Some tips for interacting with the press

Here are a few things I’ve learned over the years about the best ways for entrepreneurs to interact with the press (by press I mean blogs as well as traditional media).

- Don’t be afraid to ask what the rules are. Is this on or off the record? If they are writing an article about your company, do they require exclusivity? What is the angle of the story?

- Don’t use a PR firm unless you are so successful that you need someone to help you manage inbound press interest. Most journalists, when talking candidly, will tell you they’d vastly prefer getting an email from the founder of a startup than a PR firm. If you’re Bill Gates, it is understandable that you have someone reaching out for you. If you are a small startup, having a PR rep contact a journalist says “I’m not competent enough to reach you” or “I don’t respect your time enough to reach out directly.”

- Treat journalists with respect. Tech/business journalists often interact with rich and powerful people, some of whom treat them disrespectfully. Like entrepreneurs, journalists are usually interesting people with diverse interests. You’ll probably like them if you talk to them and might even become friends.

- Unless you’re a super hot startup, the existence of your company is not a news story. Exclusives of launches, financings and acquisitions are usually news stories. Trend stories that you are part of could be a news story. Relating your startup or data your startup generates to something already newsworthy (journalists call this “pegging”) can dramatically increase your chances of getting covered.

- Whether you like it or not, the press will put your company into a category, and might run “horserace” stories comparing how the companies in your category are doing. The best you can do here is to try to choose which category you’ll be put into. Arguing that you have no competitors or are creating a new category is pretty much impossible.

- Try to put yourself in the mindset of the journalist. How will this story get them on Techmeme or featured by their editors? What were their most successful recent stories? Do background research on any reporter before talking and read a bunch his/her articles.

- Don’t just contact reporters when you need them: try to be helpful even when you don’t. Sometimes, I get calls to talk about, say, the state of the venture market or asking for some background on a tech sector that is new to the journalist. My guess is they appreciate this and are more responsive when I contact them about a possible story.

http://twitter.com/jen_mcfadden jennifer mcfadden

Great tips, Chris. Thanks for sharing.
http://twitter.com/elicolner Eli Colner

chris, great advice. what’s an exclusive? derp

http://www.cdixon.org chris dixon

actually a good question and my understanding is that it is somewhat nuanced. example: you agree to give techcrunch and exclusive on your financing. you only talk to techcrunch. another siteleaks the story. as long as you didn’t speak to the other site (some 3rd party leaked it) and only spoke to TC I think they consider that exclusive still.

http://redesignmobile.com Rocky Agrawal

not usually. if someone else leaks it, it doesn’t matter. if it’s out, it’s out and the news value is diminished.

http://www.cdixon.org chris dixon

yeah, you are probably right. i’m always confused over this issue. but at least the journalist won’t get mad at you.

http://redesignmobile.com Rocky Agrawal

it better not happen more than once.

http://pegobry.tumblr.com/ Pascal-Emmanuel Gobry

The problem is an issue of trust. SOME startups tell several reporters at once they’re going to give them an exclusive in the hopes of generating more news coverage. If you promise me an exclusive and the news leaks, I’m going to automatically assume that’s what happened. If I know you and trust you and you assure me that’s not the case–fine. If not, well… At the end of the day, all business and most human interaction is based on promising and delivering. If you promise and don’t deliver, well, you have a problem.

http://twitter.com/elicolner Eli Colner

thanks. i think this quote sums it up then :p
“Never rat on your friends. And always keep your mouth shut.”

http://pegobry.tumblr.com/ Pascal-Emmanuel Gobry

An exclusive means information that wasn’t previously public that is being made public by just one reporter/outlet (and has some news value–”we got new lamps in our office!” is not a good exclusive).

