{"id":44160,"date":"2023-10-20T15:33:52","date_gmt":"2023-10-20T15:33:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/startupsmart.test\/2023\/10\/20\/five-top-tips-for-handling-negative-media-coverage-startupsmart\/"},"modified":"2023-10-20T15:33:52","modified_gmt":"2023-10-20T15:33:52","slug":"five-top-tips-for-handling-negative-media-coverage-startupsmart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/uncategorized\/five-top-tips-for-handling-negative-media-coverage-startupsmart\/","title":{"rendered":"Five top tips for handling negative media coverage – StartupSmart"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"feature-bad-press-thumb\"<\/div>\n

Getting bad press seems a bit unfair if you\u2019re a start-up. You haven\u2019t even got started yet and already there is a negative review of your product or service, or someone poking fun at your brand.<\/p>\n

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Alas, you cannot control what the media \u2013 or anyone else \u2013 writes about you, despite what some correspondence sent to StartupSmart<\/i> suggests.<\/p>\n

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But your media antennae need to be switched on from day one if you are to ensure that your business isn\u2019t severely damaged by a bad write-up.<\/p>\n

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The founders of mmMule are just one example of a start-up that was thrown off guard when a somewhat bizarre article appeared recently on US tech blog TechCrunch<\/i>.<\/p>\n

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mmMule is a Sydney-based social travel network connecting locals who want items delivered with travellers or \u201cmules\u201d who can deliver them.<\/p>\n

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In return for delivery, travellers are rewarded with local travel experiences. The business was founded by Andrew Simpson, Avis Mulhall and Alan Mulhall.<\/p>\n

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In an article titled “Deliver the love with mmMule: Let strangers carry things to other places for you”, TechCrunch<\/i> writer John Biggs takes a tongue-in-cheek approach to the service.<\/p>\n

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Biggs\u2019 story \u2013 which is written in first person \u2013 features a mule who wanted a free tour of San Francisco \u201cin exchange for taking a pound of cut heroin to my contact\u201d, suggesting mmMule leaves itself open to drug couriering and other criminal activity.<\/p>\n

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\u201cYou can sign up for free and they don\u2019t hassle you or nothing, and they don\u2019t give your name to the cops, even if the cops ask for it. Sweet deal,\u201d Biggs wrote.<\/p>\n

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Avis Mulhall was quick to comment on the article, setting up a fictional scenario in an attempt to highlight what the founders saw as the real value of mmMule.<\/p>\n

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Mulhall\u2019s story centred on a soldier during World War Two, charged with the task of returning a watch to a woman whose husband put the request on mmMule before he was killed.<\/p>\n

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\u201cNo money ever changed hands\u2026 but [the mule] kept his word,\u201d Mulhall wrote.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIt\u2019s just amazing to me that something as simple as a website like mmMule could create such powerful stories.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Mulhall\u2019s comment sparked plenty of interest, with one reader describing Mulhall\u2019s story as \u201ceven better than the first article\u201d, before declaring, \u201cI am totally a fan of Avis and mmMule\u201d.<\/p>\n

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While this is one way to respond to a lukewarm write-up, there are other things you need to consider in order to protect your brand.<\/p>\n

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StartupSmart<\/i> spoke to the experts about how to handle mediocre reviews.<\/p>\n

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1. Be prepared<\/h3>\n

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Sydney-based entrepreneur Ryan Wardell says sites such as mmMule are always going to come up against this type of thing because \u201cthat\u2019s just the nature of [their] business\u201d.<\/p>\n

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\u201cPeople will want to know how you prevent drugs and other illegal items being smuggled \u2013 make sure you\u2019ve got a kickass comeback prepared,\u201d Wardell says.<\/p>\n

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2. Don\u2019t overreact<\/h3>\n

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Jo Macdermott, founder and director of Next Marketing, says unfavourable media can be damaging to any business at any stage of a business lifecycle, not just start-ups.<\/p>\n

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\u201cFor a new business, it may mean that they never really get going. They may not have enough customer loyalty to weather the storm,\u201d Macdermott admits.<\/p>\n

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\u201c[But] there is a saying that there is no such thing as bad PR.\u201d<\/p>\n

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According to Wardell, it\u2019s important to remain calm and collected in these situations \u2013 like Mulhall \u2013 or risk drawing more attention to the unfavourable review.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI think the average TechCrunch<\/i> reader is bright enough to understand [the mmMule] article is tongue-in-cheek,\u201d Wardell says.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Getting bad press seems a bit unfair if you\u2019re a start-up. You haven\u2019t even got started yet and already there<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":59393,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20,1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44160"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44160"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44160\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/59393"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44160"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44160"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44160"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}