After sharing his ProfNet success story with us on our Facebook page, we caught up with Tim Lucas, VP of mortgage and editor-in-chief of MyMortgageInsider.com to get some tips for how to successfully respond to reporters’ queries. Check out what he had to say: 

ProfNet Query that led to success: 

There are many that I've successfully answered but here are two key ones: 

Link to article: Renting vs. Buying a Home: Which Is Smarter? Geoff Williams - U.S. News & World Report

Link to article: Buy a Home Now or Pay More Later? Brian O’Connell - Realtor.com

How do you choose which ProfNet queries to respond to each day?

The idea has to resonate with me. If I'm not passionate about the topic, I won't answer the query with as much detail, insight, or personality. Also I have to be confident about the subject. If the reporter calls me I want to talk intelligently about it no matter what question he or she throws at me.

What do you include in a typical response?

I lead off with my credentials. I'm VP of mortgage and editor-in-chief of a nationally recognized website. Reporters want to know you are already accomplished in your field because it sounds better in their articles.

I'll reiterate what Dan Janal told me at our initial counseling when I signed up. Write three short points that are easily quotable. Go for sound bites and add concrete details. What's better of these two quotes? "You can save money by refinancing" or "Someone with a $250,000 mortgage can save $50,000 by dropping their interest rate one percent/"

Do you have tips for PR people for responding to ProfNet queries?

Time is of the essence. If you let a query sit for an hour, it's probably too late. Also, it's more effective to answer the query yourself instead of having a PR service respond for you. Often, reporters want their quote now and don't want to go through a middle man. And you are much more likely to communicate your personality instead of outsourcing that responsibility.

Additional comments:

Go for a unique angle when answering the query. What's the cliché way to answer the query? Think about that, then don't answer in that way! When I was quoted in U.S. News & World Report recently, the question was: Is it smarter to buy or rent? Instead of going all cliché on the reporter by saying owning a home is a great long-term investment, I talked about stress. I said it's better for someone to wait if they have experienced other stressful life events such as a job change, marriage, or a baby. The reporter loved it and even wrote my point into his subtitle.

Whether you're a reporter, blogger, author or other content creator, ProfNet can help you with your search for expert sources. You can send a query to tens of thousands of experts and PR agents, search the more than 60,000 profiles on ProfNet Connect, or get timely experts and story ideas by email -- all for free! Need help getting started? Email us at profnet@profnet.com

Congratulations to ProfNet member Rick Peterson who was featured in Times Square as part of our Facebook promotion! Peterson is manager of media relations at Lawrence University in Appleton, WI.

He shared his success stories on our Facebook page as part of our monthly promotion, whereby we choose our favorite success story from our Facebook wall each month and that person gets his/her picture on the Reuters sign in Times Square.

Thanks to ProfNet, Lawrence University historian Jerald Podair was quoted in a Nov. 22 Orange County Register story on the impact the Kennedy assassination had on the way television news was covered and presented. Also Lawrence University biologist Jodi Sedlock recently shared her expertise about bats for an upcoming segment of MediaTracks' nationally syndicated radio program Viewpoints.

"I've found ProfNet to be an effective tool to help share the expertise of Lawrence University faculty in media outlets we wouldn't normally show up in. We've had some faculty members get contacted by the media as a result of their comments in stories they responded to via a ProfNet query and other reporters have come back to some faculty members for other stories they're working on after having had a good experience with them initially following a ProfNet query."

Want to see your picture in Times Square? It’s easy:

Step 1: “Like” our Facebook page (go to www.facebook.com/ProfNetOnFB -- not the FB logo on the top of this page).

Step 2: Share your best success story on our wall. 

That’s it!  

Make sure to post your success stories there every month, and you could be next!

Whether you're a reporter, blogger, author or other content creator, ProfNet can help you with your search for expert sources. You can send a query to tens of thousands of experts and PR agents, search the more than 60,000 profiles on ProfNet Connect, or get timely experts and story ideas by email -- all for free! Need help getting started? Email us at profnet@profnet.com

Congratulations to ProfNet member Daniel Draz who was featured in Times Square as part of our Facebook promotion! Draz is principal of Fraud Solutions, a global fraud consulting firm located outside Chicago, and is recognized as a leader in the fraud profession.

