When trying to get your story covered by American press outlets, here are two suggestions to try:

1. HARO (Help a reporter out). Just learned about this one from someone on our forum this morning. You sign up for alerts of reporters looking for individuals that could help them research their work and contribute. I have no experience with this yet, but could be useful. I signed up and will experiment with it this week.

2. CNN’s iReport. Send in an iReport of what you are doing in the relevant category. iReports are video based.

With thanks to SageMother for the inspiration.

Any ideas for free PR? Reply to this thread.

Another great way to get free PR is develop a newsworthy idea (such as a charity event that features your product)and approach newspapers about your event. When reporters cover this news item, you've just gotten free PR!!!

I signed up for HARO over a year ago and I wasn't very impressed. It clogged up my inbox with a bunch of emails that I never could get around to reading.

Also, some of the subject matter they're looking for is way obscure and random.

Either way, it might be a good read from time to time.

I can see how their niche topics could be an issue when trying to contribute. On the other hand, most successful bloggers are successful because they focus on a narrow niche. So for some the narrow topic matter works.

I'm sorry it clocked up your inbox. I've only had 2 emails yesterday and 1 this morning and found some subjects I could contribute on. Haven't emailed anything out though, as we are busy with setting up a new site.

I just checked out HARO and it looks very interesting and helpful. Thank you for sharing this link, Lorenz.

I have heard of HARO, but I have no experience with the site. I wonder if there's a ranking system among the reporters to validate contributors?

I can see why there may be a surge of interest in the free aspect of HARO, considering the economic times.