Around the World on Christmas Eve

“Success. Four flights Thursday morning . . . . Inform press. Home Christmas.”

-- Wilbur and Orville Wright
Telegram to the Reverend Milton Wright

Many people see television as an important venue for achieving fame and recognition. Others have seen it as a vast wasteland. I never thought about it in either way. Most of my clients don’t have much time to watch television or read books, but they do read the business and sports sections of newspapers and business publications. So I had always focused my publicity efforts on working with newspaper and magazine reporters who cover business with their stories. Reporters at The New York Times have often been in contact on a variety of business subjects. Sure enough, when the immense Yates Field became the center point of a large oil and gas acquisition, I was asked to comment. So now I was in print as an expert. I wasn’t too impressed, but ABC was.

It was almost Christmas and there aren’t many news stories then. ABC found me when they did a search through The New York Times database of stories on the subject. Because of that, ABC asked if they could send out a crew to tape me talking about the Yates Field. I agreed and spent about half a day getting the lighting right before 20 minutes of tape were produced. I watched ABC news the next few nights and nothing came on, so I forgot about it. Then came Christmas Eve, one of the slowest news nights of the year. And there I was on the network evening news on a night when most people are home early for dinner. The only problem was, I didn’t watch it. But everyone else in America seemed to. The phone rang off the hook for days with calls from neighbors, family and friends who had seen me unexpectedly dropped into their evening watching.

For years, people would stop me in airports and ask if I was that guy who talked about the oil field on ABC. I later found out that the story was also carried on many non-U.S. television stations. I still get glances in airports from people who look at me like they have seen me before, but cannot place where. So ”fame” can last longer than 15 minutes.

With the proliferation of cable channels, it’s easier and easier to be seen on television. One of the simplest ways is to be quoted in the newspapers and magazines. Those quotes will eventually attract television reporters looking for “experts.” Reporters are always looking for news sources so you can call them up and introduce yourself as a potential source. There are also news magazine television shows in most communities that are looking to do extended segments (5-10 minutes) on those with unusual hobbies and interests. Get in touch, and chances are that your special interests will qualify you for being “news.” Once again, authors are much in demand for these shows.

Business channels like CNBC are especially accessible because they have a lot of time to fill. If your expertise is business, be sure to give them a call.

If all else fails, your local cable operator probably has a community access channel on which anyone can put a program. Develop your program and run with it.

You can then use a tape of what you did to attract television producers and bookers who have larger audiences.

You can also learn to pitch your stories more succcessfully by developing a news peg for your expertise that will make a timely offering for the producer or editor.

In addition, there are many free e-letters you can read to learn more such as are available from info@mediatrainingworldwide.com and http://www.rickfrishman.com/.

Donald W. Mitchell, Your Dream Concierge

Copyright 2005 Donald W. Mitchell