Can you provide ideas on how I can get visibility for my startup? How do people get their startups in big branded publications?
https://github.com/mmccaff/PlacesToPostYourStartup
Thanks apison. Will try some of these. If nothing else hopefully it will provide backlinks to the site to boost SEO.
Press releases are dead.
There are plenty of press release schemes asking for $$$ to get featured in top publications but it's typically a money racket. You pay these companies to distribute your press release and it's sent to a bunch of low tier sites and the articles (while they get published) generate little to no love.
Here's what you should do instead:
I'm not sure how press releases are dead if this is basically first thing reporters ask if they reach out.
Blog posts are just as good. If a reporter is asking for a press release it's because there's not enough info on your site.
These are all great ideas. I replied to HARO but did not build long term relationships - I guess that is where I failed.
What market are you in?
online marketplace for gifting of services and experiences from local merchants.
Your market is going to be very fragmented. Is there a publication that a large volume of local merchants read?
Perhaps targeting local newspapers in key areas would be a better strategy?
Another important question is: do local merchants have an established community and talk to each other? Perhaps you could infiltrate that and use some built in virality in your product to get merchants to share your product among their peers.
Or, start providing value for local merchants: organise a branded event in your city and invite them for free.
This is not a simple process.
Adding your url to the sites listed in “PlacesToPostYourStartup” is unlikely to do you any good, nor is writing a "press releases" these days.
Why do people do it then? It's easy, it's simple. They “(at least) are doing anything”, ”doing anything is better than doing nothing”, etc. They forget they also could have spent that time on something that has impact.
What will have impact? Why do you want to be featured in a publication? To make sales? To raise vc money? To find potential customers/leads? To give an answer to your question, that question needs to be answered first.
I want sales/conversion. I believe traffic and conversion will automatically lead to money.
1000%. It shocks me how many people want to get their non-tech product featured on TechCrunch.
Or even worse, how many startups pay $$$$ to exhibit at startup events, full of other startups rather than exhibiting at industry specific events where they are much more likely to get customers.
Written a press release would probably be a great start if your looking for marketing through publications. It will not guarantee that you'll get it, you need to have a very interesting story for that to happen, but it increases your chances though
Need to work on a story.