So you’ve likely heard the saying “content is king”. Well, so is “coverage”. At Live Fit Films, we often cover red carpet events, gala dinners, and celebrity golf tournaments/fundraisers.

It’s important for non-profits to understand that in today’s world, coverage is king. That means that if you’re going to the trouble and expense of hosting an event, you should make sure you have quality coverage. The photos were taken at Forman’s Foundation Celebrity Golf Tournament. Live Fit Films set up a booth at one of the holes and filmed golfers and celebrities as they played our Breast Cancer Trivial Pursuit game while on the court. This creates fantastic video to help promote and attract people to the next event.

Bringing a TV reporter and crew out to your event offers that quality coverage. It’s like hiring a professional MC to host the event…sure it’s extra money but the end result is a quality video that allows your organization the opportunity to share your message with the world in a highly credible and newsworthy style.

Once you have videos you can use them in many ways: on your website, create a YouTube channel, send out links in email blasts, in newsletters, in video press releases, on FaceBook, on TV, and many other ways. There are also many different styles of covering your event. Watch the videos in this post to see a few options or view our portfolio of videos.

You can also join online fundraising organizations like Razzo. The organization’s mission is, “To better the entire cause marketplace by elevating social fundraising practices, and strengthening relationships between nonprofits, donors and fundraisers. Inspiring Generosity covers social fundraising trends, news, and case studies; democratizes traditional development best practices; and provides other relevant information.”

As a video journalist who has worked with hundreds of non-profits, I’ve been impressed with their mission and effort. Social media is key to building greater awareness and communicating your message. Razzo touts that it has raised more than $73,000,000 for worthy causes.

Make sure you’re video documenting your next fundraising event and most important putting the video story together in a compelling way that will allow your organization to share your message with the world and potential donors.

These days practically everyone is armed with some sort of device to capture video. It might be their cell phone, a flip camera, or even a real video camera. However that doesn’t mean that what is being produced by these devices is good video. Obviously, the story is what makes a video but if you have poor equipment or you use it improperly that can ruin your video.

Now, there’s two schools of thought here: I come from the TV news business where getting a story first on the air is typically the most important thing. However, in marketing and, likely with your business, there isn’t quite that mad rush. So, you can plan and produce something meaningful that will help consumers understand your products and services and ultimately lead them to become customers.

So, if you’re not hiring a professional video storytelling company like ours…here’s tip number one for the do-it-yourselfers…if you’re shooting video with a smartphone hold the camera horizontally. It looks so much better. Watch the video below to see what I mean. That video was shot exclusively with my iPhone because that was all I had on me at the time. I was out on a hike when I stumbled across  the Komen 3-Day Race For a Cure story and I didn’t want to miss it.

Tip number two…if you don’t have a professional external microphone to attach to your camera…position yourself close to the interviewee. You’ll see in this story, I didn’t have an external mic and I had to deal with some wind noise…plus for the documentary-style shooting, I wanted movement…so in some cases, I hiked along with the walkers. The video, of course, is not as steady but you have a feeling of really being there and for this type of story it worked. What I did for audio was try to get as close to them as possible and to pay attention to where my microphone is located on my iPhone. Then you can also do some post audio work in FCP. It’s not as good as a professional mic, but for this type of story and the spontaneity of it…it worked.

Tip number three don’t pan. Hold your smartphone in place and don’t pan, IOWs, let the scene unfold in front of you. Most people tend to move the camera too quickly when they’re trying to pan and you end up with shaky and blurred video.

Tip number four. Keep your arms tucked in at your sides, breathe slowly or some cases take in a breath…hold it, get your shot and release your breath. This will help you get stable shots without a tripod. You can also lean against something but still keep your arms tucked in.

Tip number five. Shoot a scene for at least 10 seconds. In other words, stay on the subject even if it’s just crashing waves for no less than 10 seconds. Make sure you have a steady shot. When editing your video these 10-second shots will come in handy.

And, finally, have fun, pick up a camera and start shooting. I’m Phoebe Chongchua with LFF…we’ll see you on the air!

We’re going back in time to the old days in this video tip to show you a simple technique that you can do on your own for an on-camera read that will look like you’re simply talking to the viewers. Watch the video tip to learn how.

I have been a journalist for 20+ years. I have found that every good business has a story, but not every entrepreneur behind that good business knows how to sell that story to the media. Consequently, some businesses never get media attention while others seem to be favorite resources.

While blogging, creating YouTube videos, your own Internet radio show, video podcast, and RSS feeds are great ways to gain exposure, being quoted in a traditional news source adds credibility. Becoming the “go-to expert” on a media list can equate to powerful exposure.

Utilizing the media to grow your business is nothing new. All businesses can benefit from the exposure and attention and the media daily turns to companies and entrepreneurs for expert advice.

However, understanding how to gain the media’s interest requires inside knowledge of the industry. That’s exactly what I am going to give you in this blog.

1. Network with reporters. Just as it’s always good to know a great attorney, it’s also good to know a quality reporter. Many reporters have blogs and Web sites. If you post comments and begin feeding them unique and interesting stories, you’ll find that reporters will eagerly welcome your posts, emails, and even calls. Don’t waste their time. Be direct and offer pertinent and timely information.

Remember that reporters typically are responsible for multiple stories in a day so they are very busy. They also get pitched ideas (many bad ones).

What makes a story idea good? It has to have widespread interest coupled with a personal aspect. So don’t just pitch your company and/or product. Instead, offer help first, information that will benefit the public. Then show how the personal element of the story plays a vital part.

