Heard It On the Radio (2(b) of 5)

So how much will you pay for radio ads? That totally depends (and I’m not talking about your undergarments).

One major factor is where you live. If you’re in New York, New York because the station will have so many people within its reach, radio ads will probably be cost prohibitive. If you’re in my hometown of Hammondsport, New York (population 2,000) radio ads will probably be for sale at the Dollar Store.

A second factor is which station. Popular stations cost a lot more than the one’s no one is listening to. We’ve been on a very popular station or two, a somewhat popular station or two (because their style of music is right for us), and ESPN radio (which costs the least of all).

A third factor is how many ads you’re going to do. To some extent, radio sells in bulk. We usually get a contract for about 35 to 40 ads in one week. My neighbor owns a window tinting business and buys an entire year worth of ads; he gets a better deal than me.

A fourth factor is when your ads will air. You will pay more for drive-in-to-work and drive-home-from-work times, and much less for the middle-of-the-night. We do a rotating kind of schedule where we get 5 or 6 ads every day, each hitting at a different time.

A few things to know: (1) Your friendly radio rep is NOT going to give you the best deal she can at first. You can get the price down. (2) Use other stations to get the price down. Get quotes from a variety of stations that interest you. Then use one against the other. The stations want your business and if you’ve got some bargaining power, it helps. (3) Play the God card. I’m not positive it helps but I always explain to my reps that they can’t jerk me around because this is God’s money that I’m playing with, and that I’ve been trusted by the people in my church to use their offerings wisely.

– featured on newchurches.com