We love to hear your success stories!
Read the stories below to see how others are making a profit with our 30- and 60-second audio features, which we like to call Sales Boosters.
The series are listed in chronological order to make it easier for you to locate a particular campaign. We hope you find great ideas for your station and clients.
YEAR-ROUND
“We sold one big package of the Drug Abuse Prevention and Be Kind to Yourself to a company in town that offers drug abuse recovery; they liked the features, and it helped us to get a longer-term contract with them.” Joe Abraham, WDUC/WFTZ-FM, Tallahoma TN
JANUARY – MARCH
Ten Top Tax Tips
“We’ve used the IRS tax tips before, but they promote filing online – which doesn’t work so well for an accountant or a tax preparation firm to sponsor. So we really appreciate the tax tips that GBS produces. The tax preparer that sponsored them last year also liked them, and he’s renewing his sponsorship this year.”
Scott Bratton, WCHX/WVNW/WKVA, Lewistown, PA
“We sold the tax tips to a tax preparer’s office, and our client had so many new customers from running the ads that he asked our station if he could sponsor the tax tips again this year.”
Oliver Araiza, WVGV, West Union, WV
Health & Fitness Tips
“There are times when we get caught up in spending too much time selling radio and not enough time creating good ideas that make sense for businesses. Nobody wants to buy advertising but everyone wants a great idea for their business. The most recent example is a local hospital that a number of reps have been calling on but could never get them on. After my initial investigation and discovering they spend 90% of their ad budget on direct mail, I knew I could make a great case for Radio and I had a good idea in mind. The idea was a series of health tips from Grace Broadcast Services. They immediately loved the idea (I offered it exclusively at a premium) and completely understood how this could fill a major gap in their branding campaign. The result was a $34,000 annual and a very excited new client. This is not brain surgery. The next time you need a great idea for a client, I would suggest [contacting Rod]. It’s the easiest selling you can ever do because all you do is push a button.”
Don Oberbillig, WZSR, Crystal Lake, IL
Senior Health Tips
“Initially we planned to sell sponsorship of the senior health tips to a local senior services organization, but it turned out that they didn’t have the budget for it. However, they do publish a newsletter that’s sponsored by about a dozen other community businesses, so we decided to approach them about sponsoring the features. We designed packages in which the businesses not only got their own ads, but they were also able to contribute radio commercials for the senior services organization. We sold four packages, netting about $1600 in revenue, and hope to build on this next year.”
John Schoentrup, WSVX AM/FM, Shelbyville, IN
“We sold sponsorship of the Senior Health Tips to a lawyer who does estate planning. He’s a young man, and this is his first time doing radio advertising. He told me he couldn’t believe how fast he got a response. So yes, the Senior Health Tips are still running – two times a day, five days a week.”
Roth Stratton, WBRT, Bardstown, KY
FFA Salutes
“Every year, we love airing FFA Salutes and Dairy Month features! They are always interesting and work well with our format and community. We always have positive feedback from advertisers and having the features already produced makes things even easier for me and my team.”
Mandy Garver, WJER, Dover, OH
“I wanted to let you know how well the FFA salutes sold. Within 7 stops I had all the sponsorships sold that I could sell and get on the radio in two weeks. The sponsors were mostly clients that weren’t accustomed to sponsoring this type of feature. I thank the Lord for this success, but I have to tell you, I was blown away.”
Don Ullrich, KCMI, Scottsbluff, NE
National Agriculture Week Salutes
“We’ve been using the Salutes to American Agriculture for many years now, and it never fails to sell out. We air them on four stations, and consistently sell over 100 sponsors to it every year. It’s a very easy sell, and a good educational feature for agriculture.”
Curt Teigen, KZZY/KQZZ/KDLR/KDVL, Devils Lake, ND
“Here in the rich agricultural region of Northwestern Ohio, our most successful [Rod Schwartz] feature is the National Agriculture Week series in March. WNDH has consistently billed around $1,600 on this series. Sponsors get an open and a close with the feature for $110 and receive 10 plays during the week. Local agri-businesses love being associated with the series. It is one of many we use from them over the year. Congratulations on your 20th Anniversary….and keep up the great job!”
