It's amazing just how much free time on radio and T.V. is available for use to promote your business once you know how to get it and how to use it.

 To sell your product or service, you're going to have to use your money --or figure out how to use somebody else's.; like the people who are running the electronic media.  To accomplish this you need to:

 *  Understand what the media source wants from you: not out and out promotion, but a deal in which you provide valuable information in return for the source's providing information about how his audience can buy what you've got

 If you want to get all the media opportunities you can use (and believe me you do!), then you must give the media what they want. So you can get what you want. Thus, understand that you cannot go to a media source and ask for a promotional opportunity. They will say, and rightly so, that if you want promotion, you'd better go to their advertising department.

 What media sources need is useful information for their audiences, the people they need to keep attracting to their programs. If you position yourself as a useful source of information about something the audience wants to know about, you will get an avalanche of free promotion. You must, however, be positioned as a problem solver, as someone who can help the audience.

 If you can provide useful information to the audience, then you'll get what you want: the chance to promote what you're selling. Because if you can provide useful information to the audience, you have the basis for a deal with the media source. "I'll tell your audience something useful; you tell your audience something about me and what I'm selling." 

It's this deal that lies at the heart of successful free media promotion.

Make Your Best Case To The Media Source

Media sources are besieged with people who want to get on the air.

That's life. Fortunately, most of them don't know what I've just told you. They are pushing a particular product or service; not an interesting story, much less problem-solving information. So, while they certainly a nuisance and inundate the media source with work, they are not really competitive. And they certainly won't result in your losing your promotional shot. If you can make a case for yourself.

 The successful case is based on two things:

 1. The importance and value of what you're saying for the program's audience

2.  Your ability to deliver an interesting program, the kind of program  the audience will want to listen to and find compelling.

 You've got to supply the media source with persuasive information on both points.

 To do so, you've got to show that people in the audience have a problem -- and that you've got the solution.

 Say your a nursing home proprietor who wants to want to get on a radio show to discuss how to select a nursing home for an aging parent (a hot topic, by the way). Your objective is to promote your nursing home. The show's objective is to talk about an important problem, a problem that people in its audience has -- and to let them know what they can do to solve that problem.  

You get the time you need, if you can convince the producer the problem is an important one (remember, you're competing against other problems) -- and show him that you know how to go about solving it. Note: if you can't persuade the producer your problem is important, it doesn't matter that you can solve it!

And then, of course, you have to show that you're a good guest, too. And what's that? A person who can talk conversationally, warmly, authoritatively -- and without jargon or stiffness. In short, someone people like, and want to listen to.

 What The Media Source Needs From You?

 To get on a media show, you must not lead with your product or service. You must lead with the problem you can solve. Here's what the source needs:  

1.  A page of information about the problem

2.  How bad (also read "interesting) is the problem? The worse the problem, the more likely you are to get on the air.

3.  A page of information about what you can do to help solve the problem. Here's where you let the media source know that there are things the audience can do to solve the problem -- including use your product or service.

4. Information about you. How are you and why should anybody listen to you? Including information about your skills as a good guest.

5.  Follow-up information about how the audience can acquire what you're selling. In short, explicit advertising information, with a focus on the benefits the audience gets from using what you're selling.  

Now Start Identifying The Programs You Want To Be On.  

What shocks me is how few media sources people selling products and services even know about. If you want to be on the electronic media, you've got to know the shows you can appear on. This means research.    If you're just selling locally, this won't be much problem. In small markets, you can always use the yellow pages (check under "radio" or "television") to find out what's available. Read t.v. and radio programming guides to find out what programs exist; then listen to them. The more you know about formats, the better off you are.

Remember: you'll get more coverage, if you know the media market and know what they want from you. Don't make them try to figure out what you've got. Give them exactly what they want -- the first time.    All larger markets have media directories which explain which programs exist and who to contact -- and keep you abreast of the frequent personnel changes; (in smaller markets, you have to contact each media source yourself to find out.)  Contact the reference desk of your local library to get the name of the directory for your city.     Note: my own book THE UNABASHED SELF-PROMOTER'S GUIDE contains a list of nearly 200 reference directories of media sources. It's a good place to look for available electronic -- and print -- media sources.  

