Over the last few weeks I’ve been speaking with Adrian Salamunovic, co-founder of DNA 11 and CanvasPop on how he’s been so successful getting massive press for his businesses. He had a ton of great insight for startups and the result was a killer Play that we launched this week. Here are his Top 10 rules for getting great publicity:
- Think Big. No BIGGER.
- Zig when others Zag. Don’t be “me too” about anything.
- Understand trends. Play off a popular wave (but approach it differently – zig!).
- The Three P’s: Persistent, Passionate, Pleasant
- Founders are the best pitch person.
- Be real. Use your personality, don’t hide it.
- Understand the reporter’s audience and the publication’s goals.
- Tell a story.
- Use the phone – be personal and build relationships.
- Be a sniper, not a carpet bomber. Target writers / publications and appreciate that reporters need your story, but don’t spam them.
- Forget local (unless your recruiting or looking for a date)
If you don’t already, you should follow Adrian and his companies – DNA11 & CanvasPop to learn from how they approach publicity differently. Consider this article where they shipped Brad Feld some free art. In return they made a sale and got some great online publicity and promotion from him.
If you want to apply the same process Adrian does to get his companies in every press that matters (and featured on Conan O’Brian and CSI: New York), you can purchase his Play here.