For example, if you’re a company that specializes in cleaning out foreclosures, you could grab the media’s attention because the real estate debacle is a hot topic. So, you might pitch the story to the media by saying that your company cleans X foreclosures each week (assuming X is a relatively high number) and that after cleaning foreclosed homes your company has compiled a list of the top 10 items that are frequently found in foreclosed homes. These are things that all buyers need to know about before they consider purchasing a foreclosure.

Now, this assumes that what you find in the foreclosures is interesting and important to buyers. I have interviewed many people who deal with foreclosures from the banks to the real estate agents and typically there are similarities with foreclosed properties. Buyers would be wise to check the properties for these issues before buying.

The point of the above example is to use statistics and tangible information, then to couple it with a hot topic that the media is caught up in.

2. Make it easy to locate the “go-to expert” in your company for an interview. I have called companies for interviews and been told “We’d love to do this story but the only person who can do the interview is our CEO and he won’t be back for a few hours.” What a shame, so I find another “go-to expert” and get my story filed that same day. The other company gets the free publicity because that company had a “go-to expert” ready and willing to speak to the media.

What this entails is educating many people on the subject of how to talk to the media. Make sure, at the very least, that your top tier of management is prepared to do an interview with a reporter.

Also, make sure that your front office knows what to do when the media calls. Savvy companies have media procedure policies in place. The front office doesn’t just send an inquiry from a reporter into a CEOs voice mail box. Instead, the receptionist gets the information from the reporter, locates the appropriate person for the interview, follows up with the reporter via email and/or telephone, which gives the company ample opportunity to get free publicity through the media.

Unfortunately, I can’t count the number of times that successful connection doesn’t happen because the company doesn’t have media procedure policies in place or the receptionist/staff couldn’t be bothered with a call from a reporter (because it’s not viewed as a sales call). How silly! That call could generate extraordinary publicity and future sales.

3. Have real clients and people available that the media can interview. It’s vital to have past clients that you can recommend for the media interview. Sticking with the above example, the Trash-Out companies (as they’re called) should have a list of people (for instance, from the bank that hired the company) that can be referred to the media. If you’re a remodeling company, give actual clients’ names and contact information. Make sure you’ve pre-screened these clients and know that they can do a quality interview. Nothing is more frustrating than getting a lead for an interview from a company and then having the interview be awful because the referred client isn’t articulate or refused the interview.

4. Have a personal touch to the story you are pitching. The media is always looking for the personal story to tell. So, using the example earlier about the company that cleans foreclosed properties, an interesting angle would be if company X found something of value or mystery (such as the skeleton found in an LA foreclosed property). Depending on what the item was, that could make a very intriguing and possibly emotional story for the news media.

5. Think like a reporter before you pitch to a reporter. Here’s the point–not every company has a juicy tale to tell, so that’s where creativity comes into play. You have to think like a reporter before you pitch a story to a reporter. If you’re pitching a story to a TV reporter, think about what video the reporter would use to tell the story. Did you know that some good stories are turned down (or get very little air time) on TV because there just isn’t any compelling video to accompany the story? It’s like saying you’ve got a face for radio! Sometimes the story is better for print or radio.

6. Use statistics in your press release. The media loves to throw statistics into news pieces and the public really likes it too. Think about books and titles, (including this blog’s)–statistics and numbers tend to make something seem more important.

7. Don’t promote your business; instead give helpful/interesting information. Remember, you’ll get exposure if the media does a story. While your company may only get a mention, that’s a huge value. It’s often better to be mentioned in a news story than to buy a commercial or advertisement. Commercials are seen for what they are–advertising–but getting mentioned or interviewed inside a news story helps to create instant credibility. It’s value you can’t buy.

So, when you pitch a story to the media, first find the informative angle and then creatively craft a pitch that positions your company as the “go-to expert” for the interview for that particular story.

8. Talk in sound bites, even for print. Even though today there are much longer stories featured on the Internet, it’s still advisable to get to the point when being interviewed. If you succinctly convey your thoughts when you are being interviewed by a reporter, there is less chance of much of your interview winding up on the editing room floor. (Okay, that’s old school talk from the editing days before computers, but you get my point–hopefully.)

Too many interviewees go on and on in an interview and say the same thing over again in different ways. What the interviewee doesn’t realize is that will all be edited out anyway. It’s likely the reporter will paraphrase your long-winded answer (giving you less print space or air time) in an effort to make the story easier to understand.

Reporters will always ask for more details if they need them.

9. Be natural, not overly rehearsed. Canned speeches sound terrible and so does an overly-coached interviewee. Be relaxed, natural, and talk at a good, easy-to-understand pace. If you have never been interviewed by the media, it’s a good idea to hire a media coach for a few pointers. The coaching helps not only with speaking to the media but also can help you in everyday presentations to clients.

10. Just do it! (to borrow this phrase from Nike). The reason a lot of companies don’t get called by the media is because the media doesn’t know about the company. If you want free publicity from the media, you have to become a “notable resource” to the media.

Get your press releases to the media. Write articles to newspapers. Post comments on reporters’ blogs. Make telephone calls to the assignment desks at television stations. (A lot of companies don’t know that the staff handles the majority of press releases that come into a station. That staff then assigns a reporter to the story).

Build your resource and educational content on your Web site so that you can refer the media to it in the press releases. (This in itself is a tremendous marketing tool. I’ll have more on what makes good content and how you build an educational library on your company’s Web site in a future blog.)

Bottom line? The media can help you grow your business and, as a reporter, I am always happy to receive story pitches from companies that have taken the time to put together an interesting angle. It’s all the better when I call the company and the CEO or spokesperson is articulate, concise, knowledgeable, and is an entertaining interviewee.

Ready to get started with getting media attention? Visit Live Fit Films — producing video news stories for your company.