Get Some Ink

One of the most effective, ego-gratifying tools for generating new clients is publicity. A news story in which you're quoted as an expert creates tremendous credibility, reaches a very wide audience, and incidentally (special note for those who are working with clients with egos) are very gratifying.

There's an interesting new way to do this, as reported in Lifehack. I love Lifehack. As the name implies, it's a site completely about how to more efficiently do all the million litle tasks that comprise a knowledge worker's life. One of them, of course, if you're marketing a service business of any kind, is how to snag the attention of reporters, and get yourself mentioned. As with everything else in the universe, there's now an efficient online way to do this.

Help A Reporter Out (HARO) is the brainchild of Peter Shankman, founder and CEO of marketing/PR firm The Geek Factory, Inc. The idea is simple, but incredibly powerful. Journalists post requests using a simple form, detailing their story and the kind of expert they’re looking for. Experts – on whatever – subscribe to the HARO mailing list. A few times a day, the requests over the last several hours are compiled and sent out to everyone on the mailing list. Subscribers skim the list and see if there are any stories they feel they can contribute to, and they email the reporter directly.

Simple, presumably incredibly effective, and straightforward. I cannot imagine why anyone marketing a business in which they're supposed to be an expert would not simply sign up for this.