Free PR: How to Get Chased by the Press Without Hiring a PR Firm

When I started my software company with almost no cash, I decided that PR would have to work because it was all I really had. Well, it did work and it propelled us to 8 figures. When I saw the announcement of this book, I was thinking that it would be good to see how much of what I did would be in this book. Well, I was blown away by the depth and detail about exactly what you can do to generate wave after wave of positive press from multiple channels simultaneously.Here's a short summary of what I discovered that may be of value to others:Remember, you are creating a product for journalists - your pitch and your story is your sales process.- what personality characteristics make a great company founder?- How can you mold that into a story that journalists can use to craft a great story?Editors need stories all the time but you gotta know what they write about.They also need seasonal pieces or topical pieces ready to go when space becomes available.Your PR person needs sales training more than PR training, they need to be comfortable cold calling and must be tech savvy if your product or service is technical.You want to start the process of helping a journalist to fall in love with your brand, by “dating” first.Since journalists prefer to hear from founders and CEOs vs PR people, give them the chance to talk directly to them.Owning vs renting your media contacts: This means: don’t hire a PR agency to “rent” PR contacts, hire your own PR person and have them read this book, train them so they develop contacts that YOU own instead of having your agency own those relationships.Conduct basic research into media outlets: blogs and podcasts that are targets for your story“How entrepreneurs slay the dragon” is what the business and startup pubs want to knowThe story angle: must be spin with the audience in mind changed as you approach different media outlets - but you must know what that audience cares about:1. So what 2. Who cares 3. why you?Put limits on the scope of your pitch so it defines the shape of your story.What is your unique value proposition?Four Story Categories1. Announcements2. Evergreen - can run anytime3. Seasonal4. Stunts and events - create your own or hitch your wagon to one thats going viralFive Story Angles:1 Overcoming adversity2 Your Differentiated Culture - tie back to your product/service3 Leveraging Technology4 The Future - your vivid vision and BHAGWRITING YOUR STORY ANGLE - not the actual story but rather packaging it so the journalist can put their stamp in it and shape it into the final angle/product - you provide the bullet points, highlights, key issues: the bones of the story - REMEMBER the journalist is doing the actual writing!Understand the current climate - what topics are trending now.From the company perspective:- where is the company going?- how will you accomplish your goals?- what should you focus your attention on?Now start crafting story angles. Next, create your media targets for each angle.Identify clients who would be available for interviews and as a referral source when pitching to mediaAlign your social media, marketing, and PR strategies - this means more impressions to the same audienceUse surveys to ask customers what media they consume. Whom are those answering the quiz? Titles? Function? What do they care about?Name your competitors in your pitch “Unlike Microsoft, we offer the first year free” which piggybacks on your competitors' hard work getting their name out there and provides an angle reports can use.Use SimilarWeb.com to discover how much traffic a site gets as well as visitor demographics.Target spokesman over publications.Building Your Media List;Use reviews and target review websites to start building your list.Use a CRM for your media list and track connects, this is vital and worth the price of the book 100X over.Start your media list by searching first for your competitors and see who wrote about them, then target that same group of writersUse LinkedIn for searches. Building your Pitch. Start with the Press ReleasePress releases are the first step to the creative process: figure out what is important and relevantSteps for writing a press release;Define the problem consumers have,n ow follow with the solution, your solution.Now follow with data about the market size, growth rate, dollars spent, other compelling facts.Next, a quote from the CEO or founder or maybe another from a customer.Finally, a call to action, follow all that with a summary.And much more.This book is possibly the best blueprint to generating positive PR for your products and services ever created in such a concise way. I highly recommend getting and studying this book so you can make stuff happen without spending money on ads.

As a professional marketing mentor to the CEOs of rapidly rising ventures, I read this book after one of my clients mentioned it. I will say that there is indeed a lot of good information in the book for someone who has never really been exposed to the world of media relations. However, I think reality deviates quite significantly from the promise the authors make "that anyone can do this." Yes, if the CEO has nothing else to do, then they could see some results eventually. Yes, if the CEO can dedicate an employee to this task, they might also see some results eventually. However, I disagree that the D.I.Y. route is a better choice than utilizing a professional publicist or PR firm. The professionals who focus on a specific type of business or industry have built longstanding relationships with the right media people -- who will accept their pitch emails and calls. Reporters know which professionals are worthy of their time and attention. Most other hopefuls get relegated to trash bin even if they are highly creative and tenacious. Bottom line, if you are a smaller company that is focused on a relatively local market, then the ideas in this book will help you a lot. If you want to play the game at the regional or national level, you're better off hiring a pro if you'd like to see results quickly.

