On this page14
- The three engagement types
- Fractional retainer
- Launch sprint
- Category-narrative sprint
- What's included in every engagement
- Proof from campaigns I've run
- How the process runs
- Weeks 1 to 2: narrative and plan
- Weeks 3 to 6: first stories in market
- Week 6 onward: cadence and compounding
- What to have ready before kickoff
- How results are measured
- Who this fits, and who it doesn't
- Questions founders ask before signing
Web3 PR Campaigns: What a Fractional Engagement Delivers
A Web3 PR service from me comes in three shapes: a fractional retainer at $5K to $12K a month for 3 to 12 months, a launch sprint at $15K to $40K over 4 to 8 weeks, or a category-narrative sprint at $18K to $32K over 8 to 12 weeks. Each one is run by me directly, not by an account team, and aims at the tier-1 crypto and business press: Forbes, CoinDesk, Cointelegraph, Decrypt, The Block, Blockworks and Bitcoin Magazine. You get a senior operator who writes the narrative, pitches the reporters and runs the logistics end to end.
I've done this for six years across 50+ protocols. This page is the plain version of what you're buying.
The three engagement types
| Engagement | Price | Length | Use it when |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fractional retainer | $5K to $12K per month | 3 to 12 months | You have steady news and want a standing PR function |
| Launch sprint | $15K to $40K total | 4 to 8 weeks | A mainnet, raise, major partnership or listing is coming |
| Category-narrative sprint | $18K to $32K total | 8 to 12 weeks | Your category is new or misunderstood and reporters don't have a beat for it yet |
For context, crypto CMOs often pay agencies $15K to $30K a month. The difference isn't only price. It's who does the work.
Fractional retainer
The retainer is a standing PR function without the agency overhead. At the lower end it covers a focused cadence: one or two stories a month, founder bylines and reporter relationships. At the upper end it adds more outlets, more markets and more founder appearances.
Launch sprint
A sprint is built around one moment. Narrative, exclusive strategy, embargo coordination, press kit, founder prep and a two-week tail of podcasts, bylines and translations. Price depends on the number of outlets, markets and assets.
Category-narrative sprint
Some projects don't have a launch problem. They have a category problem. Reporters can't cover what they can't explain, so the sprint focuses on education: bylines, founder interviews and briefings that give the press a reason to treat your category as a beat. It's the work behind the Fluence campaign described below.
What's included in every engagement
- Narrative workshop and a one-sentence category line signed off by the founder
- Angle memo per story: the hook, the outlet, why now
- Media list built by beat and outlet, not bought from a database
- All pitching done by me, from my own relationships
- Embargo and exclusive management, including lift-time coordination
- Founder media prep before every interview
- Press kit and newsroom updates
- Ghostwritten bylines in the founder's voice where they fit the plan
- Coverage tracking and a short monthly report with what worked and what's next
- Regular check-ins, plus async updates in your Slack or Telegram
What's not included by default: paid placements (I don't sell them), KOL campaigns (a separate KOL marketing service), and token-launch specific comms, which have their own token launch PR program.
Proof from campaigns I've run
I only state what's public on my work page.
RARI Chain. For RARI Foundation's NFT infrastructure chain on Arbitrum, the global mainnet launch produced 11 simultaneous tier-1 placements across CoinDesk, The Block, The Defiant, Cointelegraph and CryptoNews, with the embargo lifted into coordinated APAC translations. That's a launch sprint at full stretch. Read the RARI Chain case study.
Fluence Network. For DePIN compute, the work made DePIN a beat for tier-1 reporters and anchored Tom Trowbridge as the category voice across CoinDesk opinion, Cointelegraph's "Hashing It Out" and Bitcoin Magazine NL, alongside Decrypt, Benzinga and e27. That's the category-narrative model. Read the Fluence case study.
