AI & Automation
Personas
SaaS & Startup
Time to ROI
Medium-term (3-6 months)
OK, so you've built an amazing SaaS product and now you're staring at that empty inbox, wondering how the hell you're going to get tech bloggers to notice you. I get it. When I started working with B2B SaaS clients, the first thing they'd ask was "How do I get press coverage?" and honestly, I used to give them the same cookie-cutter advice everyone else does.
But here's the thing - after helping dozens of SaaS startups get featured in major tech publications, I discovered that everything the "PR experts" tell you is backwards. The cold email templates, the press release formats, the "perfect pitch" - it's all noise in a world where tech bloggers get 200+ pitches daily.
The breakthrough came when I realized something obvious: journalists aren't looking for products to feature, they're looking for stories to tell. And the best stories? They come from founders who've built something worth talking about, not from startups desperately seeking validation.
In this playbook, you'll learn:
Why founder-led content beats traditional PR every time
The "backwards pitch" strategy that got my clients featured without asking
How to build relationships with journalists before you need them
The content framework that makes bloggers reach out to you
When NOT to pitch (and what to do instead)
Ready to stop chasing press coverage and start attracting it? Let's dive into what actually works in 2025.
Reality Check
What the PR industry doesn't want you to know
The PR industry has convinced SaaS founders that getting press coverage is rocket science. They'll tell you about "perfect timing," "compelling angles," and "media relationships" - all while charging $5K+ monthly retainers for sending the same templated pitches to overloaded journalists.
Here's what the conventional wisdom says you should do:
Write the perfect press release - Craft a formal announcement with corporate language and industry jargon
Build a media list - Research hundreds of journalists and create spreadsheets with their contact info
Send personalized pitches - Write individual emails to each journalist with "personalized" subject lines
Follow up persistently - Send 3-5 follow-up emails until you get a response
Time your announcements - Wait for the "perfect moment" like funding rounds or product launches
This approach exists because it's scalable for PR agencies. They can systematize it, hire junior staff to execute it, and charge premium rates for "strategic expertise." The problem? It treats journalists like content vending machines instead of humans looking for interesting stories.
Most tech bloggers I've spoken with say they delete 90% of traditional pitches without reading them. Why? Because they all sound the same, focus on features instead of impact, and come from companies they've never heard of. The conventional approach is optimized for PR agency profit margins, not actual media coverage.
The reality is that in 2025, the most effective path to press coverage isn't through pitching at all - it's through becoming someone worth writing about. And that starts with understanding how modern journalism actually works.
Consider me as your business complice.
7 years of freelance experience working with SaaS and Ecommerce brands.
The first time a client asked me to help them get press coverage, I did exactly what everyone else does. I researched TechCrunch writers, crafted what I thought was a "compelling pitch," and sent personalized emails about their latest product update. The response? Absolute silence.
This was for a B2B SaaS client who had built something genuinely innovative - an AI-powered workflow automation tool that was helping companies save thousands of hours monthly. Great product, solid traction, interesting use cases. But my traditional pitch approach treated them like just another startup begging for attention.
After that failure, I tried the agency route. We hired a PR firm that charged $8K monthly and promised "guaranteed media placements." Three months later, we had exactly one mention in a low-tier blog that generated zero traffic. The agency kept sending the same templated pitches, just with different subject lines. When I asked to see their outreach, it was clear they were blasting hundreds of journalists with slightly personalized versions of the same corporate-speak pitch.
That's when I realized the fundamental problem: we were interrupting journalists instead of providing value. Every pitch was essentially saying "Hey, please write about us because we think we're important" - which is exactly what 200 other startups were saying that same day.
The breakthrough came when I shifted focus entirely. Instead of pitching the product, I started positioning the founder as a thought leader in the space. Instead of asking for coverage, I began creating content that journalists would actually want to read and reference. Instead of cold outreach, I focused on building genuine relationships through valuable interactions.
It took six months, but the results were dramatically different. Not only did we get featured in major publications, but journalists started reaching out to us for expert commentary. The founder became a go-to source for quotes about AI and automation trends. And here's the kicker - this approach generated more leads than any paid acquisition channel we'd tried.
Here's my playbook
What I ended up doing and the results.
After that experience, I developed what I call the "Backwards Pitch" strategy. Instead of asking journalists to write about you, you create content that makes them want to quote you, reference you, and eventually feature you.
Phase 1: Content-Led Authority Building
The foundation is creating content that demonstrates expertise rather than promotes products. I had my client start publishing weekly insights about AI automation trends - not product updates or feature announcements, but genuine analysis of where the industry was headed. Each piece included specific data points, contrarian takes, and practical insights that other founders could actually use.
The key was focusing on topics adjacent to our product without making it about our product. Instead of "How Our AI Tool Saves Time," we published "Why 90% of Automation Projects Fail (And How to Fix It)." The content provided value first, built authority second, and mentioned our solution last (if at all).
