10 Tips on How to Be a Top TV Guest

Welcome to the next installment of my series: 50 Tips on How to Be a Top TV Guest.  (Haven’t received the first three installments? Click here and request your FREE copy today!) 

Here’s another 10 tips to help you capitalize on the valuable air-time when you appear as a television guest.

1.    Use “Tips” as part of your segment!  If your topic offers helpful advice then tips are a great way to communicate your message.  Television producers want to provide their viewers with useful content presented in a manner that is easy to understand.  Develop five tips that solve a problem your topic addresses.  Are you a fitness guru with a unique formulation for fat loss?  Then offer five fat burning tips!  Does your book offer advice about how to live a happier life?  Then come up with 5 ways to live happier today!

2.    If you’re pitching local TV, find the local angle.  Local network affiliates are extremely valuable, so a great method to grab the producer’s interest is to find the local tie-in for your topic.  If you are a real estate guru, before going on air do your homework and find out what the real estate market is like in that city.  Have you written a book about the American economy?  Be prepared to talk about the economic climate in that particular city.  By highlighting a local angle, your interview will resonate more with the host and the viewers.

3.    Monotone doesn’t work.  The alteration of your pitch and tone will keep your audience interested.  Stay animated. It’s not only what you say, but how you say it that counts!

4.    Prepare for personal questions.  The job of a producer is to do research for the host about you and your topic, in preparation of your interview.  If simple web research unearths two previous bankruptcies and you are promoting a CD series on how to make millions… be prepared!  Often the best comeback is a real and even comical answer.  It will not only endear you to the audience but can deflect the tone of an antagonistic interviewer.

5.    Don’t overload your interview with statistics.  Use stats and numbers wisely.  For example, if you have written a book about natural methods of preventing diabetes, the fact that 20.8 million Americans are diagnosed with diabetes is important.  But if you also mention that 85,000 diabetics have their feet amputated and 12 million people will go blind from it - these statistics will create more of an emotional impact on the host and viewers.

6.    Double-check your contact information.  Before you go on-air, make sure your website is up, your toll free phone number is working and you have a list of the retail outlets where your book can be purchased.  Why? If you share the incorrect contact information during your interview, you defeat the whole purpose of your appearance.  Also, if you give a great interview and viewers can’t find your book, the TV station will get overloaded with calls from viewers asking for information - and reflects poorly on you as a guest.

7.    Record and critique your interviews.  Watch your interview numerous times and observe the different elements of your performance.  How well did you answer the questions?  Did your clothes send the right message?  What did your body language say about you?  Did you seem natural or rehearsed? Did you remember all of your sound bites?  Did you interrupt the host?  Identify the points you felt were weak and do whatever you can to strengthen them before your next interview.

8.    Look good / feel good.  Sleep and good nutrition are obviously important to our daily mental and physical well being; it makes us look better, feel good and think clearly.  But these health points are even more important when you factor in the stress of an important media interview.  So try to get a good night’s sleep - and a healthy breakfast before your interview.  Don’t overdose on the caffeine either!  You want to be at the top of your game for your TV appearance.

9.    Be gracious on and off the air.  Remember to thank the host for the interview while you’re still on-air.  Make sure to thank the producer as well.  It’s also a good practice to send a brief thank you note to the host and the producer.  It’s good manners and presents you as a consummate professional.  It can also increase your chances of being remembered in the future, when they need to interview an expert on your topic.

10.  Prepare for the pre-interview.  When it comes to National TV, you may be asked for a “pre-interview”.  Don’t take this lightly.  Be prepared with your message; be energetic, informative and appropriately entertaining. The interview isn’t completely secured until you pass this test!

April 25th, 2008 | Posted in Free Tips, Marsha Friedman's Public Relations Tips, PR, Positioning, Publicity, Publicity Advice, Television | No Comments

5 More Tips on How to Be a Top TV Guest

Welcome to the newest installment of my series: 50 Tips on How to Be a Top TV Guest. (Haven’t received the first three installments? Click here and request your FREE copy today!)

Here’s another 5 tips to help you capitalize on the valuable air-time when you appear as a television guest.

1.  Double-check your contact information. Before you go on-air, make sure your website is up, your toll free phone number is working and you have a list of the retail outlets where your book can be purchased. Why? If you share the incorrect contact information during your interview, you defeat the whole purpose of your appearance. Also, if you give a great interview and viewers can’t find your book, the TV station will get overloaded with calls from viewers asking for information - and reflects poorly on you as a guest.

