The 37signals Podcast
37signals.com
37signals have started their own podcast.
37signals.com
$1.5m over 18 months works out at about $2777 per day. Currently there are 135 jobs on the job board - we'll assume they're all $300 jobs (they also offer $50 listings for internships). This averages out (on the 30 day lifetime) to about 4.5 jobs posted per day over the last month, or $1350 of revenue - less than half the revenue necessary to meet the trend..
After watching 37s over the years, anyone who hires a PR firm today hasn't been paying attention.
(Having said that, I don't know how they find the time for it all.)
A PR firm is just a different path to the same destination, though most of them DO suck.
Believe it or not, there ARE PR firms out there that chase a similar strategy to 37s. The 37s guys are awesome at PR. If you are not awesome at PR, then you can hire a firm. But yeah, if you hire a crappy firm that sends out press releases, you probably HAVEN'T been paying attention (and neither has the PR firm).
another reference: http://37signals.com/svn/posts/307-what-do-you-want-to-know
How do I remember all this junk and not stuff that really matters?!
But I'm starting to believe that -- just like Craig Newmark and Fried suggest doing your own customer service (as long as humanly possible, Newmark still does it daily b/c he's crazy, I think Fried has hired a couple people to do the daily, easy-to-handle questions & problems) so that you "feel the pain" -- you should do your own PR, not just b/c it's cheaper, but also so you can sense what connects and what doesn't and give your small company/startup a human face as soon as possible.
Definitely worth the read.
From the article: I don't use an alarm clock. Lately, I've been naturally waking up at 6:38 every morning. I used to wake up at 7:31 every morning, which is actually when I was born. So that was kind of creepy.
How self-indulgent must you be before you agree to a piece like this?
But, I do think if you're "buying into it" by creating a unique voice & finding low-cost ways to get your message out to the public -- & not by just trying to be another 37s -- that's a positive thing.
If you said "I use an alarm clock", no one would care or read any more. Saying "I wake up naturally at xx:xx" draws people in. Even if it is utter bs.
37s are very good at PR. I'd say it's their primary business.
I don't use an alarm clock, and I wake within a few minutes of the same time each morning. I always thought it odd, but maybe it's common.