# 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.