Bob McLimans, WNDH, Napoleon, OH
“We’ve enjoyed working with you for the past several years to help us bring niche campaigns to our advertisers and listeners. Living in the World’s Greatest Farming Area, we tend to utilize the Ag-related campaigns more than others. They are fresh and updated each year and we have had success packaging them for our advertisers.”
Stacey E. Smith, WGFA, Watseka, IL
“With the National Agriculture Salutes, we were pleased that we got a tractor company to come on board with us that hadn’t been on the air with us before – that was a good win for us.”
Roth Stratton, WOKH/WBRT, Bardstown, KY
Spring Car Care Tips (Love Your Car)
“Mark and one of his AE’s used the Spring Car Care and Safe Driving Tips series to sell a $32,000 annual contract to a locally-owned automotive repair/service business. Mark and his rep tagged each of the 20 features with the client’s information, and played all the features for the owners, a husband and wife team. The wife took notes throughout the presentation, and afterwards it was immediately clear that she was invested in the campaign because she asked 1) Which of the features stood out the most to the group? and 2) Which features should be tagged with a male voice and which with a female voice? The husband and wife signed up for an aggressive schedule, and actually added to it down the line. Mark said that he appreciates the production quality of the GBS features, and commented that tagging the features with the clients’ information personalized it and made them invested in the campaign. Mark also added that the rep who sold the contract is relatively new to radio sales, and this was his biggest sale to date.”
Mark Hill, KADI, Springfield, MO
Get Growing! Gardening Tips
“We have called on [Rod Schwartz] for new ideas we can offer to existing and new clients. In 2011 we used the Get Growing campaign. This attracted new business from a relatively new garden centre in the South Okangan. They loved the idea they could have a well produced gardening tip presented by them….along with a chance to tag in a 30 second commercial as part of the package. We offered this exclusively to one garden centre in a valley of hundreds of garden centres. That was the clincher. Thanks for your creative ideas.”
Greg Masson, CIGV, Penticton, BC, Canada
APRIL – JUNE
Easter Treasures
“We sold Easter Treasures to 13 sponsors and turned our investment into $3600 new billing.”
Don Hughes, KCDY, Carlsbad, NM
“We had awesome feedback from the community on the Easter Treasures features – they loved it! We’re hoping to build on that and sell even more next year.”
Mirissa Anderson, KHND, Harvey, ND
“We were short on our Sharathon goal this year, and we hoped to make up the difference with Easter Treasures. We’ve been on the air for 20 years, and this year we sold the most Easter Treasures we’ve ever sold.”
Jeremy Worthington, WAGO, Goldsboro NC
“Above & Beyond,” a Memorial Day Tribute
“Memorial Day sold great. Sponsors loves the features and they can’t wait till next year to sponsor again.”
Mirissa Anderson, KHND, Harvey, ND
“I’ve used [GBS] for years and I find their products have great quality and value. My most recent purchase was for the 2017 Above & Beyond Memorial Day Tribute. For an investment of just $189 we were able to secure 37 customers with a billing revenue of $9,520. I only wish my retirement account gave me this kind of return! Thanks to Heather and the team for coming up with products that serve both our advertisers and listeners.”
Matt Johnson, Batesville, Arkansas
“We sold about $1100 in Memorial Day sponsorships, at $98 each. Anytime I can do that well on a single campaign, I’m ecstatic.”
Kathi Black, KHBT, Humboldt, IA
“I have to tell you, the Memorial Day campaign went great. We usually have fifteen sponsors; this year we had twenty-nine!”
Don Fredeen, WESB, Bradford, PA
“Who did I sell the Memorial Day campaign to? Everyone I played a demo for! Here’s the backstory: I wanted to run with the Memorial Day campaign, but my sales team was balking; they didn’t think they could sell it. So even though I’m the owner and don’t typically make sales calls, I took the demo out and presented it to some prospects. In one day, I had five sponsorships lined up: an insurance agency, a furniture store, a carpet store, a car dealership, and a custom embroidery business. I went back to my sales team and said, ‘Shut it.’ These campaigns are easy to sell – how can anyone not do well with them?”
