Note:  This post is not about getting media coverage.  Stay away from it until you are ready.

Today I spoke with a well funded start-up, and I asked them to make a wish list of media coverage where they thought they belonged.

Notwithstanding TechCrunch, Mashable, All Things D, ReadWriteWeb, etc, I asked them to think of 10 media outlets that covered their space and could drive being discovered, lead to new business, and of new deal flow.

To my surprise, the client-to-be told me that he and his team hadn't really thought about it.  

That's not a good thing.

Whatever visions you and your team have in mind for your startup, make media coverage part of your strategy.

Take One Step

You're busy.  You want (or) have a life.  And now this.  One more thing to do.  

Chances are you read stuff on the web all the day.  

Take 15 minutes per day, away from Facebook, LInkedIn, G+ and read and discover the people who are giving your space a voice.

Tune in.  

Listen.

Nothing more.  

For now.

A startup's blog is a great vehicle for story telling, and being found by media.

Your startup's blog is a seat at the table for journalists, bloggers and industry analysts to discover and share your insights, expertise and knowledge on the market you are creating.  Photo shot at Geekdom, San Antonio.

It's also a great clue to a journalist, blogger or industry analyst that you have deep and original thinking and could be a great source for them on not just covering your company, but an industry trend that you are either creating or part of.

Here's some tips:

1.  If you are going to blog, do something more that overstate the obvious with links to articles from Mashable,  Read Write Web or TechCruch (unless it's about you).   Journalists can find that on their own.

2.  Build a story around what you are doing, not just what you are doing.  Share feedback from customers, what you are finding and how you are helping.

3.  Post content from conferences and trade shows you might go to.  Report on what you are seeing, who you are connecting with, and how your solution or platform fits into the world at large.

4.  Don't overstate the obvious.  If a journalist finds you, and discovers your blog, this is your first point of entry in raising the potential of possibly gaining media coverage.  Make a good impression with deep thinking and good writing.

5.  Post once a week.  At a minimum.  If you go dark for a month or two, it shows you're out to lunch.

I met Dwight Silverman 20 some odd years ago when he was with The San Antonio Light - which went away and was sort of bundled into the San Antonio Express-News.  His syndicated coverage of technology for the Houston Chronicle is some of the best.  He not only writes, but engages with readers, and posts cool and useful stuff such as: his list of journalists he is tracking for CES 2012.  

It would stand to reason that someone like Dwight would follow his peers who also cover not only consumer electronics, but all the gizmos, gadgets and apps that will be at the show.  (I'll be there too).

Sometimes you have to be a bit of slueth to figure out where your candidates might be for coverage.

This does not guarantee you success, but certinaly helps accelerate your research and discovery process.

Over the last 15 years, Telecom and Technology Industry Analyst, James Brehm and I would run into each other on airplanes.  We'd generally be coming back to San Antonio from Jeff Pulver's VON Show, or just crossing paths as our lives were running parellel tracks - he analyzing and predicting a future and myself, trying to help my clients create the future.

Compass Intelligence Senior Strategist, James Brehm

Back then, it was mostly enterprise stuff, heavy duty carrier gateways, the transition to enterprise IP Voice and then Data and then security and on and on. We'd occassionally meet for lunch at Central Market, compare notes and bid each other farewell, until the next big thing.

(download)

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Today, James was on CNBC with a year-end wrap up of what to expect from Apple in 2012. As usual, James provided great insight and great context on what's to come.

Most recently with Frost & Sullivan and now moving over to Compass Intelligence, we're now both officing at a very special place called Geekdom, on the 11th floor of the Weston Centre.

While its name, Geekdom, and its mission of being a collaborative workpace is serving many startups and the new class of TechStars Cloud, there is a group of us like James and myself, who are either analysts, professional service providers, consultants or in my case, a PR advisor to technology companies.

There's more people like James who are becoming part of the Geekdom ecosystem, where we're all being inspired with the opportunity to share knowledge, help each other, and learn from a new generation of builders, makers and creatives, who are bringing what's next, to reality.

Before you pitch...

Be strong.  Show your strength with great writing and insights that will make you a source for the media.  Photo by me - shot at the Mermaid Parade at Coney Island, NY.  

1.   Make sure your company's blog is current and has helpful information that users (and journalists / bloggers / analysts) can benefit from.

