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Hi everyone,

Here`s a quick story of what happened when an NBC reporter called me last time... 

The reporter asked me if I was the inventor of SmudgeGuard. I said yes.

She then tells me that she`s a reporter from NBC and would like to do a story about my product. So at this point, I`m feeling very excited since it was NBC calling.

Then, she asked what my sales in revenue were for this past year. I told her that I haven`t been in business for even a year yet so I wouldn`t know the total.

So she still asks me for an estimate, so my reply was, "Well, I know it didn`t hit the millions yet..(jokingly)" But I guess she didn`t take it as a joke and her reply was.."Okay, since my program is only interested in a million or more, I guess we`ll get back to you."   "Wh-a-t-t?  -  WELL, talk about being excited for just a few seconds to being really disappointed in a quick minute!

Just because I didn`t hit the million dollar mark yet?  Sighhh..Oh well.. life goes on.  

So as a helpful tip to all, just be prepared for that revenue question if a reporter ever asks you. If you`re one that`s making over a million, that`s great!  But if you`re not, just don`t get too over excited like I did. They may not even want to do a story on you or your product afterall.  

Has anybody else ever experienced this kind of call from a reporter from NBC or any other network?

Jeannie

 

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Wow! I am sorry to hear about the reporter`s story criteria. Your product is brilliant. But hopefully they`ll source you and call back again!

I`ve been watching a lot of Donny Deutsch (CNBC) lately, and I`ve noticed he keeps on saying things like "they made millions".  He never says millions in profit, or gross, or millions of units over a lifetime . . . it`s just millions!

There was a recent show about pet products where people made millions, but a simple calculation on a napkin shows this is probably an exaggeration.

The woman from NBC might just be believing all the hype, or it could have been someone from "The Big Idea", and they just need some one to say `Millions`.

That`s sad to hear....

But you have a darn great product and I love the site layout you have, it fits well.

How have you been doing with this product? I`d imagine you could be up to millions with this great idea sooner than later though

So when they call you back...just tell them you`re dealing with ABC and CBS

Cartess

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Website Startup Coach: Step-by-Step Coaching to Help You Build a Profitable Business Online!

Yeah, I`m with everyone else on this ... seems like a hype piece anyway.

Although I`m sure it would have been good press for you, so I`m sorry!

Who calls you up and demands to know your revenue???


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That PHP Girl
Small Business Essentials
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Yah but look at it this way....NBC *heard* about you! So what if they didn`t want your story............yet. :-D

Think of the many topics and posts, even only here on SuN, where people are searching for ways to get noticed, to be seen, to be found or heard of. And you were found by NBC! That`s definitely A Good Thing.

Again with the fishing stories: When we see a big swirl near the shore and a splash of minnows jumping, we know that a big fish is feeding. We notice it. Then we rush over and throw everything in the tackle box into the water, hoping to catch that big fish.

Do we catch it? Not usually....but some of the time! However, the odds of catching "any" fish are greater because at least we know there`s one feeding in that area.

Same here: NBC is a big fish. The fact that you caused a swirl is important! You were noticed. Next time it`ll be a whole interview. This time, it prepares you for something that WILL happen, but that you hadn`t really and truly believed could happen.

Your job now is to sit down, contemplate yourself in a full-scale interview with an NBC or CNN or FOX segment. What will you say? What do you want most to get across to the audience? How can you make a memorable connection between SmudgeGuard and 30 seconds worth of words?

It`s like a harbinger, an omen, a warning, or a pre-event. It gets you thinking about important aspects of developing your business before you have to go live, on stage.

Remember, the universe isn`t broken. You`re right where you`re supposed to be, and everything is moving along according to plan. Before this phone call, had you remotely contemplated what you`d say to an interviewer without babbling? Probably not. So this is a way to avoid being embarrassed, and to have all the facts and figures, but also the personable stories and anecdotes needed to Get Your Message Across. :-)

Wow!  It`s great to wake up to all the kind replies from the GREAT SuN members... CookieMonster, Degrees, Cartess, nhgnikole, and CraigL! I`m truly touched by all your nice comments, words of encouragement and wisdom!

