Ep. 87: Stand Out from the Competition Through Television Exposure (Guest Stacia Crawford from Stay Ready Media) [Stepping Into Your Authenticity Series]
SHOW NOTES:
Follow or contact Stacia Crawford: Facebook - LinkedIn
Stay Ready Media: Website - Masterclass - Instagram
Be Seen, Get Booked (Stay Ready Media’s Facebook Group): Join!
CONTACT HEATHER:
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Get the Balance Right Coaching: Website
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Zeitzwolfe Accounting: Website - Facebook
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As an entrepreneur, being a great storyteller can catapult your business. You can use that talent to appear on television as the face of your brand. By using the power of this medium, you can create a sturdy foundation for public relations, marketing, and sales.
In this digital age TV appearances may seem somewhat… obsolete. Why go through the work of getting on air to promote your business, when you can just tap a button for Instagram Live and deliver the same message, right?
Well, the reality is, TV appearances, even on a small scale, create a large and lasting impact. Television is still a potent medium of communication. Three minutes on your local news station offers an extensive reach when it comes to an audience (and a good chunk of those viewers probably fit in your target demo). Not only will that TV segment provide your business visibility, but it also showcases your credibility and authority within your industry.
In this episode, we are joined by Stacia Crawford, CEO, and founder of the boutique PR firm, Stay Ready Media. Stacia has amassed nearly 35 years in her field working both ends of the TV News industry as a Journalist and Producer. It’s safe to say, this cool chick knows all of the angles in front and behind the camera lens!
Stacia recognized the value and insight that her experience could bring, and from that, her PR firm was created. Through her business, Stacia and her team assist people through the process of getting booked on: television, radio, podcasts, and magazines. The goal is to increase her clients’ exposure on a mass scale, while simultaneously promoting their message, ultimately growing their business.
So if you’re curious about utilizing television appearances to promote your business (or even if the thought has never crossed your mind), we have steps that you can take today to make it happen.
THE INTERVIEW
Heather Zeitzwolfe: "Stacia Crawford, welcome to Get the Balance Right podcast!”
Stacia Crawford: “I'm psyched to be here, woohoo!”
Heather Zeitzwolfe: “Yeah, I am really excited, this is going to be a fun topic.
We're going to be talking about TV appearances and how to get on TV and why you want to get on TV and all of that stuff for your business. And it's part of the Stepping into Your Authenticity Series that we're doing. So I'm so excited that you came to the show today to talk about this.
So Stacia, for the people in the audience that don't know you: who are you, what are you doing and all the things?”
Stacia Crawford: “Let's jump right into that!
I'm Stacia Crawford and I wear many hats. I wear lots of, lots of hats, as you will see.
I am CEO and founder of Stay Ready Media. So that's a boutique PR firm where I actually help people get booked on television, radio, podcasts, magazines, and increase their exposure so they can share their message with the world and then use that to grow their business. But I'm also on the other side of that, cause I literally, it's like I play for both teams, right?
I'm also a journalist. So I'm actually a working television journalist. I'm a TV news producer. I have been for 34, 35 years. So on the one side I'm pitching journalists and on the other side, I'm getting pitches from people. So I'm literally, I bring a very unique perspective to public relations and media.
And I'm also an Adjunct Professor, so I teach as well. So I've been a college professor, so it's been over 20 years. And I teach television news writing and reporting. So I’m also creating the next generation of top-notch journalists, yeah.”
Heather Zeitzwolfe: “Well, you must be a very busy woman and what's really cool is that you have that insider knowledge. That's really cool.
So when you're pitching, you know, like what kind of pitches people will really like on the inside. Very interesting.”
Stacia Crawford: “That's right, that’s exactly right. So what I do is I take my 30 years of television experience and I help people to use that, so they know what producers are looking for.
What kinds of stories are going to work with this audience or that audience? What outlets should they be targeting depending on what their media is, because all media is not the same.
So I do bring a very unique perspective to this PR game.”
Heather Zeitzwolfe: “Now, PR a lot of people I think have misunderstandings about what PR is. And it's kind of a word that's used interchangeably sometimes with marketing, or people think like PR is just the people who come in there and clean up a mess like if the president says something terrible or it's like, ‘oh, get the PR people!!’.