Steve Rooney, KSEL, Portales, NM
“I first started using Grace Broadcasting in 1999 when I worked at KKLN radio station in Willmar, Minnesota. I remember the first package I talked the General Manager into buying was only $139 back then. It was a Memorial Day package and I sold over $4,000 and the other competitive sales team countered with their own sales averaging almost $10,000, so when I bought my own station in the Mississippi Delta and needed some quick, ‘turn-key’ sales, I turned to Grace Broadcasting and was not disappointed.”
James Poe, WABG, Greenwood, MS
“We found the timing perfect for clients to salute veterans and military personnel. Simply by using the demo and asking clients to put their name on the end as a proud sponsor and supporter we sold packages to 26 clients totaling a little more than $3,000 – all scheduled within a few day period around the Memorial Day holiday. We wouldn’t have made our month without it. Very, very few of the people we called said No. We were only limited by the number of announcements we could air in a few days.”
Bob Ketchum, KLGA, Algona, IA
“In the past we have produced our own Memorial Day features using local veterans. It has always been well received but the hours we put into it didn’t leave us with much profit. This year as I listened to the sample mp3 about the Congressional Medal of Honor recipients, I was moved to tears and I knew we could sell it. Before we even ordered it I took your advice and used the mp3 and sales sheet with 3 options for our customers. My first 3 calls were successful, sold all 3 customers and it just got better. It’s airing this week and our traffic manager is complaining about how full the log is and he doesn’t know what he’s going to do……music to my ears!We’ll be looking at your produced promotions a lot more closely in the future. Thanks much.”
Diana Wilson, KBEK, Mora, MN
Salute to Police & Firefighters
“We are selling both monthly and multi-month packages on the Salute to the Police and Firefighters. So far we’ve sold four sponsorships of the multi-month packages, $299 per month for three months at a time. We’ve received calls asking that other law enforcement professionals be acknowledged (prison officials, hospital security officials), and so we’ve paired the :30-second GBS features with our station and sponsor information and a list of names of local law enforcement officers (being careful not to list unit/department information with the names, for security purposes). In these packages, our advertisers also receive stand-alone ads for their businesses.”
Mary Clites, WCBC, Cumberland, MD
“The Salute to Our Police and Firefighters worked really well for us: we sold 25 spots at $99 to a variety of sponsors, including attorneys and local businesses.”
Debbie Foster, KJAS, Jasper, TX
“We were very pleased with the Salute to Our Police and Firefighters – quite a few businesses sponsored the campaign, including an assisted living home, a couple funeral homes, two restaurants, a body shop, and a meat-packing business.”
Barbara Evans, WFJX, Roanoke, VA
Salute to Our Nurses
“Salute to Our Nurses was very successful for us – we used it as a signature campaign for two health services: Lovelace Medical Group last year, and Presbyterian Health Services this year. We also used the promotion to honor frontline responders in general.”
Jason Martinez, General Sales Manager, Cumulus Radio Group, Albuquerque NM
“The Salute to Our Nurses campaign worked out well. We sold it to a variety of sponsors, ranging from healthcare facilities to businesses that are not in the medical field but wanted to recognize the nurses in our community.”
Robert Lovell, Mid-Utah Radio
“The Salute to Nurses campaign turned out quite well. We sold a sponsorship to the hospital here in town, one of our bigger accounts, as well as to a nursing home, a clinic in East Grand Forks, and an assisted living center 25 miles away. It was a good start that we hope to build on next year.”
Steve Krueger, KROX, Crookston, MN
National Day of Prayer
“The National Day of Prayer programming went over well, we grossed over $1k on the sale.”
Bob McLimans, WNDH, Napoleon, OH
Salute to Our Graduating Seniors
“The high school graduation salutes worked out well. We sold sponsorships for between $125 and $200, and we made $6200 in all.”
