First, what in the world is HARO? Well, it stands for Help A Reporter Out and it’s basically the Craigslist for writers. It feels scary and REALLY hard to be featured by HARO, so, Imma teach you how to use HARO to get publicity for your biz.
How to use HARO to get publicity for your business.
First, go to helpareporter.com and SIGN UP…it’s free.
Want to watch a video version of this post? I’ve got you covered!
Alright, after you’ve signed up, you’ll start getting THREE emails, every.single.day. With “calls for contributors” from writers and editors of online magazines and sites.
These emails will be long, text-only emails and can feel overwhelming – BUT – they’re broken into sections (business, lifestyle, etc) so you can filter through in that way for your business niche. Then, you can click on the hyperlink in the email and it’ll automatically take you to the description for that particular topic.
The description is usually VERY short and will tell you WHO they’re looking for and WHAT they need.
So, let’s say you see one that’s under the “business” section and it’s “how to grow your business with YouTube”, then, when you click, the description says, “Looking for YouTube experts to explain how YouTube is useful for small businesses. Please send a 250 word explanation of why YOU think YouTube is great for businesses”.
There’ll be a deadline and a HARO-based email address, just hit “reply” and go to town.
Now, getting the emails and replying to them is just half the battle.
I’ve been accepted to several articles from HARO submissions and I’ve learned a few things along the way, so let me give you a little tip (or three) on how to be more likely to get picked to be featured.
Tips for getting picked
- Keep it short and sweet. This is an exact email I wrote in response to a HARO “call” and I was accepted. You want to tell them who you are and what you do REALLY quickly (have that elevator pitch ready) and then go straight to the answer, making it clear and concise.
- Reply with your EXACT answer. Don’t assume that they’ll like what you have to say and then reach back out for more, odds are – they won’t do that. These editors and writers are SO busy so you want to make life easier for them. Reply with an exact version of how you’d like to be featured answering their question (see above example).
This way they can copy and paste, feature you and be done. - Include your links in plain site and where relevant. You want to make the link to your website CRAZY obvious to the writer/editor so they don’t have to go digging around in your email signature, etc. Also, if you have a piece of content that will back up what you’re saying, include that. They won’t always use that link but it’s worth putting it in especially if you’ve done your content marketing homework.
