Savor the Success - Business Network for women entrepreneurs

Have you ever wondered how to get on TV as an expert?

Because I want you to get the maximum exposure for your product or service, I am sharing my journey on why and how I got on TV as a "Green Lifestyle and Beauty Expert".

Here's how you can do the same for you and your business.

What's Your Why?

The first step for a successful PR campaign is to know why you want to get on TV.

My motivation to get on TV was very straighforward and simple: I wanted to become an advocate for my organic skincare line, Om Aroma, and to put a face to the company's name. I also wanted to champion other green products that I believed in (especially if it came from a woman entrepreneur).

We had received a lot of blog and magazine hits already. After getting those placements, I now felt that we were ready to leverage the power of TV. 

I must have tried for about a year to no avail. The road was not easy, but after learning some tricks of the trade, I was booked on four TV shows within a span of a month.

Within that month, I was able to learn some simple media training tips, which I'm going to share with you.

How To Be An Expert On TV:

1. Become an "Expert" at Something.

This past summer, I joined forces with Melissa Cassera, a publicity expert who specializes in creating media experts.

She sat me down and said, "Listen, we aren't going to be able to get you on TV just to talk about Om Aroma. We need to turn you into an expert and come up with pitches that may highlight the product line but the focus must be on educating the viewers."

She gave me my homework assignment:

• Create a blog website attached to the Om Aroma site that had my tips on how to lead a green lifestyle.
• Create a website with my name AngelaJiaKim.com that had all three of my companies so if the media needed to throw up a website on the TV screen, this would give them a "landing page".
  
• Start to look for other green product lines that I could champion.
• Come up with some topics that I was passionate about (I'm pregnant, I'm passionate about why I created this organic skincare company, and I love inspiring others to live clean, deep, and green.)

2. Craft Educational and Fun Pitches.

We crafted 5-7 pitches around some relevant topics that I felt comfortable to talk about, i.e. "How to Green Your Pregnancy and Nursery", "How to Throw an Eco-Chic Baby Shower" and "Top 10 Ingredients to Avoid in Beauty Products". Each pitch had 5-7 points with an educational tip and a proposed visual.

Melissa sent out many more pitches, but it seemed that the media liked the fact that I was 7 months pregnant and wanted to go with the pregnancy and baby shower slant. So we went with it!

3. Visuals are a Must!

Always have TV props or visuals to demonstrate your talking point. For example, I would say that the first step to greening your pregnancy is to avoid toxic chemicals in your skincare. Why? Because 60% of what we put on our skin is absorbed into our bloodstream and can be transferred to Baby. Then I'd show the visual of the Om Aroma product.

How To Get Camera Ready and Be A Great Guest!

1. Show up Early and Talk About What You Love.

My first experience on the air was stressful because I showed up very late on the set due to unexpected traffic. In fact, I was so late that they had to put me at another time... not a good first start. I was literally setting up as she was introducing me on air. Lesson learned: Don't leave on time... leave early!

When I saw myself on TV, I realized that whenever I felt slightly uncomfortable, I moved my arms in constant circular motion, I said "you know" way too many times, and I felt hurried. I was really disappointed in myself. See for yourself:

So I turned to Jennifer Flaa, a media training expert, and she went through the video with me in a totally non-judgemental way.

(IMPORTANT: Never work with a media trainer who pinpoints everything you did wrong.  This will only make you feel defensive and will make you freeze up the next time!)

I started out by telling her everything that I did wrong like saying "ummm" or making too many hand gestures. She said that she didn't even want to address this because if we focused in on what I felt most passionate about - living a green life and showing great products to back it up - the negatives would naturally go away. She was right!

She also gave me other quick tricks: lean in, connect with the host (say her name, touch her arm... just everything you'd do in a real conversation), and enjoy the moment. Small tips like this naturally made the "you knows" disappear, and I didn't feel as hurried during the next appearance. 

2. Listen to the Host...No Really...Listen!

My second appearance with Better Philly went much better because I actually practiced the segment at home and arrived early. After watching myself, I realized that I was so prepared that I didn't really listen to the host. I think the best segments are when you can have a true conversation with the host.

3. Be Flexible and Understand Things May Change.

My next stop was the Fox station in CT. I had practiced and prepared and felt great! Twenty seconds before going on air, the producer directed me, "Please don't say product names or talk too much about products." Um, hello, that's what the pitch was all about so what was she saying??

I had to make a quick decision about what I would do. Should I completely change everything to follow her directions or should I stick to my plan? You can see from the video what my decision was.

From the get-go, I was a bit off-kilter and if you watch this clip to the end, you'll see that I was so off-balance that I started talking about eco-chic weddings instead of baby showers!

4. Don't Forget to Say Your Website Name!

The last appearance for NBC in Philadelphia was a lot of fun. For this segment, if the host made a mistake or something didn't go as planned, I remained flexible and just rolled with the punches. The one thing that I would do differently is to try to say website names so people know where to find the products because as you will see in this segment, they did not put the websites on the screen as was promised.

So that's my summer fun with TV and media training. Hope it helps you as you prepare to get your products or services on air!