Let’s face it. If you’re a startup, finding the right reporter to pitch, not to mention getting him or her to pay attention to your story, can be tough. I can tell you from personal experience that I receive many a scripted email that's a better fit for another writer on BostInno's editorial staff. I get it – a strong public relations push has a way of falling down on the list of priorities between tackling product bugs and tracking down new talent – but doing your research goes a long way. Still, the question remains: How does one craft a pitch that’s catchy enough to escape the fate of the right media personnel's trash folder?
Just ask JustReachOut, a service out of Boston growth hacking consultancy Criminally Prolific that makes PR simpler and more affordable for early-stage companies.
“We started JustReachOut because we saw how many startups can't afford PR firms and don't know how to find most relevant reporters and write a good email pitch,” Dmitry Dragilev, Criminally Prolific founder and PR veteran, told BostInno via email.
In a combination of web and basic consulting services, JustReachOut works with startups to refine their overall approach to PR. Naturally, early-stage companies’ digital rolodexes stand to grow. JustReachOut offers a search tool that enables startups search for reporters in specific fields in a given location through Sell Hack.
“The biggest part of our service is live one on one interaction via email as we help our customers write their email pitches and narrow down the most relevant reporters to what they are pitching,” shared Dragilev.
But don’t fear, fellow reporters. The tool has limits on how many emails a given client can send to ensure that people aren’t pushing stories too hard, to too many writers. Ideally, the service will empower startups to hit up the right reporters, which means less spam in writers’ inboxes, and more pitches turned into press.
For its launch, Criminally Prolific is offering JustReachOut for $25 per month in hopes of bringing young companies on board. After summer, however, the price will jump to $99 monthly, which, while steeper, is certainly a more palatable price than what a PR firm would might charge.
