HARO, How You’ve Changed!

HARO, How You’ve Changed!

A Lesson in How to Handle Your Tribe

Help a reporter out was a 3 times a day newsletter where media could put out what they were looking for. People who read the free newsletter would respond to the reporter to pitch themselves or their clients. It came out 3 times a day and he sold single ads in each one. At one point there was around a 2-3 month waiting list to get an ad in HARO. It was very popular and best of all it was FREE to use for the reader. Peter Shankman used social media well and told little stories about his travel and life and what he was doing. Then a huge PR company bought HARO. I have been watching to see how the newsletter would change with someone else at the helm.

Here is what has happened.

Peter Shankman is well loved and respected in the social media space, so they kept him on. At first you could hardly tell that the new company owned it. The big give away was that the new company to sell their services used every ad space. It made it look like they had bought a lot of ad space. So instead of learning about an innovative new business that had a cool service to sell in each newsletter, you saw the same lame ad from the big company. Everything looked pretty much the same. I didn’t think they would keep Peter on forever and I was correct. After a while the newsletter ‘introduced” the new editors.

There seemed to be a team of editors for the newsletter. They “introduced” themselves, talked about what they did and tried to write some cute banter about what was going on in the office or in their lives. The problem was, nobody cared. Peter’s shared bits of his life and it was interesting. His travels, his meetings, his cat dying, all that make for a tight connection to his tribe. The new editors tried to converse with the tribe as if they were their tribe. Like a new stepfather in the home trying to connect with the kids, the tribe basically ignored them. They didn’t know these new people and didn’t care about the office stories. Frankly, they worked in an office like everyone else. They didn’t travel and have an interesting life.

Somehow big company figured that out and thankfully stopped adding that crap to the newsletter. Then began the big chop. The newsletter came out three times a day with over 100 opportunities. As of today, less than 55 were on the list. Something has changed in their policy. I know a couple of reporters who have been cut off from being able to post requests. Once your email is blacklisted you can no longer post any requests. Perhaps that practice is wide spread. Or perhaps they only allow people who pay for big company services to post. I am not sure what the criterion is.

HARO has certainly seen better days. Her second husband (big company) does not treat her as well as Peter Shankman did. She has had to downgrade her lifestyle and runs on her old reputation. She seems to be on the decline. While people still use it, I don’t hear people sharing the “secret” anymore and I can’t remember the last time anyone said they got a really big media opening from it.

Many reporters have learned they don’t need a central place to send out their media needs. They can create their own following on social media and get pitches everyday. I know I do. If you are with a major outlet, you don’t need a HARO to help you get the word out. People who want to be in the outlet or publication are constantly looking on line for any opportunity. Many people have just focused on where they want to be seen and waiting for the right opportunity and no longer look to HARO to bring them information. Google alerts and just following a reporter on twitter can serve to get you a nice write up.

The lesson here is about the tribe. The tribe is not transferable. You can tell when Peter left, when the information was being phoned in. I think some of the last few posts were ghost written for him by the company. It just didn’t have his voice anymore.

Only you can feed your tribe. People want more contact and interaction with you. They don’t want to be sent to another company to get what they want. People are not excited about JV product launches. Why? Because while you can partner and sell with people, your tribe is looking for more of you! Not more of someone else.

I think JV connections are great but tribes cannot be passed around for everyone to pitch anymore. They are on the list for the person they got on the list for. No one else really matters.

Something else that is better that HARO will come along soon. There are always people to innovate. But like the hot chick from High School who got FAT AND UGLY, HARO has lost its main appeal.

TV Business May Have to Start Trimming the Fat

TV Business May Have to Start Trimming the Fat

In a recent Nielsen Ratings survey, statistics showed a staggering decline in the number of TV viewers in the year of 2012. With overall audience reduction nearing double digits, it leaves many to wonder what cause and effect such figures could have on the television industry.