Making Contact With The Media Source   Now, contact with the media source, specifically with the producers of the shows you want to be on. Do so initially by letter, making the strongest possible case for the importance of your topic, its relevance to the show's audience, and your own credentials as an interesting and successful guest.     Key Point: tell the source, you'll be in touch to schedule a program. Don't wait for them. Then follow up when you say you're going to.  

  Persist    Media people are busy -- and disorganized. If you want to be on the show, persist. Follow up your initial letter with a phone call. A second phone call. And a note. If this still doesn't work, send another letter saying you're going to stay in touch, because the topic is important. Then stay in touch. Send clippings from print media featuring you; media releases. And articles you've written. In short, don't give in. Remember: one show can easily get you to the attention of millions of people who can buy what you're selling. What you're seeking is valuable. And you're going to have to work to get it.  

Once You're On: Prepare The Offer That'll Get People In The Audience To Connect With You    The real trick to profiting from a media show is not being on the program -- it's getting prospects to take action and buy what you're selling. Most people appearing on these shows make the egregious error of merely telling the audience about what they're selling. That's only half what should happen. The other half is getting prospects in the audience to self select and contact you -- so you can continue the selling prospect. If, for instance, a financial planner provides his telephone number on the air and tells people to contact him, that's fine. But it's not as powerful as both providing his telephone number and getting prospects to contact him NOW.    How is this magic accomplished? By offering a premium -- something beneficial to the audience. Like a Special Report that contains useful-to-the prospect information. The nursing home owner, for instance, could provide a Special Report on tips for selecting the perfect nursing home; the financial planner, information on how to make 9% annually on your investments. Don't ask people to call you to get information about your services; get them to contact you for information of value to them. And then piggyback information on what you're selling. I hope you see the crucial difference.    Tell the audience -- your prospects -- that supplies of your premium are limited and that they must act NOW to get it. The ones who act promptly are good prospects and likely customers. Because you already know they have the problem you can solve.   

 Learning To Talk Media Talk    Providing the right information-rich premium to your prospects is one reason why they call you. But your own presentation on the media, the persona you project, is another; indeed, a crucial reason. Your prospects must like you. And they'll like you because of two reasons: your warmth and knowledgeability about the topic under discussion. You must project both. Which means learning to speak like a media person.

Here are just a few tips so that you will:  

1. Don't talk in the third person. Talk in the second. Don't, that is, talk about "he" or "she." Talk about "you." 

2. Don't discuss the issue abstractly. Talk about it personally. Don't say "more people are grapling with the issue of finding a nursing home for their parents than ever before"; say, "if you're in your 'forties, you're probably facing one of the most difficult times of your life. The time when you've got to help your parents select a nursing home."

3. Don't appear to be promoting your product or service. Do talk about what you're offering as a solution to the prospect's problem. Don't say, "In my book I discuss that..."; say, "When I was writing the UNABASHED SELF-PROMOTER'S GUIDE, I found out just how difficult it is to get information on available media sources, places that can promote your product or service for free. That's why I included nearly 200 directories of resources, with over 200,000 media sources between them."

4.  Don't call your product or service "it." Always use its complete name -- for reinforcement. Remember: you need to hit your prospects with a simple, consistent message, over and over. "THE UNABASHED SELF-PROMOTER'S GUIDE is where you get information on how to promote your product or service for free!" 

 As a warm person, invite people to call you to discuss the issue you're discussing. Provide a telephone number where they can reach you. Remember: your objective is to get prospects to self select, to tell you that they've got the problem you can solve. So that you can solve it -- by selling them your product or service.  

 Use All Your Media To Get More Media By Leveraging Every Appearance.    People who don't understand marketing think that a single appearance on a single program will be sufficient to sell their product or service, will obviate the need for more media. Nothing could be further from the truth.    If you want to sell your product or service regularly, you must market it regularly, which means regularly appearing on radio and television shows.     To do this, you must continue to sell the importance of the problem you are in business to solve and your credentials as an attractive and interesting guest/specialist.

