An Easy Way to Get Quoted in Tons of Media Outlets
Do you subscribe to HARO (Help A Reporter Out)? If you’re a blogger, writer, business owner, PR professional, or an inquisitive snoop, you should.
HARO is a free service; you receive an e-mail three times daily. Each e-mail includes 30 or so queries from writers looking for expert quotes to beef up their stories. The queries are categorized for easy skimming:
- Urgent
- Business & Finance
- General
- Health & Fitness
- Lifestyle
- Technology
- Travel
Reporters need quotes for every topic imaginable. Here’s a sampling from recent issues:
Hotel Rooms 911 –
Am wondering about hotel rooms which are numbered 911. Have any hotels tried to assign it as a last resort, or tried eliminating the room at all. Has anyone ever been assigned the room and asked to switch? Is this especially resonant in New York City.
Cord Blood Banking – Is it Worth it?
We need expert comments regarding the merits of cord blood banking, the expense, etc.
Your happiest wedding surprise (national bridal magazine)
Looking for brief, humorous anecdotes from women in their 20s, 30s and 40s about the biggest surprise at your wedding. These should be positive surprises this time around, no downers this time around! Tell me a bit about what happened, keeping your description to a few sentences, tops.
Fixes for common gutter problems (national web site for home owners)
Need home maintenance and repair experts to discuss common gutter problems and how to fix them. Story is for a national Web site geared to homeowners. Quick deadline. Need folks who can talk in the next week.
It takes me a minute—tops—to skim the queries each day. About once a week, one jumps out at me and squeaks, “Respond!”
So I do. (Note that you need to respond quickly—as in same day—because most reporters have a 24-hour or less turnaround time.)
I keep my responses succinct, either delivering a pithy sound bite via e-mail, or sending the reporter a one-sentence explanation of my expertise on the topic, along with my contact information.
Inevitably, the reporter contacts me – sometimes to thank me for volunteering – but often, to let me know they’ll be quoting me.
Today, I was quoted on TLC’s Slice of Life blog, in an article called, “Why Text While Driving When You Know Better?”
I actually don’t text while driving; in fact, text messaging is completely disabled on my cell phone. Because I’m one of a small minority of cell phone owners who intentionally doesn’t text, I thought my opinion might make for an interesting counterpoint to Joelle Klein’s article. Sure enough, she quoted me – AND included a link to my business Web site.
The whole thing took less than five minutes of my time and resulted in a backlink to my site from a well-known media outlet.
I love HARO for several reasons:
- It gives me opportunities to be quoted as an expert source in a variety of media outlets.
- It helps me tap the pulse of the publishing industry – I know exactly which topics are hot. Some of those hot topics make an appearance in my own articles.
- It allows me to network with other journalists, bloggers, and PR people I wouldn’t “meet” otherwise.
- It’s a great place for me to solicit expert quotes for the articles I write.
- It’s fun.
- It’s free.
HARO is also on Facebook and Twitter.
To subscribe to the HARO queries, or if you’re a journalist looking for a source, go to HelpAReporter.com.
Readers: Have you made media appearances as a result of HARO or another “expert” service? Please share your favorite service and/or a link to a story in which you were quoted as a result of an expert service.
I have tried this several times, maybe it just isn’t in the card yet for me but I will keep trying.
I have tried this several times, maybe it just isn’t in the card yet for me but I will keep trying.
I have tried this several times, maybe it just isn’t in the card yet for me but I will keep trying.
I have tried this several times, maybe it just isn’t in the card yet for me but I will keep trying.
Don’t give up, Alyssa. The strangest article topics come up on HARO — sometimes they trigger a memory deep within that could be a great fit for the reporter’s story.
I’ve learned to keep my submissions short, yet sound-bitey. I give them one or two sound-bite sentences they can use immediately if they want, or I e-mail them a 1-2 sentence teaser, along with my contact info.
Don’t give up, Alyssa. The strangest article topics come up on HARO — sometimes they trigger a memory deep within that could be a great fit for the reporter’s story.
I’ve learned to keep my submissions short, yet sound-bitey. I give them one or two sound-bite sentences they can use immediately if they want, or I e-mail them a 1-2 sentence teaser, along with my contact info.
Don’t give up, Alyssa. The strangest article topics come up on HARO — sometimes they trigger a memory deep within that could be a great fit for the reporter’s story.
I’ve learned to keep my submissions short, yet sound-bitey. I give them one or two sound-bite sentences they can use immediately if they want, or I e-mail them a 1-2 sentence teaser, along with my contact info.
Don’t give up, Alyssa. The strangest article topics come up on HARO — sometimes they trigger a memory deep within that could be a great fit for the reporter’s story.
I’ve learned to keep my submissions short, yet sound-bitey. I give them one or two sound-bite sentences they can use immediately if they want, or I e-mail them a 1-2 sentence teaser, along with my contact info.
[…] I blogged about one of my own writing opportunities via HARO here: An Easy Way to Get Quoted in Tons of Media Outlets […]
[…] I blogged about one of my own writing opportunities via HARO here: An Easy Way to Get Quoted in Tons of Media Outlets […]
fabulous I just joined, thanks for the tip! 😉
fabulous I just joined, thanks for the tip! 😉
Glad to be of help — I hope those resources provide you with some great places to get noticed!
Glad to be of help — I hope those resources provide you with some great places to get noticed!
I’ve been quoted by Ladies’ Home Journal and was contacted by several other mags after submitting tips on HARO. It’s a great resource, but it does take practice and patience to wade through all the emails and craft responses well.
I’ve been quoted by Ladies’ Home Journal and was contacted by several other mags after submitting tips on HARO. It’s a great resource, but it does take practice and patience to wade through all the emails and craft responses well.
Good for you, Dena! Yes, HARO does work and it works well if you use it judiciously. My rule or thumb (sounds as if it’s yours, too) is to craft my responses to HARO queries with the same care I’d use when sending a regular query letter to a magazine editor.
Good for you, Dena! Yes, HARO does work and it works well if you use it judiciously. My rule or thumb (sounds as if it’s yours, too) is to craft my responses to HARO queries with the same care I’d use when sending a regular query letter to a magazine editor.