When someone who has never gotten publicity tells me they want to get onto “Oprah,” or onto the front page of The Wall Street Journal, I tell them they’re in for a rude awakening.
“Do you really wnat to make all your mistakes on America’s Number One daytime talk show?” I ask.
If you want publicity in major media, you must get experience at a variety of smaller media outlets. It’s called “climbing the media ladder,” and I discuss it in the January issue of Country Sampler’s Country Business magazine. Freelancer Traci Bisson interviewed me about what the ladder looks like. I wrote more about it in this article at my website.
The ladder looks like this:
Top rung: National network news, Top 20 radio stations
Next-to-top rung: National newspapers, national magazines
Middle rung: Local Daily newspapers, radio and TV stations, business journals, city and regional magazines
Next-to-bottom rung: Trade publications, weekly newspapers, special interest publications, alumni publications
Bottom rung: Print and online newsletters, public access channel of cable TV station, small niche publications
Why do you have to start at or near the bottom of the ladder? So you can make all your mistakes in smaller media outlets and to get valuable experience learning how to interview with reporters. Besides, Oprah’s producer’s probably won’t even look twice at you unless you have experience on smaller TV programs.
So if you’re new to publicity, seek out media outlets that don’t look like they’re worth the trouble. Then start working your way up.
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