The Reporter’s Problem You Solve

A reporter at Forbes is writing about AI in customer service. She has 18 hours to file the story. She needs three expert quotes to make it credible. She can’t spend four hours hunting down sources.

That’s where you come in.

Your name appears in a journalist database as someone who understands AI in customer service. She sends a query. You respond within two hours with a specific, quotable answer. You cite one concrete example. You include your title and one sentence about your background.

She picks your quote.

Your name now appears in Forbes. You didn’t pitch yourself. You didn’t send a press release to their publicity inbox (where it gets deleted). You didn’t hire an agency to chase reporters.

You responded to a question.

This is the most direct path to getting featured in major publications. It beats pitching because reporters need sources far more than companies need press coverage. Your job is to be available when they ask.

Why Getting Quoted Matters More Than Pitching

Most founders think about press backwards. They imagine themselves pitching the Wall Street Journal. They imagine journalists begging for an interview.

This doesn’t happen. Journalists are fighting deadlines and they have no time to chase story ideas from people trying to promote themselves.

But journalists are constantly chasing sources.

Every story needs credibility. Every article needs a voice that says, “Yes, this thing is real.” That’s where expert quotes come from. A reporter writes a story about burnout in tech. She needs a psychologist to validate it. She needs a CEO to say what it’s cost their business. She needs someone on the front lines describing it.

She’s not hoping for someone to cold pitch her a story about burnout. She’s searching for people who understand burnout and can speak about it clearly.

When you position yourself as a source rather than as someone seeking coverage, you stop competing against hundreds of other people with press releases. You start competing against zero people, because most experts don’t bother to show up.

You respond to queries. Most experts don’t.

That’s the whole game.

Where Journalists Find Sources

Journalists have several places they look when they need expert quotes.

Journalist query platforms are the primary source. Reporters post questions. Experts respond. The main platforms are:

Twitter/X and Reddit are secondary sources. Journalists post source requests with the hashtag #journorequest. Reporters also post on subreddits like r/IAmA and r/beta for specific expertise.

Direct outreach happens but it’s inefficient. If you’re already quoted in publications, reporters may find you and reach out directly. This builds over time as your profile grows.

The best entry point is a journalist query platform. You set it up once and then respond to relevant queries as they come in.

How to Set Up Your Expert Profile

You need to be discoverable. This means creating profiles on the platforms where journalists search.

Start with Connectively. It’s free to sign up. Create a profile that describes your expertise clearly. Don’t use marketing language. Use specifics.

Bad: “I help companies transform their digital presence.” Good: “I work with enterprise SaaS companies on reducing customer acquisition cost through content marketing. I’ve worked with companies doing $10M to $100M in ARR.”

A journalist searching for “SaaS content marketing” will find you. She will click your profile. If you’ve written about CAC reduction and you mention three concrete metrics, she knows you can answer her question.

Include a headshot. Include your title. Include the industries and topics you know.

Then set your notification preferences. Do you want email digests? Daily? Weekly? How many queries per digest? Choose what you can realistically respond to.

Many experts sign up for daily digests and get overwhelmed. They miss the relevant queries in the noise. Start with weekly digests. Set your notifications to only queries in your specific areas.

Repeat this for Qwoted and Help a B2B Writer if you have time. The more platforms you’re on, the more queries you’ll see. But one platform with consistent, good responses beats three platforms with sporadic replies.

How to Respond to Journalist Queries

A reporter posts this query on Connectively:

“Looking for a supply chain expert to comment on how AI is changing logistics. Need quotes about cost reduction, delivery speed, and implementation challenges. Deadline: 48 hours.”

You know supply chain. You read the deadline (48 hours). You decide to respond.

Here’s what you do:

Write two to three sentences that directly answer the question. Not a paragraph. Not a long explanation. Two to three sentences.

“AI is reducing logistics costs by 15 to 25% at major carriers by automating route optimization and predicting demand spikes. The catch is that companies need 6 to 12 months to implement these systems before they see ROI. We’re seeing implementation challenges mainly around legacy systems that can’t integrate with AI platforms.”

One sentence per point. Clear. Specific. Quotable.

Add one concrete example. Use a real number, a real company (if they’ll let you), or a real scenario.

“A mid-size carrier we worked with moved from manual route planning to AI-assisted dispatch and cut fuel costs by 18% in six months. But they had to hire a full-time integration engineer to make it work.”

Include your title and a one-sentence credential. Not a bio. Not a resume. One sentence.

“I’m VP of Operations at [Your Company]. I’ve worked with 30+ logistics companies on AI implementation over the last four years.”