Thus:  make sure every program, whether radio or television, on which you appear is taped. It's easier, of course, to get radio tapes. Just ask the program director before the show what their taping policy is. Large radio stations, if asked, give you the tape without cost. Smaller stations charge you about $3-$5 dollars per tape, or request that you provide your own cassette. T.V. tapes cost more; a half hour color segment may well cost you $75. But you need these tapes for two reasons: if you're good, you can use them to convince other producers to have you on the air (but don't give share a tape from one media source with its competitor in the same market!). If you're not good, you're got to study your performance and practice to improve. In short, you need to see and hear yourself to get better.    Once you've got the tapes, use them. Let other, non-competing, media sources know -- in any media market in which you'd like to appear, that you have them. And make them available upon request. It's ordinarily not advisable to send them with a first letter; but it is always advisable to let a program producer know, not only that you can talk about a topic of significance, but that you're a seasoned performer, too. Such people are irresistible to the media, as I can personally attest.    If you don't follow these steps, don't attempt to get free media to promote what you're selling, you have no alternative but to adopt the expensive modes of paid advertising where you can lose a lot of money fast, unless you know how to use them. Using free publicity you can master the nuances of advertising without the expense, can get crucial third-party validation, excite your prospects until they want to contact you and want to buy what you're selling NOW -- while at the same time enhancing your perceived image as an expert, a star. All on someone else's money. Now, what are you waiting for?   

  Resource Box    To get your message to millions using radio and television, I recommend Bill Harrison's RADIO AND TV INTERVIEW REPORT. For just $85, your 150-word message about your product or service will be brought monthly to some 2,000 radio program producers nationwide. For complete details on how you can use this incredibly inexpensive service to promote what you're selling, contact The Sure-Fire Business Success Catalog, 50 Follen St., #507, Cambridge, MA 02138 or call (617) 547-6372.   

   Dr. Jeffrey Lant is the nationally-known marketing consultant. If you want to sell more of your products or services, Jeffrey can help you. Check out his books

THE UNABASHED SELF-PROMOTER'S GUIDE: WHAT EVERY MAN, WOMAN, CHILD AND ORGANIZATION IN AMERICA NEEDS TO KNOW ABOUT GETTING AHEAD BY EXPLOITING THE MEDIA and MONEY MAKING MARKETING: FINDING THE PEOPLE WHO NEED WHAT YOU'RE SELLING AND MAKING SURE THEY BUY IT. $32.50 each postpaid from

The Sure-Fire Business Success Catalog, 50 Follen St., Suite 507, Cambridge, MA 02138 or with MC/Visa from (617) 547-6372. Don't forget to ask for your free year's subscription to Jeffrey's Business Resources Guide and how he can get more people to respond to every marketing document you ever use.How To Get Free Time On Radio And T.V. And Use It To Get Your Prospects To Buy What You're Selling    by Dr. Jeffrey Lant    It's staggering just how much free time on radio and t.v. is available for you to use to promote what you're selling. But you have to know how to get it and how to use it. These easy-to-follow rules will help. 

 Decide to use this free promotion source.    I constantly meet people -- selling both products and services -- who ought to be using radio and television, but aren't. They have lots of "reasons" for avoiding these profitable media for bringing what they're selling to the attention of their buyers. But none of them has ever convinced me. No wonder. I constantly hear things like:

• "I'm afraid I'll get ridiculed." 

• "I don't know any body in the media." 

•  "There are lots of people doing what I'm doing. Why should anyone in the media pay attention to me?"

 And lots of other unconvincing rubbish.    Understand this, to sell your product or service, either you're going to have to use your money to do so -- or you're going to have to figure out how to use somebody else's; like the people who are running the electronic media. Lant's prime rule: why spend your money in expensive paid advertising, when you get free publicity. Publicity, mind you, that constitutes a third-party endorsement from your prospects. Why, indeed?     So, make the decision to explore the possibilities of free electronic media promotion, before you automatically decide to spend your money on paid ads. 

 Understand What The Media Source Wants From You: Not Out And Out Promotion, But A Deal In Which You Provide Valuable Information In Return For The Source's Providing Information About How His Audience Can Buy What You've Got    If you want to get all the media opportunities you can use (and believe me you do!), then you must give the media what they want. So you can get what you want. Thus, understand that you cannot go to a media source and ask for a promotional opportunity. They will say, and rightly so, that if you want promotion, you'd better go to their advertising department.    What media sources need is useful information for their audiences, the people they need to keep attracting to their programs. If you position yourself as a useful source of information about something the audience wants to know about, you will get an avalanche of free promotion. You must, however, be positioned as a problem solver, as someone who can help the audience.    If you can provide useful information to the audience, then you'll get what you want: the chance to promote what you're selling. Because if you can provide useful information to the audience, you have the basis for a deal with the media source. "I'll tell your audience something useful; you tell your audience something about me and what I'm selling."    It's this deal that lies at the heart of successful free media promotion.  

