PETER SHANKMAN

POSTED ON September 30th, 2008 383 COMMENTS + ADD YOUR COMMENT
The Five Rules of HARO

The FIVE RULES OF HARO. Keep them as a sign upon thy hands.

1) You will get three emails a day, M-F, with reporter queries from reporters and outlets from all over the world. Scan the emails, and if you’re knowledgeable about any of the topics, answer the reporter directly.
2) Don’t SPAM reporters with off-topic pitches in response to their queries.
3) You MAY forward queries to friends, but DO NOT post them on blogs or anywhere on the web.
4) You’re not allowed to harvest the reporter email addresses in the HARO emails for any reason. (With the new system implemented in January 2010, you can’t anyway.)
5) Be excellent to each other.

Violating any of the above rules is punishable by any of the following: An email, a warning, being banned from the list, and in extreme cases, being “outed” to the over 33,000 36,000 49,000 85,000 130,000 225,000 members of the list. HARO works on mutual trust and support. Don’t violate that.

That’s it. Don’t say you never saw them.

Any others you think should be on there? Leave them in the comments.

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  • http://twitter.com/GrainCreative Grain

    These seem sensible – looking forward to receiving the emails!

  • http://twitter.com/ATJGardenSupply ATJ Garden Supply

    This interests me

  • Kind of Blue Media

    This a great resource for businesses of all sizes.

  • Ron

    Sounds like 5 easy to follow rules….I will comply…Ron

  • Cookie Athlete

    Sounds fair. Thanks for keeping it succinct.

  • kevdog

    Bill and Ted would approve of #5. Rock On!

  • Tamara

    I’m looking forward to interacting with HARO, It seem like interesting, fun.

  • http://twitter.com/PutInFocus Fl Photography

    I am excited to use Haro! Heard some great things about this site!

  • Alfredo

    Looking forward to seeing how work.

  • http://twitter.com/tommcgraw tommcgraw

    Awesome.

  • http://twitter.com/7115_NYC 7115

    Thank you! This is great. I have a Journalism degree myself so I hope this works out from both sides of the fence.

  • http://www.facebook.com/kathy.radigan Kathy Radigan

    Sounds more than fair! Thanks!

  • Hang Tang

    Thank you, look like this is great.

  • http://www.facebook.com/eddiecarroll4 Eddie Carroll

    What a great networking outlet. Thanks Peter!

  • Jason

    Seems pretty straight forward to me! I’ve heard some awesome things about HARO lately, giving it a try. :)

  • http://twitter.com/fitnesshypnosis Robert J Schryvers

    6) keep being awesome.

  • http://twitter.com/theRotater the Rotater

    cool rules ….

  • L K Consulting, LLC Guru

    Rule 6 could be: Don’t SPAM each other…

  • Lisa

    Sounds like a wonderful mutually beneficial resource to me.

  • Carole

    Great rules! Would agree with others to add ; don’t lie and, No spamming.

  • http://www.koreandoll.net Angela Ricardo

    Great rules. Nothing else I can add. I promise to abide it all. Let’s see how this works. xox

  • Notary @ Your Door

    Love it…no spams!

  • Sherna

    Great rules.

  • M. Joseph

    Just signed up. Pretty excited to see where this goes.

  • cali estes

    Love this!!!!

  • Lisa

    Well I have never heard of this before and I just signed up….hoping for great results. The rules seem good as for the comments being for suggestions, I just need to know how does this advertising work? I am a writer for an online HR paper….Can I use this to promote?

  • http://twitter.com/KeepUpBicycling KC Jones

    Sounds like reasonable rules. And rules keep us all safe, just like bicycling laws keep people safe.

  • http://www.blogsdb.com BlogsDB.com

    Just signed up! My client requested me this service. Building authority thru HARO is way more ahead than building links alone. Looking forward to success.

  • http://twitter.com/shawncmatthews Shawn Matthews

    Peter Shankman is a madman and a genius! HARO rules and I am really looking forward to utilizing the site for our new company.

