Grapevine Consulting

There’s some great lists developing out there with rules for start-ups. I pulled out the points people made about marketing and PR for start-ups, which usually gets bad-mouthed, and decided to give my take.

The lists I looked at:
Jason Calcanis
Mark Cuban
Andy Fox

1) “Really think about if you need that $15,000 a month PR firm. Perhaps you can get a PR consultant to work on 2-3 projects a year for $10-15k each and save 75%. More PR firms are wasted half the year while you build up your product anyway”

• I tend to agree. Unless you’re a large corporate brand with a high comms monitoring and output requirement a freelance consultant can offer you flexibility, be cost-effective, and also have a broader skills base

2) “Blog instead of hiring a PR firm”

• While blogging *can* be a useful communications channel it’s not the be-all and end-all of disseminating information and key messages
  • Traditional media are still important and they aren’t all reading blogs
  • A good media relations practitioner will introduce you to journalists/writers who wouldn’t normally talk to you
  • This is hard to hear, but not all CEOs and wannabe spokespeople are great communicators - a good PR will refine your messages and also keep you abreast of industry conversations you could join 
• If you’re new and you don’t have a lot of money though this is a good starting point

3) “NEVER EVER EVER hire a PR firm. A PR firm will call or email people in the publications, shows and websites you already watch, listen to and read. Those people publish their emails. Whenever you consume any information related to your field, get the email of the person publishing it and send them an email introducing yourself and the company. Their job is to find new stuff. They will welcome hearing from the founder instead of some PR flack. Once you establish communications with that person, make yourself available to answer their questions about the industry and be a source for them. If you are smart, they will use you”

• PR isn’t rocket science but media pros are specialists in being tapped in to *all* media
• Not all journalists will take unsolicited email; you may think your company is interesting but they are being bombarded with 100s and 100s of press releases and emails daily - some PRs will fastrack you in their Inbox
• We know the press  - we’ll package the info how they want it delivered to them
• Founders are good contacts for press - your PR will intro you and help manage the relationship (do you really want to be dealing with emails which are about regional pricing, release dates and getting review product over there in the next 30mins for a photoshoot?)
• Until a journalist knows you, your company may not spring to mind for every feature. Your [super] PR will watch for these opps and sell you in to them

(Obviously this is what what a good PR or agency will do, like any industry there are people who are great at their jobs and people who aren’t, you have to find a good one)

4) “Crush The Competition: If your startup’s field is crowded or about to explode (read: about to get crowded), make 3-6 month marketing plans, not 3 year marketing plans. Invest a disproportionate amount of resources ($) into that time period. Even if you have three years worth of funding, forget about slow and steady and job security. If you gain enough traction early on any competitor will look like a “me-too” effort by both the public and the business world— even if they were first. Additional funding is given to the startups that make the most progress in the shortest amount of time in relation to their competition, not those that ration their budgets miserly in order to outlive the competition. The company that emerges early on as the <fill in your startup’s business> company will win the race by getting far enough ahead that nobody else can catch up. For startups, perception is reality, the startup making the big strides and taking chances will win every time. Remember that tech magazine Fast Company is called that for a reason”

• A good PR/Marketing agency will fit with your business plan and get you heard in the areas you need to make the most impact at the right times

“Avoid Sponsorships And (Most) “Awareness Marketing”: Any intern or green marketing person will probably want to show you their plan for “branding” “awareness” or “offline” marketing initiatives. After you’ve told them to never, ever show you such a document again ask them a few questions:

Does the guy barfing in the bleachers at a Padres game at Qualcomm Stadium know what Qualcomm Does? No

Do you know what Qualcomm does? No

If Qualcomm made something, remotely related or associated with baseball would it be a good idea to sponsor the stadium? Maybe

Have you in recent times seen a poster, billboard, newspaper, magazine, flier, bench-ad, urinal plasma-tv ad (not sure what those are called) about a website, software or service and had the presence of mind to later check it out while surfing the web? Yes

You little bastard liar :::begin beating this junior team member unmercifully with an item in your office, a keyboard for example::: Jk, don’t do that.

Where is the best place to reach an internet/computer/software user? On their computer? Eureka!”

• Not going to take this one too seriously as I think it’s mainly for comic value. Some sponsorships can be a waste of time for sure but brand exposure is just *one step* as part of a strategic campaign to get your company out there to your audience

If you’re a start-up looking at PR I recommend:

1. Make sure the timing’s right
   • Product refined, de-bugged etc?
   • Able to talk about product/or service (you’d be amazing how many start-ups tell PRs about products which are coming in the future but they can’t talk about publicly yet, kinda ties our hands)
   • A willing spokesperson - we need your time and we need you to have something to say
2. Don’t necessarily go for big agency glamour
   • If you’re a start-up you probably don’t have enough money to afford them. Look at smaller, specialist agencies or a freelance consultant
3. Work *with* your PR
   • Be open and honest re: product/service information, even the bad stuff, especially the bad stuff, then they can do the best job with reputation management
   • Setting them up to “prove” PR can work is not a useful - they do have a job to prove ROI to you but constant doubt in what they do is de-motivating
4. Make effective use of their time
   • As above, don’t focus too much of their time on reporting and conference calls when they could be on the phone talking to press about your company
5. Be willing to test what works
   • Don’t be afraid to say “that ain’t working, let’s change direction and try something else” instead of “but you promised to deliver X in Y publication!” - of course, expect them to deliver *something* useful
6. Ask for client testimonials
   • Many agencies/freelance practitioners are happy to offer testimonials or even let you talk to their clients direct, take advantage of that (LinkedIn is great for this too)
   • Ask the right questions, what works for one brand may not work for you, see if they have worked with other start-ups that found value out of their work

On a final note, something which annoyed me about Andy’s Fox’s list was this comment:

“Hot Babe Receptionist. I don’t know that this is useful but every startup i’ve been to has one. The storied history of the hot babe receptionist goes back decades and historically was used as tangible proof to settle any arguments on whether the employees of the startup actually knew any hot babes.”

Comments like these just perpetuate the myth that only men are start-up entrepreneurs and their companies are full of tech geeks who struggle to socialise normally with women. It also forgets that many start-up receptionists (male and female) become integral to a company and take on extra duties as the company grows. It’s demeaning and stupid. Nuff said.