Originally from Cate’s LinkedIn post. Reproduced with permission.
I get it. You’ve raised some money or launched something awesome, and you want journalists to write about it so you can share it with the world.
At Tech.eu, we receive thousands of press pitches weekly.
Lately, I’ve been seeing a lot of amateur errors that make writing about your startup or investment fund just that bit harder. You don’t need a PR company to get these things right (although some of these are in press releases written by PR companies):
No notice. If you send your press release the day you announce the news, you are less likely to be featured, much less get an interview — by the time we interview you and publish, it’s yesterday’s news. We’d love to do more interviews; it’s simply a lack of time.
No header image. Enter some time-consuming back-and-forth emails asking for an image.
If you have no image, it’s okay; just tell us. But ideally, you do; otherwise,
you’ll see your company in an article topped with some uninspired photo stock images.
That said, I get sent some god-awful founder pics — No, I don’t mean people aren’t good-looking (I am very unphotogenic myself). I’m talking about blurry pictures, every person in the company crammed into the shot in front of a dead pot plant, strange body language and odd facial expressions.
Provide a date and time for when the news goes live. Otherwise don’t get pissy if we erroneously publish it before you want to announce it. Why do you keep sending us press releases with no date?!
There is no link to your website or LinkedIn. Trust me; your name is not always as unique as you think. You do want to lead people to your website, right?!
There is no email address on your website—or an email you never check. Talk about a missed opportunity for potential investors, customers, and journalists.
There are too many chefs. We get that funding rounds can involve A LOT of investors. But sorry, our readers typically aren’t interested in reading a quote from every single one.
Hypespeak. Belief in your product is not a fact and we can’t take your word for it. Statistics and links to the research reports behind the technology or demos show that it’s credible and our audience needs to know about it.
Word Salad. I know you use generative AI. Try reading it out loud. We get stuff like this: “The strategic objective of the capital injection is to continue the exponential growth of the leading platform in its sector with the finest talent and with already positive results in 2024 in both X and X.” — Yeah, nah as we say in Australia.
I love tech, and I love my work.
By taking a few minutes to polish your press release you’ll increase your chances of getting featured and reaching a wider audience. Remember, we’re on your side.
Cate is a senior writer at Tech.eu. Follow her on X/Twitter or LinkedIn for more advice and musings.
