A while ago Celeste posted a link to www.helpareporter.com as a resource, saying she hadn't yet tried it out. I've been using HARO obsessively ever since, and I wanted to share my experience, because it turns out that HARO is awesome!
- You know how you see a public request on some topic that you know nothing about, and you either spend hours researching it or else don't even try? HARO lets you connect with experts in the field and get quotes, so you don't have to know much about the topic yourself. I wrote an article in under an hour for one obscure high-priced topic with the help of some experts.
- For those of you who have ongoing private requests, you can use HARO to get quotes on very specific sub-topics that you usually have to dig deep to find source material for. Imagine telling your client that you can provide well-written articles on WHATEVER they want!
- For on spec articles, you can choose an article topic, and instead of spending hours researching, you just ask experts directly to respond to the questions you want your article to answer.
So, how does it work? You go to the website and set up an account. Then you submit a query. HARO emails queries out to their members once a day. Within a couple days, you'll see responses to your query come in. I've gotten anywhere from 3 to over 30 responses. Sometimes I just quote whatever people say in their email and sometimes I schedule a phone interview with them. (With phone interviews they usually want to know the publication, so I probably wouldn't try that for on spec writing.)
Examples of queries I've sent out: "Traveling to an unfamiliar place can be an emotional roller coaster. What specific strategies do you use to feel grounded? Please use actual place names and concrete examples of things you've done yourself successfully, not just generic ideas."
and
"Quotes needed from professional nurses working anywhere in the USA. Any degree okay, please include your qualifications and where you went to school. Just answer the question, "Which nursing book or books had a strong positive impact on your nursing career?" (E.g., changed how you see your patients/coworkers, made you a better nurse, inspired a speciality change...) Thanks!"
You are getting all these amazing expert opinions for FREE...and what they get in return is publicity, so it's expected that you include the people's full name and qualifications in your article, and a link to their website. Although sometimes people reply who don't even care about the publicity, they just want to share their opinions and have a voice. You also build relationships for future articles...people will say, "Oh, ask me anytime if you want a quote on a related topic"...and I've had tons of PR managers contact me saying "I've got person x and person y, I can schedule an interview for you"...
Since I started using HARO, my articles have been so much easier to write, they sell for higher rates, and IMO are way more fresh and original. Although lately I've only been doing requests, which don't show up on the website, so you'll just have to take my word for it
Hope some people try it out, and I'd love to hear your experience with it. And thanks, Celeste, for posting the link--I'd never have found it otherwise!
As soon as I think of something worthy to write, I'll submit a query. If you are writing freelance, what do you put down as media type, publication, etc.? If you're writing on speck (or even for a public request) we don't usually don't know where the piece will end up.