How can I get in contact with Journalists in the personal finance space in the US in the larger pubications?

What? You are obviously unqualified for this position. You need to quit and let someone else do it.

The honest answer is that it's not hard IF you have a great (remarkable) and cool product. I've placed our products such as DNA11 on csi:NY (entire episode centered around our art), The Amazing Spiderman, Today show and many more. For the most part they contacted us with interest. The way I got us on CSI is by doing something really outside the box. I literally wrote a letter (yes on paper) to the show's creator Anthony Zucker. I simply offered him a free portrait and told him I was a fan. 2 months later the producers contacted me and told me they had written an episode that would feature us. It was amazing to see our idea featured on one of the most watched shows on earth! This was more luck than anything but I had to put myself out there to get the opportunity. The worst thing that can happen is you get a no. Don't be afraid of rejection because 9 out of 10 times you will get rejected. All you need is one yes. Ok. Real tips: 1. Get on LinkedIn. Get a pro account. Many producers are on there and you can simply InMail them. You just have to make sure your pitch is solid. 2. Send free samples. Use research and hustle to find the names and addresses you need. There's no real easy way to get this info but there are several web sites that offer lists. 3. Never pay for placement. Ever. 4. Get on popular product blogs and get traditional PR on top tier blogs. Product researchers are often on these sites looking for the next big / cool thing. Again, you must have a really cool product for this to work. Once you get some momentum on these fronts you will magically begin to get lots of inbound Opportunties. That's when things start to get easy. However there's a reason they call it "earned media" HUSTLE! If anyone wants to brainstorm more or talk about tactics in detail contact me on Clarity.

You will always be your best PR agency. Because if you can't sell yourself, then no one will be able to sell / market you. In my experience, when I start something with money as the focus I fail. However when I work to create something amazing for others, I win and win big. My advice is to focus on creating value (amazing value) and then the money, exclusivity and $300 /hourly rate will flow to you. Imagine for a moment a PR firm getting you XYZ celebrity / billionaire client. If you can't deliver on creating value for that client you will never retain them as a customer. Use price as a strategy to position you (the brand) and then never stop creating more and more value for others. I hope this helps.

There are a handful of great PR agencies for mobile consumer apps in SF & NY but for a consumer launch, a great PR agency isn't sufficient to garner widespread coverage. With so much actual product awareness for new apps being driven by Twitter (and to a lesser extent Facebook), traditional PR is insufficient unless the right people are also talking about it the day of launch. Look at Jelly's launch yesterday for a launch done right (at least from a marketing perspective). With no disrespect meant to PR firms, I really think that spending the kind of dollars they charge for launching most apps is a waste of money. I think with a good directed outreach by you as CEO, you can get enough influencers talking about your product, providing of course, it lives up to the promises. I think a PR outreach should really be invested in as the app scales, when the kinks have been worked-out, and when there is already a certain amount of buzz. But expecting that the first buzz will be ignited by PR firms is a risky bet.

Forget books, if you want to understand CSR just go online and read about case studies of CSR nightmares and read content from those who hate corporations. This will tell you both the problems and results of bad CSR. The solutions will be obvious.