Being Fooled By Hype123

Years ago, to gain exposure via television or radio would have resulted in an increased flow of revenue and jobs, while also giving you an opportunity to boast your achievement.  The bragging rights from such an event could lead to months worth of business and gave the contractor a platform in which he could prove his worth over others.  But today, this type of exposure may seem glorified, but is it really worth anything?  Reality television has become one of the most popular forms of mediums on the market, and Do It Yourself Programs are more popular now than they ever were.  A while back these kind of shows didn’t exist except for This Old House or watching Norm in his wood shop.  But now, you can watch twin brothers buy and renovate a house cheaply, (with cheap, dressed up materials), real estate agents fight over listings and many other shows showing renovations from start to finish.  So the question is, when a contractor tells you during his pitch that he’s been on one, two or many of these DIY shows, does that mean that they should be your choice?

The answer is NO.  Why?  Because here’s how these shows work using four examples from shows that have contacted us, but only needing one example to explain them all.  As far back as June 2006, we were contacted by a producer that was preparing to film their show in the Philadelphia area.  She explained that the home needed some remediation of both water and mold and they wanted us to complete the job and have the great opportunity of being on their program.  But the catch was that the remediation work we were to complete would be for FREE.  Our pay, as she explained, was to be on the program and have the great opportunity of exposure an HGTV provides, and although the project would cost $6,700 it would be well worth it for us to do it anyhow because the publicity we get from being on their show would far outweigh monetary loss.

My answer was No.  Because for the few seconds they would actually air us on their program would not be worth our time, and we are a company that does not give kickbacks or barter.  Their second pitch was to give us extended clips that may not be televised, but these clips could show us interacting with the host and the new owners for use on our website.  Again, our answer was NO, because we don’t do kickbacks or barter.  So, keep this in mind the next time you have a contractor using this as their sales pitch, because they’re not alone.  Dozens and dozens of contractors have now been on these types of shows and it’s for a reason, they’re doing it for free, or doing it at a very minor cost just to be on TV.  Regardless, it is an honor to be on television or to be mentioned publicly, but remember just like commercials not every thing you see on television is true.

For more, visit our website at BIOWASHING.com

About the author: Joe Fiorilli