Think what can you give a TV audience that they can use right now if you want to become famous.

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As America’s Leading Media Pitch Coach, you might wonder what makes me so special.  Well honestly it is two things.  First I know more than most other media pitch coaches and secondly I give away more of this knowledge for free than any other media pitch coach.  Of course I want you to buy my program at quickfamesystem.com.  And I want you to sign up for the free report shown on the home page.  But most of all I want you to read what I have to say, so you know I am the real thing and am easy to work with.

OK, so let’s get into it, regarding your book marketing and publicity campaign.

When you pitch a TV producer, the main thing they are interested in is if you can take a segment(can be anywhere from three to eight minutes) and give their viewers something useful to take away from watching you.  The producer does not care about your book, they care about the knowledge that went into your book.  They don’t want you to come on and make the audience have to buy your book to get the rest of the story.  No, they want a nice tight little segment that brings something useful to the audience RIGHT NOW!.

So when you pitch a producer talk segments and talk about what you can bring to the party in that segment alone.  You are not there to sell you book(even though we know you are), you are there to serve the audience and the way you do that is to give them information they can use right now.

And that is the key to being asked back.  Sure you have more to teach them, but focus on the first segment, nail that, and that is turn will cause the audience to want to see more from you.  The audience will realize you have more to offer and want you back.

So go back over your pitch and rewrite it to focus on what you can do for the audience in one segment.  I think you will find your pitch success rate will go up dramatically as a result of this.

If you are interested in media pitch coaching from America’s Leading Media Pitch Coach, go to quickfamesystem.com right now for a special offer.

Please leave me a message telling me what you thought of this post and what you would like to see covered on this blog.

Thanks and good luck.

Edward Smith

America’s Leading Media Pitch Coach.

 

One More Reason To Get On TV To Promote Your Book And Become Famous As An Expert.

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As America’s Leading Media Pitch Coach, prospective clients most commonly ask me why I recommend getting on TV as the main objective of a book publicity campaign.

Well on top of all the positive reasons for getting on TV being the best strategy for promoting yourself as an expert and becoming famous, there is now another kind of “negative” reason to do it.

Many newspapers and magazines are dropping the book review section of their publications as a way of reducing costs.  Thus your chances of getting a book review in a major newspaper or magazine have been cut dramatically.

But not to worry, your chances of getting on TV and becoming famous as an expert in your field and thereby promoting your book still remain high.  If you use the right system.

I never was high on book reviews really amounting to much as far a book sales went anyway.  The real audience numbers are in the broadcast media not the declining print media, so the sooner you get with the program and start pitching broadcast producers the better off you will be.  Start to follow this blog to pick up pointers on how to do it and you will be off to a good start.

Also sign up for the Free Special Report shown on the homepage of this blog.  Oh and be sure to visit my new blog aimed at general publicity at americasleadingmediapitchcoach.com.

Please leave me a message letting me know what you thought of this post and what you would like to see covered on this blog.

I take questions via email on how to get on TV and become famous, so contact me at edsmith@americasleadingmediapitchcoach.com.

Thanks and good luck

Edward Smith

Americas Leading Media Pitch Coach.

How To Perform During A TV Interview If You Want To Become Famous As An Expert In Your Field.

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As America’s Leading Media Pitch Coach, many people think I only deal with pitching the media.  Actually I work with most of my clients all the way through the process of pitching, getting booked, doing the interview and then parlaying the appearance into more TV appearances.  This is all part of your book publicity campaign.

One of the things I do a lot of work on with clients is how to perform during the interview.  So today’s post will cover some pointers to keep in mind after you have been booked and are thinking about how to perform on air during the interview.

Keep these points in mind when you are preparing for the interview:

  • When you are on the TV show, act like the person you really are.  Do not try to copy some other person when you are on the show, be yourself, warts and all.  There is already that other person out there that you are trying to copy and if you are trying to copy them, they are more popular than you are, so that slot is taken.  They wouldn’t need you to be that other person, they can just go get that person.  Be unique, so no one can copy you.  You are terrific the way you are or they would not have booked you.  Take that fact and go with it.
  • Be the voice of the audience.  Know what they are looking for when they are watching the show and speak for them and to them.   This way you will be the perfect guest in that the audience will love you and that is what the show host and producer wants.  You will do their job for them and have a fantastic appearance in the process.
  • Blend your style into the shows style.  If the show is fast moving, you be fast moving with your answers.  If the show has ties to a particular demographic, make references to that demographic or talk in terms that the demographic is looking for.  Be a chameleon in that you change your surface appearance to blend, but do so in a way that keeps your individuality as stressed in the earlier point.

So keep those points in mind when you are on camera and the whole interview will flow easily for you, plus the audience will love you and you will be asked back.

If you really want to move your pitching process along, go to quickfamesystem.com right now for a special offer.  Really, you must do this if you are serious about getting on TV.

Please leave me a message letting me know what you thought about this post and what you would like to see covered on this blog.

Thanks and good luck.

Edward Smith

America’s Leading Media Pitch Coach.

How To Get On TV And Become Famous As An Expert In Your Field.

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Ah the basics.  As America’s Leading Media Pitch Coach I never can forget the basics of pitching TV shows.  Just when I start to forget them, I get a wake up call that pulls me back to them.

In this case, the wake up call came in the form of a post on Ragan’s PR Daily.  A general PR blog, that always has good information for those involved in PR.  The post was a guest post by Julie Caan, a PR pro out of Wisconsin.

Ms. Caan wrote a great post on basic things to keep in mind when pitching morning TV shows.  Yes, all of them have been covered here before, but like I said before, you forget the basics at your peril.

Here are a few of the things Ms. Caan touched on:

  • Personalize your pitch.  Tailor it to a specific show, no “one pitch fits all” stuff.  Yes, it is extra work, but it is the only way you will get on a show.
  • Be up front with your pitch.  Take your best shot right away, in the headline if possible.  So many pitches go unread due to buying the good stuff until later in the pitch.
  • Stress the use of visuals if you have them.  Show that your story is a natural for the use of visuals, as TV is a visual media and the producers look for stories that play on that.

The whole post is worth reading.  You can find it here:  http://www.prdaily.com/Main/Articles/13211.aspx

If you are serious about pitching morning TV shows, you should go to quickfamesystem.com for a special offer to get you booking interviews in a hurry.

Oh and be sure to sign up for the special report shown on the front page of this blog, it is very useful.

Please leave me a message letting me know what you thought of this post.

Thanks and good luck.

Edward Smith

America’s Leading Media Pitch Coach.

 

More On Using Press Releases To Get On TV And Become Famous As An Expert In Your Field.

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My last blog post about doing press releases turned out to be more popular, so I am going to offer more advice on using press releases.  Press releases can be a useful addition to your book publicity campaign and aid in your getting on TV and becoming famous as an expert in your field.

  • ·         So to continue with advice on how to do a press release, consider the following points:
  • ·         Make sure your headline is very clear.  Make it as specific as possible. This will help   with SEO results as well.
  • ·         Use active voice in your press release.  Passive voice makes your press release longer and dilutes the impact of your writing.
  • ·         Make your headline as short as possible.  Shorter is better as long as It catches the producers attention.  Once again search engines like shorter headlines as well.
  • ·         Did you cover the basic five “Ws”?  You know the drill, who, what, why, where, when.  You can never get away from these without leaving confusion.
  • ·         Did you proofread the press release?  You can’t do this enough.  Write it and leave it overnight and then read it again.  This saves big time embarrassment to say the least.

As I said before, press releases are no substitute for targeted pitches.  Don’t rely on them hoping they will get into the right hands and save you from the basic ground work needed for a good pitch.  You need to do the work to get the results.

If you want to really nail your pitches, so to quickfamesystem.com for a special offer.

Please sign up for the free report shown on the home page of this blog, you will enjoy it.

Be sure to leave me a message letting me know what you thought of this post.

Thanks and good luck.

Edward Smith

America’s Leading Media Pitch Coach. 

Use Press Releases To Get On TV And Become Famous As An Expert In Your Field

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As America’s Leading Media Pitch Coach, I concentrate most of my advice on contacting producers directly with your pitch.  This is generally the most effective way to move your book publicity campaign ahead.

Some of my clients want to try using press releases to supplement their direct contact book marketing campaign.  While not my first choice as a book marketing tool, press releases can be useful for reaching media outlets you would not normally approach, such as smaller or more niche types.

Here are some tips on using a press release to spread the word on your book:

  • Think in terms of convincing a media outlet that the story about your book is worth telling from their viewpoint.  Make them believe their audience is looking for your information.
  • Have a good story to tell, one that looks like it would fit right in with other media coverage.  A tie-in with current events is always a winner for instance.
  • Write the press release like a news story.  Make sure it is well written and be sure to have it proof read by someone besides yourself, so no typos or other mistakes creep in to make you look unprofessional.
  • Use a good quality press release distribution service.  The free services are pretty much worth what you pay for them.

So, once again, do not rely on press releases as your main pitching vehicle, the are stickily supplemental efforts.

If you really want to get serious about your media pitching efforts, go to quickfamesystem.com right now for a special offer.

Also be sue to sign up for the special report shown on the homepage of this blog.

Please leave me a message letting me know what you thought of this post.

Thanks and good luck.

Edward Smith

America’s Leading Media Pitch Coach.

Hurricane Sandy Related Subject Experts Needed Now For TV Interviews.

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My producer contacts are telling me they are  actively looking for experts on subjects related to dealing with the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. This could be a “win/win” for your book marketing campaign and getting on TV and becoming famous as an expert in your field.

If you available on short notice, get your pitches out right now as you have a good chance of being booked.  You can be a real help to those affected by the hurricane and help yourself as well.

This is a short window of opportunity, so find a way to connect your subject matter to dealing with Hurricane Sandy and stress you have valuable information that can truly help people.

And if you want information on media pitch coaching, go to quickfamesystem.com.

Please leave me a message letting me know what you thought of this post and what you would like to see covered on this blog.

Thanks and good luck.

Edward Smith

America’s Leading Media Pitch Coach.

How To Act On TV If You Want To Become Famous As An Expert In Your Field.

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As America’s Leading Media Pitch Coach, many of my clients get on TV as part of their book publicity campaign.

The bulk of these clients have never been on TV before and need help dealing with how to behave on camera.  In this post I will outline some points to keep in mind if you are going to be interviewed on a TV show to discuss your book.

Here are the “To Do’s” when on camera.

  •  Breathe deeply and often to reduce nervousness and keep your voice sounding strong.
  •  Pay attention to the sound of your voice, so it matches the level of the host in terms of level and speed of speaking.
  •  If you can’t think of what to say for an answer, repeat the question to the host as a way of buying time.
  •  Always look just at the host while on air; never turn to look at the camera.
  •  Watch your posture.  Study how guests sit when they are on air, on similar TV shows and practice sitting like that before your appearance.
  •  Don’t use jargon.  Always assume the host and audience is not familiar with the terms you are using.
  •  Don’t make any rapid movements.  It is hard for the cameraperson to keep you in frame I you jerk around.
  •  Let the host run the show.  Don’t try to force the interview in any direction as this can ruin the effect the host is going for and make you look bad.
  •  Avoid doing things like clicking a pen, rattling papers, hitting jewelry on hard surfaces, etc., so you don’t disrupt the show with annoying noises.

If you want more information on how to land a guest spot on TV, go to quickfamesystem.com for a special offer.

Oh and be sure to sign up for the FREE special report on the home page of this blog.

Please leave me a message letting me know what you would like to see covered on this blog and what you thought of this post.

Thanks and good luck.

Edward Smith

America’s Leading Media Pitch Coach.

This Is Why You Are Failing To Get On TV And Become Famous As An Expert In Your Field.

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As America’s Leading Media Pitch Coach many of my clients come to me after they have failed in their book publicity campaign and want help.  These people know they have the potential to get on TV and become famous as an expert in their field, but they don’t understand why it is not happening for them.

Let me give you some of the most common reasons people who have the potential to get on TV fail at it.  Of course the advice I am going to give you here is no where as powerful as what you will find at quickfamesystem.com.

 

  • The number one reason most people fail to get on TV is that they do not have a plan.  They only have vague goals and do not really know how to get from A to B and what comes after that.  They try hard but there is no focused flow of activity. This is where a coach like me comes in, but no sales pitch here.

 

  • They are unprepared to pitch, they are unprepared to handle inquires, etc.  In short they are a mess.  The old “I’ll get organized when I need to” thinking is killing them.

 

  • They do not understand what TV producers are looking for and continue to talk about things the producers are not interested in.

 

  • They send the same pitches out over and over and to the same people that ignored them in the first place.

 

  • They do not stay current on the latest news, so they know how the latest events tie into their subject matter.

 

I am sure you can think of plenty more.  One thing for sure, if you are not getting anywhere now, stop doing what you are doing and try something different.

Be sure to sign up for the special report shown on the home page of this blog.  Oh and please leave me a comment telling me what you thought of this post and what you would like to see covered on this blog.

Thanks and good luck.

Edward Smith

America’s Leading Media Pitch Coach.

How To Have TV Producers Come To You And Become Famous As An Expert In Your Field.

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Here is another tip you can use to get on TV and become famous as an expert in your field.

As America’s Leading Media Pitch Coach, I am often asked if there is a way to have TV producers come to you, rather than relying solely on sending out pitches yourself.

Your book marketing and book publicity campaigns can and should involve ways to have TV producers come to you.  Let me give you a few ideas how this can be done.

One of the easiest ways to begin the process of having TV producers come to you is the register on the Help A Reporter Out site http://www.helpareporter.com/.  Although geared to print reporters and journalists, some TV producers do use the site to find expert guests.   Signing up for the service is free, easy and simple. All it takes is an email address and some other basic contact information.

Another proven way to have TV producers come to you is to lay the groundwork for them to do so by building a relationship with them.  One of the best ways to do this is through the use of social media.  According to social media author and strategist Amy Jo Martin, traditional media still matters to a certain extent, but social is the way to go to get connected with producers “Social media provides an avenue to build relationships with media outlets.” Make a point of finding producers and paying attention to what they have to say. Build relationships based on common interests or areas of expertise to avoid coming across as a self-promotional jerk.

You can also use one of my favorite sites RTIR.com to connect with TV producers.  They have a number of ways to pair TV and even radio producers with authors, so it will pay for you to explore all of their media opportunities.

If you are interested in accelerating your media pitching with help from America’s Leading Media Pitch Coach, you should go to quickfamesystem.com for a special offer.

Be sure to sign up for the FREE report offered on the home page of this blog. It can help your pitching right now.

Please leave me a message to let me know what you thought of this post and tell me what you would like to see covered on this blog.

Thanks and good luck.

Edward SmithAmerica’s

Leading Media Pitch Coach.

Use Free Press Releases To Get On TV and Become Famous As An Expert In Your Field.

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As America’s Leading Media Pitch Coach, I am often asked if authors should use press releases as a tool in their book publicity campaign.

I do not think that press releases are very effective as a book publicity tool, especially if you want to get on TV and become famous as an expert in your field.  That said, they can be effective in reaching smaller media sources that you might not have thought of.

Assuming that you have written an effective press release, the next step is to distribute it.  You can pay anywhere from $80 to $3,000 to have your press release distributed by a press release distribution firm you can locate on thee web.  However if you are unsure you want to invest money in a press release, you can consider using one of the free press release distribution companies, also located on the web.

Here is a list of the largest free press release distribution companies for you to consider:


24-7PressRelease.com – Free release distribution with ad-support

1888PressRelease.com – Free distribution, paid services gives you better placement and permanent archiving.

ClickPress.com – Distributes to sites like Google News and Topix.net, Gold level will also get you to sites like LexisNexis.

EcommWire.com – Focuses on eCommerce and requires you include an image, 3 keywords and links.

Express-Press-Release.com – free Distribution Company with offices in 12 states.

Free-Press-Release.com – Easy press release distribution for free, more features for paid accounts.

Free-Press-Release-Center. info – Distributes your release, offers a web page with one keyword link to your site. Pro upgrade will give you three links, permanent archiving and more.

I-Newswire.com – Allows for free distribution to sites and search engines, premium membership differs only slightly in adding in graphics.

NewswireToday.com – All the usual free distribution tools, premium service includes logo, product picture and more.

PR.com – Not only will they distribute your press releases, but you can also set up a full company profile.

PR9.net – Ad supported press distribution site.

PR-Inside.com – European-based free press release distribution site.

PRBuzz.com – Completely free distribution to search engines, news sites, and blogs.

PRCompass.com – Distribute your press release with a free or paid version, others can vote it up ala Digg style.

PRUrgent.com – Not only distributes your release, but attempts to teach you how to write one, and even offers downloadbale samples for you to work with.

Press-Base.com – Submit your release for free and get on their front page and the category of your choice.

PressAbout.com – A free press release service formatted as a blog.

PressMethod.com – Free press release distribution no matter what, but extra services based on the size of your contribution.

PRLeap.com – Free distribution to search engines, newswires, and RSS feeds. Fee based bumps get you better placement.

PRLog.org – Free distribution to Google News and other other search engines.

TheOpenPress.com – Gives free distribution for plain formatted releases, fees for HTML-coded releases.

None of these free press release distribution services will give you the coverage of one of the paid press release distribution sites, but if you just want to get your feet wet in using press releases and minimize your investment, they are worth giving a try.

If you would like more information on getting on TV and becoming know as an expert in your field, go to quickfamesystem.com for a special offer right now.

Please leave me a message letting me know what you thought  of this post and be sure to sign up for the free special report show on the home page of this blog.

Thanks and good luck.

Edward Smith

America’s Leading Media Pitch Coach.

 

How Not To Pitch A TV Producer If You Want To Become Famous.

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As America’s Leading Media Pitch Coach I live in the world between the top broadcast producers and those people who would like to get on a TV show as an interview guest.  Most of the people that want to be guests are seeking fame and to build a reputation as an expert in their field.  These prospective guests see getting on TV as part of their publicity campaign.

I spend most of my time on the blog discussing how to pitch broadcast producers, but of course there is much much more as outlined at quickfamesystem.com.  So lets continue the how to pitch theme in this post.

Mostly I talk about what to do in a pitch, but in this post I want to list some things to avoid, as sometimes it helps to see the negative side of things when you are trying to learn how to pitch.

Here is a list of things NOT to do when pitching a TV producer’s:

Send a very long email detailing why you deserve coverage.

Send a mass email that has “[insert name]” in place of the producer’s name.

Send a press release and follow up with a phone call asking if they received it.

Sending a mass emails at all.

Call them during a breaking news announcement.

Call them and not know anything about the show you are pitching.

Include large files.

Not respond to their email immediately..

Not follow through on a producer’s requests.

Ask to see a list of questions before an interview.

I hope that list helped your pitching, you would be surprised how often the simple things trip up your chances of scoring a TV interview.

Please be sure to sign up for the special report offer shown on the home page of this blog.  It is full of information you can use right now.

Also, leave me a message letting me know what you thought of this post and what you would like to see covered on this blog.

Thanks and good luck.

Edward Smith\

America’s Leading Media Pitch Coach.

Get On TV With These Simple Pitching Tips From America’s Leading Media Pitch Coach

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As America’s Leading Media Pitch Coach, I talk to some of the top broadcast producers on a regular basis.  This keeps me real and keeps pulling me back to the basics.  These producers continue to stress the simple things that are needed when pitching them. Your book marketing and publicity campaign deserves the best pitching, so check this out. 

Here are some basics the producers want you to make sure you cover when pitching them:

  •          Learn all you can about the TV show you are pitching, so you can pitch segment ideas that will work on the show.  You chances of getting that interview go up dramatically and you don’t waste the producer’s or your time.
  •         Never use attachments in your first email to the producer. They get kicked out by the spam filters and even if they get through, provide way to much detail for your first contact.
  •        Offer photos, videos, sound files, etc in your first pitch if you think they will help your interview on the show, but as above do not send them in the first email.
  •          Keep your pitch short and simple.  If you can communicate your pitch in one paragraph it is too complicated for a TV audience.
  •         Ease up on the “all caps”, priority settings, receipt requested, exclamation point stuff.  Would you walk into the producers office and shout your pitch at her.  Use your email pitch the same way.
  •         I hate to have to say it, but be sure to include your contact information.  You would be amazed at how many people just give their email address and leave out all other contact information in a pitch.

