First, Dana Manciagli was<a title="PR Newswire Success Story" href="http://prn.to/1wc0dii" target="_blank"> featured in a story </a>as a 'solopreneur' who has used a do-it-yourself public relations service to secure some great media placements, which led to a feature on a New York Times megatron. The ProfNet organization selected Dana to be the feature on their digital megatron in Times Square, New York!

[caption id="attachment_4084" align="alignright" width="300"]<img class="size-medium wp-image-4084" alt="Dana on Times Square Megatron_090414" src="http://www.danamanciagli.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Times-Square-Billboard_DanaManciagli_090414_websmall-300x200.jpg" width="300" height="200" /> Dana on Times Square Megatron_090414[/caption]

The purpose of the megatron was to highlight Dana's success as a solopreneur who uses ProfNets effectively to get a lot of media placements. They select a success story per week then select one for the month to be featured on the megatron.

<em><strong>Here is the article that prompted the megatron opportunity: </strong></em>

I recently caught up with ProfNet member, <a href="http://www.danamanciagli.com/">Dana Manciagli</a>, a global career expert, speaker and author of "Cut the Crap, Get a Job." Manciagli recently quit her 30-year career in sales/marketing to embark on solopreneur venture. Within the first months that she has been in business she has received hundreds of thousands of impressions in top-tier and trade publications such as <a href="http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/Articles/2013/05/15/The-7-Worst-Job-Interview-Job-Mistakes-People-Make">The Fiscal Times</a> and <a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/johnhancock/2013/05/20/stalled-executives-re-negotiating-the-next-big-career-move/">Forbes</a> – all with the help of ProfNet.

“I started my own business about 17 months ago as a solopreneur. I have a business plan and ‘securing PR’ was certainly a critical component to raise the awareness of my business and to gain credibility as an expert. However, I could not afford a large or small PR agency. When I learned about ProfNet at a speaker conference, I joined immediately. Within months, I had placements in large national and regional publications such as Forbes, U.S. News &amp; World Report, The Boston Globe, The Chicago Times, The Fiscal Times, Investor’s Business Daily and more.”

I wanted to hear some tips for how to successfully respond to reporters’ queries straight from the source. Here’s what she had to say:

<strong>How do you choose which ProfNet queries to respond to each day?</strong>

I glance at each one in my genre and, while it’s tempting to respond to some outliers, it’s pretty clear which ones I am a true expert in. I also put myself in the shoes of the writer or requestor and ask myself if my insights will be great or simply more blah, blah, blah.

<strong>What do you include in a typical response?</strong>

I always build two core sections. Naturally, the subject always says “Profnet - ” to make it easy for the recipient. Then, the first section says,“ I am your expert because” and I list 3 short bullet points like “Author of Cut the Crap™, Get a Job!”. The second section says “Here are my insights for you” and I do 3 bullet points of the items I want the recipient to learn from me. In this section, I not only state, very succinctly, what my point is, but I follow it up with one example or additional point for clarity. No more than that.

I close with, “I am able to respond to you in a timely way if you need any additional information or a phone call.”

<strong>Do you have tips for experts who are responding to ProfNet queries?</strong>

Absolutely, I have six tips:

1) The “Law of Threes”: Only provide three main reasons why you (or your client) is an expert in this field and only three main pieces of insight. Otherwise it’s too long. However, if they ask six questions, use numbers to break each one apart.

2) Don’t ramble: Even after three insights, you should make no more than three short back-up statements or real life examples. Make it real for them, but don’t try to teach them about every little detail.

3) Research: Although speed with your response is critical, when they tell you the website or publication and you are not familiar with it, go there! Know their audience and read some articles in the same genre.

4) Use good grammar and proof it before pressing “enter.” The last thing they need is sloppy grammar.

5) Paste their request below your signature block: I copy and paste the entire request below my signature block (which has my phone, city, email address and website). That way, when they call or write back, I am quickly able to read their request vs. saying “what publication? What type of article to whom?”

6)  Thank the writer after you are placed. Tell them what a great job they did and how much you appreciate being included. Ask to be on their short list of resources and commit to being super responsive.