Dumb question about financial shows on TV/radio

[RockyMtn]

Armed Forces Radio and Television (AFRTS) would seem to provide a good opportunity to reach your target audience.

[Htown Harry]

Here's a link to a radio industry trade magazine's list of 250 influential / successful talk radio hosts.

Looks like there are more than a dozen who specialize in financial topics.

2011 HH Layout ADS

[Nords]

Thanks for the suggestions, everyone. I had no idea that so much was running just below the level of the big shows, and that so many of these "writers" were so active on the airwaves. I'll look into these and put together a plan with the publisher.

I was almost joking about AFRTS. (Those of you stationed overseas in the 1970s & 1980s know what I mean.) Maybe they've made some progress.

Quote:

Originally Posted by donheff Edit: Of course, you shouldn't forget the best book plugging show on the planet -- The Daily Show with Jon Stewart

Spouse watches that religiously, and she frequently gets better analysis from it than I get from Reuters or Bloomberg online. But every time Jon has a guest on I wonder "Did someone remember to tell the guest that it's a comedy show?"

Quote:

Originally Posted by brewer12345 In addition to ric edelman, I see as I am flipping through cable channels that there is an entire military channel that might be woth looking into. I would also see if CNBC, Bloomberg TV and Fox Business (hah!) would be interested in doing brief clips. CNBC in particular caters to people with the attention span of a rabbit on meth, so they are always hungry for people willing to do brief on the air pieces.

Mel Lindauer has offered to review the book, and hopefully that'll lead to other interviews.

I'll have to look for the military channel. I like the idea of CNBC & Bloomberg. Heck, I'll even do FOX. Those are probably monitored in military command centers worldwide when everyone gets tired of CNN...

[freebird5825]

Got a video camcorder or a friend who does amateur videography?
Dress up (I know I know ) nice and handsome, bring a case of beer as payment, and do a trial recording session. Use a simple flat solid color sheet as a backdrop. Be creative with the drapes and folds and it will look great.
It will be good practice for you (minus the audience in their underwear ) and you can send copies of the "final cut" to training specialists and media outlets ahead of time.
Piece of cake!

[Ready-4-ER-at-14]

A couple ideas you may not have thought of.

Every year there are one or two events called the Money Show that occur in places like Las Vegas and Florida. Try a search of that name with vegas to find the web site.

Some people go to that show and give public talks and others have exhibition desks to reach investors. Some even seek venture capitalist or pre ipo money. Not sure of costs but there are usually one or two companies with financial type books there. Every speaker seems to have a book or something to sell.

I usually get two or three really good ideas every time I go. (and at least one that is a stinker in hind sight lol)

You might sell enough books to pay your expenses and make some connections with established financial book sellers.

Second idea was selling on site like Amazon where third parties are allowed to make comments about the worthwhileness of the book and an idea of content.

Myself I might buy from a known site long before I would give credit card info to an unknown site. Also accepting an end user safer payment method like paypal might help as well.

Good luck with your venture. I never served although came very close but received a college acceptance the day before I planned on enlisting. I am very military appreciative.

[kcowan]

We have a friend who published a book. All the promotion fell on her shoulders and she was not a marketeer. She had to create a book proposal before publishing the book. The first choice was book-signings at the major book stores. Right behind that was reading clubs. She never got national exposure. The book, now out of print, was called Midlife Runaway.

I would think you could also get some expert advice from a book marketing consultant. After all, what do we know?

[Amethyst]

I think CNN does regional programming. Their D.C. bureau might be interested because of the large military presence. Your "early retirement" angle might be seen as new/interesting.


Amethyst

[Free To Canoe]

Why not give the reporters at the WSJ a shot at it (if you haven't already)? Seriously. Why not the best?
Another thought. Contact anyone who writes an article on ER or Military Finance and see if they are interested.

Free to canoe

[deserat]

AFRTS is not a joke - that's sometimes the only English language programming on the radio - they do interviews - and they will take snippets and re-air them in the different geographical areas (Benelux, England, Germany, Italy, Spain/Azores, Iraq, Afghanistan - and all of the Asian ones, too).

Pentagon Channel might have a book review show (don't know) or might interview you about your book and re-distribute the interview on the TV channels. Anything that will help a military person of their family is off interest.

MWR programs might sponsor you to talk about the book under financial planning or financial skills classes/programs.

Since your audience is assumed to be military, then using those communication distribution channels used by the military are probably best for now. Otherwise, you won't be targeting your assumed audience.

[Nords]

Thanks, everyone, keep 'em coming.

I'm putting together a list of the media that the publisher can contact for me, whether that's press releases or personally, and then I'll follow up. It beats the heck outta cold-calling, and I'm pleasantly surprised to get this extra help.

Impact Publications is already marketing the book on their own (website, catalog, job fairs) as well as through their distributor, National Book Network. NBN gets the book into military exchanges worldwide and does a little marketing along the way.

We're doing fine on the Web & print media. Some of you may remember that a WSJ journalist lurks here and posts occasionally, as well as a couple magazines & freelancers. The Kaderlis are giving the book a big boost through their contacts. Sydney Lagier mentioned the blog in her "Retirement: A Full-Time Job" blog, and I'll follow that to U.S. News & World Report as well as other magazines.

You're right, the military channels are the biggest bang for the buck. I'm already tied into LinkedIn's USNA & submarine networks, SailorBob.com, and a few other military sites. I guess I'll have to stop making fun of AFRTS, although the 1985 Azores station was like watching "WKRP Cincinnati". And I didn't even know there was a Pentagon Channel...

[Purron]

Don't forget the military based credit unions - Pentagon Federal, Navy and others. They have a huge presence on military installations here and abroad. I suspect they have relationships with media outlets that reach many of their members - particularly overseas. Plus, I bet they have lots of other contacts we'd never think of.

