With the media echo chamber focusing on the same top tier tech companies, startups have a harder time getting noticed. But at least now your client’s company doesn’t have to be from Silicon Valley to gain media traction. New York’s own Silicon Alley has attracted increased attention from tech reporters, due in part to the success of startups such as foursquare and Fab.com. As Devindra Hardawar, national editor for VentureBeat, said, “Now what’s happening in New York has become fascinating.”

Hardawar appeared on a panel at a PCNY event on Tuesday that also included NYC-based editors and reporters covering the tech and startups beat from GigaOM, Mashable, Business Insider and WNYC’s New Tech City morning radio show. The event was a follow-up to a June PCNY panel centered on mobile–and this time the topic was breaking through in the complex tech and startups space.

Recent stories the panelists wrote or produced should give PR pros some hints about the angles that hook them. Ki Mae Heussner, staff writer for GigaOM, focused on content hackathons as the future of textbooks. Alyson Shontell, an SAI editor for Business Insider, wrote about the size of startup companies’ user bases and whether ten million is the new one million when it comes to users. WNYC’s New Tech City radio host Manoush Zomorodi produced a segment featuring reporters learning to code. As Zomoradi observed, “their visits to different code training venues added texture and flavor” to reflect the reporters’ experiences.

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Yesterday Boston.com, a property of The Boston Globe, ran a great listicle by PR man and 451 Marketing founder AJ Gerritson titled “7 PR Tips for Startups”. Since quite a few firms have startup clients, we think the piece is well worth a read–but we’ll summarize its key points here. Key question: what should startups do to make sure they’re ready to make the most of any and all exposure they receive after going public?

1. Make sure you’re prepared for the attention. Essentially, the time to ensure that your website looks good, works well and places highly in search engine results is before you put out a press release.
2. Build your PR toolkit. You may be excited to let the world know how great your company is/will be, but don’t do it without well-written summaries, executive bios, and jpegs (bloggers have to use something as the featured image, you know).
3. Know your Market. Seems like a no-brainer, but we take this to mean you need to truly know your market–don’t just guess at who your target audience might be. Figure it out through research.
4. Find partners. It’s much easier to navigate the media minefield when you partner with someone who knows how to do it. Gerritson advises startup PR folks to emphasize that relationship by posting on a partner’s blog or holding jointly sponsored events. Both great ideas. Read more