So there are some basics to make sure you cover in your next pitch.  They sound simple and they are, but check and recheck them every time you make a pitch. 

If you want to move to the next level in pitching TV producers, go to quickfamesystem.com right now for a special offer that expires soon.

Also be sure to sign up for the FREE special report shown on the home page of this blog, you will love it.

Please leave me a message letting me know what you thought of this post and what you would like to see covered on this blog.

Thanks and good luck.

Edward Smith

America’s Leading Media Pitch Coach. 

Should you offer an exclusive interview to a TV producer?

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As America’s Leading media pitch coach, I am asked a lot of questions by authors who want to get on TV and become famous as an expert in their field.  This would be the high point of their book publicity campaign.

Many clients ask me if they should offer an exclusive to a producer they are contacting.  The author would not do an interview on the subject with any other media outlet.

There are pros and cons to offering an exclusive as shown below;

The pros of offering an exclusive

 It makes your pitch more enticing to the producer, it sounds like it is something that is really hot and gets their attention.

If it is picked up, the producer will do more to promote your interview, as they know no one else will have the story.

The cons of offering an exclusive

Your interview may in fact not be that exciting and you will eliminate other potential shows that might have run your interview.

Some producers are actually annoyed at being offered exclusives, they think it is hype.

If you do score an exclusive with one TV show, all the other producers will remember you and probably hold it against you when you pitch them.

So think twice before offering an exclusive in your pitch, the long term effects of this can be deadly to your desire to build exposure on TV.

If you are interested in media pitch coaching from America’s Leading Media Pitch Coach, go to quickfamesystem.com for a special offer.

Remember to sign up for the special report shown on the top of this blog’s main page.

Please let me know what you thought of this post and what else you would like to see covered on this blog.

Thanks and good luck

Edward Smith

America’s Leading Media Pitch Coach

 

Authors, Get To Know Your Target Audience If You Want To Get On TV.

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One of the key things you need to know as an author that wants to get on TV and become famous as an expert in your field is who your target audience is.  Your book marketing and book publicity campaign should be built on this information.

 As America’s Leading Media Pitch Coach, I deal with this issue on a regular basis with my clients.

 Here is my advice and it should be noted this would work for fiction as well as non-fiction authors.

 ·        Find out how people view your book as if it were a human being.  Is it a warm person, a fun person, a serious person, etc?  This will help you get an idea who is drawn to your book, so you can in turn, seek those people out.

 

 ·        Set up an image for your book that matches what people think about the book already given the above.  You can begin to research this image by googling it and setting up google alerts to expose similar sites using this image.

 ·        To the extent you can find out these factors about your audience:

          Demographics-age, income, education level, etc.

          Psychographics-How do they view the world?

         Where do they live? Urban, rural, North, South, etc.

 Once you have this information, you can go to TV stations websites and research how your target audience breakout compares to the shows on that station.  Once you have a match, If you pitch those shows,  you have a better chance of being booked than if you did not know your target audience.

 If you would like more information on being coached by America’s Leading Media Pitch Coach, go to quickfamesystem.com.

 Please sign up for the FREE special report show on the front page of this blog.

 Leave a message and let me know what you thought of this post and what you would like to see covered on this blog. 

Edward Smith

America’s Leading Media Pitch Coach. 

Why pitching multiple angles to TV producers is a bad idea.

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I deal with a lot of TV producers and always listen to their complaints about the pitches they receive . You can improve your media pitching rate of success and move your whole book publicity campaign  along by listening to them as well.

I know you receive tons of bad advice on how to pitch a TV producer, so let me correct one thing you probably hear a lot.

You are told to include multiple angles in your pitches.  Don’t do this, the TV producer will delete your pitch so fast the email will spin.  TV producers want a focused, laser like focus, not a pick one from column A and B approach.

Producers can’t do your thinking for you.  They want one idea, quick and to the point. You have to commit and take your chances.  You can always send another pitch with a new angle if you strike out.

If you are interested in media pitch coaching from America’s Leading Media Pitch Coach, go to quickfamesystem.com for a great deal going on right now.  Also be sure to sign up for the FREE report on the main page of this blog.

Please leave me a message letting me know what you thought about this post and what you would like to see covered on this blog.

Thanks, and good luck.

Edward Smith

America’s Leading Media Pitch Coach.

Give me your opinion on this successful media pitch.

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Many people reading this blog have requested an example of a winning pitch, one that really worked and can be documented.  As a self-published author considering how to pursue a book publicity campaign, this might be helpful for you.

Here is an actual pitch that resulted in the author being booked on a leading news show.

“Hi _____,
Thought you and the medical unit might be interested in this visual story idea. What do you think?

Brain tumors that glow
* For the first time in the U.S., brain surgeons in Indianapolis have revolutionized the use of a special drug that can make brain tumors “glow” so they are both easier to distinguish from healthy tissue and remove during surgery.

* By making tumors glow, surgeons can better distinguish between the cancerous tissue and the healthy tissue in the brain so they can be more thorough in removing the tumor.

* Fluorescein, the compound that makes the tumor glow, is the only FDA-approved drug with this capability and has previously been used to diagnose eye disorders.

* The National Brain Tumor Society reports that brain tumors affect more than 600,000 Americans.

VIDEO AVAILABLE:
If you’re curious to see the “glowing tumor” technique in action, I can email you a short 30-second video clip. I can also put you in touch w/ one of our brain surgeons and a patient.

Would you like me to send you more info?

Best, ”

So there you have it, a winning pitch.  What do you think, was it luck, or was it truly a winning pitch?

Please leave me a comment and let me know what you thought of this pitch and also what you would like to see covered on this blog.

Be sure to sign up for the  FREE report on the main section of the blog, you will find it will help you answer the question about if this pitch was luck or skill?

If you are interested in media pitch coaching from America’s Leading Media Pitch Coaching, go to quickfamesystem.com for more details.

Thanks for your time and I look forward to hearing from you.

Edward Smith

America’s Leading Media Pitch Coach.

 

 

 

Limit Your TV Producer Pitch To Ten Seconds If You Want To Become Famous.

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Pitching TV producers should be the main thrust of your book publicity campaign, as getting on TV is the key to becoming known as an expert in your field.  It is so important you must get it right as there aren’t many second chances.

I was talking with a TV producer I know while at the recent National Association Of Broadcasters convention and she practically begged me to pass along today’s advice.

Keep your pitch short.  Tens seconds is ideal.  Yes, you have tons to say, but you can really only express one idea in a pitch and that had better be able to be expressed in ten seconds or less.  You need to describe a problem the producer’ audience is having and show how you can solve it in one segment on their show. Then show why you are the best expert to do that.

Remember to sign up for the free report shown on the main page of this blog.  It has some great information on mistakes authors make when getting into book publicity.  It will save you some serious money and time.

If you are interested in media pitch coaching from America’s Leading Media Pitch Coach, email me at quickfameontv@gmail.com.  And you can get full details on the best media pitch program out there at quickfamesystem.com

Please leave me a message regarding what your thought of today’s tip and what else you would like to see covered on this blog.

Thanks and good luck.

Edward Smith

America’s Leading Media Pitch Coach. .

 

Authors, don’t be afraid to get on TV, you will do fine and end up famous.

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Many prospective clients come to me and express fear about getting on TV and talking about their books,  This fear is holding them back from getting on TV and become famous as experts in their field.  And they are missing out on the most effective component they could have in their book publicity campaign.

Getting on TV and talking about your book is nowhere near as scary as most authors think it is.

Here are some things to consider based on what TV producers tell me and my clients own experiences:

. TV shows want you to perform well on their shows, so they do everything they can to make you look good.  They will even retake shots to make sure they have one that makes you look good.

.You are talking about something you know and love, so it is a natural conversation.  You love the book you wrote and the content it has.  You are totally confident in your material which makes for a relaxing conversation, not a “grilling”.

.I have had over 1,000 clients get on TV and out of that 1,000 clients only one couldn’t handle it.  Believe it or not the one client that couldn’t handle it was an ex Navy Seal that freaked out when the lighting came on.  He was suffering from post traumatic stress disorder and the lights caused a reaction.

.We tend to be afraid of what we don’t fully understand.  So it is with TV, but a little homework and perhaps my coaching will have you up and running in no time.

Authors who have never been on TV, get on TV every day and pull it off.  There is no reason you can’t do it as well.  Think of it, have you ever seen someone blow it on TV?  I mean the absolute worst case scenario would be for you to just blow an interview and have the interview be unusable.  In that case they just would not run the interview and no one would ever see it or know it didn’t work out.  TV shows have lots of backup material to use in case a situation like this should develop.

If you have any question on this or are interested in my coaching, you can email me at quickfameontv@gmail.com.  Also if you would like more information on my new complete media pitch coaching and get on TV system, go to quickfamesystem.com and check it out.

Please leave me a message letting me know what you thought about this post and what you would like to see covered on this blog.

Thanks and good luck.

Edward Smith

America’s Leading Media Pitch Coach.

Self-Published Authors Without A Reputation Can Get On TV Just As Easy As Anyone Now.

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I want to cover something that keeps coming up in my preliminary discussions with authors who are considering pitching TV producers as part of their book publicity campaigns. You can get on TV and become famous as an expert in your field, no matter what your circumstances are.

I am contact with many TV producers as part of my work and we all agree on one point.  You do not have to be well-known in order to get on TV and be interviewed as an expert guest.

Self-published authors tend to have a one down opinion of themselves and think they can never get on TV.  That is rubbish!  TV producers are dying for new blood and they are more than willing to put self-published authors on their shows.  They need new guests to keep their audiences happy and they need you as much as you need them.

It is not about your book, it is about you.  If you can be an interesting guest, they want you on their show.  Of course you have to use the right pitching system to set yourself up as the type of guest they want, but almost anyone can do that.  Even with fiction works.  Start to think about you as a guest, not you as your book and things begin to look different.  Watch the morning TV shows, I bet you spot a lot of guests you never heard of.  The next one could be you.

So please, please, stop putting yourself down as a unknown, self-published author.  You can do it, in fact producers are looking for you.

Also sign up for the FREE special report on the home page of the blog, this will help you with some of the questions you have about getting on TV as an expert guest.

And if you are ready to jump into getting on TV right now, head on over to quickfamesystem.com, to fast track your book publicity on TV.

Please leave me a message letting me know what you thought of this post and what you would like to see covered on this blog.

If you want to contact me for any reason, email me at quickfameontv@gmail.com.  It doesn’t matter, I want to hear from you.

Thanks and good luck.

Edward Smith

America’s Leading Media Pitch Coach.

Authors, Here is what TV producers think about your promotional tools to get on TV and become famous.

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Authors need to choose the most cost effective promotional tools to use in their book marketing and publicity.  If you want to get on TV and become famous as an expert in your field here are some things I have learned from TV producers I work with.

Here is what TV producers think about the cost effectiveness of various promotional tools used by authors.

  1. Getting on TV as an interview guest.  This is far and away the cheapest and most cost effective tool you can use to promote your book.  It costs you nothing to pitch TV producers and the sales of your book will skyrocket.  And it is actually easy to pull off if you use the right system to pitch TV producers.
  2. Press Releases.  This can be hit and miss.  It can cost you up to $400 to have a press release sent out and their it no guarantee anyone will contact you.  If you do get some coverage from major media it is worth a shot, but most times the results are not that good.
  3.  Book reviews.  This is a time consuming and it can be expensive if you send many books out for review.  Reviews are a slow build and it is hard to track the results.  Unless you make a major hit from a big time source results are minimal.
  4. Social Media.  It costs you nothing but time to spread yourself around the various social media outlets, but once again results are slow coming in and it can be time consuming.  I recommend you try it, but don’t expect a big return.
  5. Book Signings.  These are generally not worth your time.  It is rare for even the biggest names to generate much traffic.
  6. YouTube is worth doing.  No cost to make a video in most cases and you can pick up some nice exposure from a different audience than you would normally get.
  7. Blogging.  Yes start a blog, it is a slow build but it helps your creditability. You will probably have some start up costs to set it up though.
  8. A website of your own.  Yes, you need that no matter what you are going to do. This is just a cost of entry to the business that you need in order to build off of.
  9. Newsletter.  Yes, do it, it takes time but it enhances your creditability.
  10. Radio and Internet radio interviews.  Yes, no cost to do it and it can be effective in reaching a larger audience for you.

So these are the various book promotional tools you should look at in order to promote your book.  Pick the low hanging fruit first and move up the ladder as you gain sales.

One thing that offers the highest return is knowledge.  I urge you to pick my brain and learn what my experience with the largest TV producers in the business has taught me. about promoting your book. Go to quickfamesystem.com right now to put your book sales on the fast track.

If you are interested in media pitch coaching from America’s Leading Media Pitch Coach email me at quickfameontv@gmail.com.

Please leave me a message telling me what you thought of this post and what else you would like to see covered on this blog.

Good luck,

Edward Smith

America’s Leading Media Pitch Coach.

Authors, here some do’s and don’t for pitching producers if you want to get on TV and become famous.

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Since almost every TV producer I know wants to be pitched via email, I will go over some of the basics of email pitching today.  Email pitching is a key part, no the major part of your book publicity campaign as an author, so please pay close attention to this advice.  And the advice doesn’t come from me, it is directly from producers, so it is really good information.

Here are some do’s and don’ts when it comes to email pitching TV producers:

.Don’t put all caps in the subject line.  I know you are excited but it just annoys the producer.

.Same thing for exclamation points, don’t use them.  You come off as a clown.

.Put your best shot in the subject line.  Don’t hold back, the producer may not read any further.

.Use spell check.  You want to look your best, don’t blow it looking sloppy.

.No fancy background, pictures, special fonts, etc.  Just basic type so the producer can concentrate on your real message.

.Don’t use attachments, but if you do, make sure they are really attached.

.Say please and thank you.  Being polite goes a long way with producers.

.Respond right away.  If you get a bite, act fast and get back to the producer as fast as you can, as you may lose the chance to be interviewed if you wait.

None of this advice is earth shaking, but it is what TV producers want from your email pitches.  If you follow their advice you have a big leg up on the competition.

If you are really serious about pitching TV producers and want to learn more about how they want to be pitched, go to quickfamesystem.com right now.

Please leave me a message letting me know what your think about today’s message and what you would like to see covered on this blog.

Thanks and good luck.

Edward Smith

America’s Leading Media Pitch Coach.

 

Authors, How To Pitch Producers To Get On TV And Become Famous.

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Here are some more pitching tips from my producer friends that self-published authors can learn from.  If you want to use your book publicity to get on TV and become famous as an expert in your field, you better pay attention.

The producers I talk to almost beg me to get the word out on how to pitch them. See the thing most authors don’t realize is that producers really do want to book them, they need guests and have a hard time finding them.

But you have to use the right system, so listen up.

When you are pitching TV producers, here are some things to avoid.

Make sure you state the angle of your pitch early on.  Some authors’ might send a pitch saying it was about cooking, but not go into any detail about what the angle within cooking it was.  So be clear what the angle is.

Closely related to that is an unclear or badly worded pitch. What are you pitching, exactly? Can you say it in a sentence? You had better, because that is all you get.

Be human, don’t be all business.  Use the producers name, talk in person-to-person terms.  Cold, all business pitches come across as canned and get rejected very quickly.

Stay prepared to follow up if required.  Don’t disappear after sending a pitch.  Be available in case the producer has a question or wants to book you.  Be ready to take the order and close the deal.

Yes, pitching can seem hard, but it really isn’t if you use the right system.  Go to quickfamesytem.com right now for a limited time offer on a system that will put you on the fast track to being booked.

Please leave me a message telling me what you thought of this post and what you would like to see covered on this blog.

Thanks

Edward Smith

America’s Leading Media Pitch Coach.

 

 

Authors, here some proven pitch themes to use to get on TV and become famous.

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Authors are always on the lookout for new ideas to pitch TV producers as part of their book marketing and book publicity campaigns.

Here are some of the pitch themes, based on my conversations with TV producers that my clients have used successfully. They can serve as thought starters for you:

Comment on industry trend

Holiday tie-in

Piggyback on breaking news

Industry statistics

Comment on news story

Demonstration with wide appeal (i.e. cooking, exercising)

Industry predictions

Survey/research results

Tips or how to’s

Take a position on a political issue

The key is to tie in with trending topics, so your pitch is in sync with the shows audience and will catch the producers attention.

I have some great news for you.  Full information on my new coaching program complete with the Quick Fame System is now up at quickfamesystem.com.  Check it out right now if you want to join the elite 1% of authors that make it onto the big name TV shows.

If you are interested in my media pitch coaching, email me at quickfameontv@gmail.com.

Please leave me a message and let me know what you thought about today’s post and what you would like to see covered on this blog.

Thanks and good luck.

Edward Smith

America’s Leading Media Pitch Coach.

Authors, pitching TV producers is different from other media.

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Authors wishing to pitch TV producers as part of their book marketing and book publicity campaigns need to know this. Pitching TV producers is very different from pitching other media.  What works for print or even radio will not fly when pitching TV producers to be booked as an expert guest.

Knowing this difference can stop you from wasting a lot of pitching efforts and boost your rate of success in getting booked.

The obvious difference for TV as opposed to other media is that it is visual.  And from that difference springs the need to pitch TV producers differently.

Your TV pitch should stress the visual aspect of your guest appearance.  Do you have clips that could be shown during the interview, do you have “props” that can be shown, can you do a demonstration of something?

The key here is that you want to show the TV producer you understand the need for visual aspects to be stressed during the interview.  This will go a long way to make the producer comfortable working with you.

One other thing you should pay attention to in TV is the need to think in segments.  TV shows usually run segments containing a theme unique to that piece during different parts of the show.  Generally the segments run about 10 min long.  There can be several short interviews related to the theme during the segment, or one longer interview.

When you pitch, describe it in terms of a segment, so the TV producer can view the pitch in the context of how it would run.  Once again, you are making the producer’s job easier and your pitch will go smoother.

Oh course there are many other nuances involved in the making of a “killer pitch” which is where my Quick Fame System and the phone coaching it contains come in.  If you would like more information on it, email me at quickfameontv@gmail.com.

Remember 99% of media pitches fail, but then 99% of them are done incorrectly.
Please leave me a message, letting me know what you thought of this post and what you would like to see covered on this blog.
Good luck,
Edward Smith
America’s Leading Media Pitch Coach. 

 

Authors, get on TV and become famous as an expert in your field by speaking.

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Authors, perhaps it is a catch 22, but you want to get on TV and become famous, but in some ways you have to be famous first.  So your book marketing and book publicity campaigns should be set up to build fame for you as you work toward getting on TV.  Every time I talk to a TV producer, this issue comes up, so I know it is important.

In today’s blog post, I want to show you how to build your fame and reputation in order to make your more appealing as an interview guest on TV.  Your goal is to become a recognized expert, so that the TV producers turn to you as source of information.  And once you do get on TV, the audience will automatically perceive you are an expert because they see you being used as news source, etc.

One way you can begin to build this fame is by speaking to various groups.  The more groups you speak to, the more your name gets out there and the more people want to book you as a speaker.

And these don’t have to be big groups; you can do your local Rotary club to start as an example.  If you make sure you get a good reference, you can use this appearance to build to other Rotary clubs, and then on to bigger and bigger groups.

All the while, you are building your reputation as an expert, adding contacts and getting valuable practice at being in the expert role.  You can even build a collection of references to put on your website, and even more important, video clips to use as “demo tapes” of how you look on camera.

I like the fact that you can try out your message and appeal in front of these groups and see what will push the audience’s buttons.  Then you have a feel for what will work with a TV audience.

You can find local groups to target by watching for meeting announcements in the paper, googling groups on your topic, checking with the Chamber of Commerce and so on.  Once you start to look, groups will begin to pop out at you.

So either part of that catch 22 on being famous will work for you if you get out there are start getting yourself as a speaker.  Once you do that, a stint on the Today show can’t be far off.

If you are interested in coaching from America’s Leading Media Pitch coach, email me at quickfameontv@gmail.com.

