(COPYWRITING) Seven Critical Story Questions

6-26-2013

Let?s say you?ve unearthed lots of stories from your memories or from your clients' recollections. You?ve turned the best of them into story commercials, but they could still use some tweaking.

Here are Seven Questions to ask yourself to help you find the focus in your stories. These are variations on the ones I got from my friend Andy Goodman www.agoodmanonline.com.

1. Who?s the protagonist?

Just as a car needs a driver to get it where it?s going, stories need someone, a main character, to drive the action. This person (or group of people) is called the protagonist, and traditionally structured stories follow protagonists in pursuit of clearly defined goals. Ideally, make the protagonist the audience member or someone with whom your audience will identify.

2. What?s the hook?

Want to draw in listeners? Begin the story where the audience is. This is your story?s ?hook?? the description of a place, circumstance, or premise that everyone understands and with which they readily identify.

3. Have you kept it interesting?

Predictable stories and predictable radio commercials are boring. If the audience members get bored, they?re gone. Have your characters change or evolve during the commercial. Let your dialogue demonstrate the transitions. Don?t describe them.

4. Where?s the conflict?
 
There is no drama without conflict or contrast, and comedy, for that matter, also falls flat without it. Unfortunately, most ads have no conflict, and lose listeners.

5. Have you included telling details?
 
Good stories have enough detail in the music, sound effects, dialogue, and delivery to set the scene and bring life to the commercial. Specifics are more powerful than generalities.

6. What?s the emotional hook?
 
What emotional need(s) does the advertiser solve for the listener?

Your audience subconsciously enters into a contract with the storyteller. They want an emotional experience that makes their time worthwhile. An emotional story will imprint more strongly in the listener?s memory.

7. Is the meaning clear?

Finally, your story should have a crystal clear reason for taking this particular journey. Listeners don?t need more information, they need to know what it means. Your commercial story should make listeners feel like they fit in there somewhere and make it clear what they can do to benefit.

Wouldn?t it be nice if you could apply seven questions and find focus in your life? Thankfully, you can at least do it with your radio commercials.

Jeffrey Hedquist has used these questions to find focus in commercials and in life at Hedquist Productions, Inc. Got a question, challenge or comment about commercial creative? Email jeffrey@hedquist.com. http://www.hedquist.com

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Variety: Seven Radio Disney Stations For Sale

6-4-13

Getting iPod-addicted kids to listen to the static-filled AM radio band has got to be challenging. So, much like Cox did last year, Disney is letting the market know it has properties it's ready to shed. Disney has been in a cost-cutting mode (and price-raising mode at its parks) According to Variety, six AM stations and one FM are on the market. The stations are located in Albany, New York; Kansas City, Little Rock (the only FM), Milwaukee, Richmond, Salt Lake City and San Antonio. Radio Disney also operates 24 stations in top 25 markets which are not part of this plan
?In the past year, we?ve driven new content delivery and ad sales revenue opportunities with Radio Disney Junior and the Radio Disney Music Awards, among others initiatives, and we intend to build on those opportunities while keeping our organization strong and focused on serving our listeners with programming that entertains and is appropriate for kids- and families,? said Phil Guerini, VP, programming and general manager, Radio Disney, in a statement.

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Richland Buys Seven Clear Channel Towers

3-5-2013

Richland Towers has purchaed seven towers  in five markets from Clear Channel, picking up towers in Cleveland; Columbia, SC; Cedar Rapids, IA; West Palm Beach, FL; and Prospect, CT. Richland EVP Matthew Bray said, "Richland is excited about our continued growth into new markets and strengthening our position in the markets we are already in. The addition of the Clear Channel facilities allows us to reach new customers and serve new broadcast communities. Working with Clear Channel on this acquisition has been a positive experience, and we look forward to continuing our long-standing relationship for many years to come."

Richland is the U.S.'s largest privately owned tall tower company.

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(TALENT) Seven Percent – Say What!?

10-15-2012

Seven percent of available advertising revenue is the share radio has been able to secure for longer than anybody can remember. Bringing that little tidbit of info up at a meeting of radio leadership might be about as welcome as breaking wind at a wedding. As everybody in this business knows already: We have hit the wall. We?re tapped out.

To be sure, radio executives fret over ways in which their own outfits might gain a greater share of that seven percent. Yet, an overall increase for the medium is just a silly fantasy ? maybe a topic for ?blue skying." I suspect this is only a momentary diversion. There are buyers, after all, and meanwhile, to grind today.

Like parishioners in the pews who are more bent on figuring the over-unders on the afternoon?s games than attending to the sermon, leadership of radio may well be considered a thoroughly disengaged and disingenuous audience. After all, the owners, for the most part, enjoy an enviable lifestyle; they have figured out ways to keep shareholders numbed and at bay, and considerations of audiences and advertisers have become less than necessary issues for contemplation.

