The Big Clearout Continues

Inspired by yesterday's achievements, I tackled my filing boxes today. Manuals for vacuum cleaners, toasters, kettles and BBQs I no longer have - gone! Cheque book stubs, utility bills and TV licences from 2001 to 2005 - gone! Car insurance documents for cars I owned 5 years ago - gone! All that's left to do now is go through my emails...

Out with the old, so there's room for the new!

I've just spent a very satisfying few hours doing some filing and having a bit of a tidy up because I can't bear to start a New Year surrounded by old clutter and old 'stuff'. I have to admit I agonised over my various piles of magazines - including the issues of Broadcast which I never got around to reading. Should I get rid of them or hang onto them? Have I missed a fantastic media story? Is there a recipe in Olive I can't live without or an article in Marketing that's going to transform the business? Luckily sense prevailed. They've all gone to the recyling bin and it feels great. I'm ready for the New Year - and I've got space for all the new things, ideas (and magazines!) it's going to bring.

Your Success is My Success

I've decided to enter findaTVexpert.com in various start up business awards in 2009: Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year, Start Ups Award and the HSBC Start Up Award. Nothing ventured, nothing gained right? I believe in findaTVexpert so I'm going to blow my own trumpet. And the good news for all the experts on the site is that I'll be working even harder to get them noticed because I can only be successful if they're successful. It's a win/win situation.

Daily Telegraph here we come!

I've just had a long chat with a Daily Telegraph writer who received my press release - see Nov 14th blog - and is doing a piece on "up-and-coming property experts who might one day be following in the footsteps of TV presenters such as Phil Spencer, Kirstie Allsopp, Sarah Beeny etc." He's speaking to John Rennie and some of the other property experts on findaTVexpert.com, which is fantastic news. The article will probably come out in January. Watch this space!

The Joys of an Online Business

I can work from anywhere in the world! I'm in New Zealand at the moment but thanks to the internet, all I need is a laptop to stay connected with the experts, the industry and the business. How fabulous is that?

The Proof is in the Pudding

November has been another great month for the experts on findaTVexpert.com. So I thought I'd share some of their success stories:

Laurie Wickwire - Diamond Grader & Jewellery Designer. Laurie was spotted by a TV agent and put forward as the in house diamond expert for QVC. And she found out yesterday that she got the job!
Patricia Davidson - Online Shopping expert. Patricia's been very busy since she joined findaTVexpert two weeks ago with interviews and appearances on BBCs Working Lunch, Vanessa Feltz' BBC London Radio programme, Chris Evans' Radio 2 programme and Radio 5 Live.
Holly & Shirley - Budget Lifestyle and Fashion Experts. Holly & Shirley were spotted by a features writer from The Sun - who registered to search the site a couple of weeks ago - and contacted about doing a feature on haggling/ bartering for typical Christmas presents in high street stores, a major department store, independent businesses and supermarkets, maybe even an car show room.
Gina Negus - Private Investigator. Gina did an interview/paper review on BBC London Radio.
Joe Craig - Children's Author. Joe did an interview/paper review on BBC London Radio.
Kim Ingleby - Fitness, Wellbeing, Performance, NLP. Kim tells me she's done two things which she's 'pretty sure' came through the site: she's got an article being published in the January issue of Bliss (teenage girls magazine) on fitness and wellbeing for teenage girls and she did a pre recorded VT for GMTV as their fitness expert for their Little Black Dress/Feeling Fabulous for the Festive Season item. If all goes well, she might be doing some more work for GMTV in the New Year - fingers crossed.
Valerie Munro - Horticulturist & Plant Doctor: Valerie was booked as the gardening Q&A expert for the Lesley Joseph/Christopher Biggins Sunday Show on Radio London - and there might be more shows in the pipeline.
Abigael San - Doctor of Clinical Psychology. Abigael was filmed for a Sky Real Lives programme which is coming out in January. It's called 'War on Fat' and explores the psychological reasons behind overeating. Abigael
was also interviewed for The London Paper about men who have difficulty committing to relationships and has got an article coming out in Bliss Magazine in March about why we mustn't let past events have undue influence over future behaviour.
Sue Firth - Psychologist, Stress & Behaviour Expert. Sue was booked for her third appearance on This Morning.
Dee Momi & Lizzie Edwards - personal shoppers & stylists - have caught the attention of a TV agent.
Mike Edwards - War Wounds Expert and Trauma surgeon. Mike has been contacted regarding a head shrinking item for a Channel 5/National Geographic programme about a tribe from the Amazon.