CookieMonster,

I hope NBC will be kind enough to call me back again one day. Until then, I will be waiting patiently and getting prepared for that moment.

Degrees,

I`ve never seen Donny Deutsch`s show before.  Instead, I`ve been watching shows like American Inventor and Everyday Edisons. I really should start tuning into Donny`s show to learn more. So maybe it REALLY was that show calling, I wonder.. 

Cartess,

My product is doing okay. It has it`s ups and downs. Nothing steady yet. When it`s exposed on the gadget sites, it does well. But it quickly tapers off when the stories get archived.

But I`ve seen your video on YouTube.com about magic (very cool by the way) and I want to follow suit but I don`t have the equipment or the creativity to make one yet.  But I`ve been doing research about Wacom users on YouTube recently and found that Wacom users often create their own home-made kind of glove to reduce hand friction.  So I came across this cool video from an artist who uses a home-made, cut-up white cotton glove to draw on his Wacom Cintiq.  I wondered if it would be a good idea to write to him and ask if he would be interested in getting a free SmudgeGuard in return for him wearing my glove instead the next time he makes a video.  What are your thoughts?

Please see this artist`s cool video below for your reference.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oE2APo_EORQ

What do you ALL think about that idea? Your feedback would be much appreciated.

nhgnikole,

The revenue question caught me off guard too. The nerve! LOL

But yeah, the hype piece would`ve been GREAT press, no doubt!

CraigL,

Your optimistic perspective is always welcomed! Yeah, NBC did indeed call me. I guess it`s not bad afterall! Since I`m a bad speaker, I will need to follow your good advice and practice answering those good questions you thought of. I think I got a D in public speaking class back in the day. So I`ll definitely need to practice!  

I want to thank everyone for their great feedback! I really appreciate it!

Sincerely,

Jeannie   

 

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Hey Jeannie, That`s a great idea.  He should wear your glove, and promote it! 

I was asked that revenue question too in an interview recently, and  I was caught off gaurd. I thought we were going to talk about marketing.

I think thats a great idea! Contact him....it won`t hurt.

Also, youtube could do well for you...I`m not 100% sure, but I did a quick query on the term "drawing" in youtube and there are plenty of artists doing some sketches on video...some have gotten over 1,000,000 views...if anything, I`d also contact those guys (and ladies) and see about sending them a freebie too... Especially those who have many subscribers (which means they have a following and each time they upload a new sketch to youtube it also goes out to their following of subscribers).

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=drawing

You don`t need fancy video equipment to make videos...in fact, you could just make a slide show of your product and convert into a video file.

In fact, I`m working on a brand new project and I need to build up a portfolio and get some testimonials, so I`d be willing to put something together for you to drop on youtube...and I`ll submit this "video file" to the other 35+ video directories for you too.

Just PM me and we can discuss the details of what I`ll need from you to get this to work.

Cartess

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Website Startup Coach: Step-by-Step Coaching to Help You Build a Profitable Business Online!

Jeannie,
I think what you`re seeing here is that you`re usually only limited by your own imagination. :-) So lose the "I got a `D` in public speaking," and the "I`m not very creative." Of course you are, or you wouldn`t have created the SmudgeGuard!

Being good at entrepreneurship has a lot to do with practice and thinking ahead. Here you`re again coming up with an excellent idea, to contact the fella with the Wacom tablet. Who would`ve thought of that, other than you? :-D Y`know?

You don`t have to be a charismatic public speaker. All you need is to know the answers to *likely* questions people will be asking you.

For example, someone at a Thanksgiving Day dinner asks, "So...Jeannie...what is it exactly that you do?" Is that an improbable question? No...of course not. If you write down some of these as you encounter them, you can spend some time coming up with really good answers.

People often say, "Oh, I wish I`d thought of that back when I was in the middle of the argument!" They think that the witty retorts they see on TV shows or read in books are routinely made up on the spur of the moment. No, they`re not. The authors and writers thought hard about the right responses, editing and going over and over until it was "clever."

If you do the same, ahead of time, you`ll *appear* to be a brilliant public speaker. And after all, sales is so often about appearances....right? :-)