Radio Sales Blog

Time Names Sirius/XM Among Biggest Tech Failures

Gregg Murray — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 17:54:27 +0000

Sirius XM satellite radio was supposed to be one of the most successful consumer electronics devices of all time. A subscriber would be able to listen to more than 100 stations coast-to-coast in either a moving vehicle, or using a portable version of the device. Initially, the service planned to run no commercials. One of the two companies that would eventually be the merged Sirius XM was XM Satellite Radio which launched its service in September 2001. At the end of the year, the company had almost 28,000 subscribers, a figure that jumped to about 350,000 by the end of the 2002 and 5.9 million by the end of 2005. Over this period, the company accumulated hundreds of millions of dollars of debt in order to cover capital expenses, operating deficits, and sales and marketing costs. Analysts expected the company to be extremely profitable once it reached subscriber levels of more than 10 million. The business was growing so quickly that this goal seemed a foregone conclusion.

Rival Sirius launched its service in July 2002. Over the next five years, it would have fewer subscribers than XM but would grow nearly as fast. Sirius also took on tremendous amounts of debt to support its operations. As both companies ran low on money, they announced a merger on February 17, 2007. The FCC reviewed the request for thirteen months while the companies were bleeding cash. Subscriber growth had slowed, most likely because of new and more popular consumer electronics devices like the Apple iPod and multimedia cellular handsets. Shares in Sirius, which had traded at $63 in 2000, dropped to $.05 earlier this year. In the first quarter of 2009, the number of subscribers for the combined service declined by 400,000 from the previous quarter to 18.6 million. Neither Sirius nor XM ever made a dime.

Get the complete list of the 10 Biggest Tech Failures of the Last Decade Here.

Remove Names/Email Addresses from Outlook’s Auto Complete List

Gregg Murray — Tue, 12 May 2009 10:34:01 +0000

Another useful tip from New Horizons Computer Learning Center.

Beginning with version 2002, Outlook includes a handy AutoComplete feature. When you begin to enter a name or email address in the To, CC, or Bcc field of a Message or Meeting Request form, Outlook offers a matching list of names or addresses you’ve sent items to in the past, which is similar to Microsoft Internet Explorer’s URL AutoComplete feature. However, if there’s a name or email address that’s no longer valid, or you sent an Outlook item with an incorrect email address in the past, those names and addresses continue to display in the dropdown list until you delete them. To do so, begin typing a name in one of the before-mentioned fields, and then use the arrow keys to select the invalid entry in the AutoComplete list. Finally, press the [Delete] key to permanently remove it from the list.

NPR Interview to Share with Advertisers

Gregg Murray — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 19:58:39 +0000

Advertising author and journalist, Warren Berger was recently interviewed on National Public Radio by Michele Norris and describes why radio is a great way for local business to establish themselves.

The 2-minute, 30-second interview could make a difference in your client’s marketing plans and your bottom line.

Take a Listen:
www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=103582527

Open PowerPoint in Slide Show View

Gregg Murray — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 20:58:36 +0000

When your walking into a client’s office to do a presentation from your laptop, it’s nice if you can start the pitch directly in full-screen presentation mode. If you have PowerPoint 2000-2004, here are the steps from the folks at New Horizon Computer Learning Center.

By default, PowerPoint saves your slide show as a PPT file, which, when double-clicked, launches PowerPoint. The slide show opens in whatever view was open when you saved it—Slide view, Normal view, or Slide Sorter view. If you want your slide show to immediately launch in Slide Show view, however, you need to save your file as a PowerPoint Show using the .pps extension.

Choose File | Save As to launch the Save As dialog box.
Select PowerPoint Show (*.pps) from the Save As Type dropdown list.
Type a name for your slide show in the File Name text box and click OK.

Now, the next time you or anyone else opens your presentation from outside of PowerPoint, your slide show immediately launches in Slide Show view. When you navigate past the last slide, the file automatically closes. To open the file for editing, launch PowerPoint, and use the File > Open dialog box.

12 steps to successfully getting the appointment and retaining a client

Gregg Murray — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 12:28:39 +0000

Good stuff from Radio Sales Trainer, Dennis Heinz. Read more here.

12 steps to successfully getting the appointment and retaining a client:

Get to know the people that work in your building (You’re supposed to be a team)
Have a “current” station account list
Create your account list from yellow pages, etc.
Get the name and contact info of the decision maker
Map out your prospecting route (save gas and time)
Investigate your prospect from a customers view first
Take notes, ask yourself “How can I and my station help”
Make the appointment
Start the C.N.A. process, get to know your client
MAKE THE NEXT APPOINTMENT!!!
Send a Thank You note
Go to step one and repeat this on going process