By leveraging and using HARO the right way, you can create long-lasting and potentially lucrative relationships within the media

Help a Reporter Out (HARO) is a completely free service for journalists and it allows them to connect with sources with information. If you are an expert and you have a story you want to share with the media, you can sign up with HARO in order to get directly connected with real journalists to get your story out there. This will increase traffic you get to your website and it can help increase exposure to your brand or company.

Following the steps below can help you find the best outlet for your story through HARO:

1. Respond To The Perfect Match

Once you begin your free account with HARO, you will begin to get a lot of requests from various journalists at (3) different times per day. You want to read these requests thoroughly in order to choose the best fit for your respective pitch. You should only respond to requests if both your experience and the information you have is a perfect match for what the journalist is looking for. If you do not see any request that matches your pitch exactly, simply wait for one that does. There will always be more.

2. Respond As Quick As Possible

If you see a perfect match, you will want to answer as quickly as you can. By delivering your pitch as quickly as possible, you will be able to land it. Typically, these opportunities will be first come-first served. Therefore, you will only be able to get rewarded with it through quick responses.

3. Proofread and Edit As Well As Possible

The fact is, no journalist is going to trust you as a source of the material you end up sending them has various grammatical errors. Likewise, they won’t trust it if it is poorly written. Because of this, you want to read over your material and ensure that it is free of various spelling and grammar errors that can be easily avoided prior to sending it out.

4. Differentiate

You will want to look to come up with something unique in order to stand out from the rest of the crowd. Because these journalists are pitched daily with different things, you will want to ensure that you are doing something to make your pitch stand out. You want to focus on their audience and their needs when making your pitch rather than your own.

5. Stay To The Point

You want your HARO pitches to be complete to the point. Try to stay as brief as possible and don’t stray from the topic. Respective journalists don’t have time to read through complex and wordy pitches. Look to keep your pitch a maximum of 5 sentences unless they ask for more.

6. Provide Accurate Information

The HARO journalists will rely on you as their key source for their information. Because of this, you need the information to be both accurate and up to date. You might even be quoted on the information that you provide.

Bonus: Always Follow Up

If you follow up on your pitch prior to their respective deadline, you will have a much better chance of getting your pitch to stand out. There is a small window that can give you the edge. Take it and reap the benefits.

HARO is a truly unique platform that you can leverage to create and build long-lasting media relationships and to get more coverage for your brand or business. By proving to respective journalists that you are a reliable source of information, you can really reap tremendous rewards with the platform.