alexis ohanian, reddit cofounder

PR/mkting your website on the cheap

“What do you do?“

I heard this a lot for our first three months in Y Combinator. In fact, I still hear it.Fortunately, though, my role as Steve's other half (the non-programming one)has evolved beyond secretary and orderer-of-delivery-food. Some of you haveasked for suggestions, so I'm taking advantage of a long flight back fromStartupSchool to jot them down.So, we all love these social

sites that are so

viral

they don't need any realmarketing. Sure, there's a catch-22 when these brand new sites are worthlesswithout any initial users, but can't attract any users in the first place because,well, they're still worthless. Creating fake users is an easy fix. Just be creativewith the usernames, please.

Ask for feedback. When you get it, respond to it -- fast

These are users who have sought you out, start a conversation with them.They're likely expecting a curt, robotic "We greatly appreciate your feedback...".If you have to tell a user you appreciate them, you probably don't -- especially if you're using the same kind of automated system we've all come to expect frombig business. I suspect the feeling a user gets receiving a prompt and humanemail response well outweighs the cost of you writing it. Compared toprogramming, it's a rather mindless exercise, so you won't even need an Alexis

in your startup for it. Save it for the part of the day when you're feeling your laziest.

Bloggers

For every TechCrunch and GigaOm

there are plenty of startup bloggers who arelooking for new sites. You may notice some have already written about youwhen you run theGoogle blogsearch on your startup. Email them. Keep it shortand as un-form-letter-ish as possible. Me thinks people can tell. Mike and Omcan wait, and if you've got a cool enough idea, they'll find you

"Traditional" Journalists

Trickier than bloggers, since the tale of a few kids starting a website has alreadybeen pretty well trodden thanks to startups like reddit. Sorry about that. Butthey're more likely to be interested in your story, since your site alone may not bemuch of a story. Chasing mainstream appeal may also not be all that importantearly on -- especially when they likely won't bring as much traffic as a great blogpost will. (On the other hand, if you've startedJustin.tv, you can just skip therest of this. The media will find you.) However, being in newsprint will certainlyhelp your site gain some of that "mainstream" legitimacy, which is not onlycumulative, but will also likely impress your grandparents -- probably your parents, too.

I don't think I have ever cold-called anyone, it just reminds me of thetelemarketers calling at dinnertime (how quaint, no? We had a "dinnertime" inmy house). Kids these days loathe email (or so I’ve heard) but it can be abeautiful thing, just don't abuse it. Succinctness is something I'm still continuingto work on (can't you tell?). Respect the recipient, whoever they are, and keepthings short. Furthermore, just like feedback emails, be prompt with replies.Journalists in particular are always on deadlines and there's nothing that warmstheir heart more

than a fast reply with the information they need in an easilydigestible form.

Let’s get coffee sometime

If you’ve gotten a warm response, you’ve done something right, suggest meetingfor lunch or a beverage (it can be tea, boba tea, beer, whatever). And don’t belate. The proposition of a drink/meal isn’t a skeezy bribe, just a convenient wayto become more than an email address to your interviewer. In fact you probablywon’t pay (most reporters expense their meals with interviewees).

Caution: Flak

You'll need a story, every startup has one. We certainly used the "a few youngcollege students in an apartment challenging the massive VC-funded startup"-angle pretty often. I suspect most of you could ride that one, but it’s already a bitstale. Every startup has a unique story, even if they share a common theme.The valuable ability to speak in soundbytes (not the whole time, just for crucialnote-taking moments) is an unfortunate result of most news productionnowadays (television, print, whatever), but it could be the difference betweengetting mentioned in a piece or not. (Another reason why email can be veryeffective when you choose your words carefully). Practice, but don't practice howyou'll say it, practice what you'll say.

"Every interview is another chance to get your message out"

Cynicism and true media relations strategy paradoxically overlap here. This isthe textbook goal, right?

This is what most reporters, bloggers, and people ingeneral are used to being bombarded with on a regular basis. As startups, weare afforded the unique position of being the antithesis of so much that is wrongwith this current system. People interviewing you, or just interested in your service, are not tools. They will know if you're treating them like one.

Contrary to popular belief

You don't need to be a "people person" or be exceptionally "well-spoken" to befantastic at interviews in any form. Steve was great at demoing reddit andhandling q&a -- it just didn't make any sense for him to be dealing with people allthe time. Ideally, the person who dislikes people the least ought to be the onedrumming up attention. Fortunately, I had a lot of free time in the day after drawing the logo doodle.