Local talk shows—3 tips for landing an interview
Local radio and television talk shows can be an invaluable resource for publicizing your business or organization. With knowledge and planning on your part, the payoff can be reaching thousands of potential clients or donors. Here are three things to keep in mind when you attempt to garner some coveted airtime without paying for advertising space.
1. Target your topic. If you want to convince a talk show host to let you appear on their program, it’s important to angle your message to their audience. Look at what’s newsworthy in your city, region and the country, and see how your organization fits in. For example, we recently booked a hospital client on a new television show to talk about health care reform. Don’t waste a host’s time by suggesting obvious advertising.
2. Identify the “right” media. Know the format and audience for each host. Only approach the hosts whose audience would be interested in your company or message. We have booked several clients to speak on a local show for seniors, by providing the host with community “experts” on current topics an elderly audience would like to know about. We made the host’s job easier, by providing timely, relevant topics which also can help his ratings.
3. Make yourself useful. Become a good resource for local radio and television hosts, by keeping them informed of relevent, current information that they might be interested in. Over the course of a year, we consistently provided insight and information to the host of a key business talk show. We didn’t ask for any favors; we simply sent information of relevance to his viewers that we knew he may not be privy to. That host has, of late, several times contacted us to identify guests for the show.
