In the corporate world, marketing's function is to generate sales leads and build awareness of the company's product or service. Troubling, though, is the fact that these marketing departments do not see any value in using public relations to the company's advantage. What happens instead is lots of money is spent in advertising. But there is a much more cost effective answer: being interviewed as a guest on talk radio. Talk radio is an absolute fantastic way for you to get exposure to millions of people nationwide. It really doesn't matter if you are a small local firm or a huge multi-national company - talk radio will get you fantastic local or national attention for your business. " You should do as many phone interviews on talk radio as you possibly can", says Marsha Friedman, Managing Director of EMSI , a national public relations firm. " Appearing as a guest on a talk radio show will gain you some fabulous media attention ." So let's have Marsha Friedman educate us as to why talking about your company on a radio show is such a publicity goldmine:

1. Attractive Target Audience and Demographics. "On AM radio listeners are 55% male and 45% female with many of them college educated or with at least a high school diploma ", says Marsha Friedman. " Also there are so many different shows focusing on anything from finance to relationships so you can easily identify shows whose listeners are a match for your products or service ."

2. It Won't Break the Bank. Many people think that if you have a talk radio interview you will have to travel to the station. Marsha Friedman says, "Nowadays all of the interviews are phone interviews. This way you can hold your interview from the comfort of your home or in between meetings at the office. If you are being interviewed by phone you can be anywhere and doing anything as long as you are a stone's throw from a landline. "

3. A Fantastic Tool for Sales. Although public relations is definitely not paid advertising, if you get good coverage, it can really boost your exposure which in turns can boost your sales . " On talk radio, the majority of interviews are live, so it's like having a conversation with hundreds, thousands or even tens of thousands of people while on one phone call", says Marsha Friedman. " A compelling interview on talk radio can sell your product or service without the audience even realizing they've been sold. Listeners will want to know how to get whatever the guest is talking about. Many hosts will drop your website and phone number throughout the interview in order to for you to not sound to pushy or salesy. "

4. A Solid 3rd Party Endorsement. As you can imagine, talk radio shows have loyal followings in order to maintain their terrific ratings. Listeners make sure to listen every time their favorite show or host is on to get all of the latest news and information. Marsha Friedman says, "Hosts are many times viewed by their listeners as great friends and sometimes even mentors , when you appear as a guest on their show, so when you appear as a guest on the show, you get a fantastic endorsement almost instantly. Credible by association if you will. "

5. Credibility. Talk radio supplies this in bucket loads. Marsha Friedman says, "One of my public relations firm's clients told us, '! every show I've appeared on - the show's host will really talk me up on air and how proud they are to have me as a guest on their show! Of course, the more important I am as a guest, the more important the host appears to be. A total goldmine of PR! ' Now that is some great PR!"

6. Enough Time to Tell Your Whole Story. With advertising you have a specific amount of space (in print) and time (on radio and TV). " Talk radio interviews can be as long as 30 minutes or more, and all of this is time you can be using to tell the listening audience about how terrific your product or service is! " says Marsha Friedman. Hopefully these reasons will compel you to give talk radio a try. It really is a fabulous way of getting consumers educated about your product and interested in finding more about you. If you would like to learn more about gaining media attention for your company, product or service, without the financial burden of monthly retainers, Marsha Friedman would love to help. Feel free to contact her directly at mfriedman@emsincorporated.com or visit her firm online at http://www.emsincorporated.com. As a public relations expert Marsha Friedman has the ability to get the media attention that you desire without breaking your budget with costly monthly retainers .

Marsha Friedman has been a leading authority on public relations for nearly two decades as CEO of Event Management Services, Inc (EMSI). If you would like to receive her free Ebook "How to Be a Great Talk Radio Guest" visit http://www.emsincorporated.com.