The authors offer excellent advice I concur with as a seasoned PR pro myself. However, the bashing in the book of PR practitioners and agencies was a bit much, and in my opinion was unnecessary. Not all PR people are created equal. Not what I would have expected from these professionals. The reality is, for a small business, start-up, or similar, an agency may not be ideal. What is important to note is that both of these gentlemen are quite successful at PR and give good advice for someone starting out. It is worth mentioning that learning from a seasoned pro is really important, on a coaching basis. It flattens that curve some, and there is a lot to learn. It can be a devastating process, but worth every minute once you start to land. These authors offer great advice for the extremely tenacious and well-spoken, well written professional out there, that is ready to dedicate several hours a week and creating themselves and their brand into being the go-to in the industry they serve - and to grow! Great advice. Even though they bash my beloved industry I have served in for pushing 28 years.... they get a great review from me. As a business owner, I know the ins and outs of great publicity efforts and what it takes so bravo for giving people good advice to grow with. If I were starting out I would want to add this book to my library, and learn from the advice - but disregard the negative about the PR industry. We are not all created equal there. ;)

When you hear the title "FREE PR," well I'm looking for free PR LOL. The book does detail how to gain free press by finding your own contacts and building a name for yourself. But it's truly not new information if you've been studying media for a massive amount of time.I am NOT AN EXPERT, and I do think this is great advice for a beginner or someone who is considering paying someone to do the work/thinking for them. I feel like this is on a very minimal level. It's not horrible information, the guy makes great points, but it didn't add to the information I already had. But please keep in mind that I've taken many courses and been in this industry for 10+ years, so I know a little more than the average person. I would recommend for someone who is just starting out or is thinking about hiring a PR Firm as this book could help you make a better decision on whom to hire as well.Will you learn how to get "Free PR?" Yes! But it's in ways, you probably could find on google. This is hand delivered to you in basic terms, so I would recommend for someone who needs a good place to start. I hope this helps :)

Started implementing right away and my PR game has a whole new lease of life

I like how this book took the concepts and strategies of PR and simplified it. It is not a complicated book to understand. The last chapter really hit it home with some creative ideas although I had already heard of many of them. The authors added a lot of online resources which makes the investment for this book a no-brainer.

I've yet to meet a business owner who has engaged a variety of marketing agencies and received anything other than over-promise-and-under-deliver. PR firms take this experience to the next level.Thankfully, Adrian and Cameron have written this practical playbook about how to take PR in-house and develop a repeatable process that costs a fraction of external PR, produces better results, all while staying true to your company's brand promise.

I used to head up Marketing for resource-constrained, VC-funded start-ups, and so much of this book resonated with me. In my earliest years, not knowing better, I’d allocate so much of my budget to PR agency fees. A few of them were excellent. All of them were expensive, however, and too often I was amazed at how paltry the results were. “That's just how it works”, was the refrain I heard from many of my peers.Wish I’d read this book in those early days. The authors here do a good job of debunking that myth, and describe in simple ways the techniques they’ve used to build their businesses executing PR strategies that, while requiring work, allow entrepreneurs to take matters into their own hands for more impressive outcomes.The book starts by providing important context, like how the media environment has changed in more recent years, often requiring the type of guerilla PR tactics the authors describe in order to cut through the noise. It touches on the importance of selecting and targeting the appropriate channels for the type of coverage you’re envisioning. A really important point they drive home breaks with traditional view that you need a PR mouthpiece for success. If you are the person most knowledgeable and passionate about your business, it stands to reason that you or some other trusted, in-house, lieutenant should seek to become the de facto spokesperson for your product/business. Not a third party.Some of the really insightful passages describe concrete, real-world examples (both theirs, and others’) of the tactics in action. One standout example (I had to double check it by googling it) involves how co-author Salamunovic got his company’s product (DNA artwork) placed in an episode of the popular CBS drama series “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation”. In fact, the artwork wasn’t just placed – it was actually featured as a key element of the storyline (google DNA11 and CSI episode and look for third party links like Reuters describing it, or youtube links showing the relevant clips in the episode). That’s quite amazing. In my experience, product placement of that sort would typically cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. Maybe more. But far from sitting back and enjoying the limelight, he also explains the tenacity and focus that was then required to ensure he was leveraging the opportunity optimally, by getting further interviews about it on programs like CNBC’s “The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch”. A lot of work, but incredible results.Overall, this is a great little how-to guide. From time to time I volunteer as a mentor to regional up-and-coming start-ups looking to move their business to the next level. I’ll be recommending it be on their reading lists.

I’ve personally seen Adrian work his PR magic at dna11 and CanvasPop. What he and his coauthor share in this easy-to-read book is the best guide yet on how to score big PR hits on your own. It covers all aspects of the art and science of PR in a clearly organized, entertaining and concise fashion. Readers are equipped with recipes and next steps to help them succeed in their own PR efforts.Highly recommended.