I am surrounded by innovators as a normal part of my business at IP Launch, and in a casual moment over a beer it is not unusual for someone to ask me to name my favorite. Due to confidentiality, I usually can’t answer anyway. But it seems they wait with bated breath, in hopes I will describe the latest technology to spin out of NASA or the next cure for cancer.
While I have been privy to some really awesome moments behind the scenes, and there is nothing like visiting a client only to view specific inventions that I thought only appeared in movies like I, Robot or Minority Report, and then be told I can’t discuss it because the US Army is buying it up, my favorites tend to be much simpler. I marvel at people who take what they have and like MacGyver they turn it into something completely disproportionate to what ordinary thought would have allowed.
Take for example Peter Shankman, an author and PR consultant who blogs, twitters and videos about his day and his occasional occupational use of ADHD. Peter conceived and developed helpareporterout.com (HARO). Here’s a guy who takes a very simple concept and tools available to everyone and starts catapulting his value forward in a soft economy.
The concept is simple: reporters often need experts they can’t find easily or in time for a deadline. Many people are great experts in a subject, but they will not seek out a reporter. Peter sets up a simple site in which anyone – including you – can register to receive alerts on the topics and expertise being sought by hungry reporters. Reporters sign up and have the ability to load their requests, deadlines, descriptions of expertise required and contact info.
Peter then sends out a list of these requests, three times per day, five days per week. His delivery times are usually around 5:30 a.m. Eastern Time, noon and late afternoon. His website does most of the automation, but he puts in a personal and short light-hearted conversational intro every time. Has it worked? If growth velocity is any indicator of value, consider that he has more than 13,000 subscribers, and it hasn’t even been 120 days since the site launched.
Here’s why I marvel at people like Peter.
1. He cures a real problem. He addresses a time-hog of inefficiency in the basics of supply and demand. The demand side (hurried reporters) cannot easily connect with the supply side (the experts), and the typical way these two groups connect is fragmented and time-consuming to the point that both may go away unfulfilled.
2. He makes user adoption simple and fast. He creates a way to connect the two groups at no cost to either, and requires only the few minutes necessary to plug in your email address info if you are an expert, or your request if you are a reporter. For the time-starved world this is cold water in the desert. I have absolutely no time to use this service, but what do I do three times per day every day? I read it.
3. He performs consistently. Three times per day he throws in some humorous or at least casual dialogue that tends to add levity to whatever is going on around you, and then fires off the requests.
Experts review an average of ten to fifteen request topics, and if they see something they want, they contact the reporter directly.
4. Anyone could have done this. Is this a scientific breakthrough? No. Should he spend tens of thousands of dollars getting a patent on it? Not likely. Does it drive his brand value up? Absolutely. His benefit-to-cost ratio is very favorable for him too, and for a guy whose job is to build brand for others, there is nothing better than taking your own medicine by building your own brand.
5. It increases the valuation of his company. If Peter decides to sell his PR firm, he already has a great client list that will help the numbers. But ordinarily he could not escape the valuation mathematics of being appraised in comparison with other PR firms, just like home appraisals are priced according to other homes in the same neighborhood. He will also have to address buyer concerns that the big name clients he serves may not remain clients after he leaves, depending on how much his personal involvement has contributed to their being clients in the first place. Every such firm faces these challenges or questions.
But this little invention can potentially stand independent of such concerns. With good tracking of metrics, occasional surveys, and an ever-growing track record of subscriber success stories, this little invention may have a powerful effect on the final deal price of the business. Why? Because it may prove to be a consistent source of new top line revenue for him that comes in at no cost to the company, since he can monetize providing the service with paid sponsorships.
C’mon. I am in Dallas and I can throw a rock and hit 20 PR firms, yet three times per day I have Peter Shankman in my head and he’s 2,000 miles away. His light-hearted dialogue with each list leaves you feeling you know the guy. Who am I going to call with my next PR gig? Multiply that times the 13,000+users, or some percentage thereof, and he’ll see a consistent growth in top line revenue coming from this service. Top line growth coming from all over the world can potentially defy some of the cyclical swings in the market because of the geographic and industry diversification. One market is slow and another market is going great, same with industries. Now you have an argument for higher brand value and stability of revenue stream. That’s a great negotiating package if you are on the sell side.
This is an example of what fascinates me. Simple, efficient, everyone wins, his shareholder value can increase because of it, and he has a blast while he does it.
This is a guy to watch, and this is a model to emulate if you ever the opportunity to do so.
If you were Peter, how would you spur the momentum?
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