Show HN: Publicize – PR for Startups(publicize.co)
publicize.co
Show HN: Publicize – PR for Startups
http://publicize.co
9 comments
Despite the nitpicking in this thread, I've only heard positive things about Conrad Egusa and Publicize. I heard about him through YC, where other people recommended him. He gave me some useful advice, and if you're looking for a PR company, I'd definitely check out Publicize.
author here. the reason we used michael arrington, ariana huffington and matt marshall is because they are the founders of the respective publications (not because of their current involvement).
for the featured in, you are right (it actually goes back to when we were expecting publicize to be featured in a tnw article as our design was being implemented and this was pushed back). because we've only been included & written guest articles, we will change this to as seen in.
update: we've fixed this to "as seen in".
for the featured in, you are right (it actually goes back to when we were expecting publicize to be featured in a tnw article as our design was being implemented and this was pushed back). because we've only been included & written guest articles, we will change this to as seen in.
update: we've fixed this to "as seen in".
about your comment on the y combinator logo, i do see your point. the aim wasn't to be deceptive, the reason we included the logos of some of the accelerators is because for the founder institute we've worked with a bunch of fi founders + multiple publicize team members are mentors there, with 500 startups i'm a global mentor there + having worked with companies, and for yc we've worked with a number of its companies. however if this comes off as misleading that we work directly with y combinator / others, then it should be removed.
update: we just removed that bar at the bottom (so the logos are no longer there). thanks for the feedback.
update: we just removed that bar at the bottom (so the logos are no longer there). thanks for the feedback.
Here's what the page looked like before I had any chance to read what is the service.
https://i.imgur.com/g7dLXCZ.png
0/10
https://i.imgur.com/g7dLXCZ.png
0/10
author here. thank you, i will fix this today.
For clarification: Your website is an advertisement for your business. You don't need an ad for your business obscuring your ad for your business. It reeks of desperation, and the vast majority of people visiting your page right now who are seeing that modal pop up, will promptly forget you exist.
I shouldn't need to explain why that is that case, of course, because public relations and marketing and UX are based entirely on the same psychological principles. And therein lies the problem. You're a public relations company displaying the inability to relate to the public.
Don't fix this "today", fix it right now. It should be your top priority.
I shouldn't need to explain why that is that case, of course, because public relations and marketing and UX are based entirely on the same psychological principles. And therein lies the problem. You're a public relations company displaying the inability to relate to the public.
Don't fix this "today", fix it right now. It should be your top priority.
bryans, we'd fixed this earlier (with the pop-up, moving it back to a later time). i'd meant to write this earlier.
I don't think you quite understood my point. There should not be a pop-up at all. Ever. Period. You have calls-to-action all over the site. Having one more pop up while the user is trying to read or navigate your site will do nothing but alienate them.
Like I said, it reeks of desperation. Every time something pops up over the actual content of your site, you might as well just replace the text in that pop-up with "please, please, we beg you to give us your business!" Because that is all anybody sees. I assure you.
Source: Web developer of 18 years, watched companies literally go out of business based on similarly poor user experiences that I could not talk them out of.
Like I said, it reeks of desperation. Every time something pops up over the actual content of your site, you might as well just replace the text in that pop-up with "please, please, we beg you to give us your business!" Because that is all anybody sees. I assure you.
Source: Web developer of 18 years, watched companies literally go out of business based on similarly poor user experiences that I could not talk them out of.
While I agree that this popup is poorly timed, and also agree that they are pretty annoying in general, there are plenty of case studies out there about people getting big conversion boosts with these kinds of things when implemented correctly.
That doesn't necessarily make them a good idea, since annoying many of your users or going against your principles may not be worth the boost, but you should be careful about assuming your own ux preferences will lead to the best conversion rate--unfortunately, the data will often prove you wrong.
That doesn't necessarily make them a good idea, since annoying many of your users or going against your principles may not be worth the boost, but you should be careful about assuming your own ux preferences will lead to the best conversion rate--unfortunately, the data will often prove you wrong.
Most websites to the promotion-model when reading unrelated content, like a blog post from the company.
Doing a promotion-model on a page that already is promoting the product is "yo dawg" levels of silliness.
Doing a promotion-model on a page that already is promoting the product is "yo dawg" levels of silliness.
Agree completely in this case... just pointing out that for better or worse, there are situations where they can be effective.
I'm pretty late in responding to your comments, but I feel the need to point something out.
If an annoying UX element actually increases conversions, it is purely a sign that your overall UX or UI or marketing verbiage is failing. Conversions will increase significantly more if you fix the core issue, because not only will a proper UX/UI still elicit the conversions from users who might have been pressured by desperate tactics, it prevents alienating those users who are not susceptible to those tactics.
I have never once come across a situation for which this was not the case.
