How to Nail Virtual Video Meetings

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BONUS FREEBIE: Your message deserves the media’s attention. So how do you get out there in a bigger way? I’ve got you covered. CLICK HERE to grab my free “Checklist to Become a Go-To Media Expert.”

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SXSW is canceled! Expo Natural Products Expo West 2020 is postponed. Adobe Inc.’s Summit is moved to an online event. 

These are just a handful of examples of how the coronavirus (Covid-19) outbreak is affecting events, meetings and speaking engagements around the world.

Maybe your team is moving to virtual meetings for the first time and you’re looking for ways to do it more effectively.

It’s a different dynamic than being in person of course. 

As humans we thrive off energy and connection. It’s hard to feel these things if you’re not in the same room as someone. 

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Kill Filler Words like “Um” and “Like”

BONUS FREEBIE: Your message deserves the media’s attention. So how do you get out there in a bigger way? I’ve got you covered. CLICK HERE to grab my free “Checklist to Become a Go-To Media Expert.”

I love watching award shows!

It’s so much fun to see my favorite celebrities get dressed up. Plus, it’s an opportunity to watch professional actors use the camera to their advantage – sometimes! 

I loved the movie Judy, and I thought Renee Zellweger definitely deserved the Best Actress award for playing Judy Garland. She did an amazing job!

But her acceptance speech was much less inspiring. 

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Show the Media Some Love

BONUS FREEBIE: Your message deserves the media’s attention. So how do you get out there in a bigger way? I’ve got you covered. CLICK HERE to grab my free “Checklist to Become a Go-To Media Expert.”

How’s your relationship with the media?

If you find yourself singing Adele’s “Hello” to producers and editors, and all you hear back is Beyonce’s “Sorry,” it might be time to step up your seduction. Here are three tips to woo the media this year.

Don’t Be Desperate: Swipe Right AND Left

Don’t be that person who swipes right on anything with a pulse. A quick perusal of someone’s profile may not tell you whether someone is your soulmate, but it can certainly help you find a real connection—and rule out the red flags.

The same goes for your match with the media: Know the person receiving your pitch and their work. What kinds of stories do they love? Do they tend to gravitate toward a certain style? They will know when you haven’t done your homework—and it will make them want to “ghost” on you fast.

Get to know the person receiving your pitch by checking out their social media presence. Do they engage their followers? See if you can strike up a light conversation over a tweet or post. Are they attending networking events? Try to meet them in person. (Warning: Coming on too strong is disastrous in love and in media. Definitely keep it light).

But also ask yourself: Are they a good match for ME? While it may be tempting to throw yourself at every reporter, producer, booker or editor who comes your way, that plan can backfire in the long run. If all goes according to plan, this is the start of something ongoing—better to be single than entangled in a bad romance.

Make Yourself Irresistible

If you want to get rejected by the hot girl, ramble on about her looks while you ask her out. Likewise, the media knows it’s sexy—and it doesn’t want you to use it for its body.

Another surefire way to get rejected? Toot your own horn so much, you compose a symphony to your greatness. Confidence is hot, but narcissism is a real turn-off.

The key to being irresistible is simple: Be a giver, not a taker. If you want to woo the media, you’ve got to sell yourself as an attentive partner. Always link your pitch back to the audience: Why should those people care? How can you help them? How will your expertise transform their life? Show the editor or producer that you get what they do and you’re here to offer your help—not to use their platform, love ‘em and leave ‘em.

Sweep Them Off Their Feet

Picture this: You’ve just cancelled a date because you caught a monster flu. You’re a little bummed, but you were only lukewarm about the date in the first place. Thirty minutes later, the doorbell rings. You open the door and find a care package of chicken noodle soup, emergenc-C, tea, and a “Get Well Soon” card from your date. And just like that, things start heating up.

If you want to sweep the media off its feet, be the producer or editor’s hero. Don’t just figure out what they need—give it to them when they need it most.

The media needs pieces that link back to the top trending hashtags. If you’re a parenting expert, the Grammys would be the perfect moment to pitch a story on how celebrity feminists like Beyonce are changing the way our culture views motherhood. If you’re a constitutional lawyer, start drafting that pitch on what will happen next with Trump’s expanded travel ban. Do the producer or editor’s work for them—they’ll thank you for it.

BONUS FREEBIE: Your message deserves the media’s attention. So how do you get out there in a bigger way? I’ve got you covered. CLICK HERE to grab my free “Checklist to Become a Go-To Media Expert.”

This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links.

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Pull Media Pitches from Content You’re Already Producing

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MEDIA-READY AUTHOR: Go From Uncomfortable to Confident and Sell More Books with my Media-Training Class for Authors on Tuesday, October 18th! Reserve your spot now!

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Fresh content is great, and you can turn any podcast, blog post, video or thought you have into a media pitch!

The trick is knowing what (from your content) is most interesting to viewers.

This is especially important for authors who want to sell more books. A book is a piece of content and knowing how to leverage that content in the media is integral to sales!

(In fact, I’m hosting a quick and easy-to-implement live online training called Media-Ready Author: Speak in Soundbites, Set Up Your Virtual Studio and Sell More Books to help you learn those skills.)

 

I spoke with my friend Kate Hanley on her local news station about how to repurpose our content to create a media pitch. Kate is a journalist, podcaster, author of How to Be a Better Person, and has written for publications including Real Simple, Parents, and Martha Stewart’s Whole Living.

Here are three tips from Kate about how to turn your content into a successful media pitch.

1) Making the Connection..

In the beginning, the media probably isn’t going to come to you. You have to go to the media. You have to initiate contact.

Kate lives in Providence, RI, and she heard of a new morning show that might be looking for pitches. She posted in a local networking group to see if anyone had a contact, and a connection suggested reaching out to a producer over social media.

