What is the media? How to find the media? How does it work?

Maybe everyone is tired of "how to start a business" story, so just want to talk about some of the new problems people are always bothering, what is the media? How to find the media? How does it work? I hope to bring some inspiration to all of you here.

When most people start a business, they think about media exposure (it seems that the media have an elusive magical ability). Sometimes, also take the initiative to contact those who dig the bright spots of journalists, they advertised themselves as the elite, but these are the surface.

Before you look for the media, you need to know your purpose.

Before contacting the media, there is one thing you must consider clearly, namely what kind of media you want to use and the real purpose of the individual. And I started out thinking about being reported (appearing in news reports), because that's the privilege that an important business can have. It turns out that without a goal, a career can only degenerate into a joke (which is almost the golden rule of business). Similarly, if the media is treated blindly, the company's development will not be any better. Of course, if you don't have a clear business goal, then obviously time will not be fully utilized.

Therefore, to do public relations with a certain purpose. Socialcam is a derivative of justin.tv (Video Life website) and is an application similar to video version Instagram. So when we are going to sponsor the Silicon Valley investors, we subconsciously look for tech-media to expose us to the popular social application.

For us, the most important goal is to attract customers. exec is an application for local cleaning services, and our goal is to get people in San Francisco to understand and use it. In this case, it would be unwise to choose a nationwide media because 99% of the people would not use it. So we contacted local media, such as the San Francisco Chronicle, to help us find potential customers efficiently (the cost is greatly reduced). As for the Twitch TV you know, it's kind of like ESPN, exactly a game online video viewing platform. At that time, our goal was to be directed to the gaming industry. Who would have guessed that the popular platform (with 55 million loyal users), now in the gaming industry, was out of the early stages of development. Although we are only a small game group, the goal is not small, dedicated to the game industry to cover all the people, whether developers or advertisers, can have a place, so we targeted some game development blog and Industry dynamic site ads. In fact, it does not disappoint.

What kind of "story" does the media like?

Before you find the right media, you have to prepare the company's "story". What is a "flesh and blood" story? I think there are many kinds of stories, but the following are often mentioned. (Releasing the product is also an opportunity for you to release the new version of the application.) )

The first thing worth mentioning is financing. For whatever reason, the media like to report on financing, even if it's not interesting. So if you have a 1 million dollar start, you can report more about it.

Second, landmark progress is also judged by the weekly turnover of $1 million trillion. A company that acquired exec announced to the public that their weekly turnover amounted to $1 million trillion and was widely reported. Business stories, especially in successful companies, are ready to be reported by The New York Times, The New Yorker or Caijing. So in the beginning, you don't have to worry about that.

For example, I don't know if you still have the impression that a few years ago, a YC incubator company WePay the dollar to the front of the PayPal headquarters because PayPal froze a lot of developers ' accounts. It's been widely reported because it's so interesting, in fact, the whole story has nothing to do with PayPal.

In addition, there are recruitment announcements. If you have a big company and have recently hired a heavyweight figure, the characters will be willing to report.

Finally, constructive articles about industry profiles or personal views, or tech blogs, will be favored by the media as they can attract readers ' attention.

Basically, all of this can be a story. When you want to set up a start-up or start a startup, you think everything you do is interesting, but others may not think so. What you should really consider is, if I am not the founder of this company, will I read this story? So before spending time selling stories, you need to step back and think, "Do people really want to read?" Always keep in mind that what journalists and bloggers really want to dig up is the stories that attract the attention of readers.

The other thing you should be aware of is that your story doesn't have to be original. You're not going to say you're the second person on the Kickstarter to 5 million dollars, because the first one steals all the attention. The first game consoles to Kickstarter to $10 million trillion have been a concern because they are the forerunners of the industry (even before someone Kickstarter a lot of money). In short, you need to find a unique perspective to illustrate the whole story and make it more readable.

Step: How to find the media to tell you stories?

In fact, not only is there a skill in writing a business story (it can be said to be tactical), if you want to get media coverage, you can follow these small steps. First, think of the media as a sales funnel. You talk to very multimedia people, but not everyone is looking out for you, so don't be discouraged if a journalist doesn't report your story. In fact, the first thing you have to consider is to come up with a story and then contact one or more journalists who want to report your story. If there is a middleman, the process will be simpler, like talking business. Of course, it is best to communicate face-to-face, try not to send e-mail contact.

The best way to do this is to find a friend or an entrepreneur who has been exposed to TechCrunch, and ask them to introduce you to a journalist who interviewed them. That's a good idea, because the easiest thing to do from an entrepreneur's point of view is to introduce you to a journalist who has interviewed them. In this way, they do not need to understand the reporter, but also with people convenient (if this story is really interesting). It's not the same as the referrals you're looking for or the staff you hire. And from the point of view of the reporter, they through those who have the interesting story of the interviewer referral, there is artificial introduction, the excavation will be higher.

