# Press Request Platforms — Inbound PR Journalists posting "I need a source for X" — you respond, sometimes you get quoted, sometimes you don't. The cheapest PR play available, but only if you treat it seriously. ## Contents - The major platforms - Daily triage workflow - Response template - What makes a response get selected - What kills a response - ROI reality check --- ## The Major Platforms | Platform | What it is | Cost | Quality | |----------|-----------|------|---------| | **[Connectively](https://www.connectively.us)** (formerly HARO) | Daily email digest of journalist queries | Free tier; paid for filters | Mixed — high volume, lots of noise | | **[Qwoted](https://www.qwoted.com)** | Web app with journalist requests | Free; paid for outreach | Good — better-quality outlets | | **[Featured](https://featured.com)** | Web app, expert profiles, journalist requests | Free tier; paid pro | Good for thought-leadership snippets | | **[Help A B2B Writer](https://helpab2bwriter.com)** | Twice-weekly email of B2B queries | Free | High — B2B-focused, low spam | | **[SourceBottle](https://www.sourcebottle.com)** | Australia-focused but global queries | Free | Variable | | **[Terkel](https://terkel.io)** | Roundup-style ("we asked 50 experts…") | Free | Volume-heavy, low effort | | **[JournoRequests](https://twitter.com/journorequests)** | X account aggregating tweets | Free | UK-skewed, real-time | | **#JournoRequest** (X hashtag) | Live journalist requests | Free | Real-time, fast-moving | **Recommended starter set:** Connectively + Qwoted + Help A B2B Writer + monitoring `#JournoRequest` on X. --- ## Daily Triage Workflow These platforms generate volume. Treat it like email triage — fast pass, deep response on the rare matches. ### Step 1 — Filter (5 min) For each digest / request feed: - Drop everything where you don't have **direct experience or data** - Drop everything from outlets your ICP doesn't read - Drop everything with a deadline you can't meet - Keep only requests where you can give a **complete, named, on-the-record answer** Realistic conversion: 50 daily requests → 2–4 worth answering. ### Step 2 — Deep response (15 min per request) For each keeper: - Read the request 3 times — what's the *actual* angle? - Look up the journalist if possible — recent coverage, beat - Write a custom response (see [template](#response-template)) - Send within their stated deadline (early > late) ### Step 3 — Log Track in a spreadsheet: - Date - Platform - Journalist + outlet - Topic - Response sent (yes/no) - Outcome (no response / passed / quoted / linked) After 30 responses, you'll see which topics/platforms convert. --- ## Response Template Keep responses under 200 words. Journalists are scanning 50+ replies for one quote. ``` Hi [name], Quick response to your request about [topic]. [Specific credential — 1 sentence. "Built X for 5 years" / "Led marketing at Y" / "Have analyzed N companies in space"] The most important thing about [topic]: [your actual point in 2 sentences]. [A specific example, story, or data point — this is what gets quoted.] [If applicable: a contrarian or surprising angle that differentiates from typical answers.] Happy to expand on any of this, share data, or be quoted directly. Feel free to use this attribution: [Your name], [your title], [your company] Contact for follow-up: [email + phone] ``` **Note the structure:** 1. One-sentence intro 2. One-sentence credential 3. Two-sentence answer 4. Specific example (the quotable part) 5. Optional: differentiator 6. Clear offer 7. Pre-written attribution (saves them 30 seconds) 8. Contact info --- ## What Makes a Response Get Selected After analyzing hundreds of quoted responses, the patterns: ### Quotable specificity **Bad:** "Companies should focus on customer experience." **Good:** "When we A/B tested 47 onboarding flows, the version with a 30-second video at step 3 increased activation by 41%." The good version is a quote. The bad version is filler. ### Concrete credential **Bad:** "As a marketing expert..." **Good:** "I've run growth at three Series B SaaS companies, all in B2B sales tooling." Specificity beats title-stacking. ### Story over advice **Bad:** "It's important to track the right metrics." **Good:** "We almost shut down because we were optimizing for MRR when our real problem was activation. Once we switched to tracking 7-day activation, everything else followed." Stories make articles. Advice makes filler. ### Pre-formatted for their workflow - Pre-written attribution - Multiple quotable lines (let them pick) - High-res headshot link (don't attach) - One-line company description ### Time match **Most quotes come from responses sent in the first 6 hours.** After 24 hours, your chances drop sharply. Treat deadlines as if they're 24h earlier than stated. --- ## What Kills a Response - **Pitching your product** when they asked for expert commentary - **Generic advice** that could come from any expert - **Multiple "experts" from your company** responding to the same request (looks coordinated, often is) - **Hiring a PR firm to spam responses** — journalists smell it - **Demanding a link back** to your site — most can't promise links - **Ignoring the deadline** by 1+ days - **Long bio sections** before the actual answer - **Asking to "see the article before publication"** — you don't get to do that - **Asking what other experts said** so you can differentiate — they won't tell you --- ## ROI Reality Check Most teams overinvest in these platforms because they're cheap. Be honest: | Effort | Realistic outcome (90 days) | |--------|----------------------------| | 5 hr/week, custom responses | 3–10 quoted placements | | 1 hr/week, template responses | 0–2 placements | | Outsourced to PR firm | Lots of submissions, few quotes | **A quote in a tier-1 outlet is worth:** - A backlink (DR depends on outlet) - A sales-collateral asset ("As featured in...") - AI-citation surface area - Brand legitimacy in the abstract **A quote in a tier-3 outlet is worth:** - A backlink, often nofollow - Maybe an Instagram screenshot **Decision rule:** if you can sustain 5 hr/week of quality responses for 90 days, this is worth it. If you can only do 1 hr/week, skip it and invest in [proactive pitching](journalist-pitching.md) instead. --- ## Setup Checklist Before you start responding: - [ ] Press page exists and is current (see main SKILL.md) - [ ] One-line credential is written and rehearsed - [ ] Headshot is high-res and at a public URL - [ ] You have 3–5 specific stories / data points ready to deploy - [ ] You've decided which 2–3 platforms to use (don't try all 7) - [ ] You've blocked a daily 20-min window for triage - [ ] You're logging responses in a tracker Without these, you're spamming and wasting their time and yours.