Working together with several businesses and a good media rep will help you get the results you want. Generally, asking questions and listening for solid answers will do the job. Think of your rep as a potential business partner, and ask the challenging questions.

Tenney's Cake and Icing Theory of Radio Advertising.

Every community needs a foundation for their marketing. Think of that foundation as a single layer cake. Businesses supplement their foundations with other media, in varying amounts - communities must do this, too. Some supplements enhance the foundation - and are akin to icing. Some though, are whims, or 'feel good' add-ons, that would perhaps only count as sprinkles on the cake. When you're working with smaller budgets, you need to make sure you get enough dollars together that when you add in bonus or discount ads, you have a good cake. Then, you'll need to add promotional giveaways, web-links and other items that will "ice" the cake, making it absolutely irresistible to all the station's listeners. They must know about it, they must be enthused about it, and they must be ready to choose YOUR event over a myriad of other experiences vying for their time.