50 PR Things I've learned after building 10+ startups

PR is scary.

I think a lot of startups underestimate it nowadays, and I did, too, for a very long time.

But 2023 has just completely transformed my view on focusing on PR and dedicating time and energy to it.

In 2023, Ratepunk got a live TV mention and 486 mentions in various publications like The Washington Post, CNN, Forbes, CNBC, The Daily Mail, and many more.

That's more than one mention/day!

So here are the tips and lessons I've accumulated over almost a decade of building startups and trying my hand at PR.

1. Always mention the name of the recipient at the beginning of the email.
2. If this is not your first time contacting the journalist, don't introduce yourself again. Instead, mention how you were in contact previously - "Hi, again, NAME" and "I am coming to you once again with…"
3. Five words in the subject line MAX
4. Five paragraphs in the email MAX
5. Five short sentences/paragraph MAX
6. Always check for grammar mistakes - they make you look untrustworthy and unprofessional or 
   just…
7. Use Grammarly to save tons of time with copywriting (the premium is worth it 100x)
8. Brainstorm potential ideas with the help of AI. You will run out of ideas eventually, so just gather some inspiration and keep going.
9. Never sell to journalists; you have to provide them with a valuable quote or idea for your story to run.
10. Organize your contacts in a database.
11. Note down when you reach out to a certain journalist - the date, the subject, the publication he is from. This will help you in the long run because you won't have to go and do your research about the journalist again.
12. Don't run automated emailing campaigns (unless it's a newsletter or something) - it's a thing of the past. 
    Instead…
13. When trying to catch the attention of journalists for the first time, always write personalized emails. Present yourself as credible and researched as possible.
    You want to make it obvious that you did your homework.
14. As part of your daily routine, look up at least five different publications relevant to your niche (Ratepunk's is travel, so I look up BBC Travel, Skift, CNN Travel News, Travel + Leisure, and The Guardian Travel).
    Your sought-after publications will probably be different, of course.
15. Hunt for articles in those publications where you can give your input and provide an interesting angle that is going to get you and your company featured.
16. If a journalist you want to make contact with has an active LinkedIn, try reaching out to him via LinkedIn rather than email.
17. Create a press page for your business! Makes life easier for everyone and can result in journalists actually hunting you down instead of the opposite.
18. If you ARE going to send campaigns, use Woodpecker. Personal preference for a personal article :).
19. There are never enough press contacts. Ratepunk has over 2000, all manually collected from the web. 
    That number is growing to this day.
20. PR success isn't going to be fast; 
    sometimes, you just have to get extremely lucky.
21. Make a real connection with the journalists; be quirky and funny, but stay professional.
22. Do your research about the journalist. Who is this person you're writing to? Why do they write? What do they like to write about? See if they have any previous collaborations like yours and see what made them work.
23. If you have a team - work with them! They may have insights that you might've missed.
24. Create a LinkedIn presence - helps build credibility and may result in some unexpected networking.
25. Don't waste the journalist's time. Just get to the point, but find a way to intrigue them.
26. Use ChatGPT to quickly research information about a certain topic, but always and always rewrite.
27. Don't be afraid to get told "no." Not every quote or pitch you send out is gonna get published. Be super ready for that.
28. Always follow up - one follow-up email is enough, and two is ideal.
29. Easily filter and find press contacts with Contactout.com - they have a great free trial.
30. If you see an interesting article that is your niche, try to suggest the journalist write something similar just about a different subject that suits your business - find a way to help them write a new article
31. Track your business data - it will definitely help you come up with valuable insights for the press later.Ratepunk has successfully leveraged its booking data (we see who has the cheapest overall hotel prices on the internet) to get a live TV mention.
32. Share your wins on LinkedIn.
33. Share your losses and fails on LinkedIn (these do even better than the wins more often than not)
34. Be active on LinkedIn in general; comment, like, and engage with your audience. It will not only result in extra reach but also in relationships.
35. When pitching to journalists, if you can, create high-quality content for them (graphs and so on) before being asked to do so.
36. When suggesting ideas for potential articles, provide your ideas in bullet points.
37. Use mailtracker to track when your emails get opened, seen, and so on. This information is invaluable to a PR professional.
38. web.mention.com and Google alerts for tracking where you get mentioned.
39. Do not get discouraged when you don't get any replies; you have to realize that these journalists get hundreds of emails a day, so it's important to really stand out.
40. A good subject line goes a great way; be ingenious about it. Being bold sometimes works best. Some dirty tricks include adding "RE:" before the text.
    Another interesting method is starting your subject line with a lowercase letter
41. Establish clear goals and chase them. "I want to get featured on live TV" or "I want to get mentioned in 30 publications this month." This will help you allocate your time and strategize on your priorities.
42. Participate in events and push your PR there, in real life.
43. Writing about something you're passionate about is always better than just pushing out something you don't care about. Try to find that passionate angle every time - it will help you and will make for a better pitch.
44. Don't burn bridges; always be pleasant and understanding. Nobody is perfect, and sometimes, people just forget to reply.
45. Do not be afraid of video calls or live interactions - these help explain your points pitches very thoroughly and easily.
    It saves time, and journalists can put a face to the name.
46. Find websites that let you publish your press releases for free, and keep them on a list.
47. Don't pitch the same subject to two journalists on the same news publication. At the same time.
48. Give a heads-up when following up on an email if you intend to pitch the same pitch to a journalist on the same publication as the first one.
49. Follow the rules the journalists have written; if they say, "Don't pitch to me on Twitter", then don't pitch on Twitter!

50. Be persistent and don't give up. PR may not work for a week, month, or half a year, but if you keep trying, you will get there eventually.

🚀 You can also follow me on Linkedin for more amazing startup, and travel industry insights!

I'm also giving away my email contact list, which has nearly 2000 emails, on my LinkedIn! A great starter database.