Please leave me a message and let me know what you thought of this post and what you would like to see covered on this blog.

Thanks and good luck.

Edward Smith

America’s Leading Media Pitch Coach.

 

Authors, use these pitching tips on TV producers to get on TV and become famous.

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Authors, pitching the media is a big part of your book marketing and book publicity campaign.  With that in mind here are some media pitching tips to help you get on TV and become famous as an expert in your field.

I met with some TV producers recently and they asked me to get the word out on sticking to the basics in pitching.  These producers are bombarded with bad pitches, and are almost begging for someone to do it correctly.  It is no wonder most of my clients come to me as referrals by TV producers.

It always helps to cover the basics so lets touch on a few to keep in mind when pitching:

.Use social media to research who is who at the various TV networks.

.Always have the correct name of the producer you are sending the email pitch to.  No generic greetings allowed, that screams mass pitch and it gets deleted unread.

.Make sure the pitch topic is one the producer would cover on their TV show.

.Get to the point fast and limit the email to three, tops four paragraphs.  Short and sweet rules.

.Use targeted, well researched pitches instead of mass emails or press releases.

.Pitch in terms of the producers audience, not your own interests.

.Show that you watch the show and are interested in it.

If you would like information on my media pitch coaching, email me at quickfameontv@gmail.com.

Please leave me a message, letting me know what you thought of this post and what you would like to see covered on this blog.

Thanks and good luck.

Edward Smith

America’s Leading Media Pitch Coach.

 

Authors, here are some brand new book review sites for you to submit your books to.

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Authors, as part of your book publicity campaign, you are always looking of places to have your book reviewed.  The problem is that these reviewers are backed up and take a long time to get to you book for review.

Here is a list of book reviewers in different categories that have just come on line as reviewers, so you can have a better shot at having your book reviewed with them.

Publishers and self-published authors should send review copies directly to the following addresses:

Farming, Ranching and Apiary Book Review Editor

Book Review Editor
P.O. Box 280
Briggs, TX 78608


Gardening, Aquaponics and Permaculture Book Review Editor

Book Review Editor
P.O. Box 408
Pomeroy, WA 99347

Food Storage Book Review Editor

Book Review Editor
P.O. Box 781546
San Antonio, TX  78278

Cooking and Recipe Book Review Editor

Book Review Editor
P.O. Box 140602
Garden City, ID 83714-0602

Economics and Investing Book Review Editor
Book Review Editor
P.O. Box 44
Hollidaysburg, PA  16648


Libertarian Book Review Editor

Selected, but P.O. Box not yet established

Firearms, Optics, and Retreat Security Book Review Editor

Book Review Editor
P.O. Box 264
Marengo IA 52301


Medical, Health and Wellness Book Review Editor

Book Review Editor
P.O. Box 101
Germantown, Ohio 45327

Outdoor Survival Book Review Editor

Book Review Editor
P.O. Box 378
McLouth, KS 66054

History Book Review Editor

Book Review Editor
Boxholder 431 Kera Drive
Mountain View AR 72560-8761

Biography Book Review Editor

Book Review Editor
P.O. Box 10
Ponce de Leon, MO 65728
Military Book Review Editor

Book Review Editor
223 West Bulldog Blvd.
Box 556
Provo, UT  84604

Amateur Radio Book Review Editor

Book Review Editor
P.O. Box 118223
Carrollton, TX  75011

Computing Technology and Encryption Book Review Editor

Book Review Editor
P.O. Box 970
Fortuna CA 95540

We also now have five new Fiction Book Review Editors. Fiction publishers should select any of the following addresses at random:

Book Review Editor
P.O. Box 134
Dupont, Indiana 47231

Book Review Editor
P.O. Box 26
Ravensdale, WA  98051

Book Review Editor
P.O.Box 872
Bethel, Alaska 99559

Book Review Editor
P.O. Box 9671
San Diego, CA 92169-0671

Book Review Editor
P.O. Box 659
Warner, NH 03278

Note: For e-book reviews, you can e-mail me a PDF of the book, or a link to the book’s web address. I will then forward it to the appropriate book review editor.

 Please leave me a message letting me know what you thought of this post and what else you would like to see covered on this blog.
I am America’s leading media pitch coach, so email me at quickfameontv@gmail.com if you would like information on pitching to get on TV.
Thanks and good luck.
Edward Smith.
America’s Leading Media Pitching Coach.

Authors, don’t worry about the quality of your book in order to get on TV and become famous.

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Self-published authors worry endlessly about if their book is good enough.  When it comes to your book marketing campaign this can really hold you back.  I coach authors how to get on TV and deal with this a lot.  In fact I have coached over 1,000 authors and this is the most prevent thing on most authors minds. If you want to get on TV and become famous as an expert in your field, read on.

In an ideal world your book would be the best written book in its category and would be the most interesting book in its category.  In the real world, if you have to choose between being the best written book or having the most appealing book, go with most appealing.

I talk to a lot of TV producers in my work and the subject of a books quality from a writing standpoint never comes up.  Never.  TV producers are looking for a guest who can serve as an expert on a subject that has wide appeal to the audience for their particular show.  In most TV interviews, the book is rarely discussed at length.  Issues in and around the book generally are what is discussed.  The book itself gets a huge passive endorsement if the author does a good job during the TV interview and the book generally goes on to be a big seller, with very few people, including the buyers of the book, considering the quality of the book.

Look at your own experience in book buying.  Haven’t you bought books that had a lot of hype around them, and said to yourself, “I could have done a better job of writing that”?  Well you probably could have done a better job of writing it, but could you have done a better job of selling it.  The best written book in the world doesn’t mean a thing if no one hears about it or buys it.  The competition in in the selling of the book, not in the writing of the book.

Of course I am biased, I teach people how to get on Good Morning America, and I see my clients go on to become major authors, but it is not due to their writing ability.  It is about their ability to market themselves.

So stop worrying about your books quality and start thinking about getting on TV.  Let the other authors in your category tell themselves that they had a better book, while you go to the bank.

If you are interested in TV producer pitch coaching, email me at quickfameontv@gmail.com.

Please leave me a message, telling me what you thought about this post and what you would like to see covered on this blog.

Thanks and good luck.

Edward Smith.

 

Authors, you really can get on TV and become famous as an expert.

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As an author considering your options for your book marketing campaign, I urge you to get on TV, so you can become famous as an expert in your field. . Getting on TV is not as difficult as you might think, authors do it everyday.

You don’t need to be “wired in” with a big time agent, and you don’t have to be a celebrity or have a PR agency plugging you. In fact you are better off doing it yourself. Sure 99% of those pitching will fail, but 99% of them are going about it wrong.

And the big news is that you don’t have to spend a lot of money to get on TV as a guest on an interview show. Believe it or not, TV shows need you as much as you need them. They need fresh faces and fresh information everyday or their shows get stale. People get tired of seeing the same old faces, show after show.

As an author of a self-published book, the big benefit of getting on TV is that you will sell a ton of books and make some serious money. You don’t even have to “sell” your book during the interview on TV, the host will give you a plug and that works better than selling it, as it is an implied endorsement. Those are gold. And as you gain exposure, you will get offers for consulting gigs, and even agents wanting you to write another book.

Follow the tips posted on this blog and you will be on your way to pitching like a pro and getting some nice bookings as a guest expert on TV.

If you are interested in media pitch coaching, please email me at quickfameontv@gmail.com.

Please let me know what you think about the posts on this blog and what you would like to see covered on the blog.

Thanks and good luck.
Edward Smith.

 

Authors, if you want to get on TV and become famous, your pitch has to be clear.

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Authors, pitching producers to appear on TV is the main part of your book publicity program.  Let me give you a tip on pitching, that almost everyone needs to be reminded of.

Pitches need to be clear.  You would be surprised at how many pitches come through muddied up, either by the delivery, the writing or other things.  The bottom line is that the message in the pitch is not received properly.

So look at your pitch written out.  Is it clear the way it it written?  Do you need someone else to read it and make sure it is?

Does it make sense even if it is clear.  Does B follow A?  Will the producer agree with your logic? Do you have a lot of elements thrown in, hoping that one will catch?  Simple is best, cut out the long sentences and confusing elements and go for a short and sweet pitch.

Can you deliver it clearly without nervousness? Will you get flustered when you have a producer on the phone and come across like a blubbering idiot?  Practice the pitch while imagining a producer on the line, work up the confidence in what and how you are going to pitch, so you can do so in a relaxed manner.  Breathing covers a lot of sins here.  Take deep breaths all through your pitch, so you stay relaxed.

So the best pitch in the world is not good unless it is delivered clearly.  Even if the individual elements are good, the whole package including delivery must be perfect.  Go to work on your pitch right now and make sure you are 100% convinced you can pull it off.

Then go for it!

If you would like information on pitch coaching, email me at quickfameontv@gmail.com.

Please leave me a message telling me what you thought of this post and what you would like to see covered on this blog.

Thanks and good luck.

Edward Smith.

Authors, here are more pitching tips to get on TV and become famous.

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Here are some things authors working though a book marketing and book publicity campaign need to keep in mind if they want to get on TV and become famous as an expert in their field.

My specialty is media pitching and I know how TV producers think, so let me share some thoughts on media pitching.

First and foremost, when it comes to media pitching, you need to stay current, so you can be ready to talk about your pitch in terms of what’s is on TV right now.  You can’t let this go, as there is always the chance that a TV producer will call you instead of you calling her.  Yes, it happens, especially if you have been doing what I tell you in terms of building a platform, etc.  So stay on your toes and keep up with the latest news.

Secondly you need to have empathy for the producer.  You need to understand what is involved in her day-to-day job and the network environment she operates in.  Is her show doing well, how are the ratings, what are the reasons behind this.  This can help you pitch.  For instance if her show is number two in the time slot, you might be able to say something like, “having me on will help you gain the number one slot”.  II guarantee you will get her attention and she will know you are familiar with the show and her position.

Next, when you pitch, cut to the chase, the producer is not there to be your friend or make small talk, you want to come across like a professional, polite and to the point.  Oh and always be honest, don’t fluff yourself or your topic up, you have to work with these people on a long term basis.  They move around a lot, but they never forget.

Lastly and it almost should come first, make sure your pitch is right for the show you are pitching.  Study the show before pitching and make sure it is a topic they will cover on the show.

So keep these media pitching tips in mind before you call a TV producer and your pitch will be way ahead of most of the other pitches the producer is receiving and you will be more confident in your pitch delivery.

If you are interested in media pitch coaching, email me at quickfameontv@gmail.com.

Please leave me a message letting me know what you thought of this post and what else you would like to see covered on this blog.

Thanks and good luck.

Edward Smith

Authors; how to get on TV, sell your book and become famous.

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Authors as part of your book marketing and book publicity campaign, you want to get on TV and sell your book. Authors that have not been on TV before expect to go out there, pitch their book, website. etc. and even say hi to mom in the process.

It doesn’t work that way.

Even if you were on the air long enough to get away with the kind of thing I described above, your career as a interview guest would come to a halt.  No one would have you on their show and you would not be invited back to the show you were on.  In fact, odds are your interview would be pulled and would not run and you still would not be invited back.

Why is this?

TV shows exist to entertain an audience and make some advertising money in the process.  They do not exist to sell your product, your website or for you to say hi to mom. Your interview will take place because the producer thinks your information will be something the audience wants to hear.  They are looking for you to give that information to their audience in the clearest and most entertaining way.  In most instances the audience is not really interested in your book, your website and certainly not mom. If you go out there and talk about this stuff, you are killing the interview, you are clogging it up with information no one is interested in but you.  The fact that you wrote a book, have a web site, etc adds to your credibility as background information, but it is just that background information.

As an author being interviewed on TV you have to accept this and go with the flow.  Most hosts will introduce you and mention your book as part of the intro and they will probably mention your book and even your website during the wrap up, but that will be it. The best you can hope for as an extra plug is by giving an answer to a question that refers to you book.  You might say something like “I have a chapter in my book devoted to that, but ……….”.  Now you can only do that once during an interview and even then it is risky as it might look like a blatant plug.  Never do it more than once in an interview.

So if you want to get on TV and become famous as an expert in your field, you must play by the rules.  You will still be fine and get better results from the soft sell than a hard sell, believe it or not.

If you are interested in media pitch coaching, please email me at quickfameontv@gmail.com.

Please leave me a comment telling me what you thought of this post and what you would like to see covered in this blog.

Thanks and good luck.

Edward Smith.

 

 

Media pitching tips for authors that want to get on TV and become famous.

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I coach authors how to get on TV and become famous as an expert in your field.  One of the basics I cover is how to develop a “killer pitch”.

Many elements go into developing a “killer pitch”, but lets run down some of the elements.

  •          Is you pitch going to the right person at the TV station?  Do you have the producers name, so you don’t just pitch “to whom it may concern”.
  •          Are you pitching with the right vehicle?  Many producers only want email pitches, so make sure you don’t try to use a phone to pitch them if email is their preference.

·       Do you  have a good reason why you are pitching.   Yes, you want to get on TV to sell books, but what is in it for the producer and the audience?  Is there a good reason why they should be interested in your story?

·         Have you done your research?  Have you looked at all the angles in your pitch, are the facts correct, what has changed that might impact your story and so on?

·         Are you pitching a segment?  Producers think in segments, so pitch that way.  Study the show to see how long the segments are and spell out the segment time in your pitch.

·         Are you limiting your pitch to one producer at a time?  Don’t end up getting booked by two shows to cover the same subject, as you will lose both of them.

Of course there are many more elements that go into a “killer pitch”, but those should get you started for now.

If you are interested in media pitch coaching, please email me at quickfameontv@gmail.com

Please leave me a message telling me what you thought of this post and what you would like to see covered on this blog.

Thanks,

Edward Smith

Quick Fame System

 

 

Authors, think of pitching as sharing information rather than selling, if you want to get on TV and become famous.

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Many authors are afraid to move into the “selling” part of their book marketing campaign.  This is a crucial part of book publicity and must be done if you are going to get on TV and become famous as an expert in your field.

Here is how you can get over this fear of “selling”.

Pitching the media is no fun for most people but it has to be done if you are going to get on TV.  And of course pitching is viewed as selling.  This is rightly so, it is selling.  But that does not make it bad or wrong, you are sold on things every day and walk away happy that you were.  This is the same for producers, they are sold every day and are happy to have booked a guest.

I urge my media pitch coaching clients to view the pitch process as sharing needed information, rather than selling.  Lets look at the process.  You contact a producer and “pitch” them.  What is the pitch?  It is an offer to give the producers audience information that you have, that they do not have and they can use.  Of course if it is not something they can use, the producer will tell you that and that is the end of the pitch.  Now even if they don’t use it, no one was harmed in any way.  The worst that happened was that you and the producer lost a minute of their time.  But if you did your homework, you know that audience will want the information and unless you “pitch” that producer, that audience will not get the information.  So you are setting up a “win/win”.  You get the exposure of getting on TV, the producer has a good show and the audience gets some useful information they did not have before.

So what’s so bad about “selling” if it goes like that?  And that is what you are doing if you are doing the pitch process correctly.  Now of course if you are blasting off pitches to anyone that will listen that is a whole different ball game.  That is spamming, not pitching.

So from now on, looking at pitching as sharing useful information and see how much better you feel about pitching.  Your will increase the number of pitches you make and feel better in the process.  Oh and your bookings will increase as well.

If you would like information about my media pitch coaching, please email me at quickfameontv@gmail.com.

Please leave me a message telling me what you thought of this post and what you would like to see covered on this blog.

Thanks and good luck.

Edward Smith.

 

Self-published authors can now get on TV and become famous as an expert in their field.

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It is time to get over the worry that as a self-published author, you can’t get on TV and become famous as an expert in your field.  Your book marketing and book publicity can get you on TV just as easily as a self-published authors as if your book was published by one of the “big guys”.  In fact, these days, given the decline of the big publishing houses, you are even better off doing the publicity and marketing yourself.

TV producers look for one thing.  Can you come on and do a segment that will entertain their audience.  They don’t care that much about your book, they won’t read it,  and they don’t care about who published it.

They care about you.  Are you an expert in your field?  Can you perform well on TV?  Will the audience accept and like you?  If you can answer yes to those questions, forget who published your book, you are in kid.

Book reviews and awards are important to people that sit around in a circle selling books to each other.  A 10 minute segment on Good Morning America will blow out your inventory, while a spot in the New York Times Book Review might not result in any sales at all.  That is not a place where you go to sell books in big numbers.  TV is.

So shake off any self doubts you have about being self-published, you are fine.  Concentrate on getting a platform together that establishes you as an expert in your field and start pitching some TV shows.  This will save you time and money and get you some serious exposure that will sell books, make you famous as an expert in your field and lead to other opportunities like speaking gigs, etc.

Follow this blog for tips on how to get on TV and become famous as an expert in your field.  The content is Free and honestly you can’t find better advice anywhere.

If you are interested in media pitch coaching, please email me at quickfameontv@gmail.com.

Please let me know what you thought of this post and leave me a message about what you would like to see covered on this blog.

Thanks and good luck.

Edward Smith.

Authors need to pitch TV producers differently than other media if you want to get on TV and become famous.

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If you are an author thinking about getting on TV in order to become famous as an expert or writer, I have some good news for you.  Your book publicity campaign can get a huge boost by getting on TV.  And there has never been a better chance than to take your shot.

 There have never been more opportunities to get on TV, in spite of what you hear about TV losing ground to the Internet.  TV has expanded into digital channels and even on the Internet, making many more shows available to viewers and hence to book interview guests on.   As these channels and shows have expanded they are looking of different types of guests in order to set themselves apart from the other shows.  This means you have more chances to be booked as a guest on TV than you used to.

 Assuming you are new to pitching, you need to know that pitching TV producers take a different approach than say pitching print journalists.

Lets look at some of the differences you should keep in mind when you are pitching TV producers.

 First there is who to pitch, and in most cases it is the producer of the TV show you are targeting.  You normally don’t pitch reports or on air hosts, etc, that many newbie’s think would be the people to pitch.

 Next you pitch segments, not stories.  Study the show and see how long their interviews are and then put that time frame in the pitch.

 Consider how you will look on TV, since it is a visual media and bring that into the pitch.  Mention any visuals you can add to the interview to make it more interesting to TV viewers.

 And of course study the show prior to pitching, so you know the pitch fits with the type of interviews they use on the show.

 If you follow these basics of pitching TV producers you should be off to a good start.  Of course there is more, but if you stay with this blog you will pick up many of the things you need to be a start pitcher.

 If you would like to move your pitching along faster, email me at quickfameontv@gmail.com, for information on my pitch coaching.

 Please leave me a message letting me know what you thought of this post and what you would like to see covered on this blog.

 Thanks and good luck.

Edward Smith.

Authors, answer the producer’s questions if you want to get on TV and become famous.

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As an author trying so hard to get publicity for your book and desperately trying to get on TV, the last thing you need to do is mess things up when you get a “bite” from a producer.

Well believe it or not, a number of authors blow their big break early on in the pitching process.

One of the most easily preventable and yet common ways authors blow it is to do something that irritates a producer that calls you as a result of your pitch to get on TV.

Many times a producer will receive a pitch and have a quick question about something in the pitch.  They will then call the author and ask the author their question.

Now here is where things can go wrong.  The author is now looking at the chance of a lifetime and they put the producer off.  The author may say something like, “Can I get back to you on that”, or dodge the question in some way.  Hey, you are the expert here, what do you mean you have to get back to them?  You are supposed to know everything about the subject and now you don’t.  Forget about it.  Or the author may turn the question back on the producer and ask why the producer wants to know it, or what they are going to do with the information.  Wow is that irritating to a producer.  They have a deadline to meet, stuff to get done and you are dancing around.  Answer the darn question will you!  I won’t even go into the issue of authors that don’t call the producer back with the information if the producer was even willing to wait for the answer.  Talk about blowing it, you are dead if you don’t get back to the producer ASAP.

 

So if a producer calls and asks you a question in your pitch, answer the question as quickly and clearly as possible.  Just give them the information and let them take it from there.   Don’t try to make a big deal out of it, let them know you are easy to work with and not someone they need to avoid.

