Fulcrum Blog

Have you ever used ProfNet? It’s basically a way to connect reporters and journalists to sources through the public relations community. We had the service at the PR firm where I used to work. Reporters submit queries, which are distributed to ProfNet subscribers who can respond when appropriate.

I loved the idea behind the service and from time-to-time found some great opportunities for my clients to get positive publicity. But I was always overwhelmed by the number of emails and queries I had to dig through. I cursed ProfNet regularly, especially on days when I was out to meetings and came back to find an e-mail box full of them. And though I never knew the exact price for it, I perceived it as expensive. As such, I didn’t sign up when I started my own firm.

Recently, I came across a similar service that I like better and that’s FREE! It’s provided by Peter Shankman and is called Help a Reporter Out (HARO). Peter sends just three e-mails a day that have a very personal tone. It’s like your friend Peter is just passing along some leads he thought you might be interested in.

I can’t for the life of me remember where I first read about HARO. It may have been on Facebook, or Wordfeeder or through MarketingSherpa, or any number of other news services I subscribe to. Nonetheless, I signed up.

I enjoy Peter’s daily commentary, even though I skip it sometimes if I’m too busy. And I’ve made use of at least two queries already. With my pursuit of accreditation in public relations, and my personal desire to pursue more public relations business, this is a great tool for me.

You should know, though, that I’m really jumping on the bandwagon by writing about HARO. You see, just since I signed up last week, I see HARO everywhere. Kind of like when you first admire a friend’s bold new fashion statement, and suddenly it’s like everyone around you is sporting the same trend. I’ve seen HARO mentioned on Twitter (and am following Peter Shankman there), it’s been on Shel Holtz’s blog, I found out I’m part of a local Facebook group that was inspired by HARO, and after passing the site along to some PR friends, saw it reported in my local PR association’s newsletter. Also, when trying to figure out where I first saw it, a Google search for “peter shankman” and “help a reporter” returned 836 results.

If you haven’t already signed up for this service, do it now. Soon you’ll feel like Peter is your new best friend and all of your other friends are starting to pal around with him too. A new clique of cool kids is forming. But this time you’re actually invited to be a part of it!

Peter – you’re taking over the (PR) world. Great idea and great job.