Help a Reporter Out (HARO) in an online social media service where thousands of reporters, bloggers and small business owners get together to leverage each other expertise, build public relations, promote their brand and gather news or information sources.
Founded by Peter Shankman, a PR expert with over 10 years of experience, HARO is a result of a Facebook Group created with the intention of bringing together all his contacts and utilizing each member's expertise to help out others in any way possible; because Peter believes that "Everyone's an expert at something".
"When reporters needed a hand, they'd always turn to me. I began like that. Everyone knew that I had lots of friends and lots of people I knew and I could always get them who they needed or what they needed." shares Peter.
HARO is a free resource that works in a very simple way, once you sign up with them you will receive 3 emails everyday with queries from reporters, bloggers or small business owners all over the world about various subjects or topics. If you think you can knowledgeably answer that query than simply reply to mail and if not, then some other day maybe.
On the other hand if you wish to submit a query, all you need to do is visit their website and click on "Submit Queries" and that query will then be forwarded to the right people among 100,000 HARO members and soon you will be receiving the right answer directly in your inbox.
So how do they earn their bread and butter?
Quite simple...through advertisements, which has earned them an average of $1 million yearly revenue.
Why should you use it?
Peter Shankman says that "Help A Reporter Out was born from the concept of being nice", but other than being nice and sharing your expertise with fellow HAROs there a lot more to it.
Firstly, if you have provided a fellow reporter or blogger with relevant information and resource, there is a huge possibility that the advise seeker may mention you in his/her work. This will hugely help in building your or your company's reputation and brand; an expert opinion acknowledged by bloggers or small business owners holds strong credibility.
Secondly, you can seek expert advice. Other than looking for answers for your query you can also look for feedbacks on a certain project, campaign or article. This will not only help in bringing you honest insights about your work but will also help in networking with people similar to your niche and yet again, creating a brand image.
Thirdly, if you wish to shell out some money to give your business a kick start then you can opt for their Sponsors package where they provide three ways in which they will target the right people for you. Click here for further information.
Conclusively, HARO is crowdsourcing at its best. You will be a part of a huge community of like minded people in a system that works both ways. If you need help, ask for it and if you can help, go for it. It is rightly said that "a problem shared is a problem halved".
According to Peter "A significant portion of the network are public relations professionals, but the fastest growing group on the site is small business owners who want to be quoted as an authority on a particular topic, but don't know how to surface themselves to reporters, and can't afford a PR firm to help."
Click here to visit Help A Reporter website. Do remember to share your views or feedbacks by commenting below.
Why not use crowdsourcing to generate revenue, rather than rely on Ads? - http://locallyinformed.com