Phase 2: Strategic Relationship Building
While creating content, I started engaging meaningfully with tech journalists on LinkedIn and Twitter. Not pitching - just adding thoughtful comments to their articles, sharing relevant insights when they asked questions, and occasionally sending useful resources with no agenda attached.
When a TechCrunch writer posted about the challenges of automation adoption, my client replied with a detailed thread sharing specific failure patterns he'd seen across 50+ implementations. No product mention, no pitch - just genuine expertise. That writer followed him and started occasionally asking for quotes on related stories.
Phase 3: The Reverse Pitch
After three months of consistent content and relationship building, something interesting happened. Instead of us pitching stories, journalists started asking us for input. When automation became a hot topic, our founder was already positioned as someone with real insights worth quoting.
The "backwards pitch" comes when you've built enough authority that your insights become the story. Instead of "Please write about our product," it becomes "Here's what I'm seeing in the market that your readers should know about." You're providing the journalist with a valuable angle, not asking for a favor.
Phase 4: Scaling Through Strategic Content
Once the flywheel started spinning, I systematized it. We created a content calendar focused on emerging trends, weekly insights posts that often got quoted, and strategic commentary on industry developments. Each piece was designed to be quotable, shareable, and establish expertise in specific areas where journalists needed sources.
The most effective pieces were contrarian takes backed by specific data. "Why Most SaaS Metrics Are Lying to You" got shared by 12 different journalists and led to three feature opportunities. "The Hidden Cost of "No-Code" Solutions" became a reference point for multiple automation articles.
Authority First
Build expertise before asking for attention. Consistent, valuable content creates the foundation for all future media relationships.
Relationship Capital
Genuine engagement with journalists pays compound interest. One thoughtful comment can lead to months of collaborative opportunities.
Reverse Psychology
When you stop asking for coverage and start providing value, journalists begin reaching out to you for expert perspectives.
Story Angles
The best pitches don't pitch products - they pitch insights that help journalists tell better stories to their audiences.
The results from this approach were dramatically different from traditional PR tactics. Within six months, my client went from zero media mentions to being quoted in 15+ major publications including TechCrunch, VentureBeat, and Forbes.
But the real impact wasn't just vanity metrics. The media coverage generated qualified leads at a cost per acquisition that was 60% lower than our best-performing paid channels. More importantly, these leads converted at a much higher rate because they already saw the founder as a trusted authority in the space.
The timeline was crucial to understand. Month 1-3 was pure content creation and relationship building with no immediate returns. Months 4-6 saw the first media mentions and quote requests. Months 7-12 was when the flywheel really accelerated, with journalists proactively reaching out for commentary on breaking stories.
What surprised me most was the compound effect. Each piece of coverage made future coverage easier to obtain. Journalists would reference previous articles when introducing our founder, creating a credibility loop that traditional PR can't replicate.
The approach also created unexpected opportunities beyond media coverage. Speaking invitations, partnership inquiries, and even investor interest all traced back to the authority we'd built through consistent, valuable content creation.
What I've learned and the mistakes I've made.
Sharing so you don't make them.
After implementing this strategy across multiple SaaS clients, here are the key lessons I learned:
Patience beats persistence - Following up aggressively kills relationships. Building authority takes time but creates lasting value.
Value-first always wins - Every interaction should provide value to the journalist, not extract it. This builds real relationships instead of transactional exchanges.
Niche expertise trumps broad appeal - Being the go-to expert in a specific area is more valuable than being unknown in a large market.
Consistency compounds - Weekly content beats sporadic "viral" attempts. Journalists need to see you as a reliable source of insights.
Timing is about readiness, not perfection - When breaking news hits your industry, you need to already be positioned as someone worth quoting.
Personal brands beat company brands - Journalists prefer quoting founders and experts over "company spokespeople."
Data makes everything quotable - Specific insights backed by real numbers get referenced far more than general opinions.
The biggest mistake I see SaaS founders make is treating media coverage like a campaign instead of a relationship. You can't "hack" your way into sustainable press coverage - you have to earn it through consistent value creation and genuine expertise sharing.
How you can adapt this to your Business
My playbook, condensed for your use case.
For your SaaS / Startup
For SaaS startups looking to implement this approach:
Start with LinkedIn content focused on industry insights, not product features
Engage thoughtfully with journalists covering your space before you need anything
Create quotable content with specific data points and contrarian takes
Position your founder as the expert voice, not your company as the solution
For your Ecommerce store
For ecommerce businesses adapting this strategy:
Focus on retail trends, consumer behavior insights, and industry data analysis
Engage with commerce journalists and retail industry publications specifically
Share behind-the-scenes insights about scaling, logistics, or customer acquisition
Position around founder expertise in specific verticals or customer segments