Draz shared his success story on our Facebook page as part of our monthly promotion, whereby we choose our favorite success story from our Facebook wall each month and that person gets his/her picture on the Reuters sign in Times Square.

“The first time we used ProfNet, CommPro.biz, a top corporate communication site, wanted an analysis of Martha Stewart and Omnimedia’s 10 straight years of losses and the effect on brand damage. We responded to that query with insightful commentary about the impact that major fraud events have on businesses and that led to an op-ed piece which was published the next week,” said Draz.

He added, “That one query alone has resulted in regular requests for content and five have now been published. As if that wasn’t enough, it also generated a unique opportunity to be featured in a professional educational series (‘In the Office with…’) produced by Onstream Media, which is scheduled to take place on Nov. 21.”

You can read more from Draz in a recent press release titled, “Fraud Solutions "Rocks Times Square" During International Fraud Awareness Week.”

Want to see your picture in Times Square? It’s easy:

Step 1: “Like” our Facebook page (go to www.facebook.com/ProfNetOnFB -- not the FB logo on the top of this page).

Step 2: Share your best success story on our wall. 

That’s it!  

Make sure to post your success stories there every month, and you could be next!

Whether you're a reporter, blogger, author or other content creator, ProfNet can help you with your search for expert sources. You can send a query to tens of thousands of experts and PR agents, search the more than 60,000 profiles on ProfNet Connect, or get timely experts and story ideas by email -- all for free! Need help getting started? Email us at profnet@profnet.com

Congratulations to ProfNet member Lorraine U. Martinelle, director of media relations at Assumption College in Worcester, Mass. who was featured in Times Square as part of our Facebook promotion!

Thanks to ProfNet, Martinelle was able to get Assumption College history professor Carl Keyes quoted in a Los Angeles Times article titled “Who really won the War of 1812?”

Martinelle shared her success story on our Facebook page as part of our monthly promotion, whereby we choose our favorite success story from our Facebook wall each month and that person gets his/her picture on the Reuters sign in Times Square.

"Thank you, ProfNet, for helping our small college get national media exposure!" said Martinelle.

Want to see your picture in Times Square? It’s easy:

Step 1: “Like” our Facebook page (go to www.facebook.com/ProfNetOnFB -- not the FB logo on the top of this page).

Step 2: Share your best success story on our wall. 

That’s it!  

Make sure to post your success stories there every month, and you could be next!

Whether you're a reporter, blogger, author or other content creator, ProfNet can help you with your search for expert sources. You can send a query to tens of thousands of experts and PR agents, search the more than 60,000 profiles on ProfNet Connect, or get timely experts and story ideas by email -- all for free! Need help getting started? Email us at profnet@profnet.com

Congratulations to ProfNet member Matt Hames, manager of media communications at Colgate University, who was featured in Times Square as part of our Facebook promotion!

Thanks to ProfNet, Hames was able to get Colgate University’s summer enrichment program for Chinese students featured in a USA Today article titled “U.S. Summer Camps Increasingly Popular Overseas.”

Hames shared his success story on our Facebook page as part of our monthly promotion, whereby we choose our favorite success story from our Facebook wall each month and that person gets his/her picture on the Reuters sign in Times Square.

"I love ProfNet for pitching and for giving me ideas for other stories," said Hames.

Want to see your picture in Times Square? It’s easy:

Step 1: “Like” our Facebook page (go to www.facebook.com/ProfNetOnFB -- not the FB logo on the top of this page).

Step 2: Share your best success story on our wall. 

That’s it!  

Make sure to post your success stories there every month, and you could be next!

Whether you're a reporter, blogger, author or other content creator, ProfNet can help you with your search for expert sources. You can send a query to tens of thousands of experts and PR agents, search the more than 60,000 profiles on ProfNet Connect, or get timely experts and story ideas by email -- all for free! Need help getting started? Email us at profnet@profnet.com