How to Respond to ProfNet/HARO Queries Without Pissing Writers Off
Think your peach defuzzer is the greatest product in the known universe, or rep a doctor who’s on the road to curing a formerly incurable disease? Then you’re probably signed up as an expert source on services like Help a Reporter (HARO) and ProfNet.
I use these services as just one of many tools in my arsenal to find expert and “real life” sources, but often I end up frustrated — and without usable sources. To be fair, sometimes my requests are kind of crazy — like I’m looking for a Hispanic woman in her 40s who lives in the Midwest and drives a Suburban. But many times, it’s the people who respond to queries that make a writer want to drive flaming daggers into her eyes.
Don’t get me wrong — I love and appreciate these services. They’re free to journalists, and I often find good sources through them, like the beautiful bridal entrepreneur-slash-cage fighter I ended up profiling for Fortune Small Business and later for Inc. But the successes are tempered by avalanches of off-point e-mails from PR reps and expert sources.
If you use these services as a PR rep or a source, here are some tips for boosting your chances of a reply when you respond to a writer’s query. (Yes, writers, these requests confusingly are called queries.) I’ll use some examples from recent queries I sent in.
1. Read the Freakin’ Query!
Lat week I sent out the following query:
Are We Detoxing Too Much?
I’m looking for experts such as MDs who can discuss whether the detoxing trend is going too far, in terms of detoxing our homes, our bodies, and our food. Magazines and books are telling us to purge everything from house dust to bleach to non-organic foods, and more and more people are going on fasts and detox diets. How do you know if you’re going too far? And how much do we REALLY need to detox? I do not need to hear from vendors about detoxing products.
You get it, right? I’m looking for information on the negative side of detoxing — how much is too much and how to know if you’ve gone too far. And yet, almost 100% of the responses I received were from medical professionals who offered to talk about why we need to go on detox diets and how to do it. It’s like they scanned the query, saw the word “detox,” and blasted off an e-mail about the wonders of detoxing. If you can’t (or won’t) read, how can we trust you as an expert?
So please…READ the query!
2. Sell Yourself
Every once in a while I get a response that says something like, “I can help you with your article. Call me.” Yeah, I’ll get right on that. Please, tell me who you are and what makes you an expert in the topic I queried.
3. Remember That Our Job Is Not to Sell Your Product
Of course, people who respond to writer queries have something to sell, whether it’s a product, a viewpoint, or something else. But you need to use some smarts to determine when it’s right to make a blatant product pitch. For example, here’s a query I sent out yesterday:
For a national health magazine, I’m looking for beauty news that’s NOT product-specific and that is backed by studies. For example, I don’t care that Jane’s Sun Kissed Skin Lotion was proven to prevent wrinkles, but I do care that a recent study published in the Journal of Dermatology concluded that the antioxidants in pistachios were proven to whiten teeth. Please, no product pitches.
I’m guessing you noticed that I did not want product-specific pitches. I mean, I made it pretty clear, right? So why do I get replies from people telling me, for example, that the FatBlaster Brand Laser Machine has been proven to reduce the look of cellulite? I guess the reps think, “Well, it can’t hurt to send it along anyway.” But guess what? It can hurt, because I’ll be sending very negative vibes your way, and I will remember you when you contact me again.
4. Don’t Add Us to Lists Unless We Ask You To
I can’t even count how many PR reps add my address to their press lists after harvesting it from a HARO or ProfNet query. I know this because I have a special e-mail address that I use only for queries on these services, so when I start getting press releases at that address, I know how I ended up on the list. Many people see I’m a writer — what type? who cares? — and decide that maybe I’d like to write about their clients who run a cracker factory in Boise. But even if a PR rep groks my specialties, I don’t want to be added to press lists unless I ask for it. Just because I wrote about safe web surfing in 2001 doesn’t mean that I want to receive press releases on that topic for the rest of my days. I get enough e-mail as it is.
Now HARO has a special feature that hides your e-mail address on your queries so this is less of an issue, but as soon as you respond to a PR rep they have your e-mail address and can add it to their press lists, so the problem hasn’t been completely eradicated.
5. Make Sure Your Client Is Available
It sucks when a PR rep responds to a HARO or ProfNet request with what sounds like the perfect source, but when you try to set up the interview the source goes AWOL. Check with your source to make sure he’s interested in doing the interview before you respond to a query.
Writers, do you have any more tips for people who want to respond to writers’ queries on HARO and ProfNet? [lf]
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Jun 21, 2010 Marketing, Public relations, Rants, Sources
Holy hell. I had about 90% of these problems last week when I posted a query through HARO. The worst thing though, was the “expert” who agreed to the email interview through her publicist. She read my interview questions, said that she couldn’t answer the questions one-by-one (there were 4 easy questions) and instead basically wrote a completely unusable how-to article and sent it to me. Of course, I didn’t get this until right before the deadline, and had to arrange for something else entirely. WTF?
Yikes! Yo Prinzel’s story is pretty awful. I’ve had similar things happen a few times. In one case, I needed stats on something in Canada and a publicist who responded to my HARO query kept saying her client was ready to help. (NOTE: there are similar sites that are specific to Canada, but I didn’t get what I needed from those.) I kept following up and she kept promising her client would deliver before my deadline, but they had meetings, business trips, etc. Finally, right before the deadline she writes and explains that the only have stats for the US. WTF?! You answered *my* query saying you could help me out with an article for a Canadian magazine. I sent a very strongly worded email explaining that her stringing me along had put me in a very precarious position (part of this was my fault for letting her string me along) and in future, she should only promise what she *knows* she can deliver. I also emailed Peter Shankman at HARO, but I doubt anything came out of that.
