Used to be if a company wanted to get some free publicity, they would fax or mail a press release to a news organization such as a TV station or newspaper. That’s how it was when I worked for the Nightly Business Report back in the late 1980’s.
Times sure have changed.
If you want to reach a reporter today, you can look up their email address on the media company’s website or engage them on Twitter. But there’s another way you can get free publicity — with a service called HARO or Help a Reporter Out.
HARO matches reporters from publications like The New York Times, ABC News, HuffingtonPost.com and more, with sources. When you sign up for the service as a source, you’ll get 3 emails a day covering topics you’re interested in. Each of those emails has a query from a reporter who is writing a story about a particular subject. Anyone can sign up to submit a query – even small business owners who are writing a blog article and need case studies, etc.