Create Your Winning Press Kit

So you want to see your name in lights. Media coverage is one of the best and least expensive ways to let the world know about you and your company (or rock band for that matter). The trouble with media coverage is that you can’t buy it or send a regular email to get it. With a couple of simple tools you can create a press kit that will help you attract the attention of local media outlets.  (This is part 3 of a 3 part series. If haven’t already, start with Part 1: The Media List and Part 2: The Press Release.)

The press kit provides additional support for your media campaign. Typically you send a press kit to follow up if a journalist is interested in your story. Every press kit is a bit different. However, there are a number of standard documents you should include. You can be creative with the press kit and include more than what is listed here.

FAQ:  People are likely to have additional questions about you and your product. Provide answers to those questions here. Include relevant details that were not critical to your press release.

Bios: Provide background information about your core team in this document. This is similar to a resume--however, it is written out. Start with most recent items and work your way backwards. This should be fairly straight forward.

Fact Sheet: The fact sheet is a bulleted list of all the important information contained in your press release and press kit. Think of this as an outline of your press release and press kit.

Company Background: Write about your company's background and history. You can talk about previous accomplishments and important events.

Picture: Include a picture of you or your product. Make sure it is relevant to the story.

Now that you have a great media list, a compelling press release and an awesome press kit, it's time to find your business some exposure. Send your press release to the people listed on your media list, then follow up with your press kit when reporters and journalists contact you!

About the Author: Steve Anderson is an entrepreneur who lives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Currently he is the COO of LessonLogs and the Founder of Laylines Consulting. He has helped numerous companies obtain seed stage funding and is a previous winner of Startup Weekend Madison. In addition, Steve has a Masters Degree from the Wisconsin School of Business. Find him on Twitter: @LaylinesSteve

Roadmap to Protecting Your Company’s Value: Navigating Your Legal Issues

You can protect the value of your privately held company by working with your lawyer to make strategic business and legal decisions and by ensuring that your legal documents are consistent in implementing those decisions. Many privately held companies face similar legal issues and all can benefit from developing a legal plan to help protect company assets, both tangible and intangible. Use the following information as a roadmap when considering your company’s legal issues and driving your company’s business plan.

Company Structure

Your company’s legal structure provides the framework for conducting your business operations. It is critically important that you take into account your long-range business, legal and tax planning goals when developing your company’s legal structure.

Three primary choices for your company’s legal structure include:

(1) limited liability company/tax partnership

(2) corporation/ tax C corporation

(3) corporation/ tax S corporation

Each alternative offers advantages, which you should consider in light of your long-term business strategy. In certain circumstances, a mature company may change its company structure in order to take advantage of benefits provided by the new structure.

Protecting company intangible assets

You and your executive team can protect your company’s intangible assets through a combination of legal contracts and protective filings. You may choose to protect intellectual property through patent, trademark and copyright filings. You will often need to protect your company’s intellectual property through protective contract provisions in license agreements and other customer or vendor agreements. Contracts with your employees also provide important safeguards, including non-competition agreements, confidentiality provisions and assignment of invention agreements, to assist in preserving company value.

Raising Capital For Growth Initiatives

Growth oriented companies often look to private equity groups for additional investment. Legal documentation defines the investors’ rights and shields the company from exposure. You may need to amend your company’s operating agreement or corporate by-laws to define the new investors’ economic rights. The operating agreement or shareholder agreement may provide contract rights that limit transfers of any new stock or securities that are issued in connection with the investment. Your company may need to issue a private placement memorandum and subscription agreement in order to comply with applicable securities laws and regulations and to protect your company from potential securities related claims.

Several common investment structures for a private invest- ment include preferred stock or units, common stock or units, participating preferred stock or units, convertible promissory notes and warrants (options to acquire stock or units in the future for a defined exercise price). Common issues that arise in the course of investor negotiations include investor rights in company governance (e.g., board seat, veto rights over certain defined actions and voting rights), future equity dilution if new investors or key employees are issued equity, future adjustments to investor equity based on post investment performance, and staged investment structures (i.e., the investors contribute additional post-closing funds as goals are achieved).

Incentivizing employees

You can use an employee incentive equity or compensation plan as a tool to protect the value that key employees provide to your business. Equity plans can include sales or grants of stock or units, options to acquire equity in the future and specially tailored cash bonus plans. Some cash bonus plans may provide special payouts on the successful sale of a company, which provides management a powerful incentive to remain with a company through the completion of a transaction. Vesting provisions help protect a company from risk that it will have to make a payment if the employee chooses to follow another opportunity or does not satisfy performance goals.

One frequently used tool to incentivize a key employee is a profits interest. A profits interest is normally attractive to an employee because, if structured properly, the employee is not taxed at the time of grant and future payments on exit can qualify for capital gain treatment if the company is sold at a profit. Meanwhile, if a company does not increase in value or produce operating profits after the grant, its preexisting owners will not experience economic dilution.

Corporate governance and shareholder agreements

Executives and owners should periodically review your company’s operating agreement, By-Laws and any applicable shareholder agreements to ensure that your company’s and its stakeholders’ interests are properly governed in light of current events, business strategies and legal developments. Operating and shareholder agreements often provide rules that limit or prohibit shareholders from transferring equity to certain parties, provide options or requirements that a company purchase equity from the owners in certain circumstances, such as termination of employment, death, disability, or bankruptcy, and require a company to make cash distributions to shareholders or partners if a company is a tax flow-through entity.

