7 reasons why Vocus will keep HARO FREE

How do you get the PR community stirred up in a hurry?  Tell them Vocus intends to make them pay for HARO.

For better or worse, that was the message some readers took away from this post in PRNewser, Vocus Q2: Record Revenues; Developing Paid Version of Help a Reporter Out (HARO).  As a long time HARO subscriber, a PR pro, and the PR pro for Vocus, let me clarify:  HARO will remain free and here are 7 reasons why.

1.  Vocus CEO Rick Rudman said HARO would remain free.  In the initial news release announcing that Vocus acquired HARO, Rick said, “As a free service, HARO is a perfect on-ramp to the Vocus suite for new customers and complements our existing product portfolio.”  

2.  Peter Shankman said HARO would remain free.  He wrote in his post on the deal, “NOTHING CHANGES. HARO will still be free.”

3.  Mashable said HARO will remain free. Barb Dybwad wrote in a Mashable exclusive, “The service will remain free, and will continue to offer its successful ad-supported daily newsletter...”

4.  Rick reiterated HARO would remain free.  On our Q2 2010 earnings call, Rick said that HARO would remain free.  In fact the exact quote from the conference call transcript reads, “The HARO service is free to subscribers, which we plan to continue offering.”

5.  That PRNewser post?  It actually said HARO would remain free.  The overlooked detail that followed the headline in the above named PRNewser post is where Joe wrote, “This is in addition to the free version, which the company will continue to operate as is.”

6.  Vocus CMO Bill Wagner said that HARO will remain free.  In response to questions about premiums services, Bill Tweeted, “Hey @dbreakenridge, we also reiterated on our earnings call that HARO will remain free. What you'll see are additional srvcs. Stay tuned.”

7.  Vocus posted that HARO would remain free on its Facebook Page. 

 

What more can we do? HARO will remain free as a bird. 

As Peter wrote in this post – "PS: Did I mention the HARO you know and love will always stay FREE? Good. Just checking."

Know someone suggesting HARO won’t be free?  Please send them a link to this post.

Disclaimer:   In case you weren’t aware -- I’m the director of PR for Vocus.  Follow us @Vocus.  


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Update 7/29/10, 11:17 a.m. Anonymous comments will not be published.  Contributions are welcome -- name and Web site link please!
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Major HARO News from Peter Shankman on Vimeo.