Getting on National TV
Ahhh. The author’s dream. After writing your book, you see yourself on The Oprah Winfrey Show, The Today Show (or any one of the national morning shows, you’re not picky!), 20/20, The O’Reilly Factor or ANY national television appearance.
If you’ve been to any seminar or conference on turning your book into a smashing success, you’ve likely been told how EASY it is to get on national TV.
Good news:
Once you get down to it, it IS easy.
Bad news:
You never know just when you’ll be “down to it” so that you can bask in its easiness.
Here’s what we’re trying to tell you. If you look at the actual path any author or expert took to land that treasured spot that launched them on the national scene, it was likely very easy. And they will lavish in telling you how easy it was.
THE ONE national television show that becomes YOUR next national television show will probably be easy, too. It will likely take only 3-4 emails and 3-4 phone calls to land. (Your emails include your pitch, followed by a few emails redefining your book to their needs. Your phone calls involve honing down to the very details that get the producer to the point of asking you, “so, if we cover the airfare, can you be here next Tuesday?”)
Here’s what the experts won’t tell you.
For every one show that is easy to land, they were probably pitching 10-15 additional shows, maybe more. The trick is to throw out your net wide enough so that the “easy” one, the perfect match, doesn’t get away.
Getting on Oprah, or any national TV, show all comes down to 4 easy steps. Whether you take them, you hire someone in-house, or you hire a publicity firm, SOMEONE will take the following four steps if you want to get on national TV.
(Following the 4 steps you will find three success stories, then some solutions for you, based on your budget.)
- Determine what shows are right for you. Where do you want to be? What is your “big dream” list? List 10-15 shows.
- Identify the “hot buttons,” the hooks and hot angles that get producers salivating over the idea of having you on their show.
- Send your “hot buttons” to the producers of the shows that are right for you, in the format they expect.
- Reach them repeatedly. It takes 6-8 “connections” or more to get them to make a decision – yes OR no. A “connection” is any combination of telephone conversations, voicemails, emails, faxes, delivered packages, or appearances in the places the producers look when they need guests.
Success Story #1 – The Cooking Cardiologist
The path to Live with Regis was as easy as it was difficult for The Cooking Cardiologist Dr. Richard Collins. In fact, all it took was getting is foot in the door. (Well, someone’s foot!)
We got a tip that Lipton was launching a new product, and one of the spokespersons for this product was Joy Philbin, Regis’ wife. What would be the odds that Regis would make an appearance?
Turns out the odds were in Richard’s favor. Regis showed. Told Dr. Collins that he was concerned about his heart. Dr. Collins’ said he could identify the problem if he could just look at Regis’s foot. Reg plopped his foot on the restaurant table, Dr. Collins diagnosed him and Regis was amazed. “I’ve got to have you on my show!” exclaimed Regis.
The next call was from one of the producers of Live with Regis, ready to book The Cooking Cardiologist on the show. Following his appearance, not only did sales of his book soar to #55 on Amazon.com, he has been invited back as their “anytime” guest. He’s been on more than four times now.
Success Story #2 – Dr. Lillie Coley
What does it take to land not one, but SIX national TV appearances?
- Positioning
- You must be an invigorating guest!
Her book My Story was intriguing and compelling, but no matter how you sliced it, it was a personal life story. We had to find SOME way of making that important connection between Dr. Lillie Coley’s story and the people who would read it.
Following the 4 steps listed above, we determined which shows were perfect for Dr. Coley, then identified the “hot buttons” that would get producers to salivate over the idea of having Lillie on their shows. That hot button was her POSITIONING. Once positioned as “The Forgiveness Expert,” Dr. Coley was irresistible.
Over-and-over again we made sure that our hottest TV producers knew about the forgiveness expert. Turns out that a simple ad in RTIR was the final straw that got the producer from The Jenny Jones Show to book Dr. Coley on their show.
But RTIR was just the final straw. We had created a phenomena in Lillie with the media. Smart marketing coaxed them to the feeling of “everyone” was talking about Lillie. It was time THEY paid attention.
Dr. Coley was so phenomenal, they asked her back SIX MORE TIMES.
When you look at these Success Stories, can you see that the national TV shows were both easy AND difficult to land?
We hope these stories give you some ideas on how to develop YOUR strategy to get on national TV shows. Coming up you’ll find our recommendation on whether you should hire someone to do the booking for you or whether you should tackle it yourself.
In either case you really should start with this awesome resource. If you’re doing it yourself you will flat out need this book. If you’re hiring someone to do it for you, you can give them some strategic direction to get started.
Bradley's Guide to the Top 235 National TV Talk & Interview Shows:
Who to contact & how to pitch. The insider information in this book will blow you away. You will know EXACTLY what to do to pitch yourself to National TV.
http://www.marketability.com/nationaltv.html
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