Can you Help a Reporter Out?

One of the Yahoo! groups I belong to recently passed along a site that might be of interest to other mompreneurs and women business owners out there so I'm sharing it on today's mompreneur monday feature.

HelpAReporter.com was originally conceived by Peter Shankman and started on Facebook, but because Facebook caps group emails at 1,200 Shankman started his own list at HelpAReporter.com. Just what kind of list is HelpAReporter.com? Here's a simple description in Shankman's own words about what you're in for when you sign up:

Each day, you'll receive up to three emails, each with anywhere from 2-10 queries per email. ... If you see a query you can answer, go for it! I built this list because a lot of my friends are reporters, and they call me all the time for sources. Rather than go through my contact lists each time, I figured I could push the requests out to people who actually have something to say. ... I never take queries from that other service, I never SPAM, and I'm not going to do anything with your email other than send you these reporter requests when they arrive in my in-box.

HelpAReporter.com is free (if you'd like to make a donation, Shankman asks you donate to a local animal rescue to "keep the good Karma flowing"). The most important thing Shankman asks: by joining the list you agree that if you choose to answer a request, your answer really will help a journalist and won't just be a way to get you or your client noticed.

HelpAReporter.com also has a service for journalists looking for sources. You can check that out here. Take a few minutes to read a bit more about HelpAReporter.com. Heck, it's free! So what have you got to lose? As long as you're honest and don't abuse the service you may just get that lucky break you're looking for. Peter Shankman believes in good Karma...and so do I! --Emily