Today I want to talk about the fine line of getting free advertising vs free interviews. You have to watch when you call the media and say you have an event going on and you would like to tell people about it. This is an ad. BUT if you were to call the media and point out a problem that their listeners may have and that you have the solution, then that is worthy of a free interview. Then in the interview, you can mention that you will be available for those who want more information.
Let's do a quick case study.
Doreen called my radio show looking for an interview and the first thing she mentioned was she had a new book and was doing a book signing at the local bookstore. My response was, so what?
I asked if she would like to talk with our advertising department because she obviously wanted to drive traffic to the bookstore.
Then I started asking about the book and it is an amazing story of how this local woman coped raising her family as an alcoholic and how she finally broke free from this addiction.
This is a worthy story that many people can learn from.
So I helped her re-phrase her pitch and she is booked as a guest on my show.
I tell this story because it happens everyday where people get mixed up between being a value guest and a person looking for advertising.
Wayne Kelly
The Radio Guy
