EVERYONE WANTS TV – HERE’S HOW TO GO AND GET IT. There are a lot of strategies, tactics and personal styles to getting a producers attention in the right way, here are TEN proven steps to use when going after the commanders of the boob-tube.
- Making Your Story into VISUAL EYE CANDY – Having a list of camera-ready eye-candy for the producer to get on tape is an automatic “plus 5 cool points” for your would-be-story. Don’t get this confused with archaic b-roll or satellite media tours with cookie cutter interviews, this will only turn off “most” producers in today’s no advertorial media world. Instead, offer up a list of compelling talking heads that can capture viewer attention based on an awesome list of topics that burst with excitement. In addition, make sure to detail how sexy your products, website, corporate headquarters, is/are; producers need to mix it up, so keep your lists full of people, places, things. Check out these clips from sucessful TV media campaigns for wikiHow CBS Philly, TrueDater ABC Good Morning America,SanDisk CBS Boston, PrivatePhone Fox Boston, Blingo CBS MPLS
- Turn your story into a Local, National or Intergalactic Sensation – If the producer is in Denver, then get Denver based interviews. If it’s a National trend, be ready with a melting pot variety pack across the USA. If it involves another galaxy, call up starfleet and get Kirk’s yeoman on the line STAT. Also, it’s often possible to work with sister or brother or cousin stations that are in your location to do on camera interviews. For example, if you are pitching an LA station and your HQ is in Boston, “shoot” for the LA folks to work with their affiliate in LA and you very well may get 2 stories in one. It’s also within your PR moxy guidelines to ask the producer if this story will make their national affiliate feed, might want to wait until the story is in the can or on DAT or Betamax/microfiche timewarp tape.
- Who Cares besides you? – Are you curing cancer? Did you slice bread with a spork? Make sure its CRYSTAL CLEAR why the audience NEEDS to see this story. There can be various producers with various audiences within the same station or show, so make sure to cater to the “I-team” or the “7 on your side” or “news you can use” groups as appropriate. Also remember to be solving a problem or matching up with something timely. if a producer’s story falls apart and you have that perfect Halloween story, you’ve just saved the day.
- Cater your story to the Time of Day – Is this a morning show? Is this the 11 PM action news? Time of day makes a big difference. A morning show wants softer mom interviews, while evening news wants something burning, bleeding, controversy or news you can use. This shouldn’t decrease your pitching; just make sure your interview subjects parallel the time slot so that your not squeezing a square mom peg into a round hard news hole.
- Focus on News of Today, or New and Improved of Today – Make sure your story is today’s news or part of a new trend or a new angle. Putting a new name on an old pig is still burnt bacon. This is pure creativity and figuring out what about your story is the most intesting, timely or unknown by the media-at-large.
- Provide The Best Talking Heads - Not the 80′s pop band, fyi. You must PRE-SCREEN anyone that might be interviewed. Pump them full of TV high-octane so they dazzle the producer. Also might want to check that they like you, your client, your story, your idea and make sure that they are your density, I mean, your destiny.
- Find Lots of Great Media and then Find even More – If you want TV you have to be ready to pitch bulk, get a list of producers, shows and angles ready to talk up on the phone, however, see #8 below actually contact a mega-list.
- Cater your story EVERY TIME – Sure you have lots of producers to call, but each one is a new, unique and special person that needs your complete focus. Never BCC a list of producers with a generic pitch. Call each producer and talk about THEIR show, their time slot, their needs, their city, their weather and their kids that need braces.
- Be Ready to Ride the Bull for 8 Seconds – Prepare yourself for quick and don’t take short for rude. If your not ready for a mega-busy, ubber multi-tasking, type “A”, cell phone/pager/fax utility belt wearing, turn a story on a dime producer, you can get steam-rolled. If you can’t make the light bulb turn on in one compound sentence, back to the pitch salt mines for you.
- Make Media Friends 4 Life! - Are you a telemarketer or the producer’s best pal? You are hooking them up with the easiest, best, coolest, most fun, award winning, hippest and did I say easiest story for your new best friend to produce; so act like it. You are delivering an Emmy on a silver platter, take that attitude and producers will ask for seconds, almost guaranteed!
