12-14-2012
"I'm debt free thanks to radio." Those are the words of Roof Life of Oregon CEO Patrick Morin. When you listen to Morin speak, he makes you think he's a paid spokeseman for the radio industry. Radio has done that much for his business and his life. Morin tells Radio Ink that eight years ago he started advertising on one station in Oregon with an annual budget of $30,000. Today, he spends $500K on up to nine stations. He has only one location and radio has propelled his business from 7 employees and $1 million in annual revenue to 60 employees and $6 million in sales.
Morin understands the power of radio. He understands how to use radio. And, most importantly, he understood the key to his success was the creative. If radio had more Patrick Morin stories, 7% of an advertiser's budget would never be an issue for the industry again. Morin will be featured in an upcoming issue of Radio Ink magazine. Here's part of his story.
RI: What can you say to advertisers? The radio industry is having a hard time getting advertisers to believe in it the way you do. What would you say to people who say there is no way to tell how radio works or if they are getting their return on their investment?
Morin: Everyone is going to start at some level. But, if you understand how it works, it's going to take 4 months for the marathon runner, called radio, to start bringing you constant, never-ending growth. Never go off, because if you go off, you have to go back down the mountain and start up a different one. Just add to it. Or hold the line.
It's a science. Marketing comes before sales. Sales come before production. Then it goes down the train. I see a lot of businesses that don't have an engine. They are thinking, "I do referrals. I have a store front." They come up with all sorts of reasons to fail. But, the reality is, if you are not consistently telling somebody how you can make their life better, more peaceful, more beneficial, all the things that you can do with your position, they are not going to call you.
RI: You talk about how important creative is. It sounds like you spend a lot of time making sure the creative is right.
Morin: I spend a lot of time finding someone who understands my position and knows where I want to go. Then, I let them go. I don't bug them. I don't talk to them. We meet once a year for 5 hours. We strategize and then I leave the creative people alone, because truly, creative people are odd. They are different. Creative people are not strategists. They are creative. I am not creative. I wrote the best commercials I could with what I could learn. Mastering the language, the art of persuasion, the art of the English transference of emotion is what a good ad writer can do. I can't do it. I've been smart enough to learn that point right there and then go find them.
RI: Give radio sellers advice on how they can be more confident about the power of radio?
Morin: I think if you go to a business owner, you have to talk in the language of a business owner. They want to grow their business. If they would just go out with a consistent message of "we can help you grow your business by talking to your clients about relevant issues that you have to offer that will make their life better." When they get a business owner to consider, they cannot deliver crap. That's the reputation that I ran into. You have to have writers that understand the heart of each business.
With all the stuff that goes on in a radio station, you have to get good writers. Account reps are not writers. I would be a great account rep. I would go and I would dig in. But they wouldn't see me very often. I would have a team of writers that would know how to write. If you could do that consistently, it will help move the business owner's "who gives a rip" meter.
Morin says the fact that radio works is a "gimme". It's whether you are willing to use radio correctly and use it at a level that will bless your life, he adds. "It has changed my life. We are a 100% debt-free company. We have a lot of money in the bank. We plan for growth. We take care of our people. It's amazing how putting the train of marketing in front of your company and using radio and the power thereof has radically changed our company."
It's important to note that a big part of Morin's success is the fact that he's a student of the teachings of Roy Williams and credits a lot of his success to the path Roy and his extended team have put him on. More about that on Monday in the headlines.
(12/15/2012 8:54:01 AM)
HD Radio and DRM get "poor" test results in Brazil:
http://tinyurl.com/bqt8akl
(12/14/2012 7:12:16 PM)Meanwhile, I have to wonder if the "glass cage" reference is not pervasive... and another example of toxic positions held internally in the business.
In fact, I have a great deal of sympathy for the radio sales force, given the lack of quality of the material they are taking to the street.
Yes, Mel. I tried to actually sell radio...back when it was easier. And I still couldn't find my butt with both hands. And yes, to Jerry. That was the correct interpretation. I mean, a few or 4 spots per week would be kinda silly. I meant: get everybody 3 or 4 times a week.
(12/14/2012 2:59:08 PM)
With due respect to Mel, and in defense of Ron, it appears Ron is suggesting a campaign to reach a station's cume (every listener) with a weekely frequency of 3 or 4. That would be a pretty healthy schedule, would it not?
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