And PR also sounds like something maybe celebrities might have. So as business owners, tell us about why would we want a PR person? What would they do for us? What do they do actually?”
Stacia Crawford: “Yeah, there is a huge misconception. PR really covers a lot of things.
Some people do think that PR and marketing and sales are all the same. They are not, they're very different, but they work together. So it's almost like you start a business and you really have like this three legged stool. And the stole can’t stand without all three legs. So really you need PR, you need marketing and you also need sales. And that's what's going to keep your business afloat.
So the PR arm of that is public relations. And it's just what it says, the keywords, ‘public’ and ‘relations’. So when you think in terms of public, you think in terms of everyone that has any type of contact or interaction with your business.
So your public is going to be, obviously your customers, uh, they're going to be your colleagues and believe it or not, they're also even going to be your competitors.
So people don't really think about that. Your competitors are absolutely a part of your public. The second part of that is relations. So this is all about the foundation of relationship, right? It's, it's how people feel, how you make them feel, what you want them to do. And literally using a PR strategy to shape your public's perception of your brand.
And that can be done through a variety of things, such as events, that’s definitely a part of PR doing events, but a big part of that is actually your visibility in the media. And that is really what I focus on in my business, helping people to locate and secure ideal media opportunities that are going to put their business in the best light in front of their public.”
Heather Zeitzwolfe: “Okay, so it's not just for celebrities. Us entrepreneurs need this too, for our stool to stand up, otherwise it's going to be wobbly. Okay, I like that analogy of the stool, cause that's like we can all picture that.
We're talking about TV today, I've been doing this thing where I've been going live on Instagram, it's part of the stepping into my authenticity. I'm going live for 45 days in a row, and that idea of going live on Instagram was like, ‘oh my God, it's LIVE’.
So before you can even get your clients to even think about going on TV, do they have to get comfortable with the idea of this camera in their face with a red blinky light and all of that?”
Stacia Crawford: “Yes and no. Getting comfortable with that, I mean, obviously now that we have social media. I mean, I've been in television long before social media came around. And so social media has actually made my job a little bit easier because people do have those opportunities to get visibility elsewhere before they get to television.
But that's not always the case. It's not something that I would say it's a prerequisite. Definitely, you want to be prepared, and there are ways that I prepare my clients. But for example, I had a client who did two television interviews last week. She’d never been on television before, she doesn't go live on social media, so she was partly terrified about it. She wanted to do it, but she was really terrified.
But I take them through a five step strategy that I have that actually gets you comfortable in front of the media. And it's all about the preparation.”
Heather Zeitzwolfe: “Okay, that makes sense. I mean, just like if you're going to go on a job interview, you don't know exactly what they're going to ask you, but you get prepared, you have your stories and examples ready.
Okay. Television is still a very powerful medium.Years ago I remember this person, they were, it was for the WB, so I don't even know if that's even around anymore. But they were like on the street and they walked up to me and asked me some questions, you know? And I was like, ‘Portland, blah, blah, blah'.
I said something, a few things. It was just for one of their little ads on TV. Well, that ran for, I don't know how long, but people would stop me all the time saying, ‘I saw you on the news’. It's like, that is not the news, but people like remember that, but that was just a short little 30 second thing. So in that I got a lot of attention.
So when we talk about doing television, are we talking about like, if we want to be on the Ellen show or something that’s like higher stakes? But are we talking about morning television? Like, what are we talking about when we talk about television?”
Stacia Crawford: “We're talking about all of that, absolutely. You're talking about the type of visibility that you got from that little blurb, right?
So imagine if you were on morning television and say you had five minutes. Five minutes. So, I mean, you think of that blurb as memorable. People are really going to remember you when you, not only had the exposure from that appearance, but you've also delivered a powerful interview. So half the battle is getting there, but the most important part is making sure that you leave a message that resonates with that audience. And then that's how you're able to take that and translate that interview into incoming sales, clients, corporate partnerships, book deals, all kinds of stuff.”
Heather Zeitzwolfe: “And I had worked with a coach before that said that she did a lot of morning television and she said, ‘they're always desperate for stuff, they need to fill that time’.
So if you wanted to pitch morning television, she was suggesting there's always a holiday that comes up, like it's Pizza Day or whatever it is, anything that you can pitch around something, they want to be able to fill it.
