Melody of a Different Model
MusikPitch is a songwriting business with a difference. Launched in April 2010, the company is the brainchild of former Navy aviator Scott McIntosh – an entrepreneur with a love for the Web and the possibilities it offers. Rather than employ songwriters, the Nashville-based company provides an online platform where writers and composers compete to win jingle contests. Any company or person looking for an original, branded or personalized piece of music can set up a contest, offer a prize amount, then sit back and listen as songwriters send their entries in from around the world.
Having set up the company and overseen the development of its website, McIntosh briefly hired a digital PR firm for MusikPitch’s launch before taking over the company’s marketing himself and implementing a strategy that included PRWeb.
“The PR agency had used a different press release service,” he says, “but after I quit using them, I went back to PRWeb, who I’d used in my first company – and I had a phenomenal result.”
When Headlines Sing About Tacos
One month after launch, McIntosh wrote and released a story about how Nashville restaurant The Local Taco had found its very own jingle via MusikPitch in a $1000 competition that attracted 60 entries.
“I’d been reading a book called Made to Stick – it’s about what makes ideas stick in people’s heads,” says McIntosh. “I tried to apply some of its techniques when writing my release: tell a story with things people can imagine visually, like a taco restaurant; use names, use real figures. I kept it local, hometown, and something people could relate to. Then I submitted it and went out for the evening. And then, a couple of hours later, my Web developer called me.”
Web Traffic That Rocks and Rolls
“He usually emails me rather than calling,” recalls McIntosh. “I thought something was wrong. He told me that he didn’t know what was going on but our Web traffic was spiking. Then I got my Google alerts, and immediately realized that mainstream media services were picking up the PRWeb release. Forbes.com and others were covering my story.”
“MusikPitch started getting hundreds of Web hits. We’d been averaging 300 hits a day – after the news release, we were up to over 1,000. I was ecstatic. I had friends calling from all over saying they saw my company on Yahoo! News.”
“The coverage we got was nothing short of incredible. It made so many more people aware of our brand, and even today it helps immensely when I’m telling someone about MusikPitch. I can refer someone to mainstream media sources who talk about us. When I show people where we’ve been reviewed – that helps me get a lot of meetings. It’s got us a lot of interest. I’m immensely happy with the return on my investment.”
“The PRWeb process was extremely easy to use,” says McIntosh. “I could put it all together myself – it’s great for small businesses and startups. I think it’s the best service for all my PR needs. And the analytics are amazing: you can see exactly what site traffic your release led to, and whether it led to any conversions. It’s great feedback that tells you when you’re getting it right.”
