One idea she suggested was to get transcripts of our speeches and cut the wasted words.

That tip was incredibly useful when I wrote video scripts.

If videos are longer than two minutes, people will lose interest.

We aren’t wired to pay attention for longer periods.

However, two minutes translates into a mere 240 words in a script.

To put it in perspective, my wonderful articles – which take about three minutes to read – are each around 500-700 words!

That’s an eternity on video.

I had to cut.

And cut I did!

Here are tips for creating your videos.

1. Open a Word file and import your best blog posts, articles and transcripts from speeches and teleseminars.
2. Put page breaks between each new script. This will make counting words much easier.
3. Read each article, blog post, and transcript. Count words using Word’s “word count” feature. On the Mac, it is located under the Tools tab. Once you see the number of words in the script, you’ll know how much to cut.

Here are three ways to cut:

• Power Saw: Cut big portions that you don’t have room for. In print, you can list five ways to cure a cold. But on video, you have room for one good story that makes your point. Find the best point and run with it.
• Hack Saw: Cut trite phrases and redundancies. You’d be surprised how many times we say the same things over and over and over and over and over without realizing it. When you see in print what you said out loud, you’d be embarrassed. I certainly was! Ironically, it sounds fine when you say it.
• Petite Point Scissors: Cut words that add nothing. For example: the, that, which, and also.

I was surprised to find that one of my best stories was 380 words – after I cut out the garbage!

In other words, I still had to cut 1/3 of it.

Oddly enough, I did  – and true to Patricia Fripp’s advice – the story was better.

Best yet: It was ridiculously easy to cut out words that didn’t add anything to the story.

I was so fond of hearing my own voice, but that hurt my storytelling.

Shorter is better.

You can take advantage of Patricia Fripp’s great advice for speakers.

What does this have to do with getting more publicity?

There’s an answer for that, too.

Do you want reporters to quote you and interview you for their stories?

Get to the point.

Make your point.

Stay on point.

Follow this model to clean up your social media posts and your responses to reporters I’ll introduce you to.

You’ll stand a MUCH better chance against your competition who keep droning on and on and on and on…

And if you are like most consultants, you’ll point to your college degrees and rattle off the names of your clients.

The trouble is, most consultants can match you stride for stride, name for name.

So what can make you stand out?

The media.

When you are quoted in the media, you stand out from any competitor who hasn’t been on TV or quoted in the newspapers or magazines.

When people see your name in the media they think you are a star, a celebrity or just plain someone they can trust.

That kind of branding from the media is invaluable in creating your own brand and making you stand out from your competitors.

Getting quoted in the media is the first step.

Once you’ve been quoted, you have to take the second step, which is to use that media as a marketing piece.

You see, it isn’t enough that you’ve been quoted.

You can’t be assured that your prospects have seen the article.

After all, do you read every article in every newspaper you subscribe to?

Neither do your prospects.

It is up to you to send that article to all your clients, prospects, and former clients so you can build your business.

That’s an essential publicity tactic.

This free publicity tip also helps improve your branding and image.

You can send them the hard copy printout of the article via mail.

Or you can get an electronic version from the Internet and email it to your list.

In either case, this publicity tactic is a great way to stay in touch with the people who are in a position to hire you.

The truth about marketing is that you must stay in touch with your prospects.

You can’t rely on them to remember that you are still in business.

You need to be in front of them when they are ready to buy.

Sending your media clips to them performs that function.

Usually, media articles contain information that helps the reader.

When you send an article to a prospect, you are sharing that information that can help them solve a problem or make more money.

And the fact that you are the one who is quoted is a double plus in their eyes.

Be sure to personalize this so you really make an impact.

Include a short note saying, “I thought you’d like to see this.”

Or “This reminded me of our conversation a while back.”

Or something else that is meaningful and true.

If you follow this process, you will become one of the most respected names in your field – in the minds of your prospects.

The first step is to help you meet some reporters who can get you this exposure.

They all want to create a new idea and hop on a new trend.

After all, we all want to be thought of as smart and helpful.

But did you know:

The best way to bond with your readers is to show them that you are human!

