What are some PR best practices?

Identify and Select a PR firm in your industry and begin engagement immediately. We recommend you select a PR firm that is a specialist in your business and that brings existing relationships with the press you want to cover your company.

If you cannot afford a PR firm we have found in some cases, sending your press release to a news wire service can work, PRNEWSWIRE is an example. In a way, PR is 30% the messenger and 70% the message. Make sure the message is great and catchy.

If you want to pitch on your own, write a list of all news sources, writers and reporters (print, online, bloggers, newspapers, journals, TV, etc) that you believe will be interested in your campaign. Identify as many names and email addresses as possible. We recommend you pitch by first recognizing their existing work you have read and why you think they would want to write a blog post or article on your company. Writers love hearing from people who actually read their work.

Make sure that you are reaching out to the blogs and PR sources within your industry. For example, if you have a boat company, an article going to 2,000 passionate boat lovers will likely convert better than an article that goes to 100,000 random readers.

If you need a few resources to identifying outlets, feel free to check out the following:

• HARO: Help A Reporter Out - Provides journalists with a robust database of sources for upcoming stories
• PressRush - Includes media contact database, media lists, and journalist search
• PRofNet - Connects journalists to experts
• SourceBottle - A free online service that connects journalists with sources
• Websites like Alexa and Compete.com that measure popularity of websites such as Individual blogs

Begin by identifying outlets (traditional press, magazines, blogs, YouTube channels, podcasts, influencers, etc.) in your industry that you think will have the most likelihood of bringing you potential investors. Next, choose a few other ancillary markets where you can identify additional outlets. For example, instead of selecting solely the automotive industry, Elio Motors also identified potential outlets in technology, environment, and transportation.