Not two weeks after we get through an in-depth look at how virtually anybody can be labeled an "expert" and thrown on a cable news network comes a veritable how-to guide on accomplishing exactly that.

In the article, in the July issue of Politics magazine, Patrick Gavin explains how you too, without a newspaper's name on your business card or a publicist responsible for bookings, can get your message heard. Potentially, his information could be more harmful to America's safety than a DIY guide to building nuclear bomb.

But it isn't. Mostly, it's no-brainer tips: Don't try to get a booker or producer's ear when she's in the middle of a broadcast; Do use the telephone; Don't expect to they'll want to meet you for coffee the first time you reach out; Do use your connections; Do be reliable.

But there are three strategies anecdotally laid out:

There's the Sell Yourself to Blogs angle:

One such success story can be found in the case of Ankush Khardori. The New York lawyer started his own blog, Penguins on the Equator (http://penguinsontheequator.blogspot.com), to share his take on media issues and politics generally. In a 2006 post, Khardori linked to an item written by Rachel Sklar, who at the time edited mediabistro.com's FishbowlNY blog. (She now writes the Huffington Post's "Eat the Press" blog.) The link earned him Sklar's attention and, more importantly, his insightful analysis captured her admiration and respect.

"That was basically my introduction to anything good," Khardori now admits. His relationship and camaraderie with Sklar ultimately helped Khardori score additional pick-ups for his work on such popular sites as the Huffington Post, the Poynter Institute's Romenesko blog and CBS' (now defunct) Public Eye Blog.

"If you want to get someone's attention, link to them or criticize them," says Sklar. "Don't be mean about it; be smart about it. They will probably notice and, depending on their ego, they may or may not turn that into an engaging dialogue." Lest we forget, plenty of notable individuals carefully follow what is said about them online (either by Googling themselves or setting up Google alerts, which will e-mail them whenever their name appears online).

The Sell Yourself to the Mainstream Press angle:

Matthew Felling, a regular WAMU guest host and contributor to CNN's Reliable Sources [Ed: Uh, I thought we were talking about getting nobodies on air?], says he never pitches himself. "I couldn't be a huckster or a self-promoter because it's not who I am," he explains.

That's not to say he doesn't promote himself at all, though. Felling made his first appearance on Reliable Sources less than two years ago, after host Howard Kurtz reacted positively to some of the work Felling had e-mailed Kurtz and invited him to appear on the show to do a media "Year In Review" segment. Although Felling clearly benefited from alerting potentially interested parties in his work, he sees a clear distinction between notifying and annoying.

"I leave breadcrumbs out and allow the reader, viewer or producer to come to their own conclusions instead of just nudging, nudging, nudging," he says. Still, Felling recognizes the need for pushing your material out there. "Too many people have the ‘Field of Dreams' syndrome-if I write it, they will come. That's ridiculous. You need to take it to people."

Felling worked for CBS' Public Eye blog until it folded, and was still looking for a new job at press time. Still, he jokes that "he's the most quoted unemployed person around." How? "The guiding principle that I have with regards to branding or just keeping everybody posted is ‘respect,'" says Felling. "I pick my spots. I try to keep everything brief and concise and allow myself to be incorporated in their information stream without clogging it up. If you've become a bottlenecker, you're instantly irrelevant."

And the Sell Yourself to the Devil angle:

Folio magazine's Dylan Stableford frequently sends out large group e-mails to people who either are-or should be-interested in his work. And it's paid off. Stableford once wrote a story on the Publisher's Information Bureau, what he calls a "very business-y, boring piece," that was linked to by the popular celebrity/gossip blogger Perez Hilton, simply because Stableford had long ago included Hilton on his e-mail list.

"Put it this way: I never would have though Perez Hilton readers would be interested in quarterly magazine advertising figures," says Stableford. "But, for whatever reason, that piece resonated with him and we got enormous traffic from it." Besides, Stableford says, he's hardly ever received a complaint about his e-mail blasts and he doesn't mind being on the receiving end of other people's distribution lists: "I get so many e-mails a day that if I get one I don't want, I just hit ‘delete.'"

[Politics Magazine]