Dispute resolution

Defending and/or settling disputes with third parties in a cost efficient manner, potentially including former employees or governmental regulatory agencies, directly protects your company’s cash resources as well as its (and your) reputation. Creating an employee handbook with appropriate legal provisions can reduce the probability and impact of litigation with former employees.

Other key contracts:

Other key contracts often include finance-related contracts with lenders (e.g., promissory notes, security agreements, inter-creditor agreement, etc.), lease agreements with landlords, and key vendor and customer agreements. Contract terms must protect company access to critical assets and resources

Add-on acquisitions:

Companies that are poised for growth often accelerate their growth process through acquisitions of smaller companies that will add a critical market segment, technology or other component to the business. Legal due diligence and review of the target company’s contracts and legal rights (including the strength of intellectual property protection) helps the acquirer measure the value of the target’s business. Legal negotiation and documents play a key role in accomplishing the acquisition, including preparing and negotiating a letter of intent, drafting and negotiating the purchase contract and designing contracts with key employees of the target company.

Exit Strategies:

A privately-held company’s likely exit strategy should influence all of its le- gal decisions. Common exits include a sale to a strategic or financial buyer, management buyout, partial sale through a company recapitalization trans action, transfer to a family member or members, initial public offering and sale to an ESOP (employee stock ownership plan).

Your privately-held company’s executive team can use strategic legal planning to maximize and protect the value of your company’s tangible and intangible assets and to support your company’s overall business strategy.

About the author: Daniel P. Cooper is a shareholder in Reinhart Boerner Van Deuren s.c.’s Business Law Practice. He can be reached at 414-298-8134 or dcooper@reinhartlaw.com.

How to Write a Killer Press Release

So you want to see your name in lights. Media coverage is one of the best and least expensive ways to let the world know about you and your company (or rock band, for that matter). The trouble with media coverage is that you can’t buy it or send a regular email to get it. With a couple of simple tools, you can create a press kit that will help you attract the attention of local media outlets. This is part 2 of a 3 part series. (If haven’t already, start with Part 1: The Media List.)

The keyword in news is new. It's easy to communicate your news to local media with the standard format of a press release.  This format makes it easy for them to digest your information.  A well written press release can make or break your media campaign.

The 11 Critical Parts of a Press Release:

1. Media contact: The contact person at your company for questions or interviews.

2. Release date: Most press releases are either: “FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE,” or “UNDER EMBARGO UNTIL: Day, month, year.” (Under embargo means that the media should not publish the news until the embargo expires.)

3.  Headline: The headline should catch the reader’s attention and contain the main topic of the post. A good headline goes a long way. Here’s five easy tricks to writing catchy headlines.

4.  Sub-headline: This is a note or summary that contains other important information. Punctuate like a title and center align.

5.  Dateline: "MONTH, DAY, YEAR (City, State)." The dateline is almost always bold and listed in that order.

6.  Introductory paragraph: Write the most important information and any important details.  If someone reads this paragraph and this paragraph only, they should know what the story is about.

7. Body paragraphs: These paragraphs contain more information and details. The body should be about two paragraphs maximum.

8.  Quote: Supply a quote from an executive or founder. This can be used as a statement from your company in lieu of an interview.

9.  Other information: This is for other details that are not critical to the story. Keep this section short.

10.   "ABOUT [YOUR COMPANIES NAME]" Include information like your corporate mission, website, history, etc. This should be single spaced.

11.  After the article, include three hash marks (###) to mark the end of the press release. (See example below.)

Stayed tuned for Part 3: The Press Kit

Part 1: 5 Easy Steps to Unlock Media Coverage

Part 3:  The Press Kit

About the Author: Steve Anderson is an entrepreneur who lives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Currently he is the COO of LessonLogs and the Founder of Laylines Consulting. He has helped numerous companies obtain seed stage funding and is a previous winner of Startup Weekend Madison. In addition, Steve has a Masters degree from the Wisconsin School of Business. Find him on Twitter: @LaylinesSteve

Five Easy Steps to Unlock Media Coverage

So you want to see your name in lights. Media coverage is one of the best and least expensive ways to let the world know about you and your company (or rock band, for that matter). The trouble with media coverage is that you can’t buy it or send a regular email to get it. With a couple of simple tools, you can create a press kit that viagra shop usa will help you attract the attention of local media outlets.

This is the first part of a three part series. Let’s get started!

The first part of your press kit is your media list. The media list is a collection of names and email addresses for local reporters and journalists. Pick reporters and journalists who are likely to cover you and your business. The best way to get ignored is to send a press release about a new product to a reporter who covers music and arts (don’t be this person). If you don’t have a good media list even the world's best press release will fall flat. This is the leg work that will make your media campaign successful.

Here are five easy ways to make a targeted media list:

1) Define your audience. Who are you trying to reach? Who are your customers?

2) Identify the publications that your audience reads.

3) Look at each of these publications and get to know the type of content they publish.

4) Find the journalist who has previously covered topics similar to yours.

5) Find that journalist’s contact information and add it to your media contact list.

Follow these five easy steps to find a handful of reporters and you will be well on your way to a successful media campaign!

Part 2: The Press Release

Part 3: Create Your Winning Press Kit

About the Author:
Steve Anderson is an entrepreneur who lives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Currently he is the COO of LessonLogs and the Founder of Laylines Consulting. He has helped numerous companies obtain seed stage funding and is a previous winner of Startup Weekend Madison. In addition, Steve has a Masters Degree from the Wisconsin School of Business. Find him on Twitter: @LaylinesSteve.