Matthew Bivens of Gainesville, FL writes:
“I work at a startup company called Fracture, which gives people an innovative way to print, mount and display their personal photographs. Send us a photo and we’ll print it on a pane of shatter-proof glass.
“We’ve been in business a little over a year, and we’ve received press from various news and media outlets (both local and national), and our product has been pretty well received.
For example, a TechCrunch blog post back in October 2010 drove in hundreds of orders in a matter of hours—a huge leap from the 10 to 20 orders per day we were seeing at the time. We’ve had other media coverage here and there, but we have yet to see real sustained growth.
“All of our focus is currently on sales and marketing, and we’d love any advice you or your readers can give as to different cost-effective ways a startup can use to gain exposure and spread the word.”
Get a couple of photographers (portraits, wildlife, etc.) involved on your Facebook page. Once they start promoting you on their pages word will spread like wildfire. We photographers love sharing ideas with other photographers and clients, especially when it’s something that can be used in shoots or to display our work! Or do a photo contest with a giveaway for the winner to get people both participating and talking.
Start sending samples of your work to the most influential bloggers in certain niches.
For example, do a Google search for “Top 10 mommy bloggers.” Choose one or two. Visit their blog. See if you can find a photo of them with one of their children. Or their favorite vacation spot or whatever.
If you need a high-resolution photo, contact them, tell them who you are and request the photo so you can send them a sample. Be sure to link to your website so they can learn about your background.
Do the same for other niches. You can contact influential bloggers who write about travel and vacations, pets (this niche is huge!), authors and books, weddings, special events, etc.
Also, consider sending a sample product and a press release to the “new product” sections of magazines that would be a good fit. (Pets, travel, etc.)
Matthew, you have a fabulous idea. I love it!
I would do some research into other companies that are doing something similar such as http://www.easycanvasprints.com/. Contact them and ask if they would consider a reciprocal link.