I am proud to say that I’ve booked more than 10,000 interviews and speaking engagements over the course of my 30+ year career. Writing compelling pitch letters, capturing the essence of someone, their message, mission and/or book is my superpower!
And the last 10 years, we have developed an international reputation for specializing in booking radio shows and podcasts for non-fiction authors, personal growth leaders and filmmakers, so I am a firm believer in making sure that you are visible both on physical stages and in the digital world.
Here are some of the reasons I think that doing a Radio/Podcast Tour is always a great accompaniment to having a presence on stages, along with some musings on where the business is heading:
- The great thing about podcasts today is that their hosts have a dedicated audience of committed listeners. With broadcast media, you are blasting your message shotgun and you don’t know who is listening.
- Many of the podcasts aggregators (podcatchers as they are called) feature both radio shows that have been edited to podcast, along with straight podcasts. Radio shows now podcast their shows too, so you have even a larger potential audience than just their on-air listenership.
- Many of the shows today are more than just audio! They are videocasts! So don’t assume that if you are doing it on zoom or skype that it’s audio. If you show up in your pajamas, you might be surprised! And so will the audience!
- Because many podcasts are more easily recorded at the host’s behest, one of the ways that hosts are now scheduling their interviews is using calendar links. That way you can schedule when it’s most convenient for you, too! Instead of 6 a.m. LIVE!
- A really beneficial distinction from the “old days” of radio, is that most interviews today are 30 minutes to one hour. This gives the host the ability to dig deeply into the subject matter with you. And gives you more opportunity to promote!
- A related factor is that if you are providing interview questions in advance to the host, it’s no longer 5 questions or talking points—You need to have 20!
- Radio is still a very viable medium. However, there are less locally based shows, as so many stations have moved over to offering nationally syndicated programming for much of the day. However, morning drive shows, weekend health and wellness shows and other locally produced programming are still thriving. And the local public broadcasting station often has shows looking for guests.
- A fact of life today is both increasingly broadcast shows AND podcasts are starting to charge for their airtime. It’s a small percentage, but I recommend looking closely at each one to see if it is key to reaching your demographic and has the numbers justify the fee. I strongly recommend against major spending outlays, but most are in the $50-$150 range, and might be worth considering. But if this doesn’t float your boat, there are thousands that don’t have this barrier to entry.
- With digital books becoming such a major part of the bookselling world, it provides an easy way for people to hear an interview and have the book in minutes. One of our clients reported she sold 700 books on Kindle from just ONE podcast.
My company Conscious Media Relations –the sister brand to SpeakerTunity — was the first to do radio tours that included internet radio shows, still a significant opportunity for promotion, and then we have, of course, incorporated podcast and satellite shows as those have burgeoned. We are proud to have worked with such clients as Don Miguel Ruiz, James Twyman, Arielle Ford, Dr. Joe Dispenza, Dr. Joe Vitale, Marie Diamond, Maureen St. Germaine, Chris & Janet Attwood, Denise Linn, and Dr. Eric Pearl –and alongside such publishers as Hay House, Red Wheel Weiser, New World Library, Sounds True, HCI Books, Simon and Schuster, Lewellyn and more! You can see our reviews at www.ConsciousMediaRelations.com/testimonials. We’ve done 175 radio/podcast tours and evolved with the times to best serve our clients. So yes, we are big believers in speaking on all stages—offline and online!
I’m Jackie and I can’t wait to see you book the speaking gigs you have always wanted to.