If you are interested in media pitch coaching, please email me at quickfameontv@gmail.com.

Please leave me a message telling me what you thought of this post and what you would like to see covered on this blog.

Thanks and good luck.

Ed

Authors, how to use surveys to help you get on TV and become famous.

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Authors, if you want to get on TV and become famous as an expert in your field, you need to have information that people want.  This should be a constant for your book publicity campaign.

So you want to put together pitches to producers that focus on you having information that their viewers want to see.  This is want they are interested in, so that is what you should be concentrating on supplying.

Given that your book publicity objective is to get on TV with information viewers want, you need to decide what type of information you can deliver and how you can obtain it.  All of this should be aimed at being used in a pitch and interview on TV.

The best information is new information and one of the easiest and best ways to obtain new information is to put out surveys and publish the results.  With a survey you can generate new data on trending topics which will almost guarantee interest on the part of the producers you are pitching for an interview appearance.

I suggest you look into http://www.surveymonkey.com/.   This is a free service that lets you create surveys and send them to your followers and then tabulate the results.  All very easy, fast and of course accurate.

So you pick a topic aimed at the TV audience you are targeting, set up some questions they would like to know how people feel about, craft the survey and fire it out.  Once the data comes back you see how you can turn it into material that could be used in an interview on TV.  Then you can turn this into a pitch to a producer and send it off.  See all nice and neat and very, very effective at getting you booked on TV.

Here are some things to keep in mind when setting up a survey.

. You need to be clear about what you are trying to accomplish with the survey. Know where you are heading with the data you will collect and tailor every question towards that end.

.Be very careful about how you structure the questions on your survey.  Do not use leading questions, complicated questions, etc.  Yes or no questions or ranking type questions usually work well.

.Test the survey before going all out with it.  You will probably make a few mistakes in crafting the questions at first, so catch these mistakes at an early stage of the survey.

.Ask for help.  SurveyMonkey will help you with basic questions if you get hung up, don’t struggle, get help so you can accomplish what you want.

Once the data is in, you will find many uses for it. You can use it in pitches as above, but it is also useful to put in special reports, infographics on you website and so on.

So there you are, one more way to develop new material to pitch and go back to producers you have pitched before with a new approach.  Stay with me, we will get you booked!

If you would like information on media pitch coaching, email me at quickfameontv@gmail.com.

Please leave me a message telling me what you thought of this post and what you would like to see covered on this blog.

Thanks and good luck.

Ed



Authors, here are the leading reasons your book publicity pitches are failing.

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As an author working hard on a book publicity campaign aimed at you getting on TV and becoming famous in your field, I know how hard it is to deal with failure in this area.

On the surface 99.9 % of pitches to appear on TV as an expert fail.  I know that is depressing news.  The good news, if you will, is that 99.9% of the efforts authors make to get on TV are just off the mark and destined to failure.

Yes, most of the time all your time, effort and money spent to get on TV is just plain wasted.  It doesn’t have to be that way of course, the right system will get you the results you want.

But first lets look at what most authors are doing wrong in their efforts to get on TV.

The number one mistake is that you are just blasting out press releases, aimed at no one in particular and containing a generic appeal.  The correct way is to target TV shows with an individual message.  This is more work, but you are only aiming at a few shows at a time, so it is no big deal.

Next in the hit parade is not setting yourself apart from the pack as being different and better than the other potential guests.  You send out a ho hum pitch and get a ho hum response, leading to the delete button.  You need to do some serious work coming up with a “killer” pitch that will grab the producers attention.  Why you, why this subject, why now, why the producers show?  Answer those questions and you can consider yourself booked.

Believe it or not, not using the producers name can knock you out of the running when you are pitching.  If you didn’t take the time to research the producers name, the producer will tag you as a “unmotivated” guest, and you know where that leads.  Delete.

Lastly, you are not using a proven system to pitch producers, you are just picking up tips from all over the internet with many of them conflicting with what other “experts” say.  Lets face it, you mean well and are working hard, but you just do not know what you are doing.  Things that seem logical, just don’t work and you don’t know why.

If you are interested in my pitch coaching, please email me at quickfameontv@gmail.com.

Please leave me a message regarding what you thought of this post and what you would like to see covered on this blog.

Thanks and good luck,

Ed

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 






Authors, if you want to get on TV and become famous, I can’t repeat this enough.

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Authors, your book publicity campaign is all important to you and I know you want to get on TV and become famous, or you wouldn’t be reading this blog.

Here is a post from http://www.prdaily.com/Main/Articles/11677.aspx that covers things I talk about regularly on this blog.  Still I like the article and no matter how many times I say it, covering the basics outlined in this article are mandatory.

5 pitching tips from TV journalists

By Francy Wade | Posted: May 18, 2012
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As a former TV producer, I worked with great PR professionals who helped me find experts and interesting stories for my shows, often at a moment’s notice.I also dealt with many PR people who had bad timing and bad story suggestions; they were doubly clueless.

Recently, I was with a group of friends—TV producers, anchors, and reporters—when the topic of bad pitches came up. We laughed about the lazy ones, and others that were just plain bad. It’s a well-tread topic, blogs, websites and even Twitter feeds (such as @DearPR) cover the topic regularly.

I thought I’d focus on five things to do right. Here are tips from my TV friends and I:

1. DVR the program you want to pitch for a week.

The No. 1 PR complaint from TV professionals is being pitched stories and guests that don’t match up with their shows’ topics, format, or time slots. When I was a morning show producer at a local network affiliate, publicists often suggested guests for cooking segments. But my show didn’t have guests and we certainly didn’t have a demo kitchen.

A morning show segment producer whom I work with often wishes PR people understood that the harder-hitting stories typically come earlier in the broadcast and topics get fluffier as the show goes on.

“Know that we don’t do style segments at 7:55 a.m.,” he suggests.

If you want to actually land an interview, DVR the program for a week and study it. Understand how to make a concise suggestion on where your idea fits and who would be the appropriate anchor or reporter to tell it.

2. Avoid pitching a competitor’s story. 

One of my dear friends who produces a brilliant show on CNN recently forwarded me an email she received offering guest commentary on a developing news story that CNN was covering. The sender started the email by citing stories on the topic from other competing networks. TV producers don’t want to be sent stories done by their competition, and they certainly don’t want to repeat another station’s story.

You wouldn’t pitch The Wall Street Journal by sending them a New York Times story. Don’t do it with broadcast either.

3. Know the shifts.

If you want to land the “Today” show, understand what time the show is on the air and don’t bother to call producers then. Observe the Twitter feed of the producer with whom you are trying to connect to learn when they are clearly near their desk. Or even better, just ask when they typically have a few minutes to chat.

4. Listen for names—and use them appropriately. 

My husband, David, is a TV news anchor and gets dozens of pitches every day that should go to the assignment desk or a producer. That’s not the problem, though. The issue is the fake personalization of emails that begin with “Hi Dave.” No one except his friends from high school and his parents ever call him that. Immediate delete.

Before you pitch a TV reporter or anchor, watch the program and see what the other personalities on the show call him or her. Don’t pretend to be friends. The same goes with producers; don’t pretend to be long-lost pals if you’ve sent them an email once or twice. Be real and have a good story for them.

5. Know that the Facebook wall is off limits.

One of my friends has been pitched on his Facebook page. Aggressively calling and emailing a person to get them to hear your pitch is one thing, but don’t cross the line to stalker. If you have connected on Twitter, direct messages are OK. But Facebook is different. It’s personal.

Francy Wade is a director at Inkhouse in Boston. Follow her on Twitter @francywade. A version of this story first appeared on the Inkhouse blog, Inklings. 

Take the things this article stressed to heart, they are key.  As the doctors are taught “first do now harm, and the points brought out above will keep you out of trouble.
If you would like information on TV pitch coaching, please email me at quickfameontv@gmail.com.
Please leave me a message telling me what you thought of this post and what you would like to see covered on this blog.
Thanks and good luck.
Ed

Authors, here is another Free place to help you get on TV and become famous.

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As an author working on your book publicity, you are always on the lookout for new places to pitch your availability to be interviewed.  As a get on tv pitch coach I am always on the lookout for the same places, so I can pass them along to my clients.

Well here is another one that looks good and it is free.

It is is the Seek Or Shout site at https://sos.cision.com/

Here is what the site says about itself:

“Seek or Shout is a new community for anyone who creates or promotes content. It’s a safe space for collaborating on content with other professionals, away from the noise of the big social networks.

Whether you’re a journalist, blogger, PR/marketing professional or student, you can publish a request when you need help from the community with something you’re working on. Just click the Seek tab above. When you want to let everyone know about your recently published content, just click the Shout tab.

Searching

You can use the Search tab above to find other users you may know, along with Seek or Shout posts relevant to a particular topic. You’ll also find news releases, upcoming editorial opportunities and other helpful stuff.

Seeking

After you click the Seek tab, enter the subject line of a request to find people to interview, products for review, or documents for research. You might say “I’m looking for smartphone apps to review” or “Can anyone comment on why teenagers are wearing glow-in-the-dark shoes again?”

You can then add details, a relevant link, a deadline, and tags to help others find your request. Other users can leave helpful comments on your request, or respond to you privately by visiting your profile page. You can even make your request anonymous or syndicate it on Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn with a single click.

Shouting

Once you’ve published your work, you can Shout to the community to thank them for their help and drive traffic to your content. People who follow you or the topics with which you’ve tagged your posts will see your latest Shouts. Feel free to shout about articles, blog posts, news releases or anything else you’ve just finished working on.”

So as an author, looking for book publicity or to book interviews, etc, you can use this site to post what you are about, segment ideas, etc and have people interested in interviewing you contact you.  Isn’t that cool?

So give it a shot and let me know how it works out.

If you would like information on my pitch coaching, email me at quickfameontv@gmail.com

Please leave me a message telling me what you thought of this post and what you would like to see covered on this blog.

Thanks and good luck.

Ed

 

Authors, here is a Twitter you should follow for advice on how not to pitch TV producers.

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As an author involved in book publicity you need to avoid doing something stupid when pitching.  Unfortunately, there are plenty of ways to go wrong, which is why my pitch coaching business is booming.

Still there is plenty you can do yourself to avoid the pitfalls.

One thing you can do is to go to this site and sign up to follow the author: https://twitter.com/#%21/DearPR.   He covers examples of bad pitches and you can learn from what others are doing wrong.  You will probably have a good laugh as well.

Now if you want to learn how to pitch producers to get on TV the correct way, then email me at quickfameontv@gmail.com.  I work to get you on TV and make you famous as an expert in your field.

Please leave me a message letting me know what you thought of this post and what you would like to see covered on this blog.

Thanks and good luck.

Ed

Authors, you will have some disappointments on your way to getting on TV and becoming famous.

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Authors as you go through the pitch process in your efforts to get on TV and become famous, sometimes you get close to being booked, but don’t make it. Book publicity is a tough game.

The fact is that 99% of the authors pitching do not get booked when it is all said and done. The 1% who do get booked are using a totally different system, but that is for another post.

There are many examples of how you can get close but not get booked. Here are some of the most common things that happen:

.Sometimes the producer will ask for a sample of your product, a copy of your book or other material  and then not book you. It may not be because the didn’t like what they saw, it is more likely they just dropped the topic you were going to be interviewed on.  Unfortunately they usually don’t call you back to tell you this.

.They did a pre interview with you, but never followed up.  Once again, they probably dropped the topic, most likely it was not you.

.They took your angle and used a different expert to put on the air. Man does this hurt, but the truth is that it happens more often than we would like.  The producer was probably interviewing a lot of experts on the same topic and picked someone else to do it. They probably did not steal your idea.

The bottom line is they did not call you back or book you.

Hey, these things happen on your way to the top as a guest expert. You need to roll with the punches, smile, move on and not burn your bridges.  Expect to get close and not get the brass ring all the time.  Every time you pitch and get close, the odds of your next pitch being a home run, go up.

OK, hope this post helped.  Please leave me a message telling me what you thought of this post and what you would like to see covered on this blog.

Thanks, and if you would like information pitch coaching, email me at  quickfameonTV@gmail.com.

Good luck, Ed

Authors, you need to know why you are different and better if you are going to get on TV and be famous.

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As an author involved in a book publicity campaign, you are probably working your tail off trying to get on TV.  But are you working smart enough as well as working hard enough?

Many of my clients came to me with an impressive list of things they had done to promote their book.  And there was the problem, they were focusing on their book instead of themselves.

If you are going to get on TV, the producer is booking you, more than your book. And there is your chance to shine.  My producer contacts all tell me they are looking for the next new big thing in guests.  So your job is to be different and better than other authors turned experts that want to get on TV.

So how are you different and better than the other authors wanting to get on Good Morning America for instance?  They will be looking more to put you on as an expert in some subject as opposed to talking about your book. Relax, they will plug your book anyway.

What is it about you that sets you apart, is it your appearance, your personality, your special expertise, your particular spin on the topic?  This is what will get you on TV or not.

Study other guests and see how you compare to them when you are looking at your target TV shows.  You do study them don’t you?  Keep a list of all the things that make you similar and different from the other guests.  That is where the gold is.  And once you have your list boiled down to the areas you think are the most important, you can use those points where you are truly different and better to craft your pitch.

You will find your pitch changing radically from your previous pitches once you do this and it is a good thing.  You will find you success rate go up dramatically.

So start thinking about how you are different and better and you will find that the producers think the same thing about you and on air you go.

If you are interested in information about my pitch coaching, email me at quickfameontv@gmail.com.

Please leave me a message telling me what you thought about this post and anything you would like to see covered on this blog.

Thanks and good luck.

Ed

 

Authors, part of your get on TV campaign should target cable access shows.

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If you are an author trying to get on TV as part of your book publicity campaign, you need to think about getting on cable access TV shows.

Very few authors move right into getting onto Good Morning America, they generally start with small TV shows and work up.  Now it doesn’t get much smaller than cable access shows, but don’t overlook them.  They can have some real benefits for an author trying to get on TV and build your reputation as a good guest expert.

One of the things TV producers look for is a “demo” of you being on TV, so they can judge how you do on their show.  For many authors this is a “catch 22″, as they need a demo to get on TV and can’t do a demo without being on TV.  Sound familiar?

Well cable access shows will almost furnish you with a copy of your appearance on the show.  And they are almost always looking for guests.  This is a match made in heaven.

Call your local cable company and get in touch with the person booking cable access shows and get a list of the cable access shows and their producers.  Then you can see which shows you are a “fit” for and pitch that producer to be on her show.  You can even contact cable companies in areas outside your local town, as guests do not have to come from any particular area.

Treat you appearance on the cable access show with the same importance as you would the “Today Show” as you are going to merchandise the appearance as your demo.  So the way you dress, talk, etc is key.

There is no reason you can’t do a number of cable access shows in the same or different areas.  Each appearance gives you more experience and of course more demos.

Then put these demos up on your website to show what you can do, as many producers will check you out on your website before they contact you.  This will make them more likely to contact you.

If you would like information on my media pitch coaching, please email me at quickfameontv@gmail.com.

Please leave me a message to tell me what you thought about this post and what you would like to see covered on this blog.

Thanks and good luck.

Ed

 

Authors, you need to keep up to the minute on news if you are going to get on TV and become famous.

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One of the key activities in you book publicity campaign is to stay up to the minute on news.  This is because you always want to know how your book, or subject matter relates to what is going on in the world.

If a producer calls, or you have a TV appearance booked for the day, you need to be able to relate to today’s event if you have to.  Many TV shows want you to relate to today’s events as part of your guest interview appearance.  And of course, you are going to want to be viewed as an expert in your field and no expert is going to be caught flat footed not knowing what is going on in their field right now.

So constantly check the news, tweets, trending topics and so on to watch what is going on and then think of how you can use this in your pitch, your interview, etc.

The more you stay in tune with current events, the more opportunities you will see for yourself as well.  Every day brings new opportunities and also the need to walk away from things that are no longer relevant.   You are constantly working to maintain your professional image and this is an important part of it.

The news is your friend, use it to move your TV booking ahead by keeping it close.

If you would like information on my media pitch coaching, email me at quickfameontv@gmail.com.

Please leave me a message and let me know what you thought about this post and what you would like to see covered on this blog.

Thanks and good luck.

Ed

 

Authors; the real money is made by getting on TV and becoming famous as an expert in your field.

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Authors, if you want to make some serious money, you need to change the focus of your book publicity campaign.  You need to move away from being an author and into being an expert.

Let’s face it, it is hard to make money as an author, you only get pennies per book sold after it is all said and done, and of course there is the issue of selling a lot of books in the first place.

On the other hand, the sky is the limit if you are a well known expert in your field.  You get speaking gigs, consulting gigs, and on and on.  It is amazing.  And all just for using the information you used in writing your book.  In the book the information doesn’t hold a lot of value, but the same information packaged as a consultation, brings in ten times the amount.  Really.

So begin to reposition yourself as an expert in a field related to your book and move away from being an author.  You will see your earnings go up and whole new worlds begin to open up to you.

If you would like information on media pitch coaching, please email me at quickfameontv@gmail.com.

Please leave me a message telling me what you thought of this post and what you would like to see covered on this blog.

Thanks and good luck.

Ed

 

Authors, here are the basics of pitching a producer, so you can get on TV and become famous.

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You cannot go too far in your book publicity campaign if you stray too far from the basics.

 My clients, like other authors, are tempted every day to so something that takes them away from the basics in order to save time, expand their efforts and so on.  The price they pay is losing their shot at getting on TV and becoming famous as an expert in their field.  At least for that day.  It is only a minor setback if you mend your ways and get back to the basics.

 OK, so what are the basics?

 First, study what show you are pitching and who on that show you are targeting.

If it is a news show, are you pitching a news related angle.  If it is an entertainment show, are you looking for an interview?   Does your pitch suit the show in everyway possible?  Do you know all about the show, the type of interviews they do and so on.  If not, you are headed for a bad day in Black rock.

 Secondly, go for quality, not quantity.  My producer friends tell me they are inundated with mass produced blasts of junk press releases being sent out in the hope of securing an interview on their show.  Not going to happen, it is the delete button for your shotgun press release and anything else not resembling a custom pitch.

 Next try to build a relationship with the producer.  Start sending the producer information they can use on the show, even if it is not directly related to your pitch.  After awhile they will begin to look for your emails and may even contact you to find out more about you.  This doesn’t always work, but it is worth a try.

 After that, know the producers deadlines by day and show segment.  News show producers are very busy just before the show airs, so avoid that, and don’t think long term on topics.  On the other hand, other shows work several months out for seasonal topics, etc.

 Lastly mind your pitching manners when pitching.  Contact the producer the way she wants to be contacted, such as only email, etc.  Many times this information is given on their website.  Shoot for a three-minute limit on the phone.  Pitches should not go over thirty seconds and then wait for feedback.   Get to the point will you?  The producer is their to listen to your pitch, not be your friend.

 OK, those are the basics.  Put these on your forehead if you need to, but stick to them, they are crucial to your success.

 If you would like information on media pitch coaching,  please email me at quickfameontv@gmail.com.

 Please leave me a message telling me what you thought of this post and what you would like to see covered on this blog.

Thanks and good luck.

Ed

Authors; your phone is your friend if you want to get on TV and become famous.

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Authors, you know you want to get on TV as part of your book publicity campaign.  And you know that pitching media producers is the key to that.  But what you don’t know is the best way to contact them.

The objective is to get on TV and become famous as an expert in your field and you can do it if you let you phone do the heavy lifting.

My producer friends all tell me they want email pitches.  They give all the usual reasons for this.  They are busy, they want to study the pitches in detail, they want to consider pitches on their own schedule.  The list goes on and on.

Well I don’t always listen to my friends.  My job is to get you booked on a TV show, even though it is you that does the pitching.  So here is my advice.

Pick up the call and try to pitch the media producer via phone.  If you don’t make direct contact, leave a voice mail with your pitch.  By the way, you will get voice mail most of the time, so when you make the initial call, be ready to switch to making the pitch via voice mail seamlessly.  You need to make a good impression here, so don’t blow it by becoming rattled when you have to leave a voice mail.

