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I Used HARO and Then Emailed All The (50+) Sources I Didn't Quote

I got some pretty cool responses

· Pitching

For a story I wrote for The Muse, I used HARO (Help a Reporter Out) to identify digital nomads with a certain kind of career experience. I got tons of responses and did not have the time to acknowledge all 60+ of them as they came in. So once the story was published, I emailed all the people who sent me pitches, but got no initial response from me. As I explained in the email, I've been on both sides of the pitching game. When you put some energy and thought into a pitch, no response can be pretty demoralizing. So I wrote this email as a little way of paying it forward: 

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Here's the full text of my email:

Hey, so have you ever pitched a reporter on HARO only to hear...

absolutely nothing?

That makes two of us.

I've been on both sides (used HARO for pitching and sourcing), and it can kind of suck to hear *crickets* -- especially when you send a great pitch.

I don't want to be that reporter, so I'm getting in touch today because I got a pitch from you a little over a month ago in response to a HARO request for digital nomad career stories.

First of all, I am sorry I could not respond to all of you. I got well over 60 pitches and most of them were great. The story was finally published on The Muse today :)

I wanted to thank you for taking the time to reach out. I followed up with 12 people whose stories really matched my angle (how being a digital nomad is a great career pivot strategy) and ultimately only used three stories (two came from HARO, one was a blogger I've followed for a few years).

Since I've been on the pitching side, I thought it might be interesting to share that info. Your pitch didn't go into a black hole. I just had space for 900 words and 3 case studies, so I had to make tough choices.

Second, there are lots of great stories out there and I plan to do more writing on this topic. I've kept your pitches and might reach out in the future. Hope that's okay.

We've all seen these stories about people (usually Instagram-ready 20-somethings haha) who've quit their corporate jobs to travel. It can be fun to read that stuff, of course. But working remotely and traveling is a huge growing lifestyle trend (as you, the pioneers, know) -- there are many more substantive discussions to be having! My plan is to identify and cover stuff that goes beyond, "hey look, a digital nomad!"

Finally, I send out periodic emails similar to this one with writing, newsy updates, remote work resources etc. If you'd like to get that, you know what to do.

Always interested in your feedback, so feel free to be in touch.

Best,

Jaclyn

I got several awesome responses and good feedback, and I'm including some highlights below (with identifiers obscured). Moral of the story: when you up your communication game, it makes others want to do the same. 

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Let's keep in touch. I send periodic emails with smart ideas for living, learning, and creating on your own terms.