So if you want to pitch morning TV, is that a good method? And how far in advance should you pitch them on an idea?”
Stacia Crawford: “It's actually a great method. It's part of a strategy that I do teach. Because yeah, people do understand television is like the king of visibility, right? So when you think in terms of all these holidays, there's a day for literally everything, like you said, Pizza Day. Yesterday was National Love Your Pet Day. Think in terms of holidays, notable occasions, seasons, all that kind of stuff.
And because television stations now are having more opportunities for shows, they're coming up with new shows all the time. They need to have content for that. So I always say, ‘why can't that content be you?’. If you're providing content that's going to be really resonating and ideal for that audience, you want to leave them with something. Why not absolutely pitch television?
And so I always tell people too, ‘when you're pitching television, it's not about you’. That's the biggest mistake that people think. They think, I get pitches all the time where people will write and they'll say, ‘oh, I have this new thing, a new program, a new store, a new book, whatever, and I want to come on TV on your show and pitch my book’. *Buzzer Noise* Giant red flag immediately. Yeah, you're getting a big NO. You always want to keep that audience in mind.
One of the things that I do is I also teach people to use a media calendar because I’m, as a working journalist, I know what stories we're working on. And we have whole departments that are working on things a month from now, two months from now. And so if you are looking to get a spot, you need to know what they're going to be looking for, and when. Cause timing is going to be very important.
Like we just came out of the holidays and Black History Month.We had people who were pitching Black History Month stories in the third week of February. It's like, ‘no, we've already got our Black History Month stuff set up, we were booking those things two months ago’. And every show is going to be different. So it's up to you to do that research and find out how far in advance do they need to book? Typically for local television, you're going to be looking at an average of two to three weeks for the most part.”
Heather Zeitzwolfe: “Okay, that's good to know. Yeah, my niece, she was on the food network for, she had carved pumpkins, and they filmed it a year in advance.”
Stacia Crawford: “And sometimes that will happen. Local TV, because they don't have those types of resources, it’s generally going to be two, three weeks, maybe even a month, depending again, on the format of the show.
Is it a daily show? Is it a long form show? So it will vary, but typically for local television, two to three weeks, you’re usually in that sweet spot.”
Heather Zeitzwolfe: “If you wanted to pitch a show, you'd want to make sure that your ideal customer is actually watching that show. Is there a way to find that out, through market research, or how do you get access to that?”
Stacia Crawford: “Oh, yeah, absolutely.
So it's just like when you start your business and you start thinking about advertising, right? We talked about that three legged stool. The same research that you're using in your marketing and your advertising, the same thing goes for the media.
So media, they have sales departments and ad departments. One of the things that you can do is you can go to their website. That is a resource that so many people will overlook. And when you go to the website and you look at their advertising criteria, it's going to tell you who that audience is. You use that information to know if, ‘I'm trying to reach, stay at home moms between the ages of 25 and 45, is this going to be a good place for me?’.
All the information is right there for you. You just have to know where to go to find it.”
Heather Zeitzwolfe: “That is brilliant, wow. So you can really target different shows and channels and all of that?
And there's so there's so many channels now, and some of it's what I would consider like alternative television. Like there might be like a Roku show or Apple TV, all these different things that are coming out now. And I guess they all have things they need to fill.
So if we are trying to figure out how we're going to have television as part of our three legged stool, are we looking at new shows or what is the best entry level for someone that’s a female entrepreneur that wants to get started in television? And I don't mean like a career in television, I just mean exposure in television.”
Stacia Crawford: “Sure, absolutely. Your local media is going to be the lowest barrier to entry, because number one, they're local. And so they're looking for you. They are looking for people who are in their communities, in their neighborhoods.
So if there's a, the major networks, ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, they have stations in every city. So there is an ABC, CBS, NBC near you. So you start there because they're looking for local people. Before you even think national, start local.”
Heather Zeitzwolfe: “The morning television - that's all live. And I think you have to get there super early in the morning. My understanding is, for that morning TV, you got to do a lot in a short amount of time. So if you're doing like a cooking demo or something like that, it's very brief.
How do you prepare for something like that? And do you help your clients like, ‘okay, let's get this all into bite sized pieces and get ready because the camera is going to be on and then they're going to break the commercial and then you're back on’?
Like, how do you prepare for that?”