Seven percent of available advertising revenue is an embarrassing amount when one allows for the fact we are the oldest and still the most pervasive electronic medium ever developed. Plus, in relative terms, our creative is the least expensive to produce ? as is our programming.

So, one might be forgiven for asking: How come? It?s a legitimate question, but only if it comes from someone who is not in radio. Those of us who are in the business have known the answer for decades. It lies in the withholding of improvements in programming and creative. And that?s presenting the matter with some gentility. The more accurate response would be along the lines of: Radio?s failure to further penetrate their markets beyond seven percent is as a direct result of the conscious suppression of talent and creative at every conglomerate and every local station.

I spoke to a well-known and extremely credible expert in the field who included in his comments that station managers ?just don?t care? about these issues. It is worthwhile to consider why it is these executives?just don?t care. I am thoroughly convinced the position is representative of a combination of deeper, separate matters. Those being: 1/ Leadership believes that everything there is to know about radio is already known; 2/ Leadership believes any improvements that might/could be made would be too expensive to generate and/or would not be worth the effort.

When I was being trained to do personal counseling, it was demonstrated to everyone?s satisfaction that none of us had the ability to do any mind reading. (This, by the way, is something of which radio talent is universally guilty ? what with their telling me what I want, where I am, what I?m doing and, yes, sometimes what I am thinking. Of course, 99 percent of the time they are dead wrong and seem foolish. But that doesn?t seem to stop them. This is another example of how ?one-to-one? not only doesn?t work, but has an extremely toxic, cumulative affect.)

Anyway, back to mind reading the executives. During my training, we were taught how to do a little speculation ? with a better chance of some accuracy. It was framed around the question: ?What does a person have to believe about themselves, other people, or their environment in order for belief-X or behavior-Y to be in play?? From that, it is a little easier to speculate about the two positions (above) that are likely to be held by radio leadership. It is, after all, a fact that no steps are being taken to address improvements in programming and creative production. It is also a fact that inquiries are not being made. A further fact is that the status quo of programming and creative production have not been challenged at the highest levels of radio management for decades.

Adding the digital components that radio is being forced to embrace at some level of participation only compounds the issues that will have to be addressed. From this chair, the ironies are many and profound. It?s like the whole industry is being treated to multiple games of ?Pin the Tail on the Donkey." Blindfolded first, we are spun round and round and then released to find the burro?s behind with our best efforts. All we end up accomplishing is the barfing part. We still can?t find our own butt. Never mind the donkey?s.

Today?s on-air talent, for the most part, are not only weak presenters, they are horribly inept as ?broadcast communicators." Even those extremely talented individuals ? the rare ones ? who are on the air may be marvelous performers, but they're still severely lacking as broadcast communicators.

Although it may not seem so, I am not solely in ?blaming mode." I?m also in ?identification mode." I?m more than willing ? obliged even ? to cut talent and management some slack here. It would be unreasonable to criticize them for not appreciating the distinction if they don?t know there is a distinction.

One of the smartest and most articulate men in broadcasting whom I have ever known ? a guy I call ?The bard of the western badlands," succinctly put it this way: ?If ya git bit by a rattlesnake and don? know it was a rattlesnake, you still gonna die.?

That?s also a pretty fair analogy for the delusions under which radio has been operating for a very long time. Antidotes and other treatments, however, are available. None of them include sucking out the poison. It will, however, be necessary to ride into town? and at one?s own expense.

Indeed, managements? positions on the seven percent situation could be framed as one of: "So, what? Whatever."

Of course, if there is no interest in making significant improvements to programming and creative production and even less interest in getting beyond that seven percent, the disinterested are free to continue playing with and teasing the reptiles ? for as long as that lasts.

Ronald T. Robinson has been involved in Canadian Radio since the '60s as a performer, writer and coach and has trained and certified as a personal counsellor. Ron makes the assertion that the most important communicative aspects of broadcasting, as they relate to Talent and Creative, have yet to be addressed. Check out his website www.voicetalentguy.com

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(SALES) The Management Magnificent Seven

8-13-2012

By Sean Luce

Are you a micromanager of people? By all means, please sign up as an aide at Children's World. Although some days may seem like Children's World, sales managers are supposed to be supervising adults, not kids at a daycare center. When something goes awry in the sales department, the blame most often belongs with the sales manager. Finding skilled talent, training that talent, and implementing the process systems are the responsibility of the sales manager. In the end, accountability belongs with the leader.

If a sales manager feels that s/he needs a microscope on their top people, then they do not have the correct reps in place. Senior reps should always be held to a higher standard than the rookies. The goals will not be reached if the top reps are not setting the standards. With new sales reps, a manager should micromanage to a certain level. These steps would include monitoring their daily activity with a tracking system and short recaps with the rep at the end of the day. With the remainder of the staff, the SM needs to oversee their productivity.

