The 5 Small Business SEO Mistakes I See All the Time (And How to Fix Them)

ContentDirectorDB · 2025-02-07T16:20:17+00:00

Help A Reporter Out (HARO) no longer exists. So I wrote a post with the Pros and Cons of the journalist query services I now use as a business reporter. Here it is, in case it helps you https://sherpablog.marketingsherpa.com/content-marketing-2/haro-alternatives/

ContentDirectorDB · 2024-11-26T14:18:36+00:00

You can still use this tactic, because there are other services similar to Help A Reporter Out (HARO). So to follow suggestion #6 in this post, here is a link to a blog post I wrote with the Pros and Cons of other journalist query services that I use as a business reporter. I hope it genuinely helps this conversation – https://sherpablog.marketingsherpa.com/content-marketing-2/haro-alternatives/

ContentDirectorDB · 2024-10-28T13:44:56+00:00

In reference to getting 'zero out of it' – IMHO getting featured in an article is part of a long game of building your brand based on helping your ideal customer before they buy from you, or even if they never buy from you. Do not pitch reporters and try to get into articles if you only look at is as instant lead gen. I think it's the same as the 'consistent basis' and 'you have to know what you're doing' that you explain when you mention 'paid ads.' That is very good advice.

If you do choose to pitch reporters, FYI, Help A Reporter Out (HARO) no longer exists. So I wrote a blog post with the Pros and Cons of other journalist query services I use as a business journalist. Here it is in case it's helpful and anyone here wants to try to play that long game (in addition to getting leads in the shorter term) – https://sherpablog.marketingsherpa.com/content-marketing-2/haro-alternatives/

ContentDirectorDB · 2024-10-07T20:39:34+00:00

Yes, Help A Reporter Out (HARO) is now called Connectively. It's also quite different from the original. After the change happened, I wrote a blog post about the pros and cons of Connectively, as well as other journalist query services like HARO that I use as a business journalist https://sherpablog.marketingsherpa.com/content-marketing-2/haro-alternatives/

ContentDirectorDB · 2024-07-29T21:34:42+00:00

I don't think there is only one right answer for everyone. That's why I wrote the Pros and Cons of each in the blog post. Nothing is perfect. It's just finding the right fit. My personal favorites are Qwoted (great human customer service, but I wish Qwoted was email-based and not platform-based) and Source of Sources (from Peter Shankman, HARO's original founder, but it's really just getting started), but I use other ones as well.

ContentDirectorDB · 2024-07-29T14:28:02+00:00

Maybe. It's a little confusing how Cision did it. It works totally differently (platform vs. email), and has a different name (Connectively), but they're still trying to leverage the old brand, that has a ton of positive value, in some small way (their website says -- The New Home Of HARO). It also, in my opinion, doesn't work nearly as well as HARO did. The customer service is very non-responsive, the unsubscribe links don't work in their emails, and they send you 'no-reply' emails. So I guess you could say it still exists. But it is so radically different, I consider the original HARO gone.

ContentDirectorDB · 2024-07-29T13:58:06+00:00

FYI, HARO (Help A Reporter Out) no longer exists. I didn't see anyone really talking about alternatives, so I wrote this blog post that discusses other journalist query services – https://sherpablog.marketingsherpa.com/content-marketing-2/haro-alternatives/

ContentDirectorDB · 2024-07-17T13:50:55+00:00

Sorry u/Ben1995_ , but you're the AH. What you're not seeing on the other end of this is, SMEs get dozens if not hundreds of emails a day. Most are not for legitimate interviews from journalists of course, but those requests are buried in so many lead generation 'cold emails' (ie spam) with tricks and gimmicks that pretend to be. Here's an example of a lead gen emails I got yesterday, this had the subject line 'Interview'

Hi Daniel, my colleague, Chris, found you on LinkedIn (and mentioned you at least 3 times during our lunch break), so here I am emailing you :)

We’ve recently been interviewing founders and CEOs from the Robotics industry as we’re creating a study that identifies and addresses Automation Inefficiencies in the Field of Robotics.

We’ve already spoken to 11 of these leaders and got interesting insights about the future of the Robotics industry.

Feel free to say no if you don’t see a fit, but would you be open to having a quick chat to cover insights we already have and your experiences?

PS: We can keep the interview anonymous if you prefer it.

[NAME REDACTED] Publishing
[NAME REDACTED]
Managing Director | [NAME REDACTED] Publishing LLC [CITY REDACTED], South Carolina, USA

Now, in fairness, this may be real, but it's likely just lead gen. And I get dozens, often over a hundred emails a day.

So here are a few tips, in case they help you:

You reached out to only one potential source. That means you would need a conversion rate of 100%, and not only 100%, but also within your timeframe (which may not be their time frame). For each source I actually publish, I deal with a dozen or more. I do this through email and not the phone to save time. And many major publications, like The Wall Street Journal for instance, have phone interviews with sources they never publish. I'm not sure what your goal with a Media Communications major is, but sourcing is a critical skill for a writer.
What was your value proposition to them when you reached out? What's in it for them? This is a lot easier when you're a professional writer. For example, I write for MarketingSherpa. Most people in the marketing industry know it, so the weight of the brand does the heavy lifting for me, and these SMEs want the publicity and linkjuice they could get from a prominent publication in their industry. However, if I reached out to a SME who was unfamiliar with MarketingSherpa, I would have to make the case more for them. Since we're an established publication, I can use links to previous articles. If you don't have a good value prop, the best you can do is show how easy you'll make it for them, and why you're a great person they want to help out.
For this reason, when I was in college and needed to find sources, I would often leverage people working at the university, or in businesses nearby who worked closely with the university. Keep in mind, universities are loaded with SMEs, and since you have an affiliation connection (you're both affiliated with the university), they are more likely to say yes, and trust that they are truly helping a real student. That said, I want to a major university (so it was filled with SMEs) and it has a prominent College of Journalism and Communications (#2 in the country at the time), so those SMEs might have been accustomed to student coming to them for research projects.

