In 2014, I was in the back seat of a cab, futzing with the screen to turn the annoying video off. A woman was teaching ladies how to quilt.
By the third cab, it was the third time I watching the video. I had to turn up the volume. The woman was closing out a segment of NBC Nightly News.
I said to myself, through gritted teeth, “Why is a segment on quilting playing in New York City?”
This was hardly the audience for it. Well, it turns out Jenny Doan (in the video) was teaching women how to quilt. It’s a craft that usually took weeks. Maybe even months. Her workshops at the Missouri Star Quilting Company were teaching women to quilt in a day. So popular, women from all over the Midwest were banging down her door to attend. At the time, she had garnered 155,000 subscribers. Her video tutorials had been viewed 28 million times. She had a million followers on Youtube. With 85 direct reports in 2014, she was one of the biggest employers in Hamilton, Missouri (Population 1500)
That’s why she was closing out a evening edition of NBC Nightly News.
Today when people ask me, “How did I get on TV?” I cite Jenny Doan’s example.
Three tips you can implement.
1. As wonky as the topic was (quilting in a day) Jenny was passionate about it. She had chosen her niche: Learn how to quilt in a day. What’s your niche?
2. She was committed. She had created over a 1,000 videos on the topic. Some averaging 117k, 80K, 62K views. Beat that! Have you chosen a medium and created a body of work?
3. She was speaking to something universal and timely. People today crave instant gratification. By feeding into that dynamic, Jenny had created a movement that got media attention. She was also feeding into the current headlines. The town of Hamilton had fallen on hard times. She was creating jobs at a time when her small town desperately needed it. Are you speaking to something in the headlines?
I interviewed Michael Parrish Dudell, bestselling author of “Shark Tank” on how to get sponsors for your brand.
- My interview with him here on Apple Podcasts.
- You can read the highlights of the interview here.
- I’m teaching you how to create a body of work that gets clients (and media) in the 2024 class of the Mastermind. Apply here.