Examples of exclusives: a fundraising, obviously, a new product, a pivot (if your previous incarnation has already been talked about), hitting some milestone (revenue, users…), a big hire (but the hire OR your startup would have to be big for that to be a story)…

IF you have a great story or insight or something like that, an exclusive can just be an interview and/or your story. “This 19-year-old dropped out of Harvard/Goldman Sachs banker quit and slept on a couch for six months to build this amazing new thing” is a great story, and if you’re sharing it with me before anyone else, that’s an exclusive. Other examples of great exclusives: “This company is quietly building a huge business”; “Nobody talks about this market/category because it’s not sexy, but it’s absolutely huge/important and I’m the guy who understands it better than anybody else and I’m going to give you an interview to explain it all and give you some info-nuggets.”

http://twitter.com/semil Semil

So true, having been on both sides.
http://www.dainbinder.com Dain Binder

Chris, I am happy to read this. I have been blogging about technology and startups for about a year now and over the last three months have been in closer direct contract with the founders. Most have treated me in kind, with respect, professionalism, and kindness, until yesterday. This person was demeaning, rude, and about as unprofessional as someone could be. I was taken back by their actions because even though I do not have the readership of the large publications I do have a good amount of traffic. I will certainly continue to grow and may even work/write for more established blogs in the future. I will never forget how this person treated me, which only harms them in the long run. No matter who you are you must not burn bridges and connections. Again, thanks Chris, this is good advice every entrepreneur should head.

http://twitter.com/daveying99 David Haddad

By the way, Dain wrote an honest product review about our startup http://www.presspass.me and was a breeze to deal with.

http://www.dainbinder.com Dain Binder

Thank you for that David. You replying also shows what a small world it is and how we cross paths again with the people we worked with in the past. I hope all is well with you and Valencio!

http://twitter.com/jake_gold Jake Gold

Nobody is calling me “to talk about, say, the state of the venture market or asking for some background…” though.

Do you recommend emailing writers with info just to try to help them?

http://www.cdixon.org chris dixon

yeah, sure. it takes a while to build up credibility in an area and you have to start somewhere. no one called me about anything like that a few years ago but i’ve blogged, worked on startups, invested etc and like most things in life if you work on it hard enough eventually it starts working.

http://jakenbake.com/ Jake Gold

My strong anti-machiavellian streak makes this hard. Nothing sets off my moral corruption alarm bells like helping someone in hopes that they’ll help me later.I suppose there are times when I actually do have some unique insight/knowledge, so I could just make an effort to reach out at those times. Those times might not be so rare, I just don’t think about it.

http://www.cdixon.org chris dixon

how is helping someone when you have nothing to obviously gain machiavellian? I think it’s all just good karma building – not quid pro quo.

http://jakenbake.com/ Jake Gold

I think you have the right attitude about it. As long as you’re helping without any expectations it can’t be a bad thing.

Certainly in your case they’re actually *asking* for your help, so that’s even better.

http://www.cdixon.org chris dixon

I mean i think the expectations are very broad. if people think you are helpful and decent good things will happen. the distinction between quid-pro-quo and karma-building is subtle but important.

http://redesignmobile.com Rocky Agrawal

Excellent post, Chris.

I would add a few others:
- Even if a journalist says negative things about you, you’re better off interacting with them than shutting them out. Responsible journalists try to portray the most accurate picture possible.

- It’s not uncommon for journalists to interview you and then wait weeks (or months) before they write something. Heck, there’s no guarantee that they will ever use the information.

- Follow journalists you’re interested in on Twitter. Get to know their interests and offer advice when they ask for it. Share your connections when relevant.

http://www.dainbinder.com Dain Binder

Great additions Rocky! The negative comments topic is an interesting paradigm because people inherent want to please, build contacts, and make friends. Publishing a negative review challenges those endeavors. Another point many do not realize is that a negative review is not as profitable for a publication. Founders, employees, and investors are less likely to Tweet, +1, and Like a review that does not put their venture in a favorable light. Even though it is hard, entrepreneurs should appreciate the review if it is professionally written and brings up valid points. Keeping in touch with the journalist is wise because you can update them on your progress and accomplishments which will serve to help you over time.
http://pegobry.tumblr.com/ Pascal-Emmanuel Gobry

I absolutely second this.

http://redesignmobile.com Rocky Agrawal

no, unless you have something very relevant. better strategy would be to follow people you’re interested in twitter and respond when they ask things that you have knowledge of.
http://twitter.com/daveying99 David Haddad

Great ideas Chris. Here are 3 other tips that we recently shared at a recent PR workshop for startups based on the PR we generated for our startup http://www.presspass.me. Those tips helped us get quite a bit of press for our own startup whose mission is incidentally to simplify PR.

