Talk radio interviews aren't what they used to be.

In the 'golden days,' the hosts of major-market talk radio shows used to bring guests into the studio for long chats. A guest would be able to do a handful of interviews and see their sales go through the roof!

Marsha Friedman, Founder of EMSI , a national public relations firm says, "Sadly, those days are gone. In the current market, without a stellar name, a handful of interviews won't set your sales afire.

The reasons are two-fold.

First, there just aren't as many talk shows with a format for guests as there used to be. Friedman adds, "Secondly, the amount of 'per-guest interview time' has shrunk." Blame the research. The result of much research found that the shorter the segment, the more the audience will stay involved.

When it Comes to Talk Radio Publicity, Quantity Still Rules.

Think about it. Marsha Friedman says, "There are 1,000's of stations available that seem to be small and a waste of your valuable public relations time. But that certainly doesn't mean you should thumb your nose at them."

Think about this point of view. "Say a low wattage stations had an audience of 95 people. A utter waste of time, right?" adds Friedman. "But what if you could go to an auditorium and talk to 100 people about your book, would you go? Absolutely!"

See the contradiction here? "I would suggest that you go on every talk radio show that you can, no matter what the size is! This is a fabulous way of creating a solid consumer base and awareness", adds Friedman

A rookie baseball player doesn't throw his first pitch against the New York Yankees, does he? Of course not!and the same applies to radio.

Marsha Friedman says, "I have found in my nearly 20 years in talk radio public relations that is takes generally 10-12 talk radio interviews before clients feel totally comfortable being interviewed in the air. It is a much wiser decision to cut your teeth on the small stations so that when you get the opportunity to appear on a huge national show you are comfortable enough to really take advantage of the terrific promotional opportunity. Small talk radio stations let you practice becoming a great guest."

Having a large number of interviews under your belt will definitely give you experience. What is meant by practice is that you will be able to gather your thoughts, your pitch and interview style and sound like a pro in no time.

Typical errors for first time guests include not giving out their website address or the title of their book, or not mentioning it frequently enough. It is a huge mistake to undersell and/or oversell!so avoid that at all costs!

Technical clients have a tendency to slide into techno-babble, and even good guests inevitably walk out of their first few interviews knowing they could have done better. But if you are going out to smaller stations initially, you won't have a national audience hearing your mistakes."

Of course there could be problems using the smaller stations. It is important to get yourself ready because sometimes you will run into unprofessional situations. So make sure that you reconfirm your interview a couple of times before you are due to appear on-air.

But hey, what can prepare you for the 500 watt station in the middle of nowhere that's hosted by a recent college grad. Hosts on the smaller talk radio stations may not do as much research as the big national hosts. So always be prepared to educate the host on every single aspect of your topic.

Marsha Friedman says, "When it comes to these situations, your approach should be as if you have met the person for the first time and you need to explain what your topic is to this stranger. Don't leave everything up to the host. Always be prepared for the interview. Very bright people listen to some very small radio stations; so don't ever talk down to your audience."

The bottom-line here is that small-station interviews not only can generate sales, they can prepare you for the big time.

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.