How to be a Guest on Radio Shows

Moe, Larry & Curley on Radio

"Without promotion somthing terrible happens . . . Nothing!  "

-- P.T. Barnum

Doing radio interviews to promote your book is great way to reach huge audiences with little cost or effort.

Radio can be a little more time consuming than internet marketing, since it requires calling the host of the show to arrange the interview, but it's worth the extra effort.

Don't Take Rejection Personally

Sometimes the hosts are difficult to get a hold of, or it may turn out that they just aren’t interested in your topic. If that’s that case, don’t take it personally, just move on to the next host.
If you make enough calls, you will get booked on many radio shows. My average is about five calls for each show that I get booked on. So, if I want to be on ten radio shows I will have to make around 50 calls.

I've use radio shows to promote three of my books, and I can testify that it’s not as difficult as it may sound. Radio show hosts have a lot of air time to fill, and they like to talk to authors. It's a match made in heaven.

You Don't Need a Trainer or a Publicist

You don't need to pay for someone to train you to be a radio guest. In the same vein, I don't think you need a publicist or to buy a listing in a marketing publication either. You would just be paying an excessive amount of money for something that you can learn to do yourself.

I believe in on-the-job training. Just learn the basics, and then start calling radio shows to set up your interviews.

Here are my steps to get booked on radio shows

1.)  Get a list of radio stations and contact information.

Here are some options for obtaining lists:

     a. Use Joe Sabah's list. Get a list of 900 radio shows from Joe Sabah for around $150. You will receive the names of radio stations and host contact information, and his book, How to Get on Radio Talk Shows All Across America. If you have any questions, you can call Joe and he will talk to you. I've found ther lists that are available on the internet, but they are usually much more expensive.

     b. Assemble your own list. It takes a bit more digging but you also can find radio stations and contact information at www.radiostationworld.com.

     c. Another option is the world of internet radio. You can find internet radio (and other) listings at www. radioguestlist.com. My experience has been with traditional radio stations, so internet radio is a realm that  I am just starting to learn about myself. (My very first internet radio interview, will be on January 10th. I'll let you know how it goes.)

 2.) Saturation email. Send an email to everyone on the list requesting an interview. I don’t try to target my emails at this stage. I just contact everyone on the list. I will get 9–10 responses for interviews this way.

3.) Cull your list. Go through the list and identify the shows that have the appropriate format and time frame for me. Some shows deal with politics or flower gardening, or a topic that my book wouldn’t fit in with.

4.) Call at the right time. To set up an interview, call the radio show hosts either just before their show starts or just after they finish. They prefer to talk to you directly to get an idea about who you are and your personality.

5.) Have a “hook.” My “hook” is the connection of my book to tough economic times. If there is any way, try to tie your book to some current event. That’s your “hook,” and hosts are always looking for a hook to current events.

6.) Mark your calendar. I have a special desktop calendar I use to write down information about the interview.

7.) Gather information on the host. Between the time that I make the bookings and I talk on the show, I try to find information about the host, so that I can mention something about him or her, or about the host’s community, during the interview.

8.) Prepare notes. Before going on the show, you should write down a list of things you want to cover. You don’t want to promote your book directly, you want to promote the business that you are in and give the audience useful information about your business.

9.) Call the host back. As you get started, a good way to improve your radio presence is to call the host back after the interview and to ask them how you did, and to ask for suggestions for how you can improve your presentation skills.   

10.) Send a note. I always send a handwritten “thank you” note to the host after the interview.

11.) Post the link. Some radio stations post a link to the interview after the show is over that you can post on your blog. 

12.) Keep a list. Immediately after I speak to on a radio show, I type all of the information I have related to the interview onto a spreadsheet. This includes host name, location, phone number, mailing address, email address, and date of the interview. I add notes about the show or the host that I want to remember for a future interview.
 
Other articles about getting on radio shows:

How to get on a talk radio show at Understanding Marketing
How to Get Booked as a Talk Radio Guest at Investors DigestShould I Promote My Book on Radio Talk Shows? at WordMaps Every 1000-Watt Place Can Help: A Strategy pertaining to Todays Talk Radio Landscape at MartinSanders

My Upcoming Radio Interviews

Tune in Tuesday, January 10th at 7 PM eastern standard time for post holiday treat, as I will be discussing my new book "Carve Out Your Niche" on the ArtistFirst Radio Network (http://www.artistfirst.com/).

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