Two Broadcasting Champions
Today’s ENS on Sales is not a sales or management ‘tip’, but rather is a ‘tip’ of the hat to two special people in our industry.
It’s a ‘thank you’ to two friends of the industry, and personal friends of mine, Eric Rhoads and Howard Christensen. Both began their careers as broadcasters and became servants to the broadcasting industry as publishers of influential broadcasting magazines.
What I respect most about Howard and Eric is their integrity. Both are still broadcasters at heart and are hands-on publishers serving an industry they passionately support.
In many of my ENS on Sales we talk about attaining success via a customer-focus. Eric and Howard exemplify this philosophy, understanding the broadcasters they serve and being broadcasters first, publishers second.
Howard Christensen is the publisher of Broadcast Dialogue in Canada. Once a popular newscaster at Canada’s largest radio station, Howard recognized a need for more up-to-date news and information about the people and issues affecting the Canadian Broadcast industry.
He began Canada’s first weekly newsletter about our industry, called Broadcast Dialogue, as a simple faxed newsletter.
Broadcast Dialogue now publishes important news about the people and events in the Canadian industry in a weekly email newsletter, as well as an enjoyable monthly magazine.
Eric Rhoades once owned a radio station and his love of the industry has never waned. Eric is truly a visionary when it comes to publishing leading edge articles in his bi-monthly Radio Ink magazine and through the educational industry conferences he organizes, including his annual Convergence Conference, the trend-forecasting Radio Forecast, his Hispanic Radio Conference and others.
If more broadcasters followed some of the ideals and philosophies espoused by Eric, our industry would be in much better shape today.
Sure, as a publisher serving the radio industry, Eric has a vested interest in proliferating a healthy industry. But when you meet Eric in person, you soon realize his sincerity of intent extends far beyond the viability of his daily online newsletter, his conferences or his bi-monthly magazine.
Eric lives and breaths radio, and the industry owes him a great deal for his insights and service
Howard and Eric; two ‘former’ broadcasters who became publishers, but who never really left broadcasting at all. Unlike other trade magazine publishers who look for niches to profit from, both became publishers as a result of a need they identified for communications within their beloved industries and they found a way to profit from filling that need. In my opinion, both are ‘non-broadcasters’ who deserve places in the Broadcast Hall of Fame.
Let’s all hope they continue to profit from their insights and leadership in our industry.
P.S. Do you subscribe to Radio Ink or Broadcast Dialogue?
What Makes a Great Idea?
A couple of weeks ago I offered a free copy of my book, 101 Ways To Get Luckier, (In Advertising Sales), to readers of ENS on Sales who sent their successful ideas to me.
It was a very interesting exercise for me. We received some great ideas, and some not so great. But here’s the point; they all sold!!
It seems it doesn’t matter whether I or anyone else believes your ideas are good. The passion and conviction that comes with developing ideas seems to carry them through to fruition and they SELL!
And if they sell, they are good ideas. The fact the idea motivated an advertiser to come on board with you makes any idea a good idea.
If your idea motivates someone who might not have otherwise advertised, to advertise, it’s a great idea.
And if you use that sale to go the extra mile in super-serving the advertiser, you, your station, and your client will benefit.
P.S. And aren’t your ideas more fun to sell than station rankers?