Then send you pitch by email with a heading that says you are following up your voice mail.

That way you are covered both ways.  You got your pitch in via phone one way or another and you covered yourself with the email.

See now you are pitching like a pro.

Just be sure to avoid the producers deadline periods such as just before a show goes on, etc.

The real benefit of this phone approach is that you showcase yourself.  They get a feel for how you would sound on their show and pick up other “vibes” from you.  That always works in your favor.

If you would like information on my media pitch coaching, just email me at quickfameontv@gmail.com.

Please leave me a message and let me know what you thought of this post and what you would like to see covered on this blog.

OK, thanks and good luck,

Ed

Authors, you need to stay focused on just a few shows if you are going to get on TV and become famous.

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One of the toughest jobs for authors working on book publicity is to set a few top goals and stay focused on them.  This is especially true when it comes to pitching TV shows.

Once you have set your goals as far as what TV shows you are targeting in order to be booked as an interview guest, you need to stay focused on what it takes to get on just those shows.

You only have so many hours in the day and they seem to shot by.  If you are fragmenting your efforts by say, sending out press releases to the whole world, trying to get a speaking engagement at the library, and so on, you are spreading yourself too thin.

If you set your goal to get booked on Good Morning America, then your day should be built around that.  You start you day by actually watching the show, the whole show.  You note who the guests were, how long the segments were, how the show was different from other morning shows, who the audience appears to be and so on.  That is a lot of work right there. That is work you need to be doing, and if you are not doing it, you are not going to be booked on that broadcast TV show.

Focus, focus, focus, that should be your mantra.  Book publicity is hard, getting booked on TV is hard, but it is worth it.  Once you are booked on TV and make your appearance, you will be well on your way to becoming famous as an expert in your field.  And more bookings will follow.

If you are interested in broadcast TV producer pitch coaching, please email me at quickfameontv@gmail.com.

Please leave me a message and let me know what you thought of this post and what you would like to see discussed on this blog.

Thanks and good luck.

Ed

 

Authors, have a segment proposal video ready if you want to get on TV and become famous.

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One of the latest things in book publicity is to pitch producers using a segment proposal video.  This is now key to getting booked on TV as an expert guest and becoming famous as an expert in your field.

When you are pitching a TV producer to be booked on their show as an expert guest, you should tell the producer that you have a video demonstrating the segment you are proposing.   That way the producer can view the video and make fast decisions as to how well you would perform as a guest and how well the segment topic fits with what the producer is looking for.

A picture is worth a thousand words, so imagine what a video is worth.  Lots.

You are probably wondering how you can develop a video segment for use in your pitch.  You don’t have to have a high quality, ready for prime time video.  A home produced video will work just fine as long as it makes the points you want to make.  You want to demonstrate your professionalism and knowledge of the subject, plus show how you are on camera.  So work up a rough script and enlist some help to have someone video tape you going through the segment. Edit it, so it flows and there are no major distractions and you will be good to go.

The producer you are pitching will be impressed with the video availability even if they do not look at it.  You can’t lose.

If you are interested in my media pitch coaching, email me at quickfameontv@gmail.com.

Please leave me a message telling me what you thought of this post and what you would like to see covered on this blog.

OK, thanks and good luck.

Ed

Authors, the picture you put on your website can determine if you get on TV and become famous.

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Authors, If you have a picture of yourself on your website, congrats, you are already far ahead of many of your peers in your book publicity campaign.  That’s the good news. The bad news is that your website picture may be hurting your chances of getting booked on TV and becoming famous.

How can a website picture hurt you?  Let me count the ways.   If a broadcast media producer goes on your website to check you out, one of the first things she will do is to look at your picture.  And a picture tells a lot about you, perhaps more than you would like.  These producers make rapid fire decisions on who to eliminate and if they don’t like what they see, out you go without getting to bat with your pitch.

Here are some things in your website picture that may cause them to cut you.

.An old, old picture that screams “out of date”.  It suggests to the producer that you are not up to speed or out of it.  You lose.

.A sexy,  suggestive picture will send the wrong message for a man or woman.  Unless you are targeting a sex related subject, leave the sex in the bedroom.

.A “homemade” picture taken from your collection of family shots.  Even if you crop you husband and dog out of the picture, they can tell you ripped off a shot from your day at the beach.  Not good.

.A  picture that just plain makes you look bad.  It could have been a bad hair day, bad lighting, strange posture or expression, etc.  But if people recoil from it you have an issue.

So you get the “picture”.  You need the best picture you can obtain to put on your website.  People will check you out in advance and you won’t get a chance to explain a bad picture away.   Get a professionally done shot, with clothing and an expression that projects the look you want a broadcast producer to want to book.  This is an investment you do not want to skimp on.

Once you make this upgrade on your picture, you will feel better about you chances of being booked as an expert guest on a TV show and becoming famous in your field as a result of it.  And for good reason.  It will be true, it is one more piece of having the perfect platform that makes you irresistible to a producer looking to book guests on Good Morning America.

If you would to discuss my media pitch coaching, please email me at quickfameontv@gmail.com.

Please leave me a message telling me what you thought of this post and what you would like to see covered on this blog.

Thanks and good luck.

Ed

 

Common mistakes authors make when they get on TV and want to become famous.

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Authors are not usually trained in how to perform on camera, so when they get on TV they make a number of mistakes.  This can ruin their big chance to become famous as an expert in their field, as they come off looking like an amateur.

Here are some tips to help you perform like a pro when you finally get your big break and are booked on TV as a guest expert.

Avoid looking at the TV camera or the monitor and just look at the person conducting the interview.  It is a conversation and in a conversation you look at the person you are talking with, so it is the same on TV.

Sit still.  Don’t move around in your seat, no squirming.  You look nervous and the camera has a hard time “framing” you, so you will keep going out of the shot.  You will look just plain weird if you move around a lot.

Don’t clutter.  Don’t come on with a lot of props, notes, etc.  Keep all material off the desk in front of you unless you absolutely need it.  Study what hosts have in front of them during interviews and copy them.  Usually it is just a few note cards at most.

Dress the part.  Look like a pro, be professional and if you need guidance on styles, colors, etc, study what hosts are wearing or other guests you respect.

Let the conversation unfold.  Don’t try to ram your plugs or agenda down the throat of the host.  The host knows where she wants to take the interview, let her do it or you will come off as “pushy” and the audience will not like you.

So in many ways the TV interview is like a visit to the home of someone you are trying to impress.  Just follow that lead and you will be just fine.

If you are interested in my media pitch coaching, email me at quickfameontv@gmail.com.

Please leave me a message telling me what you thought of this post and what you would like to see covered on this blog.

OK, thanks and good luck.

Ed

Authors, you have thirty seconds to make your case to get on TV and become famous.

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Every broadcast producer I know, and I know a lot of them, tells me the same thing.  You have thirty seconds to make your pitch to be booked as an expert guest on their show.  Thirty seconds, that’s it.

Imagine your whole book publicity campaign riding on thirty seconds. Scary isn’t it?

Broadcast producers make up their minds about an incredible number of things about authors in just thirty seconds.  They are judging your topic to see if it meets with what their audience wants, they are judging how you sound to see if you would “fit” on their show, they are judging your expertise, do you have the “creds” to present the topic, and so on.

And that is it, once they make that assessment of you and your topic, there is no coming back.  They cut you off, thank you and they are off to the next pitch.  Nothing personal, that is just the nature of the business.  Like it or not.

So the lesson is this.  Have your book publicity act together and give your pitch your best shot in thirty seconds and after that wait for the response.  Take what you hear and try to learn from it, regardless if you were booked or not.

If you would like information on my media pitch coaching, email me at quickfameontv@gmail.com.

Please let me know what you thought of this message and what you would like to see covered on this blog.

Thanks and good luck.

Ed

 

Authors; take acting lessons to help you get on TV and become famous.

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Most of my clients start out viewing themselves as authors or writers and by the time we get them on Good Morning America, they are viewing themselves as actors.  Rich actors at that.

One of the things you need to consider in your book publicity campaign is how you are going to behave when you get that big interview on TV.  Well if you you don’t prepare for it, you probably won’t get that big break in the first place.

You see being interviewed on TV is more than just being an expert, it is just as much about how you look and sound during the interview.  Morning talk shows go to great lengths to put on guests that can hold an audience.  And this is about how they perform during the interview as much as the content.  If you are hard to understand, act uncomfortably  or do other things that distract from the show, you are never getting on the show.

I urge my clients to take some acting lessons as a base to performing well on TV.  You don’t have to fly to LA or New York to get these lessons.  Night school classes at your local high school will do you just fine.  The idea is to get comfortable performing in front of other people and become conscious of how you look and sound.  Once you understand how you come across, you can begin to change things that you do not like. Maybe you need to work on your diction or accent(yes you have an accent, no matter who you are), or maybe you need to get over stage fright.  No matter what it is, it is better to find out what your performance issues are now, rather than later, as later may never come.

If you would like information on media pitch coaching, please email me at quickfameontv@gmail.com.

Please leave me a message telling me what you thought of this post and what you would like to see covered on this blog.

Thanks and good luck.

Ed

 

Authors should remember their pitches if they want to get on TV and become famous.

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You won’t believe one of the most common complaints I hear from my media producer friends about receiving pitches.  They tell me that is is fairly common for them to follow up on a pitch they received and be totally turned off by the response.  Now how is that for a way to ruin a book publicity campaign?

Here is what happens to make the book publicity campaign go South.   The media producer contacts the author sending the pitch and wants to know more about what was discussed in the pitch or press release that was sent. The author then proceeds to tell the producer that the author will have to get back to the producer on that.

In some cases the author has sent out a press release or several and does not remember what they said.  They are not in a position to discuss the press release because they draw a blank.  In other cases the author did not do their homework on the issues discussed in the pitch and is not in a position to fully discuss the issue.  And the list of reasons why the author can’t discuss the pitch go on and on.

Can you believe it, you send out a pitch and then when the producer calls, you blow it.  This is almost criminal.  Your book publicity campaign just went down in flames. And you are toast with that producer.  Fat chance of her calling you again.

So for goodness sake get your act together now.  Go over all your pitches and press releases and make sure you are in a position to discuss any one of them on a moments notice.   Believe it or not, some producers file pitches or press releases away and may come back to them six months later.  You could get a call on something you did six months ago and it is as valid as if they are calling on something you did yesterday.

If you are interested  in media pitch coaching, please email me at quickfameontv@gmail.com.

Please leave me a message telling me what you would like to see covered on this blog on what you thought of this post.

Thanks and good luck.

Ed

 

 

 

Authors should consider booking smaller TV shows as a way to become famous.

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Authors always want to jump right into pitching the biggest TV shows as a way of becoming famous as an expert in their field.  This rarely works, so you are better off pitching smaller shows to start with the publicity part of your book marketing campaign.

My business is coaching people on the best way to pitch broadcast producers to be booked as for a guest expert interview.  Naturally I make contact with a lot of producers for big name TV shows and I listen to what they say.

One thing they all say is to start small, start local.

So look at your pitch and consider how you can make it appealing to media producers in your local market.  Maybe it is fine as it is, but if not here are some ways a pitch can be made more appealing to a local market broadcast producer. Is there some trend going on locally that you can tap into such as:

.A local sports teams performance.

.A local event such as an exhibition, fair, contest, etc?

.Perhaps a local historical slant.

.Local weather

.Local politics

.Local economy.

You get the idea, take what is in the local headlines and tap into them.

There are tons of advantages to starting with smaller shows.  Consider these:

.You get practice, and are ready for “prime time” once you have done smaller shows.

.You build a “reel” of interviews to show you are a good guest:

.There are more opportunities with smaller shows, so you will get more hits.

.You build a base of followers that can help you expand into other markets.

So your book marketing campaign publicity should focus on smaller markets first, rather than the larger shows.  You will make more headway and experience a lot less frustration and disappointment.

If you are interested in media pitch coaching, please email me at quickfameontv@gmail.com.

Please leave me a comment and let me know what you thought of this post and what you would like to see covered on this blog.

Thanks and good luck,

Ed

 

Tips on pitching broadcast media to get on TV and become famous.

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As an author, you have spent a lot of time writing, so you are not afraid of writing email pitches to media producers.  But you are afraid of doing it wrong.   Fear not I am here to help

Here is an article that appeared at http://www.prdaily.com/Main/Articles/11239.aspx.    It gives 7 tips for writing effective pitches to journalists.  This blog is devoted to pitching the broadcast media, but I feel the points are transferable to your broadcast pitches. The article is by Mr. Jeremy Porter and is taken from a longer article of his.  I believe it is worth your time to read Mr. Porter’s article and certainly to heed his advice.  Here is the article:

Win press coverage: 7 tips for refining your pitch

By Jeremy Porter | Posted: March 29, 2012
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Editor’s note: In a nearly 2,000-word piece on the blog Journalistics, PR professional Jeremy Porter offers a detailed guide to winning press coverage—from how to find the appropriate journalists for your story to how to pitch them. 

Here’s an excerpt on how to tailor PR pitches: 

As employees, it’s easy to get distracted by the people we report to. Your CEO or team leader isn’t always the best person to determine the quality of news. To them, more often than not, everything is newsworthy and a good fit for The New York Times.

Remember the stuff you learned about journalism in school? What makes a good news story? Your topic should be timely and relevant for the audience of the outlet you’re pitching. Even if your story is timely and relevant to the outlet you’re pitching, it might not be a fit for the reporter you thinkwrites about that stuff.

Sometimes newsworthiness is merely a factor of how you package the news in your pitch. You have to adapt the pitch to each journalist and outlet. Does this take more time? Yes. Is it worth the effort? Yes.

If you don’t have the time to do this with every outlet, use the 80/20 principle to focus your time where it will make the greatest impact. (Which 20 percent of outlets will produce 80 percent of the results you’re looking for?) This could be a 90/10 or even 99/1 split, but you get the idea. To help you adapt your pitch to the right journalist or outlet, here are some tips for refining your pitches:

Localize. Is your story not a fit for national news, but a good fit locally? Get strong local coverage in the outlet with the widest coverage. If your company is hiring 20 new employees this year, it’s not a fit for The Wall Street Journal. If you’re hiring 2,000 employees this year due to a big contract you just landed, it might be. Find local angles and see your placement success go up.

Timeliness. If your story has a time element to it, you need to be able to act fast. One example is when you try to ride the coattails of a story in the mainstream.

Let’s say you work for an allergist or a company that makes a product that relieves the effects of high pollen. How can you capitalize on news coverage of record high pollen counts in the Southeast to get your client on the evening news? To capitalize on current events like this, you need to have the right reporters on speed dial.

If you want to read more on this aspect, check out David Meerman Scott’s book, “Newsjacking: How to Inject Your Ideas Into Breaking News Stories and Generate Tons of Media Coverage.” The book is chock full of great case studies on how PR professionals have scored incredible coverage using this tactic.

Numbers. When was the last time you saw an infographic in the outlets that cover you industry? Exactly. Journalists love numbers. Pretty numbers are even better. You’re probably sitting on a bunch of recent facts and statistics about your industry you could package as an infographic to support your news.

Not only will the infographic help you break through the clutter of competing pitches, but it also provides the journalist with a potential visual to use with his/her story. There is way too much “fluff” in a lot of the press releases and pitches reporters receive. When you say it with numbers, you separate your news from the pack.

I recently got coverage for a story on the growth of lacrosse in our county. I didn’t tell the reporter, “Lacrosse is growing a lot down here.” I gave him specific numbers on the growth of lacrosse in our area, and I tied it to regional and national trends (again, real numbers). I got a call back immediately.

Seasonality. This isn’t a new tactic, but it might be for some of you. What seasonal events create PR opportunities for you? Right now, we’re in the midst of spring. We’re a few days away from April Fool’s Day. Easter is coming. March Madness is drawing to a close. Summer is right around the corner. Kids will be out of school soon. Then they’ll go back to school. I could go continue, but there’s always some recurring event you can tie your story to and create a more newsworthy pitch. There’s always some special “Day” or “Week” or “Month” you co-opt. From “Talk Like a Pirate Day” to “Breast Cancer Awareness Month,” you can find an endless array of tie-in ideas from “Chase’s Calendar of Events.” It’s a pricey book, but no PR agency office is complete without one.

A word of caution, though. he themed events thing is a little overdone. Try to find unique ones to tie into, and don’t make it the focus of the pitch. Rather, use it as a tie-in to make your pitch more timely.

Bouncebacks. What do you do when a reporter writes a great story about your industry and leaves your company out? Do you ignore it and take the abuse from your superiors? Do you write a scathing letter, lambasting the reporter, questioning how he or she could have possibly overlooked you?

No, you educate them on your organization and the value you could bring to the table on future stories. Start by acknowledging that the story they wrote was on-target. In some cases, it might be appropriate to highlight some elements that you felt were left out. Journalists like to get reader feedback in most cases. It’s OK to share your side of the story. Even if it doesn’t get you in this article, they’ll think of you next time around if you’re polite and professional.

Namedrop. If your story is related to well-known organizations or people, get that stuff in the first paragraph of your pitch. While it’s not a guarantee for coverage, the better known the players in your news story, the more likely you will break through the filters. If you don’t have any big names tied to your news, how can you make that happen?

Copy success. Pick apart the outlets you read—become an analyst of the news. Try to determine which stories were generated from a PR pitch. It’s not that hard. How did the other companies get included in the story? If you start to analyze the news, you can start to identify the formula for how coverage happens with each outlet and each reporter. From there, you can develop strategic approaches to getting your organization or experts included in the mix.

Read the entire post here.

Mr. Porter made some good points didn’t he.  Do you see how they translate to your broadcast media pitches?    Once you get the idea, media pitching is easy, but getting the idea, well that is hard isn’t it?
If you are interested in my media pitch coaching, please email me at quickfameontv@gmail.com.
Please leave me a message letting me know what you thought of this post.  And of course I am always interested in suggestions as to what to cover on this blog.
OK, thanks for your time and good luck.
Ed

How fiction authors can get on TV interview shows and become famous.

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As a self-published author of a fiction book, you know how hard it is to get on a morning TV show as a guest.  This is where the big bucks are to be made from publicity for your book, but lets face it, morning TV just doesn’t pay much attention to fiction writers.

I have a lot of producer friends that work in morning TV and they echo that view, but they let me in on a secret. There is a way you can move out of the pack of self-published fiction writers and get booked on TV as an expert guest.

Instead of pitching yourself as an author of a self-published fiction book, you pitch yourself as an expert in a field related to material in your book.  Now you don’t mention your book, you focus on your qualifications as an expert in a field related to something the TV producer is interested in.

Just think of it, you have been killing yourself trying to get book reviews and plugs for your book in all the traditional fiction related media and now you can move beyond all that and make some serious money.  One shot on Good Morning America can make millions of people familiar with your book overnight.  Amazon will pop your book up to the number one spot and you will have it made.  Plus you will be sought after as an expert in your field which leads to even more opportunities.  It just keeps building and building.

So you are asking, how can I justify that I am an expert in something related to what I covered in my fiction book?  Good question and here is the answer.  If you are like most people, you are not giving yourself enough credit for what you have done and what you know.  Lets go through some of the ways you probably qualify as an expert without knowing it.

Your book may be a period piece of have some sort of historical slant.  Well how much research did you do to make sure the setting or slant was right? Probably a lot.  You really got up to speed on that part of history and probably uncovered some relativity unknown but interesting stuff.  There my friend is where you hit gold as an expert. You know some cool stuff that others would be interested in.  And there is your pitch. You know things that other people want to know.  See your research is your ticket out of the fiction market and into the expert market.  Look back on the research you have done and how much of it is material that people that watch morning TV would be interested in. I bet you have a lot more than you think you do.

And don’t give up if you didn’t do any heavy research because you based your book on your own background and the life you have lived.  This is all good as well.  People are interested in how other people live and what happened around them.  This is real life, not fiction and is the kind of thing morning TV shows look for.  See it is not your book anymore, it is you and your life.

And once they get you on TV and start talking about your area of expertise, they plug your book for you.  Believe me, they will take care of you, you will hit the jackpot.

So start thinking about how you can become an expert instead of an author and you will be on your way to getting on TV and becoming famous as expert in your field.

