Financial Infomercials Cleverly Disguised As News [repost]
This week I received an email, “From the offices of Gary Baris – Today In America with Terry Bradshaw”. I have to admit, it sounded pretty important. It explained that Biznik was being considered for story on national TV program Today in America, with the co-host of FOX NFL Sunday, Terry Bradshaw.
We are currently working on an upcoming segment on ”21st century networking solutions for small business people,” and it will be included in our, “Taking your business to the next level” Series.
Mr. Baris and his team are responsible for determining the most appropriate content for programming based on our editorial calendar, and he would like to arrange a time to speak with you regarding the upcoming story. The segment relates to industry trends, and takes a look at how organizations are helping to address these developments. He has a particular interest in speaking with you about “Biznik”.
We haven’t been on national TV yet, but it’s not unheard of that we’d be considered for a national news story. Biznik’s been featured in The Wall Street Journal and Entrepreneur Magazine. We’re 5 years old. We jockey for position #1 on Google for the search, “business networking”. More times than not, we outrank both LinkedIn and BNI.
Visions of an afternoon by the pool on an all-expense paid trip to LA – (plus the opportunity to meet some of our hotshot LA Bizniks) – pumped me up. Then the team gathered around one of the large monitors and we Googled it. A search for “Today in America SCAM” pulled up a blog post on CBS Moneywatch. The author, Allan Roth, was able to engage one of Today in America’s Associate Producers in conversation. Check out how he missed out on his few minutes of fame, and what it means to you – (Financial Informercials Cleverly Disguised As News By Allan Roth | Jul 1, 2010). His post, along with another one I found, revealed a “small scheduling fee” in the tune of $19,800.
When one of our teammates took the call from the associate producer, he was told, “You’re welcome to sit in on the call but I’m scheduled to talk to Lara Feltin and I won’t conduct this call without her.” Andrew explained that I had delegated the call to him. Mr. Baris curtly replied, “Never mind then” and hung up on him! (nice.)
I won’t say, there’s no such thing as a free lunch. A compelling news story is a win-win-win for the stations broadcasting the content, for the consumers of the story, as well as for the company being profiled. I will say, if it seems fishy it probably is. There was something off about the Today in America web site. (Like the big blank Airings page that reads, “Here you will find news, airdates, and times for the latest airings of Today in American on national networks across the country.” Where is here?) Adding the word “scam” to my search term instantly revealed others who shared a similar experience. Thank you for sharing your story, Allan!
Tags: business networking, indie business, small business, social media for business, social networking for business
July 25th, 2010 at 5:01 am
Scary Stuff!
It’s simply an infomercial company buying time on major networks…and then selling slots to customers. the benefit of this is not for the viewers to see, but potentially the leverage of being able to say “As seen on NBC…”
There are companies doing this with the New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and in many other forms (such as having 12 writer each pay $3,000-5,000+ to have a chapter included in a “best-selling” book…)
When you hear about a “fee”… be very cautious. I’m not saying it never pays (depends on the specific strategy and costs vs. reward…) but always get input from others and sleep on it before you shell out a penny for any of these kinds of pseudo-scams.
Issamar
July 28th, 2010 at 7:48 am
And I was feeling bad about giving a guy $30 yesterday after hearing his story about a broken serpentine belt (note “serpentine”) a big job he had to get to, etc. I am usually a quick “No” guy, but somehow this one caught me at the right time with the right combination.
Anyway, good catch Lara… and, of course, National TV is just around the corner I’m sure.
DrD
August 16th, 2010 at 11:00 am
I feel so silly about not questioning this more before taking a call with an “associate producer” today. The assistant’s name was Jordana Kaplan and I spoke with Joe Noto. A total waste of 30 minutes. If these people contact you, run the other way!
September 2nd, 2010 at 12:24 pm
How is this a Scam? I’m considering being on their show but I don’t see anything wrong up to this point. Did any of you participate? As long as the show airs as promised I think it is a great deal for what you pay for. I was in TV a while ago & I can tell you that is not much money to be on tv 20 times having a national celebrity like Terry Bradshaw speaking about your company.
I just don’t see the “scam” & I sure don’t think a celeb like TB would be ionvolved if it were. My guess is none of you participated in the show & you just expected to get it for free & are upset that you didn’t..Am I wrong??
September 2nd, 2010 at 1:12 pm
I never said the show is a scam. I simply discovered others’ unsavory experiences with the show, when I Google’d “Today in America” with the word “scam” tacked on the end. I can’t comment on the legitimacy of their business. You should know that they may take up a lot of your time (and energy) before they reveal that their product comes with a $19,800 price tag.
The part that really threw me was when one of the associate producers hung up on our company’s Director of Marketing with a rude, “Never mind,” when he was told that I, the CEO, would not be participating in the initial conversations about the proposed project.
I believe you’d be primarily working with a pushy sales guy and that you’d be paying for little more than a pre-recorded canned intro by Terry Bradshaw. If you’d like a video that showcases your company and it’s place in your industry, you’d get a lot higher quality and personalized production by hiring an independent film maker or videographer, and for a much lower cost.
Where would you find such a film maker or videographer? Try looking on Biznik, natch!
September 2nd, 2010 at 2:09 pm
These paid-TV scams have been around for a couple of decades, focusing on business. It’s not illegal, just as selling “Who’s Who” catalog entries to every “special” person in the world is not illegal. But it’s deception at best.
September 3rd, 2010 at 6:19 am
I checked around too Lara..very thoroughly I might add, and I can not find 1 person who had an “unsavory experience with the show”. Anyone who had anything negative to say was not on the show therefore did not have an “experience” at all. other than a phone call & told that there was a fee, which is completely understandable. In fact, everyone I found that actually had worked with them and had an actual “experience” were more than satisfied.
So where are these “unsavory experiences with the show”?
September 3rd, 2010 at 10:47 am
There lies the difference in opinion. For me, an experience with an independent contractor begins with the first exchange in communication. The communication that leads to the negotiation contributes just as much to my overall “experience” as does the actual work performed after money has exchanged hands.
Here are links to two blog posts that shared unsavory experiences (that meet my definition):
http://moneywatch.bnet.com/investing/blog/irrational-investor/financial-infomercials-cleverly-disguised-as-news/1645/
http://mid-riffs.com/2010/07/is-philadelphia-stealer-just-a-scam-artist/
My intention with writing this post was to share my experience and remind readers that it’s important to always do your homework.
September 7th, 2010 at 10:39 am
This is simply a paid infomercial disguised as news. This is advertising, just not news and the whole method of selling this to unsuspecting enterprises qualifies as a scam. If this is not a scam then what is?
September 20th, 2010 at 12:57 pm
A scam is when you buy something that is not what you were told it was.
November 24th, 2011 at 12:32 pm
I worked for “Today In America”, they train you to approach ANY company as if you were interested in reporting on a topic relevant to the targeted company. You have a basic script or as they require you to call it a “presentation”. They ask the CEO or other executives to discuss what the company exactly does and ask follow-up questions that “should not surpass 15 minutes” and then nonchalantly mention after 20 minutes into the call that there is a “scheduling fee” of $19,800, $24,800 or $19,800. The “associate producer” determines what the fee will be only by listening and feeling out how much they think the company could afford. They do not disclose that it is 100% paid advertising. They mention that the show will be aired on Fox Business Network, CNN HLN, and other various stations like ION. There are over 50 salesmen or “associate producers”. I left because I didn’t like the deception. It’s just a sale. They really don’t care about you, your company or their own staff. The CEO pegs himself as a righteous Christian but is just another greedy, devious, snake in the grass who’s making millions off companies who fork over six figures.