How to build a press list that gets you coverage

Finding relevant bloggers, gathering their emails, and organizing a press list

If you’re bootstrapping a product, getting attention for it at launch can be hard as you don’t necessarily have the capital to invest in marketing and promotion.

While working at Tiny Hearts I’ve had the opportunity to launch a number of apps. All of which were bootstrapped, and all of which grew and sustained growth mainly through press outreach.

Now, building a targeted press list full of relevant writers will not guarantee you receiving press coverage. But it is one of many steps that will improve your chances.

In this piece I’ll walk you through my process for finding relevant writers, finding bloggers emails and contact information, and organizing your press list.

Finding the right writers

Finding the right writers is the hardest part about securing press. There are hundreds of writers at any given publication, and there may only be one or two writers who would be a good fit to write about your product.

Setting up mental filters before you start searching is a quick way to decide whether a writer is a good fit. For example, when searching for writers to pitch my app Leet, I used the following filters:

Do they write about gaming?

Do they write about apps?

Are they an influencer?

Are they active/posted recently?

Now that you have your filters, you can go out and find the writers you’re looking for.

Searching for the right blogs

I always begin by doing a larger blanket search on Google — something like: top gaming blogs.

I also set up Google Alerts for specific keywords relevant to the product I’m looking to promote.