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I didn't really spend a huge amount of time doing it to be honest. A little research, a few emails and Skype call, half a day tops. We've actually been talked

I didn't really spend a huge amount of time doing it to be honest. A little research, a few emails and Skype call, half a day tops. We've actually been talked about in a number of trade blogs/magazines/sites and conferences. We saw some really good results from those as well, and yes, obviously a higher percentage of converting customers came through those sources. I'm not in any bubble. I'm working really hard. We've got some really healthy revenue and within a month or so based on our current growth, we'll break even. Not bad for only launching a couple of months ago. I appreciate your comments none-the-less :)

avree 14y ago
>We've got some really healthy revenue and within a month or so based on our current growth, we'll break even. Not bad for only launching a couple of months ago. A blog post describing this would be more interesting to me than how you e-mailed a TechCrunch author and he wrote an article about you. I don't mean for this to come across as snarky or belittle your post—it's just that you basically e-mailed a short pitch to a TechCrunch article and got an article out of it. That's not really revolutionary; lots of 'unsexy' (see: Enterprise) startups get covered on TC. EDIT: Or, comparing the effects of your TC coverage against more targeted 'focused coverage'—since I think a lot of startups fall into the "we need to be techcrunch'd" trap and don't realize how effective other less buzz-worthy but more targeted media can be.
- jamesdeer 14y ago
  Sure, I'd be happy to write something about that, and I love the idea of comparing the TC "results" with the other, more targeted places that wrote about us. You are right, all I did was pitch them in a certain way. I wouldn't call us an Enterprise focused start-up yet and I wasn't trying to come across as revolutionary— just sharing an experience of how I managed to achieve something :)
  - mvkel 14y ago
    I'd appreciate that as well. It can be a challenge to establish relationships with these trade pubs and develop beneficial content. Interested to hear your take on it.
- Snapps 14y ago
  Agreed. A blog post regarding the story referenced by avree would be great. Nevertheless, this story is refreshingly interesting and appreciated. It's nice to hear this type of story after reading an article via TC about how some PR firm was claiming they can "Get your startup covered" by a site "like" TC for something like $750. Such behavior, I imagine, would ultimately dilute everything I like about TC and other similar sites. Thanks again for sharing your "real" experience.
jakejake 14y ago
My company has a few competitors and every now and then a new one will show up blazing through all the tech blogs. If I'm being 100% honest I feel a little jealous because I'd like our team to get a little love from our peers in the tech community. But I reevaluate when they shut their doors 6 months later because they spent all of their PR money on coverage outside our industry. This has happened to us three times in about 4 years. I've spent some time getting write ups and case studies on tech sites. I think it's ok to give yourself a little attention in that way as long as you keep in mind that it isn't really reaching customers. It can be good for developer morale though.
- twelve45 14y ago
  Great comment. We're in the enterprise space and we also see many competitors do the tech blog rounds and then fall off the face of the earth after a few months. To add to your morale point, I look at tech blog coverage as great for recruiting engineers, as that's where engineers tend to hang out to find the next "hot" company (vs. websites specific to your vertical, where your customers hang out).
- jamesdeer 14y ago
  Yeah, we knew we wouldn't really be reaching many potential customers. I did get a few interesting emails from potential investors, and people who work at other tech companies who saw integration potential. I'd never spend a penny on outsourcing PR. Ever. It was a great little boost for the team. Everyone felt really proud. Why? I don't know. It just felt good to have a wee bit of recognition after all the hard work everyone put in to launching the product.
  - jakejake 14y ago
    That's excellent - Congrats on your project too. I hope the publicity leads to a deal or something. I'm sure any of us would feel pleased to get a writeup. It sounds like you guys have your priorities right.
  - mvkel 14y ago
    The "emails from investors" are likely associates just trawling for new leads they can pass to the partners. Unless you're actively looking to raise, they can safely be ignored.
codyguy 14y ago
Would you care to share where all you got covered and which ones actually drove revenue?

avree 14y ago

>We've got some really healthy revenue and within a month or so based on our current growth, we'll break even. Not bad for only launching a couple of months ago. A blog post describing this would be more interesting to me than how you e-mailed a TechCrunch author and he wrote an article about you. I don't mean for this to come across as snarky or belittle your post—it's just that you basically e-mailed a short pitch to a TechCrunch article and got an article out of it. That's not really revolutionary; lots of 'unsexy' (see: Enterprise) startups get covered on TC. EDIT: Or, comparing the effects of your TC coverage against more targeted 'focused coverage'—since I think a lot of startups fall into the "we need to be techcrunch'd" trap and don't realize how effective other less buzz-worthy but more targeted media can be.

jamesdeer 14y ago
Sure, I'd be happy to write something about that, and I love the idea of comparing the TC "results" with the other, more targeted places that wrote about us. You are right, all I did was pitch them in a certain way. I wouldn't call us an Enterprise focused start-up yet and I wasn't trying to come across as revolutionary— just sharing an experience of how I managed to achieve something :)
- mvkel 14y ago
  I'd appreciate that as well. It can be a challenge to establish relationships with these trade pubs and develop beneficial content. Interested to hear your take on it.
Snapps 14y ago
Agreed. A blog post regarding the story referenced by avree would be great. Nevertheless, this story is refreshingly interesting and appreciated. It's nice to hear this type of story after reading an article via TC about how some PR firm was claiming they can "Get your startup covered" by a site "like" TC for something like $750. Such behavior, I imagine, would ultimately dilute everything I like about TC and other similar sites. Thanks again for sharing your "real" experience.

jakejake 14y ago

My company has a few competitors and every now and then a new one will show up blazing through all the tech blogs. If I'm being 100% honest I feel a little jealous because I'd like our team to get a little love from our peers in the tech community. But I reevaluate when they shut their doors 6 months later because they spent all of their PR money on coverage outside our industry. This has happened to us three times in about 4 years. I've spent some time getting write ups and case studies on tech sites. I think it's ok to give yourself a little attention in that way as long as you keep in mind that it isn't really reaching customers. It can be good for developer morale though.

twelve45 14y ago
Great comment. We're in the enterprise space and we also see many competitors do the tech blog rounds and then fall off the face of the earth after a few months. To add to your morale point, I look at tech blog coverage as great for recruiting engineers, as that's where engineers tend to hang out to find the next "hot" company (vs. websites specific to your vertical, where your customers hang out).
jamesdeer 14y ago
Yeah, we knew we wouldn't really be reaching many potential customers. I did get a few interesting emails from potential investors, and people who work at other tech companies who saw integration potential. I'd never spend a penny on outsourcing PR. Ever. It was a great little boost for the team. Everyone felt really proud. Why? I don't know. It just felt good to have a wee bit of recognition after all the hard work everyone put in to launching the product.
- jakejake 14y ago
  That's excellent - Congrats on your project too. I hope the publicity leads to a deal or something. I'm sure any of us would feel pleased to get a writeup. It sounds like you guys have your priorities right.
- mvkel 14y ago
  The "emails from investors" are likely associates just trawling for new leads they can pass to the partners. Unless you're actively looking to raise, they can safely be ignored.

codyguy 14y ago

Would you care to share where all you got covered and which ones actually drove revenue?