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2008-10-08T16:49:19-07:00

Jim Taszarek

The Overpowering Subject: Growing Revenue in a Tough Economy

2008-10-08T10:24:14-07:00

Everything changed on Monday September 25, 2008. That's the day that Congress didn't pass the bailout plan. Even though everyone knew the economy was walking a tightrope, that non-passage caused the rope to fail - and down we all went. Don't look for recovery to the way it was before 9/25 because we'll never go back there. Instead Look Forward. Let's invent ourselves out of this.

I believe we have an opportunity on our hands. No, I'm not looking at the bright side or making lemonade out of lemons - but looking at it realistically with clear logic.

Rather than concentrate on a Down Economy - lets see it for what it really is; A NEW ECONOMY. Why New? Simple, all the rules are changing.

Radio was doing a couple fundamental things wrong before all of this occurred.

Radio Sales Paralysis. We're locked into concrete sales practices created in the 1950s. We didn't experiment with new ways to sell or manage sales.
We gave only lip service to the Web. We've stayed selling spots and numbers. While there's billions in ad sales being spent on the web, we didn't look at how everything online can make the difference,
Content. In an age where everyone knows Content is King, we've forsaken the treasure of Live, local and entertainment for syndicated, voice tracking and nothing like we’re capable of providing.

Now we have no choice. If we correct the above, Radio might do more than just survive. That's our job. Create a NEW RADIO SALES ECONOMY.

Web Radio Prospecting

2008-05-15T22:00:31-07:00

Let's presume this is all about Local, the source of 85% of all Radio billing. Next, let's presume it's not about agency (transactional or avail) selling. We stay away from that because we have so little control over it. If the there's no "up" at the agency, there's no revenue for us.

We also presume Direct. To me, there are two conditions that make a purchase Direct. First, while it can come through an agency, it must be based on a one-on-one relationship with the client. Likewise, ratings should have little influence on the relationship. So that's where we start - Direct.

When starting a station web initiative I advise my stations to start by first selling to the largest clients already on the air. Start with an upgrade of a current schedule. Remember the old, "Increase your billing by 10% and we'll give you 50% more (usually 7P-6A) spots?" Same here.

A 10% increase of their current schedule is enough to get started. And that's the point, Get Started. You've begun the process. We ask the next clients for a 20% overage. Then in a couple months it's 50/50.

Many stations start with "Let's go get those Mom & Pops that we never get." I think that's nuts. I call it Tripping Over Dollars to Get to Dimes. Why spend time chasing down small dollars? Mathematically, a 15% overage of an existing sale from a large customer is higher revenue than a large Mom & Pop order.

Just get started. Get money on the books. Start a precedent of success. Then, in a remarkably short time, that billing will start to grow.

What do you think?

What's the Big Deal about Web 2.0?

2008-03-18T16:43:00-07:00

It's best recognized by the new generation of websites called Portals. Current Radio websites are about a Radio Station. You could call the a Station Brochure; they talk mostly about us; our morning team, contests, promotions - and we supply the content.

Web 2.0 sites are the opposite - they talk about the User (what we call "audience") and much of the content is supplied by the Users themselves – not by the station. The website is more about the town than about the station - and that's the rub. Instead of y102.com and hotcountry.com the site would typically be www.LoveAustin.com or www.OurSpringfield.com As you’ll see, it’s great news – but tough to swallow if we’ve invested our thinking into the first web model. The good news . . .

The new 2.0 cluster model now has all their stations drive all their listeners to one portal site. And because there’s now so much traffic on that one site - the web plays a wonderful trick on us. It's called Search Engine Optimization. The more people use the site - the more people are attracted to it. Not only does our audience use it, but now non-listeners are attracted to it. The new Portal sites attract more users than the five old sites combined. It's a major shift. With that large traffic we can now compete with a daily newspaper and television station. In fact, if you play it right, your cluster's site can become the daily newspaper. (We'll tell you about Citizen Journalists.)

This is a no brainer, home run. We'll show a dozen examples of successful Radio cluster Portal sites – and how they made the move – and the incredible billing they’re doing.

The New Multi-Media Radio Station

2008-02-21T16:08:11-08:00

The media world has split in two, (1) Traditional Media, principally Radio, Television and Newspapers and (2) New Media, including the Web and an ever increasing number of new Interactive channels, including Blogs, Podcasting, Texting and Mobile Marketing. While both are effective, the combination of the two produce unprecedented results - and at more reasonable costs to both seller and buyer. I've managed sales in Radio, Television and Newspapers and now Websites, Bloggers and Podcasters. Discovering the magic of combining On-Air with On-Line gives radio a chance at a new Golden Age . That's what this is about.

If you're a Tips newsletter subscriber, this is a great addition. It's two-way. You can ask questions, help out with answers and ideas, and participate in the "New" Radio, the one that combines the power of Radio with the power of the Internet.

More coming