Stacia Crawford: “Yeah, that is exactly, that's a major part of my work how I started my business. Because as a producer, I was spending a lot of time preparing people for segments on my show. And so when I initially left television back in 2013 I thought, ‘this is a great way for me to still use my knowledge and my expertise in television’ and preparing people, we call it media training.
And so, yeah, when you have a five minute segment, I recently had a client who's a baker and she wanted to get some exposure for her business. And so we actually developed a segment. We literally produced the segment for the show. So that when she went live on television, there was no question about what is she going to say, ‘Am I going to say the right thing, am I going to say the wrong thing?’.
Because we've already formulated what we call key messages. So it really doesn't matter what that reporter or that anchor or that host asks you because you already have those usually five or six key messages in your back pocket.
I have had people who've come to me and they've said, ‘wow, I just did this television interview, but they didn't even ask me this and they didn't ask me that’. And I always tell them, ‘don't rely on them to ask you’. They're journalists, they may decide to ask you about your pink hair and your pink glasses and never get to your book.
So do you want to walk away and leave an interview saying, ‘wow, I never got to talk about my book because they didn't ask me’? No. What we do is we work on strategies to weave your message throughout every single thing that you say. So it doesn't matter if they're talking about the weather, if they're talking about some crazy thing that some celebrity did, you have a way to weave your message in there, and you're never at a loss for words.”
Heather Zeitzwolfe: “To get this TV appearance, I would imagine that when you pitch, you have to pitch something that their audience is going to like. It's, like you said, ‘it's not about yourself, it’s about the audience’.
How does one go about pitching television? Do they need a PR person? Can they do it themselves? How do you do that?”
Stacia Crawford: “You can absolutely do it yourself.
I typically will say there are two of the greatest resources that we have: there's time and there's money. And usually you have one or the other, rarely do we have both, right? So if you are a small business owner, it's most likely that you have more time than you have money to devote to something like PR. Traditionally, hiring a PR firm could cost you anywhere from, on the super low end, might be about $4,000 to $5,000 a month.
Yeah, absolutely. People, yeah, people are shocked when they find out how much it costs. Cause there's a lot that goes into it. But also on the high end, there are people who may be paying $20,000 a month.
If you don't have $5,000 a month to devote to PR, you absolutely can do it yourself. You just need to be able to have the time and the strategy. And that's where I come in. I teach you the strategy so that it actually saves you time of you trying to figure it out on your own.
And a key part of that also, by hiring a firm, is you also get their relationships. As a PR professional, I am wearing both hats. As a news producer, I have relationships with journalists all over the country in small stations, large markets. And so I'm able to use my relationships to pitch my clients. But I teach strategies that can teach you how to do the exact same thing for yourself. And it just becomes a part of your overall strategy. It can't be hit or miss, you have to be consistent and you have to be strategic.”
Heather Zeitzwolfe: “Knowing somebody on the inside, that must help to have connections, right?”
Stacia Crawford: “Absolutely. Because I know even as a journalist, I get, I may get anywhere from say 200 to 300 pitches a day. And obviously I don't have time to read that many. So most journalists will tell you they're going to start with the people that they know.
So when something comes into my inbox and I recognize a name, and this is someone that I know, and I can trust that they are going to deliver information and a great segment that's perfect for my audience, that’s my go-to. I'm going to go there first.”
Heather Zeitzwolfe: “Yeah. Cause you don't want someone that's going to show up on set and then they're just like staring, staring at the light on the camera and like, ‘uhhh’.”
Stacia Crawford: “You know, it has happened.”
Heather Zeitzwolfe: “Oh, wow. When somebody gets on television, then they can get access to that footage.
Do you recommend that people put together maybe like some kind of reel that they can send out, as proof that they are good on camera?”
Stacia Crawford: “Absolutely, being on television is going to give you three things instantly:
You're going to get visibility.
You get credibility, because when people turn on the television and they see you on TV, they know instantly that you are good at what you do. You're an expert, you are the one, right?
And you also get authority.
And so the way that you use those is not, that's what you use after the interview, it's not about getting the interview. That's great, but that's only half the battle. It's what do you do with that afterwards?”
Heather Zeitzwolfe: “Oh, okay, so what do people do? Do they make a video like a sizzle reel and put it up on their website? Recommend some things.”
