Peter Shankman's (with HARO) Speech at New York Entrepreneur Week

This week is New York Entrepreneur Week, which is a week long event filled with different influential speakers and panel discussions every day. This morning I attended Peter Shankman's speech. It was amazing and he is HILARIOUS!!! Love a guy who can make you laugh at 9:00am! And the whole room was laughing with me! Peter Shankman is the founder of HARO (Help a Reporter Out), which he formed to connect journalists to entrepreneurs and designers, by using a system of sending 3 emails out a day that lists different categories such as; Urgent, Business and Finance, General, Health and Fitness, Lifestyle, Technology and Travel. So as you can see there are many different categories from where many different types of reporters, bloggers, editors and designers, experts and all different types of entrepreneurs can benefit from, simply by being connected! If you fit the bill for the story, you apply and you have the potential to get press. And it's free! I was introduced to HARO months ago and since then read every email he sends out and have gotten a few different write ups on Di Manno Designs from it! It works! Peter has been successful in building HARO. What he built for fun in the beginning, now has over 100,000 members. Congrats Peter!

In his speech he shared 4 rules which he lives and operates HARO by:

#1 Transparency

This is the idea that you shouldn't be afraid to let your audience know when you screw up. If you really listen to your audience, your customers, you can make valuable changes when needed to help your company grow in a positive way.

#2"Ask Them"

Don't be hesitant to ask your audience HOW they would like to receive their information. This is effective because they will get your information in a form they are most comfortable receiving it and it could save you money. For example, if someone prefers email over mail, you save yourself postage that would be wasted since that item would be tossed out if it went to a customer who doesn't read his/her mail.

#Learn to Write

This is key because in today's world everyone is so busy and getting information from so many different mediums, it is important when trying to get a person's attention to be concise and clear with what you write. If you have a question, don't beat around the bush, ask it, or maybe it is a clever title to use in the subject line of your email to assure that that person will not only open it, but read it. Peter says, "Brevity equals good writing."

#4 Be Present in People's Minds

This concept is to stay in touch with people through Facebook and Twitter etc, but not just when you want or need something. This can turn a person off, who may be someone you could potentially be doing business with. Make it a point to reach out to them JUST BECAUSE and it will build your relationship with them in a way that just by staying in touch, you will be remembered, which is key, because being memorable can definitely bring more business to you!

I loved what he said in the beginning, "If you strive for mediocracy, you become just like everyone else." So inspiring, because I think behind every great company, is a strong leader, a risk taker who likes to go against the norm, and by doing so, he or she can be very well rewarded. And hopefully that person is also a good person, with a good heart to also touch and inspire the lives of those around him or her through their journey.