7-11-13
Joe Schwartz has racked up many radio wins over the years. From running stations, to running markets, to owning and operating his own company, the Cherry Creek CEO knows how to be successful and make money in radio. A little over a decade ago, and leveraging his vast radio knowledge, Schwartz wanted to build a small market radio company. He put his plan together, polished his fancy shoes, and went on a road show looking for money. He was rejected 31 times.
That did not stop Joe Schwartz. "I am a funny guy. I have never given up in my life. I am incredibly persistent. I don't take no for an answer and I usually get what I want, because I stay after it. I was obsessed with getting it done, and I got it done. It's just that simple." Cherry Creek now has 61 stations spanning eight states. In an upcoming issue of Radio Ink we highlight many of the "Independent Warriors" making great radio across the country. Joe Schwartz is one of them. Here's some of what he had to say.
RI: What's the key to being successful in small markets?
Joe Schwartz: Your manager is key because you don't have that many people, and that one person can make or break you. Hiring great salespeople. Being competitive, format-wise. Within the first year, I hired a good program director who is still with me, Bob Guerra. He's our corporate PD. It all comes down to people. We could talk about anything else you want to talk about, but it all comes down to people.
RI: You say radio is weak at selling. Why?
Joe Schwartz: The typical radio industry for years has been, find a salesperson, maybe test them, maybe not. Give them a three-month guarantee. Hand them a phone book. Don't train them. Send them out in the streets, kind of kick them into the shallow end of the pool, and say "sink or swim." We expected that to bring us a lot of success and a lot of good salespeople. That doesn't work. It just doesn't. That's the first thing. The way we pay people ? you can't attract good people that way. Secondly, the way we train people ? we not only have our own in-house training right now, we do webinars three days a week, and they are done by my director of sales, John Kraft. Every manager in this company and every rep sits through it and participates in the training, because I am obsessed with training. They have to be trained properly. They have to know how to walk into an advertiser and talk to them about their business. We train them like crazy. Our edge is we compensate differently, and we need to, because we need to attract better people, and we train like crazy. That is what we are all about right now.
RI: Talk about your philosophy on treating people.
Joe Schwartz: Well, on our website, it says, "When the lights go off, your assets go home." Our biggest asset, today, yesterday, tomorrow, next week, next month, next year, is people. It is really all I care about. Equipment and all that? Who cares. It is all about our people. We are going to win with great people and we are going to lose with bad people. My philosophy is, if we err, I am going to err on the side of the employee. I want to give employees benefit of the doubt. The one other thing that I will add to that was when I went to work for Emmis in Denver. The piece that was missing in my career that I gained at Emmis, is being a very people-friendly, very people-oriented company, which Emmis was and still is. That was something that was instilled in me and it helped me a great deal with Cherry Creek.
RI: Why is small market radio different?
Joe Schwartz: When I first did it, back then, small markets were at that time, not professionally run. It was very much a mom-and-pop business. My first thought was, if we can come in with my background?I have worked New York, Chicago, L.A. I have worked for CBS, Emmis, Saga. I have run every size market you could think of, owned every size market you could think of. I have basically put my expertise, my operating knowledge, and used it to grow a small market group and to be much different than others, and we are. We still are. Secondly, a lot of the costs. You don't have to have the same costs in small markets like in major markets, for example, when we sold Alice in Denver, when I was running it for Emmis, my morning show was over $1 million. In small market radio, my morning shows are $35,000 to $40,000. Third, the Aribtron expense. Don't need it. Don't need it in those markets. And you know what Arbitron charges. That is a huge amount of money. There were a lot of expense savings and we thought with professional management, we would be able to grow the top line tremendously, and we did, until 2008-2009, when the world came to an end.
Reach out to Joe Schwartz by e-mail at jschwartz@cherrycreekradio.com
Subscribe to Radio Ink HERE in time to receive our Independent Warrior issue.
Are you doing something spectacular in radio like Joe Schwartz? Let us know by contacting edryantheeditor@gmail.com
(7/12/2013 7:44:49 AM)
Glad to see that small market broadcasters are getting their share of Ink in Radio Ink....Joe is one of the remaining 'Good Guys'
(7/12/2013 7:29:16 AM)
"When the lights go off, your assets go home." That pretty much says it all! Whenever have I won and won consistently, the pattern is one at which management valued each and every employee for what they were bringing to the table. Appreciation is highly undervalued and can go a long way. Great read, enjoyed it very much.
(7/12/2013 7:26:57 AM)
Great interview with one of the (many) good folks in our business.
(7/11/2013 8:34:04 PM)
Even though the wheels came off in '08, I'd still be willing to wash his car.
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