though they’re going to be read off a sheet of typing paper, and not a fluid and interactive environment.

Why it’s a problem and what you can do: Blocks of text and a lack of interactive links and sharing buttons bog down key messages and trap readers. The simple act of embedding an anchor text link creates a call to action, inviting interested readers to take the next step and visit the Web page you suggest.

Easy formatting changes such as using bulleted lists and bold-text paragraph headers capture attention when folks scan your content, and make it easy for socially connected readers to discern key messages and share them on social networks.

4. Too many embedded links. Before you go on a linking spree after being inspired by item No. 3, please heed this caveat: A link or two in a press release is great, but too many links in a body of text can have dire consequences for that content’s visibility.

Why it’s a problem: Content that is peppered with hyperlinks is the press release equivalent of the loud-talking, wildly-gesticulating used car guy whose annoying TV ads are likely to have inspired the invention of Tivo. They’re annoying.

Worse, search engines are paying very close attention to links in content, and too many links can cause your press release to be flagged as spam and buried in search results. Embed one link—two if you absolutely must—in each press release. That’s it. Links in press releases should provide a service, not a distraction.

5. No visuals. The importance of visuals in PR campaigns and press releases really can’t be overstated, but the majority of press releases issued over commercial newswires today are still plain text, even though multimedia press releases generate better results.

Why it’s a problem: Google and Facebook both give visual content more weight in their ranking algorithms, which is why pictures and video float to the top of search engine results and Facebook news feeds.

Additionally, wildly popular social networks such as Pinterest and Instagram are based on visuals. Without a visual, your content won’t be available to these massive and engaged audiences. Even if you don’t have a perfect photo available, there are plenty of clever ways to create images for a PR campaign, including using free stock photos and making simple infographics from data points.

What’s your process for writing a good press release? Would you add any other mistakes to the list?

by Robin Cangie
on May 7th, 2012


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3 Ways to Leverage LinkedIn for PR

by Robin Cangie on May 4th, 2012

Twitter and Facebook may get most of the social media buzz, but don’t neglect LinkedIn when building your social PR strategy. LinkedIn is a powerful way to connect with journalists, amplify your PR efforts, and raise awareness for your brand.

Here are 3 ways you can take advantage of LinkedIn for PR:

  1. Create a robust company profile. Customize your company page and add as much detail about your company as you can. A robust company profile will increase your odds of appearing in search results related to your industry and the services you offer. Think like a journalist, and create a company profile that will help them tell a great story about you.
  2. Learn about journalists and prospects. A quick search on your target journalists will teach you a great deal. You can useLinkedIn to learn someone’s professional history, see which groups they’re part of, and often find links to their articles and Twitter streams. This information can be highly valuable when tailoring your PR pitches.
  3. Participate in groups. LinkedIn groups are a great way to connect with like-minded people and learn about your target audience – what they care about, what they talk about, and whom they associate with. Join groups that are relevant to your industry and, ideally, that your media contacts have also joined. Notice what discussions are treanding, and add insightful comments. Once you’ve proven yourself a worthy contributor, try starting your own group and inviting contacts to participate.

How does LinkedIn factor in your PR initiatives? How else have you used LinkedIn for PR?

by Robin Cangie
on May 4th, 2012


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Make Your Press Release More Shareable with Multimedia

by Jesse Wynants on February 6th, 2012

What’s the easiest way to encourage people to share your press release? A great story alone won’t do the trick if it looks like all the other plain-text releases out there. If you want to up your press release’s “share factor”, you need to include (surprise!) something shareable, usually multimedia. Here are three ways to do it:

  • Add an image. There is no, repeat no reason not to add an image (or several!) to your press release. Whether it’s a collection of screenshots from your groundbreaking new release, a clever and relevant illustration or a photo captured on-the-ground, adding an image makes your release instantly more visually appealing (and therefore, more likely to be shared).
  • Include a video. The words “viral video” are practically a cliche these days, but there’s still a lot of value in creating a good video to accompany your release. A video is an opportunity to add depth to your story and lend a human face to your brand. They’re a lot more sharable than text articles, too, and bloggers are always looking for good ones to share with their followers.
  • Create an infographic. Who says your release has to be plain-text? Try telling your story visually, instead, with an infographic. The best ones can spread across the web like wildfire. But before you decide to go this route, make sure your story is suited for it – your story should be entertaining, informative and, most importantly, simple to articulate in pictures.

When it comes to sharing, the most important thing to remember is that people don’t share things with their friends because they like you; they share things with their friends because they like their friends, and because they want to look good in front of them. Help your audience do that, and your story will already be well on its way to “going viral”, as they say.

How do you increase the “share factor” of your releases? What tactics have and haven’t worked well for you?

by Jesse Wynants
on February 6th, 2012


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