HOW TO GET FREE RADIO ADVERTISING

HOW TO GET FREE RADIO ADVERTISING

The greatest expense you're going to incur in conducting a

successful business is your advertising.

You have to advertise. Your business cannot grow and flourish

unless you advertise. Advertising is the "life-blood" of any profitable

business. And regardless of where or how you advertise, it's going

to cost you in some form or another.

Every successful business is built upon, and continues to thrive,

primarily, on good advertising. The top companies in the world

allocate millions of dollars annually to their advertising budgets. Of

course, when starting from a garage, basement or kitchen table, you

can't quite match their advertising efforts - at least not in the

beginning. But there is a way you can approximate their maneuvers

without actually spending their kind of money. And that's through

"P.I." Advertising.

"P.I." stands for per inquiry. This is a kind of advertising most

generally associated with broadcasting, where you pay only for the

responses you get to your advertising message. It's very popular

somewhat akin to bartering - and is used by many more advertisers

than most people realize. The advantages of PI Advertising are all in

favor of the advertiser because with this kind of an advertising

arrangement, you pay only for the results the advertising produces.

To get in on this "free" advertising, start with a loose leaf notebook,

and about 100 sheets of filler paper. Next, either visit your public

library and start poring through the Broadcast Yearbook on radio

stations in the U.S., or the Standard Rate and Data Services

Directory on Spot Radio. Both these publications will give you just

about all the information you could ever want about licensed stations.

An easier way might be to call or visit one of your local radio

stations, and ask to borrow (and take home with you) their current

copy of either of these volumes. To purchase them outright will cost

$50 to $75.

Once you have a copy of either of these publications, select the state

or states you want to work first. It's generally best to begin in your

own state and work outward from there. If you have a money-making

manual, you might want to start first with those states reporting the

most unemployment.

Use some old fashioned common sense. Who are the people most

likely to be interested in your offer, and where are the largest

concentrations of these people? You wouldn't attempt to sell

windshield deice canisters in Florida, or suntan lotion in Minnesota

during the winter months, would you?

At any rate, once you've got your beginning "target" area decided

upon, go through the radio listings for the cities and towns in that

area, and jot down in your notebook the names of the general

managers, the station call letters, and the addresses. Be sure to list

the telephone numbers as well.

On your first try, list only one radio station per city. Pick out the

station people most interested in your product would be listening to.

This can be determined by the programming description contained

within the data block about the station in the Broad casting Yearbook

or the SRDS Directory.

Let's say that you're listed 250 different radio stations. It's best to list

the stations you want to contact alphabetically by the city or town

they're licensed to serve, with a tab separating each state. The next

step is either a phone call or a letter to the station manager of each

of the stations.

This first contact should be in the way of introducing yourself, and

inquiring if they would consider a PI Advertising campaign. You tell

the station manager that you have a product you feel will sell very well

in his market, and would like to test it before going ahead with a paid

advertising program. You must quickly point out that your product

sells for, say $5, and that during this test, you would allow him 50% of

that for each response his station pulls for you. Explain that you

handle everything for him: the writing of the commercials, all

accounting and bookkeeping, plus any refunds or complaints that

come in. In other words, all he has to do is schedule your

commercials on his log, and give them his "best shot." When the

responses come in, he counts them, and forwards them on to you for

fulfillment. You make out a check for payment to him, and everybody

is happy.

If you've contacted him by phone, and he agrees to look over your

material, tell him thank you and promise to get a complete

"package" in the mail to him immediately. Then do just that. Write a

short cover letter, place it on top of your "ready-to-go" PI Advertising

Package, and get it in the mail to him without delay.

If you're turned down, and he is not interested in "taking on" any PI

Advertising, just tell him thanks, make a notation in your notebook by

his name, and go on to your next call. Contacting these people by

phone is by far the quickest, least expensive and most productive

method of "exploring" for those stations willing to consider your PI

proposal. In some cases though , circumstances will deem it to be

less expensive to make this initial contact by letter or postcard.

