Interviews on Talk Radio are FREE
If you have a telephone you can be interviewed on talk radio shows in any location in the world, absolutely for free – talk shows will even call you on their nickle! There is no need to travel.
The Marketing Power of Talk Radio
Audiences are extremely loyal to their favorite talk show hosts. They listen regularly and trust the host implicitly. If the host tells them to call a congressman, they do. If they tell listeners to go to an event, they show up. If hosts tell listeners to call and order a book, the sales lines are jammed.
If you can get a positive interview, the audience will beat a path to your door. Book authors sell tons of books using a toll-free fulfillment line and online ordering after a successful interview. Radio advertising will not bring the same result. Ads are a sales pitch, and a radio interview is a third party referral of the very best kind.
Producers Need and Want More Experts for Radio Show Interviews
It is the job of a talk radio producer to get guests for the host. Your first task is to impress the producer. You cannot impress the producer unless you get their attention. You cannot just send them the same home-made press release you send to your local newspaper.
To stand out from the hundreds of others who send traditional press releases to producers, send them a “one-sheet” that lists an exciting guest and interview topic, along with a brief description of what listeners can expect to hear. Follow that with a list of suggested questions to ask the guest. In other words, the one-sheet will give a concise picture of interview.
Producers and hosts like it when you make their job easier, so this approach has worked extremely well. Most hosts are lazy and do not want to do any research before interviewing a guest. They love to get questions in advance that help them sound good to their audience. For example, if you are a book author you can expect to be asked for a review copy of the book, but do not expect the host to actually read it. Give them a list of questions to help them sound good to their audience, and so they ask you the questions you actually want to answer.
How to be a Great Guest
Talk show hosts will drop you like a hot potato if you are not an exciting and articulate guest. They want someone who is an experienced guest, well-prepared, informative, and entertaining. Do not try to learn-as-you-go or you will crash and burn very quickly. Make sure your PR consultant gives you some training and provides a practice interview before you go on the air live.
The best way to get started is to send me an e-mail with a brief description of your product, service, or event along with details of what you hope to achieve as the result of sending one or more press releases. We can then schedule a time for a phone consultation to discuss the possibilities.