Monthly Archives: April 2014

Are You Prepared To Grow?

Most stations are not prepared to capture the growth caused by the pent up demand created by a long hard winter.
Are you planning to grow substantially?
The problem with planning is it’s often based upon forecasts, which in turn are based upon statistics. Statistics, however, are only a rear-view mirror picture which has been impaired by a long hard winter.  The forecasts which spring from that rear-view can actually become self-fulfilling prophecies.
Broadcaster Allan Waters once said “Our problem isn’t that we aim too high and miss, it’s that we aim too low and quit when we hit our target.”
Are you planning to help your advertisers capitalize on the pent up demand created by a long hard winter? All of the stars are in alignment to do so.
Consumer confidence around the world is on the rise, unemployment continues a steady, however slow, decline, interest rates continue to be very attractive, and most of the leading economic indicators are inching forward. In terms of pent up demand in the U.S., home building is far behind the needs of the population, and resale inventories are getting low. Many consumers who have been driving clunkers can now afford to move into a newer vehicle.
All of this, coupled with longer days of sunshine, combines to create a brighter future than you may have forecast. Cautious optimism is understandable considering the battering of our weather and our economies in the past, but we shouldn’t let history cloud our windshield view.
Enthusiasm can be contagious and can drive the growth that is sitting there waiting to happen. As Henry Ford said “Whether you think you can, or think you can’t, you are right!”
I, for one, know we can finish this year with a bang and I’m planning for growth. Will you join me?

Starting Over

Do you remember how you felt when you scored your first radio job? Your friends couldn’t believe you were in “show biz”. You were in the mass communications business, working with well-known personalities, getting back stage passes, creating ideas for clients, and learning something new every day. It was FUN and you got paid for it!
And what about the first broadcast order you filled out? Was it more exciting than the daily grind today?
I happened to be at a client’s station the other day when a listener came in to pick up a prize they had won. One of the station’s staff asked if the winner wanted a tour of the station.
I couldn’t believe the response. You would think they were just offered an all-expense paid tour of Europe! “Really?!” she said excitedly, “I’ve never been in a radio station before!”
At that moment I quietly admitted to myself that I had become so close to the forest that I wasn’t in awe of the trees anymore.
Maybe it’s time for all of us to revisit our careers with the same enthusiasm that I witnessed in that radio listener.
Sure you’ve got budget pressures (you used to call them “challenges”) and your clients are cutting back or demanding competitive proposals and rates. But there’s a lot of sizzle to selling radio that many of us have forgotten.
Are you using the emotional power of music or the compelling sound of the human voice in spec spots to put the excitement and sizzle into your presentations?
Have you offered the services of your personalities to M.C. events at your client’s club? Is your station aloof or do you offer your audience station tours like the station I was at?
Do you offer your clients opportunities to sponsor exciting on-air contests?
While you might think all of the buzz today is around new media, there’s a lot to be said for local people being able to call their favorite station and talk to a real live person.
Your music inspires them and your information, contests and humour still evoke conversations around the water cooler. Radio advertising is just as effective today as the day you started in the biz. For you to be as effective as the media you represent, you may have to mentally fire yourself, and start over with a whole new attitude. Enthusiasm is contagious, and adding new-found sizzle to the steak you sell can make you the winner in an over-crowded new media landscape.
P.S. While you’re having fun again, I’m betting you’ll also make more calls and more sales.