[pkh80]

Does anyone else find the whole process of engaging the tech "media" a giant distraction from developing their core product and trying to engage real customers? Chances are if you have product that sounds "cool" to these companies you are going for a market that you are unlikely to win.

You are are far more likely to be successful targeting a business that is outside the consumer "cool zone". The consumer markets are so heavily saturated there's little chance for new products to really be noticed, and individual consumers aren't as profitable as targeting businesses unless you are lucky enough to be the next Facebook (you aren't.)

Unless your product customer is likely to be a hacker/geek/tech biz type that would read Mashable/Techcrunch/RWW/etc.. Don't waste your time trying to get coverage there, instead find reliable channels to talk directly to your customer and route them to your service.

Find heavy's in that vertical and appeal to them, especially ones that have a lot of influence (online or IRL.) Find blogs that match your vertical and get them to cover you, they will probably be happy to do it, and they probably will send you more link juice because they don't post 100+ articles a day.

Unless your PR is sending you real SEO heavy links, and/or putting a giant dent in the collective consciousness of your potential customer base, its worthless.