If you are interested in media pitch coaching, email me at quickfameontv@gmail.com.

Please leave me a message telling me what you thought of this post and what you would like to see covered on this blog.

Thanks and good luck.

Ed

 

How to beat the catch 22 of getting on TV and becoming famous.

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The major effort of your book marketing campaign will be directed toward getting on TV shows such as Good Morning America, The Today Show and other morning shows that feature interviews. As an author you want to be booked as an expert guest and get plugs for your book and be established as an expert in your field.  In other words, become famous.

Once you get past the pitching process and you have the producer interested in you as a potential guest, they are going to be judging you as to how you will look on TV.  They want to know how you will look on camera, how you behave during interviews and so on.

One of the things things a producer from one of the major morning shows will ask for is a sample of you being interviewed on TV.  And in most cases you will not have been interviewed on TV before so you will be into the catch 22 of having to have been on TV before you can get on TV.

So the way around this catch 22 is to get on TV and be interviewed, just not on a major network show.   This will take some work, but you can do it.  You can build tape of yourself being interviewed by appearing on smaller shows first.  Target the smaller shows first and get the tapes from those shows.  You can dig deeper and find such things as cable access shows, get on one of these as a guest and use that tape.  I have had clients tape staged interviews and use them.  Think of things like film students, TV production schools, anything that you can use to make a tape of you being interviewed.

Meanwhile practice how you will act on camera so you come off as the expert you want to project yourself as.  I will be covering more of these techniques in future blog posts, so stay tuned.

If you are interested in media pitch coaching, just email me at quickfameontv@gmail.com.

Please leave me a message and let me know what you thought of this post and what you would like to see covered on this blog.

OK, thanks and good luck.

Ed

Make sure it is the right author that gets on TV and becomes famous as an expert in your field.

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As part of your ongoing book marketing campaign, you have made a number of changes yourself.  You are not the same person you were when you started your quest to get on TV and become famous as an expert in your field.

All of that is great, you are better at everything you do.  Your pitch is better, you presentations are better, you name it, you do it better now.

The only problem is that no one may know it but you if you don’t update all of the material that people look at before deciding to book you as an expert guest on a TV show.

First you want to do a quick inventory of yourself and ask what “persona” you are projecting now, what message are you sending out, what things have you accomplishedlately that back that up and so on.

Next you need to go back and look at things like you webpage, your pitch letter, your testimonials, and so on.  Do they reflect the new you?  If they don’t you need to get to work right now updating and fine tuning the message you are sending out, even in the social media.  So when the producer for Good Morning America calls you don’t want to have to tell her you are not the person they they you are. No you want to open your calendar and book you big day with the confidence you are on your way to getting on TV and becoming famous as an expert in your field.

If yo would like information on media pitch coaching, email me at quickfameontv@gmail.com.

Please leave me a message telling me what you thought of this message and what you would like to see covered on this blog.

Thanks and good luck.

Ed

One thing not to do on TV if you are going to become famous.

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OK, this is your big break, you are a guest expert on Good Morning America and the interview has started.  Here is one thing not to do given that you are an author of a book you desperately want to promote. You know this is your ticket to becoming famous as an expert in your field, but just don’t do this:

You don’t mention that you are an author or your book, or your whole book marketing campaign will be ruined.

That’s right, you don’t do what you desperately want to do.  And what you want to do is the whole reason you are there, to promote you and your book.

Well if you do try to promote your book the interview will go badly and in fact it may end up not even being run.

Here is the secret, you have to let the host mention you are an author and you have to let the host mention your book, website, etc.  Now 99% of the time they will do that, so you have to take it on faith that they will.   If you try to promote it, you will come off as pushy and the audience will pick it up and hate you for it.  You are there as an expert, not an author.  The TV station is not there to sell your book, they have you there to give your expert knowledge to their audience.  And that is how you end up winning.  You show you are an expert and people become interested in you and your work and they end up following you.  You come out much further ahead if you play the expert rather than the author.

Every producer I work with says authors that try to promote themselves end up ruining the interview and if they have time, they just pull the interview and put something else in its place.

Don’t get your big break pulled, play by the rules, let the host do the promoting and everyone will be a winner.

If you are interested in media pitch coaching, email me at quickfameontv@gmail.com.

Please leave me a message and let me know what you thought of this post and what you would like to see covered on this blog.

OK, thanks and good luck,

Ed

You don’t have to be published by one of the “big boys” if you want to get on TV and become famous.

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Most of my clients are self-published authors wanting to get on TV and become famous as an expert in their field.  And many of these come to me with doubts they have a chance to do it because they were not published by the “big boys”.

No matter who published your book, you can get on Good Morning America or any other broadcast show you want if you are willing to work at it. A good book marketing campaign can do wonders.

I had dinner with a producer for one of the major morning shows in New York last night and she told me what many other top producers have told me.  You need a “platform” or a series of pieces in place that will make you known to much of their audience and be a real expert in your field.  She never mentioned anything about who published the book.  None of these top producers ever do.

If you have put together a following of people that want to hear from you, you are in.  You can build this by doing such things as blogging, writing articles and columns in all kinds of media, have a presence in the social media, etc you are on your way.

Then you need to be able to back this up with expert credentials.  These can come as a result  of your education, your work experience, your research and so on.  Look at the other experts in your field and see what you have that compares to them.

All is not lost if you do not match up on a platform or credentials, you can make it up with your on air presence. If you have something in your personality or presence, you might be able be booked on TV for that assuming your other aspects are at least in the ball park.

So if you are a self-published author, get to work developing your platform and you will indeed have a shot at getting on TV and becoming famous as an expert in your field.

If you would like information on broadcast media pitching, please email me at quickfameontv@gmail.com.

Please leave me a message letting me know what you thought of this post and what you would like to see covered on this blog.

OK, thanks and good luck.

Ed

Don’t annoy media producers if you want to get on TV and become famous.

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As an author, I know you are anxious to get yourself on TV and become famous.  But.  My producers friends are constantly complaining about the things authors do as part of their book marketing campaign that are counter productive.

It seems many publicity seeking authors work very hard at their efforts to get on TV.  Being on Good Morning America is the Holy Grail.  It really is, but unfortunately many of the efforts that are made just drive the producer further away from the author that is trying to book a guest appearance.

Here is an article that appeared on PRdaily  http://www.prdaily.com/Main/Articles/10650.aspx by Abbi Whitaker.

Although it is written to apply to  pitching journalists, most of the tips are just as well suited to pitching media producers.  I urge you to read the article and avoid doing the things Ms. Whitaker points out.

Here is the article:

11 things that annoy journalists and bloggers

By Abbi Whitaker | Posted: January 26, 2012
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A public relations professional can be one of the most valuable resources for a journalist—a partner who points out relevant news, gives access to valued sources, and provides photos and reliable company background.

Unfortunately, repeated miscues by PR companies frequently turn them into the equivalent of spammers.

Here are 10 irritating habits common among PR media pitchers that can destroy any chance of a lasting and mutually beneficial relationship with a writer or editor. Avoid these mistakes, and you’ll improve your chances of success with journalists across the nation.

1. Blasting mass emails. This is a no-brainer. Marketing is all about personalization, communication, engagement, and listening. The same rules that apply to everyday communication apply to journalists. They hate to be bcc’d or, even worse, cc’d.

Remember you are pitching a news outlet, and no news outlet wants to cover something that everyone else is publishing or broadcasting (unless it’s an earnings announcement, for example, in which case the journalists probably have opted in).

2. Sending the same Twitter @ reply to 30 people. Everyone can see your @ replies. It’s even worse than sending a mass email, because the rest of world can see your ploy. Just don’t do it.

3. Mailing big press kits. Have you ever been to a journalist’s office? It’s not exactly a penthouse on Park Avenue. I know you think those creative and elaborate press kits you persuade your clients to produce are “cute,” but are they practical? If you must create a press kit, it’s best to keep it to an 8×10 folder.

4. “Just following up.” Imagine it’s 3 p.m. and you have a 4 p.m. deadline for a 1,000-word story and your main source just fell through. Then you get a call from a PR company saying: “Hi. Just calling to follow up on the release I sent you and to double-check that you received my release on the opening of Jimmy’s Jump Factory.” Enough said.

5. Leaving phone messages. Sad, but true. Imagine how many messages a journalist at The New York Times receives each day. By the time they get to their fifth message, they have already tuned out.

6. Adding them to your newsletter. I love newsletters—we have one at Abbi PR. But we don’t add people. We let them choose whether they’d like to receive our information. You should, too.

7. Giving them packed itineraries. I am not saying an itinerary on a press familiarization trip is a bad thing, but being booked every hour on the hour from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. is not what most top-tier journalists want. I know you need to make sure they meet all the bigwigs, but they really want time to explore and discover the hidden stories.

8. Booking press trips with 20 People. Press trips are a valuable tool for giving the media a firsthand look at a destination, but nobody likes to be herded like cattle. Press trips should be intimate, customized, and personalized. Focus on quality not quantity.

So once again, just as the doctors learn, “first do no harm” and avoid these mistakes and your pitching success rate will go up.
If you would like information on my media pitch coaching, please email me at quickfameonTV@gmail.com.
Please leave me a message and let me know what you thought of this post and what else you would like to see covered on this blog.
Thanks and good luck.
Ed

9. “Friending” them on Facebook. Before you send a journalist a friend request, ask yourself: Are you this person’s friend? Do you know his or her kids’ names and birthdays? Do you know the journalist’s spouse? If the answer is “no,” then you are not friends. Send a connection request on LinkedIn instead.

10. Profile Pitches. Everyone thinks their client is worthy of a profile in Inc. magazine, The Wall Street Journal, and Forbes. Maybe your client is. Or maybe it’s best to start with pitching the client as an expert source, deepen the relationship, and then pitch a profile. Just saying.

11. Send off-topic pitches. If you write for the Wichita Daily Times, you don’t care about a restaurant opening in Tucson. If you write about geothermal energy, then you’re not really jazzed on pitches about refocusing your energy through yoga.

Abbi Whitaker is the president of Abbi Public Relations in Reno, Nevada. Follow her on Twitter@abbijayne. A version of this story first appeared on the Abbi Public Relations, Inc. blog. 

Write an unused ad for your book as a way to get on TV and become famous.

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I know that you as a self-published author, are asking yourself how writing an ad for your book yourself, knowing you aren’t going to use it can help you get on TV and become famous as an expert in your field. Your book marketing campaign will be much, much better, that’s why.

One of the things I tell my clients is that they should write an ad for their book by them self, knowing full well they are never going to run the ad. This will be a key part of your book marketing campaign even though it won’t actually be used.

The best time to write this ad is before you even write the book, but in most cases you have your book finished, so this is academic.  So why would you write an ad for your book that you are not going to run?

Writing the ad yourself forces you to think about what they important promotional points of the book are.  And how to express those points in a way that appeals to others.  It forces you to think about who will buy your book and why.  This focus will surface in your press releases, book jacket, media pitching, website and other ways too numerous to mention.

In the case of writing the ad before the book, the ad gives you a focus on your potential readers and forces you to speak their language while you write. And cover topics they want to hear about.

In the case where your book is already written it is not too late to write the ad that won’t be used.  Writing the ad will still force you to think about who will read the book and why.  This knowledge will translate to your website, press releases and other sources the same way it would if you wrote the ad before you wrote the book.

Now since our focus on this blog is to get you booked as an expert guest in broadcast media, lets see the benefit there.

Here we are talking about your media pitch to be booked as an expert guest on a TV show.  If you know who is reading your book and what they want out of it, you know almost everything you need to know to make a great pitch to a producer.   You know what shows your readers will be watching and what topics they want to see covered.  So you pitch those shows with a segment idea that covers the topic your readers want to hear more about.

And that is the secret to getting on TV and becoming famous as an expert in your field.  You show you have a topic people are interested in and demonstrate that you are an expert on that topics.  Bingo, you are on your way.  All of this because you understood your readers due to the research you did in writing an ad that never ran.

If you would like information on pitch coaching, email me at quickfameontv@gmail.com.

Please leave me a message letting me know what you thought of this topic and what you would like to see covered on this blog in the future.

Thanks and good luck.

Ed

Are you ready to pitch if the GMA producer called right now?

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As an author you are probably deep into your book marketing campaign.  But are you ready if the Good Morning America producer called right now?

How about soundbites, something all my producer contacts tell me they look for right off the bat?  You answer the phone and are asked to do your pitch by the producer for Good Morning America, (yes, this really happens).  Now this can make you or break you.  Do you have soundbites ready that you can sprinkle into the pitch or at least into the conversation right after the pitch?

OK, so this is a wake up call on having soundbites ready to use when you talk to a media producer.  Take the time right now to make sure you can do your pitch on the spur of the moment complete with soundbites.  If you have a media producer on the phone do you think you can put them on hold while you dig out your pitch?  Or worse yet, do you think you can call them back or email you soundbites?  No way Jose, you are going to be dropped as “not ready for prime time”  Do whatever it takes to make sure you can do this.  Some people plaster their walls with the pitch, soundbites, talking points, segment ideas and so on.  It is that important.

If you are following this blog and implementing the ideas I give you, then I guarantee you that one of these days you will get a call from a media producer and this will be the payoff for your book marketing campaign.  And the only way to collect this payoff will be to make sure you are ready to pitch on a moments notice.

And if you would like information on my media pitch coaching, email me at quickfameontv@gmail.com.

Please leave me a message and let me know what you thought of this post and what you would like to see covered on this blog.

Thanks and good luck.

Ed

Authors need a time budget if they want to get on TV and become famous.

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As a self-published author, you have learned a lot about budgeting.  But have you learned the importance of having a time budget?

When you are setting up your book marketing campaign you need to give careful thought to how much time everything will take.  Yes, dollars are important, no question about it, but you can take out a loan to get more money.  You can’t take out a loan to get more time.

Once you grasp the importance of a time budget, it will lead you to a very important realization.  And that is goal management is even more important than time management.

You can’t do it all, so you have to be clear about what you are going to do in your book marketing campaign and cut back to just the most important parts.  Some parts will have to be put off to another time and others won’t be able to be done at all.  This is life, we all face these types of decisions in everything we do.

Once you have your goals set out in priority order, you need to break them down in to steps and assign a time factor to them.  Then you need to create a time “flow chart” that shows what will be done and when.  With this you can spot “log jams” in your book marketing campaign.

Getting on TV and becoming famous as an expert in your field will probably be right up there as one of your goals.  But this takes time and will generally come later in your book marketing activities such as establishing your “platform” as an expert.  Be sure you lay your goals out in a sequence when breaking down the time lines so you don’t allocate time to a goal that is going to be worked on later.

Successful book marketing campaigns do not happen overnight, the time you spend planning and setting up time budgets will be well spent.  Take the time to do it right the first time so you don’t come off looking like a fool just when you get your big break.

It will happen if you plan for it to happen.  Remember the old adage plan your work and then work your plan.

If you would like information on media pitch coaching, please email me at quickfameontv@gmail.com.

Please leave me a message and let me know what you thought about this post and what you would like to see covered on this blog.

Thanks and good luck.

Edward Smith

 

Authors, you need to promote yourself all the time if you are going to get on TV and become famous.

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As a self-published author, one of the hardest things you need to learn is that you must promote yourself all the time.

You probably wonder why some people get on Good Morning America and you know you are a better expert than they are. This is a common feeling for self-published authors, as my clients deal with it all the time.

Well the answer is not that they were better than you, the answer was that they were better at self promotion.  They didn’t hold back, they didn’t wait to be asked, they didn’t worry too much about annoying someone, they went for it.

Authors who get on the Today show or Good Morning America asked for the order.  Most of them were there because they pitched themselves to the producer.  Contrary to what you think, many of the guest experts you see in the broadcast media did not use publicists, they pitched the producer themselves.

Your job is to get over the fear of being “pushy” and get out there and promote the heck of yourself.  If you don’t believe in yourself who will? And if you hide behind the back of a publicist what will happen when you get your big chance?  You will be too afraid to take it.  I bet you did not realize it but some people hire a publicist and then decline the guest bookings that come their way, because they do not have the self-confidence to appear on TV.  This is one of the most common things I deal with when I am coaching clients on how to pitch broadcast producers themselves.

So begin today to take baby steps in promoting yourself.  Tell someone how much you know about your field and give them an example.  You will be surprised at how well you are received.  Take that positive response and build on it again and again.  Soon you will be ready for prime time.

And when you are ready for prime time email me at quickfameontv@gmail.com to talk to me about media pitch coaching.

Please leave me a message about what you thought of this post and what you would like to see covered on this blog.

OK thanks and good luck.

Ed

Authors need to remember this when pitching if you want to get on TV and become famous.

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Pitching is where the rubber meets the road if authors want to get on TV and become famous as an expert in their field.  Here are a few basics to keep in mind as you write your pitch.

Ninety nine percent of the time you will be sending an email, as this is the way my producer friends tell me they want to received pitches, so lets look at a few things to keep in mind for your emails.

The email headline is key as this is the first thing the producer sees and the headline can trigger a “delete” right off the bat.

Is you headline clear to the producer?  Is it to the point?  Is it short?  All these things are important.  Cute, long, or  confusing headings get trashed right away and all your great work heads off to the cyberspace landfill.  Bzzzzzzz you lose!  It even helps to put the word “pitch” as the first word in the heading to help focus the producers mind.

Once you get into the body of the email, tell the producer what you want.  Believe it or not tons of email pitches are based on press releases and press releases do not come out and say “book me on your show”, etc.  So this gets left out of the pitch and the pitch just becomes another press release.  You need to say you want to be booked as an expert guest on the producers show, you need to ask for the order.  It is OK to do that, that is the reason the producer is there, to book guests.

If you follow these two points you will be far ahead of the pack pitching for a guest expert booking.

If you would like information on media pitch coaching, please email me at quickfameontv@gmail.com.

Please leave me a message about what you thought of this post and what you would like to see covered in this blog.

OK, thanks for your time and good luck.

Ed

How authors can stay motivated to get on TV and become famous.

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As a author, you know how difficult it is to stay motivated to get on TV and become famous as an expert in your field.  Here is some great advice to help you stay motivated on your journey to the top.

Dennis Waitley published this article at : deniswaitley.com and I think you will find it useful in staying motivated:

How to Stay Motivated by Denis Waitley

Be willing to say to yourself, “I’m on the right road. I’m doing OK. I’m succeeding.” We too frequently become adept at pointing out our flaws and identifying failures. Become equally adept at citing your achievements. Identify things you are doing now that you weren’t doing one month ago… six months ago… a year ago. What habits have changed? Chart your progress.

Doing well once or twice is relatively easy. Continuously moving ahead is tough, in part, because we so easily revert to old habits and former lifestyles. Over the long run, you need to give yourself regular feedback to monitor your performance and reinforce yourself positively. Don’t wait for an award ceremony, promotion, friend or mentor to show appreciation for your work. Take pride in your own efforts on a daily basis.

Keep the end result in sight. Always see the big picture of the ultimate goal you’re working for and the benefits that come with it. During World War II, parachutes were being constructed by the thousands. From the workers’ point of view, the job was tedious and repetitive. (Like making “cold calls” on the phone or in person.) It involved crouching over a sewing machine eight to ten hours a day, stitching endless lengths of colorless fabric. The result was a seamless heap of cloth. But every morning the workers were reminded that each stitch was part of a life-saving operation. As they sewed, they were asked to think that this might be the parachute worn by their husband, brother or son. Although the work was hard and the hours long, the women and men on the assembly line understood their contribution to the larger picture. The same should be true with your work. Each thing you do benefits the health and well-being of adults and children throughout the world, not just generally, but specifically. These are the visions that drive us through tedious details to the top.

Set up a dynamic daily routine. Getting into a positive routine or groove, instead of a negative rut, will help you become more effective. Why is the subway the most energy-efficient means of transportation? Because it runs on a track.

Think of the order in your day, instead of the routine. Order is not sameness, neatness or everything exactly in its place. Order is not taking on more than you can manage, without still being able to do what you really choose. Order is the opposite of complication; it’s simplification. Order is not wasting a lot of time trying to find things. Order is avoiding a lot of recriminations because you didn’t do something you promised. Order is setting an effective agenda with others, so neither of you is disappointed. Order is doing in a day what you set out to do.

