Nov 16
The missing #13 on @scobleizer 'Worst things startups do'
Robert Scoble wrote an interesting piece today about the worst things startups do. It's well worth a read, but point number 4 'You hire a PR firm' has raised a few questions/discussions and I'd like to expand on it.The point that Robert make's (and is towards the end of his point) and I think is important is:
Now, maybe a PR company was helping them behind the scenes or to take care of leads and all the other stuff that goes with building a company but it wasn’t the first interaction I had with the company.
This is the key point to take away: you should know your startup/company inside out and be able to present it with no outside help/need for PR, but having help to make contacts and know where/when to talk with people is something that PR can help with.
I've worked with several PR agencies before and not had much success, however I think that in certain regions/areas they can still be invaluable. Take for example Tactile CRM - I've made a concerted effort to connect personally with people/press, from the team at TechCrunch EU to niche bloggers and more.
However, where I think that a PR agency can help is in making connections and relationships with industry press, writing copy and making interesting stories from them, and saving you time.
If a PR agency/person is saving you time (and costing you less than your hourly rate and making a difference) then that has to be worth considering.
So, my missing #13 from the list is:
Understand and think for yourself - read and understand as much as you can about promoting, building and running your startup. But always take a step back and think before you act on what people are saying, and if it's applicable to you/your business.
After all, we're not all lemmings.
