In response to the TechCrunch article 'You Can't Put a Price Tag on a TechCrunch Post,’ I wanted to shed light on and correct some assumptions about PRserve's performance-based business model.
If you have a new product, book, or business venture to promote, almost every PR professional in the country will tell you it can take weeks of work and prior strategy planning with a client before successful media coverage is pursued and achieved. This strategy planning work is the basis for which most PR firms charge retainer fees that can cost startups around $5,000 - $10,000 a month. But I believe strategy planning is an inherent part of a successful media campaign and clients should pay according to concrete results, not nebulous behind-the-scenes strategy planning, which may or may not yield success.
The only difference between PRserve and a traditional PR firm is that PRserve does not charge retainer fees, irrespective of results. We only collect an extremely modest amount for successful stories (a flat rate of $425 - $750 per story), depending on the media outlet. Outreach begins as soon as our team completes a full analysis of each client’s specific media needs and determines which placements are most crucial to that client’s growth.
Here’s some background on our business: PRserve launched out of a full-service fifteen-year-old, traditional PR agency. Thus, PRserve’s clients work with a team of highly experienced publicists, without the risk of depleting their funding on retainers. PRserve was the first PR firm to cater to the needs of promising new startups with a transparent, performance-based policy. This business model makes it possible for small startups to get the early exposure they ordinarily might not be able to finance with a traditional PR firm. We developed the PRserve methodology because we wanted the opportunity to help all startups, whether they’re fully funded or frustratingly bootstrapped. Our goal is to get these amazing companies the early exposure they need to grow their brand and effectively share their stories. We have successfully done this for many small and large startups in the past year and a half, through various media outlets, including TechCrunch.
Our relationship with the writers and editors at TechCrunch, like our relationship with all media, was always highly professional and straightforward. We had great success placing clients and their startup launches, funding announcements, product developments, etc, while providing TechCrunch with news its writers were excited to cover. The exposure has had major, positive impacts on some fantastic new companies. We’re thrilled to have helped launch these startups into success and to have built long-term relationships around their PR needs.
The PRserve team remains committed to providing solid, honest, transparent, success-based PR to our valued clients. We feel our model is the ethical way to do PR, especially in a world where today’s small startup can, with the right, targeted media strategy, become tomorrow’s enormously successful company.
Chris Barrett
Founder
PRserve
PRSERV : PR FOR STARTUPS
