Making the Most of Your Media Interviews
Making the most of a television, radio, magazine, web or podcast interview means being prepared. With the right prep and tools in place, you can make your media interviews go far, getting you buzz for your book and even leading to more media. As I always say, media begets media! The more media you do, the more you’ll get booked and hopefully the more books you’ll sell. It’s important to optimize every single opportunity.
Before you do an interview, it’s essential to prepare what you’re going to say. You should also staying in touch with hosts, producers, and editors afterwards. For more on how to get ready for an interview, you can check out my March column, How to Handle Any On-Camera Interview.
What happens before and during an interview is only part of the equation. The rest is what happens after. How do you publicize that this happened? It comes down to sharing content, using one successful interview to pitch again, and repurposing all of your content for maximum reach.
Afterward, share far and wide.
Whenever you do media, remember that lots of people will probably miss your interview the first time around. Of course, some people will see it—but many won’t. Don’t worry about sharing the same content in different forms. Repurposing the interview and putting it on social media, your blog, and anywhere you have an audience, is essential for building your presence as an author.
Don’t be shy about self-promotion. It’s a hang-up that so many authors have. It’s not bragging. You need to connect with your audience and sharing your work will get your message out there. Remember, people need to hear what you have to say. They will benefit from listening to that podcast or watching your interview. That’s why you do what you do.
When I was a television news producer, I always thought of it as a public service. Take on that same sentiment and think of what you know and sharing it, as being of service. It helps when you reframe it this way.
Go beyond sharing links online. You can use an interview as a jumping-off place to create another piece of content for your own platforms. Repurpose it!
Here is how I might make the most of a television appearance, for example.
When I was on PIX11 News in New York City to chat about party planning with lists, I made sure to let people know via social media and my email list about when the interview was happening and how to watch.
Creating graphics to share is key. I use Canva to create my graphics. It gives you a polished and professional look.
I created a blog post on the same theme that linked to the video of my interview.
Then I shared this blog post via email. You can sign up for my email list here.
Creating multiple avenues and formats for your audience to engage with the information and the clip is the best way to let people know what you’re doing.
Media begets media.
Sharing what you’re doing in the media is the best way to get more media. The more clips you have to share, the more producers and editors will see you as a trusted expert with something important to say. You can even take one media appearance or piece of content and use it to pitch another one.
Next time you have a media appearance booked, make the most of it by showing up prepared, engaging fully, and making the content widely available in different formats to support your next pitch. And don’t forget that any media mention is valuable—you never know where even the smallest piece of media might lead. Don’t ever be a snob when it comes to media.
My client author Jay Nixon is the perfect example of this. We worked together on a pitch about how your words can sabotage your health. He sent it over to Health.com. The editor loved the idea and interviewed him for a story on their website.
He could have easily said, “It’s not going to be in the print magazine?” and turned away the opportunity. But he didn’t do that. He said yes, because he knew that all forms of media are important.
A few months later, Jay’s article did get printed in the magazine, because the editors liked the story so much. What a nice win! His message has reached so many more people because he was open about getting coverage in all formats. Afterward, Jay was able to use that coverage to pitch again.
I had another client named Greg who couldn’t care less about being on television. He just wanted to be quoted in some design industry magazines. He got a quote in a blog without much readership and guess what happened? CNN saw it and reached out to interview him. You never know who might be reading.
[How to Pitch Your Book to Broadcast Media]
Once I answered a query on HARO (Help a Reporter Out—now part of Connectively) that was looking for a productivity expert. The interview was for Dr. Oz magazine and it was about detoxing your to-do list. I had great ideas and wrote to the editor. She loved it and interviewed me for the magazine. After that article was printed, I used it to pitch a few television interviews. The same story could be repurposed in different ways for different mediums.
Making the most of a media interview relies on creativity. You need to get creative about how you’re going to share your work and what you’re going to do with it next. And remember, say yes to media, no matter how small. You never know where it might lead you.
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