 Make Your Best Case To The Media Source    Media sources are besieged with people who want to get on the air. That's life. Fortunately, most of them don't know what I've just told you. They are pushing a particular product or service; not an interesting story, much less problem-solving information. So, while they certainly a nuisance and inundate the media source with work, they are not really competitive. And they certainly won't result in your losing your promotional shot. If you can make a case for yourself.    The successful case is based on two things:  

1.  The importance and value of what you're saying for the program's audience.

2.  Your ability to deliver an interesting program, the kind of program  the audience will want to listen to and find compelling.    

You've got to supply the media source with persuasive information on both points.     To do so, you've got to show that people in the audience have a problem -- and that you've got the solution.     Say your a nursing home proprietor who wants to want to get on a radio show to discuss how to select a nursing home for an aging parent (a hot topic, by the way). Your objective is to promote your nursing home. The show's objective is to talk about an important problem, a problem that people in its audience has -- and to let them know what they can do to solve that problem.     You get the time you need, if you can convince the producer the problem is an important one (remember, you're competing against other problems) -- and show him that you know how to go about solving it. Note: if you can't persuade the producer your problem is important, it doesn't matter that you can solve it!    And then, of course, you have to show that you're a good guest, too. And what's that? A person who can talk conversationally, warmly, authoritatively -- and without jargon or stiffness. In short, someone people like, and want to listen to. 

 What The Media Source Needs From You    To get on a media show, you must not lead with your product or service. You must lead with the problem you can solve. Here's what the source needs: 

•  a page of information about the problem. How bad (also read "interesting) is the problem? The worse the problem, the more likely you are to get on the air.
  

•  a page of information about what you can do to help solve the problem. 

Here's where you let the media source know that there are things the audience can do to solve the problem -- including use your product or service information about you. How are you and why should anybody listen to you? Including information about your skills as a good guest.

Follow-up information about how the audience can acquire what you're selling. In short, explicit advertising information, with a focus on the benefits the audience gets from using what you're selling.  

 Now Start Identifying The Programs You Want To Be On.    What shocks me is how few media sources people selling products and services even know about. If you want to be on the electronic media, you've got to know the shows you can appear on. This means research.    

If you're just selling locally, this won't be much problem. In small markets, you can always use the yellow pages (check under "radio" or "television") to find out what's available. Read t.v. and radio programming guides to find out what programs exist; then listen to them. The more you know about formats, the better off you are. Remember: you'll get more coverage, if you know the media market and know what they want from you. Don't make them try to figure out what you've got. Give them exactly what they want -- the first time.    

All larger markets have media directories which explain which programs exist and who to contact -- and keep you abreast of the frequent personnel changes; (in smaller markets, you have to contact each media source yourself to find out.)  Contact the reference desk of your local library to get the name of the directory for your city.     Note: my own book THE UNABASHED SELF-PROMOTER'S GUIDE contains a list of nearly 200 reference directories of media sources. It's a good place to look for available electronic -- and print -- media sources. 

 Making Contact With The Media Source    Now, contact with the media source, specifically with the producers of the shows you want to be on. Do so initially by letter, making the strongest possible case for the importance of your topic, its relevance to the show's audience, and your own credentials as an interesting and successful guest.     Key Point: tell the source, you'll be in touch to schedule a program. Don't wait for them. Then follow up when you say you're going to. 

Persist  Media people are busy -- and disorganized. If you want to be on the show, persist. Follow up your initial letter with a phone call. A second phone call. And a note. If this still doesn't work, send another letter saying you're going to stay in touch, because the topic is important. Then stay in touch. Send clippings from print media featuring you; media releases. And articles you've written. In short, don't give in. Remember: one show can easily get you to the attention of millions of people who can buy what you're selling. What you're seeking is valuable. And you're going to have to work to get it. 

