How to get Featured on TechCrunch

  • 4 minute read

If you're looking to get your startup the attention it needs to push it over the edge of the success meter, then you want to get some major media coverage. TechCrunch is one of those holy grail media outlets that would be a dream to have your startup featured upon.

They have 1.6 million subscribers, 2.7 million Twitter followers, 637 thousand Facebook fans, 2.4 million Google+ followers, and some odd thousands of subscribers on other networks like LinkedIn, YouTube, and StumbleUpon. That is a massive audience.

So how can you get your startup in front of the TechCrunch masses? Here are some ways that could help get you there.

See If You Know a TechCrunch Writer

Sometimes, getting featured on a major media site comes down to knowing the right people. If you happen to know someone who is in with TechCrunch, your odds of getting featured are going to go up exponentially. You can start with the twelve people listed on the TechCrunch about page. They consist of editors, community managers, executive assistants, directors, and the top writers. If you know someone on this page, that's you're best bet as they could write about you or get you in contact with the right person to pitch. If you don't know someone on this page, there is still hope. Lots of it, in fact.

A quick search on Followerwonk (a Twitter search tool) reveals over three hundred Twitter users that are affiliated with TechCrunch.

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You can narrow your search by adding editor (resulting in 12 people), writer (resulting in 41 people), or columnist (resulting in 6 people) to the search query. If you're lucky, you might even discover one of these people are already following you. If not, start following them, add them to a private Twitter list of TechCrunch affiliates, and start engaging with them.

Find Out Who is Talking About Your Competitors

If you don't know anyone at TechCrunch, your next option is to see which writers are talking about companies similar to yours and start connecting with those writers. Use Google and do a search for site:techcrunch.com your competitor, site:techcrunch.com industry, site:techcrunch.com your product, or site:techcrunch.com similar something.

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These searches should result in the discovery of TechCrunch writers who may be interested in writing about your startup or product.

Connect with Reporters Everywhere

One of the perks about Google search results is the connection of article authors to their Google+ profiles. Visit the writer's profiles and look under their About tab to find links to the rest of their social networks and personal sites.

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While you don't want to go too overboard and seem like a stalker, you will want to connect with the writer on one or more social networks where they share public status updates. Usually Twitter, Google+, and a Facebook page will do. This way, you will find out which network they are most actively engaging with others on and if they see you on more than one network, they likely will notice you.

Add Yourself and Your Company to CrunchBase

CrunchBase is a free database maintained by TechCrunch for people, companies, and investors in the tech industry. If you're not already listed, you can add yourself and your company to it for free - listings usually take about 24 - 48 hours to get approved.

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You will need to register for an account first, then add yourself and your company to their database. Once your listings goes live, you'll want to add them to your press page. Don't have a press page?

Create a Press Page

Reporters, journalists, writers, and busy columnists alike want to be able to find the most pertinent information and news about your company in one place. Specifically, they will want to find your contact information, media they can use in their article about your company, latest news / press releases, and links to more information about your company (like your CrunchBase profiles).

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This is something you will want to include with your pitch so the writer you approach can learn about you quickly and have the option to give you a call for more information off the bat. For more about press pages, visit this article with six steps to creating a great online pressroom.

Make Your Pitch

Once you have your ducks in a row, you're ready to make your pitch. If you have done good research on the writer you want to approach, you should know a good way to contact them directly via email. Your goal is to personalize the email - greet them by name, let them know you are a regular reader of their articles, and one article in particular (specify which) led you to contacting them.

After that, it's time to make your pitch. Remember that you want to make it all about how writing about your company will be beneficial for the TechCrunch audience. You also want to make it short - busy writers don't have time to read an essay. For tips straight from the editors of TechCrunch and examples from people who have successfully pitched TechCrunch, be sure to read the following.

Sign Up for HARO

Not ready to make a pitch yet, but still want some TechCrunch exposure? Try helping out the writers instead.

HARO is a service that you can sign up for in order to become a source for reporters at major media outlets. Subscribe to the master list so you can receive all types of inquiries. You will then receive approximately three emails a day with questions that reporters need answered by sources like you. Some will be from TechCrunch and similar major media outlets.

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Just a few minutes of checking your email a day could lead you to an opportunity to get exposure on TechCrunch. You could even use a mention in an article like this as a part of a future pitch by contacting that reporter again, or align your pitch with the answer to their question.

Have you pitched TechCrunch or another major media outlet to write about your company? What were the results? Please share in the comments!

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