How to Become a Media Magnet: Dr. Richard Kaye on Profitable Publicity & Influence

In this episode of Inside Marketing with MarketSurge, host Reed Hansen sits down with Dr. Richard Kaye — a powerhouse in influence, visibility, and publicity.

Dr. Kaye has spent over two decades helping entrepreneurs, authors, and thought leaders elevate their reach through profitable, powerful publicity. From being featured on PBS and ABC to helping clients appear in magazines alongside Tom Cruise and Tom Hanks, Richard knows exactly what it takes to turn obscurity into opportunity.

Whether you’re pitching yourself to podcasts, TV, or radio — or simply want to understand the difference between PR, advertising, and publicity — this conversation is packed with gold for anyone serious about becoming known, trusted, and in demand.

💡 What You’ll Learn:
• The difference between PR, advertising, and publicity — and why it matters
• How to engineer repeatable publicity (not just get “lucky”)
• Why credibility, visibility, and trust are the ultimate growth multipliers
• The secret behind “prestige by association” — and how to leverage it
• How to tell your story so producers, journalists, and hosts say: “I choose you.”

👉 Key Highlights:
✅ How Dr. Kaye went from chiropractor to award-winning media strategist
✅ The #1 mistake most entrepreneurs make when hiring PR help
✅ Why your authenticity matters more than charisma on camera
✅ How to vet publicity professionals and avoid scams
✅ Real-world examples of how clients get featured on ABC, PBS, Binge TV, and even the NASDAQ Jumbotron

📈 At MarketSurge, we help you turn tools into systems — and systems into growth.
 If you want automation that feels personal and performs like a team of 10, you’re in the right place.

🧠 Want to talk strategy or see it in action?
 🎯 Book your 15-minute Value or Free Coffee Call:
👉 https://link.marketsurge.io/widget/bookings/15minutevalueorfreecoffee

🔗 Useful Links
🌐 MarketSurge: https://marketsurge.io

🎙️ Podcast: https://marketsurge.transistor.fm

💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/marketsurgeio

🐦 X / Twitter: https://x.com/marketsurging

📘 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100035121171654

🔗 Connect with Dr. Richard Kaye
🌐 Website: http://richardkaye.com/media

📢 Talk About Publicity: https://talkaboutpublicity.com

🏆 Top Talent Agency: https://toptagency.com

Creators and Guests

Host

Reed Hansen

Reed Hansen is a seasoned digital marketing executive with a proven track record of driving business growth through innovative strategies. As the Chief Growth Officer at MarketSurge, he focuses on leveraging AI-powered marketing tools to help businesses scale efficiently. Reed's expertise spans from leading startups to Fortune 500 companies, making him a recognized authority in the digital marketing space. His unique ability to combine data-driven insights with creative solutions has been instrumental in achieving remarkable sales growth for his clients. ​

What is Inside Marketing with MarketSurge?

Welcome to Inside Marketing with MarketSurge — your front-row seat to the boldest business insights, marketing breakthroughs, and entrepreneurial real talk.

Hosted by Reed Hansen, Chief Growth Officer at MarketSurge and a digital marketing veteran who's helped scale everything from scrappy startups to Fortune 500 giants, this podcast dives deep into what’s really moving the needle in today’s marketing world. Find us at Marketsurge.io

Each week, we’ll break down the latest marketing and business news (minus the fluff), explore tech trends you actually need to know, and feature unfiltered conversations with the most interesting minds in entrepreneurship and marketing.

Whether you're a founder, a marketer, or just a curious hustler looking to level up, this is where growth happens—loudly, smartly, and with just the right amount of sass.

Subscribe, tune in, and let’s scale something legendary. 🚀

Speaker: Welcome to Inside
Marketing With Market Surge.

Your front row seat to the
boldest ideas and smartest

strategies in the marketing game.

Your host is Reed Hansen, chief
Growth Officer at Market Surge.

Reed Hansen, MarketSurge: Back
to inside marketing with market

surge, and today we're thrilled to
welcome an absolute powerhouse in

influence, visibility, and publicity.

That's Dr.

Richard K, the founder of Top
Talent Agency and recipient of the

prestigious White House Presidential
Lifetime Achievement Award.

retiring from his chiropractic practice
in San Diego, Richard took a year off and

then made a bold shift dedicating nearly
25 years to helping entrepreneurs boost

their reach through He's helped clients
become media magnets, bestselling authors,

and highly sought after thought leaders.

