At Costa DeVault, it’s no secret that we are big fans of Peter Shankman’s Help a Reporter Out (HARO). Dubbed the “largest source repository in the world,” HARO sends out approximately 210 media opportunities daily. For down-to-the-wire deadlines, it’s a journalist’s best friend … and a PR professional’s dream. But, with more than 120,800 active sources receiving the thrice-daily email, competition can be stiff for that coveted placement.

When you find a fitting query, having the perfect resource is just half the battle. The following are a few of our favorite HARO tips that we’ve learned from personal experience:

• Keep it short. When you mix a tight deadline with a high volume of replies, multiple paragraphs of text – while relevant and informative – might be overlooked in favor of short and to-the-point bullets. (In fact, People Magazine’s Steve Helling is a big advocate of the 250-word pitch.)

• Provide all the information. Some of the most coveted queries request particular information. Often times you’ll be asked to include common details, like the name of the source, company name and contact information. But sometimes, the reporter might want even more information – like a headshot, the source’s age or highly specific quotes and comments. When compared to another expert resource, if your email lacks any of the requested information, it might be the difference between being included and being ignored.

• Subject lines are valuable. Use them wisely. Our friends at HARO automatically add “New Pitch –” to your email’s subject line (at least when you reply to an auto-generated HARO email, like “queryxyz@”). Don’t waste valuable subject line real estate by including something similar – instead, get right to the point.

• Omit bold text to avoid “screaming.” In the past, I’ve used bold text to call out specific statistics and relevant information when responding to a HARO query. Sounds like a smart idea, right? When a reporter replied to me recently, they included my original pitch and I was surprised to see that my “courtesy” bolding had actually translated into SCARY CAPITALIZATION. Eek! Often times, people read capitalization as screaming … which is definitely not something I want to portray to a reporter.

For more best practices – from Peter, himself – visit Shankman.com. Please share your own favorite tips in the comment section below.

Quick – you need a restaurant recommendation for a special night out; do you…

A. Google “Winter Park, FL restaurants”
B. Send out a tweet asking for help
C. Check reviews on Yelp!

Yesterday’s HARO (Help a Reporter Out) conference call, hosted by Peter Shankman and Chris Brogan, introduced listeners to the idea of the “human web” versus the “machine web” – and why brands need to utilize one more than the other.

The human web includes social networking sites such as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Yelp! – while the machine web refers to search engines like Google, Yahoo and Bing. When you’re looking for movie times, it is smart to get help from Google – but if you want a review, your human network is probably your best bet.

For example, some critics deemed recent movie Brüno the “one-day wonder” due to the fact that its numbers declined 40% from Friday to Saturday. Time suggested that Twitter might be to blame, claiming that “Brüno could be the first movie defeated by the Twitter effect.” As moviegoers tweeted their various experiences, ranging from walking out of the theater to being completely mortified, their followers caught on.

It is sometimes easy to forget that search engines are, in the end, machines fueled by search algorithms and, in some cases, advertisements. Having a “loyal army,” as Shankman puts it, is vital to brands in the social media age. It might be easier for a consumer to ask a search engine what restaurants are in the area, but if the consumer asks their Twitter followers to suggest one, they get a recommendation from someone they trust – whether they know them personally or not. On the same note, as discussed in the conference call, a recommendation from a loyal customer is more trusted than the restaurant itself suggesting you try their newest dish.

The key for businesses is to get customers to be their biggest fans (and their ultimate source for PR) – but this is easier said than done. One step in the right direction is to make sure you are interacting with your social media network… not just having a one-sided conversation.

Photo credit: hyku

Peter Shankman, founder of HARO – Help a Reporter Out, a service connecting journalists with sources – talks about Twitter and how it can help businesses. This social network is Peter’s sounding board and immediate focus group. Plus, it totally changes customer service. 

What can Twitter do for you?

Also, Costa DeVault would like to congratulate Peter on HARO’s first anniversary. Here’s to an even bigger and better year!

This week, we’re attending the Ragan/PRSA Social Media for Communicators conference in Las Vegas. Sessions include discussions about podcasting, creating online communities, social media on a budget and crisis communication in a Web 2.0 world. Plus, presentations from Tony Hsieh (CEO of Zappos), Peter Shankman (founder of HARO) and Josh Bernoff (president of Forrester research). After the event, we’ll post a recap to the blog; however, if you want to know what’s going on in real time, click here for my live tweets or here for the whole stream of updates from everyone in attendance.

Also, if you have questions about social media, leave them in the comments, and we’ll do our best to find the answers for you.

Photo: Flem007_UK