Don't Miss Your Opportunities

By Terry Whalin @terrywhalin

I frequently speak with a publishing professional who has a 35+ year career as a publicist. He has deep relationships to the radio and podcast community for his pitches. Well-known publishers have hired him to book interviews for their authors. Frequently he tells me about bestselling authors who miss or cancel their scheduled interviews. They have multiple excuses but they have missed their opportunity to tell others about their book. For these authors, these cancelled interviews are missed opportunities where they have made other choices about how to spend their time.

When I’ve worked with this publicist, if he contacts me about a possible interview, each time my response has been the same. “Let's do it.” I’m not concerned about the reach of the particular station or the time of day for me. Some of the bookings are early in the morning and others are at off times. For me, each one is an opportunity to seize and use to tell people about my book. 

From working with this publicist, he frequently schedules authors on In the Market with Janet Parshall. Some of my Morgan James Publishing authors have been on this program for an hour talking about their book. Janet’s program is simultaneously broadcast on over 700 radio stations. It’s just one of the many opportunities from this publicist and his significant work. 

Each of us have the same 24 hours and choices about how we spend our time. In this article, I give some details about these opportunities and encourage you to choose wisely. 

Prepare Before Each Interview

Over the last year, I’ve booked or recorded over 80 podcasts using PodMatch and other connections. When I book the interview, I select a time several weeks out. If the host is in the United States, I ask for their mailing address, then print a list of suggested interview questions and a short bio, then mail a signed book or media packet. If the person is outside of the US, then I email an Ebook version of my book and the other media elements. These details help the host prepare for our intervicw.

When the date for our sessions arrives, I take a few minutes to prepare for the interview. Until recently I didn’t have a camera on my desktop. I purchased a webcam, an external microphone and headphones. Normally this equipment is tucked away and each time I position it for use. I think about my background, shut my closet door and prepare my lighting. 

Besides the physical setting, I read about the host and the emphasis of his program. Also I review my talking points and think about the stories I want to tell and the websites I want to mention and where I want the listener to go after our interview. No matter what is discussed, I weave these talking points into our conversation. It is something simple but an active role I can seize. I’ve had interviews where the host never asks about my website or how listeners can connect with me which is a missed opportunity for me. Instead I make a conscious effort to include this information.

Finally outside of the interview, I often ask when the recording will be launched and affirm to the host that I promote these interviews on social media, this blog and elsewhere. I understand many times the person interviewed does not promote the recording and it’s a simple way to standout with the host.

Within publishing, I’m using my media training. For their top authors, publishers will often schedule a day or two of media training which is costly. Imagine being scheduled for a six or seven minute segment on The Today Show. You want to make sure you slipo a reference to your book into your conversation yet not annoy your host. There is detailed training and rehersal for some of these appearances. If you want to know more about this media training with little cost, I recommend Brad Phillips’ excellent book, The Media Training Bible: 101 Things You Absolutely, Positively Need To Know Before Your Next Interview.

From my experience, these details matter in how you handle the opportunities and get the greatest use from them. I’m probably missing something or you have other experiences in this area. Let me know in the comments below.

Tweetable:

Authors, are you missing your media opportunities? This prolific author and editor tells some stories, then gives the details of how to use each opportunity for your goals. (ClickToTweet)

New Podcasts:

In these articles, I’ve encouraged you to use PodMatch or some similar tool to book and record podcasts. Last week two more new podcast recordings launched:

Business Evaluation Expert Dave Bookbinder (@dbookbinder) and I talked about Turning Intellectual Property into Enterprise Value: The Business of Publishing on the Behind the Numbers with Dave Bookbinder Podcast. Watch it at: https://bit.ly/4yvUUPR or listen on Apple at: https://bit.ly/4yNppRx

LS Kirkpatrick (@writers2readers) and I spoke about Publishing Myths, Author Strategies, and Modern Book Marketing on Wisdom on the Front Porch Podcast. Listen at:https://bit.ly/4yy9FSh

As I’ve worked in the publishing world for years, I’ve spoken with many authors about their expectations and dreams for their books. I’ve found many of these authors have  unrealistic expectations about what will happen with their published book. Many aspects of the publishing process are outside of anything an author can control. I wrote 10 PUBLISHING MYTHS to give authors practical help and take actions no matter what the publisher does for your book. You can get decades of insights in 10 PUBLISHING MYTHS for only $10, free shipping and over $200 of bonuses.

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Prepare Now to Avoid Missed Opportunities

This week a couple of my Morgan James authors appeared on The Dr. Oz Show. This particular segment was filmed in October but aired this week. I was excited for these authors and set my DVR to record the show (since I rarely watch it).  I found their segment and watched it. Their story was highlighted and interesting—yet something was missing. There was nothing in the story to indicate their full story appears in their book. The book or the book title was not mentioned. The result was another missed opportunity to tell a national audience about their story.

