Mistakes Authors Make: #43 - Underestimating the Power of Radio

Alex Carroll is the undisputed expert on how to use radio to sell more books. We highly recommend his materials and, in fact, you can even get a free list of the top 20 nationally syndicated radio talk shows just by opting in at his site RadioPublicity.com. He even gives you their addresses, phone numbers, and the names of both the hosts and the producers. Shows that reach 75 million people.

According to Alex, more than 200 million American commuters listen to the radio on their way back and forth from work every day and that radio stations need more than 10,000 guests per day to fill up their shows with interesting and enlightening content. Alex says “If you have something to talk about they need YOU!

Can you save people money? Save them time? Make them rich? Tell them an amazing story? Make them laugh? Teach them something new? Get them arguing about a controversial topic? Enrich their lives?” It's a win-win situation. You give the radio show great programming…they give you great promotion.

And Alex should know. He’s been a guest on radio shows, at last count, 1,264 times! He’s received over 4-1/2 million dollars in free airtime that has resulted in over $1,526,000 in direct sales of his book about how to beat speeding tickets.

Here are just a few of the benefits, per Alex, of using radio publicity to sell more books:

·        You get to advertise for free as radio interviews cost nothing.

·        You can do radio interviews from any phone, anytime, anywhere

·        You’ll often get an entire hour or more of free airtime per interview

·        You’ll become recognized as the expert on your subject

·        You’ll have a captive audience of thousands… even millions… of listeners

·        Your list of fans, friends and e-mail subscribers could explode

According to Mark Victor Hansen and Jack Canfield, coauthors of the Chicken Soup for the Soul series, radio interviews were the primary driver of helping them to sell over 100 million books. It’s hard to argue with success like that.

If you were buying radio time Alex says that you can expect to spend a few hundred dollars per minute at a minimum for mediocre stations up to $30,000 per minute for major nationally syndicated shows. As a beginning author few have that kind of budget so that’s why radio publicity is so important.

According to a recent survey by Statistical Research Inc., 96% of the US population listens to the radio at least once a week and 75% listen EVERY DAY… more than any other media.

And interview time is worth more than ad time. Why? Because people pay more attention to the shows than the ads…and they're much more likely to believe them. Think about it. Which do you pay more attention to? The commercials or the guests?

They key to success with radio is to focus on the larger shows. It’s fine to “cut your teeth” on local media till you’ve got your presentation down pat, but to really move larger quantities of your book you must focus your efforts on those programs that have massive reach. It’s not about the power of their broadcast signal; it’s about the number of actual listeners.

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“The key to success with radio is to focus on the larger shows”

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Does it take some work to get yourself booked on radio shows? Of course it does. You’ll need to develop a good media kit. Initially, you’ll probably want to do most of the calls yourself working from a list of the best stations you’ll get from Alex or another source. But getting booked on radio shows is another one of those “hats” you’ll be wearing so you’ll have to decide at some point in time if you want to enlist other people to help you in reaching out to the radio shows.

When you are booked on a show be sure to capture the following critical information:

?      Station’s call sign letters

?      City where the station is located

?      Name of the show

?      Host’s name

?      What time zone station is located in

?      What time your appearance is scheduled

?      How long your appearance is to last

Always try to get an mp3 file of your interview on the station. You’ll want to post your interview on your website unless, of course, it’s terrible. In that case listen to it repeatedly so you can learn from your mistakes and do a better job the next time out.

A lot of what we discuss in this book about not becoming a media diva applies equally well to radio appearances as it does to television appearances. You need to be flexible, you need to be available on short notice and you need to express gratitude to the show hosts and producers who put you on their program. The handwritten thank you note goes over just as well with this crowd as it does with the television crowd.

Make sure you know who is calling whom. Are you calling into the show or are they calling you? Most will initiate the interview call. Due to the cost of international calls it’s always a good practice to have out-of-country interviews call you. And, if possible, take interviews on a landline rather than on a cell phone.

Make sure you have a quiet environment in which to conduct any phone interview. Honking cars, crying babies and other noise distractions do not lend themselves to a high quality radio spot.

Be sure to smile when you say "hello." While a smile is a visual cue, it also tightens the muscles in your face and throat, lifting your voice just a tad. Studies show that people can actually hear that smile.

Remember, by and large, most radio hosts are not interested in talking to you about your book. What they want to hear about is the news that your book ties into or expands on, and your take on it. You can ask to mention your book in the initial booking conversation. Some will not allow it, some will.

What will usually happen is that the interviewer will state your name and your book at the beginning and end of the interview. Some will also state your name and book coming out of, and going into a commercial if you are on longer than 10 minutes.

Try and find a local angle. You will be more interesting to a show's listeners if you can give them some sort of local tie-in. Not to mention that you’ll also be more likely to land the interview in the first place.

If your interview is cut short after a few minutes of a planned half an hour interview you may need to work on your skills. Go back and listen to the interview to find out how you can improve.

Like any marketing effort, it takes a commitment and perseverance to achieve the highest levels of success. Radio publicity is no exception. But your ability to reach thousands of people all at once for an investment primarily of just your time can pay massive dividends.

Editor's Note: This article is excerpted from the Amazon bestseller "Mistakes Authors Make" by Rick Frishman, Bret Ridgway and Bryan Hane. Can't wait to get it a chapter at a time? Pick up your own copy today at your favorite online bookstore.