- Don’t spin, stay real with honest conversation as the journalist is probing you with questions. They can smell that and theres nothing wrong with being small or a new entrant.- Do mention if you’ve been covered by another media outlet. Exclusives are good but so is social proof. And if you show that others in the press have vetted you or show interest in what you’re doing you’ll increase your chances of being heard. That works specially well if you’ve gotten press on a brand name outlet and are amplifying that by going to blogs.

- Think broader than journalists. A twitter user with 50k followers can have more clout and reach among the people you want to influence than your standard technology reporter. And it can be way easier to convince someone to tweet about you than to write an article.

http://pegobry.tumblr.com/ Pascal-Emmanuel Gobry

Yep. I’m mixed on the social proof thing. If someone’s already been covered, it might tell me that they’ve been “vetted” but it might also tell me that I want an exclusive and/or a new/interesting angle, which might raise the bar.

Anonymous

I agree with this. Sending me a link from a competitor isn’t going to make me jump on it, it means I have to find a new and more compelling angle so that competitor won’t think I ripped them off. Most full time bloggers, at least in tech, are more like journalists than NY Times rewriters and so sending an article around to “amplify” sends the wrong message.

http://twitter.com/ripemp rip empson

Nailed it. Very well said.
http://twitter.com/mattyroze Matt Rozen

Good tips. The only thing I would debate you on is your blanket rec to not use a PR firm. You describe a PR firm as only good for making calls and setting dates. Agreed – if that’s all you’re getting from a PR pro, then save your budget. However, this isn’t what a good PR firm does. They can help young entrepreneurs figure out their story, and by ‘story’ I don’t mean spin; I mean how best to relate what the new company/product/initiative is all about to the right audience. This skill isn’t as easy as people think. The smart entrepreneur doesn’t take lightly the power of being a good communicator. Being a great coder with a Masters in CS doesn’t necessarily equate to the ability to describe well what is being coded and why it matters. The right PR consultants can be invaluable in growing the needed communications skills.

-m

http://www.cdixon.org chris dixon

Fair enough. I could definitely see someone helping with that. What I object to is the mindset of “I will just outsource PR”. It is a core operation of a startup and therefore shouldn’t be outsourced.

Having a smart person help you with something, no matter what the task, is always a good idea. And I expect it exists in PR.

http://pegobry.tumblr.com/ Pascal-Emmanuel Gobry

I agree with both those comments. I tune most PR people out, but there are a handful I trust and those people are amazing and any startup should be thrilled to have them.
http://redesignmobile.com Rocky Agrawal

The problem is there is a lot of variability in PR folks and entrepreneurs don’t know how to screen for the ones that will actually help them vs. those that are likely to turn off reporters.

In my experience there are more bad PR folks than there are good ones. But the great ones will have my attention. Even if they don’t get a story, they’ll have my ear.
JamesHRH

“Having a smart person help you with something, no matter what the task, is always a good idea.”
Love that!

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http://twitter.com/tekhneCO tekhneCO

Very good advice, Chris.

As a startup and tech reporter, +1 to everything you listed.

Here’s a couple more tips:

Know why you’re seeking press coverage. If it’s to build market traction, you should be well prepared to register beta users, accept orders, ship product, direct readers to a Kickstarter campaign, etc. If there’s no specific call to action, conversion process or time-specific news peg, you’re wasting your time.

Never, ever ask a reporter to sign an NDA. That’s bad form.

