#57 • The next time you're on TV
Grab your apron. Bring your logos. Create some magic.
You are reading 3Bits & Change, Joseph's email about building a direct to consumer business on the internet. Today’s email was written to the sounds of a small town coffee shop.
Good Day!
Happy (almost) New Year. We packed the skis, the kids and the dog in the truck on Tuesday afternoon and didn’t stop until we reached a ski resort. There is so much freedom in ski turns and joy in the time together. Plus we get to play dress up! I’m so excited to ski this week! Wahoo!
Yet, avant (before) skiing there was the first of what will be many opportunities to share the Vivront learning journey. CBS News Minnesota has a cooking segment on their morning show. We were invited to share some tips and tricks we’ve learned working with customers at Vivront Wayzata.
Check out our conversion about honing (ope, I skipped the last step of laying it down on the counter), three ways to hold a knife and a cutting board trick on their webpage here. Class notes available our .com here. Enjoy!
After this TV experience I have three points to consider for the next time you or I are on TV.
Bit #1 • Time is short
Like life, time on live TV goes fast. Do your preparation. Know your key points. Get there early. Stay focused on what you can control. Keep your essentials at the center. Go with the flow of the conversation. Afterall, we’re are making some magic together.
Clean up after yourself and be nice to folks. Maybe bring chocolate to share.
It was a mere 3 mins. It went well. We’ll keep doing the work. The next one will be even better.
Bit #2 • Aprons
Sticking an apron on is one “more” step to cooking. It’s easy to forget. I do. However, the more I’ve been working in the shop while wearing an apron the more I’ve come to appreciate its advantages.
I frequently use the apron as a towel for wiping knives. It has easy access work pockets for a credit card machine, a little notebook, a rag and the like. In the kitchen it even keeps the oil splatters off my slacks too.
Now that I’ve been on TV with kitchen knives I will do all I can to make sure aprons are worn by everyone on set (with large Vivront logos). Crotches don’t look great on TV.
Wear your aprons everyone.
Bit #3 • Logo items
We gave away great chocolates from Ritual to the on air talent and studio staff. We actually found Ritual on a ski trip to Utah last year. It’s lovely. People like chocolate. Yet, next time we’re on TV we’re giving away items with our logo etched on them too.
We have a wine key, a bottle opener, stickers and more with the logo now. We’re going to add cutting boards, aprons, cooking journals, knife rolls, hones and the like over time. In one dream, we design and bring to market a set of knives based on our kitchen knife learning journey. Until then… we’ll just nail down the basics and give ‘em away.
Sum
We’ll keep taking notes on what our community members are most interested in learning in the kitchen. Thanks for sharing so far! The store is a fantastic lab of learning and content development for content spots like this. All in all, customers have not generally shown confidence in holding a knife much less sharpening or cooking with them.
It’s easy to see a regular segment of seasonal kitchen knife skill content (gourds, watermelon, easter ham, etc.) on TV. A good friend suggested we not wait for TV to give us permission. After all, YouTube is always there. Right!? Point taken.
Remember, TV is short, like life. Wear your apron. And finally, find ways to express your brand. Maybe it’s by putting logos on things. Maybe it’s by what you choose to do, how you look and what you share. It’s likely all of that.
The biggest thing about all of this, as another friend mentioned… it happened. On to the next. For the most watched channel in MN we received a hundred people live on the website, a few calls and we sold a hone on a Tuesday morning between Christmas and New Years. There is more where that came from.
A TV go Bag is in our future. We’ll just be packed for TV. It’ll be even easier next time.
Change
We’re in to the thousands of dollars contributed to student lunch debt reduction in 2022. Here’s to getting to the tens of thousands in 2023!
On Your Way
Enjoy the time with whomever you’re with this evening. Happy New Year!
Follow Vivront.com on TikTok, Instagram and Facebook.
Follow @josephrueter on Instagram or Linkedin.
Order kitchen knives sharpened or give the gift of sharp at Vivront.com.
_____ don't look good on TV ;).