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 shows 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, or asking for
the names and email addresses of the news magazine show's 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 have 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.
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