Last week, I gave you seven ways to be a great radio guest.

But how do you get to be a guest in the first place, not only on radio, but other avenues?

For radio, it’s often best to start locally. Many stations still run a weekly public affairs program and need guests.

Granted, depending on your business, you may not be a good fit. And if all you’re looking to do is sell, it’s unlikely anyone will want you as a guest.

But if you have useful information to share that listeners can apply, you stand a better chance of being a guest. And, fortunately, you don’t need to restrict yourself to your local area when you’re looking for opportunities.

When it comes to radio (whether traditional radio or Internet radio) one of the most popular resources is RadioGuestList.com. This is a free service that connects people who needs guests with people who want to be guests.

Another free resource that is not specific to radio is Help A Reporter Out (HARO). You’ll get daily e-mail updates listing what sort of experts are needed in all sorts of different areas. Sometimes all they’re looking for is a quote, not a full-blown interview.

Since both these services are free and can lead to publicity for your business, there’s really no reason not to try them out.

Of course, there’s no need to stop with just these two services. Are there people in your industry who interview people for their blogs or podcast?

If you have some sort of special report you’ve written, that may be a good introduction to what you can offer as a guest. In my case, I use my book, Increase Sales & Build Deeper Connections. But a shorter report works just as well.

If nothing else, I just want you to be aware of the possible opportunities to expose your business to new audiences. There’s a big need for experts to talk in a variety of settings all over the world. No reason you can’t be one of them.

I used to work in radio as a news director for many years and interviewed people daily.

One of my all-time worst guests for a weekly public affairs program was someone who was in charge of planning the local school district’s Red Ribbon campaign. The gal was very nice, and happy to be a guest. But I learned a little too late that she didn’t have a clue about what the campaign was really all about.

For just about every question I asked, a slight look of terror showed in her eyes as she quietly shrugged and shook her head. You might not know much about radio, but you can probably guess that silence isn’t a good thing.

And here’s something you might not know about media interviews: the person asking the questions often already knows the answers. But the point of the interview is to hear the answers from an “expert.”

Unfortunately, it turned out I was the expert in this interview. So when she didn’t know an answer, I answered it myself. After about 10 minutes of essentially interviewing myself, I decided that week’s 30-minute public affairs program didn’t really have to be that long.

I take some responsibility in not determining how little my guest knew. (It’s a mistake I don’t make with the Magalog Guy Podcast interviews.) I had assumed that since she was introduced as the person in charge of a district-wide campaign, and someone who wanted to talk about it to get the word out, her knowledge was a bit broader.

Being a radio station guest is an overlooked opportunity for you as a business person. Back in the days before the Internet was popular, most radio stations were always in need of guests for short interviews or to fulfill their “public service” requirements.

Today, that need is even stronger with the popularity of Internet radio stations and podcasts. And with tools like Skype, you can be a guest anywhere in the world.

Because of my experience in this area, I recently contributed some thoughts on someone’s blog about what radio stations look for in guests, but wanted to expand on that list here.

1. Radio hosts look for passion. Radio doesn’t have the benefit of a visual, so all they have is the sound of your voice. Mono-tone folks who give one- or two-word grunts are death. All you’ll do is bore people, wind up on the end-of-the-year Worst-Of reel at the staff Christmas party, and never get invited back.

2. On the other side of the coin, answering with mini essays isn’t good either. Radio is a world of sound bytes and keeping listeners engaged as their attention is often pulled to other things as they listen. Get to the point with your answer and hand it back to the host.

3. If you don’t know the answer to a question, don’t bluff your way through it to look smart. Just say you don’t know. But it’s OK to speculate. For example, “I don’t know the exact answer to that question, but if I were to speculate based on my own experience…”

4. Have some extra topic ideas ready. Generally, when you’ve been invited to be a guest, the overall topic has already been decided. But if the host asks beforehand if there are specific items you want to cover, feel free to mention things that people are talking about right now related to your industry. And bring up things that you know are your strong-suit so you can hit those questions out of the park.

5. Make the host look good. Yup, that’s right… make him/her look good. Coincidentally, their job is to make you look good. But they’re the ones who are there day after day, working hard to maintain an audience. If you do things that make them look bad in front of their audience, you’re not coming back. Or worse, they’ll make you look bad.

Here’s one simple way to make a host look good. After they ask a question, say, “Y’know, that’s a great question and I’m glad you asked because it’s really important.” Obviously you wouldn’t do that for every question, but I can guarantee you, if you’re sincere, the host will love you for making them look smart in front of his/her audience.