Don Enochs, WZLT, Lexington, TN
“We sold the salutes to 18 sponsors, some of whom mentioned the names of graduates who worked for them in their messages. Our sponsors included Madison Hardware, Liberty Tax, a grocery store, a health group, and a hospital. The graduate messages provided an opportunity for the businesses to support the community and to tie in to various themes and promotions they were offering. For instance, the shipyard Vigor Alaska emphasized maritime careers, and a hair salon advertised getting ready for senior pictures, as well as a larger life’s special moments theme in preparing for the wedding season.”
Julie Lekwauwa, KFMJ, Ketchikan, AK
“Local businesses want to buy ‘ideas’ a lot more than they want to buy ‘advertising.’ In fact, due to the COVID-19 situation, selling ‘ideas’ has never been more important. With help from Grace Broadcast, we sold the ‘Salute to the Class of 2020’ to a large law firm in our area. We used the demo spot and script provided to us by Grace Broadcast, pitched it to the client and, wuolah, sold it on the first try! We’ve done this before with other packages from Grace Broadcast. Thank you very much!”
Stefan Rybak, Managing Director, Long Island Radio Broadcasting
“It’s a HUGE money maker to use these sponsored vignettes. This is a great way to build a relationship with the community and the schools! It shows that your station really does care about the community.”
Richard “Chip” Lynn, WLNT, Loudon, TN
“We sold the graduate salutes to 33 sponsors, including a pharmacy, funeral home, restaurant, several insurance companies, several automotive companies, a florist, orthodontist, farmers market, Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, and more.”
Bryce Wilson, Station Manager – Curtis Media Group – Goldsboro
June Dairy Month
“Every year, we love airing FFA Salutes and Dairy Month features! They are always interesting and work well with our format and community. We always have positive feedback from advertisers and having the features already produced makes things even easier for me and my team.”
Mandy Garver, WJER, Dover, OH
JULY – SEPTEMBER
Independence Day Vignettes
“Just wanted to touch base on our July 4th vignette package….we were very pleased with the response. We had a nice increase in sales over last year.”
DeAnna Walker, KGVY, Green Valley, AZ
“Wanted to let you know that we were able to sell $3,200 in these Independence Day packages.”
Susan Wells, WKNE/WINQ, Keene, NH
“KGNW sold4 sponsorships at $750 apiece for a total of $3000.”
Chad Gammage, KGNW, Seattle, WA
“We had across the board sponsors: Furniture, Insurance, Gun Store, Casino, Sheet Metal Contractor, Concrete Mix Co., Fire Extinguisher, Bank … on and on … it went well for us.”
Mary Wakefield, KDLY/KOVE, Lander, WY
“Our sales team was tasked with selling the vignettes the week before July 4. The vignettes were well paired with our God and Country themed radio station and were an easy sell to our advertisers. Through this promotion we were able to generate almost 550% ROI! We look forward to additional themed boosters in the future from Grace Broadcasting Sales.”
Tim Holden, WDJC, Birmingham, AL
Back-to-School Safety & Success Tips
“We sold the back-to-school sponsorship for $23,400 to one sponsor. It was definitely a slam dunk.”
Anne Fisher, GSM, Summit Media, Springfield, MO.
“The Back to School Feature was a success! We sold $2,700 in sponsorships. Thank you.”
Susan Wells, WKNE/WINQ, Keene, NH
Anti-Bullying Campaign
“The anti-bullying campaign is phenomenal. We only sell ten packages, but it sells really quick – it’s a cause everyone believes in – and often to the same ten advertisers.”
Len Vohs, KSEL, Portales, NM
“We had four sponsors for the Anti-bullying campaign: an attorney, a wood manufacturer/lumber company that doesn’t normally do business with us, a chiropractor, and a new bank that wanted to be associated with the community. We like to sell the GBS features to people who don’t normally advertise with us.”
