Get Free Press by Helping a Reporter

Most of you are probably familiar with press releases and their undoubted potential for sending a decent amount of extra traffic to your website, but you may not be aware that there’s a very easy way to get free press for your business without using (and often paying for) traditional press release services.

HelpAReporter.com (HARO) is one of the best tools online for getting free press and publicity. The service has almost single-handedly landed people and businesses in such prestigious publications as The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times and Forbes, and over 30,000 members of the media have quoted HARO sources in their reports and articles. Impressive stuff indeed.

So what exactly is HARO? Well, some people call it a free press or social news network, but essentially it’s a (very large) mailing list that connects reporters, writers and bloggers to news sources and small businesses and enables them to tell their stories, promote their brands and sell their products and services. HARO serves as a vital social networking resource for reporters, news sources and advertisers, and best of all it’s completely free to join (although they do offer enhanced paid-for packages).

Once you’ve signed up, HARO will send you up to three emails a day, each one containing up to 10 news enquiries (otherwise known as free press opportunities). You can then respond to any enquiries that are related to your particular market, niche or area of expertise. So if a reporter is working on a story about online business owners who’ve left their boring day jobs to start an online business, they’ll broadcast some information on HARO about the types of people they’d like to interview. If you feel that you’d be a good fit for the story, you’d email those reporters directly and tell them about yourself or your business. If they use your story in their article or blog post, expect an avalanche of traffic to your website.

This free press service actually started out as a group on Facebook called “If I can help a reporter out, I will.” However, it rapidly became so popular that the owner (Peter Shankman) decided to start sending out the enquires by email. Over 100,000 members are now receiving free press coverage as a result of the service, so do yourself a favour and get involved.

Quite simply, HARO is one of the best ways to get connected with reporters, writers and bloggers who are actively seeking your insights and input for media stories. This is hands down one of the best ways to get some free press coverage for you and your business.

You can sign up for free at www.helpareporter.com/subscriptions, and you can follow HARO’s PR enquiries on Twitter at www.twitter.com/helpareporter.

If you’ve got some cash to spare, you could also sponsor an ad in the HARO newsletter, which goes out to over 100,000 subscribers.

Keep your eyes peeled for some upcoming tips for making the most of HARO’s free press services.