Here are four steps that will take the "micro" out and put the "macro" into the management processes.

1. Weekly Planner: Be proactive, not reactive. There is not a great deal that can be done after the call, but there is a heck of a lot that can be done before the call. Weekly planners allow management to spend quality time assisting reps in developing the week's priorities and maximizing revenue potential.

2. Account Management System: Eighty-five percent of media companies in the United States do not have an account management system in place to monitor and track their top 100 accounts. This system is NOT the station traffic system. Even in the digital world, account management systems have only increased by 10 percent in the past 10 years. Do you think Cisco, UPS, or FedEx manage their accounts like media companies do? They have a systematic means of taking small accounts and increasing them into big ones. If there is a system in place, make sure that it is actually being used. Account management is the surefire way to keep reps on track and accounts from falling through the cracks.

3. In-Field Coaching: A manager must get out from behind the desk and into the field to evaluate the reps' performance. If an SM is not coaching in the field, they are not leading. Sales reps develop skills from good curbside coaching.

4. PQ Leadership: PQ is the pride quotient. Reps need to love what they are doing. More importantly, their leader needs to foster an atmosphere of fun and excitement. Never forget to give kudos to those who deserve it. Money motivates! However, recognition and rewards rank right up there with the big dollars. Recognize the small wins. It will pay big dividends later.

Don't complicate your life. Keep it simple. Listed below are the Management Mayhem Seven.

-- Hire people better than you are.

-- Give them superior training.

-- Offer them upward mobility.

-- Create a fun and rewarding environment.

-- Reward success.

-- Execute the systems process.

-- Know what makes your people tick.

Here is one more tip for good measure: Deliver on your promises, and watch how fast those sales goals are achieved.

Sean Luce is the Head International Instructor for the Luce Performance Group and can be reached at sean@luceperformancegroup.com

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ALES MANAGEMENT- Seven Questions to Ask SM's

1-5-2012
by Sean Luce

Sales Managers I work with complete a weekly questionnaire. In addition, they forecast 3 month rolling projections for their sales staff. The recaps give me a chance to prepare for weekly conference calls that keep the consultant and management on the same page. The goal is to identify the problems before they occur.  Some of the typical questions include how much time the managers spend in the field with their sales reps. The recap also includes such questions as what training items the manager used in sales meeting and if they will attain their monthly sales goal.

For the 1st week of 2012, we decided to change some of the questions for sales managers. Here are the questions being asked this week. The questions are  helpful for any sales manager going into the New Year.  I'm including some commentary on the questions, and why there were asked.
1. What was the one thing you were most proud of having accomplished in 2011?
SL:It is always good to review the one thing you are most proud of accomplishing. The small win approach works wonders. It helps us build towards the big win.

2. Do you have a full complement of sales reps going into 2012? If not, why not?
SL: There is no excuse for a sales manager not having a full staff for 2012. However if the sales staff is not at full capacity, please see question #3.

3. Is your bench for sales reps on your staff? If not, who is on your bench?
SL: I am a big proponent of having ?one extra? on the sales staff. It is much easier to promote from within versus looking outside the building. The extra rep will also save an untold number of dollars when a rep resigns.

4. What business book did you read in 2011 that most influenced you?
SL: What things did you from learn from the book that you have incorporated into daily work? Reading it is one thing, but actually taking an idea and executing it is another.

5. What is the one business goal that is the most vital to you and your reps in order to accomplish the 2012 sales goal?
SL: Hitting a sales goal is obvious. Give me something else.

6. What is the #1 new business feature that can be executed to get sales dollars from a non-traditional area?
SL: Could it be a real focus on digital versus just dabbing in it? Could it be a focus on different categories of business that are not normally targeted?

7.  What is the #1 thing you will train your staff how to do better in 2012, that can dramatically increase our chances of exceeding our sales goal for 2012?
SL:  Training your reps will increase the chance of hitting the sales goals since most sales staffs are not trained properly. Just having a focus on training is vital to developing a staff, and I would be partial here of course!

Below is an actual LPG recap this week though names and places have been taken out.
1. What was the one thing you were most proud of having accomplished (business) in 2011?
Made the decision to come back to *&*&( after almost 5 years in *(*&)*(.
2. Do you feel you have a full complement of sales reps going into 2012? If not, why not?
Nope. Getting close on hiring my 6th (within 2 weeks) with some good options for a 7th rep to join the team sometime in late February.
3. Is your bench on your staff? If not, who is on your bench?
Bench: 4 people. Names withheld of course.
4. What business book did you read in 2011 that most influenced you? What things did you take out of it that you made a part of what you do every day?
Re-read "Good to Great" and "The Long Tail" - must always find points of differentiation between you and competition.
5. What is the one business goal that is the most vital to you and your staffs accomplishing their sales goal in 2012? The most important goal for 2012 is to make sure that I'm always staffed with at least 7 reps. This will take some of the pressure off of &()* and &)()* and allow them to sell without feeling like they have to carry the team (which they've had to do the last couple of years).
6. What's the #1 new business feature you think we can execute that will help us pick up money where we normally wouldn't?
Digital is definitely an area with the most potential for growth. (*)*).com has started strong and should allow us to go over more (category) dollars in 2012. Our goal is to double (&)(*)*( revenue in 2012.
7. What is the #1 thing you will train your staff how to do better in 2012, that can dramatically increase our chances of exceeding our sales goal for 2012?

