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You owe a lot to the practice of PR actually, which you should probably consider investing more in if its working for you. I have this spreadsheet at Twilio that tracks signup sources by type, and lifetime revenue. Without going into too much detail, people who signed up after learning about us in a news story generate a lot of money per account, and that has continued to prove true over 3+ years. So we invest in being good at PR (bringing it in house, using various agencies to help us get broader distribution). Startups, especially those filled with engineers, generally dislike PR. Can't blame them, it is this ridiculously irrational art and it can become very expensive - but it has a big impact if you can wield it as a tool in your tool belt. You don't have to hire a PR professional to do it though - I did it for Twilio by myself for the first 18 months and learned a ton. The first thing I ever got to the front page of HN was this post on exactly this topic: http://www.twilio.com/blog/2009/03/doing-startup-pr-on-a-sho... The coolest part of PR is just how many media outlets there are targeting different audiences - so TechCrunch is one important one of many. Pitch wide, read more, dive into niches, get to know writers and the audiences they are trying to reach. PR isn't about manipulating writers either (at least not the credible form of writers), all you can do is tell them your story, they decide what to do next. One thing I'll add, is that it is a shame that publications are struggling to figure out business models while businesses are benefitting a ton from coverage. Its a shame because I worry that the publications will eventually run out of money and go away, killing an important customer acquisition channel. This asymmetry is an opportunity. |
I think that "which you should probably consider investing more in if its working for you." is key here, though. I've done marketing for businesses where PR was one of the weakest channels.