How to Piss Off Producers and Never Get on TV and Radio

Marketing yourself as an expert in your field means getting in front of prospects using traditional media outlets such as television and radio news. But only those who know how to work effectively with the gatekeepers of this industry, known as producers, will actually get invited to appear in front of the camera or the microphone. This article lays out many successful techniques for working with producers, but in a humorous style that demonstrates what some adults actually do that kills their opportunities for getting media attention.

One way of growing your brand and expanding your influence as an industry expert is to become a much sought after contributor to television news programs. That means creating relationships with the producers of those news programs and giving them what they need to do their job... content. All it takes is a little humility, professionalism, patience, and persistence to make it happen. But all too often I've met people who don't get it and instantly ruin their chances of ever getting on those programs. They're also the ones who tend to complain as to why they aren't getting the business they expect. To give something for the rest of us to learn from, here are 12 ways of never getting on TV, courtesy of those who've burned their bridges before us. 

Don't Watch Local TV Programming: Major network affiliates offer local news programming to feature both local and national stories to inform and educate their viewers. Ignore your local stations and don't take the time to find out if they offer a morning, midday, or early evening local news magazine show that features local experts. 

Don't Contact Your Local Stations: Most major affiliate network stations have local offices and studios that are staffed by receptionists. Don't waste your time, trying to find their contact phone numbers to ask for the names and email addresses of the news magazine show producers. 

Don't Bother Introducing Yourself: Because you're far too busy and have so much to get done, don't reach out to the local producers with an introductory email explaining briefly who you are and what information you can provide them with, to help them beef up their segments. 

Don't Send them Leads: As an industry expert, you're probably constantly watching for the latest trends and producing content such as books, eBooks, articles, blog posts, and more. Don't bother to help a producer out by sending an email containing a 3 - 5 bulleted story lead each week that you can comment on. You have way more important things to do. 

Take Your Sweet Time Replying: If by chance a TV news program producer does respond to one of your leads, wait a few days or even weeks to reply. Better yet, have your assistant reply instead or ignore the email all together. You can't possibly be expected to fit in one more thing into your day. 

Make Your Existing Appointments More Important: When a producer needs an on-air contributor, they may ask an expert to come in at a moment's notice or very early in the morning or even very late at night. Decline the producer's request by being too busy or unwilling to move existing appointments. This way they are sure not to contact you in the future. 

Let Them Know How You Were Inconvenienced: If by chance you get invited into the studio for an on-camera interview and it is cancelled or postponed, place a call or send an email to the producer letting them know how inconvenient that unexpected change was. I'm sure they will apologize and make it up to you. 

Demand to Speak with Their Boss: If you had gotten all the way into the studio and your segment is suddenly preempted for breaking news and you're dismissed, let the producer know how angry you are and demand to speak to her boss about being inconvenienced. 

Call and Voice Your Disappointment: If the segment in which you were interviewed did not air on the date and at the time you were told, call or write the producer to let him know how unfair it was for you to have invested your time and effort for no reason. I'm sure they'll make sure it never happens again. 

Do Not Send a Thank You Note: Save your money and don't buy a box of thank you cards. Forget about sending off a short note of thanks to the news program producer, you can use that valuable five minutes for other more important matters. 

Let Them Find Their Own Expert: Once you establish a relationship with a TV show producer, they may contact you out of the blue, when they are seeking commentary on a topic that is close to, but not exactly within your area of expertise. Let them know that you can't help them or just ignore their request all together. Do not recommend to them, any other experts in your network that may be more skilled at providing what they're seeking. Why bother helping them if you're not going to benefit from the opportunity. 

Send a "Nasty Gram" Letter to the Studio: Without notice, your emails to the producer are coming back undeliverable, stating that the producer is no longer working there. TV producers experience lots of stress and are under great pressure, which means the person in that position may change frequently. But that's not your problem. Send an email or letter to the studio describing your inconvenience of having to start the process of finding the contact information for the new producer, all over again. As ridiculous as some or all of these points might sound to you, I've seen or heard of unconscious professionals making these exact mistakes. I coach experts in growing their speaking business. I help my clients understand how busy producers are and what it takes to grow yourself as an industry expert that producers call first. I welcome comments on how you've seen others make these mistakes or new ones that I did not include in this piece.

Bill Corbett is the author of the Amazon top-seller, From the Soapbox to the Stage: How to Use Your Passion to Start a Speaking Business. Connect with Bill at http://BillCorbett.com.

Make MUCH More Money in MUCH Less Time with a Product and Service Funnel

If you are a coach, consultant, speaker, or another type of "expert" entrepreneur, and all you offer are big-ticket products and services, such as keynote speeches or large $1,000+ coaching and consulting packages, then you are missing out on a HUGE market of customers and clients and multiple income streams.  You also are working a lot harder for your money than you have to.

First you MUST MUST MUST have something of GREAT VALUE that is FREE in EXCHANGE for an email address.  Your email list is your pot of gold. Your give-away must be something that is so juicy and urgent for your target customers and clients, that it can't be passed up.  Sorry, a "newsletter" doesn't cut it anymore. Yawn. You have to be more creative.

Then, you want to have at least one product or service at each layer of the funnel, so that you can meet people at their respective price points and work them down your funnel into higher ticket items.

Some people may only ever buy the $25-$100 item, but if you didn't have one, you'd miss out on that revenue completely.  And the people who bought your lower-priced products and services are more likely to eventually buy the higher ticket ones, because they got to know, like, and trust you first.

It's much harder to sell a $5,000 product or service to a stranger than someone who has been a customer before.

So what kinds of things can you sell in your funnel?  Here are some examples.

Note: Product and service pricing is different for every business.  Some webinars might be $25 and others might be $100-$200 or more. It depends on your content, your customers, your brand and expert status, demonstrative results, and other factors. 

FREE

• e-Book
• short report
• audio or video series
• daily/weekly tips
• first chapter of a longer book 
  

$25-$100

• book or workbook
• a paid teleseminar or webinar
• a ticket to a live 1-2 hour presentation
• a subscription to a magazine or membership website

$100-$500

• a system or toolkit (a set of templates)
• a 4 to 6-week webinar/teleclass
• a consultation or coaching session
• a 1-2 day workshop

$500-$1,000

• a speaking fee
• a smaller coaching/consulting package
• an action plan
• a higher-level conference/workshop

$1,000-$5,000

• a speaking fee
• a retreat
• a "done for you" product/service (like a website) 

$5,000+ ($10K-$25K-$100K)

• a keynote address
• longer-term coaching program
• corporate/executive consulting

Again each business is different.  A health coach offering a nutrition plan may only charge $100.  While a corporate consultant may do a business plan for $50,000. So the price points of the funnel may be different too.

Ideally, you will be trying different things at different levels of your funnel and see what sells the best.  It's a process to get the right mix, but even while you test and refine, you'll be making much more money along the way and well into the future.

If you are a coach, consultant, speaker or other kind of "expert" service-driven entrepreneur, leveraging the power of groups is the key to growing a 6 and 7-figure business. To learn more, go to www.MoreClientsLessTime.com.

Michelle Demers
More Clients in Less Time

Michelle Demers has worked with hundreds of coaches, consultants, and speakers over the past 15 years on sales, branding, online and offline marketing, and product and service development. She is the Founder and Principal of “More Clients in Less Time” specifically helping coaches, consultants, and speakers to get out of the exhausting grind of one-on-one clients and into the limitless financial potential of group coaching and training programs.  

 Michelle lives and works just outside of Boston and can be reached at michelle (@) resonateinc.net and 203.623.1564. She works with clients anywhere and everywhere across the world.