It’s true.

I’ve been writing on the web for nearly 15 years and the times I get a flood of emails is when I reveal something personal about myself, not when I write a great article or explain a new tactic.

Now, relax.

I’m not talking about baring your soul, opening your emotional closet, or revealing your deepest fantasies.

I’m talking about when you do normal things.

From my own experience and those of others, I’ve found the greatest feedback when writing about:

• my cats
• my vacations
• my gardening
• my attempts at playing the guitar
• my training for a 5K race

I also get a lot of comments if a link doesn’t work or if there’s an extra space between words or if there’s a typo.

I’m sure that’s because people want to help.

And, there’s the time I added the “Life Events” to my Facebook timeline and when I added “Got Married”, I forgot to add the date!

My friends had a FIELD DAY with that one, seeing as Sue and I have been married for many, many happy years.

It made for a lot of good-natured ribbing, and people loved it!

All this just goes to show:

If you put more personality into your writing, people will want to know more about you and will bond with you.

I know one guy who writes about his skydiving.

Another person gives the play by play details of his upcoming wedding planning.

Another person prints jokes about dogs.

Another person writes about his horrible experiences at restaurants.

Let’s face it: most of the information we write about business can be written by anyone.

There are only so many ways to say “to lose weight, eat less and exercise more.”

Or the equivalents for getting a job, overcoming procrastination, asking for a raise, leading your employees, or making money on the Internet.

The thing that’s going to help you stand out is your personality.

When you show personality, you bond with your readers and you’ll have a better chance to build trust so you can make a sale.

Reporters love this too, so let’s introduce you to some who want to learn more about you.

Look to the Red Carpet for clues.

1. It happens every year. Reporters expect it. Their readers and viewers demand it. Reporters have to cover it. There are events in your profession that reporters have to cover, like New Year’s Resolutions in January, Relationships in February and Taxes in April. Find out what reporters cover and give it to them!
2. Actors and actresses come prepared. They don’t wear old rags. They are dressed to kill and they know what they are going to say. You should remember to treat your interview with as much preparation. What are you going to say? How do you want to appear to the media? Be like the Boy Scouts and “Be Prepared.”
3. Act like you belong there. Actors who were unknown a year ago walk with grace on the Red Carpet. Expert sources and thought leaders must display the confidence the same confidence. I’ve met many great people who have done amazing things but think they are not ready for prime time.

You are ready.

Now is your time.

Shine!

I have tools to help you reach reporters.

In fact, I’ll introduce you to reporters who want to quote and interview you.

Yes, that is a hypothetical question based on the age-old line of “If a tree falls in the forest and no one hears it…” – but there is a lot of similarity between the two ideas.

Many people get articles written about themselves via PR LEADS or their own pitching to reporters but they fail to do anything with it.

In effect, the publicity has created one ripple in the pond, but that ripple hasn’t spread.

It is up to you to make noise.

It is up to you to create a tidal wave from the ripple.

You might be leaving a lot of opportunities go by the wayside.

Here are 10 ways to promote your publicity:

1. Tweet a link to the article. I do this for my clients, when they tell me about their publicity via PR LEADS. I use a provocative title to get attention. Here’s an example: Need writing tips for a job application? @prleads client Diane L Samuels gets publicity on Monster.com http://ow.ly/2tGcI Notice how I use the keyword “publicity” so anyone looking for “publicity” on Twitter will see this. Use your own keywords as well so more people will find your links.
2. Post the link on your LinkedIn profile, which is a business-oriented social network.
3. Post the link to relevant groups on social media. Heavy emphasis on “relevant.” Don’t post it in places where people wouldn’t care. You’d be hurting yourself if you did that. Also, don’t say “I’m quoted here” and post the link. Tell people what they can learn by reading the article. Your focus should be on sharing information and not appearing self-promotional.
4. Send the link and article to your prospects, clients, and followers via email.
5. Post the link and the article to your blog – what is a blog, if not a news outlet?
6. Frame the article and hang it in your waiting room. Consider highlighting your quotes and name in yellow so it stands out from the rest of the article. The highlighting will focus a reader’s attention directly on your quote.
7. Copy the article and print it in your sales or marketing kit. The media give you a form of credibility that is unmatched. Use it.
8. Include the article in your book proposal. Book acquisition editors want to know that you can create publicity for the book. Show them here and you’re more likely to get a contract and more likely to get a larger advance.
9. Create a list of headlines of articles in which you were quoted and post that to your website. Include live links to the articles. Reporters and prospects will be impressed that you have so many media hits.
10. Use the front page of your website to let the world know you have been quoted. Too many clients get PR and hide it! Let the first impression people have of you be from the media.

