A decade ago, Colorado consultant Debra Benton gave her
career a lasting boost in less than one minute. She called
a famous columnist and told him in one sentence what she
did: teach executives how to have charisma. The columnist
took her number and called her back a week later for an
interview. The day his article appeared, she received calls
from Time and Newsweek as well as from several executives
who turned into clients. Time ran its own story on her,
which led to writeups in Barron's, Financial Weekly, The New
York Times, "CBS This Morning" and "Good Morning America."
Much of her business -- and her ability to charge thousands
of dollars a day for her services -- is still indirectly
traceable back to the phone call to that columnist.
Now what can you learn from this?
First, she used a concise, intriguing characterization of
herself. This takes most people much more than one minute
to formulate. Unless you have a most unusual job title,
such as New York State Official Handwriting Analyst, your
job title won't perform this function. Instead you need to
delve below "stockbroker," "shoe wholesaler" or "sports
trainer" to put into words the results that you produce for
some group of people.
A financial planner I met says, "I help people create wealth
and pass it on to their children free of taxes." I
sometimes tell people, "I help people access and express
their creativity effectively." The shoe wholesaler might
say, "I help men fulfill their yearning for inexpensive,
comfortable shoes." You'll know you've done it right when
people lean forward after you reel off your sentence and ask
you, "How do you do that?"
Second, Benton did the research necessary to reach someone
who presented a good chance of responding well to her pitch.
Although her research consisted simply of taking note of the
personality and interests of the columnist, whom she
regularly read anyone, you'll often need to go out of your
way to find the right person to call for the kind of results
she got.
Think about the audience you hope to reach and what
publications they read or what programs they watch or listen
to. Then call the publication or show to learn the name and
direct number of the person you should speak to. Or you can
consult an up-to-date media directory in the reference
department of almost any public library. For larger radio
or TV shows you want to speak to the producer, not the host.
Third, when you call, respect the other person's time.
Because media people face unforgiving, absolute deadlines,
public relations pros usually start off with something like,
"Hello, this is ____. Are you on deadline or do you have a
moment now?" Tell them only as much as is necessary to
pique their interest -- no more. Don't take it personally
if they appear brusque or cold, and never argue with or
insult someone who's given you a "no." Tell yourself, "I
guess I caught her at a bad time," or "OK, my story's not
for him," and go on to another person on your list.
Fourth, practice what you'll say when they do want to do a
full-length interview. Decide on three major points you
want to get across and get a journalism student or your
friend who secretly wants to be Barbara Walters to feed you
both relevant and off-the-wall questions. One reason Debra
Benton got such terrific results from her interview with the
columnist is that she tried to anticipate what he might ask
and prepared compelling examples and convincing replies.
Finally, do work up the courage to try. And let me know
when a simple phone call gets your talents into the papers
or on the air. I'd love to add you to my success files!
Copyright 1998 Marcia Yudkin. All rights
reserved
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