Whether you're pitching yourself to
a tv, radio, or podcasts, or want to

understand the real difference between
PR, advertising and publicity, Richard's

insights on how to get invited back
and create impact are pure gold.

Welcome to the show, Richard.

Dr. Richard Kaye:

Thank you Reed.

And I just wanna make one distinction.

David Fagan, the president of
the company, would be upset.

I'm not the founder.

I've been working with
David for a long time.

Reed Hansen, MarketSurge: Well,
thank you for the clarification.

Dr. Richard Kaye:

That's okay.

Reed Hansen, MarketSurge: So now, the
doctor in your, in your intro, the

doctor title, comes from a previous
career in chiropractic medicine.

Now you were.

made that transition to help entrepreneurs
accelerate growth through publicity.

So what sparked the shift and what
did that transition look like?

Dr. Richard Kaye:

So, I'm gonna answer, an
embedded question, and it's

how the second part is easy.

The third part's easy too.

When I graduated from chiropractic
college, I got my doctorate,

moved from New York to San Diego.

Read there were 300 chiropractors in town.

Here I am, the new kid on the block.

Ladies and gentlemen, we
are all in crowded fields.

How do we stand out from the crowd?

Well, this is my first
foray into publicity.

I got myself invited to be a guest
on Sunup San Diego, the morning

television talk show in San Diego.

I got an article in the San Diego Tribune,
got an article in the Los Angeles Times.

So I was no longer just, down here.

I was growing invisibility.

And we'll talk about influence.

Credibility and exposure.

Reed, do you know the expression?

It's not what you know.

It's who you know.

You've heard that?

Yes.

Let's take it a step further,
actually, a quantum step further.

It's who knows you.

That's what you want.

I got a phone call one day from
the producer of the A BC News.

She didn't know me personally.

She says, who are you?

I'm seeing your name.

I'm hearing your name around town.

Now I've got a six 30
news segment on A, B, C.

Then I got a similar phone
call from the producer of PBS.

Same kind of questions.

Who are you?

Well, now I got a PBS segment about me.

Now I'm no longer playing down here
in the weeds with everyone else.

I'm the most visible chiropractor in town.

That's what publicity does for you.

One day I was meditating and I give
you the Reader's Digest version and I

heard Shut your practice and work with
entrepreneurs, and I looked around.

There's nobody there, Reid.

I.

It's an invitation to trust
these kinds of messages.

Three weeks later, I shut
down 30 years a month.

Yeah, that's exactly it.

A month or so later, I moved to Taos.

I already owned 80 acres out here.

I'm in Taos, New Mexico, and
I figured I'd take a year off.

Didn't happen.

So I've been serving entrepreneurs
for about 25 years, specifically

in publicity for about five or so.

So there you go.

Reed Hansen, MarketSurge: it would
be nice to understand, what you

do and what publicity, as a, for
instance, now many people use, pr,

publicity and even sometimes like
advertising, kind of interchangeably.

Dr. Richard Kaye:

Put them all together.

Reed Hansen, MarketSurge: how
would you define the difference?

and maybe let's drill into what
publicity is and how you can

actually, engineer, publicity.

Dr. Richard Kaye:

So I love the question.

I'm gonna tell you why, because as
you said, most people, the words

are interchangeable and they're
so totally distinct and different.

Pr, public relations works beautifully.

It's been around forever and pr you
will, you hire someone to make phone

calls, send a press release, you
know, even fax still works today I

was speaking with a client yesterday.

She said, well, I already
have a, a prospect.

She said, I already have a publicist,
but she won't guarantee results.

That's the problem with pr.

You send the press release, it lands
on someone's desk, and there's an 8.8

earthquake in Russia.

Guess what happens to your press release?

It's trash never to be looked at again.

Advertising.

We all know advertising is.

You see it.

You hear it.

It's bombarded and you can measure.

ROI return on investment on advertising.

You advertise Monday.

The sales go up on Tuesday, you
know, and you make more money.

Marketing is point of sale.

Hey, two watermelons for
the price of one today.

You can measure it.

The watermelon seller, you know, cars,
whatever it is, publicity, you cannot

measure ROI because it's long term

Reed Hansen, MarketSurge: Hmm.

Dr. Richard Kaye:

it's being featured for, for example,
you may not know the magazine, but you

certainly know that guy on the bottom.

Well, it's backwards, but it says
Tom Hanks or Shania or Tom Cruise.

And then we have clients
on the other side.

you can see this is not a newsprint,
this is a glossy magazine.