They might view this as a benefit to their members and an opportunity to promote the services and products they offer to support military retirees. Since credit unions are non-profit, they place the interests of their members first. No stockholders to whine about profits.

You can do a search for military based credit unions on the NCUA website here: Credit Union Online

Select "field of membership" then "military" and "multiple common bond - primarily military".

Also, there's this organization representing defense credit unions: DCUC| Welcome!

[walkinwood]

First you post a cutesy video on youtube that & hope it goes viral (oh, just to pick a random thought - say, your reaction to someone blowing their nose). Then the morning talk shows will invite you on. Then you spring the book on them.

[Texas Proud]

One other thing I would consider.... putting together a list of questions that the reporter can ask... so you already know the answer...

When I see an interview with an author (and I do not see many)... it always seems that the questions were canned... because the author has the exact number or reference memorized to 'correct' the wayward reporter...

And I doubt that any of the shows reporters are going to actually read the book before interviewing you...


So, make is simple on them... and you look like the all knowing expert...

[pimpmyretirement]

I'd second the USAA newsletter idea. The people I know who use USAA think very highly of the company and trust their advice.

[Telly]

Have you sent a copy to Scott Burns? It was via his column years ago that I learned of FIRECalc. And I think he mentioned this forum once too, back when Dory had it.

[Nords]

Thanks for all the websites and other references! Here's a partial list that I put together from the above responses and some other sources.

I haven't included Internet marketing. I'm all over that aspect (it's practically a separate thread), and I'm pretty good for print too (although I found a few more below). But TV & radio were big gaping holes in my knowledge-- there are a couple of names I've never even heard about until this thread.

I'd appreciate an "idiot check"-- for example if you know that the show is no longer on the air, or if the host might be hostile to the military. Of course I understand that the host might still be an idiot, but I'm more interested in their ability to generate publicity than I am in their intellect.

Any other national sources (or overseas military broadcasts) I might be missing?

TV marketing
AFRTS
Pentagon Channel ("The American Veteran" show)
Clark Howard (CNN's HLN)
Consuelo Mack WealthTrack
CNBC (Suze Orman, "Til Debt Do Us Part", Wall Street Journal Report)
Charlie Rose
CNN (Christine Romans' "Your Bottom Line" or Ali Velshi)
Bloomberg TV ("For the Record")
FOX Business (Gerri Willis, The Willis Report)
Jon Stewart (The Daily Show)
Stephen Colbert (The Colbert Report)


Radio marketing
Clark Howard
National Public Radio (Morning Edition, Talk of the Nation, This American Life, Weekend Edition, Maureen Corrigan on Fresh Air from WHYY, hard to figure out how or if they choose just one show)
Kim Komando (computers & lifestyle tech, military supporter)
Ric Edelman
Paul Merriman "Sound Investing" podcasts
Tom Keene on Bloomberg Surveillance (Sirius XM & podcast)
Bob Brinker (Citadel Media)
Phil Grande (Phil's Gang)
Ron Insana (Compass Media Networks)
Ray Lucia (Business TalkRadio Network)
Chris Markowski (Talk Radio Network)
Dave Ramsey


More print (in addition to WSJ, Forbes, Fortune, SmartMoney, USN&WR)
Stars & Stripes
Washington Post (Michelle Singletary)
Scott Burns
Rick Ferri (IIRC he's a Marine aviator)


Others (Educational materials)
USAA
Armed Forces Insurance
Navy Federal Credit Union
Pentagon Federal Credit Union
Defense Credit Union Council (DCUC| Welcome!)

[clifp]

A couple of local talk shows that occasionally have financial discussion and have a soft spot for the military are Rich Hamada and Mike Buck.

Hawaiian Telcom credit union has money talk show/infomercial on KHVH on Saturday afternoon. I think it would be a good training ground for you. I promise to call in...

[Nords]

Quote:

Originally Posted by clifp A couple of local talk shows that occasionally have financial discussion and have a soft spot for the military are Rich Hamada and Mike Buck. Hawaiian Telcom credit union has money talk show/infomercial on KHVH on Saturday afternoon. I think it would be a good training ground for you. I promise to call in...

Heck, you wouldn't be calling in, you'd be the second guest in the studio who explains why this ER thing works so well!

I haven't figured out the best way to approach this yet:
1. regional shows for every book signing, where I'd have a chance of being a guest or
2. national shows that would inspire buyers to go to an exchange or the website to buy the book, but where I'd have a slight chance of getting on the guest list.

It's odd-- I've seen both their names in local newspapers & ads but I've never ever heard their voices. It's just unfortunate that Mike Buck is too easily confused with Ed Buck of E.A. Buck...

[bright eyed]

I'd think #1 will get you more bookings - are you calling them yourself or your publisher? I've done that for work purposes and calling TV and Radio always makes me laugh. The TV people want you to talk fast - they only have 15 seconds so give them your best.

Also, make sure you reconfirm with the live person on the phone the best person to send the information to - there may be a separate scheduling producer, vs show producer, vs whoever and it changes often - get their contact info and send immediately - ask best method (fax, email or both)- they have short memory. The TV and Radio people also tend to call back at weird hours, so just be on alert and call them back asap before they move on to someone else.

[HawkeyeNFO]

Hey Nords, I think your best bet as far as radio is concerned is Clark Howard. He is very pro-military, and does not 'preach' or talk down to the audience in the manner that Suze Orman does. Dave Ramsey is a distant second to Clark. The main difference is that Clark Howard does not abide by 'one-size-fits-all' advice for people who write him or call his show.

Fleet and Family Support Center and their equivalents among the other services could certainly use your products, and they do a lot of financial training for every command.