October 12, 2026
The Expert Nobody Quotes Is Usually Answering the Wrong Question
By Orkan Arat3 min read
Most experts who pitch journalists do not get ignored because they lack expertise. They get ignored because they answer the question they wish they had been asked.
A reporter posts a request. It asks something narrow, such as why small businesses abandon a certain kind of software after a few months. The expert replies with a company history, a view on the industry, and a paragraph about their process. None of it answers the question. The reporter has a deadline, closes the email, and moves to the next reply.
I am the CEO of Plondo Network (https://plondo.com), where we build websites and AI employees for small businesses and direct selling companies. I have answered reporter queries myself, and I have watched smart people fail at it. The pattern is consistent. Being quotable is a discipline, not a personality trait. Here is how I practice it.
A query has a surface question and a real need. The surface question is the topic. The real need is a usable sentence for a specific paragraph in a specific story. Read the request twice. Notice the angle, the audience, and the word the reporter uses to frame the problem. If they say “mistake,” they want a mistake. If they say “why,” they want a cause, not a list of tips.
Then answer that, and only that. If your best material does not fit the question, skip the query. A mismatched reply teaches the reporter to skip your name next time.
Most replies open with a biography. The reporter does not need your resume in the first line. They need your position. Put the claim first, in one plain sentence. Put your credentials after it, in one short line.
When the claim is strong, the reporter will look for a reason to trust you. Your credentials then land as proof instead of decoration.
Reporters do not want five hedged paragraphs. They want a sentence they can drop into a story with quotation marks around it. Write that sentence on purpose. Make it complete without any context. Make it specific enough that it could not have come from anyone else. Then add two or three lines of support, in case they want to verify or expand.
If you cannot state your point in a sentence or two, you do not yet know your point.
Safe answers are invisible. Every reporter has a folder full of replies that say communication matters and customers come first. Nobody quotes those. What gets quoted is the honest observation that people in your field avoid, because it is awkward or bad for business.
Here is an example from my own field. Many small business owners want a new website when the real problem is that nobody can find them, or that nobody answers when a lead calls. We build websites, and I still say that out loud. It is more useful to a reader than another sales line, and it is the kind of statement a writer can actually print.
You do not need to be provocative. You need to be honest, be specific, and accept that some of your peers will disagree.
The fastest way to lose a placement is to sell inside the reply. A reporter is not a lead. If your answer ends with an offer, a discount, or a line about how your firm can help, you have told them you care more about the ad than the story.
Give the answer. Sign with your name, title, and company. Stop there. The mention is the marketing, and it only works if the writer trusts that you were helping and not hunting.
The experts who get picked again and again share one habit. They reduce the work for the writer. They reply quickly. They answer the question that was asked. They offer a clean quote. They say plainly what they can speak to and what they cannot. They separate their opinion from settled fact.
Reporters remember who made their day easier. Over time, that memory is worth more than any single placement.
So before your next reply, run three checks. Did I answer the exact question? Can the reporter lift one sentence without editing it? Did I leave my sales pitch out?
Author Bio: Orkan Arat is the Chief Executive Officer of Plondo Network Inc.
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