How an author/therapist piggybacked onto runaway bride

As I was writing last week’s tip about how to piggyback off the runaway bride story, my friend Barbara Bartlein was doing just that.

Barbara, a professional speaker and author of the book “Why Did I Marry You Anyway? –12.5 Strategies for a Happy Marriage,” saw all the attention the Runaway Bride was getting and fired off a press release. A relationship expert, Barb says 20 percent of engaged couples, or almost a half million people, end up breaking their engagement each year. Even worse, most couples end up discussing their wedding more than their marriage. You can read he release here.

The release resulted in 12 radio interviews last week and Barb continues to schedule more throughout the U.S. and Canada. On a show in Toronto, Barb gave her advice on the runaway bride story (have a smaller wedding) and talked about what marriage is REALLY about. She even responded to listeners who called in.

One caller took her to task for her comment that “Marriage isn’t about love. It’s about trust and commitment.”

“But love makes the world go ’round!” the caller chided.

“Love might very well make the world go ’round,” Barb replied. “But marriage isn’t about love. It’s about snore strips and flannel nightgowns.”

Isn’t that a memorable sound bite? As someone who has been known to wear snore strips AND flannel nightgowns, though not necessarily at the same time, well maybe once or twice, I immediately felt a connection.

How memorable are your sound bites? And how quickly do you jump on a breaking news event to promote your expertise? When Barbara sent out her simple, but timely, releases, she got booked on some very big radio programs, too.

Alex Carroll, a veteran of more than 1,264 radio talk show interviews, will spill the beans on what you need to do if you want to get onto the really big radio shows. He’ll be my guest during a teleseminar at 4 PM Eastern Time on Thursday, May 26. It’s called “Get Booked on Big Radio Shows in the Top 20 Markets.” If you can’t attend the teleseminar, you can order the CD.

Authors & PublishersPitch Media