Great Resource! Help A Reporter Out!

I have to tell you about this great resource. I’m about to release a video on it, but thought I would share a bit of the script here.

It is called HARO.
HARO? HARO? What the heck is a HARO?

It is simple it is an acronym for Help a Reporter Out. It is another great resource and definitely something to check out.

Peter Shankman, CEO, Entrepreneur, adventurist and cat lover started this simple Face Book page to help out some of his reporter and friends that were looking for sources. Instead of having to cull through his list of names he developed the Face Book page, and well it grew so quickly he moved it to http://www.helpareporter.com.

If you are writer working on a story, or have a podcast and are needing guests maybe you just have an online blog and want to get some real meat into your blogging. Then fill out the form on helpareporter.com.

Or maybe you are a PR firm that has many different clients that you represent. Then you can request to be added to the HARO mailing list and three times a day you will get requests for sources. All you need to do is find some that fit your clients.

Now I’m not a huge PR firm, I’m just a sculptor and writer work on my own public relations for my fine art sculpting, gift line, and speaking engagements that I do on marketing in the arts, and oh yes, I write articles. So I signed up. As of this date I have worked on both ends. I have given interviews on being a caregiver for an elderly parent, a female sculptor and entrepreneur, fostering animals in my home, being a women techy and of course art.

Three times a day I cull through the listings to see if anything fits, I want my reply to be on target. Can I really help this journalist? I need to be very careful. It is just good PR form not to send my stuff to everyone. And we all want to be very careful not to abuse this wonderful resource.

A few weeks ago I used HARO on the reverse end. I had a quick deadline on and article that I was writing and was looking for resources on a subject that I thought no one would be able to help me with. Writing an article about the Orphans work act. I went to the site and filled out the form and a very short time later I was inundated with sources, all in time for my next day deadline. Be prepared to file those resources. I’ll tell you they come fast. It made my job so much easier as a writer.

How much does all of this cost? FREE! Peter Shankman says that it is worth it for him to take time out of his day to put the list together, after all he gets a great deal of publicity out of it. Now if you want to donate remember he is an animal lover he has no problem with you sending a few bucks to such places as Best Friends Animal Sanctuary, or the National Dog Foundation. What a guy GO SHANKMAN! And thanks for HARO.

Pass the word and let others know about the resources. Having the list grow can only help both writer and source!