Why You Need to be Pleasantly Persistent with TV Producers

In my TV Publicity Secrets System, each of the 5 Media STARR Strategies are explained in great detail. The 4th strategy, “Reach Out To Producers,” focuses on how to develop lasting relationships with key members of the media.

Whenever I am making contact with producers I practice what I teach, and I encourage my clients to use each of the strategies because they work.

Last week I was excited to see the “pleasantly persistent” principle put into action when I got called to do a segment on CBN TV.

The Christian Broadcasting Network has been on my media wish list for almost a year. I grew up watching shows like, “The 700 Club” and as someone who is passionate about my faith it was an honor to share my money tips with the Christian community.

How did I go from having CBN TV on my wish list to getting booked for a segment?

Well, that’s where the practice of pleasant persistence comes into play. From all the pitches I’ve submitted, shows I’ve contacted, and producers I’ve worked; if there’s one thing I’ve learned about pitching producers, it’:

“No” never means NO.

When it comes to pitching producers, no, often just means not now. That’s good news, but it is not an invitation to be overbearing or verging on stalking producers when following up with them.

Your pitch could receive a NO today, tomorrow and even next month – but it could also be just the thing a producer calls you for when you least expect it. You could be the next “perfect guest” on any given news segment or TV talk show. You just never know – and neither do the producers.

That’s exactly what happened in the case of CBN, after making contact with the Associate Producer and sending several pitches, there just didn’t seem to me one that was “the right one at the right time.”

But then last week, the perfect opportunity came when one of the field reporters from CBN News was doing a story on understanding credit from a Christan perspective and wanted a guest expert who could provide insight and information to the segment. That same Associate Producer that I’d been in contact with for several months passed my information along as someone who would be the “perfect guest.”

I got a call from the reporter and I was booked for the ins-studio interview right on the spot!

So, now do you see the need to stay in touch with producers that have said no to your pitch ideas in the past? The reality is the success of a good TV segment depends on having qualified guests who know how to deliver valuable content to their viewers.

When you have consistently kept in touch with a producer by sending them relevant and timely pitches, they will remember them and you. The bottom line is, you never know at what point you will become a valuable asset to them.

Do you want to move a show from your “wish list” to your booked list?

You can, when you stay on the lookout for opportunities to follow-up with the producer who handles the types of segments you’re striving to be booked for. Craft pitches that are timely, relevant and compelling and practice being pleasantly persistent.

Producers who have been in this business for any length of time will generally agree that even if your pitch doesn’t work when it is initially delivered, that decision could change very quickly- and usually it does.

Make sure that you’re on the radar of producers so that when they get a segment that you’d be a “perfect” fit for, you’re the first one they call.