Include your contact information. Email, phone, timezone, and willingness to speak on the record or off the record.

That’s it. Send it.

Why this works: You answered the question, provided a quotable line (the 15-25% number), backed it up with a specific example (the 18% fuel cost savings), and told the reporter who you are. You made the reporter’s job easier.

Reporters forward responses like this to their editors. They don’t have to edit your words. They don’t have to call you back to verify facts. You handed them a quote they can use.

Avoid these mistakes:

Building Your Reputation as a Source

Your first quote takes effort. The second quote takes 20% less effort because the reporter knows what to expect.

Respond to five to ten queries per week. Not all queries will result in published articles. Maybe 20-30% of your responses get published. That’s normal.

Over two to three months, you’ll appear in six to ten publications. Your name starts showing up in Google searches. Reporters find you through search. They email you directly.

This is the compounding part. Early on, you’re fishing with a line. You’re waiting for a query that matches your expertise. You respond. Maybe it gets published.

Six months in, reporters already know you. They reach out directly. You get quoted in Fortune because a reporter searching for “manufacturing automation” found you and recognized your work from a previous article.

The key is consistency. Respond to three queries a month if that’s all you have time for. Respond to ten per week if you want to accelerate. Don’t join the platform and disappear. Journalists remember who responds quickly and who responds never.

Also, respond to queries outside your core expertise if they’re close. You know SaaS sales. A reporter asks about B2B marketing. You have something to say. Respond. This expands the reporters who know you, which expands future opportunities.

What Gets You Published

Not every response gets published. Reporters get dozens of responses per query. They pick the best ones.

Your response gets picked if:

  1. You answered the specific question. The reporter asked about cost reduction. You talked about cost reduction, not market trends or general industry news.

  2. You provided a quotable line. A quote that a magazine could use as-is. Short. Specific. Memorable. “AI cuts logistics costs by 18% through automated routing” is quotable. “AI has a lot of potential applications” is not.

  3. You included a concrete example. A number. A company. A specific scenario. “We moved from manual to AI dispatch and cut fuel costs by 18% in six months” is concrete. “Companies are seeing good results with AI” is vague.

  4. You provided credentials. The reporter knows you’re not making this up. You have experience. You’re qualified to answer.

  5. You were easy to contact. You responded to the query. You included a phone number. You were available for a follow-up call if the reporter needed clarification.

Reporters are not building a story around your vision or your business. They’re building a story about an industry trend. They need you to be a credible voice in that trend. Make their job easy and they’ll use your quote.

Getting Direct Relationships with Reporters

After six months of regular responses, you’ll start getting direct emails from reporters.

“I saw your quote in the Forbes article about AI and logistics. I’m writing about supply chain transformation for BusinessWeek. Would you be available for a 15-minute call next week?”

These direct relationships are gold. The reporter already knows you. She knows you respond quickly. She knows you provide specific, quotable information. She’s reaching out because she wants you specifically.

This is when you can pitch story angles. You call her. You mention that you’ve noticed a trend in logistics companies avoiding AI because of integration costs. That’s a story. She might write it.

But you earn that right by being a reliable source first. You respond to queries. You get published. Then reporters reach out to you.

This is also when you can mention your company or product in context. You’re talking to a reporter about supply chain trends. You mention, “We built a tool that helps legacy systems integrate with AI platforms. It’s something that would help companies avoid that 6-12 month implementation window.”

The reporter might not write about your tool, but she might. Or she might mention it in passing as a solution to a problem she’s writing about.

See the difference? You’re not pitching. You’re providing context to a reporter who already knows you’re credible.

Building Your Media Strategy

Getting quoted in major publications doesn’t require an agency. It doesn’t require a PR firm. It requires three things.

1. Consistency. Respond to queries every week. Set a calendar reminder if you need to. Make it part of your routine. Fifteen minutes per day to read and respond to three queries is enough to start seeing results within two months.

2. Clarity. Answer the question in two to three sentences. Provide a specific example. Include your title and credentials. Make it easy for the reporter to use your quote.

3. Expertise. Know your lane. Don’t respond to queries you’re not qualified to answer. A reporter can tell when you’re guessing. Respond only to areas where you have real experience.

Do these three things and you’ll get quoted in publications you couldn’t pitch on your own. You’ll build a media profile. Reporters will start reaching out to you directly.

That media profile compounds. Over time, you become known in your industry as someone who understands the space deeply enough that journalists call you.

For most founders and executives, this beats any other path to press coverage.

See also: How to Pitch Journalists, How to Get Featured in Forbes, How to Get Interviewed on a Podcast, Personal Branding for Founders