Thoughts about non-profit & social services PR
I’m glad to see that it didn’t take long for Canadians to jump on the success of the U.S. based Help a Reporter Out (HARO) service (see my last post).
JournalistSource is modeled after HARO and follows an identical format. It’s just getting off the ground so there haven’t been too many journalist queries as yet but I’m sure that will change as the word gets out.
Spread it around!
There’s a great resource I subscribed to a few months back called Help a Reporter Out (HARO). It is the brainchild of Peter Shankman, a PR professional in New York City. This FREE resource links reporters who need sources for stories with the individuals who can assist them.
Peter started this service on Facebook but subscription growth has demanded that he move it to an less restrictive platform. The idea is brilliant, and simple—as brilliant ideas often are.
Three times daily, Peter sends out an email to subscribers that lists information/sources requested by journalists. Topics run the gamut from health issues to technology products to parenting information. Right now, most of the journalists are based in the US but in the three months or so that I’ve been subscribing, I’ve seen an increase in the number of Canadian journalists using the service.
So far, I haven’t had the opportunity to link any of my clients to journalists using HARO. However, I did act as a source myself for a Canadian running magazine called iRun that was doing a story on people who run when travelling.
It’s not always easy for non-profits, or small businesses for that matter, to know how to approach a reporter to get their issue in the media. HARO could be an opportunity to get your story out there should a reporter be looking for information related to your cause, expertise or business. It’s definitely worth checking out.
I’ve been a bit slack in my blog posting schedule over the summer but I hope to pick up speed again come September. Why not subscribe so that you don’t miss a post?
