Did you just decide to promote your business through radio shows? If yes, you would firstly need to know how to get in touch with the radio stations. Surely you can’t just pick up the phone and say “Hey, can I be a guest on your radio show?”because the chances are you’ll instantly get hung up. However, it won’t cost you sweat and tears either. You just have to run some groundwork and use a little tact to get what you want – to get free radio advertising.

Step 1: Find out the topics of interest

Radio people always read the morning newspapers the first thing every day, as they would like to find out what listeners are interested to hear about and discuss about. Similarly, you can’t just appear on the show and talk about your dog. You need to get into a topic that listeners are keen to know more about. So, your first assignment – get into the habit of reading the morning newspaper and take notice of the popular topics that can be related to your field, such that that you’ll have something to talk about, even though your primary purpose is to get free radio publicity.

Step 2: Create great content

Once you identify what to talk about, the next thing to do is to create good content for the radio show you intend to go on. Generally you can expect to be given 10 minutes to 30 minutes to talk on a guest spot. So, the next thing to do is to come up with a detailed outline of what you’re going to say during the radio program.

Step 3: Dial the phone numbers

Now, you’re ready to call up the radio stations you’ve selected. How to get their phone numbers? Well, if you have been listening to your chosen radio stations, you’ll probably realized that the phone numbers are mentioned over and over again all day long. This is because they want people to call them. So call.

Your call will most likely be answered by the show’s producer. You would want to tell clearly to the person the following in a professional manner:

Who you are and what your purpose of calling is.

What you want to talk about and why it will be interesting to their listeners.

Ask if it would be alright to mention about your business, websites, products or services.

If, unfortunately, the radio show turns down your request to mention about your business, then obviously there is no purpose for you to get onto their show. Just politely thank them, and move on to the next radio station on your list. Repeat this until you get yourself a spot on a radio show that doesn’t mind you mentioning about your business.