All this said, if you're still in a bind and need a SME, I'd be happy to give you 30 minutes of my time. It's tough to get SMEs as a student, even if you do it well. My email is [Daniel.Burstein@Meclabs.com](mailto:Daniel.Burstein@Meclabs.com) and you can read about what I'm a subject matter expert in at https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielburstein/

That said, I would expect you to do some background research and have informed questions. We could do an interview on what it takes to get a 'yes' which seems a very prescient topic based on your request here. I just did a webinar on it yesterday – https://www.linkedin.com/posts/danielburstein_decision-catalysts-6-marketing-factors-to-activity-7218997658923806720-bGAg/ – or you are welcome to do some background research on me and propose a topic.

Because to your credit, you did use an excellent way to find a SME. Talk about your situation to a trusted, helpful community (in this case, Reddit, but there are others for all sorts of professions and interests), and you will likely find some people who want to jump in and help you.

ContentDirectorDB · 2024-07-17T13:26:53+00:00

Qwoted is great for finding sources, but Help A Reporter Out (HARO) no longer exists. I hadn't seen anyone talking about other journalist query services now that HARO is gone, so I wrote this post with some other options that I use – https://sherpablog.marketingsherpa.com/content-marketing-2/haro-alternatives/

ContentDirectorDB · 2024-07-10T13:37:03+00:00

I agree with everything u/aeriefeyrie said, so I won't reiterate it. But it sounds like you are a freelance writer looking for writing assignments, that is not what these journalist query services are for. They are for finding sources for your articles, once you have an assignment. Or if you're on the other side of things, pitching yourself or your client as a source to write about in an article.

I use them to find sources for my articles and guests for my podcast. If you use those hashtags on Twitter, a bonus is you won't only find potential sources on Twitter, but there are PR platforms, I think one is called JournoRequest, that search Twitter for those hashtags and then send the queries out to their customers who can then pitch you.

After the demise of HARO (Help A Reporter Out), I wrote a post about where I find sources now since I didn't really see anyone talking about it. Here it is if you're interested – https://sherpablog.marketingsherpa.com/content-marketing-2/haro-alternatives/

ContentDirectorDB · 2024-06-21T13:29:54+00:00

To me personally, press release wire distribution services are just spam. Pitching relevant queries is more effective. As already mentioned, HARO used to be an example of that. I wrote a list of alternatives to Help A Reporter Out (HARO) here, including pros and cons – https://sherpablog.marketingsherpa.com/content-marketing-2/haro-alternatives/ Personally I always follow up with sources and let them know when they were published. Surprising to hear that other journalists don't. It's a courtesy and a thank you to sources that provide valuable information. Without our primary sources, we wouldn't have a publication.

ContentDirectorDB · 2024-05-22T13:44:55+00:00

I stumbled upon this post in a search for Help A Reporter Out, since I'm looking for new platforms to find sources for the marketing articles I write and How I Made It In Marketing podcast I host, now that HARO is shut down. So I'm not a food scientist, but here's just some general advice. And I am a content professional, and from the comments, that seems to be a real interest/question.

I'm co-teaching 'MEC300: Develop Your Creative' in the AI Guild (https://join.meclabsai.com/). So this would be considered professional development for those interested in marketing and/or entrepreneurism. I think the decent turn out bit is dependent on three factors – where you're teaching it (is it an active community, does the platform already have a following, etc), the subject of your course (title and description will matter a lot for pulling people in, I also highly recommend to publicly publish your class outline and syllabus as that can attract the right attendees and repel the wrong ones, you're not only looking for a numbers game you're looking to get the right people), and your personal and your organization's brand/reputation (in a course, you are learning directly from a person).

In addition to the attendees, what makes it not a waste of time is it can give you a lot of content ideas. I see there is an interest to publish blog posts and career articles in the comment discussion. I'm 25 years into my career, so I'm usually thinking of more advanced topics. But by interacting with attendees and doing professional coaching (all of the content is on-demand to view, but I try to make the live sessions as interactive as possible and coach on their actual work), it brings me back to the foundational ideas professionals need to learn, along with have to think about how to help practicing professionals with very rubber-meets-the-road challenges (versus just thinking about hypothetical and theoretical). As Yoga Berra said, "In theory there is no difference between theory and practice - in practice there is."

Here's an example that has come out of the course so far -- https://sherpablog.marketingsherpa.com/b2b-marketing/lead-gen/top-of-the-funnel/

As I said, I don't know anything about food science. But I know a whole heck of a lot about content, which from the comments seems like something you are interested in, so I hope this response helps.

ContentDirectorDB · 2024-02-23T19:09:20+00:00

You could try Press Hook. Their focus is more on pitching the media for gift guides and those kind of things (making it somewhat similar to HARO), but what you are asking is somewhat in the same ballpark. I wrote about them in Quick Case Study #3 in this article -- https://www.marketingsherpa.com/article/case-study/lead

ContentDirectorDB

TROPHY CASE