We all know the power of positive reviews.
They to gain more exposure, build links, get referral site traffic, and jumpstart any new business.
But many struggle with how to get press.
In this article, I’m going over one simple, quick way to get press for your website.
Watch the Video or Read the Full Article Below
So, what is this simple strategy I’m talking about?
(Que the drumroll): It’s called HARO (or Help a Reporter Out).
What is Haro?
HARO is a service that sends out three different emails per day featuring journalists looking to cover specific stories.
HARO’s mission is to connect with journalists and bloggers with subject-matter experts in order to help journalists meet deadlines and experts promote their brands.
According to its website, HARO distributes more than 50,000 journalist queries each year.
Once a pitch is distributed, sources can look through all queries to find any that match their expertise or niche and respond to the query for the chance to be included in the journalist’s work.
In a nutshell, it’s free PR.
How to Respond to HARO Pitch
Here’s the thing about HARO.
You’ll likely find plenty of pitches that seem tailor-made for you. You may be the foremost expert on whatever it is this journalist is asking for, but if you don’t respond in the right way, you won’t get picked.
To be successful on HARO, you need to respond in a way that makes people want to cite you as their source.
Here’s how to do it.
First, respond quickly.
The faster you respond to a specific query, the more likely it is that you’ll get picked up as a source.
Keep in mind, most of these journalists don’t want to go through hundreds of responses. They’re operating on tight deadlines, and will likely only look through the top responses.
If you can be one of the first ten or twenty to respond, there’s a much better chance that you’ll quoted in their article.
The title is incredibly important.
When you respond to a query, the title and first line of your response are absolutely critical.
Here’s what I used to say: “I have the perfect quote for you from a top industry expert.”
Why did it work? Because that’s exactly what somebody is looking for you. They want the best quote they can get from the top mind in the field.
If you make it very clear that that’s exactly what they’re getting in your pitch, chances are they’ll be compelled to keep reading.
Always put the quote in the response.
Here’s what you don’t want to do: write a response saying that you can get them a quote. Don’t ask to set up an interview or delay sending the actual information.
Quite honestly, these reporters don’t have time for that. Chances are, they’ll move right along to the next submission.
Instead, make sure you always include the exact quote you want them to feature in your initial submission. The reporters will thank you for it.
Put a bio inside your response.
If you’re following my advice and claiming expert status in your response, you should always include a short bio to back it up.
This will show the person is an actual expert in the field, and the reporter will know exactly who they’re attributing a quote to, and go a long way in cementing your inclusion in their article.
Again, this is a situation where you want to be as up-front as possible. Don’t make a reporter go hunting for your bio or credentials (and chances are, they won’t.)
Remember, it’s a numbers game.
In the end, HARO is a numbers game.
Don’t send in one submission and get discouraged if you don’t hear back. Instead, make it a habit to send out multiple submissions.
I recommend you try to send 3-5 a day. Within a month, you’ll likely get 2-6 PR hits, which will do wonders for your business.
Make sure to thank the journalists.
When you do strike gold and your submission gets picked up, make sure to thank the journalist for featuring you.
This is an ideal person to form a relationship with, as they’ll likely be writing similar pieces in the future. Now that they know you’re an expert (or connected to an expert), they may even reach out to you outside of HARO for inclusion in a future article.
Save all journalist contacts in a database.
My final word of advice is to save all the journalist contacts you make in a database.
This will be incredible to have in the future. Think about it: the next time you want to promote something, you can reach out to all these people who have covered you before.
That way, you can reach out to them directly to feature a quote, guest post, etc.
Wrapping it Up
So there you have it, my quick fix for getting featured in the press.
If you haven’t already, make sure you sign up for HARO to start receiving daily emails and get a sense for the kind of queries you’d like to go after.
Then, it’s time to jump in and start submitting, and watch the PR hits roll in.
