ABOVE THE CODE- How to Propel Your Startup PR With

Smart Communications Strategies -

Tel Aviv University - February 16, 2015

ABOUT

•33 years - yup, I am an old school PR guy.... and believe in the real power of PR

•San Antonio & Tel Aviv - mentored at Wayra Buenos Aires in 2013

• Involved with Israel’s traditional tech sector for the last 20 years

•Sponsored by Rackspace to #BeHelpful

TODAY...

•Thank you to fellow panelists

•Presentation online @ www.alanweinkrantz.com

•Share in real time @alanweinkrantz

•Sharing principles, methods, approaches... each company is different

•Practical tips, hints and actionable steps you can take and succeed in 2015

$24,000.00 in hosting / cloud / email credits for 12 months

I am sponsored by Rackspace Startup Program

GOOD NEWS :)

•Very low cost / no cost to create a start-up

•Big Idea

•Core team

•Strong will

• Servers / hosting

BAD NEWS :(

•Someone in New York, Madrid, San Francisco, Singapore, Mumbai… or Tel Aviv… is thinking the same thing as you are :(

•Hard to have a defensible position

•Hard to protect your IP

•Getting traction is tough

MAIN CHALLENGES

•Defining who you are

•Reaching journalists / bloggers / analysts

•Building a story and narrative

•Thinking like an editor- not just “a startup” product manager or founder

• Identifying “media” you want to be helpful to

5 PRACTICAL WAYS TO PLAN FOR 2015

•1. Identify who you want to reach

•2. Listen and get inside their head

•3. Watch and listen to how others you compete with or on the periphery do it

•4. Build a body of work that defines who you are and helps you get discovered - start thinking like an editor / brand publisher / media company

•5. Reach out and pitch

1. WHO DO I WANT TO REACH?

•Define the space - and the place you think you belong

•Rank the order of importance - it’s ok to dream

•news.google.com is your friend. So is twitter…

•Track competitors, subject matter, people, thought leaders in your space

www.angel.co

Text

www.twtrland.com

www.listorious.com

MuckRack.com

www.helpareporter.com

2. DEFINE WHO YOU ARE

•Marketing

•Business

•Technical

•Legal

•Medical

•Social

WRITE FOR STORY TELLING

•You don’t have to be “a writer…”

•Write like you speak…

•Your potential investors, partners, maybe an acquisition are reading your content to see what’s in your heart and soul and why you care about what you are doing.

WHY THIS MATTERS TODAY...

•Story telling, having a voice, and the on-going narrative is a reflection of your startup / company’s heart and soul

• It becomes the body of work that helps you recruit talent, attract investors, customers, build partnerships, and be discovered by the media

•Someone at the other end of the periphery of the web just might find you and use your content to share your story.

3. LISTEN TO COMPETITORS & THE PERIPHERY

•Is there someone ahead of you?

•Who is not competing, but on the periphery?

•Who is not competing and in another complementary space?

•Where is the periphery?

4. BUILD A BODY OF WORK

•Focus on your startup’s blog

•Builds credibility

• Increases your chances of being discovered

•Enables you to provide background material when you pitch

•Helps you self-define your startup

YOU’RE REALLY A MEDIA COMPANY THAT....

•Creates and makes media so you’ll be discovered, found and shared

•YouTube

•Twitter

•Facebook

•Blog

•Pinterest

• Instagram

•SoundCloud

•Google Plus

•LinkedIn

•UStream

April May June

F1

F2

F3

F4

90 Day Editorial Calendar Planner2x topics per month from each - 24 posts per quarter

HAVE A MISSION

•We’re out to make __________ better

•We want to help _____ do _______

•We want to help others the opportunity to ________

•We’re connecting _______ with ______ so they can ________

•We make it easier to ____________

•Have your voice be heard about _________

HOW TO PITCH…

•Start story telling

•Write a simple, introductory email… as an inquiry.

HACK YOUR OWN COMMUNICATIONS

•Think of yourself as a reporter & story teller

•Much of this you can initially do yourself

•Leave digital bread crumbs

PLAN....

•Post and write relevant content so you can be a source to media on your field of expertise

•Develop & publish infographics you can share

•Follow a wish list of 20 journalists you think should cover you

•Read and comment on relevant articles without being self promotional.

•Ask end user / beta customers if you can refer to them to media

•Create your own editorial calendar

BEFORE MARCH 15

•Make a wish list of where you belong

•business / tech / bloggers

•media appropriate to your space

•analysts / influencers appropriate to your space

• track competitors or companies in your periphery on news.google.com to see who covers and writes about them

•track competitors on Angel.co

PLAN FOR PR

•If you follow some of these basic principles, you’ll be further ahead.

•This process takes at least six months to one year to really get on a journalist’s radar and be sticky - sometimes you can get lucky

•Get everyone on your team to make this part of their regimen as it will make them aware of the opportunities that await you when you are ready.

•Bring up PR in your team meetings in a “what if...” scenario.

Be Ready For PR So You Can Succeed

THIS HAS TO BE…

•A team effort

•Sustainable. Start now…

•Listen. Listen. Listen. Always be in discovery mode.

•How can you help

$24,000.00 in hosting / cloud / email credits for 12 months

I am sponsored by Rackspace Startup Program

please share:)

ABOVE THE CODE™

alan@weinkrantz.com

alan@weinkrantz.com

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© Alan Weinkrantz And Company 2014 Above The Code ™

(c) Alan Weinkrantz 2015