6-1-2012
Why have you been successful in Radio?
I love what I do and I love the industry. I consider myself an open- minded student who embraces change. I?m a student of marketing, advertising and business. I follow and study business trends and often find myself leading the media trends in our markets.
I focus on delivering results through integrated marketing solutions. This is not simply buzzword bingo; I embrace new revenue opportunities not only through our over-the-air platforms but also through our digital media applications that include platform specific mobile apps. I believe in and have a learning culture in place that makes it easy to disseminate information and knowledge across our entire team. My first sales seminar was with Dave Gifford and I still use his sales system today.
I have goals that are accountable and detailed in my annual plan. The simplified version of this plan is to grow our business above the growth in the market. While I am a performance driven, results oriented leader, it is my commitment to service coupled with a strong work ethic that binds the business relationships that ultimately result in success.
I?ve always had one additional personal goal for myself and that is to truly make a difference for our clients. I believe that true success in our industry occurs only when our clients win. I love radio and loved the radio stations I?ve been associated with and believe my success is a result of the great people I?ve had the privilege of working with.
What advice can you offer readers on how to reach their goals:
In my opinion success is a byproduct of effective leadership. Leadership as I define it is the art of successfully influencing others in a way that helps you accomplish your goals. By placing an emphasis on the team the path then becomes clear. You?ll need to attract the best & brightest for each and every department. Taking the time to understand what motivates each individual makes it easier to determine if they will fit within the company?s winning culture. Establishing a winning culture is a matter of having the right balance of business & creative systems that are motivating, fun and rewarding to the entire team.
This winning culture type of environment coupled with the willingness to roll-up your sleeves to get the job done tends to inspire and motivate team members, allowing them to step closer toward their own personal goals as well as empower their drive.
Do your due diligence. Get out there, find & attract the best programming, sales consultants and on-air talent. Implement systems that are fun & motivating. Give your team the tools they need to succeed, remove obstacles and listen to their ideas. Respect your team members, and provide the mission & the vision. Remember that values are expressed everyday in the way the company makes decisions. Challenge the how and why of what you do and your business plan continuously.
It is important to understand that our strength is localism, so do local better than any other media in the market. Identify your company?s position and differentiators. We are widely known and accepted as the media company that helps build brands in our markets.
You can solidify your business relationships while you build competitive barriers by delivering clear and effective reporting, entertaining your audience, delivering new customers to your clients and making a commitment to public service. Remember when you help others to get results; reaching your goals will be that much easier.
Keep an emphasis on the fact that our stations and corresponding interactive platforms are brands. Have an action plan in place that allows you to extend these brands by making them ?Active Brands?. An active brand reaches out to customers across all available digital platforms. It is important to have the ability to deliver our content & customer message to our audience when and where they want it.
Love what you do and love the industry. Taking the time to put these various components in place will transform your solid business plan into a game changer type of business plan.
What mistakes can you help your broadcasters avoid?
I believe that challenges create opportunity. The key is to have an open channel of communications. Clear and effective communications allows you to keep the team informed. This is a priority that should not be overlooked. Keeping the team informed helps sustain moral, it allows team members to have a sense of ownership over the projects & tasks while helping them understand that they in fact are valuable contributors toward the overall winning culture and success.
It is also important to teach all team members to close the loops by sharing success, project status and/or project completion information. Information sharing minimizes the need to track down information saving time and money while increasing productivity. I would also suggest that everyone from the front desk to the on-air personality should find a way to quickly adapt and embrace new technologies.
Reach out to Nancy to congratulate her for being one of Radio's Most Influential Women:
NancyOdney@radiofargomoorhead.com
