How To Get Free Radio Advertising For Your Company

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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 pounds
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 manoeuvres without
actually spending their kind of money.

And that's through "P.I." Advertising.

P.I. stands for per enquiry.

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 realise.

The advantages of PI Advertising are all in favour of the
advertisers 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 note
book, and about 100 sheets of paper.
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Next, either visit your public library and start poring through
the Broadcast Yearbook on Independent Local Radio stations, or the
British Rate and Data Services Directory (BRAD).

Both these publications will give you just about all the
information you could ever want about commercial 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 one outright would
cost over œ100.

Once you have a copy of either of these publications, select the
areas you want to work first.

It's generally best to begin in your own local area and work
outwards from there.

If you have a moneymaking manual, you might want to start first
with those areas 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 windscreen de-icers in Cornwall in
the summer, or suntan lotion in Aberdeen during the winter, would
you?

At any rate, once you've got your beginning "target" area decided
upon, go through the radio listing for the cities and towns in
that area, and jot down in your notebook the names of the general
managers, the station name, 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 Broadcasting
Yearbook or the BRAD directory.

Let's say that you've listed 25 different radio stations.

It's best to list the stations you want to contact alphabetically
by the city or town they serve, with a tab separating each area.

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
would sell very well in his area, and would like to test it before
going ahead with a paid advertising programme.

You must quickly point out that your product sells for, say 310,
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 book-keeping, 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 onto
you for fulfilment.

You make a cheque to him for 50% of the revenue, and everyone 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 post to him immediately.

Then do just that.

Write a short covering letter, place it on top of your "ready to
go" PI Advertising Package, and get it in the post to him without
delay.

If you're turned down, and he is not interested in "taking on" any
PI advertising, just tell him thanks for his time, and make a note
in your book and go on to your next call.

Contacting these people by phone is by far the quickest, least
expensive and most productive method of working.

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 tick 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 programme, 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 organise your radio
station notebook, you'll also want to organise 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 programme to cool down.

You'll need a follow-up letter.

Write one to fit all situations; have 25 copies made, 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 25 copies printed and organised
as a part of your PI Advertising Package.

You should also have some sort of advertising contract written up,
detailing everything about your programme, and how everything is
to be handled; how and when paying 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 25
or more on carbonless multi part 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 programme, 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 programme:

Your first step is the initial contact after searching through the
BRAD 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:

1. Cover letter
2. Sample brochure, product literature
3. Thirty-second and sixty-second commercials
4. PI advertising contract
5. Self addressed stamped postcard for station acknowledgements
and acceptance of your programme

Before you ask why you need an acknowledgement postcard when you
have already given them a contract, remember that everything about
businesses 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 on the 1st of March. The contract is signed on the 1st of
January, but when March 1st rolls around, he may have forgotten,
been replaced, or even decided against running your programme.
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A lot of 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 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 sell in 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 10p a
thousand names?" wouldn't even be allowed on air.

However, if you have the addresses of the top 100 TV 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 instance, 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 it's 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 the 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!