A single appearance on national TV can drive a flood of sales, spark more word-of-mouth and raise the percentage of people who buy from your small business.

When your clients see you on national TV, they’ll never look at you like a salesperson or marketer. They’ll see you as an expert – even a celebrity.

Here are five tips for marketing your small business in order to get it on national TV:

1. Try to tie-in with something timely or in the news.
2. Tell the viewers something they don’t already know.
3. Offer producers ideas for visuals.
4. Write a tailored one-page pitch that sells the show idea.
5. When possible, meet producers face-to-face.

Now let’s take an actual case history so you can see how to apply this. Gold Plus Member Mahesh Grossman came to Steve & Bill Harrison (Platinum Members) because he wanted to get more publicity. He took advantage of the training and resources provided and did all five things to get himself booked on Fox News Channel’s Fox & Friends Show.

1) Try to tie-in with something timely or in the news.

Mahesh runs a ghostwriting business in which he gets books written for people who don’t have the time or talent to do it themselves. But let’s face it, the average Joe or Jane watching TV isn’t looking for a ghostwriter. So what did Mahesh do? He created a timely topic he could address and which would interest the average viewer. At the time, the presidential primaries were going on. Mahesh offered to talk about how each presidential candidate had hired a ghostwriter to write his book and then went on to compare how honest and appreciative each candidate had been.

2) Tell viewers something they don’t already know.

A producer at Fox News Network liked the idea of having a ghostwriting expert pull back the curtain and reveal things most people wouldn’t know about the candidates and their books. In fact, when they introduced Mahesh on the air, they called him the “ghostwriting guru” – a description that will be quoted on his web site and promotional literature for years to come.

3) Offer ideas for visuals.

Remember, TV is a visual medium. Producers usually want to show the audience something rather than just telling them something. With Mahesh, they knew they could use “B-roll” of the candidates campaigning – file footage they had and could run a couple times during the segment featuring Mahesh.

4) Write a tailored one-page pitch that sells the show idea.

You’ll increase your odds of getting booked tremendously by giving producers a compelling one-page pitch letter that immediately sells them on your show idea. Think of it as a sales letter going to the media where you’re selling yourself. But unlike most sales letters, be sure to keep your pitch letter short. Media folks are very busy and don’t have a lot of time to read, so make your proposal in one-page and then send it to producers. (For an example, go to www.getmajorpress.com/pitch55.)

5) When possible, meet media face-to-face.

Producers are busier than ever. The best way to stand out from all their cluttle of faxes, phone calls and emails is to meet them in person if they come to one of your industry trade shows. Or attend an event like my National Publicity Summit in New York City which is where Mahesh met the Fox producer who booked him.