You get featured in there, you
get a feature story, you get

featured on the other side.

Imagine what value is it to say, Hey,
I got a feature story in a magazine

with Tom Hanks or Tom Cruise, or you
know, the Nicole Kidman on the cover.

You've heard of Guilt by Association.

This is prestige by association.

It raises your credibility.

Or if you're interviewed on A, B, C,
it interviews your credibility and

those are some of the things we do.

That's publicity, that
answers that question.

Yes.

Reed Hansen, MarketSurge: so,
I think that's very clarifying.

now, how do you go about this is,
you know, sometimes people describe

opportunities they've had for publicity,
as luck or, you know, like, oh, somebody

found me, you know, but how do you, how
do you you know, is there a repeatable

process to to, to do this and, you
know, get, get more opportunities?

Dr. Richard Kaye:

Yeah.

And some people do get found by luck.

You know, someone comes across and says,
Hey, I like, I like what you're doing.

She got picked up because of what she is.

She's Asian and you know who she knows
and people just like, I had the phone call

from PBS and had a PBS segment about me.

If it's not your gift, it's not your job.

I mean, I would never attempt to
do what you do with your programs

and looking at your website.

It's beyond my capacity to even
grok or understand what you do

when you talk about publicity.

We are the masters in it, how we've been
doing it for a long time, and people

come to us, A, B, C comes to us, says,
Hey, we're doing a segment on this.

Who do you know who would fit in, as a
great interview for this kinds of things?

So.

If it, again, if it's not
your gift, it's not your job.

Hire the professionals.

Can you luck out?

Yeah.

Do you wanna depend on that?

I don't think so.

You want the professionals to do it?

I don't know how many thousands
or hundreds of thousands

of miles I have flown.

You don't want me in the cockpit.

I'm very content in the backseat.

You know, in the cabin, and I
leave it to the professionals.

Reed Hansen, MarketSurge: now when
you're select, you know, I'm sure

people reach out to you all the time.

would you say that there is a vetting
process that you are looking for

that have interesting stories or are
you in the practice of helping them

the stories that are already there?

Dr. Richard Kaye:

We help them define and
develop their stories because

we all have a story to tell.

I was on a call with someone this morning.

She says, well, my story
isn't interesting, and why?

Because she says, I'm not famous.

You don't want to be famous.

You just want to be known.

We help you develop your story.

So that becomes impressive enough that,
and I'm just using a, b, c as a metaphor,

is one of the, networks we deal with
says, Hey, let's talk about this person.

Let's see how we can
get them more publicity.

Now, here's the key, Reid.

It's not just the moment, it's
not just being in that magazine.

It's not just being on that broadcast.

When I was featured on PBS, and I'll
give you an idea how long ago it was,

I was handing my patients VHS tapes.

Reed Hansen, MarketSurge: that's a.

Dr. Richard Kaye:

That's leverage, that's saying,
Hey, go give this to your, your

friends, your neighbors, your family.

And we, when you work with us as a,
an agency, we give you that stuff.

It's not just a five or
10 minutes on television.

We give you the sizzle reel.

What's that shows you walking
in the studio, the segue

to you being interviewed?

the picture of the host's
reaction when you say something.

And that's what you leverage and
that's what publicity is about.

It's how you leverage it.

Reed Hansen, MarketSurge: You
know, and I'm trying to envision

myself as like a client.

one of the questions I have is,
I have experience in this kind of

media, only from just doing this
podcast for, several repetitions.

But I don't know that I'd feel
confident being a great guest

on the radio or on television.

Do you have any thoughts on like,
can anybody learn to do this?

is this natural charm and charisma or,

Dr. Richard Kaye:

I love the question.

Isn't that natural to almond charisma?

Some people exude that.

I mean, Tong Hanks, you
know, Julia Roberts.

it's organic for them.

We work with you, ladies and gentlemen.

Most people are not comfortable
in front of a camera.

We work with you and it's just like this.

On television, you're having a
conversation with one person.

We we're not putting you on Oprah.

We've got an audience out there,
and some people you know love that.

It's just like this.

Reid, you're having a conversation.

You and I are here one-on-one.

It happens to be on a camera
instead of eyeball to eyeball.

Same thing on radio.

You're sitting across from someone, you've
got a microphone and you're just talking

and you know it's not shock jock stuff

We elevate people and the interviewers
are masters at helping you be at ease.

And we train you.

You'll learn how to take a
deep breath and be at peace.

