An article in last
month’s Marketing Professors featured a story about HARO – Help a Reporter
Out, a service born out of someone trying to help out a friend.
(I would link you
to it but you have to be a premium member to read it.)
You may already be familiar with HARO. It is such a simple concept yet
stunning in its scope. HARO hooks up reporters with sources. It all
started when founder Peter Shankman, a publicist, was approached by
someone who needed a source for a story who was a soil expert. Shankman
didn’t know one but he established a Facebook page called “If I can help a
reporter out, I will…”
He moved it off
Facebook to its own site on March 20, 2008. The site consists of two main
pages, one for journalists who wish to submit a query, and the other for
sources. Sources receive three emails a day with anywhere up to 30+
reporter inquiries. So what happens? In a little more than a year, he
has upwards of 100,000 subscribers and each issue (15 a week remember) has
a sponsor that pays several thousand dollars for exposure to subscribers.
Do the math. A service born by wanting to help someone is grossing $1
million a year or more. Two things –
check it out because it could be a valuable source of PR opportunities
for you and second, let’s look at what we can learn from this.
1.
Born From a
Desire to Do Good
Shankman had this to say about his venture. "You can’t create something
viral but you can create something good, and if it's good, it will become
viral. If it's good enough that people see value in it, they'll do the
legwork for you."
Health care organizations
have a gazillion pet projects, some borne to make profit others borne to
do good. My friend Jim Tobalski and his team at Novant Health were
instrumental in the huge success of a hand hygiene program the System
launched to help curb the spread of infections in hospitals. It was so
cleverly executed and successful in its outcomes that the word got out.
As a result of implementing a program to do good, they received great
press, inquiries from hundreds of hospitals, speaking opportunities.
Think what that does for your brand.
As part of mission for seniors I have launched an intergenerational
program encouraging youth to take an interest in older people, interview
them about their life, even videotape it and post it. Though in its
infancy, it is getting noticed and that has a halo effect on what I do in
other aspects of my work.
So what are you doing that is borne from wanting to do good? What can you
do?
2.
Releasing a Pent Up Need
Shankman hit a
nerve. Everyone wants their fifteen minutes and reporters are desperate
for sources. This simple concept ignited because there was an underlying
need. Marketers are all about uncovering needs yet I think we sometimes
pay lip service to it. Sometimes the need is our need and we project it on
to others.
Strategic marketers really take the time to understand their end user’s
needs and play to that. And they play to what the need truly is. For
example, are you selling retail health services at your walk in clinic or
convenience and time savings for a harried mom? Are you selling a real
estate investment in a continuing care community or a lifestyle?
Understand the real need, the real end result that people want and
reposition your product and service accordingly and let those needs and
results guide product and service development.
3.
Give Them What They Want at the Right Time
The web has spawned citizen journalism. As you explore HARO you will see
that on one hand a producer from a well known national television program
is requesting sources and then on the other hand a freelance writer is
requesting sources for an article they will later pitch. Either way this
concept might not have flourished if it were not for the convergence of
many factors that has led to citizen journalism.
Healthcare is something people do not want. It amazes me when I hear
marketing people expect their latest da Vinci robot surgery commercial to
result in patients immediately and they actually build a metric for the
number of procedures they will derive from the campaign. People do not
want what we offer. May never need it.
So what is someone’s need right now? Uncover it and intersect it. That
builds relationships and trust and tipping points for choosing you should
they ever need you.
4.
Be
Authentic
People see through B.S.! Why is Susan Boyle loved? She is authentic.
There may be others who can sing as well as her but she is sincere and
people sense that. Are you authentic in how you present your organization
and yourself?
Linda Finkle, a leading expert on organizational communication strategies
and human potential development, has this to say about authenticity. “The
corporate person and the private individual cannot be at odds - they must
have a common source of inspiration. Sincerely felt convictions and
desires are where the authenticity piece comes in. When you truly believe
what you say, when you're sure of your vision and your path, you will be
completely uninhibited to speak with your own voice and your genius will
lay in just being yourself. When you believe in your vision, your voice
and your path, your leadership is more than simply giving orders. Your
leadership becomes a means of connecting with the people around you, of
contributing to the growth of your company in a meaningful way, and a path
for taking your organization to the heights you believe it can reach.”
Mission and vision statements abound in the marketplace. Yet how many are
authentic in that what they profess is what is delivered? They can’t be
authentic if those charged with executing the vision are not empowered.
It means telling people what you're going to do, and then doing it. It
means communicating openly and freely as Paul Levy does in his
hospital
blog.
Shankman was authentic in his approach to HARO. Making money was not the
point. Connecting people was. The fact that he is making money I say is
good for him. Revenue is well deserved when the mission starts from the
heart.
