How to be a Stellar Guest

Getting booked on the radio isn’t as difficult as it may appear. Consider the fact that there are thousands of radio stations across the country and nearly all of them are on the air 24 hours a day! That is a ton of content that has to be filled every day and producers are always looking for new and interesting guests to feature.

The producer’s job is NOT to make you famous. Their job is to keep their listeners interested in what you have to say in order for them NOT to tune out during a commercial. That’s it!

Therefore, the better you become at doing compelling, interesting and value-added interviews, the more you will be booked on shows. Many authors will do interviews over and over again on the same station IF they know how to make the host of the show look good.

Of course, producers and hosts of these programs realize you are doing the interview for publicity and they almost always give you a chance to plug your book and/or company. If they forget to ask, it is not considered bad form to simply interject your website at the end of the interview.

In order to get booked on the radio, you need to have the following:

  1. A book or unique story. Without an existing platform or news worthy story, nobody will care about you. Your story does not have to be national or hugely controversial (sometimes local stories are better). But it has to be interesting. Being an author about a specific topic also helps to get you booked.
  2. Press kit. In order to be considered for an interview, you need to be prepared. Search the internet for “press kits” and review what others are using to reach the media. Emulate, but don’t copy.
  3. Media personalities and their producers are barraged with media requests by the hundreds every day. In order to stand out, you must go where they are looking. Trust me, it’s not their spam folder. Get a copy of Steve Harrison’s RTIR magazine and inquire about being listed. Better still, connect with journalists on Linkedin and offer to help them with their stories, regardless of your expertise. Give them leads.

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RADIO MARKETING SECRET #2:
As a guest, your job is not to make yourself look good. Your job is to make the HOST look good. Prepare 8-10 questions and write them down for your host. On this piece of paper, write down the approximate time it takes to give you answer. Provide 1, 2 and 3 minutes answers to keep the pace. Your host will thank you (and possibly invite you back).