How to Get a TV offer in 45 minutes

Case Study: Placing a Chocolatier on a TV talk show.

Wei of Chocolate is a chocolate company in Phoenix AZ, specializing in organic dark chocolates infused with spices and flower essences. Lisa Reinhardt, the CEO and chocolatier of Wei wanted some publicity for her products.

We discussed her products and the aspects of dark chocolate. A focus that became immediately obvious was the health benefits of dark chocolate: eaten in small amounts, it can help prevent cardiovascular disease.

At 1:00pm on Wednesday 1/20/10, I sent a press release to our local media pitching a story about how dark chocolate is good for the heart, and positioned Lisa as an expert who could talk about it. At 1:44pm that same day I heard back from the producer of Sonoran Living Live at Channel 15; Sonoran Living Live wanted to have Lisa do a segment on their show on 1/25/10.

The response from the TV studio took only 45 minutes. I think that’s a record response. Why did it happen so fast? Here’s what we did:

1. February is American Heart Month. Dark chocolate has anti-inflammatory properties that are good for the heart, therefore, this story fit in perfectly (I talked about using specific calendar days to help promote your products in a previous post). People in the media want to deliver solid and helpful information to their audience. We provided factual and usable information that fit Heart Month.

2. Sonoran Living Live’s audience is primarily women, so we made the title: “Chocolate: Medicine for a Woman’s Healthy Heart”. Reason: studies show that eating dark chocolate can help reduce a woman’s risk of heart problems by 33%. Therefore, we have a good reason to mention women.

3. Lisa has expertise in this area. Lisa has researched the effects of dark chocolate on women’s heart health, and can speak to it clearly and succinctly.

We had created a story that the media would find very interesting and helpful for their audience. That’s why they wanted Lisa to come in and talk. IMPORTANT NOTE: We provided expertise and a good topic. We did not just slap something together and hope they bought it. Lisa has expertise and the topic is timely. Therefore, Channel 15 was interested.

We provided an interesting story, an expert, and we fit it to the audience and a specific time. That sort of thing gets the attention of the media because we’re helping them get good usable information to their audience.

Would you like that kind of coverage that fast? Then do what we did with Lisa. It’s really that easy.

Not sure how to do it? (Shameless plug coming up) Consider investing in the “Get Started Now” Publicity Kit available at http://productivepr.com/special_reports.htm. This series of step-by-step action plans detail everything we did to create a story that grabbed media attention and let Lisa explain her products and the advantages of them on television. From evaluation of the products to developing the story to creating the press release, right down to anticipating and preparing for the questions that the host might ask, this series of reports covers everything you need to know to get your product into the media, whether local or national.

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February 3: Carrot Cake Day
February 4: Homemade Soup Day
March 4: National Pound Cake Day
April 16: Eggs Benedict Day
December 16: Chocolate-Covered Anything Day (woo hoo!)

416 holidays is a lot of opportunities to contact the media! If you’re in the food or wine industry, you’ll want to know these holidays because they’ll give you a reason to send a press release. Check out the reports at http://productivepr.com/special_reports.htm.
(Note: this offer is good until Feb 10, 2010) (OK, shameless plug is finished)


Here’s the link to Lisa’s story on Channel 15:
http://www.abc15.com/content/sonoranliving/links/story/Chocolate-could-be-good-for-your-heart/X6ImS_rSskWDZR6OzaBF5A.cspx

If you’d like some excellent chocolate that’s delicious and good for your health, be sure to visit Lisa’s website at http://weiofchocolate.com/ . My favorite is Daily Gratitude! Delicious!

Congratulations Lisa! Great show, and great chocolate!