Just as important as being on the box is what happens behind the box. Make a few pounds or become a millionaire, it depends what you’re willing to do and how much effort you want to put into it. In part two of our making money from TV series, find out how to talk about TV and get paid for it, how to come up with an exciting new game show and how to sell your story to a magazine programme.
- Sell your story to a daytime TV programme
- Become the brain behind the next ‘Millionaire’
- Write a TV script
- Become a voiceover artist
Earn money by giving your opinion
It’s important for media companies to know what the general public are thinking and feeling when new TV shows come out, old ones change time slots or presenters are changed. They also need to know things like which news service gives better coverage to the big issues.
To find out, they survey a cross-section of the public, whether in a personal focus group or via online surveys. The media companies asking the questions appeal to market research companies to find a random sample of people for them. Most commonly it can be 50 males and 50 females who watch TV, but samples can be defined within geographical location, occupation or even such elements as how many hours they watch TV per week.
Focus groups
In terms of physical focus groups, where a group of people will come together to discuss TV, these are usually paid around £50 for an hour or two, plus refreshments. Now although you may want to run past every person holding a clipboard on the streets, those people are not always chuggers (charity muggers for those who don’t know the term) some of them are actually recruiting people for market research – even to talk about TV. So if you see the bucket of coins shaking, run; but always ask them what they’re doing, you never know, they may want to give you money for your opinions! Alternatively, see our article on market research for more suggestions on how to take part.
Online surveys
Media companies don’t do their own surveys, they bring in market research companies to recruit users to do the surveys for them. You can earn anywhere from 50p to several pounds doing surveys online, as well as being put into prize draws and collecting points to convert to cash or coupons. There are many companies out there to choose from, but we’ve found the best, in terms of what you get, the quality of the surveys offered, and the amount of surveys you receive in your inbox Ciao, Valued Opinions and Toluna.
We do have more survey sites and more information on the finer details in our online surveys article, which can be found here.
Review programmes
These days anybody can be a critic, and the public often is the best critic. Word of mouth can make or break a new film or TV series, so why don’t you get in there and take a slice of the pie using online virtual community sites that pay you for your time.
Virtual communities now also have earnings schemes where the more you write, the more income you can generate when others read what you have written. These communities share information and help each other out, and by referring new users and expanding the sites with content, you are rewarded monetarily. This is the easiest way to earn money by writing reviews. Two paid virtual communities that we like are MyLot and Helium.
MyLot has over 120,000 users and credits your account with interest when you begin. Make your own discussions on whatever the topic is, let’s say TV, and just chat chat chat.
You can talk about TV, particular shows, what you like, what you don’t. If you don’t want to start a discussion pick up someone else’s.
Sit in front of the TV with your laptop and write about the show you’re watching. Maybe someone missed it and wants to know what happens. Write about what you want to watch later on, or why you watch so much TV. The main point is, don’t get disillusioned. Money trickles through at first, but it gains momentum when your writing does. Remember, the more you write, the more you are going to earn. Write and earn with MyLot here.
Helium is slightly different. It’s a community of writers who provide knowledge on a variety of topics and give opinions - bypassing the need to listen to publishers. It’s a great place to get some writing together, and not only give your own opinions, but read others’ views, too. Basically, the better the writing, the better the payment. You can also earn money by referring friends, entering contests, writing for the marketplace and linking in your articles to other websites and blogs. Write and earn with Helium here.
Sell your story to a daytime TV programme
They don’t always like to admit it, but daytime TV shows can have a hard job getting the right people to participate on air. Some shows are willing to pay, and quite well, to get you there. Some just cover the costs of you going on the show, but if producers are willing to pay to have you and your story on their show, it’s likely to be around the £200-300 mark.
It’s not for everyone, but if you do want to sell your story the best way is to let a PR agency do the work for you. They will receive a commission for handling your story, but they can broker the best deal for you financially. PR agencies can act as a buffer between you and the media, and organise to keep you anonymous if you wish to remain so. They can help you if you are trying to get media coverage for campaigns, raise awareness of certain events or issues that affect peoples’ lives, or tell any number of stories that you feel the national press should know.
There are many agencies out there, but a couple of good ones to get you started are Ferrari Press Agency and Jonathan Hartley Associates. See our article on making money from misery for more ideas.
Write a game show format
In the Back to the Future trilogy, Doc Brown discovered how to build a time machine after he fell off the toilet and hit his head. Back to reality: Newton discovered the law of physics when an apple dropped from a tree onto his head. But it doesn’t matter where your ideas come from, it just matters that they work. These guys made scientific history, but with the right idea, you could make game show history. And believe us, these days that’s just as important.
A good idea is difficult to come by, but if you crack it you could create yourself a gold mine. Really successful shows like ‘Who Wants to Be a Millionaire’ and ‘The Weakest Link’ get sold all around the world (at least the format does) and their creators make millions (literally). However, it is very difficult to come up with a winning format and those who have ended up making a fortune usually spent a few years having idea after idea rejected.
If you are a big fan of game shows already, though, you will probably have an idea of what makes a good one. If you watch them several times a week then you will be studying them already without realising it. Start making notes about what you like and what you don’t like about certain shows; see what the similarities are between successful formats and make sure you include some of those elements in your creation; put some ideas together and run them by friends who also watch a lot of game shows to see if it grabs them.
If you think you have a great idea, make sure you can explain it on one side of an A4 piece of paper. Ultimately, if it’s easy to understand from that, then it has a chance of working on screen.
Write a TV script
If you fancy a good drama, or know how to make people laugh with a comedy, you could try your hand at writing for TV (again, not exactly easy but definitely do-able if you can write and you’re keen). Most genres have a certain style or type of script that you can often find when researching online, or you may want to create something a bit different, which really is the key.
Find stories that differ from what you’ve seen before, something so far out that you’re script will become widely viewed and well-known. We’re not saying you should aim for something like Friends or Frasier, but give us a giggle, add a touch of drama and a pinch of romance and remember to enjoy the experience of writing a TV script.
Have a look at our article for more in-depth information on how to go about writing a TV script.
Calling all voices, loud and clear
Have you ever thought about being one of those loud, yelling voices on TV ads selling cars, or the soft, purring woman talking about why you should get life insurance?
Voice talent is always needed to read radio and TV commercials, so if you can speak clearly and present your voice in a friendly, energetic (but not over-the-top) and persuasive tone, then give this one a go.
The voiceover industry is highly competitive and really big, lucrative jobs are almost exclusively put through the big, London-based agencies which only take celebrities, actors and some presenters who are members of Equity. However, in the online world there are a number of ‘virtual’ agencies, mostly run out of the States, that anyone can join and bid for work.
Agencies like Voice123, for example, have hundreds of jobs every day and if you can make a demo of your voice, upload it to the site and apply for any relevant ones that come in each day. Most of the jobs are from the States, so paid in dollars (if paid at all – some want you to do it for free), but if they are easy and you have some basic MP3 recording equipment at home, they could be worth doing.
Another way to get work is to sign up to media promotion agencies, such as Voice Depot, which accepts professional voice demos to add to their website. They provide small talent to radio and TV stations, internet companies, consumers and businesses.
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