BY TJ Walker

Let’s say you or your publicist has talked to a reporter and they are kinda sorta interested in doing a segment that may or may not feature you. This is a squishy situation where you can be left hanging very easily. Here’s what I recommend:

1. Quickly (and I mean in 5 minutes or less) write down your thoughts on the subject at hand.
2. Shoot a quick talking head video in as professional environment as possible. (make it 90 seconds or less)
3. Summaries your points in text format in 2 to 3 sentences in sound bite form.
4. Upload the video to YouTube.
5. Email the video link and the 2-3 sentence summary, along with your media bio to the producer or editor and let them know you are available for the interview. Continue reading →

BY TJ Walker

As mentioned earlier, the best way to be a real big wig in the social media world is to be a big wig in the traditional media world—not always, but it sure can help.

When you look at many of the most trafficked videos on YouTube, they are often the most interesting clips that aired on a traditional network newscast or entertainment show like Saturday Night Live. One way of creating a bigger name and following for yourself is to simply capture any interview you do with a traditional media outlet, i.e. a spot on your local ABC affiliate morning show, and then upload that to all of your social media sites. Most of your friends, followers, clients and prospects won’t necessarily have seen you on the 6 AM broadcast in your city, but they can watch the 3 minute video clip on YouTube, form your Facebook page or on your news room page on your web site. Consult your favorite intellectual property lawyer first, but there are ways, (through purchase or otherwise) for you to post these videos.

Another technique I use is to create a video of myself being interviewed, i.e. if a CBS TV reporter is interviewing me on set, I will have a staff member of mine capture the whole video on a Flip video camera. Now I have something to show friends, followers, fans, clients and prospects immediately. I own full rights to the video so there is never any copyright issue. And I build anticipation for the real interview when it eventually airs.

Continue reading →

BY TJ Walker

Major broadcast network TV shows and syndicated programs will often want to do what is called a pre-interview with you before committing to a final booking with you. So you may have impressed a booker on the Today Show or Oprah enough to call you and express interest in you based on your purported area of expertise. But believe me, you are still a long, long way from actually getting on the set. You will still have to jump through several more hoops, namely a pre-interview or two. “Pre-interview” is actually a misnomer. It is actually an interview over the phone; it’s just that no one will ever see or hear the results of this interview except for the producer who is asking you the questions. The producer is trying to figure out if you are good enough, interesting enough or have the right point of view for the story.

So where does social media video come into play in all of this? Ask the producer what questions/topics they would like you to discuss for the segment. Often times the producers will send you likely questions. If they don’t volunteer the questions, you can ask for them. Then, ask them what the length of time would be for your face time on the show. Ideally, you are given 4 or five sample questions and told a time limit of, say, 3 minutes.

What most people do is just wait for the producer to call back and often answer the questions live. The problem with this approach is that if you get off on the wrong foot, or if your phone connection is sketchy or if the producer is tired at the end of a long day, you might be instantly scratched as a possible question on a TV forum with a multi-million audience. Ouch!

Continue reading →

BY TJ Walker

There are many ways of marking milestones when it comes to your progress with creating social media videos. Of course it’s nice when things are as simple as 10 million views on your YouTube “views” counter.

One key indicator is that people start expecting and looking for and even asking for your video commentaries on a particular subject. When publicists, bookers, editors and clients start asking for your opinions or writing and asking, “Have you done a video yet on (hot topic of the day on your niche)” then you know you have at least partially arrived.

Once this happens, you know that you have been successful at fusing your image and expertise with your niche and people start to have such strong associations with you and your expertise and the topic in the news.

Continue reading →