How to Make the Most Out of SXSW: Tips for Startups

05 Mar How to Make the Most Out of SXSW: Tips for Startups

As part of our series of articles on making the most out of SXSW, here are tips and tricks for startups on maximizing their time.

• Update your network. Email your supporters with news about what you are doing. Ask if they are going. Enlist their help in sharing what you are doing by including pre-written tweets that they can easily share.
• Tip: Don’t forget to reach out to technology incubators or coworking spaces that have helped you. Local economic development groups may be able to open additional doors.
• Contact blogs covering your startup community or industry. Offer to write a first person account of your experience at SXSW.
• Post to your social networks. Share what you will be doing at SXSW before you go. Listen to the online conversation and engage with others who share your interests.
• Tip: Update your social media profiles to talk about what you will be doing at SXSW.
• Issue a Press Release / Blog Post. If your startup will be doing something interesting at SXSW, issue a press release before you go.
• Tip: Consider crafting a skeleton press release or blog post that contains the basic outline of what you will be doing at SXSW before you head to Austin. That way, you can add in appropriate quotes and pictures while at SXSW without starting from scratch.
• Add the SXSW Tiles to your website.
• Utilize SXSocial. Create a profile on the official SXSW networking platform and connect with other attendees.
• Order schwag.
• Tip: If you are part of an official SXSW event, create a special business card with your contact info and details about your session to handout to fellow attendees.

Still looking for more tips? Here are a few articles from past years.

• Clever Marketing Ideas from 2014
• The right and wrong way to get noticed
• Launch a start-up like a rock band at SXSW
• 10 Creative Startup Promotions At SXSW
• Power Wear: SXSW Interactive 2015