A strong source request gets you better pitches, faster. When potential sources understand exactly what you're looking for, they can self-select more accurately, which means less time sorting through responses that miss the mark.
Here's what to keep in mind when putting yours together:
Your Title
Think of your title as a quick signal to the right expert: "Is this me?" A good title is specific enough to attract the right people and filter out the rest.
The best titles name the expert. If you know the type of source you're looking for, lead with that. Titles that call out specific roles, professions, or expert types tend to perform better because the right people recognize themselves immediately.
For example:
"Registered Dietitians With Keto Diet Experience"
"Interior Design Expert With Knowledge of Color Trends and Theory"
"Small Business Owners Who've Used Invoice Factoring"
If you're not sure exactly who you need, describe the topic instead. That's completely fine. A clear, specific topic still attracts relevant sources.
For example:
"Working Capital Optimization Strategies for Small Business"
"The Psychology Behind Impulse Buying"
A few things to keep in mind:
Keep it to 90 characters or fewer. Titles that go over get cut off, so tighten things up where you can. If you're running long, trim the subject matter before you trim the expert types. For example, "Entrepreneurs, Consultants, or Small Business Owners Who've Used Invoice Factoring" becomes "Entrepreneurs, Consultants, or Small Business Owners". The right people will still find you, and your description can handle the rest.
Skip the article references. No need to mention "story," "piece," or "article" in the title. Just focus on the expertise or perspective you need.
If your request is time-sensitive, add "Urgent" to the end of the title, like this: "Looking for RDs for Keto Diet Advice - Urgent". Qwoted will help to promote these due to the urgent nature through the deadline field.
Think of your title as a quick signal to the right expert: "Is this me?" A good title is specific enough to attract the right people and filter out the rest.
Good titles look like:
"Working Capital Optimization Strategies for Small Business"
"Interior Design Expert With Knowledge of Color Trends and Theory"
"Interior Designers or Contractors"
Your Request Description
This is where you give sources the context they need to pitch you well. Be as specific and clear as you can about what angle you're pursuing, who you want to hear from, and what a useful response looks like. The more keywords that are in here, the better our system can match it to relevant experts.
A few important notes:
Don't include personal contact info. That means no email address, phone number, or social media links. All initial conversations happen through Qwoted, which keeps things organized and protects your inbox.
Don't ask sources to reply by email or fill out an external form. Direct them to reach out via Qwoted instead.
If you have a form that you need sources to fill out, you can send the form link to the sources directly as part of your reply to their pitches.
Make sure your description actually describes what you need. A title alone doesn't give sources enough to go on. If your request doesn't have a description, we may reach out to you for more details before it goes live.
The more context you provide, the more useful your pitches will be. It's worth spending an extra few minutes here.
A Note on Posting Volume
To get the most out of your requests and make sure each one gets the attention it deserves, we recommend posting no more than 3 requests at a time, then waiting a few hours before submitting more. In general, try to keep it to a maximum of 5 requests per 24 hours.
Spacing them out, or saving some for the next day when you can, helps each request get maximum visibility and a stronger response rate. When a lot of requests go out at once, they end up competing with each other.
If you want to plan ahead, our request form has a scheduling feature that lets you set a future publish time, which makes it easy to pace things out without having to come back manually.
We also want to give you a heads-up: posting a high volume of requests in a short window can sometimes trigger our spam protection, which may temporarily disable your account. Following this approach whenever possible will help you avoid any interruptions.
We get that tight deadlines don't always allow for this, and that's okay. But when you have the flexibility, pacing your requests will almost always get you better results.
Questions?
If you need help getting your request in shape, reach out to our team. We're here to make the process as smooth as possible. Reach out to us at Support@qwoted.com anytime.