How to Repeat the TV Publicity Process to Get More of It

Thursday, April 23, 2009 marked my 30th appearance on The Morning Show with Mike & Juliet, on FOX.

The M&J Show was only the third national television show I’d ever appeared on, and I was excited to be given the opportunity after one of the shows Associate Producers found me by Googling the phrase “financial expert.”

When I decided to add TV Publicity to my marketing plan just about 18 months before my first appearance, I set a goal not just to make one television appearance, but to repeatedly get booked TV. Now I’ve appeared on close to 200 television talk shows and news programs!

Television publicity, like all types of marketing, requires repetition to be fully effective.

In fact, “The Rule of 7″ says it may take up to 7 impressions before a potential customer will take notice of you and then take action. (Now you know why he same commercial so many times during one program!)

Of course there are exceptions to that rule, and the power of TV publicity coupled with a great pitch can be very strong. In fact, when all the circumstances are right your first pitch could get you booked.

The value of appearing on TV -even one time- is something that many of my clients attribute to an increase in book sales, little to no resistance in charging higher fees, and attracting more potential clients to their websites as well as social media profiles.

Sure its has happened that way for others, like my client Captain Wayne Bennett who received a “call back” from a producer as he as pulling out of the parking lot of the TV studio after his first appearance on Good Day LA, and could also happen for you after just one TV appearance.

But, knowing that we live in a “noisy world,” you must make it a point to continue the conversation with TV producers in as many formats as possible so that you will have the best chance of being heard.

Being on TV just one time may not be enough to get you the long-term business benefits you’re going after, for that matter neither would sending out just one email, or making just one blog post. Repetition is the key to maximum exposure and success.

So you need to know the level of commitment to before you start your publicity efforts. Identify a strategic plan for repeatedly getting different versions of your message in front of producers who can make a decision of whether to book you.

The bottom line is, whatever type of marketing you commit to, commit to it so that you can see how one success builds on another. Then when the momentum picks up…hang on for the ride and the results!

My client Matthew Sapaula used this one tip (I’ll share it with you too) to successfully book more than 15 television appearances!

Here’s the one quick and easy strategy that you can use to repeat the TV publicity process and get even get more publicity:

Keep in Contact with Producers to Stay On Their Radar

Whether you’re instantly asked back on a show or have a great pitch idea that would be better for a future date, you simply must remain committed to building a relationship with producers. The best way to do that is choose a date (in advance) to reconnect at least once every 21 to 25 days.

Write it on your calender, put it in your phone, add it to your contact management system. The important thing here is that you stick with it.

Take advantage of the opportunity to remain top of mind with a producer by keeping up to date on what’s happening in the media relating to your industry/topic. Monitor what’s being covered on the shows you’d like to appear on so that you can send a quick e-mail about a segment idea that you may have.

You should also regularly surf the Internet for interesting topic ideas that would appeal to the target audience of the show and share ideas on how you can be the guest expert on those as well.

I followed this model of relationship building and turned one national television appearance into 30 – and that was just on one TV show. My clients have experienced impressive results from using this quick and easy strategy too.

I can guarantee that98% of your competition trying to get on TV are not doing this!

It works, try it, commit to it, and see how you many times you get repeat publicity opportunities because you’ve become a resource that TV producers go to for great segment ideas that feature you.