Mark Suster offers some good advice about how and when to deal with PR in startups. Some key points are:
- PR is something ongoing, not something you do around specific events and then stop until the next event.
- PR is something that the key founding team needs to handle, and shouldn't be delegated to a junior person.
- A a startup, even a funded one, you should not hire a PR firm, because you won't have the budget to get the right amount of attention from them.
- Even if you do have the budget, it is often better to hire someone inside your firm, or have someone inside your firm as well as retaining a PR firm.
- Once you have the budget, a good PR firm is worth its weight in gold.
And some additional tips:
- Be authentic. Talk like a human, not a press release.
- Have a point of view about things, not aggressive but opinionated.
- Don't constantly make pointless announcements or they will be ignored.
