Help a Reporter Out (HARO) was (and today, HERO is) an incredibly valuable tool that effectively bridges the gap between journalists and PR practitioners, and it filled a need on both ends. A perfect solution to an ongoing industry problem. When I have a client that needs media coverage, and a lead is shared in the daily email that fits the client's expertise, it creates an opportunity that we may never have otherwise been able to identify.
I often recommend PR.com to clients on a budget. There are some organizations, like non-profits, or very small businesses I work with who just don't have the money to spend on a pricier press release distribution service like Businesswire. For those clients, PR.com is a good alternative. You can use the free version - or elect to spend a little money to include hyperlinks, increase distribution, and so on. But there are options - and that is a good thing.
I've noticed that some queries are incredibly vague to the point where they could or could not apply to me. I feel like they should implement more strict parameters on what the query has to include.
Sometimes the outlet is marked anonymous which is not beneficial at all to those who are browsing queries. I think the outlet should be required as that is a pretty essential piece of information to consider.
I think they email slightly too often. My inbox gets flooded with HARO emails and I'm not able to go through all of them because they get buried. Maybe explore a new strategy to organize the huge amount of queries that get submitted every day.
They are different tools. While HARO pretty much gives you feedback on media opportunities you can pitch for and allows you to get in touch with the reporter, so you can get exposure and they can find people for their news. Cision allows you to syndicate your press releases. You need to have a written press release in order to use it.
I think PR.com offers a viable alternative to smaller businesses or nonprofit clients on a budget. When I tell some of those clients it will be hundreds - or even thousands - of dollars to distribute a press release on a service like Business Wire, I can feel them cringe. PR.com offers a free option - and also offers very low-cost options to boost the distribution, include live hyperlinks and so on - if clients do have a little $ to spend on that, they can. But they can choose. The bigger services are really cost-prohibitive for the smaller businesses.
A hard thing to measure in terms of actual sales dollars, however, being able to provide fresh content is essential to any brand. When someone mentions they saw the published piece or it grows organically from social media, that is a win.
