How to Respond to ProfNet, PRLeads, and Helpareporter.com Queries, Part 2

Yesterday's post addressed the wrong way to respond to ProfNet/PRLeads/Helpareporter.com media queries. Today's commentary is about how to do it right.

The following format certainly isn't the only way to respond to queries, but it's one that helps me decide if a responder is an appropriate source for my needs. It's also one that I use when responding to queries as an author -- one that often generates interviews about my book topics, so I know it has value. It's not the only way to respond, of course, but it can be a good starting point for you.

• Copy and paste the query title into your e-mail subject line. That's especially helpful for the journalist with more than one query.
• Start with your credentials. What makes you qualified to contribute to this article or segment?
• Take one or two sentences to offer your perspective. Maybe it's your opinion, something counter-intuitive, or information that validates the article premise.
• If I'm looking for an expert, offer advice in three or four bullet points. This will help me see your perspective and determine if you'll be telling me something I haven't gotten from anyone else yet. Note that while I don't quote from these bullet points, many other writers do, so be aware that what you write might appear later in print. I personally prefer to do telephone interviews, but I realize that many just pull comments from the responses of experts without a direct conversation or even acknowledgement that the information will be used.
• If I'm looking for an anecdote to illustrate a point rather than an expert, and you represent that anecdote, offer it in just a few sentences.
• If you're an expert, provide a link to an online bio or copy and paste it into the response. If you have a Web site, include the URL.
• Include contact information I can use to schedule an interview.

Ttry not to ramble and avoid attachments. If you think in terms of what you'd want to know about an expert source for that article, I'm sure you'll respond appropriately.

Finally, let me know how I can help you with this. If you've got questions, ask. Want somebody to look over your response? Send it along. Reach me at sbATsandrabeckwith.com. I'm here to help.

How to Respond to ProfNet, PRLeads, and Helpareporter.com Queries, Part 1

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Beware the Publicist Scam

This is the kind of thing that gives PR people a bad name.

ProfNet (also known by the name of its reseller, PR Leads) is a pricey subscription service that helps journalists find expert sources and others for their news stories and articles. Journalists send their queries through the ProfNet system at no charge; the publicists who receive them throughout the day pay a yearly subscription fee for access to these queries. The PR people try to match the queries with their client base or the resources in their organization.

I've noticed that some publicists are repositioning these random source inquiries from journalists with their clients so that the client thinks the publicist has this fabulous -- fabulous! -- network of media contacts who think so much of the publicist that they are always calling and saying, "Hey, I'm working on a story about XXX and I know you'll know just the perfect person to talk to."

The deceit is one thing. But what really gets me is how these supposedly well-connected publicists then turn the journalist's query over to the expert to respond to directly. So let's see...you're paying your publicist a hefty monthly retainer to copy and paste an inquiry from a newsletter (not a reporter buddy) into an e-mail message that you -- not the publicist -- has to find the time to respond to. What's wrong with this picture? Especially when you can get these queries from journalists directly and cut out the middle man.

Now if that middle man is doing lots of great work for you besides passing along these inquiries that's another thing. But if you're paying a monthly fee to a publicist who does nothing but e-mail ProfNet/PR Leads queries (and isn't honest about where they're coming from), you've got other options. While the full ProfNet service is only available to PR people, individuals can subscribe via PR Leads to get only those queries that match their expertise. It costs about $100 a month. If your publicist is scamming you, this might be one way to maintain this passive PR campaign without paying any more than you have to.

There are a lot of really good publicists out there. That's why I'm concerned when I see people working with those who aren't even mediocre.