Banana’s Split – Laurie Zerumsky
Banana’s Split – Nick Barba
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About the Episode
How are afraid of approaching reporters because you hate marketing? Well today’s guest shares her friendly approach to PR and how that led to a local newspaper covering the app. Also, if you’re thinking about freelancing so you can leave the corporate world, then listen to the part of the show where we talk about how to get your foot into the door.
Laurie Zerumsky is Director of Marketing and Nick Barba is Founder at mLab Media LLC, creators of Banana’s Split.
Show Notes
Approaching Reports for Press
Building the PR buzz through the friendly approach sounds easy but requires a lot of determination and persistence. There is much to be said of making the appeal or request to be covered by the press by making yourself relevant and emphasizing the connection. For instance, Laurie made sure that the press people understood that the app was made by somebody that came from the same place as these reporters and that the purpose of the app is relevant and certainly meaningful. The thing to do is to consistently reaching out to the reporters. For example, Laurie contacted them once every week until they answered. It is not pestering them. It is showing that you are passionate and Laurie firmly believes that if you can do that, you won’t be turned away. Tuesdays and Thursdays are the days the reporters look at their mail so they can figure out what they will be writing about for the week. So make sure to get your email before those days. Then once they have responded, send them a handwritten note to appreciate the time they have taken to cover your app. It is amazing how people can react to a handwritten note these days as they are so rarely done now. In other words, Laurie is advising to take the personal approach by 1) being friendly by showing you all belong to the same hometown; 2) being relevant by showing the importance of what you want to happen and 3) being consistent by keeping in touch until you get their response.
Getting Your Foot at Freelancing
Freelancing is a risk to a certain extent. So if anyone wants to go into freelance, then he must be ready to take a certain amount of risk. For Nick, he joined up with a couple of friends in the same business; he worked on projects that may not have much returns money wise, but provided experience and added to make a more impressive resume. Everything is just really a learning experience and if you improve yourself, you will get there.
What advice would you give to anyone looking to build an app?
“Do you care enough to actually go and learn it? This is the advice I would give to anyone who wants to build an app because there are so many resources out there that can help anyone who wants to build an app these days.”
Show Mentions
Episode: Crossy Road
Episode: Steven Sande
Fav app: Trello: (iTunes | Google Play)