Media Relations for Startups in Five Easy Steps. This PPT outlines the five steps to a successful do-it-yourself PR program, especially written for tech startups.

1. Media Relations
for Startups
In 5 Easy Steps

2. Step 1: Define Media Targets
• Which media are you trying to reach?
• Identify the journalists, editors, wire
writers and bloggers that cover your
industry
• Prioritize your top 10-20
• Research the background of each target
• What they cover
• Their typical story angles
• How often they write about your
industry
• Have they covered your product or
company previously?

3. Step 2: Determine Timing
• Research publishing schedules
• How often does each of your targets
publish?
• Do they follow an editorial calendar?
(If so, editorial calendars can
usually be found inside a media
outlet’s online media kit)
• Respect the schedules of your
targets
(For example, if an outlet publishes
every Monday – you probably need
to reach out early in the preceding
week)

4. Step 3: Build Relationships
• Here’s how to build beneficial relationships with your
“wishlist” of reporters:
• Research and understand their backgrounds
• Read everything they write
• Comment on their articles, when appropriate
• Follow them on social media
• Reach out personally and offer non-self-serving
information and story ideas

5. Step 4: Pitch
• Don’t rely on a press release to capture media
attention
• Instead, send a pitch to explain why your news
should matter to each individual target
• There are two kinds of pitches:
• A product or announcement pitch that links
to a formal press release
• An Introductory or proactive pitch that offers
up your experts to comment on industry news
or trends

6. Pitching: In Detail
Timeliness
Relevance
Third-Party
Validation
• Ideally, your pitch will include these three
elements:
• Timeliness: Does your pitch tie into the news
cycle or contain a sense of urgency?
• Relevance: Will your targets consider the
content of your pitch newsworthy and relevant
to their respective fields?
• Third-Party Validation: Can you offer up a
customer or analyst who can back up your

7. Step 5: Follow Up
• Don’t harass, but do follow up
• If you still don’t get a response – diagnose
your pitch
• Could the title be improved?
• Did you meet the three components of
timeliness, relevance and validation?
• Were your targets distracted by other
industry news?
• Recognize that it’s not unusual to be ignored
• Perseverance is critical for a successful
media relations program, and it may take
several pitches before you get a response

8. Need More Information?
• Download our
“Starter Guide:
Do-It-Yourself
Media Relations”
(bit.ly/Hf5B0y)

9. www.speakerboxpr.com
THANK YOU
7900 Westpark Drive  McLean, VA  22102  Tel: 703-287-7800  Fax: 703-485-3975