I thought I’d start off the New Year with a FAQ: “How do I get to talk to you about what my company is offering?” This is closely related to one of the questions that I get most frequently at conferences and networking events: “How do I get on an analyst’s radar screen?”

The answer to these questions is pretty straightforward: Make a briefing request. A big analyst shop like my employer, Gartner, has a formal process that lets any vendor request to brief analysts. We, at least, will take briefings, without prejudice, from clients and non-clients alike. (It’s just that clients are entitled to advice and feedback; non-clients are not, although we’ll generally engage in dialogs if the non-client has something interesting to say.)

To convince an analyst to take a first-time briefing, though, you need to have an elevator pitch that makes an analyst say, “Hey, this is relevant to my coverage and this is a vendor that’s doing something interesting.” Alternatively, you need to have won some high-profile deals or otherwise show evidence that you’re going to be making waves in the market. Start-ups often fail to articulate what the compelling value proposition is, or otherwise demonstrate that they’re important to know about, which leads analysts to decide that it’s not yet worth taking the time to listen to a briefing.

Analysts love cool new vendors. Talking to smart people who are doing cool things and have great insights into their markets is one of the best parts of being an analyst.

If you’re an innovative or rapidly-growing provider in my coverage space, and we’ve never spoken before, I encourage you to make a briefing request. I’m particularly interested in cloud infrastructure start-ups, at the moment.