Our format can be either…
…a bunch of songs that people don’t know by artists they’ve never heard of…
or…
… stories and songs about the most important things in our lives.
The former results in a station with a one share. The latter results in a station that has the potential to be a market leader.
Continue readingRadio personalities tend to think only of what works in the Control Room, not necessarily what works better on the OTHER side of the radio – you know, the Listener’s side.
My brilliant friend John Frost and I had a challenge once in Orlando. Together, we ran five stations, one of which was a rather dormant AM station that we wanted to resurrect as a Sports Talk station.
But we didn’t have a budget to make a splash and get people to sample this new baby that was one of the very first Sports Talk stations in that day to really open up the so-called rules. We wanted big personalities, parody commercials, a station Imaging voice (Jeff Lawrence) who was crazy inventive. But that was all just on the air. How to get noticed was the challenge.
So… Continue reading
Have you ever wondered why health clubs, weight loss products, or stop smoking schemes seem to advertise most at the beginning of a new year?
Folks in white lab coats say there is a psychological reason for it. (Perhaps you’d like to take notes)
Continue reading“When we enter a new time period our relationship with our past self is weakened and it becomes a little bit easier to change our behaviour … If you want to disrupt a habit , target your messaging to the start of new time periods.”
Richard Shotton, “The Illusion of Choice”
In the last tip, I said, “Your show really is a movie without the camera.”
After you get past learning “the basics,” then develop a real Personality on the air, you’ll hopefully reach a stage in your career where the ego disappears and you actually just get in a zone where it’s almost impossible to have a bad show.
But I believe it requires getting outside of radio, mentally, and seeing each “Content” break you do as a little movie (without the camera).
What do I, as a listener, FEEL when you talk about something? Continue reading
On last week’s show, I shared that the beginning of a new year is a good time to review the basics.
At my church, the pastor takes the first two Sundays of each year to restate the purpose and vision of the church. Fitness clubs and diet plans often base their marketing on people’s desire to return to the basics and embrace new habits.
So… let’s go back to the basics.
Continue readingOkay, let’s go to work on why a topic (if we must use that word) clicks on the air, or just falls kind of flat.
Case in point, a husband-and-wife afternoon show I’ve coached for several years. They have lots of chemistry and a good sense of who the listener is, but like everyone, they need a little reminder now and then.
The beginning of a new year is a good time to review the basics. At my church the pastor takes the first two Sundays of each year to restate the purpose and vision of the church. Fitness clubs and diet plans often base their marketing on people’s desire to return to the basics and embrace new habits.
Legendary football coach Vince Lombardi began every training camp with the words, “Gentlemen, this is a football.”
Continue readingIf you fly a lot, you get perks, upgrades, free beverages, hot towels, and great seats. If you don’t (like me), you’re crammed into the “cattle car” seats with Jabba the Hut sitting next to you with his elbow in your ribs the entire flight. There’s that curtain between coach and First Class that says, “You’re not welcome here.”
The point being that often, a business concentrates so hard on pleasing the core customer that it treats the others like they’re not particularly wanted, except to buy a ticket. Continue reading
Those are the candid words of a top talent I was attempting to lure into the Christian music format.
I reckon he knew how to get my attention.
“If your station can be transformative in someone’s life as you claim, then why do you spend 99% of your time focusing on the nuts and bolts, the songs, the artists, the deejays, and features any radio station in any format can do.
Why don’t you focus on what matters most?” he says from an outsider’s perspective.
One of the things that keeps coming up in my coaching sessions is this imaginary concept that you want to spread a wide blanket over your Content, keeping it accessible to the masses. “Broad” Subject headings, not too personal, is the way a lot of stations sound. I can’t name any right this moment, because they’re too generic to remember.
Here’s what’s actually true: the more intimate your Content is, the more people you attract.