Stacia Crawford: “That's definitely one good way to use it because you want to make sure that media begets more media.
It's usually that first one. Once you get that first one, other media opportunities come your way too. Because now journalists know, ‘well, she's been vetted because I saw her on CBS’. And so now the NBC producers are like, ‘oh yeah, she's good to go, cause I saw her on ABC’.
So that's kinda how that goes. But you can take that information, you can take those clips and segments, and you can repurpose it. So yes, it can go on your website, absolutely. You can use those logos as part of your, even something like, your email signature. You can email segments of that out to your email list.”
Heather Zeitzwolfe: "Wow. So you're going to, you can get a lot of bang for your buck on just one little segment, because it gives you so much credibility and you can repurpose it.
So how does, how does that work? I know, years ago I was on TV and they sent me a DVD of my appearance. How do you get that? Or do you have to just tape it off the TV? How do you do that?”
Stacia Crawford: It's all digital, so yeah, it's a matter of getting them. That's it, it's as simple as a link.
It's all digital, so yeah, that producer, once you've done that segment, they will send you the link so you now have access to that segment, that footage. And you can do so many things with it. You can chop it up. You can make it part of your podcast. You can email it to people. You can put it on your website. You can put it on your social media.
Recognizing that they are also doing that same thing. So depending on the show that you're on, it doesn't even air once. When you think about advertising, you invest in an ad. And say you pay local TV, it may be $10,000 to $15,000. But it's going to, it's going to be 30 seconds one time. That's it. And if you want another 30 seconds, you got to cough up another 10 to15 grand.
But with local television, every station also has social channels and they have digital channels. And so that segment that you just did is constantly out there working for you.”
Heather Zeitzwolfe: “Oh, cause it might go onto their websites. Oh, wow.
When you think about, ‘Oh, I don't know people are going to be up that early to watch my thing or whatever’, it's still going to be out there. Oh, that's very cool. I hadn't thought about that.
So when you do a live TV program, you said that sometimes they're going to ask you about things that you weren't prepared for. Should you have some stories though, in your back pocket to kind of pull out that that are going to be bite-sized that'll work?”
Stacia Crawford: “100% yes. That is going to be that, that in itself is your goldmine. That is your goldmine, your stories. People relate to stories. So even if, say for example, you're promoting your book, you're not going to go on TV and spend five minutes talking about your book. That's not what this is for. What this is for is for you to showcase your expertise. Pull out some nuggets from your book, have some stories. Think in terms of emotion and how are you going to resonate?
Because the truth of the matter, is most of what you say, the audience isn't going to remember. There's usually going to be little key things that they'll remember. But what it does is it builds that trust, even if they don't remember everything that you say they might look and go, ‘Yeah, that Heather lady, I can't remember, remember the lady with the pink hair and she said, blah, blah, blah?’.
That may be one thing out of everything that you said that stuck with them. But now they're going to go to your website and check you out. They're going to go listen to your podcast. And again, remember that segment that you just taped, it’s still out there on all those media channels.
So even a year later, when people are looking, looking for anything and they stumble across you, it's always working. I've had people who've contacted me from content that I put out two years ago. Yeah, absolutely.”
Heather Zeitzwolfe: “Wow. So for those ladies that are out there that don't believe that television can change your business, do you have any examples of someone who made a television appearance and maybe it led to another one and it changed their business?”
Stacia Crawford: “Absolutely.
There was a lady who did an interview on the Tamron Hall Show. Now she was not a newbie. She had, she's been doing television for maybe about a year or so, still fairly new to it. But she was able to do one appearance that might've been three to five minutes long and she was able to get two $30,000 clients from it, the same week. So $60,000 from one interview.
I had another client who did a local television news show. Her first time. She was able to get the attention of a Netflix executive. And so now they're in talks to develop a show around a concept that she did in a children's cartoon series that she and her husband just developed in their home.
Another client that I had, who did a local television interview in a newspaper. And then we took it to the local television station. She did a local talk show. She ended up going to a national talk show. She ended up with a feature, a full page feature, in O Magazine. And we all know about the Oprah effect, right? It’s like Oprah just mentioned your name. So now they're literally, this week, this month they've been filming a documentary and she's featured in this documentary.
So television still rules."