Marion Garris, WORG, Orangeburg SC
“The anti-bullying campaign went great – we loved it! We sold sponsorship to different schools, to CASA [court-appointed special advocates for children], about 10 different sponsors in all. It doesn’t even take much inventory: we didn’t even add additional commercials; we sold the package with sponsor tags. We actually had clients thank us for doing this campaign. One of our clients that purchased the package said he was bullied as a child.”
Anna Riblet, WHPZ/WDOW, South Bend, IN
“The anti-bullying campaign is great! We sold sponsorships to the sheriff, the district attorney, and a local non-profit group, Partners in Prevention.”
Irene Robinson, KWCL, Oak Grove, LA
Teacher Appreciation Salutes
“We sold 22 sponsorships with the Teacher Appreciation Salutes. We’ll be airing them in April and are thinking of running them again in the fall, when the kids head back to school.”
Kathi Black, KHBT, Humboldt, IA
“We have a high school, middle school and three elementary schools in our base county. We had the principals and superintendents of our schools record their own scripts and paired them with the Teacher Appreciation scripts; it worked out very well for us.”
Joey Hoover, WKDO, Liberty KY
Patriot Day
“Patriot Day is always a good seller for us; there are a lot of ex-military in town. We appreciate GBS providing the features.”
Pam Simon, KAGE, Winona MN
“We sold just one sponsorship on the Patriot Day package, a non-traditional advertiser, local manufacturing company that makes engines for lawn mowers. But it was a $1200 package! We ran the features the week before September 11, all of them tagged with the manufacturer’s name and the fact that they have been a part of the community for over 20 years. It worked out well, and the company was very pleased.”
Mike Hubbard, Auburn Network, Inc., Auburn, AL
Farm Safety Week
“We did very well with Farm Safety, $4600.”
Kay Gudeman, Account Executive, WKVI, Knox, IN
“The Farm Safety campaign went better than expected. We ran it in March and April, and are planning to run the features again in September. Our sponsors included feed and seed, implement dealers, and banks. We heard from listeners who enjoyed the features, and the sponsors ate it up!”
Mirissa Anderson, KHND, Harvey, ND
Hunting Safety Tips
“The Hunting Safety message went well. We had 25 advertisers participate. Thanks.”
Mike Renner, KDIX, Dickinson, ND
“The Hunting Safety campaign has been very popular in Central Wisconsin – go figure! We’ve sold it for three years now, and we have had a good mix of returning business combined with new business each year. Central Wisconsin Firearms and Country Fresh Meats have both been sponsors for two years, and Abby Bank specifically added it to their marketing plans this year. Not only does the message resonate with listeners, it offers businesses a great way to target their desired customers.”
Aleese Fielder, NRG Media, Stevens Point, WI
Salute to the American Farmer
“Salute to the American Farmer went well. We had a few more sponsors than last year, and the dollars were a little better, too – we did over $6000. We normally sell promotions like this in about one week.”
Mike Renner, KDIX, Dickinson, ND
“We are a farming community of 8000 and all the businesses here support our local farmers. Salute to the American Farmer was very well received. Among our sponsors were an implement dealer, bookstores, grain company, cow feed company, insurance company, and all the auto dealerships!”
Jesse Torres, KXIT, Dalhart, TX
OCTOBER-DECEMBER
Breast Cancer Awareness
“The breast cancer awareness features have done well. We have eight sponsors so far, including an oil and LP business, two auto dealers and a repair shop, and the owner of a manufactured homes company.”
Jill Larson, Magnum Media
“The Breast Cancer Awareness campaign was a huge success; we sold all but one of the features. Sponsors included medical clinics, a hospital, hair salon, fitness center; some were breast cancer survivors; other companies promoted early detection.
“GBS features are such an easy sell and provides a good hook for non-traditional businesses.”
Julie Lekwauwa, KFMJ, Ketchikan AK
4-H Salutes
“The 4-H campaign usually generates $3500 to $4000 for us. It fills a gap in the broadcast coverage for this time of year and keeps the agricultural community in the news.”