  • Euilleam

    Thats fair enough.

  • http://www.facebook.com/daynah1 Dayna Williams-Hunter

    I’m in agreement

  • http://twitter.com/PeerPrint PeerPrint

    Just signed up, lets see where this takes us…

  • Life’s A Flip Flop – LAFF!

    Sounds reasonable to me! Looking forward to getting some press about my company.

  • Beyondtymes

    Looks exciting. Hope & wish, we all pledge to make this world a peaceful place with smiles all around :-)

  • http://www.facebook.com/pix.jonasson Pix Jonasson

    Looking forward to being a successful part of the HARO family ;-)

  • MJCVisionary

    These are fairly simple rules, they should not be a problem for my group. Please prosper in fiscal 2013, all of you!!!!

  • Kirk Freitas

    looks like an easy enough set of rules to manage, let us start this part of the journey :)

  • http://twitter.com/TomNunn1 Tom Nunn

    The rules are great and interesting comment Marisa. After 20+ years as a journalist and a dozen in national PR, someone actually scalped an entire news release I’d written for a client, word for word, added their byline on it and posted it online as their work. Hmmm…a rare event, no doubt…but curious all the same. Like blatant plagiarism, I still can’t figure out why someone might do that in this age of web searches, but it sometimes happens : )

  • Charlotte

    Just joined HARO and can’t wait to start!

  • Tricia

    Clear, concise rules. Works for me. Look forward to being a part of this dynamic group.

  • http://www.facebook.com/davidroryoneill David Rory O’Neill

    Makes sense.
    I wonder might it be possible for the locations/county list to be manually entered.
    Ireland is not there so I’m not here?
    I look forward to contributing when I am located.
    Regards David

  • Yjam

    New marketing manager job for a fashion company! Excited to see how this will work out for me x

  • Jeff Elliott

    Seems simple and straight forward. Looking forward to moving forward with this.

  • Della

    As a former journalist myself and now in high tech PR and marketing, I might add a rule that says, “remember your agenda is not the agenda of the journalist.” Be useful and your message will get picked up. Be a resource and they will come back to you.

  • DiVergent Music Group

    HARO sounds like a wonderful opportunity to expand our company’s SEM which is crucial in my Industry…

  • Karen

    Excellent!

  • victorbao

    If I am a source, can i make a pitch?

  • Pat

    Plagiarism should be forbidden. I suppose it could be assumed but should be a rule.

  • http://twitter.com/Darishamedia Darisha K. Miller

    Thanks I’ve been a fan of HARO for years. I use it all the time.

  • http://twitter.com/Darishamedia Darisha K. Miller

    Thanks I’ve been a fan of HARO for years. I use it all the time.

  • http://www.facebook.com/hitsingle Nik

    A friend just told me about Haro and here I am. Fantastic concept!

  • Carolyn Albritton

    I work in Funeral services and helping loved ones reaching resolution. I just wonder how my “expertise” will be received?

  • http://www.HennaByHeather.com/ HennaByHeather

    Thank you so much for this service! I can’t wait to start using it. I’ve already learned what a boon it can be to be helpful to the reporters who reach out to me individually. I look forward to helping out those who put out general inquiries as well!

  • Jeremy

    I am completely new here. Any advice?:}

  • http://www.facebook.com/mchavaree Marc Chavaree

    Pretty straight forward! Do we get credit for our responses at all?

  • Suzanne Sheridan

    That all seems very reasonable and fair..

  • http://www.mauriciosaravia.com/ Maria Eloisa Damele

    I agree with Pat. How can we be sure that what we write here won’t be used somewhere else without giving us credit.

  • joanne denison, atty, chicago

    no such thing as plagiarism. Go for copyright infringement and copyright your stuff. tag it and periodically look for you name and key words on the internet. good luck.

