To win over the radio station, Boyd answered, “Have twenty shows of what you will do. It was helpful to have stuff to shape the show. I didn’t want to be answering mutual fund questions on the show.”
He added that he was persistent calling the contacts over and over again. “Sometimes is a contest of wills,” said Boyd.
Feehily: Has your time in radio lead to other media appearances?
Napolitano received other PR from newspapers as a result of being on the radio.
He added, “They want you, you better be there.” He explained how he got his first shot to be on radio on the Friday after Thanksgiving. At first he turned it down. He then called back and agreed to do it, flying back just for the program. It turned out they really liked him and by getting his foot in the door it lead to much more of the same.
McNamara shared that radio can be used to leverage it for other things. He gave an example of his daughter promoting that they had more spots open for a Social Security seminar and the listeners called to fill them.
Freedman mentioned that the radio program has led to him doing seminars.
The panel also said they get a certain amount of advertising slots to promote the program.
Boyd puts his show on podcast to further leverage it. He shared that he is already recording it for regulatory purposes, so he just cuts out the commercials and puts it up on iTunes.
Overall Lessons
Feehily wrapped up the panel’s thoughts with these ten key takeaways:
1. Be empathetic
2. Be authentic
3. Tell stories
4. Be persistent
5. Be passionate
6. Know your demographic
7. Start local
8. Build credibility
9. Leverage your content
10. Take time to get results