Order frees you up. Get into the swing of a healthy, daily routine and discover how much more control you’ll gain in your life.

 

Wasn’t that a great article, just what an author needs to keep pitching broadcast producers to be booked as an expert guest.

If you would like information about media pitch coaching, email me at quickfameontv@gmail.com.

Please leave me a message saying what you thought of today’s post and what you would like to see covered on this blog.

Thanks and good luck.

Ed

 

Authors; watch out for these booking killing words when pitching broadcast producers.

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As frequently on this blog, your email pitch is crucial to authors being booked on TV as an expert guest and getting that shot at fame.

The producers I talk to on a regular basis constantly complain about the poor quality of pitches they receive and how easy it would be to fix them.

Here is an article  by Michael Sebastian from PRdaily at http://www.prdaily.com/Main/Articles/11055.aspx that spells out some things to avoid when sending an email pitch. It targets pitch killing words used in the subject line of an email, which we know is where the rubber meets the road.  Mr. Sebastian points out that just eliminating 7 words from your pitch heading, makes you pitch so much more effective.  On the other hand, as Mr. Sebastian, use those 7 words in your heading and pitch is off to the place where pitches go to die.  So read and digest this article:

Study: PR pros abuse seven deadly email words 12 percent of the time

By Michael Sebastian | Posted: March 9, 2012
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A recent study of roughly 5 million emails identified seven deadly words: confirm, join, assistance, speaker, press, social, and invite. Recipients are less likely to respond if any of these words appear in the subject line of an email, according to the study by email plugin provider Baydin.How often are PR and marketing professionals using these words in their subject lines?More than 10 percent of the time, according to a new analysis by Yesmail, which makes software for tracking email and social media campaigns.

Prompted by PR Daily’s story about the seven words, Yesmail analyzed 110,000 email subject lines from the past year to determine how often these words appeared.

The advertising and marketing industry—which includes PR professionals—uses one or more of those words in 12 percent of its email subject lines, according to the analysis. The news media industry, on the other hand, uses them in only 1 percent of its subject lines.

“Social” seems to be the favorite word of the advertising/marketing industry. Among emails across all industries, the advertising/marketing industry accounted for 62 percent of the overall use of “social.”

“This isn’t a surprising discovery considering marketers are often promoting events and inviting email recipients to join social tweet-ups, guest speaker discussions, webinars and many more,” said Steven True, senior digital sales strategist at Yesmail.

The word “invite” was in heavy use in subject lines from the travel and tourism industries, department stores, magazines and publication, and Internet retailers. More than half of its use (54 percent) came from these industries.

“It is not really surprising that travel and tourism is ‘inviting’ people to take action,” True explained. “However, if marketers in that industry are more specific about the event/trip/activity they are promoting, right from the subject line, they may be able to entertain more email opens, clicks, and, ultimately, conversions.”

The word “press” is popular among PR professionals because they’re often sending press releases to journalists and bloggers. Often, the subject lines begin with, “Press release …” If this sounds familiar, you might want to reconsider that approach.

“Email recipients often tend to overlook the value of emails that advertise press releases,” True said. “If ‘press’ is in the subject line, a recipient is more likely to avoid opening the email.”

Curiously, the clothing and fashion industry and the group buying industry, which includes daily deal sites such as Groupon and LivingSocial, account for 25 percent of the total use of “press.”

A better bet than indicating “press release” in a subject line is to include the headline of the press release—assuming it’s a well-written headline, of course. And the best headlines often make irresistible subject lines.

“Ever flip through a magazine or newspaper and some crafty headline catches your eye?” PR specialist Jamie Szwiec wrote in a PR Daily story recently. “The more you see and read them, and write headlines, the better your subject line writing will be.”

When contacted by PR Daily, Mitch Delaplane, a PR professional in Chicago, echoed these remarks. He said that from the subject line to the body copy, email pitches should be creative, fun, and enjoyable to read (and, of course, jargon free). Also, less is always more, according to Delaplane.

Overall, subject lines will improve if you avoid vague language.

“To elicit a response, your email communication, starting from the subject line, needs to be specific in terms of the product or service you’re promoting and the action you’re prompting your recipients to take,” True said.

OK, I hope you enjoyed that article as much as I did.  The important thing is to learn from it.
If you would like information on media pitch coaching, just email me at quickfameontv@gmail.com.
Please leave me a comment and let me know what you thought of this post and what you would like to see covered on this blog.
Thanks and good luck.
Ed

Authors, make your TV guest expert appearance a fame building one.

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If you are a self-published author that hits the jackpot in terms of being booked for a TV appearance as a guest expert, congrats to you.

Many of my clients that are booked on TV for the first time report being nervous and this is an understandable and common feeling.  My coaching gets them through this and they go on to score a home run, but I thought you might appreciate some insight into how to handle a guest slot on TV in advance.

Marsha Friedman of ENSI posted this article at: http://emsincorporated.com/tv-cameras-love/ which covers some of the basics as far as how to act during a TV appearance. I think you will find it informative:

Article at a glance

  • Relax and treat the host like a friend
  • Dress in solid, darker colors
  • Be an expert guest, not a salesperson

Making your first television appearance as a guest on a news or talk show can be one of the most thrilling, and nerve-wracking, events in your publicity campaign.

Let’s face it – we think TV, we think celebrity. It’s exciting. Ever spot the anchor from your local TV newscast dining in the same restaurant as you? Did you grab your companion’s arm, point, and say, sotto voce, “Look!”?  (Yes, I’m guilty, too.)

As much as TV can be a shot at junior stardom, it’s an equal opportunity to fall flat on your face – at least, that’s the fear many people have. That’s why I’d like to introduce you to Russ Handler, our TV Campaign Manager at EMSI.  Russ has some tips to offer from his years of experience as an on-air traffic anchor and producer for a major-market news station:

 

  • Take some time well before the show to prepare what you’ll be talking about.  You’ve only got about 3 to 5 minutes, so you want to make the most out of that on-air time.
  • The way you look is critical, because your appearance affects how the audience perceives you.
  • Avoid wearing white clothes, which tend to wash out on camera, and tight-patterned fabrics, which can make the picture flutter.  Solid and darker colors are usually best, but simple patterns like stripes or polka-dots are okay if the pattern’s not too tight.
  • Avoid shorter skirts, shorts or turtlenecks and loose jewelry around the neck or wrist.  The microphones are sensitive and may pick up clacking beads and bracelets. Remember that your footwear may be visible, so make sure your shoes are in good condition and reflect your professionalism.
  • Ignore the cameras. Instead, have a friendly conversation with the hosts as if you’re sitting with them in your home.  The more relaxed you are, the more competent you will appear and the more the audience will warm to you.
  • During the interview, if the host motions for you to look at a monitor, it’s because the video or graphics being displayed is what the audience is seeing on their screen.  You should comment on what the viewers are seeing and, if appropriate, use this opportunity to convey your message.
  • Make sure to bring a copy of your book or a sample of your product to the station.  Before the segment, talk to the producer and ask whether you can display it during the interview.  It’s always a good idea to bring extra product samples or books as gifts for the host and producers.  If you’re an author, an autographed copy of your book is also a nice touch.
  • Keep in mind that it is NOT the hosts’ responsibility to mention the title of your book or product or where viewers can buy it, so make sure to mention that at least once – but DON’T turn the segment into an infomercial. If you have a book that’s sold on Amazon.com as well as a personal website, mention Amazon; viewers are familiar with it and will be more likely to remember it.

Before you walk into the studio, remind yourself to be informative, animated and expressive. This is your moment to shine, so go for it.

I hope Russ’s tips help make you a star on your first – or next – TV appearance. Don’t be surprised if the next time you go out to eat, you see diners pointing at you and saying, “Look!”

 

I hope you enjoyed that article.  Please leave me a message telling me what you thought of this post and what you would like to see covered in this blog.

If you would like information on my pitch coaching, please send me an email at quickfameontv@gmail.com

Thanks and good luck,

Ed

Authors; I know you don’t like spam, so how do you think media producers feel?

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I know a lot of media producers and one thing they complain about is the author pitch equivalent of spam. I mean these producers are inundated with pitch after pitch that has no relationship to the show they produce.

Look at your email, much of it is spam.  What makes it spam?  It is something you have no interest in that was just emailed to you out of the blue.  The sender doesn’t know a thing about you or your interests.  And yet they send it.  They figure they have nothing to lose.

Many self-published authors know they should pitch media producers if they want to get on TV and become famous as an expert in their field, but they don’t have a clue how to do it.  Then they fall into the trap of just throwing something together that may or may not target a guest appearance on a talk show.  And they they blast it out.

Well you would think that something blasted out there is bound to hit something.  Wrong, it not only misses, it does harm.

Producers have built up powerful barriers to screen out email pitches that are off the mark.  And you wouldn’t think they would remember who sent them off the mark pitches before but they do.  And next time your email arrives, into the spam folder you go and it is deleteville for you.  You are dead with that producer.

So stop what you are doing, you are doing more harm than good.  Find out what you need to do before just blindly sending stuff out.

If you would like information on pitch coaching, email me at quickfameontv@gmail.com.

Please leave me a comment to tell me what you thought of this post and what you would like to see covered in this blog.

OK thanks and good luck.

Ed

OK, you got on TV, now lets make you famous.

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Well you grabbed the brass ring and got on TV, now what do you do.

One of my pitch coaching clients was featured on Good Morning America as an expert in her field and did a great interview.  So far, so good. Then I showed her how to take it to the next level.

When you are on TV as an interview guest, you are being singled out as an expert in your field.  People are asking and listening to your advice and information.  This can make you huge in your field.

Granted maybe two million people saw my client and she sold a ton of books, etc, which is all well and good.  But that fades in a week or so, as people move on to the next big thing.

You can retain some of that glory but using the implicit endorsement of you to leverage your appeal in other areas.  My client plastered “As seen on Good Morning America” over a video of her interview and put it on her website, then she put it on YouTube and other video sites.  Do you know what that did for her creditably?  It wasn’t her telling you she was great(she is by the way), it was Good Morning America.  Now that is an endorsement.

Now every time she pitches a media producer, the fact that she “killed” on Good Morning America paves the way for her.  Others want her now.

Oh and don’t forget to merchandise your appearance on the other social media like Facebook, Twitter, etc.

If you would like information on media pitch coaching, email me at quickfameontv@gmail.com.

Please leave me a message and let me know what you thought of this post and what you would like to see discussed on this blog.

OK, thanks and good luck.

Ed

 

Authors, it is time to take off the house slippers and start being famous as an expert in your field on TV.

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So you book is done and you are just discovering that no one is beating down your door to buy it.  And yet it is a good book with a lot to say.  Now what?

It is time to switch gears from being a writer and become your own publicist.  You need to do something to promote your book or it will just sit there.  And no one is going to help you unless you start the ball rolling.

So the first thing to do is set a goal to promote your book.  Once you do that things begin to fall into place.  You begin to change from writer to publicist.  And that is a whole other mind set and one that requires a whole new set of tools and skills you probably never thought of before.  The bad news is that it is hard, the good news is that you can do it and even be very, very successful.

The trap is that you begin to shoot to low, you think no one cares about your book, and so on.  Well you are right, no one cares about your book, BUT they can care about YOU.  You need to think of yourself as an expert, not an author.  Then things begin to change.  You stop trying to get a talk at the local library and instead focus on getting on Good Morning America.

Many people have gone through the same steps you have.  Most end up with a pile of books in their garage and some bad memories.  On the other hand, if your turn on the TV today, you will see authors that made it big time.  And the dirty little secret is that their book is no better than the ones rotting in someones garage.

So what is the difference?  It is knowing how to get on TV and going for it.  Not wasting time on book reviews and other author centered stuff.

So begin to look at yourself as an expert and not an author and set your goal to be on Good Morning America.  You can become famous as an expert in your field, really.

If you are interested in media pitch coaching, please email me at quickfameontv@gmail.com.

Please leave me a message about what you would like to see covered on this blog and what you thought of today’s post.

Thanks and good luck.

Ed

 

 

Does your website scream “expert”? If you want to be on TV as an expert, it better!

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As a self-published author you are working hard to get on TV as an expert guest, as you know that is your ticket to becoming famous as an expert in your field.  One of the land mines slowing you down on your trip to the top could be your website.

Sure the media producers you pitch are interested in what you look and sound like, plus your credentials  as an expert.  But one of the first things they look at when they are evaluating you is your website.  And how does your look?

Is it easy to read?  Neat, orderly, etc.?  Sloppy websites mean sloppy guests and out you go.

Is it up to date?  If not the media producers think you haven’t done anything recently or you are not buttoned up.  Once again out you go.

The producer is looking at other experts with backgrounds similar to yours.  How does your website compare to theirs?

So while you think getting on TV is about TV stuff, it is the basics like your website that can trip you up.  Take some time right now to go over your website and look at it as an outsider.  Does it send the image you want?  Does it say what you want, or worse say what you don’t want.

I know everyone’s website has some things you have been meaning to get to, mine included, but you need to “get er done” now.  You never know when a producer might have heard about you and might be checking you out on line right now.

If you would like information on media pitch coaching, just email me at quickfameontv@gmail.com.

Please leave me a message regarding what you thought of this post and what you would like to see covered on this  blog.

OK, thanks and good luck.

Ed

Authors; listen to pitch rejections from producers if you want to get on TV and become famous.

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Self-published authors need to listen to pitch rejections from media producers if you want to get on TV and become famous as an expert in your field.  In your book marketing efforts you are going to run into lots of rejections and the key is to pay attention to them.

If you pitch is rejected and the producer tells you not to call, only email your pitch, don’t continue calling or snail mailing, email the pitch.  If the producer tells you your pitch is too long or too confusing, don’t just keep sending out the same pitch, shorten it.  It has been said the feedback is the breakfast of champions and I believe it.  Sure you paid a price in getting rejected, but now that you have paid the price, you might as well use what you paid for and use the advice you picked up.

So go back over some of your past rejections and see if you can learn from them.  And more importantly figure out what you can do differently and start to implement the change.

Oh and let me throw in one of my own pet peeves. Don’t put “please read” in the headline of your email, I mean what do you expect people to do with you email.  Come on, use your head here, you are trying to come off as an expert in your field.

If you are interested  in pitch coaching email me at quickfameontv@gmail.com.

Please leave me a message to tell me what else you would like to see covered in this blog and what you thought of this post.

Thanks and good luck.

Ed

Self-published authors need to learn that they only have 30 seconds to make their pitch to media producers.

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Self-published authors need to learn that they only have thirty seconds to make their pitch to media producers.  Thirty seconds, that’s it.

If your pitch is longer than that you will find it is just ignored or rejected before you get very far into it.  Then you will be stuck, because now the producer wants to get you off the phone.  And how do you call back without feeling like a fool and expecting the worst.  A few rejections like that can really hurt your self confidence.

Most people new to pitching media producers prepare elaborate, complicated pitches that go on and on.  To make matters worse, the pitches are full of jargon that the producer doesn’t understand.  And then all kinds of material is thrown in that is not relevant to the story being pitched. My producer friends tell me that the average pitch they hear is just a mess.

You must realize that media producers are incredibly busy with only limited time to hear pitches.  On top of that they are human and only have a limited attention span.  And if you story can’t be told in thirty seconds or less it is probably way to complicated to be run in a short interview or expressed in a sound bite.

So work hard to pare your media pitch down to thirty seconds or less and you will see your pitch results begin to turn positive.

If you would like information on media pitch coaching, email me at quickfameontv@gmail.com.

Please leave me a message telling me what you thought of this post and what things you would like to see discussed on this blog.

Thanks and good luck,

Ed

Self-publisher authors; Show you know the show and producer in the pitch if you want to get on TV and be famous.

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Media producers are human to.  The more you show you know about them in your pitch, the better your pitch will be received.

If you are doing your homework on what TV show to pitch, you are learning many details about the producer.  You know their name, sex, function, show assignment and so on.  So use all this in your pitch to make it more appealing to the producer.   When they get the pitch and see you know they are a man or woman, you understand what the show is about and so on, they will read on knowing your pitch will not waste their time.

Plus your pitch will be so targeted it almost can’t miss. You know your area of expertise is a perfect match for what they discuss on the show and that you will be a great guest.  You will not be pitching a show business story to a business show for instance.  And you will not be sending the pitch to the host of the show, when it is the producer that picks the topics and guests.  And you have been tracking trends on your topic, so you know now is the time for the topic to be popular.

All this adds up to “mucho” points with the producer when they receive your email.  You can bet they will open it and read it through.  They will be so impressed with your pitch they may even come back to you and open up a dialogue on your topic and your work.  I have seen it happen over and over and it can happen to you.

If you are interested in pitch coaching, just email me at quickfameontv@gmail.com

Please let me know what you thought of this post and what topics you would like to see covered on this blog.

Thanks for your time and good luck.

Ed

 

 

Every day gives you a new opportunity to pitch producers if you want to get on TV and become famous.

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As a self-published author who wants to get on TV and become famous as an expert in your field, you probably think you can’t pitch the same producer very often.  My producer friends tell me that every day is a new day for them and if your pitch becomes meaningful, you should pitch it again.

You see every day brings new events that people who were not interested in yesterday, are interested in today.  New problems come out, new solutions follow and all of these make for an interested audience.  So what was not news yesterday, may be hot news today.  This gives you the chance to look at your pitch everyday and ask yourself what has changed in the world that may have made your topic a hot commodity.  Just because your topic was rejected yesterday does not mean it will be rejected today if it is now a hot topic. Take a moment now to scan the news and see if your topic might be one producers are looking to book guests for right now.  Then go for it.

If you are interested in my pitch coaching, email me at quickfameontv@gmail.com.

Please leave me a message and let me know what you though of this post and what topics you would like to see discussed here.

OK, thanks for your time and good luck.

Ed

Dress the part if you want to get on TV and become famous as an expert in your field.

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My producer friends tell me they want to see prospective experts guests dress the part when they are being considered for an appearance.  As a self-published author you need to keep this in mind at all times.

Lets say your pitch makes a connection with a media producer and they want to interview you for consideration as a expert guest on a talk show.  The producer will be looking at you  through the eyes of a TV and will want to know how you will come off on TV.  So you must dress the part of an expert even in the early stages of the booking process.  Dressing in sweat pants and slippers sends the wrong message, but dressing like a successful expert in your field sends the right message.  Remember you  can get knocked out of the running at any of the several stages of being interviewed for a guest expert slot and you can’t take a chance on how you look.

And this applies to radio interviews as well.  Just because the radio audience won’t see you, or the producer is talking to you over the phone, you still must “dress for success”. How you dress affects how you speak.  You will sound more confident and successful on the phone if you are dressed the part, even though no one can see you.  And this applies double for the day of the radio appearance.

If you would like information on media pitch coaching, just email me at quickfameontv@gmail.com.

Please leave me a message and let me know what you thought of this post and anything else you would like to see covered here.

OK, thanks and good luck.

Ed

You don’t have to agree with the show’s political orientation in order to be booked on TV and become famous.

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Self-published authors often ask me if if they have to agree with a talk shows political orientation in order to be booked on it as a guest expert.

In my talks with various media producers, they tell me the answer to that is no.

While the media producer on lets say a left leaning show like MSNBC will not book a Libertarian for a complete segment, they will on occasion use the Libertarian for a short portion of a segment.  They might use the Libertarian as someone to “fight” with or to provide a counter point to the segment.  So if you were the Libertarian, you would still be seen and even have your contact information given and this would give you more exposure.

So the implications of this are that you can pitch shows that would not agree with your orientation.  The key is that you must position yourself as a “counterpoint” guest, rather than the featured guest expert.

Also on the positive side, most  producers on shows with a strong political orientation are not all that familiar with the “other side” and you have a better chance of being booked as a guest there as a relative unknown.

If you are interested in media pitch coaching, just email me at quickfameontvgmail.com,

Please leave me a message and let me know what you thought of this post or any questions you have.  Also let me know what topics you would like to see covered from a self-published authors point of view trying to pitch the media.  Remember you can get on TV and become famous, you really can.

