Wondering how to “get press” for your startup? You’re not alone. We’ve yet to meet a founder who isn’t eager to nab that elusive TechCrunch piece, spark excited Twitter chatter with the launch of their latest product feature, or gather accolades on one of the tech and business media’s many coveted lists. And we get it. Press coverage helps validate your brand, cultivate inbound opportunities, and attract employees, investors, and partners. It’s also just, well, exciting to see the company you’re working so hard to build get recognized.

Whether we’re talking about a dedicated story heralding the arrival of your transformative new product, inclusion in a roundup of companies to watch, or an interview with your latest hire in an important industry trade publication - getting press coverage can be a major step in moving your brand forward. At some point, every single founder considers how to make an effective press announcement for a company launch, feature release, new partnership, or funding round. For this month’s Fuel Up, we decided to sit down with one of the best PR brains in the business to dig into the component parts of announcing something to the press.

An effective PR strategy can help elevate your brand and advance your narrative, surgically position your company to achieve specific objectives, and build trust with your customers, partners, employees, and investors. That’s the good news. The bad news is that some common mistakes can derail your efforts and relegate PR to a pricey indulgence that wastes executive time, misses opportunities, and creates problems down the line.

After being “raised” in a large company (Johnson & Johnson) where budget wasn’t a concern, my go-to strategy was always to outsource PR. In fact, in all my roles prior to TaskRabbit, I relied on outside agencies to manage my PR programs. In nearly all these roles, the relationship with the PR firm was a productive one. Since I didn’t have extensive experience in traditional media, it was a good training ground for me to learn how to leverage PR to achieve my marketing goals.

There’s a world of media training advice out there. Some of it good, some of it great, much of it quite dated. The good news is that you don’t need to be an expert to talk to the press about your company, you just need to be a human who is prepared. If you’re lucky enough to get a press interview request before you have someone leading your PR efforts, this is your cheat sheet.

Developing your brand’s key messages is an essential exercise at the company’s earliest stages - ideally before there is a lot of attention on your company and definitely before a formal corporate announcement. Even before you take steps toward building out a PR function - like bringing someone in house or retaining the services of an agency - you’ll want to get your story straight.