MANTRA Chain. An $11M raise for an RWA Layer 1, reframed as a Middle East RWA story anchored on Abu Dhabi-based lead investor Shorooq Partners. It won a CoinDesk exclusive on March 19, 2024, was re-reported across Decrypt, CryptoPotato, CryptoDaily and Milk Road, and was paired with a Cointelegraph profile of CEO John Mullin titled "Everything Tokenized."
Web3Auth. The Google Cloud x Firebase integration story went into Blockworks, CoinDesk, Yahoo Finance and Benzinga, with localised placements in French, Italian and Spanish.
The pattern across these is covered in more depth in six PR campaigns and what they had in common.
How the process runs
Weeks 1 to 2: narrative and plan
Kickoff call, founder interviews, competitor coverage review and a narrative doc. We agree on the category line, the three stories that matter most in the next quarter, and the outlets each story is aimed at. You sign off before any pitch goes out.
Weeks 3 to 6: first stories in market
Pitches go out. For a launch sprint, this is the exclusive and the embargoed second wave. For a retainer, it's the first news story plus a founder byline. I prep the founder for every interview and sit in where useful.
Week 6 onward: cadence and compounding
On a retainer, the rhythm becomes monthly: one or two news stories, a byline or podcast, relationship building with reporters on your beat. Each month's report says what landed, what didn't and why, and what's changing.
| Week | Retainer | Launch sprint |
|---|---|---|
| 1 to 2 | Narrative, media list, story plan | Narrative, angle memo, exclusive target |
| 3 to 4 | First pitches, first byline drafted | Exclusive briefed, embargo list briefed, press kit final |
| 5 to 6 | First placements, founder interviews | Launch day, coordinated lift, translations |
| 7 to 8 | Monthly report, next stories queued | Podcasts, bylines, tail coverage, wrap report |
What to have ready before kickoff
The first two weeks move much faster when these are in place. None of them need to be perfect.
- A founder who can give two or three hours across the first fortnight for interviews
- A list of upcoming milestones for the next two quarters, even if dates are soft
- Any numbers you're willing to share on the record: users, TVL, transactions, revenue, partners
- Names of investors and partners who'll provide a quote, with their comms contacts
- Brand assets: logos, product screenshots, founder headshots
- One person on your side who can approve messaging within 48 hours
How results are measured
I don't report on vanity impressions. Every monthly report covers four things: tier-1 placements landed against the plan, whether coverage used your category line, founder appearances (bylines, podcasts, interviews), and downstream signals you can verify, such as inbound from partners, investors or candidates who cite the coverage. If a story didn't land, the report says why and what changes next month.
Who this fits, and who it doesn't
It fits if:
- You're a protocol, L1 or L2, DePIN, RWA, wallet, infrastructure or AI x crypto project with a real product
- You have news in the next one to three months, or a category that needs explaining
- A founder is willing to be quoted, interviewed and bylined
- You want one senior operator, not a team of juniors
It doesn't fit if:
- You want guaranteed placements or paid "tier-1" packages
- The project has no product, no team on record, or a token-first story with nothing behind it
- You need crisis cover across many markets 24/7 starting tomorrow
Questions founders ask before signing
"Why fractional instead of an agency?" Agencies sell senior people in the pitch meeting and staff juniors on the account. Fractional means the person you meet is the person doing the work. My breakdown of fractional PR for Web3, cost and scope goes deeper.
"What exactly does a retainer cover each month?" It depends on the tier, but every month has a story plan, pitching, founder content and a report. The Web3 PR retainer scope of work lists what a good retainer should include, whoever you hire.
"Can you cover APAC too?" Yes. I operate across Korea, Japan, Vietnam, Singapore, India and the UAE, and lead APAC PR and partnerships at Myosin. APAC launches can be bundled in or run as a separate APAC PR engagement.
"How should I compare you against agencies?" Use the free PR agency evaluation scorecard on every option, including me.
The full scope and current availability are on the Web3 PR campaigns service page.
The press doesn't need another protocol announcement. It needs someone to explain why your category matters this month, and that's the work.
Planning a launch or a raise? Book a 30-minute teardown and I'll tell you which engagement fits and what it would cost.