Advertisments

Feature

Smiling and Dialing is the Name of the Game

Arielle Ford Shares Phone Interview Secrets for Success

by Arielle Ford

Deepak Chopra, Neale Donald Walsch, Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, Dean Ornish, and Debbie Ford are just a few of the bestselling authors The Ford Group has helped launch to the top of the bestseller lists. For the past fifteen years, The Ford Group has been publicizing books, products, people and events that are committed to making our world a better place.

Arielle Ford and her stellar PR/sales team understand that the way to securing those all-important media interviews is to pick up the phone and persistently call, call, call.

You may have a great press release on your book and up-to-the-minute media lists to mail it to but the magic to securing interviews remains in knowing what to say, how to say and when to say it.

According to Arielle Ford, "If you're gonna spend the time and money to mail out a book, then you had better plan on making plenty of follow up calls." Interviews don't just automatically happen. Unless the author is a hugely in demand household name, the media rarely responds to a book and a press release. Follow-up calls, in reality a sales pitch, is what is needed to make it all happen. We refer to it as "smiling and dialing."

We have found that it takes, on average, eight phone calls to secure an interview. At least four of these calls are ones that go straight to voice mail. In this day and age, voice mail has become the gatekeeper for those ultra busy reporters and producers who want to screen out the hundreds of daily pitch calls they don't want to deal with. This fact of life requires that you leave a sexy, succinct sound-bite to entice them to call you back.

Be Enthusiastic! For example: Let's say your book is about managing your finances and your author is not Suzie Orman. You want to search the book for off-beat or useful tips to work into pitch. It's worth the time and effort to practice your pitch until you get it right. Calling a reporter and merely asking them to return your call will not get you results. Enthusiasm is everything, so be sure to sound excited when you say,

"Hi, this is Arielle Ford. Do you think $15 a week is too much allowance for your five year old? Should a 7th grader have a credit card? These are just a few of the many money issues covered in the book we just sent you, HOW TO MANAGE YOUR MONEY & STAY SANE. In addition to covering important issues like how to create a budget you can actually live with, this author can quickly and easily teach your listeners new ways to save money on everyday expenses. My name again is Arielle Ford and my number is 555-1212. Call me! I promise you a great interview." (It is crucial that the author be professionally media trained and truly be a great interview - otherwise this person will never trust you again.)

In less than one minute you have given them a controversial topic, told them the information is useful, fast and easy. With the right level of energy and enthusiasm from you, the reporter/producer is more likely to call you back. If the author has appeared on a nationally known TV or radio show, it is always appropriate to mention that as well.

Building rapport Another very important and often over-looked part of smiling and dialing is building rapport. Reporters and producers live under the constant pressure of meeting deadlines. If you get someone on the phone who is sounding particularly frazzled you have two options. #1) Tell them you can hear how busy they are and offer to call back at a better time or, #2) Ask them what you can do to make their day a little easier. Who knows, it may be that they were just told to locate an expert on spider bites and they have ten minutes to find that person and you just happen to have a cousin who is a specialist on this subject!

Obviously you don't want to leave dozens of voice mail messages so we suggest that even though you may be calling on a daily basis, do not leave a message every time, just to keep calling until you get them on the phone.

When you finally do get your targeted person on the phone, make a note of what time of day it is. Chances are they will be available at that time most days.

* * * * * * * *

Photo: (left to right) Arielle Ford and her staff: Brian Hilliard, Cameron Ogletree, and Katherine Kellmeyer

Be Accessible We are happy to give our media contacts our cell phone numbers and home numbers so they can always reach us. I once got an author onto Larry King because a producer called me on a Sunday afternoon (while I was hiking) saying that they needed a last minute expert for a special show. I gave the producer several options and one of our authors landed the spot! The Oprah producers work nights and weekends and often pre-interview guests at unlikely hours. The first time they called my sister (Debbie Ford, author of The Dark Side of the Light Chasers) they spent an entire weekend calling her until they finally decided to fly her into Chicago on a Sunday night to begin taping on Monday morning at 7:00am. When pitching the Oprah show, always include ALL of your telephone numbers.

Email? There are certain media folks who prefer to be contacted via email but we have found that unless you or your author is a household name, or you have an irresistible breaking new topic, your best bet is still a telephone call. (Bacon's Media Directories will often tell you the most preferred way to contact a specific person) With your phone call you can pitch, charm, persuade, and answer questions in a way that is just not possible via email.

Hiring your own publicist Your best bet is to interview them on the phone. You will want to make sure they have a successful track record with your genre of book. Then, you'll want to speak directly to the person in the office who will be assigned to do your follow-up calls. If they give "good phone" then you will want to determine if they "get" you and your content before making a final determination.

Can the author make the calls? Not everyone can afford their own publicist and sometimes its up to the author to do their own "smiling and dialing." It may feel awkward to be pitching yourself so try this phrase: "Hi, I'm calling to tell you about...go into your pitch...at the end of your pitch you can add, "By the way, I'm also the author of this book. I haven't made a ton of money yet so if I'm doing this all wrong have mercy on me." With the right self-deprecating tone of voice, they will probably appreciate your candor.

Securing interviews is not rocket science but it does require planning, creativity, selling, persistence and a dose of good luck.

* * * * * * * *

Founded in 1987 by Arielle Ford, The Ford Group is a full service public relations firm specializing in non-fiction books that cover Self-Help, How-To, Alternative Medicine, New Age and Spirituality.

Photo: (left to right) Arielle Ford and her staff: Brian Hilliard, Cameron Ogletree, and Katherine Kellmeyer

---