How I Was Featured On Public Radio
“My son, I ask for thyself another kingdom, for that which I leave is too small for thee.”
Philip of Macedonia
Once upon a time, there was a man who envisioned an empire so spectacular, it would stretch from the old continent to as far as the East would let him. The initial goal was to defeat the Persian Empire and then work the way up to a slice of joined forces, of nations without borders united under a vision of a dreamer.
Although the goals of surpassing his father’s successes were hammered into his brain at an early age, no one could predict what would happen if a particularly competitive nature combines with a desire to surpass not only a parent but everyone who came before.
Alexander the Great had a vision. And what others called fantasy, he turned into reality by mapping out a strategy, vetting the resources, and most importantly — boosting the morale of non-believers into following him to the ends of the Earth.
Vision — Motivation — Execution.
None of those three components can be taught or forced onto a mind. It’s a grapevine rooted deep inside of us that anyone has the capacity to reach and nurture into a beautifully tasting wine, yet not everyone chooses to.
And the secret to letting your grapevines blossom?
Treat every possible advance, every goal you’re reaching for as if your life depended on it. Because it does.
Every make you move is a part of your legacy, a step towards a future that you have always wanted.
Even if you’re “just” trying to graduate with honors, get into college, get a promotion, or be on a public radio — it’s your life., The story you will write in your ledger and want to be proud of is at stake.
This is a story of how I was featured on Impact Radio USA, which was a major building block in starting to construct an empire for myself.
GETTING STARTED
As stated above, I treat everything as if my life depended on it, but in this particular instance, it indeed did. I couldn’t be satisfied with a feature on a podcast, however famous or stream-able it might have been. A feature on big media in whatever form I could get was one of the three conditions to apply for a very specific, demanding-in-evidence visa, and ironically, also the most accessible to artists. So it was either a green tick on the media part or going back to a country that I left immediately after high school graduation. (No, really, I graduated in May 2014 and fled in June 2014 with only a white smoke trajectory left behind me.)
The question isn’t where to look — in the digital era, you’re only one Google search away from discovering a brand that fits promoting your artistic needs. So whether you use Matchmaker.fm a Google contact form, or simply a DM on Instagram — the peril is not where to find it; it’s how to grab attention.
So we will borrow the tactic from Alexander the Great once again. Instead of pondering how to untie the Gordian knot, let’s cut it.
WHO YOU KNOW, NOT WHAT YOU KNOW
Blasting a message across all media channels or contacting 238 radios is unlikely to produce a tangible, satisfactory result — Because your goals — it can’t be all things to all men at all times. Kardashians might be the most influential beauty gurus in the galaxy, and yet I know an entire town of 300k people who would never buy a comb from them. If they used their millions to target only that specific town, they would not have their Macedonian Empire right now.
In the same way that clan markets to vulnerable, impressionable young women, I decided to use conscientious target marketing for good and inspire young people like myself with a story of perseverance.
It was only a matter of research to find like-minded people with a platform that would enable me to do so.
I knew I wanted to be on the radio since I was eight years old. Public speaking is a powerful tool and now a profitable business.
So having a specific goal in mind what medium and form you want to be featured will make the research process more manageable.
Do not limit yourself by geographical barriers (or even linguistic ones if you speak more than one language) and think outside the box. The intelligent friend Google showed me a report that a Young Adult Literature, especially Teen Fiction, is trendy in Michigan.
So even though I live in DC, I was not going to be stopped because
I couldn’t play a local author card. I had something better: A manuscript focused on teenagers only a month away from publication. I researched all the radio programs in the Michigan area that had a knack for inviting authors to talk about their books — and — had an active podcast — to reach a broader audience.Being on-air is fun, but the shelf life of a radio interview is disappointing, to say the least. Many radio shows have established a podcast or a place where they put recordings of their live air shows to increase the SEO and the fan base.
And wouldn’t you know — I found Impact Radio USA and their segment “Dr. Paul’s Family Talk Show.”
PUT A CHERRY ON TOP
Now that I have found what I’ve been looking for (yes, it’s a High School Musical quote, deal with it), a new challenge presents itself — how do I get people to listen to what I have to say? I’m not famous, I’m not well-known, I’m an up-and-coming author with a debut novel and a message to send to the world.
You’d be surprised — sometimes, that is half the success. The other part is knowing how to sell it. Steve Wozniak is a brilliant engineer and most likely the most prolific computer genius of the 20th century.
But Apple wouldn’t be what it is without Steve Jobs’ turtleneck presentations.
If the interests of the involved parties are already aligned — such as Dr. Paul Reeves, an author, and now a radio talk show host, spotlighting diverse authors, and Zara Miller, an author advocating for positive representation of immigrants, and giving a voice to a minority — the last item on the to-do list is to present it charismatically.
The trick is not to victimize yourself or to come off as a sales monster but instead to present the facts as poetically as you can. The truth of the matter is, there is not one person on the planet who hasn’t experienced adversity, hasn’t been misunderstood, misrepresented, or doesn’t feel a strong need to champion those who have. You already have a story about overcoming adversity, a learning curve, or a desire to educate the public if you’re an author.
Lead with the message. Not the agenda behind it.
CULTIVATING LONG-TERM RELATIONSHIPS
Once the message is drafted — short, sweet, powerful — no two-hour dirges about your cat biting the dust — I respectfully sent an email to the contact information on the website of the Impact Radio and received a response two weeks later about an invite to collaborate. Such interviews are often rehearsed a week beforehand, or an author is given a list of approved questions at the very least. Dr. Paul Reeves has been nothing but a delight to be interviewed by, provided major press and traction for my YA novel I am Cecilia, and ultimately even gave early praise for the book. I offered him a free signed copy and invited him to be a part of my author community. He gladly accepted.
Relationships with media are a give and take. At the beginning of your career, there will likely be instances where you’ll be happy to be just featured. But those professional relationships where one party offers and the other reciprocates draw attention to your work and build audiences.
Then there will come the point in time where you will be paid to appear somewhere, in the far East or the near West, carving out a kingdom bigger than the one that cannot contain you right now. Your work has impact. Even if only person comes across your art, you have the power to shape their opinion. Or possibly change it for the better.