Please respect all copyrights when you post articles or reproduce articles.

Contact the media to find out their policies for reprints of their materials in print and on websites and in emails or in other formats.

When you do these tasks, you’ll be letting your world know you are the thought leader and expert they seek to hire for their consulting, speaking, and other new business opportunities.

If you don’t do these tasks, your publicity will be yesterday’s news and will line the proverbial birdcage.

You must let the world know that you have gotten publicity.

You must beat your own drum.

And get help beating that drum so those who like your “music” will hear it and “sing along” to your tune!

By Jill Konrath

If you’re like most sellers, you don’t pay a lot of attention to the subject lines.

They’re an afterthought.

No big deal, right?

Totally wrong.

Your subject line is the most important part of your message.

If it’s not a good one, your email gets trashed in a nanosecond.

In fact, research by ExactTarget (my email newsletter service) show that the average person spends only 2.7 seconds on a message before deciding if they’ll delete it, forward it or read it.

Just 2.7 seconds. That’s all the time you have to capture a readers attention.

That’s why your subject line is so darn critical.

First, let’s talk about what you don’t put in a subject line.

In order to avoid auto-deletes, it’s imperative for you to:

• Avoid salesy verbiage. Get rid of words like excited, hot new product, free offer, or special pricing.
• Avoid info on your company. No one is interested in your new product announcements or company updates except you.
• Avoid capital letters. Just the first word should be capped. Otherwise it seems like a headline, not a personal message.

Now, let’s talk about what works in your prospecting emails.

Here are several options that have proven effective with today’s crazy-busy prospects.

• Use a referral. If someone has referred you to this person, put that in your subject line. They’ll want to know why. For example, you might write: Terry Jones said to get in touch.
• Ask a quick question. If your prospect feels it’s simple and relevant, they’ll take a look. Your subject line might read: Quick question re: new client acquisition challenges.
• Tempt with ideas or information. My prospects are always interested in subject lines like this: Idea to reduce your sales cycle time or How XYZ company increased sales to Fortune 500 companies by 127%.
• Mention a trigger event. If something is happening within the company or in their greater business environment that’s relevant to your offering, bring that up. For example, if you read about a recent merger, you might write: Impact of XYZ merger on (insert relevant business issue you address.)

Get the picture?

To work, your subject lines must focus on something your prospect cares about.

If you do that, they’ll keep reading.

Here’s a major caveat though.

When they start reading your message, it needs to deliver exactly what you promised in your subject line.

If you move into salesy mode or talk about your company, you’ll trigger your prospect’s auto-delete reaction.

They can’t control it.

And you’ve lost the opportunity to open the conversation.

Hopefully by now you understand just how critical those simple little subject lines are to your sales success. I’d suggest you sit down right now and create 10 new ones you can use in the upcoming weeks.

Finally, start your experiment.

See if you can tell which subject lines are most effective with your prospects.

Then create variations off the same theme.

You’ll immediately see the difference in your sale success.

Jill Konrath, author of SNAP Selling and Selling to Big Companies, helps sellers get more prospects in their pipeline, speed up sales cycles and land bigger contracts. She’s a frequent speaker at sales conferences. For more fresh sales strategies that work with crazy-busy prospects, visit www.jillkonrath.com.

If you want to have a successful public relations campaign to attract people to your website, you need to think visually.

Here’s a case in point.

Some time ago, I was in a hotel room in San Francisco, preparing to deliver my Successful Internet Marketing class at UC Berkeley Extension.