People who work in media often have their email address in their bio — because they want you to pitch them.

“That’s one thing that we have to just tell ourselves. We’re actually helping people do their jobs by pitching them,” Kate said.

Especially if you…

2) Make your pitch timely.

One of the elements of a well-written pitch is the “hook.” Why is this relevant right now?

Kate took this into consideration when she planned out her pitch. When Kate thinks of a pitch, she connects her ideas to current events or holidays.

“I just Googled ‘crazy national holidays’,” Kate explained. “There were all these wacky days like Flip-Flop Day and Hotdog Day. I noticed Make a Difference Day was coming up, which perfectly aligned with ‘How to Be a Better Person”.”

By connecting your pitch to an upcoming event, producers feel more urgency when considering your idea.

“Not only might they like that idea, but they need to act on it because that day’s coming up,” Kate added.

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3) Reuse and recycle.

One of the biggest mistakes people make when they start to pitch media is that they think they have to create completely new or different material for a pitch.

Nope!

Use all your content to feed your blog, your book, your podcast, your pitches. They all go hand in hand.

Tailor your ideas for each outlet, but use the ideas you already have.

Kate’s lightbulb moment happened when she realized she didn’t need to be creating totally separate blog posts and pitches. She made a Google Drive account to organize her ideas and realized she already had lots of great material. She just needed to update and adapt what she already created.

“I found old pitches and blog posts that I had written and stuff I thought might be useful in a lot of different ways,” Kate said.

That doesn’t mean you should use the same posts and pitches over and over.

It’s important to refresh and customize your content and pitches to the outlet you’re pitching.

Check out Kate’s podcast “How to Be a Better Person” and watch our entire conversation here.

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MEDIA-READY AUTHOR: Go From Uncomfortable to Confident and Sell More Books with my Media-Training Class for Authors on Tuesday, October 18th! Reserve your spot now!

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This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links.

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Checklist For Being Seen As an Expert

Photo by Gavin Whitner.

 

BONUS FREEBIE: Your message deserves the media’s attention. So how do you get out there in a bigger way? I’ve got you covered. CLICK HERE to grab my free “Checklist to Become a Go-To Media Expert.”

 

Figure out your niche. 

Before you become an expert, you have to decide what you’re going to be an expert in. How can you figure that out? 

Ask yourself these two questions:  

  1. What are you always telling clients? 
  2. What are you always answering questions about? 

These are two good ways to tell where your expertise lies. 

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When the Media Calls, Answer Even in Your Bathing Suit

BONUS FREEBIE: Your message deserves the media’s attention. So how do you get out there in a bigger way? I’ve got you covered. CLICK HERE to grab my free “Checklist to Become a Go-To Media Expert.”

When I was on vacation in Mexico a few weeks ago, I unexpectedly got an interview request from Aditi Shrikant, a writer at CNBC.com. She was working on an article about making more effective to-do lists. 

Of course I said yes to the opportunity. 

I put down my margarita and did the interview in my bathing suit poolside. 

Why? 

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How to Feel More Confident About Self Promotion

BONUS FREEBIE: Your message deserves the media’s attention. So how do you get out there in a bigger way? I’ve got you covered. CLICK HERE to grab my free “Checklist to Become a Go-To Media Expert.”

I work with lots of experts and authors on media training and strategy, and a lot of them struggle with self promotion but want people to know about their books. 

Like many of us, they don’t want to seem “salesy” or as if they have a huge ego. 

For example, I worked with Brandi Doming, author of “Vegan 8,” to train her for media while she was promoting her book. She initially didn’t want to do video and struggled a bit with self promotion. 

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What Mr. Rogers Can Teach You About Producing Videos

BONUS FREEBIE: Your message deserves the media’s attention. So how do you get out there in a bigger way? I’ve got you covered. CLICK HERE to grab my free “Checklist to Become a Go-To Media Expert.”

On the flight from NYC to San Francisco I watched Won’t You Be My Neighbor? You know, the documentary about Mister Rogers? 

As a kid I loved that show. 

But I also loved this documentary and one of the unexpected lessons was about video and television!

When Mister Rogers said “television is community,” I thought yes, that’s it!  Read more

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How to Prepare for a Television Interview

BONUS FREEBIE: Your message deserves the media’s attention. So how do you get out there in a bigger way? I’ve got you covered. CLICK HERE to grab my free “Checklist to Become a Go-To Media Expert.”

As a TV producer for nearly two decades, I’ve interviewed lots of experts. 

I began to get a pretty good idea of when someone had prepared for an interview and when they thought they could just ‘wing it’. 

Here’s something to remember – this isn’t always dictated by the amount of experience the expert has at their craft. Just because you know your stuff doesn’t mean you’ll be able to translate it succinctly and effectively in the media. 

As you can imagine, I’ve always been a firm believer in the importance of being prepared.

Now that I’m a media trainer and strategist I practice what I preach and I try to be a good example of what’s possible for my clients.  Read more

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Three Ways to Get Buzz for Your Book

BONUS FREEBIE: Your message deserves the media’s attention. So how do you get out there in a bigger way? I’ve got you covered. CLICK HERE to grab my free “Checklist to Become a Go-To Media Expert.”

In a few short weeks my newest book, Listful Living: A List-Making Journey to a Less Stressed You, publishes! I’m super excited. 

Many of my clients are authors as well and I always give them the same advice when I’m media training or working on media strategy with them. 

So I’m practicing what I preach! 

Here’s what I’ve been doing to get my book out there before it hits bookshelves:  

Get Traditional Media Mentions: When it comes to publishing a book, I always tell my clients to get media attention well before the book comes out. If you’re lucky you could be like my friend Ilise Benun who got one media mention that brought her ten years worth of business! Check out my video interview with her here.  Read more

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