OK, thanks for your time and good luck.

Ed

 

Self-published authors don’t have to be “wired in” with a producer to get on TV and become famous.

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Many self-published authors think that they have to “know someone” in order to get on TV as an expert guest and become famous.  This is not true and thinking that way can cost you time, money and opportunity.

Many self-published authors think only big name publicists can reach media producers.  As a result they avoid contacting media producers or else spend thousands of dollars hiring a PR firm and getting no where.  They lose time and money and end up having to start over by themselves.

The truth is that media producers are as close to you as their email inbox.  Most producers scan their emails on a regular basis looking for possible guests to book as interview guests.

So what you need to do is make sure your email pitch catches the attention of the media producer.  The primary way to do this is to have  a pitch that covers an original topic, not something they see 100 of every day.  Then back your pitch up with lots of facts and figures to show them you are an expert in your field.

If you do this, you will be well on your way to getting on TV as an expert guest and becoming famous in your field.

If you have any questions or topics you would like to see covered on this blog, just leave me a message.

Also if you are interested in my pitch coaching program, just email me at quickfameontv@gmail.com.

Thanks for your time and good luck.

Ed

If you want to get on TV and become famous as a self-published author it’s all about the ratings.

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I understand that as a self-published author you want to get on TV and become famous as an expert in your field.  To do this you have to bring ratings to your interview appearance.

The producer and host that pick you to be an interview guest on their show have only one thing in mind.  Ratings.  They don’t care about your book, they don’t even care about you, they only care about ratings.

So your media pitching must stress things that translate to ratings or people watching.  The producer wants to know people are really, really interested in your area of expertise.  They don’t care than you are an author, they care that you are an expert.  And an expert in an area that is hot right now.

Start thinking ratings and stop thinking about you or your book and your pitch success rate will go up.

Please leave me a message and let me know if this post was helpful.  Oh and let me know of any media pitching issues you would like to see addressed on this blog.

If you are interested in my pitch coaching, just email me at quickfameonTV@gmail.com.

Thanks and good luck, Ed

 

If you want to get on TV and become famous as a self-published author, don’t bash the competition.

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You must focus on your and your area of expertise when pitching the media as a self-published author that wants to be a guest on a talk show.

Unfortunately, some experts feel they have to bash the competition while pitching broadcast producers.  This is a mistake.  You only have thirty seconds to make your pitch and don’t waste it talking about someone else.  Focus on you and your own strengths and what you would bring to the media interview.

If you are interested in learning more about my pitch coaching, email me at quickfameontv@gmail.com.  Oh and please let me know what subjects you would like to see discussed on this blog.

Please leave me a message and let me know what you thought of this post.

Thanks and good luck,

Ed

 

What would you like to see discussed on How to get on TV and become famous?

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Hey, I post every day, so let me help you.  What would you like to see discussed on how to get on TV and become famous?

What are your issues in pitching the broadcast media?  What are you struggling with?

I have pretty much been there/done that when in comes to getting booked as an expert guest on a talk show.  If you are a self-published author, I feel your pain but I know you can make it on TV and become famous as an expert in your field.

So send me an email at quickfameontv@gmail.com and I will cover the subject on this blog.

OK, thanks and good luck, Ed.

Being available on short notice could be the key to getting on TV and becoming famous.

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If you let media producers know that you are available on short notice, it could be the key to getting on TV and becoming famous.

Media producers are under tight deadlines to get a new show up and running almost every day.  Usually the book guest experts well in advance, but on occasion the guest that was booked can’t make it.  Or a hot topic comes up that the producer wants to get on the show right now.

If you are located near broadcast media outlets, send those producers a special email indicating that you are available on short notice, so they can call you if they need someone fast.  And of course really be available on short notice, don’t say it and not mean it.

Being available  on short notice has given some expert guests the break they needed to get on TV and become famous as an expert in their field.

Give it a shot, but remember, only if you really can do it.

If you are interested in my “flash mentoring” media pitch coaching, email me at quickfameontv@gmail.com.

Leave me a message and let me know what you thought of this post.

OK, thanks and good luck, Ed.

If you are going to get on TV and become famous, you need to know how to handle these questions.

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If you are going to get on TV and become famous, you need to know how to handle these questions.

If you are an expert guest being interviewed in broadcast media, you will come across some types of questions that are hard to handle if you are not prepared for them.  So lets look at two of them and see and how to handle them.

The most common “hard” question is a question that you don’t know the answer to.  Yes even though you are an expert, there are things you don’t know and yet a host may ask you that question anyway.  The best way to handle this is to simply say “I don’t know”.  Don’t try to fudge, just say you don’t know.  If appropriate, say what you do know, but never, never, be afraid to say you don’t know.

Questions that call for speculation can trip you up.  Hosts will want you to forecast the future, but be careful about doing do.  You can come off looking very bad if you are wrong. Tell the host what you know up to this point but beg off on predicting the future.

If you are interested in learning more about my “flash mentoring”  media pitch coaching, email me at quickfameontv@gmail.com..

Please leave me a message and let me know what you thought about this post.

Thanks and good luck, Ed

If you want to get on TV and be famous as an expert guest you must embrace new ways to promote your book.

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If you want to get on TV and be famous as an expert guest you must use the latest methods of promoting your book.

If you are like most self-published authors, you have limited time and money to promote your book and pitch broadcast media producers.  So you have to be very careful not to get caught up in the old ways of promoting yourself and end up not focused on the new ways to get media producers attention.

Take blogging and the social media for instance.  The old school PR people dismiss these activities, but that is where the action is heading.  Media producers are very with it and are actively scanning these sources looking for what and who is hot, so they can book them on their shows.  It means something when you pitch these producers and they can check you on on these sources.

So make sure you try new ways to get on media producers radar, as that will really pay off in guest expert appearances on TV.

If you would like information on my “flash mentoring” of media pitching, just email me at quickfameontv@gmail.com.

Please leave me a message and let me know what you thought of this post.

Thanks and good luck, Ed.

You need to write articles if you are going to get on TV and become famous as an expert guest.

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Writing articles can get you on TV as an expert guest.

Yes, writing articles.

I know it sounds crazy to write articles if your ultimate goal is to get on TV, but this is how you get discovered.  Writing articles shows you know what you are talking about and that you are an accepted expert in your field.

And experts are what the TV producers are looking forward.  Look at the guest experts on Good Morning America, they all have written tons of articles.  This is no accident. Producers want experts not authors and experts write articles.

So start writing articles on your area of expertise and it won’t be long till the phone starts ringing.

If you are interested in my “Flash Mentoring” coaching on how to pitch the media, email me at quickfameontv@gmail.com.

Please leave me a message to let me know what you thought of this post.

Thanks and good luck, Ed.

 

You need a budget if you are going to get on TV and become famous as an expert guest.

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Budgets, smugets, who cares about money when you are on your way to the top?

Well you need to care about budgets if you are going to get on TV and become famous as an expert guest.

And what’s more you need two budgets, yes two budgets.  A dollar budget and a time budget.

Look, once you start down the path of pitching the media to be a guest on an interview show, expenses are going to pop up.  Of course you probably have the basics covered such as your website, but what about the cost of a new wardrobe, travel to make an appearance that does not cover your travel costs, photography, more electronic gadgets to stay in touch with the producers.   You have to anticipate these costs both in the amount and when they will occur, so your cash flow does not hold you back.

And then there is the time budget.  How much time are you going to spend pitching the media each day, how much time on follow up, how much time gathering materials, doing research, etc.  You need to know on what day, of what month you will be doing things so you don’t get into a time crunch.

If you would like more information on my “flash mentoring” to help you pitch the broadcast media, email me at quickfameontv@gmail.com.

OK I hope this helped.  Please leave me a message and let me know what you thought of this post.

Thanks and good luck,

Ed

If you want to get on TV and be famous as an expert guest, don’t let bad timing stop you.

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You are pitching broadcast producers and trying to be booked as an expert guest.  You are doing everything right and yet you still can’t get booked as a guest.  Well don’t give up, it could just be bad timing.

Sometimes you are doing everything right with your pitch but it is not picked up because the timing of the pitch is bad.

There are a great many things related to the timing of the pitch that can stop it from being picked up.  The pitch most likely came in at a time when the producers were too busy to look at many pitches and yours fell though the cracks.  The summer months for instance have people out on vacation or short staffing may be the culprit.

The bottom line is that your pitch was not looked at and there is only one thing to do.  And that is to give it a few weeks and pop it in again.  Then if it still doesn’t get a hit, change tacks and try a new angle.  But never, never give up, the pitch must go on.

Please leave me a message and let me know what you thought of this post.

If you would like information on my pitching coaching which is so powerful it is called “flash coaching”, email me at quickfameonTV@gmail.com.

OK, thanks and good luck, Ed


The solutions is to

 

 

More often than not, this is the result of inundated inboxes, understaffed newsrooms, or summer vacation schedules. Don’t let the circumstances discourage you. If you feel confident you’ve got a juicy story on your hands, don’t stop pitching. Persistence pays off, and it’s your responsibility to exhaust all your options.

If you want to get on TV and be famous as an expert, you need to keep your information up to date.

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If you want to get on TV as an expert, you need to have your act together and have all your contact information up to date.

You probably have many different places where you list information about yourself.  Your website, facebook page, Linkedin profile, and so on.  My guess is that most of them are out of date to some extent.

You may have changed your email address, moved, gotten a different cell phone, and so on.  All of this is important to someone looking at you, yet it throws a barrier between you and makes you look unprofessional.

Take time right now to go back and update your website, profiles, etc.  It can payoff big time or at least not hurt you.

Please leave me a message regarding what you thought of this post.

And if you would like information on my pitch coaching service, please email me at quickfameontv@gmail.com.

Thanks and good luck, Ed

Newspapers need to be pitched differently than TV

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Newspapers need to be pitched differently than TV if you are going to get publicity and be famous.

Newspapers are shorter staffed than TV station’s in terms of getting a story into print.  The shrinking sales of newspapers has forced cutbacks in staff and budgets all around, whereas TV stations have not faced cuts of that size.

With TV you pitch segments to a producer and the producer fills out the rest of the story.
With newspapers, they want a story handed to them ready to go with very little effort on the newspapers part.  So you need to be able to furnish a complete piece in most cases if they accept your pitch.  And you need to be able to do this fast, as they have a very quick turnaround for daily paper pieces.  Be ready with photos and other information that may enhance your story as well.  The newspaper is looking to fill space.

OK, hope this helps.  Please let me know what you thought of this post by leaving me a message.

If you would like information on receiving pitch coaching via phone, email me at quickfameontv@gmail.com.

Thanks and good luck, Ed

 

I know you want to get on TV and become famous, but don’t blow your big moment.

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You big ambition has to get on TV as an interview guest, but you must be careful not to blow your big chance by being too pushy.

You are not a salesman, you are an expert as far as the show you are on is concerned.  If you start pushing your book or product at every chance there is a very good chance the producer will not run your segment. And of course you will not be asked back.

Here are some things to avoid.

.Don’t answer questions by saying things like “In my book, _________,  I point out……”.  You can only get away with mentioning your book once and at most twice.

.Don’t mention your website more than once.  Chances are it will be shown on the screen, or given by the host.

The idea is to be interviewed as an expert not a spokesperson for yourself.  Let your expertise make them want to know more about you.  Soft sell trumps hard sell in interviews.

OK, hope this helps.  Please leave me a message and let me know what you thought about this post.

And if you want to learn more about my phone coaching sessions on pitching, just email me at quickfameontv@gmail.com.

Thanks and good luck, Ed

The two top reasons your phone pitch messages to TV Producers are ignored.

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If you are an author or expert and leave a pitch message on a producers phone asking for a call back maybe it won’t be returned.

The producers I talked to about this say not returning a pitch message is usually sscaused by one of two problems.

#1 is that the pitch is just not any good.  This can be for a variety of reasons, but basically if your calls are not being returned, it is time to change your pitch.

#2  You pitched the wrong producer.  Producers are so busy they just won’t take the time to call you back and give you the right contact person.  So make sure you call a central contact number and find out the correct contact producer before you pitch.

OK, hope this helps.  Leave me a message and let me know what you thought of this post.

And if you are interested in my pitch coaching service via phone, email me at quickfameonTV@gmail.com.

Thanks and good luck, Ed

If you want to get on TV and be famous, do not make these mistakes in your pitch email.

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Based on my survey of the top producers in broadcast media, these are the most common email mistakes that keep people from getting on TV.

(1) Not putting the Producers name in the email greeting.  Sending an email when a greeting that says something like “Dear Producer” is just plan lazy and will get you deleted right away. You went to the trouble to look up the email address, so use the name you have already.

(2)Having more than one page.  For your fist contact put a quick summary of your pitch in 5 paragraphs tops.  The Producer needs to accept/reject your pitch in seconds or they just delete you.

(3)Having attachments to your email.  Many email services send emails with attachments to the spam folder for fear of viruses.  Also, once again, this is too much information for the first contact.

(4)Mass emailing.  No Producer wants to think of himself as part of a mass.  Also Producers want to be one of the few that have you on.  And from a practical standpoint if you are mass emailing, 99% of your effort is just wasted.

(5)Not targeting the right show.  Viagra pitches to teen show producers make you look like an idiot.  Do you homework and stop wasting yours and others time.

OK, I hope this puts you on the right track.  Please let me know what you thought of this post by leaving me a comment.

Thanks and good luck, Ed.

How about a seasonal approach to your pitch to get on TV and become famous?

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Trying to get on TV and become famous can be depressing if you are not getting anywhere with your pitch.  How about using a seasonal approach to your pitching in order to give you more chances to pitch?

Can you tie your pitch to a change in the season, a certain holiday, the weather, anything that will just be around for awhile and then change?

If you can mask your pitch in some terms that reflect a certain time period, and then come back again with another pitch matched to a different time period, your odds of hitting the bulls eye go up dramatically.  Remember Casanova was not a great lover, he just asked a lot.

Leave me a message and tell me what you thought of this post?

Thanks and good luck, Ed.

If you want to become famous on TV, remember you are an expert not an author.

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If you want to become famous on TV, and you are an author, you need to remember this.  You are an expert, not an author.

Producers run from authors, but run towards experts.

Producers are not putting on the show to sell your book, they are putting on the show to entertain their audience.  To do this they want experts in their field who can talk intelligently about their area of expertise.

Now since you are an author, chances are you are in fact an expert in your field.  So you just have to say so.

When you pitch a producer, you say “Hi this is Ms. X and I am an expert in Y”.  Never say “Hi this is Ms. X and I wrote (name of book).  If you do you will probably hear a “click”.

So this is an easy one, but one that most people miss.

This is the kind of tips you will get on this blog, so stay with me.

Oh and I could use your comments on what you thought of this post.

Thanks, Ed

So you want to get on TV and be famous but feel you don’t have what they want, eh?

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Many people that want to get on TV and become famous as experts in their field are intimidated by the producers. These people think they need fancy titles, advanced degrees,etc.  Even worse, they think they need a big time(read expensive) PR firm or someone that is “connected” to the producer.

Well these people are wrong, all of the above things help, but they are rarely the deal breaker.  Producers have a business to run and the day they start running their business based on an “in group” of experts and connections, they are heading for disaster.

The world changes every day and the producer must please his audience with what is on their mind that day.  This calls for new thinking, new topics, new guests and so on.  The key word here is new.  And new means you.

Producers want a good story, and if you have a good story, you are going to get on.  It is as simple as that.  Well almost that simple.

So follow this blog and we will show you what producers are looking for and how you can tap into that need and be on your way to the fame you deserve.

Please leave me a message to let me know what you thought of this post.

 

Good luck, Ed.

 

Don’t send anything else with your initial pitch letter.

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Continuing our theme of what not to do to get on TV and be famous, I want to tell you some things not to send to producers on your initial pitch.

The list of what not to send is pretty much anything other than your initial pitch letter or email.  No attachments, no nothing.

 The list of no, no’s includes press kits, your book, photos, additional press releases covering other angles, DVDs, and so on.

 I will be telling you what to put in your pitch letter as we go forward, but for now, save yourself the material costs and mailing expense, while making your pitch more likely to be read by sticking to a one page pitch with nothing else added.

 OK, hope this helped.  Please leave me a comment and let we know what you thought of this post.

 Thanks, Ed.

Will infographics help you get on TV and be famous?

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Infographics as far as the pitching process goes is most commonly used in press releases.  Basically you take your press release and add graphic elements to it, so that it becomes heavily graphic oriented with lots of pictures and graphs.  The idea behind infographics in press releases is that it adds an additional communications element and makes the press release more interesting and effective.

Here is a link to a post on PR Daily that gives more information on infographics and their use in press releases.   http://www.prdaily.com/Main/Articles/10798.aspx   I recommend that you look it over and consider using infographics in your next press release.

OK, thanks for your time.  Please leave me a comment to let me know what you thought of this information on infographics as a way to get on TV and be famous.

 

Ed

 

When it comes to getting on TV, they need you as much as you need them.

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Sure you want to get on TV as a step towards becoming famous as an expert in your field, but you are probably thinking that the media just wants to reject you.

That is not the case, they need you as much as you need them.  The media has tons of space they need to fill each day.  Every station has lots of interview shows featuring talks with experts in various fields and these slots have to be filled every day or else there is no show.  They need you to fill the slots.

Of course you need to talk the stations language to get booked as a guest, but that is what I am covering on this blog.

So the first step is to take a positive attitude toward your chances of being booked, they are actually higher than you think.

Stay with me, and we will get you going on your way to the top as a recognized expert in your field.

 

Thanks,

Ed

Should you hire a publicist in order to become famous on TV?

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Should you hire a publicist to help you on your fame to fame as a guest expert on TV?I

If you were a large corporation, hiring a PR agency would make sense. But if you are an individual author or expert, hiring a PR agency is rarely a good idea.

First there is the matter on money to lay out.  Hiring a PR agency will run at least $5,000 per month and run on for at least four months.  In most cases the costs will run much higher.  How many books or gigs do you need to get in order to get that back?  So in most cases, even if you had the money, it is usually not a good investment.

Then there is the matter of knowledge about you and what you do.  A PR agency has to learn all about you and you hope they “get” what you are all about.  Only you know what your selling points are when it comes to booking you as a guest in the broadcast media and the PR agency may or may not pick them up.

So this makes the case for doing the whole thing yourself.  You save big bucks and do a better job of pitching yourself. Believe me, you have everything you need to pull this off. Don’t be put off by the thought that only the “pros” can do it.

Of course, you are saying “but I don’t know where to start”, and you are right.  But that is what this blog is about.  As they tell  doctors “first do no harm”, you can follow this advice by not hiring a PR agency.  Then by following along on this blog, we can get you on the right course and one of these days I will see you sitting there on the Good Morning America set. Honestly, we can do this, stay with this blog.

 

Thanks, Ed

 

Are you wondering if getting on TV will make you famous?

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Maybe you are wondering if getting on TV will make you famous.

Well if you are holding back on pitching radio or TV producers, consider these benefits to getting booked as a guest in broadcast media:

It is Free advertising, you don’t pay a cent for the exposure.

It builds your credibility as an expert and makes you famous as an expert in your field.

It serves as an endorsement to your creditably as an expert.

It gives you material to use to book additional guest appearances, post on your website and in social media.

So don’t wait, start now to put to together a plan to start pitching broadcast producers and take your place in the spotlight.

Good luck, Ed

You Can Become Famous By Being On TV As An Interview Guest.

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Many people want to become famous as an expert in their field and have what it takes to do so.  The tragedy is that they just don’t know how to do it and their gift to the world goes unnoticed.  Well the secret to fame in your area of expertise is to get on TV and be interviewed as an expert guest.  This costs you nothing and rockets you to the top of your field.

I won’t lie to you, many people try this and yet you see the same old people being interviewed and they do not have half the talent you do.

In this blog, I will discuss proven techniques to pitch broadcast producers and get you on TV and radio as an expert guest.  We will cut to the chase in this blog and get you going on your path to success and fame as an expert in your field.

Stay with me, I guarantee it will pay off handsomely.

Ed