How to get quoted in the press as an expert in your field

A reporter has a story due by evening and a hole in it. They need one person who can explain the hole in two plain sentences, and who picks up the phone. To be quoted as an expert, be that person. Reply fast and put the answer in the first line. Give one example they can use. Keep a one-page profile ready so they can check who you are in a minute. Then wait. Many replies go unused, and a first quote can take a long while.

What the reporter does in the first minute

They are not reading for pleasure. They have forty replies, or four, and a deadline. They look at your first line to see whether you answered, at your signature to see whether you are real, and at your phone number to see whether they can ring you now.

A long reply fails the first look. An unclear signature fails the second. A form-only contact fails the third. None of these measures how much you know.

Where the questions come from

You do not have to wait to be found. Reporters' queries circulate through journalist-request services and newsletters. Some reporters post them on LinkedIn or X, a line like "looking for someone on cashew prices before tomorrow". Others come from a reporter you met at an event or whose work you commented on in good faith.

Pick one or two sources, check them at times you set, and reply only when the question sits squarely in your field. An off-topic reply wastes their time and teaches them to skip your name.

A reply that gets used

Under 100 words, in this order.

Subject: [Their topic]: comment from [name], [role]

Hello [name]. On [the question]: [the answer in two sentences, main point first]. [One example from your own work, labelled as such.]

I am [role] at [company], [city], and have worked on [specific thing]. I am on [phone] until [time] if you want more.

[Name], [phone], [LinkedIn link]

Put the answer before your credentials. No attachments. Do not ask for your company to be credited. If you quote a number, say where it comes from, or call it your own estimate. Then read your best sentence alone. If a stranger could not tell what it was about, rewrite it, because that sentence is what gets quoted.

The one-page profile

Keep it ready as a single document or web page the reporter can open on a phone.

The last row earns trust. A reporter who knows you will refuse an off-topic question has one reason fewer to doubt you.

A reply that failed, and the one that worked

This is an invented case, not a client. An adviser to cashew processors in Mangaluru sees a request: why have raw-nut prices swung, and what should small processors do? The adviser writes six paragraphs, attaches a PDF of notes, and signs off with "Cashew Consultant". Nothing is used. The paragraphs were all true. But the reporter could not find one sentence to lift, could not tell whether the adviser had run a unit or only studied one, and had no phone number to ring.

The second attempt, to a different query a few weeks later, ran to two sentences.

Small processors who buy only when stock runs low take the whole swing. Those who agree a quantity with two suppliers before the season share it, in my experience with units on the coast.

Below it went a phone number, one line of background and the link to the profile page. A coastal daily quoted the first sentence only. The cut dropped "in my experience with units on the coast", so in print it read as a general rule the adviser could not fully stand behind.

Even that took months, and several replies in between went nowhere.

What to expect, honestly

This is slow. Many replies are not used. Stories change and quotes are dropped after you answered. A reporter who quotes you once may not call for a long time.

It does not always bring work directly either. A quote is proof: a buyer who searches your name finds your words in a paper or trade magazine. If your buyers do not read the press, this may not be your route. Our post on whether you need a personal brand if work already comes in is a way to check.

If a reporter changes your words, ask for a correction only when a fact is wrong. If the quote was merely cut for length, let it go.

If you are a doctor, lawyer, accountant or another registered professional, your council may limit how you can be quoted and how you describe yourself. Rules differ by state and body and change, so check with your own adviser or regulator first.

A release, and your next step

Send a press release only when something has happened: a launch, an appointment, a study you ran. A release with no news is unlikely to be used.

This week, write the one-page profile and six topic questions, and choose the one place you will watch for requests. The personal branding hub links the rest of the visibility routes. If you want help with either, digital PR is the service nearest to this, and you can tell us what you need.