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:
- Cover letter
- Sample brochure, product literature
- Thirty-second and sixty-second commercials
- PI Advertising Contract
- 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!
