Welcome to Finance Talks where fintech and new financial companies can achieve better communications with customers, investors and other financial organisations to help you succeed. We welcome new financial companies who are looking to make a difference and improve the way they engage with end audiences. On Finance Talks you’ll find somewhere to share your news as well as the tools to build your PR. We’re also a community where you can meet other brands who are looking to make a difference and learn from. In this Forum please feel free to leave (polite) questions and we'll do our best to answer. To get the ball rolling is some thoughts below. Let us know what you think I’m a tech person, not a media pundit When you started your company, you probably gave a fleeting thought to whether you needed PR. Chances are, your first thought was: “Unless there’s some kind if disaster, it can wait until I’ve got something to show the market once I’ve raised funding.” It’s understandable, but would you be surprised to learn you might be missing a trick? The job at hand Yes, I know, you’ve got a great idea and have set up a company to develop it into a fully-fledged product/solution. Or a saleable one that will allow you to develop the next big idea. That is your focus and quite right, too. After all, until you’ve got sold that first company, who is going to take you seriously as startup/fintech entrepreneur? There’s some truth to such a view, but that doesn’t mean you can’t have your cake and eat it. Even now, you have plenty to offer. And that doesn’t mean you have to give away anything for free. A fair exchange is no robbery, and if you can offer something and benefit from it, it’s a win/win. Offering what people actually want People often think they only need to speak to the media when want to plug their products. But that really, isn’t the case. Journalists need stories all the time that are of interest to their audience. The vast majority of the time – and this may be hard to believe – they don’t want to write about your product at all. But you do have something else they want access to – expertise and insights about your sector. You know things that their readers are interested in and in exchange for that, you can get coverage. But why should that be important? Be heard above the crowd Well, coverage raises your profile. That may sound like hard work, when all you want to do is keep your head down and nail your proof of concept. But this is one way of raising your stock without giving away any control – or equity. The proliferation of media sources in the digital world gives you many more opportunities to tell your story. But there’s a lot more noise as a result. Building relationships with the media from the early days when all you have is enthusiasm and an opinion is a great way of establishing your voice within the maelstrom. Building a network, or tapping into an existing one? Now, contrary to popular misconception, most journalists don’t spend their time out on boozy lunches or on glitzy press trips. It’s not as easy as it used to be to make contacts and that means building relationships with journalists takes time. This is where a a good PR can be worth their weight in gold. They can open doors you don’t even know exist, and help you build your profile as an industry expert far easier than you would. Having an established voice in the market is worth money in the bank, as it gives you credibility – always useful when you’re fundraising – and access to coverage that money simply cannot buy. Now, do you still think that PR can wait?