Keep the pitch under 30 seconds.

I suggest to inexperienced founders that they focus on just 3 items in the initial tease: name of company + a few words on the problem your product/service is solving + why my readers should care. Boom. Done.

Really boil it down to its essence so at a glance, in my overloaded inbox/voicemail or in a noisy demo pit, I instantly understand and want to try it out.

And practice. A lot. Just as one would for an investor pitch. Have it down cold, extract the jargon and center the message on your amazing solution to an explainable, logical need.

If you need an external PR pro to help with that process. Go for it. But I want to hear from someone inside the company who is knowledgeable not a paid flack talking from a script.

Wendy
tekhne.co
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http://www.facebook.com/people/Jeff-Clavier/789515233 Jeff Clavier

A couple of things:
- Always ask what their deadline is, and respect it.
- Providing a few worthy/snappy quotes increases the chances of being mentioned.
- If you follow up promptly, are interesting, you’ll get your fair share of exposure – even on derivative topics.

It’s like everything: if you are genuinely helpful with journalists, they’ll be there when you need them.

http://pegobry.tumblr.com/ Pascal-Emmanuel Gobry

Yep.
http://redesignmobile.com Rocky Agrawal

Yup.

Deadlines and time-to-response are critical. This is especially true in the blog world.

Every hour you wait, your chances of being mentioned go down.

DL Byron

Just suck up to Scoble. All you need…
Anonymous

“Most journalists, when talking candidly, will tell you they’d vastly
prefer getting an email from the founder of a startup than a PR firm….If you are a small startup, having a PR rep contact a
journalist says “I’m not competent enough to reach you” or “I don’t
respect your time enough to reach out directly.” ”

That’s kind of an unfortunate attitude. I regularly interview founder/CEOs of music tech startups for Hypebot.com and I’m fine with first contact coming from a PR firm if they tell me they can set up an interview with a founder or CEO.

What I don’t like is when they try to connect me with someone in marketing or sales. I no longer accept such “opportunities” because those people are generally a waste of time even if they’re otherwise good at what they do.
Anonymous

<3
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http://twitter.com/campfirewest Dan Deppen

“Is this on or off the record?”- no matter how they answer this question, you always have to assume that everything you say to a reporter is on the record.

http://mike.sjb.co.uk/ Mike

No, this is too cynical. If you’re speaking with a genuine, professional journalist/reporter, what you deem off the record or unattributable will be just that.

But it is *incredibly* important to move the conversation to one of these statuses *before* you impart the relevant information — you absolutely can’t say “oh, that was off the record by the way” afterwards.

And some folks think they’ll be safe by making everything they say off the record, or speaking in riddles, but they soon find it hard to get anyone with a deadline to take their calls…

Paul McTaggart

Hi Chris:

Given that journalists have a flurry of start-ups trying to reach them via e-mail/twitter/phone: what is your recommendation for an e-mail/tweet/phone call that would make a start-up stand out?

Paul
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http://twitter.com/ElaineEllis Elaine Ellis

I really liked your point about putting yourself in the mindset of a reporter. I’ve been referring a lot to Ben Parr’s post on what makes a good story before I email a pitch to consider whether I’m telling a good story or not. http://benparr.com/2011/11/the-stories-im-looking-and-not-looking-to-write/
http://redesignmobile.com Rocky Agrawal

Two more things to add to your list:
- Research journalists, not publications. Each publication has various people who each have their own set of interests and topics. Read their previous posts and coverage areas. Tailor your pitch to the kinds of things they write about. I’m a little unusual in that I actually post what I’m working on online. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1G1JJVObB5vMjgM6D4O4FtfvhCacJ_Iw9q5SXLk5Vlp8/edit If you can contribute something to one of those stories that is meaningful, I certainly am interested. But if your pitch is far afield from the things that are already on my to-do list, you’re not likely to get much of a hearing. Generic “dear journalist” emails don’t work.