Better negotiating. This will be an on-going training subject. We need to get better negotiating on agency buys (not leaving $$ on the table) as well as negotiating with local direct advertisers. The &()*(* mantra, "They ask for something, we ask for something."

Sean Luce is the Head National Instructor for the Luce Performance Group and can be reached at sean@luceperformancegroup.com.

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Seven Keys To Successful Selling

by Wayne Ens

Why does a lawyer earn more than a garbage man? Because nearly everyone is capable of doing the garbage man?s job, but the lawyer knows something most of us do not. So she makes more money. Why are accountant?s paid far more than the average person? Because they know something the average person does not. Knowledge is power and knowledge earns big bucks for those who have it in the new economy.
I?ve heard it said that ?Sales is sales, and anyone who can sell can sell spots.? That?s probably true. A lot of people ?sell?; from retail clerks to car sales people, and from insurance agents to yellow pages people, thousands upon thousands of people can sell. Advertisers today are bombarded with advertising sales people selling their ?commodities?; from sellers of online directories, to web malls and banners, to traditional media and more, so selling ?spots? isn?t really worth all that much. The advertising sales people that earn the most in the new knowledge economy are those who can teach advertisers how to make strategic sense out of a fragmented and rapidly evolving digital media and traditional media mix.

And of course to be able to teach, you have to have knowledge. Just as other paid professionals like doctors and lawyers invest time and money in knowledge, you have to invest time and money in your knowledge of the new media landscape to be more valuable than your competitors. Virtually all of your competitors have had sales training and can sell.   

Investing in strategic marketing knowledge not only gives you a strong competitive edge against those look-alike sellers, but that investment stays with you forever. Today, selling is teaching, and teaching is a skill unto itself. We have studied the proven inductive learning model used by the most successful teachers today and developed it into a proven successful sales model called Guided Discovery Selling.
The seven core elements of selling as teaching are;
1.) Care about your students/clients. Some teachers have jobs?but the best teachers, as with the best sellers, are on a mission to help their students, and their customers, succeed.

2.) Keep learning  yourself. If they respect and trust you, advertisers will be asking you questions about the new media landscape. If you do not understand the various platforms, and how to articulate radio?s role in a multi-media environment, you?ll quickly lose their confidence in you.

3.) Questioning is key. Old school sellers merely asked questions until they found an opening to close a sale. Teachers, and new-school sellers, research and prepare their questions to guide advertisers to tap into their own experiences and prior knowledge to arrive at solutions. The Guided Discovery Selling model takes the telling out of selling. It?s an interactive process which takes place in problem solving situations to discover facts, relationships and new truths. Advertisers take ownership of solutions they discover themselves and become committed to the campaign?s success.

4.) Relate to Visions and Objectives. The best sellers as teachers prepare proposals which clearly relate to the advertiser?s visions and objectives. Students and customers become disinterested in, and do not retain, figures, rankers, ratings, truths or solutions that do not relate to their own goals.

5.) Multi-sensory selling/teaching. Old face-to-face selling was once the cornerstone to successful business-to-business selling. Today, there is no singular corner stone. Trust and sales are built with a multi-platform approach. A creative mix of valid business contacts that includes emails, blogs, written proposals, spec spots, videos, spec calendars, face-to-face presentations and more, creates more retention and a greater cumulative impact than face-to-face alone can achieve.

6.) Throw away your radio hat. Radio isn?t new and isn?t exciting. Most clients have tried radio, been there, done that and still have the t-shirt. These same clients can be confused or intimidated by the new media choices and claims and are seeking a trusted advisor like you to teach them how to navigate through an effective media mix. Your prospects want a knowledgeable media professional who can talk strategy, media-mix, multi-platforms, return on investment, integrated campaigns and more. It is imperative that you study and stay up to date, and learn how to articulate where each media, including radio, fits into the marketing funnel.

7.) Tell Stories. The best teachers and the best sales people tell interesting heartfelt stories that put the ?student? in the picture to capture their emotions.

Wayne Ens is President of ENS Media Inc and can be reached via e-mail Wayne Ens wayne@wensmedia.com

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