For most of PR history, getting press coverage meant hiring a firm, paying a monthly retainer, and hoping. You never knew what a placement cost because nobody would tell you. We removed the mystery by publishing the prices.
We are The Profound Agency, a visibility agency in Hillsborough, New Jersey. We keep a public directory of 1,666 publications where you can book a paid editorial placement. Every listing shows its price, its Domain Authority, its turnaround time, and how the article is labelled. Here is exactly how buying one works.
Step one: browse the directory
Search by topic, region, or budget. Listings start at $150, the median is $1,150, and 90 percent cost $2,000 or less. When you find the publications you want, you check out and pay in full. A 3.5 percent processing fee is added at checkout. That is the whole pricing story, on the page, before you spend anything.
Pick by goal, not by fame
The biggest name is not always the right buy. It depends on what you are after: credibility, a respected masthead that makes your about page shine; links, publications whose links carry search authority; reach, outlets whose readers are your buyers; or all three. The directory lets you filter by topic, region, and budget, so a local business and a national brand never have to shop the same shelf.
Step two: the article
Either we write the article for you or you send us your own draft. One honest warning: content written by the client carries a higher likelihood of rejection by the publication’s editors. Our writers know what clears editorial standards, which is most of the job. Either way, the piece is built to read like the publication, not like an ad that wandered in.
Step three: you approve, then it publishes
Nothing is published without your approval. We send you the article first, and it only goes live when you sign off. Every listing tells you how the piece will be labelled, so there are no surprises about sponsored markings. Each publication’s turnaround time is listed too, so if you are on a deadline you can aim at the fastest options.
No pitching, no hoping
You are never paying for hope. You choose the outlet, you see the price, and nothing publishes without your approval.
Picture it. Your launch is in six weeks. Instead of pitching reporters and hoping, you pick ten publications today, approve the articles next week, and they go to the editors. That is what buying coverage looks like when the prices are public.
The anatomy of a placement that works
A good placement does not read like an ad. It reads like the publication, because it went through the publication’s editors, and it gives the reader something: a useful idea, a clear explanation, a story worth finishing. Your business earns its mention by being part of something worth reading. The placements that perform best are the ones where the reader would have enjoyed the article even without you in it. That is the bar. Editorial standards are not an obstacle to work around. They are the reason the reader trusts the page your name is on.
Stacking placements
One placement is a mention. Five is a narrative. The businesses that get the most from the directory think in campaigns, not singles: a launch announcement in one outlet, a founder story in another, an expert commentary in a third, timed across weeks. Each piece links to the others in the reader’s mind, and the combined effect is a reputation, not a clip. The directory makes this plannable: pick the outlets, check the turnarounds, sequence the dates.
What to avoid
Buying on fame alone, without asking whether the outlet’s readers are your buyers. Ignoring the sponsored label, then being surprised by it. And rushing approval: the step where you review the article is your quality control. Use it. Nothing goes live without your sign-off, so make the sign-off mean something.
For the skeptical
If you have been burned by PR before, the retainer with no line items and the report full of “impressions,” this will feel unfamiliar. That is the point. Every price is published before you pay. Every article needs your approval before it publishes. Skepticism is welcome here. The process was built for it.
See what your budget buys: browse the full directory.