Peter Shankman, Founder of HARO and the Geek Factory Inc.

75,000 PR professionals are walking on eggshells thanks to Peter Shankman.  At 36, the popular PR and Social Media guru has made a name for himself providing a free service so valuable to the media (and to the PR people who need access to them), that neither side dares to break his rules.  After all, no one wants to offend the guy who knows everyone and apparently sees everything (just try mentioning his name online while staying under his radar).  When that someone also has quick commentary available to thousands of hungry Social Media followers in less than an instant, you know Peter is a friend you want to have.

HARO, which stands for “Help a Reporter Out”, is a free email list that matches journalists with sources, often by way of PR and marketing professionals.  As someone with my own product to pitch, I can’t live without it.  Peter is endlessly entertaining, the sources are good, and the opportunity to connect with major media outlets is invaluable.

But there are rules.  And if you break them, well, don’t break them, because being publicly “outed” by Peter is not good for business.  And 75,000 people know it.

1.  OK, give us a quick 411 on HARO for anyone who doesn’t know already. HARO stands for Help A Reporter Out.  It’s a source repository of over 100,000 sources from all around the world who receive queries via email, three times a day, from reporters from media outlets all over the world.  Anyone can join at helpareporter.com – it’s totally free.

2.  Do you secretly love the fact that people are scared of you (ie being “outed by Peter”)?

I don’t, really. In a perfect world, people would learn to pitch on topic and correctly. This would make their pitches better, they wouldn’t fear being “outed,” because they’d be doing a good job to begin with.

3. What’s up between you and your assistant Meagan?  Are you torturing her out of cruelty or out of love?

Meagan is essentially my little sister. BUT – she’s my little sister who runs my life. I can’t do anything without her, from scheduling a coffee to getting on the right plane. She’s the OCD to my ADHD. She’s really become my lifeblood. That she wants to eat the occasional grasshopper is fine by me.

4. Is the Peter Shankman we see in Social Media a brand, the true you, or something in between?

There’s peter@shankman.com, the brand that everyone knows. Then there’s Peter Shankman. Very few people know that person. I kinda wish more people did.

5. You speak often about Karma.  How does this relate to HARO and to your life in general?

I believe that the universe tends to unfold the way it should, dictated by your actions towards other living things. I try to be a good and decent person, and help people and animals when I can. The end result, for me, anyway, is a fulfilling life with successful businesses, and somewhat of a successful personal life. I’m still working on the latter. I believe that the results of our actions are determined by our actions to begin with, both good and bad.

6. Why do you love Social Media, and why is it so important for businesses to get on board?

I truly believe that self-promotion, when done the right way, will save the world. If you self-promote, you cause other people to take notice of you at least once. Then, something happens: Either they believe in what you’re doing, or are positively affected by it, or they don’t, and they’re not. If they do, they become your promoters – they tell people how great what you’re doing is. If they don’t, they tell people how horrible you are, and you simply cease to be. Either way, nothing happens without self-promotion. Social Media is the ultimate tool for that, for both businesses and personal brands.

7. What kind of person are you looking for in life?  Do they have to be willing to jump out of a plane?

Every time I think I know, I find myself surprised. I want someone who is a partner first and foremost – someone who I can support in their challenges, and vice-versa. Someone who can be thrilled for me when I land a big deal, or have a great skydive, and someone who I can be just as thrilled for when she does something great as well. Really the perfect definition of partner. I hope to find it one day. I believe she’s out there somewhere.

8. Where do you see yourself in 10 years?

I’d like to be running a foundation that really works to make sure we’re not overmedicating our children. Today, the second a kid shows any kind of creativity in school that’s not ”the norm,” we rush to put him or her on Ritalin or Adderall. I believe we’re destroying the next generation’s creativity by doing this, and within two generations, we’ll be a second rate power because of this. I hope to help prevent this from happening. ADHD is not a disability. Being normal and boring is.

Peter’s Bio:

PR Week Magazine has described Peter as “redefining the art of networking,” and Investor’s Business Daily has called him “crazy, but effective.” An entrepreneur, author, speaker, and ingenious worldwide connector, Peter is recognized nationally and globally for radically new ways of thinking about Social Media, PR, Marketing, Advertising, creativity, and just about everything else, as well.

Peter is perhaps best known for founding Help A Reporter Out, (HARO) which in under a year has become the de-facto standard for thousands of journalists looking for sources on deadline, offering them more than 100,000 sources around the world looking to be quoted in the media. HARO is currently the largest free source repository in the world, sending out over 1,200 queries from worldwide media each week. HARO’s tagline, “Everyone is an Expert at Something,” proves over and over again to be true, as thousands of new members join at helpareporter.com each week.

In addition to HARO, Peter is the founder and CEO of The Geek Factory, Inc., a boutique Marketing and PR Strategy firm located in New York City, with clients worldwide. His blog, which he launched as a website in 1995, (shankman.com) both comments on and generates news and conversation.

Peter is the author of Can We Do That?! Outrageous PR Stunts That Work and Why Your Company Needs Them (Wiley and Sons 2006) and in the few hours of spare time Peter has per month, he’s a frequent runner, with 13 completed marathons and three Olympic distance triathlons to his credit, an amateur boxer, and an “B” licensed skydiver, specializing in free-flying.

Want to connect with Peter?  Follow him on Twitter and Facebook!