Short segment from TJ Walker's live-stream 'The Habit Influencer' (Personal Development) offering actionable advice for building relationships with media professionals. Key points: always return reporters' calls promptly (same day/hour), arrive early for broadcasts, be friendly to everyone (including interns), make yourself available for odd hours/last-minute bookings, and supply interesting ideas and concise soundbites.
Chapters
So how do you make producers, reporters, hosts, editors, love you and want to work with you. Because after all, the real power of the media these days is not that.
There'S any one big show like Oprah where you get on once and you're famous and you're rich and everything just turns out fantastic.
The real power of the media is.
Going back again and again.
It's repeat visits. It is repeated exposure.
So it's not enough to do an.
Interview and get your message across.
Ideally, you're building good relationships with reporters, editors, producers so that they want you back on a regular basis.
So how do you do this?
For starters, basic human decency and etiquette.
Return phone calls.
Even if it's a story you don't.
Want to be a part of.
Always return every reporter, every journalist phone call. Even if it's to say, I don't.
Think I'm the best expert for you.
On this subject today, but I know someone who is.
Always return phone calls.
Same day, same hour. Unless you're on an airplane. That's tip one. Next tip.
When you're going to a media outlet, any kind of live radio or TV.
Broadcast, get there early.
They are in an extraordinarily time sensitive business.
Get there early.
Give yourself some wiggle room.
Don't dash in five minutes late.
Oh, there was bad traffic. Guess what? There's always bad traffic. That's not excuse.
Next thing. Be friendly to everyone.
That person who is bringing you into.
The green room, who is a 22.
Year old intern who looks like they're.
14, might be the chief booking producer in a month.
That person who is a small AM.
Talk radio station booker one month. Next month could be a primetime booker on cnn.
So be nice to everyone.
Give them your card. Write on your card, your cell phone, if your cell phone isn't on that and let them know they can call you anytime. And I mean anytime.
I've made countless appearances on national network tv, msnb, cnn, fox.
Not because I was the most famous.
Guest they could get, but because producers.
Knew that if they called me at 10 o' clock on Friday night or Saturday morning at 7am, I'd be happy.
To appear at 8 or 9am on a Saturday morning.
So make yourself available. Finally, the best tip of all. Have interesting ideas and have great quotes.
Interesting sound bites to make those ideas come alive.
That's the number one way to really build strong relationships with reporters and media.
People is to give them what they.
Need for building the stories. They need great quotes, they need great sound bites, they need great content, so.
Putting out a steady stream of great ideas packaged with sound bites.
