Get Sourced.
Get Quoted.
Get Famous.
www.helpareporter.com
The lines above are quoted as a favor to Peter Shankman, a fellow who makes me smile daily. It says what it says because he asked his readers to use those words to track the mentions of the 1st anniversary of his business. But the rest of this post is unsolicited.
We have never met, but I feel like I know Peter more than a bit because I see his funny headers in my email que whenever I check what's new. His sense of play is contagious. Even before you click through to see what he's sent (more on that in a moment) you get a grin and a sense of what he's been doing. This guy was born to Twitter (which, of course, he does too).
What's equally obvious is that this man is born to market. He loves to link people with what they need to know and spread the word about what's new, building buzz as they say in the trade. And his way of building both bonding and buzz is perfect for the Web2 cyberverse full of readers moving at hyperspeed, whether or not they are also Twittering.
RIght Idea/Right Time
A year ago today, Peter launched a
little e-mail list called HARO. The acronym stands for "Help a Reporter
Out." The original premise was to help journalists find sources (e.g. I
need a nutrition expert by Friday) and it works wonderfully well for
that core mission.
But like any idea that is ripe for its time, HARO has morphed into more. Skimming those lists of topics seeking leads tells you what's new and about to be happening. That also makes it an irresistible read for the omni-curious like me, whether or not you are currently sourcing a story.
HARO is similar to the expert network run by the "JForum" years ago when I still had a byline in print, but the world is always on and always networked today in ways it just wasn't back then. Reporters use HARO to find experts and leads, but that's not all of it. Today PR people also read it, looking for places their authors and experts might earn a mention. The authors and experts read it too if doing their own PR. And, of course, indie blogger journalists such as yours truly love reading for all the same reasons.
Given all these interlocking benefits, it was no surprise to me to see Peter's list go viral. HARO has grown from zero to 70,000 subscribers in only a year, and his one request for sharing the lines above netted something like 6,000 commitments to post within hours.
HARO is a great little case study in what I like to call the "Win-Win-Web" where people are continuously intersecting for mutual benefit, most of it for free, and all of it fueled by synergy.
Happy Birthday HARO. May you last long and prosper.
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