The TV was on in the background with the usual happy-talk broadcasters talking about the usual local events.

Suddenly, my ears perk up as I hear a feature news report.

It’s about a company named Autowraps that has a new spin on advertising.

They paid people to turn their cars into billboards.

Autowraps pasted a full-body poster onto cars.

When these ad-plastered cars would drive around town, people saw this novel advertising format and gained another impression of the company and its message.

Here’s the key lesson of today’s article:

When you interrupt the expected visual format, you get attention.

When you see an ordinary car, you won’t notice.

But when you see a car that looks like a 5,000-gallon ice cream container, you sure WILL notice!

Good advertising you say, but what’s the PR point here?

The company thought visually to get the story on the air.

I’m guessing they pitched the story to the news director by saying “Hey, you want to see a bunch of normal people turn their cars into billboards for an ice cream company?”

Who can resist that kind of oddball, man-bites-dog pitch?

But the story doesn’t end with a good visual.

They added extra elements that turned this story into a five-minute documentary!

First, the story was shot in the Autowraps garage.

Now, garages might not be particularly interesting, but they are a lot more visually appealing than the standard interview set in an office.

Again, they interrupted the normal expectations.

Then they showed an artist applying the ad to the car. I would have thought that the ad was painted on, but the artist actually applied a bumper sticker like material to the car and had to cut out spaces for the mirror, light and other problem areas. So, not only was the ad visual, but the application of the ad was visual as well.

Then they rounded out the story. They invited several people who have turned their cars into billboards and the reporters interviewed them. One woman said she thought it was cool and could use the money. She could make nearly $5,000 a year by driving around town. Then they interviewed a guy who said he liked the attention. In fact, he was one of the first people to buy a Volkswagen Beetle just so people would look at his cool car. Now that thousands of Beetles are on the road, he needed something to get more attention, so Autowraps was a blessing for him!

The reporter conducted a normal interview with the company exec who spouted his company’s key messages. He also had interesting info, like “How do you know these people are driving around, instead of putting the car in the garage?” Answer: “We have a GPS device in the car, so we know where it is at all times. We even know how fast they are driving.”

So we have all the elements here.

Good story, good visual, good interview subjects. Now they added another piece to expand the story to the community and other news outlets:

They will give the first 10 people who come to their offices a free car-makeover today – and pay them to be driving billboards.

If they do their job right, the PR people can expect to see print reporters lining up to interview the drivers!

They can create their own original story and take their own pictures for print and electronic publications.

All in all, a great PR campaign.

Lessons learned: Think visually.

Homework: Look at your product or service and see what is visual about it.

What elements can you add to make the story even more visual?

Now write a pitch letter and start calling reporters!

(I can put you in touch with reporters who want to interview and quote you.)

That’s because reporters are always looking to interview authorities when a story breaks.

Leveraging controversy is pretty much the same thing as leveraging ANY trending theme or story.

If reporters know about you, there’s a good chance you could be interviewed on TV or appear in news stories.

This is phenomenal publicity for your business and/or book because reporters will always say you are the author of the book.

On TV, they likely will show the cover of the book as well.

Here are 10 ways to help you piggyback off the news to get free publicity for your book or your business.

1. Monitor the news. Google Alerts is a free service that will notify you when news breaks.
2. Follow social media sites like Twitter to see which topics are trending, i.e. what people are tweeting about. That can give you the fast track on breaking news. The first report of the plane landing in the Hudson River in New York City was carried on Twitter.
3. Create a list of reporters you would want to contact when a story breaks. These could be local reporters at your local television station or newspaper. They could be editors at trade publications. The choice is yours.
4. Contact these reporters and let them know about your expertise and your willingness to be quoted in stories about this subject. They’ll appreciate having your name on file.
5. Make sure they know how to get in touch with you. Give them your direct dial numbers, not a switchboard or voice mail jail. If you aren’t easy to reach, they will call the next person. They are on tight deadlines and don’t have time to wait for you to return calls. You must be accessible.
6. When stories break, contact these reporters and ask how you can be of service to them.
7. Have appropriate attire ready at your office in case they want you to do an on-camera interview. If you go to work in jeans and shorts, that’s fine. But if you go on air, you’ll want to look professional and you might not have time to go home to get spruced up.
8. Do as much research on the breaking news as possible so you can speak to those issues directly.
9. Get media trained. If you haven’t been in front of a camera before, hire a media trainer to give you tips on what to say, what to wear and how to move your body. You’ll be glad you did.
10. Always carry copies of your book/s. If you go on TV, they’ll want a copy to show to the audience. If you speak to print reporters, they might want to post a picture to their website and print edition. If you speak to a radio reporter or talk show host, they might want to give away copies as a promotion. Put a box of books in the trunk of your car. You’ll never regret it.

