So You Want To Be On Television

I am always being asked the question:
“How can I get my product on television?”
 
It’s a good question–
If you’re launching a product, television is a great way to start the process.
 
Besides being the author of Gadget Nation, board member of the United Inventors Association (UIA) and a featured contributor to SBTV.com,  I also appear just about every month on television showcasing innovative products in NYC, Philly, Wash DC, Seattle, San Francisco, Miami, Chicago, Houston, and several other TV markets.  A few times each year I also show up on NBC’s Today Show and the CBS Early Show.
 
If you’ve never seen one of my segments, here are a few links:
 
NBC’s Today Show (Wacky Summer Gadgets)

Each time after my segment hits the airwaves, inventors, small business owners and PR professionals hunt me down and ask if I can put their product in my segment.   I honestly appreciate hearing from people who have an innovative new product.  Over the years it is how I’ve found some of the best products for my segments.
 
But those same people need to understand that not every product pitched can make it into every segment and pitches need to short and to the point.
 
For a television gadget segment,  I’m looking for products that are fun to demonstrate and are easy for viewers to see and just about instantly understand the purpose of that product.   If the pitch to explain the product is 3 paragraphs long, then its probably a product I have to pass on.  Keep in mind, if the product does make my segment, I only get maybe 20-30 seconds to explain it to viewers.  When I email TV show producers about my segment, I only get one line per product to WOW them.  If they are not WOW-ed, the product is dropped
 
Twitter is all about passing information along within 140 characters—a good pitch for a product should be about that long.  In that brief pitch, you need to tell me what’s unique about the product.  Is it the “world’s first ever” or the “smallest” or maybe the “least expensive” whatever?  Give me something that makes this product “news worthy.”   What problem does it solve?  Why would viewers care about it?
 
And since my medium is television, the product needs to be visual and better still needs to actually be doing something when the cameras go to it.  Products that move or let the hosts interact with them usually move to the front of the line.  So if your product has an easy to demonstrate feature–let me know that–send a photo along or a link to YouTube so I can see your product in action.
 
Fun, interesting products make my segments fun and interesting.  If my segment is entertaining and informative, I’ve inviting back on to that show again.  So please help me help you to help me.