  • http://twitter.com/joannagarzilli Joanna Garzilli

    Just read Marisa’s post below mine. There’s always going to be someone
    who’s out of integrity and taking credit where it wasn’t due but I like
    to believe most people will acknowledge where the Source info came from.
    For every good idea you come up with, you have to be able to provide
    another ten if you truly want to be a great resource for a journalist,
    TV or radio producer. They are under a lot of pressure so being as
    helpful and low-maintenance as possible is their dream!

  • gilbert

    looking forward to get this going where it can bring my business

  • rwalker853@yahoo.com

    How can I tell a story, a true story and get someone to help tell that story? I have an afghanistan story I think would be of interest to all americans…a side of the war many do not know about…a perfect story for a documentary or investigative reporter…

  • http://twitter.com/JavaDavis Java Davis

    I promise to wear them as a sign upon my hands and as a frontlet before my eyes ;-)

  • Katherine Tattersfield

    Just rejoined the HARO community after several years. Looking forward to joining in on the fun!

  • Nick M

    Just joined today. Very excited to work with journalists and I hope everything turns out positive. Cheers

  • AFWest PR

    Good Karma is its own reward–a redundancy, I know. I certainly don’t wish to incur bad Karma with bad behavior, so consider me compliant.

  • http://www.facebook.com/thearthur.jacksonshow.3 TheArthur JacksonShow

    Thank you HARO for being the connection between reporters and experts, My experience in Politics, Government, Business and Entertainment could benefit many journalist, Good Luck HARO

  • Val Marinova

    looking forward to see how things work

  • Parker

    what time are the emails M-F?

  • Jason Nast

    May Favorite is #5… Truer words never spoken, if we all honor that one Life Is Good!

  • Marilyn Bell

    Healthcare reporters need to check out helenbousquet.com, as actor Tom Hanks introduces her website after what happened to her.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Anthony-Newton/698952058 Anthony Newton

    Reading the posts on here. Does this work? Seems the network is a little unruly…

  • Victor Brodt

    Ok I really do have the World’s Best Energy Saving Light Bulbs, it will
    save some huge almost unbelievable money. How do I find folks who are
    interested in this system when some do not even know that the issue is for them?
    Victor Brodt

  • Victor Brodt

    Ok I really do have the World’s Best Energy Saving Light Bulbs, it will
    save some huge almost unbelievable money. How do I find folks who are
    interested in this system? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cz_1VH5bayE
    Victor Brodt

  • Perry Perkins

    Got it, thanks!

    -Chef Perry
    hautemealz.com

  • http://www.facebook.com/williamjdaniel William Daniel

    Was this ever fixed?

  • PolyGreenTee

    Thank you for this valuable service. I look forward to positive outcomes. I especially like Victor Brodt’s posts. I too, am in the energy savings area.

  • http://www.facebook.com/MisterJacobs Brian Jacobs

    eye eye

  • http://twitter.com/JTallardJohnson Julie TallardJohnson

    I like keeping to the 5, keep it simple and don’t forget to respect each other and yourself.

  • http://www.facebook.com/shell.mendelson Shell Mendelson

    Just signed on and excited to see how this all works. Did not know before I signed that Peter has ADHD – guess what? That is my niche! Talk about synchronicity! Look forward to the HARO experience.

  • http://www.facebook.com/murray.suid.1 Murray Suid

    I moderate an online group with similar guidelines, but yours are clearer and more concise!
    I’m exited by your venture amped it serves the members, the journalists, and the public.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1039056756 Robin Rosenblatt

    What does Harvest reporter emails mean? How will I how these are emails that I should not post to the web?

  • http://www.facebook.com/henry.munevar.35 Henry Munevar

    http://WWW.HENRYSBASEBALLCLUB.COM 781 891 0621 ABOUT 200 NEW BASEBALL JOBS CAME IN LAST5 WEEK!!

  • http://www.facebook.com/henry.munevar.35 Henry Munevar

    http://WWW.HENRYSBASEBALLCLUB.COM 781 891 0621 ABOUT 200 NEW BASEBALL JOBS CAME IN LAST WEEK!!!!

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