July 2024 Amplify! Find Ways to Maximize the Benefit of Media Interviews and Online Kudos

If you are getting some interviews or coverage from the media, or noting new online book reviews or getting social media praise, what are you doing to make sure you amplify it to receive the maximum benefit, and reach the most people?

Does even that question feel braggy and wrong to you?

I’d like to encourage you to think about this. If you are achieving these kudos, you are likely working hard to make that happen. You need to amplify to get the most mileage and the most bang for your buck.

I love the word. And here’s a definition, courtesy of Cambridge Dictionary:

Amplify: to make something louder, or to increase the size or effect of something.

It’s such a noisy world out there and also a busy one. No one has time to see everything they would want to see.

This week I received an email from one of my clients that prompted these thoughts and the subject of this week’s note.

In the email, the client, Dave Richardson, highlighted several of the recent media interviews he’s had. He is an author and ministry leader who has developed Learn to Discern, digital courses on apologetics, and he’s working hard to let the Christian community know about them.

He’s not only doing a great job obtaining interviews, but he also did an excellent job of explaining the media outlet and a summary of his interview and how it related to his ministry of apologetics. Then he included a link to the interview, of course.

I have at least one other author with whom I’ve worked recently who also does this regularly and thoughtfully.

For each of them, sending an email updates those on their mailing list, including people who support their ministry, with what work is going on and how they are promoting it, and with whom they are sharing the message.

I wish I could say I had suggested it to them, but instead, I have been learning from them. This takes a bit of work and diligence, but it’s also something I think is really quite brilliant. A terrific way to amplify the value of those interviews.

Of course, this is in addition to these interviews being able to be found on their websites, as well as many times on the website of the media outlet.

For many years I have advised clients to add a tab on their websites labeled “Media” and to include there links to previous interviews they have had. This makes their website more interesting to readers (and also to the search engines, or so I’ve been told.)

Media interviews not only provide you a chance to tell your story to the audience of the media outlet, but they also add to your credibility and legitimacy, especially for those people just discovering you. Hearing an interview allows them to hear your voice and learn more about you, your books, and your ministry.  

It increases the bang for the buck of working with a publicist and obtaining those precious interviews. The first time they air, you are heard and possibly seen by potentially millions of people. But having a link to the interview on your website amplifies the value and amplifies the audience.

And many times, the media outlet themselves will re-broadcast an interview. Several of the TV shows with which we often work always broadcast their show a second time usually 12 hours after the first time it airs.

In addition, many times the media outlets themselves post links to recent interviews, plus increasingly have some types of podcasts. Some radio stations have a podcast that in some way or another captures the best of recent interviews or is the full-length interview that they edited into a shorter version that aired on the radio station. Others have podcasts hosted by their on-air talent on related or not so related topics.
And sometimes even if you don’t see your interview listed among “recent interviews” it’s still there in the archives and available if you search.

I’ve been told by several radio stations that as long as they keep the interview in their archives somewhere, links to the interviews that you post on your website or share in other ways will continue to work even if you can’t find it on their site.

Beyond radio, television and podcast interviews, this concept of amplification can also work with reviews and kudos received on social. Grab a link and include an excerpt in text on your website, or share it on a different site. Make sure there are some words too, probably written by you, in addition to the link, for those who aren’t going to take the time to take the jump.

There are millions of people who potentially might be interested in you and your message. But you need to let them know. If you are still feeling like this is self-serving, turn the lens a bit. If you believe your book contains a message God wants you to share with others to build their faith or improve their lives, then this isn’t about you. It’s about helping others.

Before I close, I mentioned a few paragraphs ago how at least two authors with whom I’ve been honored to work send out an email to their list highlighting their recent media activity.

The implication was that you should consider sending something similar to your own list. You do have a list, right?
If not, that’ll be a topic we return to on another day.

In the meantime, be thinking about ways to capture your media activity and other online praise you receive to amplify the benefit.