Archive for August, 2010

by TJ Walker

Why settle for just one interview on one subject if you can get two or three in one sitting?

Anytime I do one interview I pitch the reporter at the very end to see if there is interest in doing another interview on related but different topics. So if I reporter has interviewed me on how an executive has both a crisis media interview I might also pitch them on the idea of an analysis of the president’s latest big speech or a how-to story on how people can improve their job interview skills. This doesn’t work all the time or even a majority of the time. But it works often enough that it greatly increases my overall interview count for the year and it positions me stronger in the eyes of a reporter as a versatile communications expert and not simply a public speaking expert or a crisis communications expert.  Even if the reporter doesn’t have the time or interest in doing a second story on a second topic, he/she usually appreciates the initiative and the interest in their media outlet. In fact, I’ve never received any negative outcome from asking a reporter to consider doing a second story on a related topic.

If I develop a relationship with a media outlet whereby their reporter is calling me semi-frequently, I will also pitch them on the idea of me being a regular columnist or video/audio commentator for their media outlet. Again, it doesn’t usually happen that open. But when it does, it is a great way of reaching a new audience on a regular basis.

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by TJ Walker

It’s simple, do a new video every day, or at least several times a week. Basically, as frequently as you blog or write emails to customers or prospects, you can do videos too.

I am constantly amazed when the following thing happens in my audience. I will have an executive sitting in my TV studio and we will be having an interesting conversation about their business or organization. This executive will be interesting, engaging, confident and fluid in their conversation. Next, I ask for a brief timeout to shoot a speaking or media analysis talking head video to go up on YouTube and my other sites. Now, 29 times out of 30 times I do this in one take, in 2 minutes or less. The reaction is always the same. My guest’s jaw drops and they say something like “Oh my God, that’s amazing! How did you do that? You are so articulate. I could never do that!”

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by TJ Walker

Like with any other aspect in life or business, it’s good to have some specific goals beyond merely showing up!

Most people don’t get much out of their media encounters because they don’t have any specific, quantifiable goals going into the interview. If you don’t have any goals, then it’s easy not to fail, but it’s also hard to succeed.

At a bare minimum, here are the basic goals you need to set out for yourself before every media interview: Read the rest of this entry »

by TJ Walker

The point of this book is not to make you an internet video star. Unless you are a world-class comic, a hot chick willing to get naked or a weird guy willing to drink pee, you aren’t going to become famous on the internet with your videos. But you CAN become well known to a niche of people who care about how what you do and what you know can help them in some aspect of their life.

The point of internet video is the same point of blogging, paper newsletters, email newsletters, and old fashion book—communication. But what is different about Internet video is that it is so much more powerful than old forms of communications because it has full range motion, audio and, if need be, text. The other huge, huge advantage of you creating internet video is that for the moment and the near term future, most of your competitors are either too lazy, too insecure, or too scared to produce their own internet videos. This means you will have much less completion for eyeballs and attention.

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