So you're, you're, listen,
you're a good looking guy.

You, you got a great voice.

You've done these, you would
master electronic media.

Reed Hansen, MarketSurge: Well,

Dr. Richard Kaye:

take that fear away.

Reed Hansen, MarketSurge: I, I'm
sure part of the practice is to

flatter your client and get them

Dr. Richard Kaye:

Okay.

Reed Hansen, MarketSurge: up

Dr. Richard Kaye:

To be authentic.

There's a distinction.

I mean, I didn't know you personally
until we had this conversation.

you know, people say, oh, you,
you've got a face for radio.

No, you've got a voice that
resonates and is really good,

Reed Hansen, MarketSurge: you.

Dr. Richard Kaye:

The authenticity is what's more
important than anything else.

Reed Hansen, MarketSurge: Well now,
okay, so to that point, there is often,

like in the broader tent of marketing a
business or marketing yourself, personal

branding, there's a question of how
should you balance, earned media and.

Advertising, and potentially publicity
that I might group with the earned

media, do you feel like these are two
essential parts, you know, they are

both necessary to, support the brand?

Dr. Richard Kaye:

Depends on where you
play as an organization.

We don't advertise, we do social, we do
reach out to people and people come to us,

for example, on a very much higher level.

the president of our company, David
Fagan, he's the owner, the founder.

Reed Hansen, MarketSurge: clarification.

Yeah.

Dr. Richard Kaye:

Yeah.

he just wrapped a documentary for somebody
now, prospect I spoke with the other

day, said, well, I have my film crew.

We're putting together a YouTube thing.

No, this is a full feature documentary,
which will be aired un bingeing tv.

We just had clients, the Napoleon
Hill Foundation just refiled,

think and Grow Rich new interviews.

We have several clients in there.

again, that's a binge TV thing.

So will there be advertising
binge may advertise that we don't,

we work with you as a client.

So you go out and leverage.

About a year and a half
ago, I got a phone call, Dr.

K, you're the recipient of the White House
Presidential Lifetime Achievement Award.

I didn't even know I was nominated.

That was cool.

It's never made me a penny.

That's not an ROI thing.

It is a leverage thing, and I can
give your followers, ladies and

gentlemen, a short video on how
to leverage everything you've got.

Here's one way of leverage it.

It's in my email signature.

And when you see that, it says,
wow, somebody recognized this guy.

I won't tell you which term it was in,
because we don't wanna get political.

it's the acknowledgement of it.

So we don't advertise.

I don't advertise.

My wife's a bestselling author.

She doesn't advertise.

People now come to her,
can we interview you?

Can we get you out there?

Can we do things to get you?

And that's the key.

I choose you.

I've like the lady from PBS.

I've heard your name.

Who are you?

Reed Hansen, MarketSurge: Yeah.

Dr. Richard Kaye:

That's who you wanna be.

Reed Hansen, MarketSurge:
No, that's, that's fantastic.

And maybe to support your point a
little bit, I've, Experimented with

a lot of different marketing for my
personal brand, for my company's brand.

And, though this effort of, creating
a podcast, I don't know that it

has resulted in many direct leads.

it does really help my conversations
with my existing clients.

Dr. Richard Kaye:

Yes, yes.

Reed Hansen, MarketSurge: helps like
the authority, kind of the quality of.

the trust, gap can be bridged, I think.

Dr. Richard Kaye:

That's it.

That's trust.

As a matter of fact, that's the
basis of the book I'm editing.

As soon as we wrap this, it's my new book.

It's about trust and how it works, and
adding into that is a bestselling book.

Now today, you walk into a room of
entrepreneurs who's got a book out.

Every hand goes up,
who's got a bestselling?

85% of people raise their hands.

Who has leveraged that book?

And people look around, what
the heck you talking about?

And that, that's the gift.

And Richard k.com/leverage,

R-I-C-H-A-R-D-K-A-Y-K-A-Y e.com

should know my name, leverage.

And it's a short video of 10
ways to leverage any and all

publicity that you've got.

And Reed, you mention something
important doesn't make you money.

When I spoke to you about my
being interviewed by you, I sent.

10 reasons why people listen to me.

Reed Hansen, MarketSurge: Yeah.

Dr. Richard Kaye:

And ladies and gentlemen,
that's what you wanna, create.

Whether you're an entrepreneur or
you're a company, you want people to

have reasons to at least talk with you.

And that's where publicity grows.

When I apply, whether it's television,
radio, podcast, summits, I give 'em 10

reasons people want me on their program.