If you follow these publicity tactics, you’ll have a better chance to get free publicity for your book or your business.

Here are 10 common problems I’ve seen with entrepreneurs who want publicity.

1. You think you don’t have anything newsworthy to say. That’s false because it is up to the reporter to decide what is newsworthy. If you tell yourself there’s nothing newsworthy going on, you could be wrong. It takes a reporter or a PR person to look at your business objectively and find out what is news. Some of my clients think they don’t have anything interesting to talk about. But when I ask them about their business, I can see that they are doing things that no one else is doing. That’s news! And they get coverage by reporters in their business journals who are interested in this information.
2. You don’t think of yourself as an expert. That’s not true because you have developed a level of expertise by running your business and dealing with customers, suppliers, vendors, bankers, and government agencies. You know a lot more than you give yourself credit for. I’ve had many clients who suffer from this. They don’t give themselves credit for all their experiences and obstacles they have overcome. Once I point out how much they know, they can’t wait to tell their stories to the media.
3. You think that someone else is better qualified to talk to reporters. That may be true, but that doesn’t matter. Reporters will talk to the person who is available right now. If the hotshot expert you are deferring to is on vacation, too busy to talk to reporters, or not interested in talking to reporters, not making yourself known means you miss out.
4. You don’t think their news is important. This is also not true. Many publications have columns for small pieces of news from local companies. They want to know what is going on. It might not wind up on the front page, but it very well might wind up in print or on the web.
5. You don’t know what to say or how to say it. That could be true. That’s why they can hire a media coach to teach them how to say things, or they could hire a PR person who can speak or write on their behalf and make them sound great.
6. You don’t know how to contact the media. While that might have been a problem years ago, it has never been easier to contact the media. Nearly every reporter can be found on Google and contacted via Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, and more.
7. You don’t think PR can help you. Very false. Publicity can help build your brand, create instant credibility, and provide widespread visibility. For example, we wrote a press release announcing new training programs for the Reiki Institute. The press release was printed in many online media websites, and her site was flooded with new visitors who inquired about her programs.
8. You are afraid of being rejected. Okay. That’s true. But if you don’t try, then you’ve already been rejected.
9. You don’t have a big budget to hire a PR firm. That could be true since PR firms can charge $30,000 and up for a 6-month contract. However, there are many low cost tools and free tools on the Internet that can help small businesses that want to do their own publicity. Plus, there are many small PR agencies that can take on small projects to help small businesses – and charge affordable rates.
10. You are afraid of success. You wonder how you could deal with all the traffic to your business or website. Well, that’s a good problem to have!

Why you are talking yourself out of getting publicity?

As soon as you stop sabotaging your publicity, you’ll have a better chance of being quoted today, tomorrow, and long into the future.

Works every time.

If you can learn to play an instrument in 10 minutes a day, why can’t you get publicity with just 10 minutes a day?

The truth is, you can.

I’ve been preaching this philosophy for the past 12 years that I’ve run PR Leads and helped literally thousands of people get publicity.

It shouldn’t take more than 10 minutes to scan leads, respond to a reporter, and get back to doing whatever you want to do.

I have a zillion time-saving tips in my groundbreaking book, “Reporters Are Looking for YOU!”

If you are serious about getting publicity, but say you don’t have the time, then you need to buy this book.

I priced it very low – it’s an easy investment.

I didn’t want to charge a fortune for it.