Heather Zeitzwolfe: “Wow. We talked about morning television. That is an easier way of getting onto television, just because they're constantly needing content and they do local things.
But what are some other areas that we should be even thinking about when we're thinking about pitching television?"
Stacia Crawford: “Well, when you think in terms of television, yeah, local news is usually going to be the way to go. But then also, stations also have a lot of public affairs programming. And this is programming that they're required to do. It's their give back, and so those are usually opportunities.
Again, they're looking for people who are local, why not start there? And then even when you're looking in terms of things like cable television, there is a cable television station for just about everything. If you are, you like to cook. If you like to do DIY home repair, there are shows out there for all of that stuff.
Now that is a longer course between pitching and getting on. Local, usually it's very fast. Usually they'll pick you up, they'll say, ‘yes’. And you're typically going to be on the air within a week or two. But like you were mentioning on the cooking channel, it takes a little bit longer to get there, but it is well worth it.”
Heather Zeitzwolfe: “Okay. And this is going to be maybe a strange question, but what about cable access? I know, and I live in Portland, Oregon, we still have cable access, probably do. Would you ever recommend somebody to start their own cable access show?”
Stacia Crawford: “Sure, absolutely. I think that cable access is still a very viable medium. Absolutely use it, and again, learning how to leverage it. So it's not just about doing the segment, having the show, getting the information out there, but it's really learning how to leverage it.”
Heather Zeitzwolfe: “Okay. And do you think that, I know we talked about having your information in bite size, how does one start to whittle that down and get prepared for that?
I know that you can help people do that, but do you have any tips on how to whittle down your message so that you have these nice bite-sized chunks?”
Stacia Crawford: “Yeah, I do. I, one of the things that I tell people, people will say that if you talk to yourself, you're crazy. But I say, ‘absolutely not’. The easiest thing is talk to yourself, literally out loud. Do it in front of a mirror. I love to cook. And so a lot of times when I'm in the kitchen cooking, I'm literally talking out loud. My key messages, what is this interview going to look like?
Start with an outline. So you have three minutes, ask yourself, ‘what are, if that audience doesn't get anything, what is the one message that I want to make sure that they get from this interview?’.
And so you start there and then you build your messages and your stories around that, and then practice it. Practice saying it, practice it with your kids, your husband, your wife, your neighbors, wherever you are, when you're relaxing in the tub, practice it.
Because what you want to do is you never want to have to really think about it, because again, that clock is always ticking once the interview starts. So you want to make sure that you are able to take advantage of every single second.
So, think in terms of, if you're in a deep sleep and someone were to wake you up in the deep sleep and ask you a question about your business, can you give them something that's going to make them really resonate with you and go to your website and want to check you out and want to work with you?”
Heather Zeitzwolfe: “Wow, that’s that's really great. So we really want to think about the end message.”
Stacia Crawford: “A lot of people think of PR as an afterthought in their business. But I really think that it needs to be very important. Because you can have the best business in the world, but if no one knows about it, then it's not going to last.
So really make sure that you're putting PR, putting your public relations, that is important, when you think public relations, how do you want people to feel when they come in contact with your brand? That has to be at the forefront.”
Heather Zeitzwolfe: “And I think a lot of people think, ‘oh, I just, I put it on social media, that’s enough’. And it's not enough.”
Stacia Crawford:, “It's not enough. It's almost like social media is inviting someone into your house. Which is great, right? You open your door, you have guests, you bring them into your house. But when you're on television, it's like you are going out into the world. Television stations have spent millions upon millions of dollars curating these ideal audiences. They've already done the heavy lifting for you.
So even if you have 5,000 Facebook “friends", and of course I put friends in quotation marks, right? You've got 5,000 Facebook friends, whereas this audience has 100,000, 500,000 people that they have curated. They’re there. You just go where they are. You don't have to bring them into your little tiny house.”
Heather Zeitzwolfe: “And like you said, you get more bang for your buck because it's going to be out there forever. They're going to put it on their website. It's not just that one appearance that maybe somebody missed. Cause it's still going to be around, which is super cool.”
Stacia Crawford: “And when you deliver a great interview, the media comes back to you. That's why when you turn on, you know, a television and somebody is talking about finances, you see the same person every month.