I've never appeared on this type of national television show. It must be full of tension and excitement for the author to make sure you answer the questions and make a great appearance on the show. The challenge for the author is to make sure no matter what message the television show wants to give—that you meet your own agenda (sell books).

This recent story is not the only time I've seen missed opportunities. Years ago I wrote a book called Running on Ice for Olympian Vonetta Flowers. She was the first African American to win a gold medal in the winter Olympics. In fact, Vonetta was on the 2006 U.S. team for the next Olympics in Turin, Italy. Katie Couric interviewed Vonetta on The Today Show. It was a great interview yet nothing in the interview mentioned that a book told Vonetta's story. While I'm pleased to have written this book, I wanted it to succeed in the marketplace (sell) yet the opportunity was missed.

No matter where you are in the writing and publishing world, now is the time to prepare yourself for these opportunities so you do not miss them.  In the publishing world, we call it media training—and it's something every author needs to learn.

Here's three valuable yet inexpensive resources to prepare yourself for the media:

1. The Media Training Bible by Brad Phillips. I reviewed this book several years ago (follow the link). The seasoned advice and tips in this book are invaluable. Phillips is a well-known and excellent media trainer. Every writer will profit from a careful reading of The Media Training Bible.

2. Be the Media compiled by David Mathison. This older book is excellent to help you know how to create your own message and different ways to get it out into the marketplace.

3. Gayle Murphy has been a journalist for many years. I interviewed Gayl in this free teleseminar and you can get her seasoned advice for every author about how to tell it to sell it.

For the last couple of years, I've been doing radio interviews to promote my Billy Graham biography. In the next two weeks.I'm scheduled to be on two LIVE radio shows telling stories from the book. It's fun and I'm grateful for these opportunities. Each time before the interview, I remind myself why I'm on these programs: first to be energetic and tell interesting stories about Billy Graham.

Yet integral to this agenda is my second key point: to make sure I tell people where they can get the book. I've created a website with multiple options to purchase the book. During several of these interviews, even if I am not asked about it, I take the initiative to weave into the conversation the specific name of my website and where people can get the book.

When you receive these types of opportunities for your writing, seize them—yet use wisdom to make sure you cover your own interests.

Tweetable:

Every author needs to prepare now for future opportunities with the media. Get resources here. (ClickToTweet)
 

Essential Information for Dealing with the Media

When you see a television interview, watch it carefully and you will see that some people have short, easy-to-digest answers while others tend to ramble. Also you will observe some people always manage to slip into their conversation about their key point or their new product without being offensive.

You may wonder how they pull off such successful interviews. It is not by accident. They are showing their own savvy skills with the media. You need the insights in THE MEDIA TRAINING BIBLE.

When I want to learn a specialized skill like media training, I turn to an experienced expert like author Brad Phillips. For years, he has been a broadcast journalist and worked with well-known broadcasters like Ted Koppel and Wolf Blitzer. His ABC and CNN experience combined with his years of working with top executives on the topic of media, make Phillips someone who knows the inside information about working with journalists and reporters.

Whether you need to know the basic ground rules to working with the media or insights on answering tough questions or just understanding the different types of media formats, you will find important information inside THE MEDIA TRAINING BIBLE. Whether you are a small business owner, a book author, a CEO or working at a nonprofit, I recommend this book.

Social Media Can Make or Break You

Editor's note: Yesterday and today, I'm honored to introduce you to Brad Phillips, the president of Phillips Media Relations, a media and presentation training firm with offices in New York City and Washington, D.C. I was fascinated with the insights in these two excerpts from his new book, The Media Training Bible.

By Brad Phillips
 

Imagine you’re the communications director for Hartown Manufacturing, a midsize company based in California. You’re responsible for all communications in the western United States.

One morning, you arrive at work and log in to your Twitter account. You’re scrolling through the rather dull tweets when you suddenly see one that takes your breath away: “Breaking News: Major Explosion at Salt Lake City Hartown Plant.”

Within minutes, dozens of people are tweeting about it, spreading rumors along the way. Some eyewitnesses claim they’ve seen ambulances pulling away with dozens of victims. One claims a plant supervisor has been killed. You call a colleague who works at the plant who tells you that no one knows whether anybody was badly hurt—and that no ambulances have arrived yet.

You immediately post that accurate information to Hartown’s social media pages. Journalists who follow your feeds see your posts and decide against reporting any of the rumors they’ve read about possible injuries or deaths until you confirm them.

That type of scenario is commonplace in the age of social media, and it underscores three important truths:

1. The public and the press may learn of a crisis affecting your company through their social media networks before you even know there’s a problem.
2. People will begin discussing (and speculating about) your crisis before you’ve had time to obtain the facts.
3. You need to use your social media channels to immediately correct misinformation and establish yourself as a primary source of accurate information.