It doesn’t take much retrospection to trace the decline in viewership back to the Internet. Prior to television’s hit on ratings, a similar industry, newspaper distributors was rattled by the introduction of the Internet. Speculators predicted in the late 90’s and early 21^st century that the digital world would have a tremendous impact on newspaper user behavior. A shift in readership from paper to digital impacted the advertising industry, commerce, and hundreds of employees worldwide.

As with newspapers, the immediate impact of Internet availability on television usage has been minimal. However, in coming years, the TV business as we know it will be forced to evolve or it will cease to exist. The most visible changes in television consumption over the past six years include:

• Reduction in real-time viewing of television shows
• Simultaneous viewing of content on multiple outputs
• Increase in usage of On Demand and Streaming features

DVR systems are now commonplace in the vast majority of households with television sets. With the demanding schedules of individuals coupled with the convenience of digital video recorders, more and more people are opting to record and view programs at more opportune times. Modern day technology now enables sports enthusiasts and news junkies keep up to date with information using multiple outlets. A viewer may watch football on a laptop, smartphone, and television all at once. In addition to DVR systems, the Internet has also introduced the ability to stream live content directly to smartphones, tablets, and laptops anytime and anywhere with ipad and iphone tv apps.

The modern day consumer can watch exactly what they want while avoiding commercials as a result of the ability to stream content using sources like Hulu, Netflix, and On Demand. Now viewers have the ability to fast forward through ads and become more selective in what they choose to watch. As a result:

• Television networks will lose authority
• Satellite and cable television subscriptions will decrease
• Traditional television prices will fall
• Percentage of people who watch video on a computer will increase

As consumers become more selective in regards to when and what they watch, television networks will begin to break down. We can expect to see an improvement in content production, distribution, and acquisition of material. Plus, traditional networks will become more obsolete, uber-networks will acquire less profitable ones, and affiliate fees will decline. Selective demand will also reduce the amount of overpaid talent and managers which will trickle down to a consolidation of production, crews, and set costs.

In the end, cable and television companies will be forced to reduce their prices and become more efficient with the quality and quantity of material.  As TV viewership declines, advertisements become less relevant, and the only solution is to “trim the fat.”  Although television viewership is expected to fall drastically, but the TV business and related industries will undoubtedly suffer.

Why a Website?

Why Every Business Should Have a Website

By Matt Evers

Every business, no matter how big or how small really should have a website.  In this modern day and age, there is no reason not to have one.  Let’s explore the reasons why every business should have a website.

The internet is well and truly here to stay.  The number of people who use the internet exceeds more than 2.4 billion and there are almost 8 people every single second being added to this total.  This is an incredible number of people.  As you can imagine there will be people from all walks of life looking for all sorts of things that encompass just about every area of life you can imagine.

If you are a business owner then you absolutely must have your own website.  It’s considered unprofessional these days if you do not own a website.  How many people do you know go online to look for reviews of a particular company or product before they choose to contact them?

How many of these people decide that they will not contact the company because the company did not actually own a website.  Chances are that the company could be illegitimate (in the mind of the person who is looking for the company’s details).

In this modern day and age, having your own website is very easy and low cost to do.  Even hosting is very cheap, so now has never been a better time to have your own website name and begin branding your company. It is possible to save on both domain name and hosting, using hosting coupons. One example is through the use of HostGator coupon codes. There are other hosting companies also offering money-saving coupons, so do your research as you choose your domain name and hosting provider.

Why every business should have a website

• With your own website you can “be there” for those who seek out your service online
• With your own website you can showcase all your services
• You can add videos and testimonials to help enhance your service
• You can get a lot more customers and ultimately more company profits
• .. and so much more!

So if you’ve not yet got our own website, don’t you think it’s about time?  Are you afraid to get started, worried about all of the technical aspects and let alone the cost?  Well, you can get a website for as little as US $100 these days and this often includes a year’s free hosting as well.

These are just some of the reasons why every business should have a website.  These days it is an essential “must-have”, rather than an expensive fanciful extra.  Maybe it’s time to start looking at one for yourself if you’ve not yet taken that step.

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