How to get free publicity on the radio

Today I listened to Enda Crowley do a great job talking on ClareFM radio today about Teen Camp Ireland which takes place in Dublin on 17th January.

It gave me inspiration for a post about how to get free publicity on the radio.

It’s nothing too exciting or complicated but very easy to do and can be quiet effective. There are only 2 steps involved in the process.

1. Listen to the radio.

This means listen out for subjects being discussed relevant to your business or the event that you would like to promote. Channel surf. Get to know when the stations chat shows are on. Which DJs accept text or email queries seeking advice.

2. Text in to the station.

If you hear the DJ re-telling a problem a listener has sent in and you can help solve the problem, let them know! It’s great if you have a website or blog you can direct them to.

(if you need a domain Blacknight, at the time of writing, have announced a great offer on .ie domains for today (Friday) only)

For instance, using the example above, if Enda hears the DJ read a text such as “There’s nothing for teenagers to do in …..” then he sends in a text. (Real life examples of my own at the end)

It doesn’t matter if the bored teenager would have absolutely no interest whatsoever in attending the event. You just want the DJ to read out your message. It helps if you can find a link to justify sending your text and for the DJ to read it out. Listen out for keywords, so to speak, like ‘teenager’, ‘blogging’ or anything tech related. Then send your text ‘The bored teenager is welcome to attend an event in Dublin organised by teenagers for teenagers, there are details at teencampireland.com”.

If you were really devious you could have a friend get the ball rolling by sending in the initial text. But that would be sneaky …….

Some radio show presenters/researchers will get curious and want to know more. They may call you to see if you are available to talk on air.

Be prepared, have a few notes written down to refer to so you don’t get tongue tied. Practise doing interviews so you will come across better. Record yourself doing it. Try to eliminate the filler words like ‘um’, ‘ah’, ‘you know’, ‘like’. You’ll only have a certain amount of airtime so you will want to make the most of it.

Two Real life examples (please note I will be shamelessly plugging my own site here)

Listening to Ray D’Arcy on TodayFM one morning a listener sent a text in wondering if he should ask his girlfriends father for her hand in marriage. I sent in a text saying “The website www.willyoumarryme.ie may be able to help your listener”. The text was read out and there was big jump in visitor numbers.

Listening to Nikki Hayes on 2fm one afternoon a listener sent a text wondering what song they should play for their first wedding dance. I sent in a text saying “The website www.willyoumarryme.ie has a playlist of first dance songs you can listen to, to help choose”  Two minutes later I got a call from a researcher asking if I would go on air to explain about it. That was fantastic for me! A few minutes free airtime on national radio plugging my site for the price of a text.

These were two simple occasions when I took advantage of an opportunity that presented itself.

Now if only I could get my first wedding dance video on TV!