That’s my sense of fair play.

Other people would charge $1,000 for a “system.”

That’s just the way I am.

Here’s the link to buy the book.

Don’t do this stuff, as I shared earlier.

And know this too:

When you pitch a reporter with your great story idea, remember that reporters aren’t looking to find a new best friend.

Too many PR people try to become reporters’ friends by asking about their weekend activities, their families, and the like.

Stop.

They don’t want a new BFF.

Here are ways to build strong relationships with reporters and make you media friend-LY.

Follow these, and you’ll be well on your way toward mastering the reporter connection.

1. Tell the truth. Don’t lie, or mislead. That’s the kiss of death.
2. Don’t use hype. Even if your product is the best in the market, they won’t believe it. They hear superlatives all day long. When you gush about your product or service, you won’t stand out. You’ll sound like all the others. Just tell the facts.
3. Get to know the reporter by reading their articles, blogs and TV segments. It’s easy to find this info now.
4. When you pitch the reporter, refer to their articles. It’s a compliment to the reporter and they’ll know you’ve done your homework.
5. Read their blogs and comment when you can add value. Reporters will get to know you and value you.
6. Return phone calls and emails quickly. Reporters are always on deadline. If you aren’t available, someone else is. They will use the info from whomever responds fastest.
7. Give reporters your direct dial phone numbers for mobile and desk. Don’t put them through a switchboard or voice mail jail systems.
8. If you don’t know the answer, then say so. If you can find info, let them know how long it will take to get back to them – and then make sure you do.
9. Double-check your facts and spellings of names. If you give an error to the reporter, you’ll make them look bad – and they will never forget that – AND they’ll warn people about you.
10. Thank-yous are always appreciated, but gifts are not. Reporters want to be acknowledged, but they don’t want to feel like they’ve been bribed. Give compliments. Keep gifts.

If you follow these guidelines, you’ll have a better chance of being quoted today, tomorrow, and long into the future.

But there is a right way and a wrong way to pitch your story.

Here are a few tips on what NOT to do, so you can get more attention in the media.

Don’t even think of breaking these rules if you want to get quoted and interviewed by reporters:

1. Don’t assume they have all the time in the world to talk to you. They don’t. They are always busy.
2. Don’t assume they want to hear new pitches. Some columnists create their own ideas and don’t want to hear pitches.
3. Don’t pitch off topic. Do your homework to know which reporters cover your topic and are a good fit for your story.
4. Don’t threaten reporters with pulling your advertising. Reporters don’t care if you advertise with the publication or are best friends with the publisher. They want info their readers care about.
5. Don’t interrupt them on deadline. Since you don’t know their deadline, always ask if this is a good time to talk. If it isn’t, ask them when you can call back.
6. Don’t run on and on with your story idea. Pause and ask them if they are interested, if they want more info or if they have questions. That shows respect.
7. Don’t pitch them the same feature story idea they just wrote about. In most cases, they are done with that story for a while. That said, if you are pitching on a breaking news story, they COULD be interested in info for a follow-up story.
8. Don’t offer an exclusive. You could probably do more harm to yourself than good.
9. Don’t be ignorant. Read the reporters recent articles so you know what they write about and can comment on those articles. That shows a great deal of respect and that can open doors for you.
10. Don’t be unprepared. Think of the questions reporters will ask and have a ready answer. You want to sound as prepared and professional as possible. Put yourself in the reporter’s shoes and consider the likely questions. If the reporter still asks a question you can’t answer, tell her you’ll get back to her promptly – and then do so.

If you follow these tips, you’ll have a better chance of being quoted in newspapers and magazines, as well at TV and radio.

But don’t expect your audience – even the people who subscribe to your list and follow you on social media – to stumble upon that article on their own!

You can and must show prospects and clients the article so you can get new business.

Write these four tactics down and add them to your process that you either do yourself, or give to your assistant, every time your name gets mentioned in the media:

1. Send copies to your current clients to let them know they are working with a superstar.
2. Send copies to prospects to get them to move off the fence.
3. Send copies to former clients so they know you are still in business and ready for their next project.
4. Post a copy to your website so prospects can get a positive impression of you from a respected source and trusted brand.

