Media Best Practices Tips Sheet

Bruce’s tip’s sheet of best practices for authors that you can keep at your desk or in your wallet for on-the-go use.

DOWNLOAD MEDIA BEST PRACTICES TIPS SHEET

Pitching Best Practices

Use the pitch format. Stay away from press releases unless you have something to announce.
Make sure your pitch has the 4 components: intro/platform/thoughts/close. Use bullet points to define your thoughts.
Remember the different types of pitches: current events, myths, predictions, tips and best practices, controversy, etc. The goal is always to position yourself as the expert and thought leader in the field.
Don’t be self-promotional.
Doublecheck grammar.
Use simple language (think elementary school). No industry jargon unless pitching to trade media.
Personalize when possible.
Include previous TV links when pitching TV.
When pitching magazines or online, offer to write an article as well as interview.
Expect plenty of rejection. That’s part of the process.

Appearing on TV

Keep it conversational.
Always look at the host or person interviewing you unless told otherwise.
Watch the length of your responses. No yes or no responses but not the Gettysburg Address, either. 15-20 seconds is a good range to go by.
Don’t talk about yourself, your book, company, product, etc., unless the interview is specifically about those things. You’re there to serve as an expert on the topic.
If you don’t know the answer to a question, never say, “I don’t know.” Instead, talk about what you do know related to the topic and redirect the interview. *Note – it is okay to tell a print reporter on the phone that you don’t know something and that you will find out and get back to him/her.
Lose the crutch words when starting your responses: I think, yeah, um, so you know, certainly, absolutely.
Use the name of the host once or twice to personalize. “When people generally think about money, Bob, they tend to…”
Don’t wear all white, black, red or green. Solids are good. Pastels are good. Small patterns and designs are good. No crazy patterns. Dress for the station and audience. CNBC – shirt, tie and jacket. Local morning TV segment: jacket and shirt or even just a polo. Watch the show ahead of time and see how the guests dress.
Do a lot of local TV interviews and work your way into national ones. You need the experience and to build your confidence, not to mention a national producer is going to want to see local appearances before booking you. Practice makes perfect.
TV segments tend to get bumped, rescheduled and even cancelled. Don’t take it personally. Breaking news dictates news coverage.

General tips/best practices

Remember the point of a media campaign is to build credibility.
The people who grow their businesses or book speeches typically are the ones who leverage the media best.
Subscribe to HARO https://www.helpareporter.com/, a free service where you can pitch reporters for actual stories they are working on.
Interviews are great but don’t forget about writing articles. So many print and online outlets welcome and need this. Best article is the “tips article.” Give the reader a takeaway or teach them how to do something based on your tips.
Write op-eds or opinion articles when there is an issue in the news that you feel strongly about.
Be careful with follow up calls and always respect the journalist’s time. Don’t call around deadline and get to the point quickly.
Media is not something you do for 30 days. You have to keep at it.
Be careful of any publicist or PR firm that makes big promises. The truth is there are no guarantees, only best efforts.
You don’t go in the media to sell books. You write books to get in the media.
The key to keeping a media campaign going forever is to keep coming up with new ideas and to keep playing into current events or stories in the news.
Set Google alerts for keywords in your industry and stay on top of the news.