As the interview winds up, praise them for asking great questions and giving you the opportunity to share. Again, that makes them look good.

6. Smile and have fun. Believe it or not, a sincere smile can actually come across in your voice. And in terms of having fun, too many people look at being interviewed as an interrogation. OK… if it’s the 60 Minutes news team doing the interview, it is an interrogation. But when it’s just you talking about your area of expertise, the host is pulling for you do well. Because, as mentioned, when you look good, they look good.

7. Send a thank you note to the station or host. Nope, you didn’t get paid, but they gave you free air time. Trust me… you do this and you’ll stand out from all the other guests which may lead to more return trips on-air which means more free publicity for you.

A logical question you might have is, How do I find people who would want to interview me? Glad you asked. An article I wrote, How To Find People Who Want To Interview You, will point you in the right direction.

It won’t surprise you to know that I’m happy to be a guest if you have a program that deals with marketing or freelancing. Get in touch with me and we can discuss specific ideas.

Audio version of 7 Ways To Be A Great Radio Guest

And I’m not the type who gives a you-know-what about a celebrity’s personal life because, in general, I have little interest in celebrities.

But it was hard to escape news coverage of Tiger’s public apology.

From the “post-apology analysis” I couldn’t escape, Tiger seemed to get good marks for being honest and taking responsibility.

But I was more drawn to his delivery, not so much the content. Part of that comes from a 14 year background in the media… radio, to be specific.

If I had no other skill in radio broadcasting, I could at least claim to be conversational on the air. That’s a vital trait for anyone in radio where there are no visuals to supplement the message. It’s all in your delivery which affects whether people want to listen to you or change the channel.

So when I look at Tiger’s apology in terms of delivery, I thought it was lacking. To be fair, admitting you messed up big-time on national television – with the added pressure of your mom sitting in the front row – isn’t going to bring out the best in anyone.

However, I couldn’t help but think how much more sincere it would have come across – and, thus, had more impact – if he had simply jotted down a bunch of bullet points (I messed up, it was all my fault, I’m sorry, leave my family alone) and let his unfiltered feelings fill in the blanks.

In radio, we called that speaking from the heart versus speaking from the script. There’s a difference, and people can feel it.

As it turns out, his apology sounded the way it was probably created: very scripted, with input by any number of handlers, and no words left to chance.

This might be a stretch, but I think Tiger’s delivery can be a bit of teachable moment for marketers, especially those using long-form copy.

Do your promotions come across as stiff and written by committee? Or do they feel like a one-on-one conversation between you and the reader?

Recently, someone on Twitter mentioned the importance of using page 2 of a catalog for a personal letter. The same applies for a magalog. The letter may come from the company president or someone else in authority.

That letter can set the whole tone for the promotion. And when done properly, it can also provide insight into the company, helping the buyer to feel a deeper connection with the company and the product/service they sell.

It’s your chance to go “off script” and become a person the reader can really relate to. I might even go so far as to say it makes you and the message that follows more believable, or at least more worthy of being given a chance to make your case.

Yet it seems like some companies either don’t bother with a personal letter at all, or give it little effort compared to the main copy. That’s a mistake.

That letter is your chance to “speak from your heart” and let your prospects understand your passion and reason behind it.

Sure, that can also be done in the main copy. But many times that copy becomes a mixture of input from different people, the things you feel you have to include, and all the other ingredients that go into a successful message. And that’s assuming the reader invests the time in the main portion of your message.

Unfortunately, the personal element in the main copy sometimes gets sacrificed for the other “must haves” in the copy.

The “hello” letter, meanwhile, can be more personal. Usually only one page in length, it’s a quick and easy read.

It gives you a chance to let people know why they should even bother to start reading page 3 and keep going until the end. You’re sharing your passion without the sales techniques that are most likely going to be a part of your main copy.

It’s the feeling of someone sitting down across from you and saying, “In a moment, I’m going to share some exciting news. But first, let me tell you how I got to this point where I believe, with all my heart, that I can make a real difference in your life.”

A little over-the-top? Not really.

It’s what happens when you throw away the structure of a script to share your unfiltered passion for what you do.

Otherwise, your audience can get distracted if your message comes off as too scripted or too fake. It can happen in print just as easily as it can when someone is apologizing to the public.

People can sense when your message is real and has authenticity. That’s the value of a “Page 2″ letter. If you succeed there, the reader is more willing to give you a chance to tell your full story.