I was contacted by Life and Leisure TV to be featured on their show. The first calls to my cell seemed to be a God-send to my company–a spot on a national TV show that airs on cable TV that would give me national exposure and help boost sales. However, I had heard that sometimes these spots are not all that they seem to be so I decided to check it out. My first hint came when I was told that it would cost me upwards of $16,000 to be featured on the show. But that is not all I learned. It got even more complicated from there. For someone not experienced in the ways of TV production, this was a true learning experience and wanted to share with Startup Princess. Fortunately, I have a mentor who works in cable TV development and he gave me guidelines for what to ask and how to approach this (he does outdoor programs so he could not help with my product).
This post was written by Nancy Cadjan, Startup Princess Fairy Godmother and Founder of Sign Babies
1. There are companies who create programming for cable TV that are not affiliated with the channels specifically. They will purchase airtime and then sell commercials to make money. Some of these shows require a sponsorship (meaning that to be on their show, you have to pay). However, the ones that are really TRUE BLUE good are the ones who purchase 6-12 month airing time contracts and show up as a regular show. The poor ones are basically just Paid Programming and they often show up in the television guide as PAID PROGRAMMING. They are little better than an infomercial. (That is the category that Life and Leisure TV falls into)
LESSON: Check out how the company works and if they are listed as a show or paid programming.
2. When quoting numbers, shows will tell you their “reach” or their potential listeners. You want to know their “delivery” or how many people actually watch (you pay based on this number). Life And Leisure was quoting their reach as something like 60 Million (the potential of all cable subscribers–which is ridiculous.
LESSON: Make sure you know the Delivery
3. You want to know when a show runs and how often a show runs. If your show runs at 7:30 am when most people are getting ready for work and watching the news, this is a bad time. Also, if it runs at 7:30 am Eastern, does that mean it is at 4:30 am Pacific (totally a waste). When a show is on cable, it might run more than once in a week or at multiple times. You should only be paying for the original run of the show and not necessarily for the reruns.
LESSON: Ask about time and number of runs so you can estimate if the price is worth it to target your specific audience.
4. Ask what the content of the rest of the show is and what shows are around this show. You want to be in a show that reflects what you stand for and focuses on your market. If you are a baby product and are included in a show about camping, it might not be the best fit. Also, if the show airs in the middle of Paid Programming (even if it is not listed as paid programming) or in the middle of content that does not connect with the show, you won’t get the right audience. For example, if the show is about babies and the shows before and after are about hunting, the audience wont be right.
LESSON: Even the best show needs the right audience to make it worth while.
5. I watched a sample show sent me by the company and contacted a few of the companies that were featured in the show to see what their experience was like. I got mostly negative comments from the companies that I contacted so this sealed my decision NOT to join the show.
LESSON: Contact others—don’t just go on the word of the show or the references they give you. Contact others who were on the show but were not suggested by the show because you have a better chance of getting a good idea of the experience.
I choose not to go with Life and Leisure TV based on the knowledge I gained and the experience of others who did make the step and work with them. Not one of the companies I talked to thought it was worth the experience. On to other marketing opportunities…
Hope this helps!
Nancy Cadjan, Sign Babies President
visit my sites: Sign Babies and Learning Hands
Nancy Cadjan was the very first Startup Princess Fairy Godmother in July 2006, she’s been instrumental in the growth of Startup Princess as support and great friend in helping us identify how to better serve women entrepreneurs. Nancy continually shares incredible wisdom to help us move forward (and warns us of what to avoid as well!) Thank you, Nancy for taking time to write this incredible post.
Take a moment to listen to Nancy’s popular podcast, Transform your Idea into a Product
Nancy, it’s so nice to hear from someone who has been there. Hopefully your experience will save others a lot of time and money. TV stations speak in a different language and the information you touch on is critical. I worked for a television station while attending college and learned that there can be low cost and even free ways to get your product seen without paying high prices. I might add three additional considerations for those who really want to be on TV:
1. Find new channels/networks and new shows to be featured on…Since they don’t have a proven track record, sometimes they offer space for free or significantly discounted because they want to have it filled but don’t have a big viewership yet. Though the viewing numbers may be slim to start, your price per view will be much cheaper and they love you for jumping on board early and will often grandfather you in when the viewership improves at a much cheaper rate.
2. Start local…find your local morning talk shows and send your products to the hosts. They often are looking for interesting pieces and since you are local you have a good “in”. This is also good to start a “As seen on ….” list for your product or service. Don’t be afraid to start small…little free spotlights can sometimes mean more than paying for the “big fish” sponsorships.
3. Talk in “trade”…some stations/shows will be willing to discount or trade advertising if you are willing to advertise for them. Though not always beneficial for you (and don’t do it, if it doesn’t match with your goals), in some instances your company may be able to add one of the station’s web banners to your website in exchange for advertising on their station. You don’t get what you don’t ask for!
Michelle, Excellent supportive advice here! You’re an awesome Fairy Godmother!
Anyone else have any TV tidbits to add/share??
Nancy,
What a great post. I, too, was contacted by one of these companies. Their name was something dangerously close to HSN and it was going to cost me $17,000 to be “featured” in their spring shopping lineup.
If I’m not mistaken, I believe Heather from Mom 4 Life was contacted about something similar.
My sister is a former news producer in Boston and she said that it should NEVER cost you anything to be on TV.
Thanks for sharing such a great story.
Heather Allard
“The Mogul Mom”
I also was contacted, but by the “As Seen on TV” people. They have much of the same pitch as Life and Leisure. Thank you for this information. I had read it prior to talking with them, so it saved me a lot of time and energy doing the research on my own.
Regarding television segments, I agree with Michelle! I contacted our local news station and they came to tape a four minute feature for free. Going through that process was a great start, because it was more nervewracking than I originally anticipated having a camera focused solely on me. Getting practice locally prepared me should I ever get the opportunity to do something bigger in the future.
Thanks again for this information!
I too (like the others) got that call, and email and I have gotten it more than once. And everytime I get flutters in my stomach and get very excited…..then I realize what it is. Thank you for being so honest, I shudder to think that others may be fooled and even be willing to pay for this. Starting local is great advice – we all have an amazing story to tell, so go pitch it. Press is only as powerful as you make it – I have found that getting local TV, National TV even print dies down eventually – if you have a great product or a great service it will sell itself. Again – great advice so that others know what to do and not to be fooled.
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