STORYSTACK The Role of Narrative and Story Telling for the Educational Startup June 1, 2014
Jan 13, 2015
STORYSTACKThe Role of Narrative and Story Telling
for the Educational Startup
June 1, 2014
ABOUT
• Tech PR / Branded Journalism
• 30+ years…. been through major shifts & cycles
• U.S. and Israel
• Met Amalia & Team at SXSWEdu in Austin / 2014
PRESENTATION
• Live on www.alanweinkrantz.com blog & Slideshare
• Tweet questions to: @alanweinkrantz
• Ask questions….I’m not here to “lecture…”
• Based on belief sets, principles, and experimentation
Istanbul - 29 May, 2014
A huge, global volume of education - related startups…. all vying for
attention in the media
Just get us some press…
Do you have the right contacts in the media to get us a huge story in….. ?
We have a huge (and important) announcement next week and we need to be covered everywhere….
_____ is on our Advisory Board….our team came from the IDF….we have the most
important educational technology in the history of man-mind….we are going to be the
Google of ______, etc….
I heard that if you _________ with journalists, it’s a sure way to get__________. At least that’s what a friend of mine at another start-up did….and got
covered in ______…
Education is very unique, and unless we have relationships
with media, how can do we this ourselves?
There’s always a story behind the story, and what it took to get there….
ALAN’S PRINCIPLES OF “GETTING PRESS”
• Listen
• Build a sustainable body of work
• Pitch - with expectations
• Keep listening and contribute to your ecosystem
LISTEN…
• Identify the writers, bloggers, analysts who you think matter
• Come up with 15 - 20 as your target and assign the founders the responsibility to tune in, read, and just listen…
• Share your insights with the team on what they write about, say, issues they cover, what they could be missing, and most of all, where you can help them.
A BODY OF WORK
• Depends on what you are doing… use common sense
• Social, of course,
• Blog is best.
• Helpful content. Not self-promotional.
• Write to help the media discover you and be an authoritative source…”thought leader…”
PITCH - EXPECTATIONS
• Introductory email
• Various ways to “pitch”
• Meeting and following up at conference is a good way
• Commenting on articles can help you be discovered
• Not every pitch sticks
As educational story tellers you have the opportunity to
add a massive layer of value to your startup
What’s Branded Journalism?
The art of applying story telling and building narratives to support and
reflect a brand’s values…
Having a body of work separates your startup… all vying for attention
The new tools of building your startup
Technology Stack LAMP Java
Python OpenStack
Ruby AWS
Rackspace Microsoft
IBM / Softlayer
StoryStack
Blog YouTube Instagram Twitter LinkedIn
SoundCloud FaceBook
WHY
• Builds a new type of defensible position
• Your body of work helps you define who you are
• Media can discover and cover you
• Can lead to new types of unexpected deal flow
StoryStack
Story
Narrative
Voice
Engagement
Discovery
STORY
• Sets the stage for the heart and soul of your company
• Builds and expresses culture
• Attracts customers, partners, media, etc
VOICE
• Educator
• Researcher
• Helping kids
• Gets parents
• Inspirational
NARRATIVE
• Connected events
• Gluing your story together
• Ties your channels together
• Helps you express, connect and engage with your ecosystem
ENGAGEMENT
• Lets you listen
• Give your customers / partners a voice
• Enables amplification of your story
• Which can lead to….
DISCOVERY
• An act of faith
• Parents, teachers, kids are searching for you
• Let them discover you
• Find others
• Get discovered, covered by media
content (curated,
contributed, posts)
socialcommenting
writing
Branding your startup with content adds a unique layer of value
Your Startup’s Voice
BRANDED JOURNALISM EXAMPLES….
• News
• Content
• Story Telling
• Media
WHAT’S YOUR VOICE ?
• Educator
• Love kids
• Helps parents
• Gets teaching
• A better world
EXECUTION…
• Agree to some basic milestones
• Don’t be afraid to write
• Don’t publish until you feel comfortable doing so
• Build out an editorial calendar
• Share the responsibility with your co-founders
EXECUTION
• Decide on the outposts (channels)
• Allow 90 days to get the process going
• Use stock tools
• Your SmartPhone is a very powerful story telling platform
SUGGESTED READING
!
• www.adweek.com/topic/branded-content
• www.digiday.com
• www.battellemedia.com
• www.ragan.com • all photos (except for The Beatles, BB King, etc) by me.
LET’S CONNECT…
• SoundCloud
• YouTube