Edit: I think the perfect example of this is your own website. And I don't mean to insult you, I'm just giving you my take as a visitor and an experienced developer.
I was entirely turned off by the pop-up, which puts me firmly in the insusceptible category. Then after closing that pop-up to explore your actual marketing message, I was overwhelmed. Not just by the meaningless industry jargon, but by the sheer amount of dissimilar and unorganized content on a single page.
I can guarantee, without any shadow of a doubt, that a more succinct and meaningful message will increase your conversions more than the three desperate elements currently on the page ever will.
If an annoying UX element actually increases conversions, it is purely a sign that your overall UX or UI or marketing verbiage is failing. Conversions will increase significantly more if you fix the core issue, because not only will a proper UX/UI still elicit the conversions from users who might have been pressured by desperate tactics, it prevents alienating those users who are not susceptible to those tactics.
I have never once come across a situation for which this was not the case.
Edit: I think the perfect example of this is your own website. And I don't mean to insult you, I'm just giving you my take as a visitor and an experienced developer.
I was entirely turned off by the pop-up, which puts me firmly in the insusceptible category. Then after closing that pop-up to explore your actual marketing message, I was overwhelmed. Not just by the meaningless industry jargon, but by the sheer amount of dissimilar and unorganized content on a single page.
I can guarantee, without any shadow of a doubt, that a more succinct and meaningful message will increase your conversions more than the three desperate elements currently on the page ever will.
You are certainly entitled to your philosophy... but I don't get the sense you've validated it with data. When you hold yourself to account in this way, your level of certainty about what works and what doesn't decreases dramatically.
Completely agree that our site and message can be improved. It's a continual work in progress. That said, the exit intent popup has been a large driver of leads for us. There are doubtlessly better ways to get leads, but given limited time to seek perfection, for now I'd rather have the clients this gets us than the approval of a purist who offers no data, just personal opinions.
Completely agree that our site and message can be improved. It's a continual work in progress. That said, the exit intent popup has been a large driver of leads for us. There are doubtlessly better ways to get leads, but given limited time to seek perfection, for now I'd rather have the clients this gets us than the approval of a purist who offers no data, just personal opinions.
thanks for your feedback. we've taken down the pop-up. we were on the fence earlier about having it up and you brought up good points.
Hi, I wrote a guide just a week ago that may have quite a bit of relevant information for your target customer - http://www.craigkerstiens.com/2015/07/21/An-intro-PR-guide-f....
I love that there's a few people starting to innovate in this space, but I'm having a pretty hard time from the outside getting an idea of what your product actually is. Are you strictly focused on outreach to outlets, or is there more to it. Is it even a product, or how are you different from other PR firms? Would love to be able to get more clarity on that without having to create an account.
I love that there's a few people starting to innovate in this space, but I'm having a pretty hard time from the outside getting an idea of what your product actually is. Are you strictly focused on outreach to outlets, or is there more to it. Is it even a product, or how are you different from other PR firms? Would love to be able to get more clarity on that without having to create an account.
thanks craig. publicize is different from traditional pr firms because as opposed to charging 6 month retainers for $10,000/month (a $60,000 total commitment), we provide a month-to-month PR service for $400/month ($320 if purchased longer-term). we're 100% transparent, listing out the journalists we plan to contact, and we also create all of the editorial as well. we follow a specific process, which we list out in a client's dashboard, and look to pass on savings to clients.
[deleted]
So if I understand correctly, essentially trying to better scale the model, and provide some nice dashboard for the company getting insight, but it's not so much a product as it is making the model a bit more approachable?
yes, you are right that it's not a pure product. publicize actually does the media outreach, and we're 100% transparent so companies can see what we'll send, who we'll contact, and more. i think the problem we tried to solve is that historically startups could either pay traditional pr firms $10,000+ a month (many which can't afford it), or founders can do PR themselves (many which don't have experience in this area or the time).
i think the current PR industry model works well for larger companies that aren't price-sensitive, but we wanted to create a PR service that minimized risk (we provide a 2 week money-back guarantee and prices are as low as $320/month) and maximized ROI for a market (early-stage startups) that I think historically was underserved.
Don't worry about being rough around the edges (and the problems other posters are criticizing here). All those minor things are easily fixable and they don't take away anything from the value you provide :) Congrats!
You've got a weird issue with your text/register button:
http://imgur.com/zbhpFY3
(FF 39 on a MBP)
http://imgur.com/zbhpFY3
(FF 39 on a MBP)
many thanks, i will fix this today.
If I were you, I'd show off the gem that is your pricing system on the front page. There are a lot of PR firms; show right away what makes yours different.
Couch it in friendly language, like: "We'd love to help you X! For $400 a month, we'll Y to help you get there--or check out our other pricing plans [here]."
