According to Music Biz Academy, there are approximately 10,000 commercial and 2,500 non-commercial radio stations in the United States. When one factors in the individual talk radio programs available through Internet radio stations like Blog Talk Radio, Voice America and All Talk Radio, it quickly becomes apparent that the opportunities to be interviewed by an established disc jockey (DJ) at a popular local or national radio station are available to listeners from around the world.
How to Get on the Radio
One of the best ways to land a radio interview is to have a product or service that the public can benefit from purchasing or receiving. How to books, healthcare products, massage therapy information and new business or government policies are types of products and services that people can be scheduled to talk about during radio interviews.
Radio station producers, directors or program disc jockeys are the best people to contact to schedule an interview. For example, people who regularly listen to a specific radio station and who know a particular disc jockey’s interviewing style and show format, can reach out to that disc jockey directly.
Email or snail mail is an acceptable form of communication to use when contacting radio station personnel. People who want to be interviewed on the radio should be sure to include the producer, director or disc jockey’s first and last name in their correspondence so the person at the station receiving their correspondence knows that they have done their homework and are familiar with the station and not just sending mass email or hard copy letters to radio stations at large.
Radio and the Importance of Products, Services and Valuable Advice
Those who have a product or service should mention their product or service and highlight the benefits the station’s listeners will acquire after they use the products or services. Using bullet points to highlight these benefits is effective because it shortens the amount of time that station personnel have to spend reading through the correspondence.
Press kits that include a cover letter addressed to the specific radio station producer, director or disc jockey, a photograph of the person requesting to be interviewed, reviews on existing products and services set to be discussed during the feature interview and contact information so that station personnel can easily reach the guest are items that should be included with the interview request.
Send high quality photographs to the station. Many radio stations accept pictures in .jpeg or .gif format. The smaller amount of memory the picture requires to open, the quicker the photograph will download after it is received by station personnel. This small benefit could give one guest the nod for an interview ahead of another guest who sends in blurry or hard to download images and press release files.
Send snail mail correspondence to the radio station in a large first class envelope. Address the envelope by name to the producer, director or disc jockey that you want to work directly through to gain the interview. Keep in mind that at some smaller radio stations the owner wears many hats and might work as the producer, director and a disc jockey.
Locating Radio Stations and Gaining Internet Interviews
Follow up with the radio station within one week after sending cover letters and press kits requesting an interview. People can also reference reputable media directories and telephone radio station personnel, tell them about their product or service or other valuable information they want to share with the station’s listeners and schedule an upcoming radio interview.
The Gebbie Press is an excellent resource people can use to locate radio stations by genre and to get email, fax and snail mail contact information for key personnel at the station. Internet directories and businesses like Blog Talk Radio, Voice America and All Talk Radio list shows that they support at their websites. Stations can be searched for according to music genre, talk show subject or station host name. Many Internet and offline radio stations are set up to allow guests to conducts interviews via the telephone or computer from the comforts of their own home.
It is best to reach out to Internet radio station owners or talk show hosts via email. Be sure to include a cover letter and press kit with the email. Many radio stations hire people to scour the Internet and communities for guests to bring on their shows. Those who have access to valuable information, products or services can not only save guests search radio stations time and money, they can build a portfolio of radio station feature interviews and gain a fan following.
 |