In that case, simply address your card or letter to the person you are

trying to contact. Your letter should be positive in tone, straight

forward and complete. Present all the details in logical order on one

page, perfectly typed on letterhead paper, and sent in a letterhead

envelope. (Rubber-stamped letterheads just won't get past a first

glance.) Ideally, you should include a self-addressed and stamped

postcard with spaces for positive or negative check marks in answer

to your questions: Will you or won't you look over my materials and

consider a mutually profitable "Per Inquiry" advertising campaign on

your station?

Once you have an agreement from your contact at the radio station

that they will look over your materials and give serious consideration

for a PI program, move quickly, getting your cover letter and

package off by First Class mail, perhaps even Special Delivery.

What this means is that at the same time you organize your "radio

station note book," you'll also want to organize your advertising

package. Have it all put together and ready to mail just as soon as

you have a positive response. Don't allow time for that interest in

your program to cool down.

You'll need a follow-up letter. Write one to fit all situations; have 250

copies printed, and then when you're ready to send out a package,

all you'll have to do is fill in the business salutation and sign it. If you

spoke of different arrangements or a specific matter was discussed

in your initial contact, however, type a different letter incorporating

comments or answers to the points discussed. This personal touch

won't take long, and could pay dividends!

You'll also need at least two thirty-second commercials and two sixty

second commercials. You could write these up, and have 250

copies printed and organized as a part of your PI Advertising

Package.

You should also have some sort of advertising contract written up,

detailing everything about your program, and how everything is to be

handled; how and when payment to the radio station is to be made,

plus special paragraphs relative to refunds, complaints, and

liabilities. All this can be very quickly written up and printed in lots of

250 or more on carbonless multi-part snap-out business forms.

Finally, you should include a self-addressed and stamped postcard

the radio station can use to let you know that they are going to use

your PI Advertising program, when they will start running your

commercials on the air, and how often, and during which time

periods. Again, you simply type out the wording in the form you want

to use on these "reply postcards," and have copies printed for your

use in these mailings.

To review this program: Your first step is the initial contact after

searching through the SRDS or Broadcasting Yearbook. Actual

contact with the stations is by phone or mail. When turned down,

simply say thanks, and go on to the next station on your list. For

those who want to know more about your proposal, you immediately

get a PI Advertising Package off to them via the fastest way

possible. Don't let the interest wane.

Your Advertising Package should contain the following:

1.Cover letter

2.Sample brochure, product literature

3.Thirty-second and sixty-second commercials

4.PI Advertising Contract

5.Self-addressed, stamped postcard for station acknowledgment

and acceptance of your program.

Before you ask why you need an acknowledgment postcard when

you have already given them a contract, remember that everything

about business changes from day to day - conditions change,

people get busy, and other things come up. The station manager

may sign a contract with your advertising to begin the 1st of March.

The contract is signed on the 1st of January, but when March 1 rolls

around, he may have forgotten, been replaced, or even decided

against running your program. A lot o f paper seemingly "covering all

the minute details" can be very impressive to many radio station

managers, and convince them that your company is a good one to

do business with.

Let's say that right now you're impatient to get started with your own

PI Advertising campaign. Before you "jump off the deep end,"

remember this: Radio station people are just as professional and

dedicated as anyone else in business - even more so in some

instances - so be sure you have a product or service that lends itself

well to selling via the radio inquiry system.

Anything can be sold, and sold easily with any method you decide

upon, providing you present it from the right angle. "Hello out there!

Who wants to buy a mailing list for 10 cents a thousand names?"

wouldn't even be allowed on the air. However, if you have the

addresses of the top 100 movie stars, and you put together an idea

enabling the people to write to them direct, you might have a winner,

and sell a lot of mailing lists of the stars.

At the bottom line, a lot is riding on the content of your commercial -

the benefits you suggest to the listener, and how easy it is for him to

enjoy those benefits. For in stance, if you have a new book on how to

find jobs when there aren't any jobs: You want to talk to people who

are desperately searching for employment. You have to appeal to

them in words that not only "perk up" their ears, but cause them to

feel that whatever it is that you're offering will solve their problems.

It's the product, and in the writing of the advertising message about

that product are going to bring in those responses.

Radio station managers are sales people, and sales people the

world over will be sold on your idea if you put your selling package

together properly. And if the responses come in to your first offer,

you have set yourself up for an entire series of successes. Success

has a "ripple effect," but you have to start on that first one. We wish

you success!

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