Not everybody says yes.

That's another whole story.

no is an okay answer, by the way, but
you spoke to what your podcast raises,

your influence, your credibility and your
exposure, and that's, as entrepreneurs,

I don't care what size company you're
in, that's what everybody's seeking.

Reed Hansen, MarketSurge: So to, pull that
thread a little bit further, now you've

mentioned you've worked with authors
and you've worked with entrepreneurs.

Who are the people that your service,
you know, best fit for a client?

Dr. Richard Kaye:

People and companies that
want to contribute to serving

humanity, to being in service.

And what do I mean by that?

I've been in this space for 25 years
helping entrepreneurs and when I interview

a prospect, I've had two people who
said, I just wanna sell the company

and lion a beans and drink margaritas.

I'm not interested in people who just
wanna suck the oxygen out of the room.

I'm interested in people who
want to help people thrive.

Service humanity, raise the
vibration and help people improve

the quality of their lives.

Those are the people with
whom we choose to work.

Reed Hansen, MarketSurge: I love it.

and I think everything, has to
have a cause beyond, you know,

beyond the business of it.

Dr. Richard Kaye:

Beyond the shareholder.

Yes.

Reed Hansen, MarketSurge: Yeah.

And, you know, I try to
fit that in my own, life.

so yeah, I think that's fantastic.

Now, if you could leave, these
founders, these authors, marketers,

whoever, with one powerful takeaway
about publicity, what would it be?

Dr. Richard Kaye:

Vet, whomever you're
working with, find out.

I said, my wife is an
internationally renowned author.

She gets emails all the time,
Hey, we'd like to work with you.

You know, we can do this, we can
do this, one she responded, Hey, I

was just recently featured on the
Nasdaq Jumbotron in Times Square.

Can you do that?

They never responded.

one company emailed her and, what she's
learned is, honey, do your research.

And this is where the answer
is, do you research vet

whomever you are working with?

So she.

Copied the, name of the company, put it in
chat and said, tell me about this company.

They said, it's a scam.

They take your money, a thousand dollars
a month, whatever, and they don't deliver.

Well, I say, don't respond
to these things, but she did.

She sent it back to them and
their response was, well, yeah,

but we can still help you.

In today's culture, we are all
inundated with crap in our inbox.

Most of it gets deleted.

Check it.

Do your vetting.

If you find us some of the companies
we work with, again, we just did

a documentary for a billionaire.

you'll find every book we work
with, we will only do it if

we can feel it's a number one
bestseller in multiple categories.

Some of you may know who Lisa
Nichols is one of the top.

Speakers in, in personal growth.

She's a client.

As a matter of fact, David,
was the executive producer

on a one woman Broadway play.

She just did, Sharon
Lecter, think And Grow Rich.

These are some of the people we play with.

Forbes Riley, who was sold, two and a half
billion dollars in product on television.

she says.

I want what you just did fe Lisa Nichols.

She wants to be on Broadway.

She wants to be on the
jumbotron, top t agency.com.

Look at it vetted top t agency.com.

And if you wanna get in touch with
me and explore if you or your company

is viable, talk about publicity.com.

One word, no punctuation,
talk about publicity.com,

and that's another key to success.

Make it easy.

You know, make it easy.

Talk about publicity.com.

Doesn't get much easier.

Reed Hansen, MarketSurge: yeah.

I love it.

Richard, this was really
great and really helpful.

I think this is unique.

I don't know anybody that's worked with
a publicist, for instance, and so I think

this is something that is really valuable.

I think I, might be
considering this myself, so,

Dr. Richard Kaye:

Well, thank you for that endorsement.

Reed Hansen, MarketSurge: Well,
thank you for joining us and for the

wisdom and, educating us about, this
channel for, promotion and branding.

And I am really excited to follow you
now and, all I can say is thank you.

Dr. Richard Kaye:

Thank you, Reid.

Thanks for saying yes.

That's what we want people to say.

I choose you and be
honored to work with you.

I've looked at your website,
I've looked at your LinkedIn.

I see what you do.

You provide a remarkable service,
and if you don't, if people don't

know about it, you know you're
gonna wind up in a nine to five job.

Not that that's bad.

That's for some people, but not
for you, not for entrepreneurs.

Thanks for the opportunity, Reid.

Speaker 2: Want to stay ahead of what's
actually working in marketing right now.

Head over to Market surge.io

and see how we're helping businesses
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That's market surge.io

because your next breakthrough
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