 Once You're On: Prepare The Offer That'll Get People In The Audience To Connect With You    The real trick to profiting from a media show is not being on the program -- it's getting prospects to take action and buy what you're selling. Most people appearing on these shows make the egregious error of merely telling the audience about what they're selling. That's only half what should happen. The other half is getting prospects in the audience to self select and contact you -- so you can continue the selling prospect. If, for instance, a financial planner provides his telephone number on the air and tells people to contact him, that's fine. But it's not as powerful as both providing his telephone number and getting prospects to contact him NOW.    How is this magic accomplished? By offering a premium -- something beneficial to the audience. Like a Special Report that contains useful-to-the prospect information. The nursing home owner, for instance, could provide a Special Report on tips for selecting the perfect nursing home; the financial planner, information on how to make 9% annually on your investments. Don't ask people to call you to get information about your services; get them to contact you for information of value to them. And then piggyback information on what you're selling. I hope you see the crucial difference.    Tell the audience -- your prospects -- that supplies of your premium are limited and that they must act NOW to get it. The ones who act promptly are good prospects and likely customers. Because you already know they have the problem you can solve.  

 Learning To Talk Media Talk  - Providing the right information-rich premium to your prospects is one reason why they call you. But your own presentation on the media, the persona you project, is another; indeed, a crucial reason. Your prospects must like you. And they'll like you because of two reasons: your warmth and knowledgeability about the topic under discussion. You must project both. Which means learning to speak like a media person. 

Here are just a few tips so that you will: 

•  don't talk in the third person. Talk in the second. Don't, that is, talk about "he" or "she." Talk about "you."

•  don't discuss the issue abstractly. Talk about it personally. Don't say "more people are grapling with the issue of finding a nursing home for their parents than ever before"; say, "if you're in your 'forties, you're probably facing one of the most difficult times of your life. The time when you've got to help your parents select a nursing home."

Some Don't:

• Don't appear to be promoting your product or service. Do talk about what you're offering as a solution to the prospect's problem. Don't say, "In my book I discuss that..."; say, "When I was writing the UNABASHED SELF-PROMOTER'S GUIDE, I found out just how difficult it is to get information on available media sources, places that can promote your product or service for free. That's why I included nearly 200 directories of resources, with over 200,000 media sources between them."
  

• Don't call your product or service "it." Always use its complete name -- for reinforcement. Remember: you need to hit your prospects with a simple, consistent message, over and over. "THE UNABASHED SELF-PROMOTER'S GUIDE is where you get information on how to promote your product or service for free!"

 As a warm person, invite people to call you to discuss the issue you're discussing. Provide a telephone number where they can reach you. Remember: your objective is to get prospects to self select, to tell you that they've got the problem you can solve. So that you can solve it -- by selling them your product or service. 

 Use All Your Media To Get More Media By Leveraging Every Appearance.    People who don't understand marketing think that a single appearance on a single program will be sufficient to sell their product or service, will obviate the need for more media. Nothing could be further from the truth.    If you want to sell your product or service regularly, you must market it regularly, which means regularly appearing on radio and television shows.     To do this, you must continue to sell the importance of the problem you are in business to solve and your credentials as an attractive and interesting guest/specialist.

Thus make sure every program, whether radio or television, on which you appear is taped. It's easier, of course, to get radio tapes. Just ask the program director before the show what their taping policy is. Large radio stations, if asked, give you the tape without cost. Smaller stations charge you about $3-$5 dollars per tape, or request that you provide your own cassette. T.V. tapes cost more; a half hour color segment may well cost you $75. But you need these tapes for two reasons: if you're good, you can use them to convince other producers to have you on the air (but don't give share a tape from one media source with its competitor in the same market!). If you're not good, you're got to study your performance and practice to improve. In short, you need to see and hear yourself to get better.    

Once you've got the tapes, use them. Let other, non-competing, media sources know -- in any media market in which you'd like to appear, that you have them. And make them available upon request. It's ordinarily not advisable to send them with a first letter; but it is always advisable to let a program producer know, not only that you can talk about a topic of significance, but that you're a seasoned performer, too. Such people are irresistible to the media, as I can personally attest.    

If you don't follow these steps, don't attempt to get free media to promote what you're selling, you have no alternative but to adopt the expensive modes of paid advertising where you can lose a lot of money fast, unless you know how to use them. Using free publicity you can master the nuances of advertising without the expense, can get crucial third-party validation, excite your prospects until they want to contact you and want to buy what you're selling NOW -- while at the same time enhancing your perceived image as an expert, a star. All on someone else's money. Now, what are you waiting for?