After signing a contract with Ten Speed Press/Random House to produce my book Second-Act Careers, I had 16 weeks to interview dozens of people and write it. As if that wasn’t daunting enough, I just had surgery. But at 4 a.m., as I lay in my hospital bed with an intravenous drip in my arm, I realized the solution: HARO.

I had already successfully used HARO to get publicity for my career coaching business, My Lifestyle Career, which was featured in Calgary Sun newspaper and National Journal news magazine.

So as I recuperated at home, I put a small request in a HARO newsletter. Within 48 hours, I received more than 50 qualified responses.

There is absolutely no way that I would have found these people on my own, at least not before tearing my hair out. The most difficult part was selecting which of these interesting people to contact—a problem I’ll take any day!

I don’t keep HARO as a secret for myself. I tell my clients about its benefits. Recently, I referred a client who needed to find people to interview for her radio show to HARO. Within a few days, she had heard from several dozen high-quality applicants, some of which had appeared on The Today Show and other reputable programs.

– Nancy Collamer