2.   When you populate content, make it original content, and not a reciting of an article from Mashable, The Read Write Web, etc.

If you are going to recite these types of cites, then expand the content and add some insight.  Why this matters, why this is important, and what to do next.

3.  When you write, show some deep, original thinking.  If someone is going to write about you, make a good impression - before you pitch.

If they are going to find you, you want to illustrate that you'd be a great source for them and have something compelling to say.

4. More than just getting your product or platform covered, you should aim to become a source to the media that will pay off in other ways beyond the launch or a new tweak to what you think may be next.

Do the work. 

This really works.  

Time and again.

I recently met with Jonathan “Jonny” Saacks, General Partner with Genesis Partners, who is acting as one of the guiding forces and sponsors of  The Junction, a new type of startup accelerator / co-working space for entrepreneurs in Tel Aviv.

Traditional venture capital firms like Genesis Partners historically (and continue) to invest the build-out of the Internet.  

In a perfect world, the company is funded, grows, does the right thing, and has an exit.  Having personally served Genesis Partners portfolio companies, AudioCodes and Allot Communications who’ve both had exits, I have a personal high regard for its management team and approach to building new companies.

Sometimes, a startup may not fit the traditional model of a VC-funded company.  Capital requirements are generally much lower, as are the barriers to market entry and the potential to disrupt.  Yet, VCs like Genesis Partners need to stay abreast of emerging trends and waves to come. 

The Junction serves not only the startup community, but Genesis Partners itself, who can keep emerging trends on their radar, and possibly bring the right startup into an ecosystem of deal flow and new opportunities.

I’d like to see more VC firms follow this model. 

Kudos to Genesis Partners and their forward thinking.

In early November of this year, I met Assaf Kindler at the DLD Conference in Tel Aviv.  He shared his story, which I posted here on the idea of bringing Israeli and Palestinian software developers together for joint development projects.

Assaf Kindler, Founder / CEO Yazam Software

Originally born at the Peres Peace Center outside of Tel Aviv, the project was spun off into a business, which Assaf turned into Yazam Software. 

While certainly a compelling and heart felt idea, the realities are that businesses who call on companies like Yazzam for services, they have to be price competitive, technically competent and deliver quality. 

 Last week, I had a chance to catch up with Assaf again at the Peres Peace Center during my recent visit to Israel.  

We talked about market opportunities in cloud, mobile, and leveraging his competitive advantage of location and the mixing of two unique and very skilled development teams that delivers as promised.

 

This week will mark my fifth trip to Israel this year.

I've been traveling back and forth for seventeen years and have been fortunate to help launch and grow some very innovative and successful companies.

While there are certainly many other centers (particularly in the U.S.) of technology, what makes Israel unique is not just the great things that come for here, but rather the concentration and sheer number of people involved in the startup scene.

Silicon Valley, New York, Boston, Portland, Austin, and yes, San Antonio where I am based, have startup scenes, but to travel the U.S. to discover, connect and just hang out, requires lots of travel.

When you're in Israel, you're generally no more than an hour or so from a great event, a conference, trade show, or meetup.

It's just easier to quickly scan the universe of digital thinking and what's on the mind of coders building and making the next big thing.

I think of Israel as a recharge zone.

Spending one week here gives me a burst of inbound energy and spirit.

It's a place to rejoice in the human spirit, bounded only imagination, a willingness to try new things, disrupt and reinvent.

Today in Tel Aviv, I gave a presentation to a group of friends and associates of Jeff Pulver's startup ecosystem in Israel.

The premise of this presentation is NOT to do PR, but how to prepare your company for PR, how to be found by the media and how to make PR and strategic communications part of the R&D process.

My MacBookPro needs a new logic board that will require my leaving the computer at The Apple Store San Antonio for three days.

Given that I had a one week trip to Israel scheduled, I thought it was time to do the grand experiment and see if I could go one week without a computer and do my normal work stuff only using iPad.

Some friends recommended the Bluetooth keyboard, but I opted out. I'll be able to edit photos, but only for the purpose of deletiong and then editing in Aperture when I get back.

I also bought an unlocked iPhone 3GS from UnLock in San Antonio for $200 which replace the crappy phone I've had.

This year I will have spent three months in Israel and anticipate continuing this trek into 2012.

I'm using Pages and Keynote and have critical documents I'm working on using iCloud. Have you gone without a computer for this long?

Chime in....