RADIO INTERVIEW 101 Investors, part 2

Now we'll cover what questions potential investors will ask when they are considering investing in your radio PR campaign, along with your answers to them...

"WILL I MAKE MONEY?" Your answer: It depends on how many tools (or funding for the tools) the investor gives you to work with, and how long the investor lets you work with them. Explaining it to them this way allows them to see that they are in control of your marketing.

One trick which may work is something which a lot of music artists use to get investors. They change the pitch from "would you like to invest in me so you can make some money?" to "would you like to get credit for helping me to build my awareness?" This way, the investor is not expecting a return at all... they become more of an executive producer, who is simply paying to build up your awareness; by attaching his/her name to you, he/she builds up their awareness too. Yes, people really do this, but they are different people than the ones who want to make money.

"WHAT STATIONS IN MY HOMETOWN WILL YOU BE INTERVIEWED ON?" If the investor is in one of the top 30 markets (see market list HERE), then you would do best to explain to the investor that the big markets are the end-result of, and the beginning point for, your radio PR. Unlike newspapers or the web, all stations in a major market are considered "big".

If the investor lives in a smaller market, then there is a much greater chance of him hearing an interview with you. But still, it's difficult to guarantee a particular station or a particular city. The best way to skirt this issue is to explain that no matter where your interviews end up, you will try to get a tape of it, or better, you'll show the investor where he can stream it live. As long as the interview is hitting places that will benefit you, all is well. But don't underestimate the desire of an investor to hear you on a favorite hometown station.

"HOW MANY INTERVIEWS WILL YOU GET?" This is where it gets fun, because the total number of interviews you get is directly proportional to what size radio PR campaign the investor pays for. And here's a twist: If a certain size campaign get's you ten interviews, you might think a campaign twice the size would yield twice the interviews... but it doesn't.... Instead, it give MORE than twice the results (!) because radio people talk to one another, and the more they start hearing about your good interviews, the more they'll help convince the tougher stations to come on board. You won't get this if you don't do enough stations, however, since when they ask their counterparts if they know anything about you, they'll just hear "no".

"HOW MUCH MONEY DO YOU NEED?" Approach this by finding out if the investor wants to be part of your overall career, or just part of your radio PR campaign. Your career has probably been going on for quite a while (which is why you want to be interviewed about it,) so it is probably most prudent to just ask for radio PR money. The nice thing about doing this is that you can truthfully answer the "will I make money" question by explaining that monetary return is a function of many things... not just the radio. Thereby you skirt the question of "radio return", and the investor can view your radio PR as a small part of your overall endeavors.

Next topic: Scheduling

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For a complete description of our radio publicity campaigns, including pricing, send an email to interviews@radio-media.com


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