- Keep in mind that we talk to each other. Even though we compete, we also interact. If you’re a jerk or untrustworthy, it gets around.
http://petervandijck.com/ Peter Van Dijck

Awesome.

Also:

- Be available. Stories often need to be written fast, and writers have deadlines. Don’t say “call me tomorrow” or “I’ll email you tonight”. When someone from the press wants to talk to you, take your time and talk to them.

- Have numbers available. And know in advance which numbers you do and do not want to be made public, so that when they ask “How much is the funding for” or “how many users do you have”, you know what to say. Numbers help stories. Facts help stories, so have them ready.

- Follow up with an email with more info (numbers, names, other people they can contact for this story).

- Tag your numbers (“pin”) to some bigger trend. Have some numbers about the market or something that they will want to use, and that will force them to mention you, even if you’re a small player. It’s worth investing in some research to get these numbers, hopefully your technology or place in the market can get you numbers that others don’t have. (ie. “23% of users click on spa coupons”, or whatever).
Anonymous

Great article! Thanks!

I do have several Q’s-

1. How many lines approximately you would
recommend for the 1st mail in which I’m approaching the journalist/blogger? About
half page?

2. How long before we launch our start up should
we approach them?

3. If I’m approaching one journalist and he is
not interested in writing on us or just won’t answer- is it OK to approach to
another journalist from the same site?

Thanks! I know there are not specific rules for
it, but there is nothing like to study from others who did that already and
success (or failed:)

Karin
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Anonymous

As a journalist/writer/whatever with 30-plus years of experence I thought I’d check out this page to find something laughable. But no. This is all good advice in both the article and the comments. Bravo.

And I agree about the PR agency — you generally do not need it unless you, as a person, are a douche-bag and want to hide the fact. When you are bigger and simply do not have the time, then you can get a person in house to help. But, over the years I’ve constantly run into CEO’s who, like ham actors, love attention and were always ready to talk. I think that’s the best long term policy if you want coverage. BE AVAILABLE.

http://www.cdixon.org chris dixon

Glad it wasn’t laughable Flattered to have you comment here.

https://me.yahoo.com/darlaimports1#4a1e2 importexporthomestudy.com

I currently work from home selling export goods, it has been really feasible as well as not time consuming compared to my former job in the news industry.
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http://www.tracecohen.me/ Trace Cohen

When it comes to media relations, one aspect of PR, all of
your points are spot on. The only problem is that you are relying on someone
else to make you look bad.

Having worked with numerous startups after having my own, PR
can be essential to their success beyond just media relations. The idea of “I’m
not competent enough to reach you” is 100% accurate. I have a sales team,
because I’m not a salesman, I have a programming team because I’m not a
programmer and I have a PR team because I don’t communicate well. If you put 9
out of 10 startup CEO’s in front of top tier media without any formal media
training, I assure you that you will never do that again.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=500070997 Brandee Barker

Just getting around to reading this, Chris. Having been in tech PR for nearly 20 years, I generally agree with all your suggestions. Rocky also has a few good additions. My only argument would be that a good – a really good – PR person can help beyond the later stage press management. I know a handful of PR people that often help make connections for potential seed/VC funding and business/marketing partnerships. And just as you suggest for entrepreneurs, PR people set themselves apart if they can be a resource to reporters whether it’s for a client story or not, i.e. sources or introductions.

http://www.cdixon.org chris dixon

Fair enough. I’m sure as in any profession there are great people who are exceptions to the rule.

http://www.siliconvalleywatcher.com/ Tom Foremski

I don’t mind founders that I know very well, using a PR company. Setting up times for interviews, logistics etc, it’s OK to have others set that up, organize it, follow up, be persistent (especially with me) it can be time consuming. However, when it comes to grabbing a quick beer then there’s no need to use a PR firm, but some do! And that’s because they are probably used to having a wife to set up their social engagements PR firms are very much like a “wife” to some entrepreneurs, and some occassionally become a couple.
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Chris Dixon