Media Coverage Options for a Startup With No News Pegs and Zero Budget

Every time I share the latest PR insights, I end up hearing the same feedback over and over again: “Well, now it’s clear. All you need is money.” I don’t know how those keen minds came to such a twisted conclusion, but to me, it’s obvious that there’s always an option to start small.

In this post, I’ll share some takeaways for how to gain media coverage and leverage your PR endeavors with no news peg and zero budget.

Option 1: Media Coverage Through Op-Ed, Guest Posting, or Columns

Media are very fond of experts who tackle industry issues through the lens of their experience and provide editors with fresh and insightful material that would catch a reader’s eye and drive traffic to their website. So, gaining media coverage through op-eds and guest posts is the easiest way to start. Why? Because through the personal expertise of your C-level representative, you will manage to tackle industry issues that somehow relate to your product. How? Here’s a step-by-step guide:

Step 1: Decide on a spokesperson and map the topics for them.

In one circle, the list of the topics that would resonate with the industry that you are working in. In the second circle, note down the vectors in which your speaker has expertise. Then check where those circles overlap, and choose 3-4 major areas to cover. Those ideas should both demonstrate your speaker’s valuable experience and tackle the industry issues for which you already have a solution at hand. Generate a bunch of topics, headlines, and detailed outlines for each.

Step 2: Create your media list with relevant contacts.

Check which media are covering this or that topic, make a list of such media, find opinions editor’s email, and send them a proposal for approval(consisting of the headline and a detailed outline). Some media like Daily Hodl or HackerNoon have a submission form, but in this case, you have to submit the whole article for review, not just the outline. I would also recommend doing small research to see whether this particular angle hasn’t been covered yet.

Step 3: Wait for a response. Great things take time.

Don’t share the same content with all the outlets simultaneously. You may end up gaining coverage across multiple outlets and thereby ruin your relations with journalists. Instead, wait for approval from the editorial team (they indicate in the requirements how much time they usually need to review your submission). If there’s no answer within a specified timeframe, then share your idea with others.

Pros of leveraging your media relations through guest posts and op-eds:

• Your brand name and maybe the link to the website will appear in the author’s bio.

• You will be able to insert some information about your product. If it’s relevant and doesn’t look like a promotion, you can use your product and company’s data to back your stance.

• You establish thought leadership and build a strong personal brand for your speaker. If you are a no-name startup with a no-name CEO, building a personal brand is crucial to make people trust you and in you. No wonder smaller companies are ready to pay a fortune to hunt C-level executives with sound names and spotless reputations.

  
  

  Because by accepting a job offer, this person confirms their trust in the company, making it more credible in the eyes of the industry by default.

Option 2: Media Coverage Through Commentaries

Nobody accepts commentaries from people with no prior trace left in the media. So, you better start with the opinion part and gradually add commenting atop this. Crypto is a very wavering environment with a lot of stuff going on. Keep track of everything happening in the industry. Start your morning by checking Feedly and Google News to never miss a beat.

There are several ways how you can ensure media coverage through expert commentaries:

As soon as you have secured 5-6 pieces of coverage for your speaker, you can create a press portrait, indicating the speaker’s expertise, topics of interest, background information, and the links to op-eds you’ve already published in media. Once something happens in the industry that is relevant to your company and/or speaker, write a comment and pitch it to a journalist whose beat you know for sure will most likely imply working on this particular story.

You can also check #journorequest on Twitter, Quoted, or HARO, as well as check the journalists’ personal Twitter account for similar shoutouts.

If you have a ready-to-use press list and a well-established connection with journalists, you can send them a press portrait and introduce your speaker without waiting for the right time. In this case, a journalist may occasionally contact you once they need expert commentary.

Option 3: Media Coverage Through Newswire

I used to be quite skeptical about the Newswire until one day I shot it and checked the results: 406 pieces of coverage secured across top-tier media outlets, including Business Insider, Seeking Alpha, Benzinga, and others. I made it SEO-wise and inserted the links to the website along with a bunch of anchors and keywords that reinforced our SEO endeavours. Moreover, the journalist who spotted our press release reached out for additional information and wrote his own story based on what we had shared with him.

Press release services like PR newswire or crypto-specific Chainwire offer a great deal of features to align your PR efforts with SEO requirements, thereby killing two birds with one shot. Don’t expect a newswire service to bring you a great deal of awareness right away, but rather think out of the box, and see how else can you benefit from distribution and what exactly can you share that would pay off in a long run.

A small tip to keep in mind: Don’t rush to the newswire as soon as you have a news peg. Try to pitch it to journalists first; either as an exclusive or under embargo, and only then upload your press release into the newswire system to ensure maximum coverage.

Final Words

Each option I’ve mentioned above leaves a trace in the media, ensuring greater visibility for your company and products. Forbes isn’t going to cover your news unless you do have the news that is worth being covered on Forbes, and no PR wizard can fix it. Strive for the best you can, but don’t underestimate small achievements and the power of smaller steps that you are making on the way to your goal.