Peter noted that to get a journalist to do a story about you, a product, or an idea, you almost have to do all work for them: give them a good headline, figure out an intriguing angle, etc.

On surface, it would seem then that's today's reporters, producers, and editors HAVE gotten lazy.

But in fact, opposite is true. It takes more hard work than ever to stay in journalism business these days, and only most dedicated, energetic people survive.

Think about it this way.

When I got my first TV job in 1974, city where I worked (Altoona, PA) had only ONE station. Even big cities, like nearby Pittsburgh, only had three commercial outlets.

So those stations got to divide up ALL TV advertising dollars. The pie was cut into no more than three pieces.

Look at what you have now. Hundreds of stations and cable channels competing for less and less money. The pie is no longer cut into pieces. It's down to slivers.

Plus, advertisers just aren't spending right now. Revenues are down.

But...but...but...you’re saying, products for sales is a must too, however, if your list is nonexistent, small or loosely targeted, having a product isn’t going to help much. There just will not be any success.

Yes, I know this is confusing. You need a product to attract. By way, I am using product interchangeably to mean services too.

This almost feels like chicken and egg story – which came first. So, what do you do first?

You can’t create or increase a mailing list without a "what’s in it for them to be attracted to you for."

Now I’m not talking about buying lists but about opt-in focused lists.

Step 1: Know what your target market (audience same thing) wants and they already have their wallet open and ready to buy.

Step 2: Create a product to answer that want and match their wallet. Create a product that contains 100% they can know everything about a small segment of that want.