When people see "Sign up for free!" on a web site, they're used to having it mean, "Give us your email and we'll send you a ton of ads for free until you hit unsubscribe!" So, not a great tactic. Being up-front with your deal in that space instead will make you seem a lot more legitimate.
I'm a pretty good writer. If you don't mind, I'd like to give a little free nitpicking--er, editing advice about your front page.
>"Publicize is a next-generation PR company.
>"We help leading technology startups grow faster."
"Next-generation" is a pretty meaningless phrase. It may have been meaningful at one point and I can see where you're getting it, but it's become an overused buzzword. Avoid. Plus, you're using two sentences to say not very much. It's just clutter.
How about: "Publicize is a PR company tailored to the needs of lean, fast-growing technology startups. Here are some of the services we offer:" and then list your services so it doesn't seem like they're just randomly stuck there.
>"I had a great time working with publicize"
Did you mean to capitalize "Publicize"? From what I can see, it's not one of those always-lowercase names. Be careful about how you represent the writing on your web site, especially if you're offering a service that manages press releases! Capitalizing your company name is like fixing a spelling error; it doesn't invalidate the quote as long as you're not intentionally trying to warp what he said.
Greg Laughlin's review sounds genuine and earnest, but it has a problem: its sentence structure doesn't quite flow. I suggest basically keeping it how it is to preserve the quote, but maybe make Alan Grant's review the one that shows by default instead. It has a more professional feel, better punctuation, and better flow.
Just suggestions! It looks like you've gotten a lot of good feedback already on this, but a little bit of polish on the writing on your site would really make it shine. When you're a PR firm, you have to really make sure your own marketing is stellar. If you can't market yourself really well, customers will assume you won't do any better for them.
Couch it in friendly language, like: "We'd love to help you X! For $400 a month, we'll Y to help you get there--or check out our other pricing plans [here]."
When people see "Sign up for free!" on a web site, they're used to having it mean, "Give us your email and we'll send you a ton of ads for free until you hit unsubscribe!" So, not a great tactic. Being up-front with your deal in that space instead will make you seem a lot more legitimate.
I'm a pretty good writer. If you don't mind, I'd like to give a little free nitpicking--er, editing advice about your front page.
>"Publicize is a next-generation PR company.
>"We help leading technology startups grow faster."
"Next-generation" is a pretty meaningless phrase. It may have been meaningful at one point and I can see where you're getting it, but it's become an overused buzzword. Avoid. Plus, you're using two sentences to say not very much. It's just clutter.
How about: "Publicize is a PR company tailored to the needs of lean, fast-growing technology startups. Here are some of the services we offer:" and then list your services so it doesn't seem like they're just randomly stuck there.
>"I had a great time working with publicize"
Did you mean to capitalize "Publicize"? From what I can see, it's not one of those always-lowercase names. Be careful about how you represent the writing on your web site, especially if you're offering a service that manages press releases! Capitalizing your company name is like fixing a spelling error; it doesn't invalidate the quote as long as you're not intentionally trying to warp what he said.
Greg Laughlin's review sounds genuine and earnest, but it has a problem: its sentence structure doesn't quite flow. I suggest basically keeping it how it is to preserve the quote, but maybe make Alan Grant's review the one that shows by default instead. It has a more professional feel, better punctuation, and better flow.
Just suggestions! It looks like you've gotten a lot of good feedback already on this, but a little bit of polish on the writing on your site would really make it shine. When you're a PR firm, you have to really make sure your own marketing is stellar. If you can't market yourself really well, customers will assume you won't do any better for them.
So many basic webdev mistakes here, that you all are fixing on the fly here, wonder how solid the service will be.
founder here: i'm 100% confident in Publicize. we always offer a 2 week money-back guarantee, but if you write [email protected] this month we'll provide you with 2 free weeks of pr service so you can see yourself (there are no strings attached). you can see some of our client results on our site as well.
I love how startup-friendly this product is. Instead of having to give a $5,000-$10,000 retainer to traditional firms, it's just a few hundred dollars a month. I definitely plan to use these guys in the coming months for my new startup in SF.
author here. i'm conrad egusa, i'm available to answer questions and really appreciate the feedback.
I also found it suspicious that you have reference to "as featured in" but it's an image and not a link, so I did a little digging. For your The Next Web feature, all Publicize has is participation in a pitching contest (http://thenextweb.com/voice/2015/04/14/all-75-startups-that-...) and an guest posts written by the CEO (http://thenextweb.com/entrepreneur/2014/11/22/tech-reporter-... and http://thenextweb.com/entrepreneur/2014/12/13/5-common-mista...). Neither would count as a feature.
Additionally, why do you have a Y Combinator logo under "our successes?" Having success with batch companies is a bit different than having success with the parent entity.