If you're looking for an email from a referral person, then if you want to get in touch with a journalist to allow enough time for them to write a story, notify them a week or more ahead of time, because it's impossible for them to put aside all the recent things for your story. A lot of people, especially first-time entrepreneurs, will say, "Justin, I'm going to release this product tomorrow." Can you give me a TechCrunch on the floor? This requirement is unlikely to be realized unless you have a background. So it's best to leave a lead time and get a "letter of introduction" in advance.

So, once you've set a news release date, the product will be hot and ready to go public within two weeks. Of course, this is something. You have an artificial introduction, arrange the meeting, hope that the reporter can spend more time on you because the cost effect will work. In general, the more time they spend on you, the more they value you, and the more likely they are to report your story. The best way is to have a face-to-face meeting. However, some bloggers may not like this way, that's okay, calling is also a good idea. e-mail communication is the most pessimistic, because it is easy to forget or ignore.

The next step is to control the direction of communication. All you have to do is write the whole story in the form of essentials and remember the content. When you communicate with the other person, don't let him lead the way. In accordance with the outline of their previous prepared, dialogue, there is no important thing to say, slowly speaking, by the reporter noted the main points. Then they write stories based on these points. So basically, what you write will translate into an intriguing story. In addition, you need to control the scene and not forget some key issues, such as the name of the co-founder or the great features of the product application.

If this is done over the phone, I'll make sure that the outline list is in front of you, and that I'm going to talk strictly according to the outline. That is, you talk about content, they memorize points, and then they complete the whole story frame. The next thing you need to do is follow up on a few days before the report is released. You can send them an email to confirm the details, "This time we released the application; Thank you for coming to the meeting; Here are some additional materials that may have the video, photos or screenshots you need, the co-founder and the spelling of my name. I'll provide all the information I care about. Once the product is formally in the application market, they will publish the article in TechCrunch in time, so that you will become famous.

The media PR of a start-up company is best not to outsource to a third party

Some people consult me and find a PR firm to do these things. I shook my head. Personally, you have to be hands-on and self-reliant in the early days of your start-up, and it's easy to communicate with tech media and bloggers who want to dig up new stories. Here, I strongly recommend that you try it yourself and be familiar with the operation process without anyone else intervening. In fact, I'd like to point out that PR companies can only help you by dredging and contacting the media, and there's nothing I can do to help you understand the company's "story", at least I've never met [a story that someone told my company is not known]. They just give me a list of all the relevant media contacts. So still rely on yourself, through the core product understanding, write to tell the audience the company story, thus impress the reader.

Moreover, PR firms are asking for a lot of money, with one months to 5000 to 20,000 dollars. This money for many companies, especially start-up companies, the amount is too large, and early value is not high, the use of funds is also low. And PR is a huge business project, so make sure it pays. Sometimes。 It's like a vanity indicator: it makes you feel "successful" because many successful companies like Facebook are always reported, but that doesn't mean you're successful, nor does it mean you'll make a lot of money, win the favor of your users or bring pleasure to your customers.

Extremes: Frequent exposure can be annoying.

Sometimes a PR campaign is a good strategy to help you win 100, 200, or 1000 customers, but it's not a fundamental strategy to attract customers, but you can't always expose them. In the end, people get bored with reporting about your company, and in fact, it happens very quickly, right? And the key to news is its novelty, which is hard to do unless you are a big company like Google, which is exposed every week. If you think it's worth it, and you want to have a certain amount of exposure, consider doing it according to the next 7 story types. When I was doing PR and marketing, I like to schedule the release of the product on the schedule, and they are periodically released, so that people will not forget us, and we can maximize the visibility.

And a few media friends: The story does not mean the end of the relationship

Of course, you have to meet with the relevant people often, contact the feelings, this is the so-called relationship business. After an interview, you should continue to keep in good contact with the media because they may be writing for you in the future. You are likely to give a second helping hand to others. Therefore, I will try to establish a good relationship with several journalists in order to deal with the embarrassing situation of breaking news. In addition, once the negative report, familiar with the media friends can provide you with the name of the sound channel, as soon as possible to resolve the public relations crisis.

The last golden rule, or rather an "inheritance", is to help your entrepreneurial partner gain visibility because they will also help you increase your exposure. Indeed, the best way to get exposure is through these artificial introductions. When I meet with reporters, I always talk to them about other things that I think are interesting stories, and the other person usually discloses some information. In fact, journalists also like this because you help them dig out interesting stories, and at the same time, those who are helped by entrepreneurs will give you the same reward.

If you want to know more about PR activities, I'd like to introduce two personal resources. First of all, TechCrunch editor Jeson Kinkaid in detail on a number of related issues (some, I have talked to you.) Another controversial resource is the book, "Trust Me," written by Anglo Apparel's original marketing staff, detailing his "superb" use of the media. I think it reproduces the mentality of how business stories are spread online. It is worth reading.