It's All About The Buzz - Part I: Startup Buzz

For a startup, press opportunities are great. Getting into the news can drive people to your site, and gives any company the opportunity to be in the spotlight. Good press, bad press, any press. But, it is hard to get press that is picked up on the wire. You can put out a press release, but without some good connections, or a PR agency, you do not get much attention.

PR agencies are great. But, they are very expensive. For a startup, even if you are funded by KP or Sequoia and have oodles of excess cash burning a hole in your CFOs pocket, it is a tough decision to blow 50k on a good PR agency to get you into the spotlight.

Buzz, on the other hand, can get you into the spotlight on the cheap. You spend a few hundred dollars a month to get your name out into targeted niches, and you build a brand, get feedback, without breaking your bank account.

How to build Startup Buzz

There are 3 easy things that any startup can do to build buzz for their company:

1. Create your own blog. If you are not a knowledgeable entity in your industry, become one. People will be interested in hearing about your company if they think that you have unique knowledge and experience that you can share.

2. Comment on other people's blogs. This is a way to get into the mix with other people in the industry that are knowledgable about your industry. Let them know who you are and find out who else is out there. You will learn from these people, and if you are lucky (and polite) you might be able to convince them to be advocates of your company.

3. Make your content count. Get other people to write about your product. Your press releases, product launches, partnerships, etc. are not common events. Expand these opportunities to their fullest extent. If you are having an event, let everyone know about it. Give people an incentive to write about you. BE YOUR OWN PR AGENCY.