Help a Reporter is one of my favorite media query services. I scan the leads every day to seek out perfect media opportunities that can put my publicity and storytelling expertise in the spotlight. Because I know that somewhere in the neighborhood of 135,000 and 200,000 spotlight seekers love and use this service, I made the wise investment to buy an ad on 1-17 to invite people to enjoy a “pink spoon” to get an irresistible taste of what Bye-Bye Boring Bio PLUS! offers.
If you didn’t know, the first message on the HARO feed is a paid advertisement.
My primary objective in placing this ad at the start of this New Year was to grow my list. Let me share what has happened so far.
- Since 1-17, 19,580 people have clicked on my ad.
- Hundreds of people have opted in to enjoy the free gift.
- Hundreds of people have opted in to enjoy a free webinar I am hosting tomorrow, Jan. 25 at 3 p.m.
- Two interview requests have come in.
- Two speaking invitations have come in.
- Google Analytics for the 12-24-12 through 1-23-12 show that blog traffic at my site is up over 100% over the same period last year.
- And, I got to ROI on my ad investment by 8:30 a.m. Pacific Time after my morning ad debuted, and the sales continue to flow.
When I saw how well things were unfolding, I wrote to the advertising manager at HARO to share my success. Then, guess what happened next? My expectations were exceeded beyond measure when the good folks at HARO ran a bonus ad for me because they had an opening on their calendar. They also shared my success on their Facebook Fan page.
All I can say is WOW and THANK YOU.
By the way, this is not my first time placing an ad on HARO. The first time was in 2009. I got to ROI on my ad investment within the first twelve hours, and this success was reported in the Inc. Start Up Blog. The second time was late last year when I ran a test ad for the business/finance segmented list to introduce Bye-Bye Boring Bio PLUS! The traffic that flowed to my site as a result of that segmented ad convinced me that advertising to the master list would be a good decision.
With all that said, there are a few lessons for you in my example.
- If you buy an ad and experience success, be sure you spell it out so the media outlet can enjoy hearing your good news. You just might welcome an unexpected and welcome bonus or additional and fabulous visibility that makes a big difference in your success to take YOUR message far and wide.
- Take your message out for a spin to a segmented list to make sure the fit and the results are right.
- And, if you have an audience of spotlight seekers among your ideal clients, take a fresh look at HARO as a way to advertise your product or service. It sure has been decisive and rewarding for me.
