Getting frank with Joe Part 1: “No one cares if you are a startup”

Okay, maybe your friends, family and investors do — but that’s about it. The rest of the world couldn’t care less that you are a startup.

They say they care, they think they care, they like the idea of it and the romance of it all, but they don’t really care. Don’t blame them; I’m sure they are nice people, but at the end of the day, their love of supporting a startup goes no deeper than an immediate reaction.

This might come as a bit of a shock because your business is everything to you. To you. Allow me to run you through a few home truths to help you avoid falling on your face when it comes to managing a successful startup.

Your target market doesn’t owe you anything

You can certainly leverage being a startup in your branding and to tap into natural sympathy and support. You can even cultivate pro-startup audiences and have your brand develop and evolve over time.

But be under no illusion that most people won’t hesitate to drop you if they have any issues or face any barriers.

They will gladly move back to their safe corporate, mass market product if you impact their consumer experience in any way. It’s simply the nature of the beast.

Don’t be a loser

Always be positive around friends, contacts, clients… anyone.

Why? When you talk about your business, even your closest friends are making subconscious decisions about you and your company, and when they have the opportunity to refer you to one of their friends or contacts, they know their reputation and credibility is also at stake.

If all they hear from you is complaints about staff or how tough it is, they are going to form a negative image of you and are less likely to make the referral.

But when you are positive and they feel like you are on the up and up, well, everyone loves a winner.

This is not necessarily a conscious decision. And yes, if you are too positive, you run the risk of not sounding genuine. No one believes any entrepreneur who says it is all smooth sailing.

Try something like this:

Friend: “Hey mate, how’s business?”

You: “Really good. Cashflow is a total pain in my arse but we are getting some really strong traction.”

Boom. You get your gripe out, but the positives outweigh it and you still sound like a winner.

Don’t let your bubble become a crutch

I often come across founders or staff from startups who are extremely tapped into the startup scene, constantly patroning drinks, networking events and conferences. In many ways this is great – you will learn something from your peers in this space and you’ll have a good time. They will be a valuable source of tips, advice and a sympathetic ear, but it does not replace your need to get out into the real world.

Unless your company or brand is aimed at the startup community, no one cares if you are friends with a dozen different CEOs of bootstrapped enterprises. By all means keep your toe in the scene, but the law of diminishing returns exists even for your own time. Instead, think about who your target audience is or what you want to achieve, and go where they go.

Don’t be a wuss

Toughen up. It’s supposed to be hard.

Recently, I was blown away when a startup I was meeting with said they couldn’t meet before 11am because that’s when they arrive at the office. Seeing my shocked expression they followed up with, “Oh don’t worry, we work really late. Like until 8, sometimes 9.”

It was clear they had bought into the romanticised version of their own story – staying up late working over Red Bulls and pizza with the occasional break to play Xbox. Meanwhile they are barely doing a normal day’s work because they don’t turn up until lunch.

I’m all for work life balance, but if you are serious about your startup, you are going to have to haul arse.

There is more to having a startup than proudly proclaiming it.

So basically, ignore the fact you are a startup in your day-to-day work life. Your number one priority is to move your business forward, so focus on that. Don’t let the hype or romanticism blind you. Be awesome every single day and get on with being successful.

If you have any questions just get in touch with us at hello@mutant.com.sg.

This blog was first published in Tech in Asia on 19th April 2016

A guide to writing a press kit

Whether you’re preparing to launch a new business venture or you’re already up and running, a public relations strategy to boost the exposure of your brand should sit snugly inside your long-term business plans.

When we work with new clients, before delving into the nitty gritty process of media pitching, we help companies to write and prepare a media kit, or press kit, to help introduce them to members of the media.

Of course, this is something you can do yourself, although we would recommend engaging an agency to assist you in the process. We deal with the media on a daily basis, and know exactly what they need and what they’re looking for!

What is a press kit?

A physical or digital press kit is a thoughtful curation of vital information about your brand and organisation – from a company biography, biographies of key business leaders and photos.

A digital press kit is everyone’s preferred method of information distribution, as this makes it easy to send out to journalists. Its content can also be updated quickly when the need arises. A physical press kit offers more room for creativity, and is generally used when you’re meeting members of the press face-to-face.

When on a budget, forget about the fancy, extravagant physical kits that may cost a little to design. Begin with something simple like a Dropbox or a Google Drive folder.

Put yourself in the shoes of a journalist

With packed schedules, journalists rarely have the luxury of time to sift through a massive amount of information to piece their stories together.

It’s never good news if they have to look beyond your press kit to get basic information, even for details like your store address or your opening hours. This is why the information in your media kit needs to be clear, concise and easy to access.

There are a range of things that can go into your press kit, but make sure you don’t forget the following essentials:

  • Your company biography

Imagine telling someone the story of your business. Share how you started, when you started, what sparked your business idea, and the gaps or problems you address through your solutions or products.

Present all of that information in a succinct paragraph or two of text, and drop them in your press kit. While this information may not always be published as part of a journalist’s content, it offers clear insights to your company’s background and of course, to what you do. It will also help them decide whether you are someone they might want to interview for articles they have coming up.

  • Biographies of key company representatives

You need to introduce your business’s key founder or spokespeople, so the media know who the best people are to interview. Include the profiles of any key players whose profiles you’d like to raise through their biographies – such as the founder, the CEO, or the MD.

Don’t forget to include their photographs, as well as succinct information about their professional histories and one or two more personal details. This will give the media a good all-around idea of who they are.