Diamond graders to head shrinking experts. That's what's so exciting about the media industry: its needs are varied, unexpected and totally unpredictable. One thing's for sure though: TV&Media companies are always looking for experts & inspiration, and now there's now an easy way to find them: www.findaTVexpert.com! It does what it says on the tin - and the proof is in the pudding!

P.S.

The features writer from The Sun - see Monday 17 November blog below - has been in touch with one of the experts on the site, which is great news. I'll keep you posted!

Out of my comfort zone

I've just got back from giving a speech to the MSc and BSc nutrition students of King's College London at their 'profession study day'. Giving speeches is not something I do very often (or at all) so I was definitely out of my comfort zone. My heart was pounding, I spoke too quickly and I wasn't as clear as I could be BUT it was good practice. And I can only get better right?

Getting spotted by the media

A features writer from The Sun has just registered to search www.findaTVexpert.com. I don't know how she found out about findaTVexpert.com - maybe from the press mailing I did last week - but the fact is we've been spotted, which is great news for all the experts on the site - and for business. Watch this space!

If you've got it, flaunt it

John Rennie, a personal finance & property journalist, decided to flaunt his expertise on findaTVexpert.com and it paid off. A few months later he was spotted by the BBC and signed up to co-present a new property programme called The Unsellables.

This is great news for John - and for findaTvexpert.com. As such, I'm flaunting the story to the press by issuing a press release entitled: "www.findaTVexpert.com launches TV career of new property programme presenter".

Hopefully, like John, the press release will get 'spotted' by a journalist and www.findaTVexpert.com will be mentioned in a forthcoming feature or article as a result. I'll keep you posted!

In the meantime, if you've got it, make sure you flaunt it (whatever 'it' may be!)

Yes We Can!

Barack Obama is America's new president. What an amazing day. What an inspiring man. What a defining moment. It just goes to show that when we really believe in something, we can make it happen. Yes we can!

ENDING THE MONTH ON A HIGH!

I've just heard that John Rennie (Finance & Property Expert) was 'found' on www.findatvexpert.com and has been signed up to co-host BBC1's new property show - The Unsellables - with Sofie Allsopp. They're filming now (20x30 mins programmes) for transmission in March 09. What a fantastic way to end the month!

It Pays to Persevere

Every Wednesday I send out my 'New Experts' update to over 1500 TV researchers, producers, heads of development, etc. Many of them are already registered to search www.findaTVexpert.com, but others aren't.
What never ceases to amazes me is how each week, someone who's been receiving the update for the past 6 months suddenly decides to register, which is obviously great for all the experts on the site - because the more members of the media who register to search findatvexpert.com the higher the chances of the experts being found and booked to comment on a subject or be part of a show. And it's also great for business. So it just goes to show, it pays to persevere!

Funeral Directors, Embalmers, Will Writers, etc

I think death is a subject that hasn’t been explored properly on TV and am convinced that with the right experts there’s a way of creating a show that is sensitive and informative – but highly watch-able. For example: Louis Theroux at a planning your funeral evening; Channel 4’s ‘The Family’ making a will (you can just see it, can't you?); celebrities/pop stars/politicians talking about what song they’d play at their funeral (I'd watch!), etc.

The key, of course, is to find the experts with the x-pert factor – embalmers, funeral directors, celebrants, financial advisors, will makers, etc – who can bring the subject to life.

So if you know any, please send them my way!