Another pet peeve of mine is when people respond to my query and misspell my name! I know my email include a middle initial, which is confusing to some, but my name is always clearly and correctly spelled in each query if you take the time to look.
I’ve had mixed luck with HARO. It provided an overflow of terrific sources for one article, but others I’ve had very strange replies. I’ve since simplified my requests to a few simple sentences, assuming that people don’t like to read lengthy descriptions. Sad, but it’s worked for me!
I must be feeling uncharacteristically nice today, but I thought you were a little hard on the publicists. Yes, it’s irritating when they can’t cough up the source, but this usually does not happen. I don’t care if they add me to a list–I get good ideas from emails I get. I sometimes contact the reporters who list–and ask about the publication, if it pays, etc. They probably hate this, too. Oh, well–I guess I am just not as mad today as usual.
Yo and Susan, ugh!
Debbie, great idea.
Star, I’ll make up for your non-crankiness by being extra cranky: I don’t like it when I post a HARO request and get e-mails from writers looking to horn in on my clients. I usually don’t mind sharing info *with writers I know*, especially if they’re asking about well-known market. But I have some great little-known clients that I got by researching the market beyond looking at WM and the newsstands, crafting a query or LOI, following up, and nurturing the relationship through great, on-time writing. I don’t like the idea of some writer I don’t even know asking for an easy way in. I’m all about being creative in finding new markets, but the idea of writers trolling HARO for new markets bugs me. (I’m talking about writers asking for editorial contact info, and I’m not saying YOU do that! Just running with my crankiness here.)
I’ve had one source (through HARO) get very nasty when I didn’t use his completely unusable quotes in the finished piece. I had another go completely berserk when my editor cut him out of the piece. I actually thought he was very helpful and did in fact, use the information he provided but my editor thought otherwise and cut it out. The ensuing verbal abuse was the most unprofessional thing I’ve ever witnessed.
The biggest benefit of HARO is also its biggest curse. You can get “real” people, but real people have no idea how to deal with the media or how it works.
idea of writers trolling HARO for new markets bugs me. (I’m talking about writers asking for editorial contact info, and I’m not saying YOU do that! Just running with my crankiness here.)
I don’t ask for the email–just one writer to another, general info. I can get the contact myself. Sometimes the person I ask IS the contact and asks for more info about me. I will continue to do it…if one of the people is you, sorry in advance, I guess…
PS I also am in a position sometimes to provide the info called for–and I try to do that when I can.
What bugs me is that I have to worry that every time I mention a client on HARO, hordes of writers are going to bombard my editor with e-mails. Sometimes now I don’t name the magazine, but give a description, such as “a custom publication for the martial arts industry” or “a newsstand business magazine.”
I hope you don’t mind if I post a (relevant) link, namely to a clip I wrote on this very issue: http://www.thejournalist.org.uk/JulAug09/R_gripe.html
I had a LOT of examples I couldn’t fit in there.
p.s. I just wanted to add something also. Yes, make sure your client is available but do NOT make them think they can definitely be in the piece just because you replied. I especially hate getting emails copied to five different people before I’ve even had a chance to say if I can use you!
Great article, Anne!
What bugs me is that I have to worry that every time I mention a client on HARO, hordes of writers are going to bombard my editor with e-mails.
I don’t know if I would be a horde. If I write you, don’t answer if you don’t want to. It’s a personal decision. Some writers give classes helping others get in the business to compete against themselves and the rest of us…it’s all a matter of approach and personal choice.
Also, another way to find out if a place is pleasant to write for–or not–is the Paycheck section of the ASJA newsletter–and if you are a science writer, thte National Assn of Science Writer’s database on pubs called Wordworth.
Thanks for the tips.
Oh my goodness, I didn’t mean to call *you* a horde! But I know for a fact that lots of writers subscribe to HARO specifically to find markets. I’m sure that when I posted about the new Chevy Prospect magazine last week, 20 writers who read HARO fired up Google to hunt down the magazine and send an LOI. I don’t think anyone will deny that I’m very generous with market information — even contact names and e-mails — but even I keep some small-stable, hard-to-find markets close to the vest.
You are great about this, Linda…Try looking at the queries this way…It’s an interesting source of ideas about markets…Your fellow writers can say whatever they wish, no more. As I said, I also respond with sources for those listing a query. One hand washes the other. Now, I see others thought of this–which is a good piece of info for me and blunts its usefulness. Oh, well…
Has anyone else gone to gorkana.com? They do an email newsletter everyday that contains editors’ emails. I also have had a listing in the email, ask about it. Gorkana–the name, they told me, comes from a Ghurka fellow who saved the owner’s life. Interesting operation.
It’s nice to see that I’m not alone. I have these things happen all the time on Profnet. I regularly get put on email press lists, and have PR reps contact me but then their client can’t do the interview. Thanks for this post. I feel I’ve vented just reading it!
PS. I’m tempted to link to this post in future communications from Profnet/HARO!
Denene, I dare you!
By the way, I saw you in the current issue of Pizza Today. Nice article!