When you do this, you build your brand by leveraging the media’s brand.

Make it part of your routine.

Make it automatic.

Help your prospects and customers see you as the market and niche superstar you truly are.

It all starts when you connect with reporters who need to speak with you.

She asked me how she can ace the live interview and make it memorable.

A lot of it has to do with branding and search engine marketing, actually.

Here’s what I told her:

1. Make a list of 3 points you want to cover, and make sure you work them into your answers.
2. Embed your keyphrases into your answers, so people can use them to find you online.
3. Review your answers and see if there is a way to make them shorter, without sacrificing content – people remember sound bytes!
4. Think of a rhyme, alliteration (using same letters to start several words), or a cute phrase that would be a good “sound byte”  – for example “Proper planning prevents poor performance.”  Try to create something that dovetails with how you can be found online.
5. Remember that you probably won’t be allowed to say the URL of your website. However, you CAN usually say something like “I’ve come up with ’13 Ways To Improve Performance Through Planning’. The third thing I recommend is…” – have that as the title of blog posts as well as podcast interviews where people can find you by name, because now they’ll want 1-2 and 4-13 as well!

In fact, note the title of this article: “5 More Media Training Tips That Help People Find And Remember You”

I’ve provided HUNDREDS of media training tips (it’s a good idea for you and me to stay in touch) through:

• Media interviews (I’ve been on CNBC, among other networks)
• Podcast interviews (I’ve done scores of them)
• Webinar trainings (I’ve done scores of those, too)
• Blog posts (I do a new one just about every week)
• E-mails to my subscribers (I send them every week)
• Posts to my social media (I add them almost every day)

But when I said “5 MORE”, did it make you at least a little curious what some of the other ones are, or where you might at least find the “first five”?

The more your answers align with your messaging, the more your interview builds your brand.

Reporters need to interview and quote people like you.

One friendly reporter who can rely on you for great quotes for their article and provide expert support for their news story can make your entire career!

What I’ve outlined is basically how experts who appear regularly on their LOCAL 6-o’clock news use that to build a NATIONAL presence.

The first step, of course, is to meet and connect with reporters and journalists.

Now that’s a great question for the digital age!

OF COURSE you want to tell the world about the article you’ve been quoted in.

I quickly thought of these ideas:

Go to the media website and use their social share buttons to share the story.

The reporter will appreciate it as more and more reporters are rated by their editors on the numbers of views and shares their articles receive.

You’ll build rapport with the reporter when you do this – and let them know you did this!

You can create your own tweets to promote your own branding.

Here are a few tweets I’d suggest as templates:

• [YOUR NAME] quoted on topic in publication [LINK] – for example, “Mary Smith quoted on energy trends in Today’s Business. [LINK]”
• [YOUR TITLE AND NAME] name quoted on [TOPIC] in publication [LINK] – for example, “Energy expert Mary Smith quoted on environmental resources in Today’s Business. [LINK]”

Use your imagination:

• “What’s wrong with environmental resources?  Mary Smith quoted in Today’s Business. [LINK]”
• “Is your company making the environmental mistakes? Read Mary Smith’s quote in Today’s Business. [LINK]”

You can go on forever!

In fact, social media publishing guru Jay Baer suggested these kinds of tweets when he spoke at the National Speakers Association.

He said he writes 10 tweets for each piece of content he creates.

That seems to be a good rule of thumb to follow.

The first step, of course, is to get quoted by reporters who want to interview you.

You do NOT have to answer each question.

In fact, I’d suggest you pick only the best question that helps you the most and answer that.

Why?

They aren’t going to quote you on six answers.

They want to quote six different people.

So if you have only one shot at the brass ring, grab that ring and forget the others.

Also, if you aren’t an expert in the other areas, then you’ll drag yourself down in their eyes by giving trite answers.

Save yourself the time.

Managing your time is very important so you don’t get overwhelmed.

Stay fresh and alert for your next opportunity!

The reporter will get enough responses from other people for the other questions, no worries!