What I love about running www.findatvexpert.com

Getting to know inspiring people: experts, networking contacts, other entrepreneurs, etc. Yesterday I met up with Joanna Ward, co-founder of www.studentgems.com, which gives businesses and individuals an easy way of finding talented students to get jobs done - and students a way of using their skills to earn money. Such a great idea. And I'm just about to have a chat with some of the latest experts who have registered on findaTVexpert.com: an ex-firefighter and safety consultant, a financial life coach, a memorabilia expert and a personal trainer!

To Twitter or Not to Twitter

Just when I thought I was getting my head around online networking - www.ecademy.com, Facebook, www.theathenanetwork.com, the Beermat Entrepreneur (www.beermat.biz), this blog, ecademy blogs, a findaTVexpert.com Facebook group, etc - along comes Twitter. Apparently it allows friends to 'stay connected in real-time'. The mind boggles!

Thought for the Day

'All that we are is the result of what we have thought. The mind is everything. What we think, we become.' Buddha

So think great things this week!

Networking

Went to an Athena Network lunch yesterday (http://www.theathenanetwork.com/) and have just read Penny Power's story about how she lost £800,000 overnight during the e-commerce crash 8 years ago - and survived (Penny's the founder of http://www.ecademy.com/). The link between the two? The power of networking. I've only been 'actively' networking since I set up http://www.findatvexpert.com (before that I was too busy making TV programmes) but I can see how it works. And on so many fronts: ideas, new business, support, friendship, etc. So try it!

Good News

I truly believe that focussing on bad new - banks going bust, share prices crashing, etc - only makes things worse. It becomes a self fulfilling prophecy. So to shift the focus, here's some GOOD news: www.findaTVexpert.com has been in business for 5 months and it's working! TV&Media companies are registering and searching the site for experts – from the BBC to Zig Zag Productions and all the main players in between including Endemol, Betty, Optomen, ITV, Five, Fresh One, Leopard, Lion, Maverick, Mentorn, RDF, Ricochet, Talkback Thames, Twenty Twenty, bSkyb, etc. As a result, experts are being ‘found’ and fulfilling their ambition of being on TV and increasing their media profile - and I've repaid my initial investment. What's more I've got a wonderful family and friends, I'm happy and healthy - and my singing's getting better each week!

Promotion, Promotion, Promotion

This week has been all about just that. I sent out my 'success stories' press release on Tuesday - it's so satisfying to know that experts are being found by TV&Media companies and fulfilling their ambition of being on TV, sharing their passion and expertise with a wider audience and increasing their media profile; I've been posting blogs and responding to blogs on ecademy all week (every time someone clicks on my photo they learn about the business!); http://www.findatvexpert.com/ was featured in media coach Alan Stevens' ezine which goes out to thousands of people every Friday (http://www.mediacoach.co.uk/) and I met Chantal Cooke, ex radio producer and founder of Passion for the Planet Radio (http://www.passionfortheplant.com/). As a result, more TV&Media companies have registered to search the site and I've attracted a few more experts - which is great news for everyone!

My first ecademy.com blog

I posted my first ecademy blog today: "Do you know any experts who want to be on TV" and got 90 views (so far). If those 90 people all know an expert who want to be on TV ... this could be a very good month!

Inspiring People

Met up with Penny Power, founder of business and social networking site www.ecademy.com for a cup of coffee and a catch up this morning. She's a true inspiration for entrepreneurs, networkers and business men and women. And a really lovely person to boot. I'm on ecademy and she's on findaTVexpert - and we're helping each other realise our dreams.

Team Work

The one thing I miss about working for a TV production company is being part of a team. So inspired by the BBCs 'Last Choir Standing', I joined a choir: The Addison Group of Singers Jazz Choir in Hammersmith. I've never been in a choir before and can't read music but that doesn't matter. Rehearsals are every Monday night for 10 weeks, at the end of which there's a concert or recital. Went to my first Rehearsal last night - and loved it!

Here it is!

Lots of people have suggested I start a blog - so here's my first one, posted on Friday, 12 September 2008 at 21.45. Random life, business and TV thoughts will follow in the days, months and years to come - and I'm going to try to be succinct (because I do have a tendency to 'go on and on a bit').