2. Record and critique your interviews. Watch your interview numerous times and observe the different elements of your performance. How well did you answer the questions? Did your clothes send the right message? What did your body language say about you? Did you seem natural or rehearsed? Did you remember all of your sound bites? Did you interrupt the host? Identify the points you felt were weak and do whatever you can to strengthen them before your next interview.

3. Look good / feel good. Sleep and good nutrition are obviously important to our daily mental and physical well being; it makes us look better, feel good and think clearly. But these health points are even more important when you factor in the stress of an important media interview. So try to get a good night’s sleep - and a healthy breakfast before your interview. Don’t overdose on the caffeine either! You want to be at the top of your game for your TV appearance.

4. Be gracious on and off the air. Remember to thank the host for the interview while you’re still on-air. Make sure to thank the producer as well. It’s also a good practice to send a brief thank you note to the host and the producer. It’s good manners and presents you as a consummate professional. It can also increase your chances of being remembered in the future, when they need to interview an expert on your topic.

5. Prepare for the pre-interview. When it comes to National TV, you may be asked for a “pre-interview”. Don’t take this lightly. Be prepared with your message; be energetic, informative and appropriately entertaining. The interview isn’t completely secured until you pass this test!

April 25th, 2008 | Posted in Free Tips, Marsha Friedman's Public Relations Tips, PR, Positioning, Public Relations, Publicity, Television | No Comments

5 Tips on How to Be a Top TV Guest

Welcome to the next installment of my series: 50 Tips on How to Be a Top TV Guest.  (Haven’t received the first three installments? Click here and request your FREE copy today!)  Here’s another 10 tips to help you capitalize on the valuable air-time when you appear as a television guest.

1.    Use “Tips” as part of your segment!  If your topic offers helpful advice then tips are a great way to communicate your message.  Television producers want to provide their viewers with useful content presented in a manner that is easy to understand.  Develop five tips that solve a problem your topic addresses.  Are you a fitness guru with a unique formulation for fat loss?  Then offer five fat burning tips!  Does your book offer advice about how to live a happier life?  Then come up with 5 ways to live happier today!

2.    If you’re pitching local TV, find the local angle.  Local network affiliates are extremely valuable, so a great method to grab the producer’s interest is to find the local tie-in for your topic.  If you are a real estate guru, before going on air do your homework and find out what the real estate market is like in that city.  Have you written a book about the American economy?  Be prepared to talk about the economic climate in that particular city.  By highlighting a local angle, your interview will resonate more with the host and the viewers.

3.    Monotone doesn’t work.  The alteration of your pitch and tone will keep your audience interested.  Stay animated. It’s not only what you say, but how you say it that counts!

4.    Prepare for personal questions.  The job of a producer is to do research for the host about you and your topic, in preparation of your interview.  If simple web research unearths two previous bankruptcies and you are promoting a CD series on how to make millions… be prepared!  Often the best comeback is a real and even comical answer.  It will not only endear you to the audience but can deflect the tone of an antagonistic interviewer.

5.    Don’t overload your interview with statistics.  Use stats and numbers wisely.  For example, if you have written a book about natural methods of preventing diabetes, the fact that 20.8 million Americans are diagnosed with diabetes is important.  But if you also mention that 85,000 diabetics have their feet amputated and 12 million people will go blind from it - these statistics will create more of an emotional impact on the host and viewers.

April 25th, 2008 | Posted in Free Tips, Marsha Friedman's Public Relations Tips, PR, Public Relations, Publicity, Publicity Advice, Television | No Comments

Welcome to the EMSI Webinar Poll!

Thank you in advance for participating in our survey! EMSI will soon be starting a FREE WEBINAR SERVICE in order to provide valuable advice on how to obtain national media exposure. With that in mind, let us know what topics would interest you the most! Thanks again!

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April 24th, 2008 | Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments

Brochures Tell A Story About You And Your Company

Cover letters to potential customers can provide only a small amount of information about your company. Likely customers are often flooded with a plethora of business mails, and the correspondence will be glanced at only for a matter of seconds before it is tossed into the nearest trash can. Read more

April 22nd, 2008 | Posted in Related PR | No Comments

Power Marketing Seminar - Full Video

Watch this keynote session video with Marsha Friedman which was held at the Power Marketing Seminar recently and find out:

• What are the most powerful options to obtain PR and publicity for your product
• Which of these is king for your product - TV, Radio or Print, and why
• What are the ways the achieve the most powerful impact with TV, Radio and Print
• What steps do you need to follow in order to achieve National Publicity

Download Power Marketing Training Video with Marsha Friedman

As you watch this video you will find new ways think about using TV, Radio and Print for your product. Type your notes here and ask any questions you have. They will be answere either by Marsha herself or one of her highest level marketing specialists.

cforms contact form by delicious:days

April 22nd, 2008 | Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments

Are You Getting This Kind of Media Exposure For Your Book, Product or Service?