Or if they're talking about car repair, you see the same person. Because that person has proven that they have quality, valuable, massive value for the audience. And so it's easier for them to bring the same person back than to go find a new person every month. So why can't that person be you?”
Heather Zeitzwolfe: “Now, if people are applying for things that are maybe in another city, like you apply to the Today Show, pitch them, then you have to go to New York, should you actually try for those things? And do they pay for your ticket or do you have to pay for your ticket? How does that work?”
Stacia Crawford: “They do not pay for your ticket. You have to pay for your ticket. You have to pay for your hotel. You've got to pay for your Uber or your cab. Yes, absolutely. So that's all on you.
But again, we have this resource called Zoom. Even major media outlets are taking advantage of Zoom. I had a client who was in Atlanta, who was on television in Chicago via Zoom.
So we're taking advantage of it. There was another client who was on TV in LA, there was one who was on TV in Baltimore, all over Zoom. So, while the pandemic has been horrible, there are some good things in terms of how the media does their job, that makes it easier for you to be on television anywhere.
It has opened up a world of opportunity. I don't know how long that's going to be in effect. Some things, some strategies that we've had to put into place during the pandemic, we will be removing. But Zoom, there's a good chance that that is going to be something that you'll have access to in terms of television for a long time to come. So take advantage of it.”
Heather Zeitzwolfe: “Wow. So when you go to pitch some station that's not in your area, should you, should part of your pitch include like we could do this over Zoom? I can do this?”
Stacia Crawford: “Yes, absolutely. And sometimes they will give you the option.
I recently had a client who did an interview over Zoom, and they gave her the option. They were like, ‘if you want to come in studio, you can, or we can do it over Zoom’. That particular one she chose to do over Zoom. And she got the same effect. She still got five minutes in front of the audience delivering an incredible message, but it was just easier for her.”
Heather Zeitzwolfe: “Okay. So, we don't have to think like, ‘oh, they got to send out their camera crew to my location or any of that kind of stuff’ now with Zoom? That’s so cool. Wow, very nice.
Okay, now getting prepared to be on television and being able to be able to speak eloquently or, I mean, is it, should we worry about ‘umms’ and ‘uhhs’? And should we go into Toastmasters? Like what are some other ways to prepare ourselves for television?”
Stacia Crawford: “I love Toastmasters. You do not have to go to Toastmasters. Again, it's about practicing. It's about having those strategies. A couple of ‘uhhs’ and ‘umms’ are not going to kill you.
Rather than an‘um’, you might be better served by just the pause. People recognize when you're doing an interview. It's okay to think, right? You have a brain, someone has asked you a question you want to think, so it's okay to take a couple of seconds, not too long of a pause cause again, that clock is ticking and you don't want to lose that audience. But if you've practiced it, it should come easy to you. So it's all about the practice, practice, practice. You want to try and keep as little umms as possible.”
Heather Zeitzwolfe: “Wow, well, Stacia, this has been so good. I love all this information that you’re, all these knowledge bombs that you're dropping.
You're a reporter, you're a teacher, you're a PR person. There's a lot of ways people can work with you. How do people get in touch with you?
And if they're interested in PR, is there, I know you mentioned like $5,000, but it sounds like you've got some programs that are more affordable that people could actually get started. Can you explain that?”
Stacia Crawford: “I absolutely do. So the best way to get in touch with me is on my Facebook page. Facebook is my biggest playground. So that is where yes, on my personal page, I do a lot of strategies, I do teaching, I do trainings, and I also do a monthly masterclass.
So typically it's every, usually the second Tuesday of the month. Sometimes I'll do it on a Wednesday, but usually the second Tuesday of the month where I go in-depth into 90 minute trainings where I teach people the same strategies that I teach in my high level programs, which costs thousands.
But you can take advantage of them in the free masterclass, which I do every month. So that is really the best place to start. So if you just find me on Facebook, That's going to serve you very well.”
Heather Zeitzwolfe: “Awesome, okay. So we'll have the links in the show notes. So that is really great. And you have that masterclass. Wow everyone, you need to check that out. Very cool.
Well, Stacia, thank you so much for coming on the show today. This has been so wonderful!”
Stacia Crawford: “I had a blast. I hope we can do it again. This is so much fun, I could talk about this stuff all day.”
Heather Zeitzwolfe: “Well, thank you so much.”
