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 (formerly HARO) | Daily email digest of journalist queries | Free tier; paid for filters | Mixed — high volume, lots of noise |
| Qwoted | Web app with journalist requests | Free; paid for outreach | Good — better-quality outlets |
| Featured | Web app, expert profiles, journalist requests | Free tier; paid pro | Good for thought-leadership snippets |
| Help A B2B Writer | Twice-weekly email of B2B queries | Free | High — B2B-focused, low spam |
| SourceBottle | Australia-focused but global queries | Free | Variable |
| Terkel | Roundup-style ("we asked 50 experts…") | Free | Volume-heavy, low effort |
| 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)
- 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.
B0
Note the structure:
- One-sentence intro
- One-sentence credential
- Two-sentence answer
- Specific example (the quotable part)
- Optional: differentiator
- Clear offer
- Pre-written attribution (saves them 30 seconds)
- 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 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.