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Good marketing has a long ramp-up time. Ideally you would have started your marketing program several months ago. I think the most effective marketing communi

by crucini 17y ago

Good marketing has a long ramp-up time. Ideally you would have started your marketing program several months ago. I think the most effective marketing communications is PR. You can find a solo PR agent to handle your account for about $1k/month. This is the low end of the PR profession, and you don't get world-class creativity. However, if done right it will earn you a trickle of mentions on tech websites. PR is like boiling water. You have to apply heat for a long time. See PG's essay on The Submarine. No matter which marcom route you emphasize, you will be much stronger if you can clarify your market. Saying "anyone who could benefit from $product" is blurry.

jmathai 17y ago
Thanks for the feedback. So far we have identified and began reaching musicians and reporters. Really targetting them though is something we could use help with. I think part of my posting is that anxiousness of seeing slow/steady growth and the fear that it will die down on it's own. I want to see it ramp up a little :).
aaroneous 17y ago
I'd strongly suggest not spending your money on a PR firm in the bootstrap stage. Better options are handling it yourself (great for establishing relationships with writers, bloggers, etc), or find an ambitious college student who's studying PR/Communications and wants to get into the field. In my experience, bringing on a PR intern was exponentially better than hiring a firm. The interns are thrilled to have the opportunity to work on a real project, and they'll spend hours digging, searching, reaching out and just trying different things. Your PR firm is going to do the bare minimum to keep you on as a client for the next month. Of course, if you have tens of thousands/mo to retain a top-tier PR firm, things will obviously change, but a 5-10k is not going to cover that.

by crucini 17y ago

jmathai 17y ago

Thanks for the feedback. So far we have identified and began reaching musicians and reporters. Really targetting them though is something we could use help with. I think part of my posting is that anxiousness of seeing slow/steady growth and the fear that it will die down on it's own. I want to see it ramp up a little :).

aaroneous 17y ago

I'd strongly suggest not spending your money on a PR firm in the bootstrap stage. Better options are handling it yourself (great for establishing relationships with writers, bloggers, etc), or find an ambitious college student who's studying PR/Communications and wants to get into the field. In my experience, bringing on a PR intern was exponentially better than hiring a firm. The interns are thrilled to have the opportunity to work on a real project, and they'll spend hours digging, searching, reaching out and just trying different things. Your PR firm is going to do the bare minimum to keep you on as a client for the next month. Of course, if you have tens of thousands/mo to retain a top-tier PR firm, things will obviously change, but a 5-10k is not going to cover that.