Help a Reporter Out, or HARO, is a phenomenon that sprung up from one entrepreneurs mailing list of contacts between reporters and experts, and has grown into a global phenomenon.
You can leverage HARO – as an expert fulfilling source needs, or as an expert looking for anecdotal or contrasting information.

Using HARO as an Expert

HARO is effectively, free publicity for your time. If you answer questions in a timely, honest and polite manner, you will probably be selected in areas where your expertise closely matches the needs of the journalist. Working with them may give you another person to network with, but on an immediate level, it should also get your ‘name’ out there. In many cases, the urgent requests come from national papers, or large distribution magazines, where being used as a source is a valuable credit to expertise.

Using HARO the Right Way.

Haro is founded on the principle that a person subscribes for a mailing list, reads the calls for expertise and replies to the areas they are suited for – only with the information they feel is suitable for that ‘call’. These ‘calls’ range from asking for sources to talk about a newsworthy or feature worthy item, to complex expert requirements for national and international publications. All of them are brief, so answering with clarification information or questions is a great way to ensure that you’re listed as a helpful and expert respondent.
HARO itself is free to join, so leveraging it, and offering something back to the wider community costs nothing but a couple of minutes of time every day, and the great thing about it is that as long as you don’t mind missing potential expertise spots, you don’t even need to check your email daily.

HARO the Wrong Way

There is also a ‘wrong way’ to use HARO, one that might not seem obvious at first. It’s easy to think ‘well they’re looking for this information, but I know something better’ and to reply to them, outside of their information request. Doing this is a sure fire way to lead to being listed as a ‘poor’ expert, complained about to Peter Shankman, who takes complaints about off topic contact very seriously, and undoing any good work that you’ve already done.

Expert Leverage = Smart Experts

Leveraging your expertise isn’t just about tooting your horn, so if you can use HARO and other lists like it to create contacts and build a brand from your name, then you should do so.