How To Become A Millionaire By 'Helping' Reporters

Consider Peter Shankman: skydiving flack, taser lover, and the founder of Help A Reporter Out (HARO), the free (!) service that connects reporters with a world of flacks dying to appear in their stories. HARO is a lot like Profnet, except Profnet costs flacks thousands of dollars a year. We wondered why Shankman went to all the trouble of running HARO, and now we know: $800,000 a year! Is this oversharing man the future of flackery? More »

The Problem Of Work Oversharing

As I type this, I'm not in a cubicle; I'm chilling in a coffee shop of my choice. I'm wearing shorts and sneakers, not a "monkey suit" like some of you people. I could totally run outside right now and do some parkour and practice karate before coming back in to do my next post at my leisure! Isn't that awesome? Doesn't it make you jealous of the way I maintain my free, breezy lifestyle while still being an incredibly driven entrepreneur? No. It makes you want to slam my hands in a car door repeatedly until I can never type another thing. This, I'm afraid, is the point being missed by many "professionals" addicted to the internet. Job oversharing is now just as rampant as personal life oversharing. Christ, you business people are all turning into Emily Brill. More »

Why Does A Flack Want To "Help" A Reporter?

A flack named Peter Shankman (who enjoys getting tased) has built up quite a little reporter-helping service! Through a free website, Helpareporter.com, Shankman takes in queries from reporters in search of sources for random stories, and then sends those queries out to the PR world, who—coincidentally—like to be featured sources. Everybody wins! Except for the other reporter-source website called Profnet, which does the same thing, but charges a big fee to flacks to participate: More »

Valleywag cub reporter calls TheStreet.com veteran a "jackass" — to his face

I'm sitting in the CES press lounge when my editor, Owen Thomas, sends me an email:

Find him and interview? - O.

More »

Overheard at CES: There's no more food!

In the CES 2008 Press Lounge: More »

PR guy's site links to bestiality, rape porn

Richard Laermer of RLM PR is either into some really depraved adult entertainment. Or he's very lazy. That's the conclusion of fellow flack Peter Shankman, an early riser who was no doubt checking out Laermer's source code at 4 a.m. before going for a jog. The site's code reveals links to sites featuring bestiality and "nonconsensual sex," a cute little euphemism for rape porn. So how did Laermer let all that onto his site? More »

Early risers are disgusting — and disadvantaged

Peter Shankman — "CEO, entrepreneur, adventurist" — is a blogger and publicist running The Geek Factory, a NYC boutique PR and marketing firm. Shankman likes to think "a little more 'out there.'" He's "out there" all right. Shankman wakes up really, really early. I mean, disgustingly early. The publicist/blogger didn't always like mornings, and he knows it's insane, "but to be up and working this early has so many advantages," says Shankman. It also has its disadvantages. More »

Peter Shankman Lives Only To Serve. And See The Name "Peter Shankman" In Print.

Remember that clip of Geek Factory P.R. dude Peter Shankman getting tased? Of course you do. We all had a good laugh at that one. You'll probably want to watch it again after reading the following non-pitch pitch Peter has sent around with an offer of his services. Peter (a marathon runner, triathlete, amateur boxer, and licensed skydiver) knows A LOT of people - more than you would ever think possible, apparently - and he wants to provide his vast knowledge to the hard-working journalist in search of a quote. That's right, if you "source" Peter he will be more than happy to provide you with his expertise in any area at any time, night or day (he doesn't sleep a lot). After the jump, the appeal in full. Our question put publicly to Peter (although if he answers, we'll be happy to source him): Who would win in a fight, you or Ronn [sic] Torossian? Before you answer, remember: Ronn [sic] was trained by the Shin Bet. More »