Have you ever considered the importance of media attention for your real estate business? Probably not. Most investors or agents are quite content with:
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Putting up bandit ads
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Cold calling
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Social media posts
While you can’t argue with the effectiveness of the tried-and-true investor techniques, why not separate yourself from the crowd?
For instance, how many of your competitors are being interviewed by the media?
Not social media, but media– as in news articles to be featured on reputable channels and websites like CNN – that kind of media.
Being in the spotlight can be daunting. But trust me, nothing is more important than putting your real estate business out there – under the limelight for all to see. Good publicity is very helpful for your business.
It helps you:
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Target the right audience
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Spread your message to a large audience
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Promote positive publicity for your business – for free
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Create and/or change public opinions about your business
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Increase your company’s credibility and reputation
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Boost your search engine ranking with backlinks from popular websites
We’ve already established the importance of being under the spotlight… the next question is: How exactly are you going to do that?
With thousands of businesses vying to be on top, how can I secure my spot and stay in the game?
Here’s where HARO comes in…
HARO: Help A Reporter Out
HARO is a publicity service that was founded by reporter Peter Shankman. It started out as a simple Facebook group back in 2008 until it grew to a more than 100,000-person strong mailing list comprised of thousands of reporters and experts exchanging valuable information on the site.
HARO was created to help journalists, bloggers and writers question and gather information from a reputable source to add more perspective to their content. It helps its users generate publicity, target the right people and gather opinions.
HARO has been a free social media tool over the years...
It has proved that media exposure is an effective tool for many businesses and people alike. HARO connects more than 45,000 reporters and 475,000 news sources (you) on a regular basis.
Help Each Other Out
HARO provides you, the news source and the reporter a win-win situation. By helping a reporter out, you help your business garner media attention.
How HARO works is fairly straightforward…
Experts in a certain niche (i.e. real estate) become a ‘source,’ while the reporters, bloggers and writers give out questions/inquiries for the experts to answer. Here’s the catch: These reporters can either accept your responses or reject them.
For the reporters, they have criteria where they reject any news source that does not fit their standards. For example, if their questions and topics are all about the changes in the real estate industry in the recent years, then they would most likely prefer real estate professionals with more years of experience.
The source (you) has to carefully follow the instructions given by the reporter. It helps to answer the given questions within the time frame given.
Here’s how you can make HARO work for you:
1. Set Up a HARO Account
As you sign up for free, you’ll receive three ‘Master’ emails from HARO every day. These emails are PR leads that are grouped into categories such as:
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Business
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Healthcare
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Lifestyle
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Technology
You might find yourself wanting to filter these emails so you can only receive PR leads that are specificto your industry. But, by doing so, you may miss out on some opportunities...
For instance, a reporter may want to do an article on the health dangers of homeowners doing remodels. If you’ve rehabbed a bunch of houses, you might have some great insight on this topic. If you are only filtering on ‘real estate’ or ‘business’ topics, you might miss this opportunity because it would likely be in the healthcare filter.
2. Find Opportunities
It’s best to scan every single email that comes into your inbox. The key to success for HARO, is to catch and quickly respond to a lead. Which is why it’s important to open those emails as they come through.
HARO emails should be opened ASAP!
If you weren’t able to check the emails within 12 hours of receiving them, disregard them and move on. Editing deadlines are very important for reporters. Remember not to waste time on queries that won’t help spread your message or promote your business. Only respond to the ones that are aligned with what you want to achieve.
3. Respond to Queries
Once you’ve chosen the perfect HARO opportunity for you, the next step is to write your pitch.
Craft a concise email reply that follows the reporter’s requirements. Usually, the blogger or journalist will give you detailed instructions you can follow.
4. Track Your Progress
If all goes well, you’ll hopefully hear from the reporter after a few days.
But, it’s not all the time that you get a notification… which is why it’s better if you set up a Google alert for your name, so when a reporter forgets to inform you that you made it into their story, Google alert will do it for you.
For a more reliable approach, you can also subscribe to the reporter’s feed.
5. Celebrate – You Deserve It!
Once everything goes as planned and your story is out there, it’s time for you to celebrate. Don’t forget to thank the reporterand let them know you appreciate their time and efforts in crafting your story.
Also, share the post everywhere… through your blog, social media pages and email newsletters.
At the end of the day, HARO is an effective tool in getting your message across. Other than that, it helps you:
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Get backlinks. HARO is used by lots of bloggers and social media influencers in your niche. These influencers may quote you as a source – and when this happens, they may create backlinks that direct their readers to your website.
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Establish your business and position yourself as an expert in your field. Good publicity helps you become more credible. It lets the people know that you’re good at what you do and this sets you apart from your competitors.
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Promote your real estate business. It’s a form of advertisement that greatly helps in promoting your services. Don’t you think it would help if you put something like ‘As seen on CNN.com, Wall Street Journalor Washington Post’ on your website?
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Grow your network. Getting your business out there connects you to influential people from all over the globe.
Your Words
Have experience with HARO? Tell us about it in the comments section below.
Be consistent – with your message and your branding. This is very important since this affects the way your target market sees your company.
Seriously consider the media outlet – do research on your preferred media outlet. Make sure it’s the one you want your business to be associated with. For example, if you were a vegan, you wouldn’t want to respond to a query for a barbecuing website, would you?
Follow-up and say thank you – maintaining positive business relationships is just as important as your personal ones.