Category Archives: Frost Advisory

Frost Advisory #220 – What Have I Learned Today?

Momentum is a waste of time!   

Momentum is the greatest opportunity for me to learn all year.

Those are polar opposite statements.   Both are true.   It’s your choice.

“Intelligent people are always eager and ready to learn.” Proverbs 18:15

We all know Fred.  He comes to Momentum every year to hang around with his friends, eat donuts with the new band Hercules and the Chicken Fat People, and brag about all the nifty things he’s doing at his 2.0 share radio station.

After Momentum Fred returns to his station and implements nothing he’s heard.   Sadly, Fred has decided that he already knows everything.

“When do you think most people stop learning?

Is it when we already know how to do something? Is it when we have some success under our belts? Is it when we imagine there’s nothing left to learn, no one knows something we don’t, or when we come to believe we know it all? Whenever it is, it’s too soon, and it’s too bad, because we’ve always got a lot to learn… no matter how much we already know.”  Mark Beeson

Learning Is Fun

Here’s a suggestion:

This year at Momentum write down the 3 most important things you hear from each speaker or seminar. Prioritize these items into an action plan with specific dates when they will be integrated into your day to day activities.

That one suggestion could make the difference on whether you say Momentum was a waste of time or the greatest opportunity to learn all year.

“Do yourself a favor and learn all you can; then remember what you learn and you will prosper.” Proverbs 19:8

Frost Advisory #219 – Why No Celebration?

I have a new friend. His name is also John.

He’s like a baby chick sticking his head out of the egg when it comes to Christian music radio. After decades in mainstream radio he knows he doesn’t know the format, but he asks REALLY good questions.

Because he is so charged up about his own faith he asks me, “Why isn’t there more celebration?”. Gulp. Out of the mouth of babes.

Continue reading

Frost Advisory #218 – Opinions Are Like Noses

“Opinions are like noses”, the saying goes. “Everyone has one.”

I like her voice! She sounds nasal! He’s funny. He thinks he’s funny.

Subjective opinions are inevitable in an industry tethered to music and art. The question is… how do we keep subjectivity from driving our most important decisions, since subjectivity almost always results in the crankiest or highest ranking having their way.

Continue reading

Frost Advisory #217 – It Doesn’t Matter What You Do If What You Do Doesn’t Matter

 

A station group I visited recently shared with me remarkable stories of changed lives, impact in their community, and their vision to reach people far beyond the boundaries of their current signals.

However, in listening to their stations I heard none of these things. I literally heard the trivial (in the form of ‘trivia’) more than I heard stories that demonstrated what the stations stand for.

Successful stations understand and embrace what makes them meaningful and preferable. They then efficiently demonstrate those values in ways that resonate emotionally with their listeners.

Efficiency and meaningfulness are two sides of the same coin. One does not exclude the other. Successful stations develop disciplines for each.

Continue reading

Frost Advisory #216 – A Longhorn Steer and Your Radio Station

I was intrigued by the old cowboy. He stood underneath the shade of a large oak tree on a sidewalk in the Fort Worth Stockyards willingly receiving five dollar bills from moms and dads, grandmas and granddads so that their kiddos could sit for a moment on the back of a long-retired longhorn steer. What followed was two minutes of smiles, laughter, waving and cameras clicking capturing the joy on the faces of these young ‘uns. A splendid time was had by all.

I did the math.

$5 every two minutes. That’s $150 an hour.

A remarkable moment in my favorite movie “Field of Dreams” is the soliloquy from the brilliant actor James Earl Jones:

Continue reading

Frost Advisory #215 – If Only The Words We Use

If only the words we use were compassionate words… and not distant newscaster words.

In our format, what if we only used the words of a friend, not those of a scolding teacher, or a detached observer.

I literally heard these words on a radio station this week:

“Extricated the lone occupant…”

…which, I guess, means that someone’s daughter or son, or brother or sister, or husband or wife was trapped in their car when heroes (someone’s daughter or son, or brother or sister, or husband or wife) came to their rescue, something those heroes do almost every day for someone’s daughter or son, or brother or sister, or husband or wife.

Instead of instructing and scolding, I wonder how many more people would listen if if our stations were known for the caring and loving people on the air.

What if the key to your station’s impact was contained in these simple words:

“Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.” Romans 12:15

Frost Advisory #214 – Names, Names, Names

“My friend told me to call because you called out the name of my daughter. I’ve never listened to your station before!”

Stations that play the Family Name Game® understand the power of a name. A community of voices introducing traffic or weather, birthdays, anniversaries, can all be used effectively to create word-of-mouth. (They can also be used ineffectively adding clutter).

Share A Coke - Tyler

Coca-Cola’s new campaign invites you to #ShareaCoke with the someone whose name is on the label. This a ‘trigger’, something designed in that creates a reason to act.

Continue reading

Frost Advisory #213 – They’ve Closed My Favorite Restaurant!

I couldn’t believe my eyes. The sign on the door said CLOSED. Our favorite Mexican food restaurant back home has closed its doors.

It would be easy to assume that the food went downhill, the service got worse, and the mariachis started singing “La Bamba” off key. But none of those things happened.

The restaurant stayed the same, but everything around them changed. Ironically, it was a victim of being in a neighborhood that was booming. Apartments and office buildings sprouted up all around hiding the restaurant from ravenous fajita-hunting motorists. Trendy new restaurants made what was hidden easily forgettable.

The same thing can happen to your radio station.

Continue reading

Frost Advisory #212 – Driving Miss Daisy

It felt really weird. The seat was uncomfortably close to the steering wheel. She couldn’t see out of the rear-view mirror.

It felt weird because my daughter Daisy was sitting in MY car. It was designed for my comfort, not hers.

Driving Miss Carly

That’s the problem in attracting new listeners to your station. We are comfortable with it, but it can feel weird to them at first particularly if they have some preconceived notions about this “Christian radio thing”.

Continue reading

Frost Advisory #211 – The Ten Commandments of John Frost

Thanks to my pal Kevin Avery at The Fish in Atlanta for his creative musing on success.

Kevin and his talented pal Taylor’s morning show just so happens to be #1 in Women 25-54 in Atlanta, a very competitive radio market of 4.5 million people! So, maybe Kevin knows something worth hearing (‘cept #4, perhaps!)

10 Commandments

The 10 Commandments of John Frost!

10) Thou shalt take the first exit!

9) Thou shalt give the listener ‘hugs’!

8) Thou shalt get to the point!

7) Thou shalt reflect back the listeners values!

6) Thou shalt love children!

5) Thou shalt love childrens’ mommas!

4) Thou shalt talk baseball with me whenever I visit!

3) Thou shalt tattoo the values pyramid on the inside of thou’s eyeballs!

2) Thou shalt be relevant!

1) Thou shalt be enthused about being in the best format in the world!