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Useful PR tips for start-ups

Guest post by: Georgina Dunkley

Article Overview: For most start-up businesses the outlay of external costs need to be kept to a minimum to safeguard the finances of the company during this embryonic stage, but it is also crucial that externally promoting a business should not be forgotten even if budget isn’t available. With this in mind, below is a step-by-step guide of PR tips businesses can utilise internally to promote their brand or company launch.

Useful PR tips for start-ups

For most start-up businesses the outlay of external costs need to be kept to a minimum to safeguard the finances of the company during this embryonic stage, but it is also crucial that promoting a business externally is not forgotten, even if budget isn't available. With this in mind, below is a step-by-step guide of PR tips businesses can utilise internally to promote their brand or company launch.

Press announcement - depending upon the nature of your business, a press release can be drafted and targeted to the media. If it is a local business for local people then it should be sent to the regional titles and if there is an event tied to it, like an open evening, don't forget to invite the broadcast media too. If the business operates in more of a niche market, for example dairy machinery, and as such is of interest to a national or international audience, then find out which of the trade media, like The Ice Cream Alliance Magazine, are relevant and target them.

Press release - drafting a press release doesn't need to taxing, there are just a number of rules that need to be observed. Include within the first paragraph of the release the WHO, WHAT, WHERE, WHY and HOW of the story, try to make the sentences snappy, succinct and include a quote and contact details of the person in charge. If you can, make the release creative, but if this is proving problematic then just ensure the editorial makes sense and is factually accurate.

Media relations - pick up the phone and speak to the media that you think would be interested in running a story about your company or brand. Review the publication ahead of your call and ask to speak to the person who is the most relevant, e.g. someone on the newsdesk. Then tell them your news and ask if they would like more information. By calling them you can then ascertain, from your list of preferred media targets, what they will be interested in receiving and in what format. If calling a daily regional newspaper then the best time to call is after 10am and no later than 2pm. You don't want to irritate the media by calling at a time when they are on deadline, so also observe when the best time is to call a monthly magazine. Generally, the third week of the month is a no go.

Photography - digital cameras allow for a large amount of photography to be handled by amateurs in-house without the need for a professional. Think about what sort of photography is needed; if it supports your press release then ensure it does just that by illustrating the story in a picture. When taking pictures of people and places also consider how the shot will look on the page; make the shot tight and in colour, avoiding lots of white space and take a range of shots in both portrait and landscape angles to accommodate the publication you are targeting.

Remain confident - it can be daunting contacting the media but the best advice I can give is to be yourself, stay confident and don't undersell your news. If you get knocked down, get back up again until your media target list has been exhausted and results have been confirmed.

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Article Tags: launch, media relations, news, photography, PR, press announcement, press release



Related Forum Posts
Re: How to Promote Your Business Online - Good info ZekeLL, but I'm confused about this one. Could you explain it in further detail when you have time? Alliance Marketing Let’s go back to the business attorney example. Who are his clients? Mostly startups. What do startups need? Well, maybe a website, office space, office supplies, and startup money. He could have arrangements with web designers, office space owners, office supplies vendors, and investors.
Re: Business Failure Rate – What is the Real Business Failure Ra - [quote="ZekeLL":x66k5x4x]Ever wondered what the business failure rate is? Between 75% and 90% of all new businesses fail within the first 10 years. If we also take most dotcom startups into consideration, 9 out of 10 new businesses won’t make it to their third year. The actual figures vary according to the source, but it looks like the overwhelming majority of startups end up failing.[/quote:x66k5x4x] Hi ZekeLL, Nice article! So of the 1 out of 10 new businesses that make it to their third year... are they actually successful and if so, how would you define "successful"?
Great start, but no finish - Many people get off to great starts about their business ideas, but then fail to follow through (let alone finish). What advice can we give to these aspiring startups?
Profiling Startups - how about profiling more startup entrepreneurs on this site? there are a lot of famous entrepreneurs and excellent stories but not so many startups.
Re: 5 Ways I've Used Twitter This Week To Grow My Business - Thanks for the tips guys. I don't use Twitter much because I don't see much use for it so any good tips I can get might just change my mind.


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