Mike Renner, KDIX, Dickinson, ND
Shop Your Hometown Merchants – Holiday Messages
“The shop local campaign worked out well this year. We got thirteen sponsors, individual businesses, including a laundromat, a jewelry store, an appliance store, a lumber company (hardware store/gift shop), a business that sells Christmas trees and plants, a restaurant, a bakery, a flooring and wall place, a gift shop, an artisan’s group, a gym, a museum, and a countertop store – an eclectic mix. This year, I brought in one of the clips and had my clients listen to it. As I’m playing it, they’re all nodding in agreement. It worked out well.”
Joe Callahan, WOON, Woonsocket, RI
“I have already sold 3 clients for the season with a total of $6,400 in New Revenue. Works Great!! We are proud of the Success we have had thus far and look forward to adding more sales for the holidays.”
Jerry Baker, WEIS, Centre, AL
“We are a dual FM station group in the 200+ market of Eureka California. We are always on the lookout for NTR possibilities to increase sales revenue. We started our relationship some 3 years ago with the Holiday Shop Local package. Sales of Holiday shop local that first year surpassed our every expectation … $6,000 total NTR for the 4th quarter. This led to our purchase of the Shop Local Annual package that we continue to sell out (annual contracts totaling over $9,000). Last year’s Holiday Shop Local sold out at $7,000 total for the 4th quarter … and this year’s package is currently at $4,000 with half of the sponsorships left to sell during the next 16 days. Oh … and we have over an 80% repeat client ratio (most all by phone) with our GBS package sponsors. Thank you Rod and GBS for an excellent means of NTR.”
Randy Flevares, KXGO/KAJK, Eureka, CA
Shop Your Hometown Merchants – Year-round Messages
“We are a dual FM station group in the 200+ market of Eureka California. We are always on the lookout for NTR possibilities to increase sales revenue. We started our relationship some 3 years ago with the Holiday Shop Local package. Sales of Holiday shop local that first year surpassed our every expectation … $6,000 total NTR for the 4th quarter. This led to our purchase of the Shop Local Annual package that we continue to sell out (annual contracts totaling over $9,000). Last year’s Holiday Shop Local sold out at $7,000 total for the 4th quarter … and this year’s package is currently at $4,000 with half of the sponsorships left to sell during the next 16 days. Oh … and we have over an 80% repeat client ratio (most all by phone) with our GBS package sponsors. Thank you Rod and GBS for an excellent means of NTR.”
Randy Flevares, KXGO/KAJK, Eureka, CA
Veterans Day
“The Veterans Day salutes sold well. We run two spots a day per sponsor, and we have about twenty sponsors. It’s a good campaign for us.”
Jon Thompson, KCST, Florence, OR
“We had 12 sponsors for Veterans Day, including insurance companies, service organizations, lawyers, and politicians. KIMM is an all talk radio format, so the politicians liked the Veterans Day messages in addition to their regular advertising. We also have an Air Force base and a lot of retired military here. We sold packages of 10/20/30 and made 10 times the cost of our investment, which was a nice bump. It created a trafficking dilemma, which is good. ”
Rex Albright, KIMM, Rapid City, SD
“The Veterans Day campaign was fantastic and easy to use! We sold fifteen sponsorships; each advertiser had two ads a day for five days leading up to Veterans Day.”
Terry Slavens, KATX, Eastland, TX
“Your Veterans Day greetings are doing very well for our small market…we sold 30 and we are tagging them with the sponsor’s 30 second ad…the first two paid for the program and everything else is plus…love it.”
Irene Robinson, KWCL, Oak Grove, LA
Thanksgiving Treasures
“We sold Thanksgiving Treasures to 21 different sponsors, including banks, a chiropractor, realtors, lumber stores, heating and air, outdoor stores, and insurance companies.”
Steven Fuchs, Fox Radio Network, Poplar Bluff MO
* * * * * * *
Roth Stratton tells his salespeople: “If you get stuck, just click on [Rod’s website] and see if something makes sense to you.” Roth adds, “I do that, have done that, and will continue to do that.”
Roth Stratton, WBRT, Bardstown, KY