Using PR

Using the MarketUP Launch announcement as an example, what start-ups/small companies can do to get quick, broad exposure.

It’s not a secret that PR can garner great results. However, it is still a trick to write something that is press-worthy and gets the attention of the right people. PR is also very cost effective, especially compared to advertising, and offers the chance of instant gratification.  I’ve personally written dozens of press releases, and so have my partners. Are they all newsworthy? We strive to make them so.

During the boom years of the dot.coms and the VC’s it seemed enough to write that so-and-so received a round of funding (investors wanted to know that – sometimes so did clients or potential clients); and then announcing new clients was always thought to be good to instill confidence that the business was growing. I didn’t see many press releases about the companies that closed though. That news got out through the grapevine.

Well – we begin optimistically. Announcing we’re open for business and doing great things – please contact us. I use a free wire distribution – though they do accept ”donations” – called PRWEB. They do get good coverage. I’ve used them recently for a client as well. The release date for our own press release was December 15th. That was yesterday. I’m able to track activity via a reporting tool offered by this service. As of 7:30 pm PST, there have been 19,921 ”views” of this release. Astonishing – even to me. Better still, it’s been “picked up” by 172 media outlets, which will hopefully give us broader coverage.

What I surmise from this is that the MarketUp release had enough substance to at least be looked at. (Or at least really good keywords.) Can’t ask for more than that.