  • Your brand logo

Include this in various colours, sizes, resolutions and formats, if you can!

This will allow journalists to publish your logo along with their content in the most suitable form, whether it’s in the print or online medium – or if you’re lucky, on both platforms.

  • Any relevant existing company press releases

From a product launch announcement to the introduction of a new member in the organisation – if you’ve got it, include it. The key here, though, is to ensure any press releases are relevant.

They can be a fantastic point of reference for the journalists to work off for their stories, and past releases can also be filed away as the journalists’ own sources. When the potential opportunity for a story relevant to your product or expertise arises, your company stays at the top of the journalists’ minds.

  • Your contact details

Think about who the media should contact, over the phone or email, should they have any queries pertaining to your business or press materials. This person needs to be someone who is knowledgeable about your products, easily contactable, and can also quickly revert to the media in the shortest time frame.

  • Other relevant product photos

If you’re launching a new product or have existing products, consider including some professionally taken product photos. Hire a proper photographer if you can – no journalist will want to publish dimly lit or poorly taken iPhone snaps.

These photos can also be reused for other purposes such as on your website or for social media purposes, so it’s usually worth the investment.

If you would like help launching a PR strategy for your business or startup, get in touch with us at hello@mutant.com.sg 

6 phases of a PR campaign for pre-launch startups

So, you’ve got a great product or service. You’ve tried and tested your amazing idea and you’re sure it’s going to solve a big problem in people’s lives. All you need to do is get the word out there and before you know it, hoards of people will soon be using it and sharing it with their friends.

Right?

Quite often here at Mutant, we see a pattern of pre-launch startups approaching us for PR, social and content activities a month (or even less) before their big launch. While it’s great our services are being sought out, it’s not ideal for startups – or for a PR campaign – to have such a short lead-in time. It’s something that you should be thinking about months in advance to plan your content, generate interest and kick-start press coverage.

Magazines work two months in advance, so if you’re hoping for print interviews and features, you need to be working to their timings.

These days there are more activities than ever for startups to think about. PR, social media, video content, blogs, marketing, SEO, SEM – the list goes on. This can be really overwhelming for a small team with a limited budget. All these activities will help you in different ways, but applying a small combination of them – or placing a large focus on one or two from the list – will help you go a long way.

For the purpose of this post we’ll focus solely on PR, going through the tasks and stages you should be thinking about before engaging an agency for help to execute.

  1. Writing a press release: What’s your angle?

Finding the right angle for your initial press release is the most important starting point. What do you want to highlight to the media and the public the very first time they hear about your business?

Ideally it’s your USP – your Unique Selling Proposition – which could be anything from innovation around great service, famous founders, game-changing food or venue, the solution to an industry-wide problem, the biggest, fastest, strongest product in its field, etc.

There are so many things you probably want to say, but you only have one shot to grab attention with a catchy angle and main headline. Make sure it really stands out.

  1. Press release tips to keep in mind
  • Make sure your news is timely – it has to be about now. Include dates and timings if applicable in your release.
  • Write all the main points in your first two sentences. Some journalists and bloggers might not read beyond this. Include the What, When, Where, Why and How of your story.
  • Make sure your release includes one or two quotes from key people, such as a company founder or an expert in the field. Make it easy for the press to extract a succinct quote that outlines the purpose of your launch.
  • Add in contact details for further enquiries or interview requests.
  • Put in a link to your press kit at the end.
  1. Putting together a press kit

By using something as simple as Dropbox, put together a folder of all the information the press may need to access about you. This can include biographies of key people, your company profile, high resolution photos, videos (if applicable), FAQs and, of course, your press release.

This way, media have all the information they need to write about you, making it much more probable that they will cover you. No one likes to go back and forth while collating an article.

  1. Pitch the right story to the right journalists

This is the most important step of all. There is no point pitching a tech story to a fashion magazine or a lifestyle angle to a business journalist.

Your business is likely to appeal to different sectors and industries. Alongside your PR agency, this can help you segment what aspects of your company will appeal to different journalists. For example, if you’ve created a lifestyle app that reviews restaurants, you would want to pitch your story to F&B magazines and lifestyle sections of daily newspapers.

But let’s take it one step further. If you’re willing to divulge figures, why not approach tech and business publications to announce your Series A funding? If you’ve got an interesting personal story, why not approach women’s and men’s magazines for a profile interview? If you’re not sure about the best way to do this, an agency can help streamline this process to ensure maximum coverage.

  1. Follow up

Distributing a press release is only half the job. Editors receive hundreds of press releases and are likely to have vaguely skimmed through yours or missed it completely. A follow-up call and email (or multiple) is a must.

Make sure it’s as targeted as possible and that you really understand the publication you’re pitching to. Know their specific sections well – for example, if they have a ‘Day in the life of…’ section and you think your daily schedule would slot perfectly into that, then pitch for that specifically. The more specific you are, the more likely you will get an answer from the journalist.

  1. Track

Make sure you’re tracking coverage, setting up Google alerts and keeping an eye on all listings and stories that come out. This sounds very obvious, but you’d be surprised how many people look back and can’t seem to find the article from two years ago that appeared in the local newspaper. Make sure physical print stories are scanned and saved for future reference.

This is just a tiny guide to get you started. The best way to carry out a full campaign is to engage with a PR company who already has established press contacts and experience. But when you’re pre-Series A or even pre-seed funding and are doing everything on your own savings, this can be difficult to budget.

If you’d like more advice on how to get started with PR, content and social, feel free to get in touch with us at hello@mutant.com.sg.