Page 77 - 101 Ways to Market Your Business

101 WAYS TO MARKET YOUR BUSINESS

18 Call the local radio station

If you have a good relationship with the local radio station
and you are proactive in the community you can generally
receive some free exposure for your products and services.
As discussed in the press release section earlier, free pub-
licity normally only involves a little effort.

Talkback radio is a great way to spread your message
by word of mouth. I often contact the local radio station
when there is something of significance to discuss. One of
our clients is a major shopping centre. If the local radio
announcer wants some information about shopping he calls
our office and we have a brief conversation on air. Our
client gets a free plug and the radio announcer gets the
information required in an interesting manner.

Another opportunity exists for businesses to offer to do
a free weekly segment on radio. For example, as a marketing
consultant, I can approach the local radio station to do a
brief session where business operators can ring in and
discuss their problems. Hopefully I can offer a few sugges-
tions that will help. My business gets the exposure and the
radio station attracts the interest of a market segment they
may not already have.

This principle occurs readily on many stations around
the world. Some businesses that could really benefit from
this type of relationship include:

• accountants offering financial advice;
• medical professionals discussing various ailments;
• lifestyle-based businesses can discuss dealing with

modern-day life;
• travel companies can offer to review destinations;
• bookshops can do on-air book reviews;
• mechanical businesses can offer advice on maintaining

your car.

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