Networking can get you on TV

Appearing on a popular TV show is great bit of PR for any company - the trouble is it’s not always that easy to achieve, and when it does happen it can come from the most unexpected source.

One of our client’s Graham Hill the co-founder of Verbatim, was on “Trust Me I’m A Dealer” last night. The opportunity came about as a result of networking. Over lunch at an NRG event one guest mentions that a TV show is looking for a company to be involved by buying an antique for their reception area.

This could have been as far as it got, but Graham thought up a clever angle – he runs a very modern telephone answering company, so how about an antique phone for the reception area? This juxtaposition of the old and the new is perfect for a visual medium like TV.

But despite this clever angle it still may not have made it to air. This is because so often people sabotage their chance of PR, by unintentionally making it difficult for the progamme producers. They faff around, they demand, they don’t move fast enough and/or they let everyone know how terrified they are - enough to scare off anyone making a TV show. There is really only one rule; make it easy for them. They have plenty of choices of people to work with; if you’re difficult they will simply go elsewhere.

So the moral of the story is that networking can bring you more than business and referrals – it can get you on national TV! All you have to do is make the most of the opportunity and give the journalist what they need.

You can watch Graham in “Trust Me I’m A Dealer” by accessing the BBCiPlayer.

Want to know how to deal with journalists? See here for more details.