TV Publicity Tip: The Power of Being Pleasantly Persistent
ByIn 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 the same strategies I teach my clients and include in the Television Publicity Secrets Manual 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 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’s that, “No never means NO.” Often it simply means not now.
-
- CBN TV Washington, DC
-
- CBN Studios Control Room
-
- CBN TV Washington, DC
This is indeed good news; however it is not an invitation to be overbearing or verging on stalking producers when following up with producers.
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 segment or show. You never know – and neither do 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 she could settle on.
But then last week, the perfect opportunity came when one of the reporters from CBN News was doing a piece on understanding credit from a Christan perspective and the Associate Producer that I have been in contact with for several months passed my information along as the “perfect guest.”
I got a call from the reporter and I was booked on the spot!
So, you need to continue to stay in touch with producers because the success of a good TV segment depends on having people who know how to deliver valuable content to their viewers. When you have faithfully stayed 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 prove to be an asset to them.
Want to move a show from your “wish list” to your booked list? Then always look for opportunities to follow-up with the media, 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.
Can’t wait to see YOU on TV!
Have a question about using TV publicity to promote your message, book, business or brand? Ask me now at http://www.AskSanyika.com
1 Comments
April 22nd, 2009 at 12:48 pm
This is great info! Have worked in news as a reporter/anchor for years before doing my own thing, I can attest to everything you’ve said. This kind of info needs to get in the hands of every small business and/or small ministry looking to get that “big interview break”
Congrats, Sanyika.