Ask for Published Proof, Not a Pitch Deck
Any vendor can put outlet logos on a landing page. What you want is links to real, published pieces, a byline, a date, a URL you can open right now. If a company selling press placements can't produce that in thirty seconds, treat that as your answer.
What Happens After the Interview?
A lot of "media packages" are really just a recorded conversation and a YouTube link. The value is in what gets built from that conversation afterward, the press placements, the written content, the video clips, the distribution. Ask specifically what you receive, in what format, and by when.
Is the Offer Listed Anywhere Besides the Sales Page?
If the only place an offer exists is the page someone sent you a link to, that's worth noticing. A real, ongoing service usually shows up elsewhere on the same site, in a comparison against other tiers, referenced from other content, indexed and searchable on its own. An offer that only exists in one isolated link is harder to trust, even when it's legitimate.
Who Owns the Raw Footage and Transcript?
You should walk away owning the interview footage, audio, and transcript regardless of what else was delivered. If a vendor treats the raw files as something they keep, that's a sign the relationship is built around gatekeeping, not around building something for you.
None of this is complicated. It just takes actually checking, instead of taking the promise on faith, which is exactly what a legitimate package should be able to survive.
What Red Flags Should Make You Walk Away?
A few signs are worth treating as hard stops rather than things to negotiate around. Vague language about "guaranteed exposure" without naming specific outlets. Pressure to sign before you've seen a single real example of past work. A price that moves significantly the moment you push back, which usually means the first number was never the real one.
None of these automatically mean a vendor is dishonest, but together they describe a sales process built to close you fast rather than earn your confidence, and a legitimate media partner rarely needs to move that fast.
See exactly what's included
WLTB Executive Visibility Package
Real placements on CNBC, Bloomberg, and MSN.com. Sample posts, sample clips, and a full breakdown of what you keep, laid out on the page, not just promised on a call.
