4 Priceless Lessons from Free Publicity

This past Saturday I had the privilege of appearing on our local NBC station. It was my third time on the live weekend morning show and this time around I gave tips on getting the most out of gift cards.

This past Saturday was also Small Business Saturday. When I originally sent my pitch, it was for a segment featuring affordable accessories as gift-giving ideas. I'd done all the research on trends and colors and everything.

KXAN does a fantastic job of featuring locally owned businesses, so it made perfect sense to start local.

Nobody told me this part: Getting companies to respond to you is damn near impossible. At least that was my experience.

Of the three businesses I reached out to, two never responded and the one owner who did was skeptical about how her company was going to be portrayed. Yes - after specifically stating that I'd like to feature a few of her accessories on an affordable gift-giving tv segment, she still had concerns.

Ok. You can sell me your stuff, but you're questioning me promoting it - on tv?!

All of this may be fairly new to me, but I refuse to beg folks to allow me to give them free publicity.

Much to my surprise, Kohls was the only retailer who returned my phone call and showed interest.

After sharing my frustrations with my contact at the station, she decided the gift card segment would be more timely. When I sent the original pitch - the one for affordable accessories that local business owners didn't respond to - I also included two other pitch ideas. Gift card tips was one of them.

And from this I learned the following:

1. Working with small businesses and solo-entrepreneurs doesn't always equal less red tape. Sometimes egos can take the place of stringent corporate policies and procedures.
2. This was very stressful in the beginning, but I enjoyed it.
3. When you present Plan A, it's a good idea to throw Plans B&C in the mix...just in case.
4. Once you realize you've mistaken a transaction for a real relationship, accept it and keep it moving.

Lessons, experiences, challenges or whatever you want to call them are around us all the time. These snafus shape our journey. And thanks to something I read on @AnOptimisticMom's blog, I know this one was right on time.