In just the past few weeks alone, here’s some of the exciting media exposure that we got for our clients… 

• National TV Coverage

      Business Week TV

Fox Business Network’s Morning Show

• Local TV Coverage

16 appearances on NBC, FOX, CBS and ABC shows in major markets

• 200 Talk Radio Interviews

Booked within four weeks in the top 100 markets on local, national and regional shows such as

• Health Radio Network
• Sports Byline USA
• WOR Radio Network
• The Mancow Morning Madness Show
• 4 Top Shows on Sirius Satellite Network!!!

• Newspaper and Magazine Responses

Journalists from the following publications have responded to our articles, requesting interviews and product samples:

• People Magazine
• Woman’s World
• New York Post
• Los Angeles Times
• Associated Press in New York
• The Saturday Evening Post
• …AND MANY MORE

We get this kind of media exposure for clients every week!  We also have a unique billing structure, different from the industry standard.  EMSI offers our clients:

• NO MONTHLY RETAINERS
• Radio Interviews: Pre-Paid Guaranteed Campaigns
• TV Appearances: Pay only when Confirmed!
• Newspaper and Magazine Campaigns (Including Press Release Development, Vast Distribution and Follow Up)

Want to speak directly to your audience and increase your sales potential?  If the answer is a resounding “YES” then EMSI can deliver the results.  Call me on 727-443-7115 ext. 202 or email me at steve@emsincorporated.com if you need help getting national media attention for your book, product, or service!

April 18th, 2008 | Posted in Newspapers and Magazines, PR, Public Relations, Publicity, Radio, Television, talk radio | No Comments

Postcard Printing: The Easy Way

Before beginning an online postcard printing project you should carefully design and prepare your files. In order to complete an online postcard printing you need to put in the time an effort up front in order to save yourself time and headaches down the road. While a lot of the final product does depend upon choosing a reputable printing company, it also depends upon you thinking about what you need included in the postcard. Read more

April 12th, 2008 | Posted in Related PR | No Comments

What is the Value of Book Signings?

“Bookstores are the meeting place of the 21st Century,” says Marcia Bliss of Bliss Connections in San Diego. In working with authors to help them promote their books, she cites numerous benefits of book signings:

1. BOOK SALES (first and foremost);

2. gains local exposure for author;

3. meet prospective book buyers;

4. involves people in author’s worthy cause;

5. a chance to inspire and educate others;

6. an excellent tool for local publicity; and

7. the opportunity to promote a seminar on the author’s topic.

But our years of experience in working with authors has shown us that there are also tremendous “hidden values” in doing book signings that often have very little to do with the above or even with signing books! (Unless, of course, the book is authored by a famous person whose fans are lined up ten deep to meet this celebrity and get his autograph.)

But, for those thousands of authors whose names don’t inspire instant recognition, the value in booksignings may have more to do with the following:

HIDDEN VALUE #1 - DISTRIBUTION IN EVERY MARKET! It’s a known fact that distribution is a problem for publishers of all sizes. The reason is simple - with over 100,000 new books coming out each year, bookstores have to be very selective about the inventory of titles they choose to keep on their shelves.

But, when a bookstore agrees to schedule an author for a booksigning, that store will automatically order a significant number of copies for the booksigning event - forcing distribution into each market the author is doing a signing in!

HIDDEN VALUE #2 - FREE ADVERTISING AND PROMOTION! As book- stores normally promote their books igning events through promotional mailings to their book buyers or through newspaper advertisements, your author becomes the beneficiary of the store’s advertising in every city he or she is touring.

HIDDEN VALUE #3 - FREE MERCHANDISING THAT NORMALLY COSTS THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS! Let’s face it - stores are highly motivated to promote book signings as these events are known to be a successful action for bringing people into bookstores and stimulating sales. Prior to a scheduled book signing, stores will often set up a prominent display of the author’s book along with other high quality promotional material provided by the publisher.

HIDDEN VALUE #4 - WORD OF MOUTH PROMOTION! When authors are at booksignings they have the opportunity to meet all the sales people at the individual stores. Those authors smart enough to recognize the value of this opportunity will take the time to introduce themselves, shake hands, talk about their book and make each person feel very important (as they are!).

