Emilie Gerber: evaluation

Transcript context

…Perfect. And then just two more questions, because I imagine this is what people are thinking about when they're trying to decide should we find somebody is how long ahead of time they should find someone before something big is happening? And then just what's a budget they should have in mind for something like this? What's a minimum or a range, whatever you think would be helpful for people to understand here's how much you're probably going to be investing here? Start times can vary from agency to agency. I think we can get started the week that a client needs us to, so maybe I'm not best equipped to answer this, but I would say before an announcement happens, you probably want to kick off six weeks in advance. So when we start with the company, it's like we're working on the blog, we're doing a media training, we're doing the media outreach, we're getting quotes from investors, or coordinating with all the parties, making sure images are being created so it's not just pitching and securing the article. So I would say buffer with time to pitch, make sure that the reporter is actually able to cover it. Six weeks is ideal. I would also note I highly recommend not having a firm date that you think you need to announce something and going instead with when a reporter is able to cover your story. We get so many clients that come to us and they have this set date in their head, but there's not usually a real reason for it. It's like they're planning around it, it's like they have other comms they want to go out that day, but if you can optimize for the reporter over the timing, you're going to see such a better outcome because getting the first choice reporter is going to drive way more for your business than announcing it four days sooner. So leaving a little bit of flexibility for that agency is key. And I've even seen companies like issue a press release for big news with no coverage because they had stuck to a certain day and were very rigid about it, and they didn't get any stories for that reason. And so I think a good agency would counsel to offer that flexibility. So six weeks I think is the ideal amount of time. And then budget, I would say the lowest end would probably be about 10K a month for an agency. You can find consultants, I think the best ones would be at least 8K a month, but for a small boutique agency starts at 10. I'll just be transparent, I'm very open about our pricing, our rates start at 15K a month for our retainers, and actually that's for a series A companies generally what they're at. And then I would say unless you are a global business that needs basically different teams for different product lines, which happens when you're a Microsoft of the world, that's another story. But if you're just a series C startup that's getting a lot of attention, I wouldn't go beyond 30K probably. There are plenty of agencies that go into the 50s and 60s a month, but that's just a whole nother world, and I'm not an expert on that part. Amazing. Thank you for sharing all that. What if you're going for just a one-off, just help me get one story, what's a range there for budget you should expect?…

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