Show HN: Publicize – PR for Startups
publicize.co
publicize.co
I also found it suspicious that you have reference to "as featured in" but it's an image and not a link, so I did a little digging. For your The Next Web feature, all Publicize has is participation in a pitching contest (http://thenextweb.com/voice/2015/04/14/all-75-startups-that-...) and an guest posts written by the CEO (http://thenextweb.com/entrepreneur/2014/11/22/tech-reporter-... and http://thenextweb.com/entrepreneur/2014/12/13/5-common-mista...). Neither would count as a feature.
Additionally, why do you have a Y Combinator logo under "our successes?" Having success with batch companies is a bit different than having success with the parent entity.
for the featured in, you are right (it actually goes back to when we were expecting publicize to be featured in a tnw article as our design was being implemented and this was pushed back). because we've only been included & written guest articles, we will change this to as seen in.
update: we've fixed this to "as seen in".
update: we just removed that bar at the bottom (so the logos are no longer there). thanks for the feedback.
https://i.imgur.com/g7dLXCZ.png
0/10
I shouldn't need to explain why that is that case, of course, because public relations and marketing and UX are based entirely on the same psychological principles. And therein lies the problem. You're a public relations company displaying the inability to relate to the public.
Don't fix this "today", fix it right now. It should be your top priority.
Like I said, it reeks of desperation. Every time something pops up over the actual content of your site, you might as well just replace the text in that pop-up with "please, please, we beg you to give us your business!" Because that is all anybody sees. I assure you.
Source: Web developer of 18 years, watched companies literally go out of business based on similarly poor user experiences that I could not talk them out of.
That doesn't necessarily make them a good idea, since annoying many of your users or going against your principles may not be worth the boost, but you should be careful about assuming your own ux preferences will lead to the best conversion rate--unfortunately, the data will often prove you wrong.
Doing a promotion-model on a page that already is promoting the product is "yo dawg" levels of silliness.
If an annoying UX element actually increases conversions, it is purely a sign that your overall UX or UI or marketing verbiage is failing. Conversions will increase significantly more if you fix the core issue, because not only will a proper UX/UI still elicit the conversions from users who might have been pressured by desperate tactics, it prevents alienating those users who are not susceptible to those tactics.
I have never once come across a situation for which this was not the case.
Edit: I think the perfect example of this is your own website. And I don't mean to insult you, I'm just giving you my take as a visitor and an experienced developer.
I was entirely turned off by the pop-up, which puts me firmly in the insusceptible category. Then after closing that pop-up to explore your actual marketing message, I was overwhelmed. Not just by the meaningless industry jargon, but by the sheer amount of dissimilar and unorganized content on a single page.
I can guarantee, without any shadow of a doubt, that a more succinct and meaningful message will increase your conversions more than the three desperate elements currently on the page ever will.
Completely agree that our site and message can be improved. It's a continual work in progress. That said, the exit intent popup has been a large driver of leads for us. There are doubtlessly better ways to get leads, but given limited time to seek perfection, for now I'd rather have the clients this gets us than the approval of a purist who offers no data, just personal opinions.
I love that there's a few people starting to innovate in this space, but I'm having a pretty hard time from the outside getting an idea of what your product actually is. Are you strictly focused on outreach to outlets, or is there more to it. Is it even a product, or how are you different from other PR firms? Would love to be able to get more clarity on that without having to create an account.
(FF 39 on a MBP)
Couch it in friendly language, like: "We'd love to help you X! For $400 a month, we'll Y to help you get there--or check out our other pricing plans [here]."
When people see "Sign up for free!" on a web site, they're used to having it mean, "Give us your email and we'll send you a ton of ads for free until you hit unsubscribe!" So, not a great tactic. Being up-front with your deal in that space instead will make you seem a lot more legitimate.
I'm a pretty good writer. If you don't mind, I'd like to give a little free nitpicking--er, editing advice about your front page.
>"Publicize is a next-generation PR company.
>"We help leading technology startups grow faster."
"Next-generation" is a pretty meaningless phrase. It may have been meaningful at one point and I can see where you're getting it, but it's become an overused buzzword. Avoid. Plus, you're using two sentences to say not very much. It's just clutter.
How about: "Publicize is a PR company tailored to the needs of lean, fast-growing technology startups. Here are some of the services we offer:" and then list your services so it doesn't seem like they're just randomly stuck there.
>"I had a great time working with publicize"
Did you mean to capitalize "Publicize"? From what I can see, it's not one of those always-lowercase names. Be careful about how you represent the writing on your web site, especially if you're offering a service that manages press releases! Capitalizing your company name is like fixing a spelling error; it doesn't invalidate the quote as long as you're not intentionally trying to warp what he said.
Greg Laughlin's review sounds genuine and earnest, but it has a problem: its sentence structure doesn't quite flow. I suggest basically keeping it how it is to preserve the quote, but maybe make Alan Grant's review the one that shows by default instead. It has a more professional feel, better punctuation, and better flow.
Just suggestions! It looks like you've gotten a lot of good feedback already on this, but a little bit of polish on the writing on your site would really make it shine. When you're a PR firm, you have to really make sure your own marketing is stellar. If you can't market yourself really well, customers will assume you won't do any better for them.