Motivating Mum

Following my recent appearance on The Morning Show I had lots of people ask “How did you get on National TV?”

There are 2 answers to that question …

THE SIMPLE STORY

It was a Friday morning, it happened to be the Friday our house in Melbourne was being loaded onto the back of a truck  to send us back to Sydney. I was sitting on my bedroom floor (because all furniture was gone) doing a little bit of work and managing the removalist team. I happened to be on Twitter thanks to my iPhone and noticed a Tweet from The Morning Show that said something like “Do you work from home? We want to hear from you – what are the pros and cons?”. So I clicked on the link to their contact page, wrote a quick reply about the pros and cons of working from home, hit send and got back to managing the removalists.

A couple of hours later my phone rings, it is a junior producer from The Morning Show wanting to ask me a few questions. Then tells me she would love me to be part of the segment and could I be in the Studio (in Sydney) on Monday morning?

After explaining to her that I was in Melbourne until Wednesday we agreed that I could do the segment as a live feed from the Channel 7 studio in Melbourne. Not ideal for ether of us but the only way I was actually going to be able to manage it.

“I’ll send you the script on Sunday, be in the studio at 9am Monday morning” the producer says before hanging up.

Hooray … I am going to be on National TV!! Oh, but I have no one to look after my kids because they are going they finish crèche today. And I have no clothes, shoes or makeup because it is all loaded onto the back of that huge truck.

THE REAL STORY

So was it as simple as seeing a Tweet, responding and being asked to come on the show? Well yes, but no.

Really this was the result of 12 months very committed and conscious focus on raising my Media profile.

For 12 months I have diligently:

• Created and updated a Media page  on my website to add credibility to my media reputation. I also found this helped me be accountable to my commitment to increase my media profile because an empty Media page would look pretty awful!
• Monitored SourceBottle  for any relevant opportunities no matter how small
• Fostered relationships with journalists to become known as resourceful, responsive and easy to deal with. I often help journalist connect with other Mums and families needed for their stories.
• Started writing and submitting more Media Releases 

All of these things are time consuming and challenge me to do things in my business that are outside my comfort zone. To be effective I knew I had to be consistent, committed and ensure I made it a priority no matter how busy I was.

I am absolutely sure that if I hadn’t been doing these things in my business already The Morning Show would not have responded to my email on that crazy moving day Friday.

ps – I did manage to find someone to look after my kids and borrow clothes and shoes from. The local chemist solved the absence of makeup issue.

Linda Anderson is the founder of Mums on the Go , an online child-friendly directory covering Sydney and Melbourne. Linda has a long history of supporting and empowering people – particularly mums – all across Australia.

Like some tips on preparing for a media interview?  Click the link to read a great article.

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