PR & Earned Placements

Run the media-target-research drill at Smoke scale: identify 10 media targets across micro-newsletters (3-4), niche podcasts (3-4), and industry journalists (2-3). For each, manually research their name, outlet, recent article/episode, contact email, and one specific observation about their work.

Define 3 pitch angles — specific story ideas where the founder has genuine expertise and data. Each angle should tie to a current trend or problem the target audience cares about.

Create free accounts on Qwoted and Featured.com. Set topic preferences matching your expertise. Answer 2-3 source requests during the test week.

Run the media-pitch-outreach drill at Smoke scale: write 5-10 personalized pitches from the founder's personal email. Each pitch must reference the target's recent work, lead with a story angle (not your product), and offer concrete assets (data, quotes, pre-written content).

Send 1-2 pitches per day, Tue-Thu, 7am-9am target's timezone. After 5 days, send one follow-up to non-responders tied to current news.

Human action required: founder sends each pitch personally from their established email domain.

When a placement publishes: add UTM tracking (?utm_source={outlet}&utm_medium=earned&utm_campaign=pr-earned-smoke), log in Attio, and monitor referral traffic in PostHog.

Run the threshold-engine drill at end of week 2: count placements published and referral clicks from earned media.

If PASS (≥ 1 placement, ≥ 30 referral clicks): document which angles and outlet types worked. Proceed to Baseline.

If FAIL: diagnose — zero replies means angles are not newsworthy; replies but no placements means press kit is weak; placement but low clicks means outlet audience does not match ICP.