Tips From Tim Ferriss On How To Be On TV

There is an interesting posting on the blog of Tim Ferriss, author of The 4-Hour Workweek  from a few days back in which he highlights the 3 best ways to get on TV.  The first two points he makes surely work, but not really the best method of achieving television publicity.  The third point he makes, however, is interesting:

“Create and pitch a trend + segment instead of you and your product”

The majority of people when pitching a story to the big networks tend to pitch the person and the story, buy Ferriss makes a good point in saying “a single person, unless already a celebrity, doesn’t fill 30 minutes on the most popular shows”.  It’s very true.

So what does he propose?

“The solution is to develop an entire segment based on a new trend or phenomenon.“

Here would be Ferriss’s list of steps to successfully pulling this off:

1. Compile statistics that indicate a new trend
2. Connect yourself and your personal brand into that trend
3. Add experts, case studies, PhDs, and other guests to help fill 30 entertaining and
   credible minutes about the trend
4. Give the pitch a sticky headline and head to the big producers

Ferriss seems to have derived this insight from the business know-how of Richard Branson and recommends Branson’s book, Losing My Virginity, as a must-read for learning how to “pitch media and create buzz”.  Another influential book was named as being Author 101 Bestselling Book Publicity by Rick Frishman, Robyn Freedman Spizman, Mark Steisel.  I’ll have to add those two to the must-read list.