Honest Medicine Communications with Julia Schopick: Radio & Online Promotional Coaching for Authors

10 Hints for Being a Great Radio Interview Guest

My aim when working with my clients is to coach them so that they will be in-demand talk show guests who will be invited back again and again. I have developed a few key rules to guide my clients. I hope you will find them helpful.

1) Whenever possible, conduct your interview from a land line phone. Never, ever use a cell phone – unless there is no other option. Show hosts detest cell phones.

Please contact me separately about Skype interviews.

2) If you have call waiting, deactivate it before the interview.

a) If you are calling in to the station, press *70 before the call. (You will hear two quick beats, then the dial tone.)

b) If the station calls you, ask for a moment to deactivate call waiting. Press FLASH, then *70. (Again, you’ll get two quick beats, then the dial tone.) 

3) Make sure you’ve prepared some Questions and Answers for your interviewer. Remember, most hosts will not have read your book, so this step is crucial. During the interview, have your Q&As in front of you, along with a “cheat sheet.” On each, write the name of your host/interviewer, so it will be foremost in your mind. Don’t use his or her name with every answer, but do use it liberally.

NOTE: During my coaching sessions, I help my author/clients to prepare Q&As and a Cheat Sheet.

 

How Should I Promote My Book? (The First Column in a Three Part Series)

The first column in my 3-part series for ACAM, Part 1, was titled, "How Should I promote My Book?". In this introduction, I tell WHY you will need to promote your book online -- and I give you the first steps for doing it.

Here's how the column begins:

I can't count the numbers of times integrative doctors—friends, clients and colleagues alike—have expressed shock that the books they've worked so hard to write haven’t sold. They hoped the information in their books would help readers throughout the world. And yet, they've had very few sales.

Part 3 of my ACAM Series

Part 3 of my ACAM series, which ran on January 28, 2014, gets into the nuts and bolts of leaving outstanding comments on other people's blogs. From this column:

 A Template for Leaving Comments:

1. Start with an emotional connection to the topic. You may want to start by thanking the writer or poster. Be sure to show that you understand the problem, concern or issue expressed in the article.

For example, my comment about the New York Times article, “The Boy with a Thorn in His Joints” starts with a statement that shows my connection with and empathy for the ordeal these parents went through in their odyssey:  “I was very impressed by Susannah Meadows' account. . . . .” See my comment here.

Authors & Professionals: Promote Your Ideas By Leaving Comments on Other People's Blogs!

Introducing: A Great Way for Experts (including Authors and Private Practitioners) to Promote Their Important Messages Online and Help Change the World!

When I first became a Public Relations consultant, just over 25 years ago, people were not using the Internet for anything more than research. Back then, scholars were the web’s primary users.

So, when I started my PR consulting business, I helped my clients (mainly private practitioners and other professionals and experts -- the “little guy" and "little gal”) -- to promote their practices by getting them targeted placements before their target markets. I got them speaking engagements before community and professional groups their target markets attended; TV and radio appearances their potential clients and