Most reporters now use social media as an essential tool of crisis reporting. As Jane Jordan-Meier reported in The Four Stages of Highly Effective Crisis Management, “Two journalists I spoke with saw Twitter as the new police scanner.” You can no longer afford to relegate social media to being of secondary importance.

Communicate through your social media networks as quickly as possible, ideally within half an hour of learning about an incident. You can include links to lengthier statements and additional resources in your posts.

There’s one additional way to help manage a crisis using social media: be engaged with your social networks before a crisis strikes. You’ll need fans to defend your integrity when something goes wrong, and few people are more credible than the unaffiliated third parties who voluntarily vouch for you.

Case Study: Domino’s Pizza & a Disgusting Video (V)

In 2009, an employee of a North Carolina Domino’s franchise filmed a coworker sticking cheese up his nose before appearing to send the food out for delivery. The two workers uploaded the video to YouTube, where it quickly racked up a million views. Television anchors showed the disgusting clip on their newscasts and customers stopped ordering pizza.

Company president Patrick Doyle waited two days before finally responding. He issued a two-minute YouTube apology, in which he appeared genuinely pained by the incident. He was deservedly given credit by many crisis management professionals for releasing the heartfelt video— but most suggested that he waited too long and incurred unnecessary financial and reputational damage by waiting 48 hours.

Mr. Doyle’s response was noteworthy for one additional reason: it was the first time a major company president used YouTube as the primary method of responding to a crisis.

Brad Phillips is the author of the new book TheMedia Training Bible: 101 Things You Absolutely, Positively Need to Know BeforeYour Next Interview. He blogs at www.MrMediaTraining.com. 

Social Media: An Introduction

Editor's note: Today and tomorrow, I'm honored to introduce you to Brad Phillips, the president of Phillips Media Relations, a media and presentation training firm with offices in New York City and Washington, D.C. I was fascinated with the insights in these two excerpts from his new book, The Media Training Bible.

By Brad Phillips

Many of the executives we work with are terrified of social media. They’ve either experienced the dark side of it personally or heard horror stories from their industry peers: tales of vicious comments on an influential blogger’s website; incorrect and badly damaging rumors on Twitter; or an embarrassing, secretly filmed video uploaded onto YouTube. 

Those potential hazards are real. But executives tend to focus disproportionately on the downsides of social media and not nearly enough on the potential upsides. Their focus on the risks leads them to adopt a “head in sand” strategy of neglecting social media, which rarely works, at least in the long-term.

Social media—which include blogs, social networks, and video-sharing sites—offer today’s communicators a tremendous advantage over their predecessors.

Think back for a moment to the turn of the 21^st century, when journalists still dominated as the primary gatekeepers of information. If a company wanted media attention, it would send a press release to a few reporters and wait passively as the reporters decided whether or not to cover the story. Even if the company’s work was covered, there was no guarantee of the story being favorable. Companies were at the mercy of the press.

To be sure, those reporters remain critical allies today. Positive stories by the media still bestow valuable third-party credibility onto you, while negative stories can diminish your reputation.

But the traditional media’s influence is waning. Social media have flattened the playing field, allowing companies to disseminate the information they want, to whomever they want, whenever and however they want. There’s no longer a need to wait for a journalist to file a story—if companies want their audiences to know something, they can just post it to their blog, Facebook page, or Twitter feed.

If you’re still deciding whether or not to maintain a social media presence, the answer should almost surely be yes. Your audiences aren’t waiting for you to interact—they’re already talking about you. Companies that engage their audiences can build positive relationships, create a reservoir of goodwill to tap into when a crisis strikes, and help prevent false rumors from spreading before they take deep root.

If you work for a company, your social networks offer you free market research that used to cost many thousands of dollars. If you work for an advocacy group, your networks tell you which appeals are most likely to spur donations before you invest in a major campaign. If you work for a government agency, your social networks will let you know what public misperceptions you need to clear up.

Journalists are also turning to social media in droves to learn more about you. If you’re not managing your reputation where your audiences are, you’re nowhere—or worse. 

 

Social Media by the Numbers

• In September 2012, Twitter users in the United States visited the site more than 51 million times per week.
• In June 2012, Facebook averaged more than 550 million users every day.
• As of May 2012, 800 million unique users worldwide visited YouTube each month.
• LinkedIn members conducted an estimated 5.3 billion searches on the platform in 2012.

Sources: Burson-Marstellar, Experian, LinkedIn

Brad Phillips is the author of the new book TheMedia Training Bible: 101 Things You Absolutely, Positively Need to Know BeforeYour Next Interview. He blogs at www.MrMediaTraining.com.