Want tremendous success in your career and business? Think about using publicity strategy to create thought leader status and national expert status in your field. You can be the expert the media goes to for commentary on a breaking news story or emerging story in your area of expertise.
To be a top expert in your field you will need to have a vast knowledge of the issues facing your industry. Don’t worry, it’s not hard and it’s not a lot of work to do this. It’s a publicity and media strategy that works.
Knowing what you can talk about is a major asset so prepare in advance by creating a list of all of the related aspects of a topic where you can lend your experience. For example if you are a career expert you can talk about how to get a job in a tough economy, how to get hired when everyone else is not, or how to position yourself to get hired in the future.
Expanding on your already known areas of expertise helps you qualify for more stories and more segments the media is covering. The idea is to broaden your area of commentary to capture more media opportunities for yourself.
You see, there are lots of ways to apply your talent and knowledge to the issues at hand and here’s how to do it. Find an event or news story in your topic area and give your point of view as it relates to the story. Experience will tell you that your commentary is excellent and works well for the story. Whenever a story breaks, the media is interested in experts to comment and expand on the issues of relevancy in the story. You can be that expert!
Your professional and expert BIO is the first thing you need to create. Include all of your accomplishments from education to awards to credentials to expertise and including your radio, TV, print and internet media placments where you have been the expert. Have you been a guest on TV before? Be sure to tell about this in your bio. The bigger and more well known your media placements, the better for you.
Your bio should support your area of expertise and leave out the personal information that does not matter to the media such as hobbies or how many kids you have although you can mention the location of your nearest major city as sometimes the media likes to know where you or your business is located.
Create a publicity list of the radio and TV shows you want to on as a guest, or the newpapers, magazine and internet media you want to get into and build a list of contacts at the media outlets. You can establish yourself as an expert in your field with the media and then when something happens or a story emerges and you can provide the news commentary or opinion you can contact your media directory.
They already know you and it will be more likely they will choose you for the opportunity.
Get positioned with the media and your producers in advance so you will be set up and ready to go when a story or news events emerges that is perfect for your commentary. An example is about a career or workplace expert who can comment on the industry events from workers losing their jobs to the unemployed going back to school.
If a news event happens, such as a new jobs report or unemployment report coming out, your expertise, commentary and analysis will be in demand.
Keep you eye on the news events of the day and when an event happens that is making headlines notifiy your media contacts, such as your producers and journalists in your contact list. Include your contact info and availability so they can connect with you quickly. This could be your big chance to get booked on major TV or be the quoted expert in prestigious media or major internet news sites.
Remember that the media can call you and ask you to head straight down to the studio to be a commenting expert on a breaking news story. Be completely ready and able to drop everything to talk to the media, appear on a radio show or go down to your TV studio for an interview. One thing is true; the media moves very fast and appreciates immediate access to experts who can also respond quickly to publicity.
Invest in media training as it will add greatly to your ability to appear relaxed and professional. The media, especially radio and TV producers, love a well prepared guest and media trained expert who knows how to convey information on the exact topic quickly and accurately without stumbling, rambling on and on or appearing nervous. Think polished, professional and experienced.
You will get one chance to showcase yourself on TV, radio, print and internet if you are a great expert that the media can count on to do a great job, you will be asked back. Ask your media trainer to train you on your talking points. Order a digital copy of your appearance so you can integrate your appearance into your marketing strategy and public relations initiatives.