Then, when asked about a book on the author’s topic, you can bet those sales people will recommend that author’s title, as it will no longer be just one of the thousands of titles sitting on the shelves!

April 4th, 2008 | Posted in Advertising, Free Tips, Marsha Friedman's Public Relations Tips, Newspapers and Magazines, PR, Positioning, Press Release, Print, Public Relations, Publicity, Publicity Advice | No Comments

Every 1000-Watt Station Can Help: A Strategy for Today’s Talk Radio Scene

Bill O’Reilly, host of Fox News Channel’s The O’Reilly Report, was quoted in Talkers Magazine about how he cracked the bestseller list.

“In the beginning, we couldn’t get on Good Morning America, or the Today Show or any of that.  Elite newspapers wouldn’t review the book.  We had to rely on talk radio,” O’Reily said.  “Talk radio has shown a much better return (than our advertising dollars).”

There’s no doubt that talk radio is a great vehicle for authors, because it allows them to give in-depth answers and puts them in direct communication with people who may want to buy their book.

But talk radio is not what it used to be.

The hosts of major-market radio talk shows with great audiences used to bring authors into the studio for long chats.  An author could knock off a couple of those interviews and send sales on the way to the top.  Those days are gone.  Unless an author is a truly big name, the chances of hitting pay dirt with a couple of big radio interviews are history.

The reasons for this are two-fold.  First, there are not as many big stations that accept talk show guests - many have gone to a music format or no longer accept guests that have a product or service to sell.  Secondly, the amount of time an author will probably be on the air has dwindled.  Radio talk shows have found that listeners are more likely to stay tuned if they have 3 10-minute guests on a show than one guest for 30 minutes.

So if you want your book to sell, you now have to pound the pavement and knock on every door.

Fortunately, in radio publicity, quantity works.  There are hundreds of radio stations, and book authors shouldn’t thumb their noses at some of them just because they don’t have a hot host or 5,000 watts.  Even with a 1000-watt station, you are still reaching an audience.  Look at it this way.  If a 1000-watt radio station has only 100 listeners, you might say it is not worth the trouble.  But what if you could go to an auditorium and talk to 100 people about your book?  Would you go?  Of course you would.  Not only that, but small stations allow you to practice for that big interview down the road.

A rookie baseball player doesn’t throw his first pitch against the New York Yankees.  In print publicity, an author’s first interview is rarely with The New York Times.   But an author who has had an interview with a hometown newspaper and a couple of magazines will be more prepared if The New York Times does call.

The Plus Side of Small-Station Bookings

It is the same thing with radio.  It takes at least 10 radio interviews before most authors get comfortable behind the microphone. Small power radio stations allow you to practice how to be a great guest.

Some people seem born to be great communicators but an author’s expertise is in the written word, and it is rare to find a great author who is also a great verbal communicator.  First time authors are especially prone to stage fright - yes, even on radio.

Typical errors for first time guests include not giving out the Web site address or 1-800 number, or not giving them out frequently enough.  It’s also a mistake to mention these too often and upset the host, who will let you know that the show is not an infomercial.  Technical authors have a tendency to slide into techno-babble, and even good guests inevitably walk out of their first few interviews knowing they could have been better.  When first-time authors make these mistakes (and they will), it is best if huge audiences do not hear the error.

Booking small stations in quantity to get a high number of interviews helps you to get the explanation of your book down to a succinct few words.  Talking with multiple interviewers, even though they don’t have huge audiences, will enable you to crystallize your thoughts on your book.  It may even give you new ideas about your topic that you never realized before the interviews.

Booking small stations can be also an adventure.  Be prepared to run into some hosts who are unprofessional, and make sure you confirm an interview at least twice before you will be on the air.  Most of these hosts will not be as prepared as their big-time counterparts (meaning they probably have not read your book), so you’ll have to be ready to walk them through the major topics.  Prepare for these interviews as though you have just met someone on the street for the first time and you are telling them about your book.

But if the hosts are not as prepared as they should be, you should still be on your toes.  Very bright people listen to some very small radio stations; so don’t talk down to your audience.

Sorry; nothing will surely save you from the 1000-watt radio station in Peoria that is being hosted by a kid right out of broadcast school.  But remember, even that small-time interview may prepare you for the big time.

April 4th, 2008 | Posted in Marsha Friedman's Public Relations Tips, PR, Public Relations, Publicity, Publicity Advice, Radio, talk radio | No Comments