Two ways to find radio interview opportunities
Famous in Your Field tips: boost your fame with radio interviews
Radio? You?
You bet, you.
Even if you’ve got a face just made for high definition TV, darling, radio is a fantastic way to grow your fame factor.
Just think about it:
Learning about your expertise and message from via broadcast media is an excellent way to be discovered by potential clients and fans!
Hearing your voice and your message, straight from your lips increases the know, like and trust factor so much faster than publishing or social media.
You can share your radio interview on your own site and all over the interwebs, boosting that reach.
Plus, you can do it from anywhere. (And you can wear your pajamas…holla for yoga pant interviews!)
If you want to perform well, keep a these tips in mind:
- Know what you want to say. Have your key points mapped out, on paper. Keep them near you while you’re being interviewed.
- Say what you think. Good radio is punchy, with a point of view.
- Practice! Practice answering questions. Practice your witty banter.
- Speak in sound bites (typically, ten to twenty seconds long.) Radio hosts like guests who can make their point quickly, and with a little pizzazz. If they want you to elaborate more, they’ll ask.
- Inject your voice with energy. Stand up, and smile, smile, smile.
Now, wondering how to land these magical fame-boosting radio interviews? I’ve got two sources for you:
Radio-Locator is the most comprehensive radio station search engine out there. There you’ll find have links to over 14,100 radio stations’ web pages and over 9500 stations’ audio streams from radio stations in the U.S. and around the world.
You can search by format, by call letters (WKRP in Cincinnati, anyone?) or by geography. Just type your zip code into the field and RadioLocator will spit out a list of radio stations in your area.
The locator listed 59 stations in my listening area (generally, about 50 miles or less from where I live.)
Each entry links to the station’s website. From there, let your research super powers find the show and producer that fits your expertise.
Radio Guest List is a daily email service like HARO (Help A Reporter Out) that solicits experts to interview on radio and podcast shows.
As a subscriber, you can sign up for targeted lists and you’ll get a daily email listing the guest requests for those topics.
(The basic service is free, but the premium service promises 50% more leads and is only about $5 per month, so it’s a total steal.)
You can sign up for requests in these categories:
- Entertainment and Arts
- Health and Wellness
- Business and Technology
- Self-Improvement, Spirituality and Relationships
- Lifestyle and Sports
- Paranormal
- Politics, Law and Society
Interview requests include the show name, description, booking contact for interviews, audience demographics, audience size and show format.
Bonus tip: you can also use this RadioGuestList.com to find guests for your radio show or podcast. It’s completely free for hosts and bookers.
Your Fame Boosting Assignment
Sign up for Radio Guest List and watch for the right match. Then, jump on it and get your genius onto the airwaves. Shine on, rising star.
I host the Family Matters radio show on the VoiceAmerica Variety channel. I welcome recommendations of prospective guests who have expertise about issues families have to handle — raising teenagers in the age of smart phones, making decisions about care of elders with varying degrees of dementia, getting babies to sleep through the night, etc.
I was on a radio show once but I never heard anything about who listened.
Thanks for commenting, Virginia, and for inviting guests. I can think of several people that I would recommend for your show. I’ll let them know of your topics.
Part of the benefit of being on the radio is not only the people who heard you live, but also being able to post the audio on your own sites and social media (radio shows typically love it if you share their content.)
I do like the assignment. I do have to work on my tendency to resist such exposure.
Perhaps starting small would feel less daunting? A blog talk radio interview with someone you already know perhaps. Good luck, Lilia.
Lori,
Thanks for the resources and the homework. I’m on it!
-jane
Ha ha, Jane. Do it!
Great list of resources and tips for to help perform well. My favorite: “Speak in sound bites”. We live and work in a fast world, short and to the point, is a winner for helping other hear, listen and recall your message.
Oh, you are so right. Sound bites are great for recall. I’ve also noticed that when I use a sound bite during a speaking gig, that’s what people will tweet or post on Facebook about the talk. You create your own takeaways.
Thanks for the resources, I’ll definitely check them out. I too need to focus more on getting exposure and radio is a great way to do that. Blessings!
Ooo, you could do card readings on the radio! I think there would be a huge market for that. Go get ’em, Donna.
Fabulous! Again, you are a fount of great information and killer resources. I love the tip about speaking in sound bites. Not always easy but so important for both radio and TV.
Sound bites – yes! It’s so hard to be short and pithy, when we have so much that we are aching to share.
Great information here. Sorting through all the PR opportunities gets overwhelming for me? Any advice? I think I need to hire a VA! 🙂
There are so many that it’s easy to get overwhelmed, Sarah. I’d start by focusing on the medium that you feel the most comfortable with. If it’s writing, then look for guest posting opportunities. And if it’s speaking, get speaking gigs, or pitch yourself for interviews. Do what feels good first.