(SOCIAL) How Important Is Facebook? It Might Just BE The Web

4/18/12

Mike Stiles

When you think about what you use the Internet for, you probably come up with a list of the usual suspects. You research stuff, you might use it to buy something or book travel, you watch videos, you get the news, you use it to communicate, etc.

Now what can you do on Facebook? Well, you can research stuff, buy something, book travel, watch videos, get news, use it to communicate, etc.

See what happened there? Facebook has become so ubiquitous and, thanks to its Open Graph capabilities and ability to pull offsite apps into Tab views, spread its tentacles across absolutely everything people do on the Web; to the point where it has, for all practical purposes, become the operating system for the entire Internet.

Remember back in the Stone Age when the Web gurus were pressuring you to get a website up and running, telling you how essential it was? Getting that website up was definitely the right thing to do (unless you put it up only to abandon it). But ironically, thanks to the hyperactivity of technology and innovation, things have changed so fast with the dawn of the social revolution that, quite frankly, you don't really need your own website anymore.

Facebook users can access nearly every company currently doing business. They can play games with friends or strangers. They can message and video chat. They can see updates, pictures and videos. They can participate in sweepstakes and contests. They not only can get the news, they can organize the news they want from the sources they want with Interest Lists. They can do just about anything they would want to do anywhere else on the Web?all within the context of their social graphs.

Which might leave you asking the question, "What am I doing or offering on our station website that our listeners can?t also do on our Facebook page?" I think you'll be surprised when the answer comes back, "Not much." And a couple of recent Facebook developments may soon be giving the social networking heavyweight an even larger percentage of users' online time.

Development 1: They're rolling out a service in which your Facebook email and Facebook Timeline are more connected and intertwined. Not even Google has married Gmail this tightly to its Google+ platform. With this development, Facebook advances deeper into the hub for messaging and email activity.

Development 2: "Groups For Schools" is Facebook?s new college collaboration tool. This puts them firmly in the file-sharing arena. Students can share un-copyrighted files up to 25MB with groups organized around classes, frats, whatever. Other students can download the files right from the News Feed. Don't expect Facebook to stop at colleges. Business groups could quickly emerge, and Facebook's file sharing could become the hub for both business and social collaboration. If Google Docs has reason to worry, should you?

Facebook realizes they will hit a point at which bringing new users to the platform will top out. Pretty much everyone who's going to be a social network user at all will be on it. To grow further, they have to focus on engagement and the time people spend on Facebook. What better way to grow that than to offer every online activity conceivable within the Facebook environment?

Am I suggesting you shut down your website? No. Many of you have digital advertising strategies up and running on them. But are you telling listeners to go to your website or your Facebook page? Telling them to go two separate places is not exactly a laser-focused approach. Station brands that place their focus on building an actively engaged fan base on Facebook, then leveraging that community by integrating the exciting array of emerging apps and functionalities that will constantly be debuting, will be the brands operating from a position of social strength.

Mike Stiles is a brand content specialist with the social marketing tech platform, Vitrue. Check out his monologue blog, The Stiles Files, and follow him @mikestiles

(4/20/2012 12:40:16 PM)
We have only about 3,200 followers! LOL!

Add a Comment | View All Comments Send This Story To A Friend

View the original article here

Lotus CEO: "Radio Might Be Wiped Out By Internet"

2-22-2012

In 1962 Howard Kalmenson put KWKW-AM on the air in Los Angeles. Kalmenson grew that one facility into what is Lotus Communications today consisting  of 27 stations in Arizona, California, Nevada, and Texas. According to BIA, Lotus is now generating over $21 million a year. Thirteen of the 27 stations are broadcasting Hispanic formats, a Lotus specialty. Kalmenson is now 80 years old and his honest perspective on the radio industry is refreshing and very different than what you might be hearing today.

The former marine still refers to himself as a salesman even though he's the President and CEO of a company that employs 400 people. On March 21st in San Diego Kalmenson will be given the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Radio Ink Hispanic Radio Conference for all that he's accomplished in radio, specifically Hispanic Radio. We spoke to Kalmenson and asked him to give us his perspective on the radio industry and how he's seen it evolve.

"It's terrible. It's changed terribly. And they are going to have to change again or they're going to get wiped out by the internet now. I know what to do. We are starting to do it at our corporation now, to keep us from getting eaten up by internet when it's in the car and everywhere. It has changed for the worse. The minute that the money got big and people started concentrating on the ratings, because that's where the money went, all of the great things we used to do with public affairs, community involvement went away."

"I used to give away 500,000 toys at Christmas. We gave away 25,000 turkeys at Thanksgiving. We had programs for the poor. We had news that really meant something. Now none of it happens because everybody made so much money just by doing the ratings dance. The ratings dance was wonderful for listenership or TSL, but it did nothing for your involvement in the community. In fact, it was the opposite. They found just what made people tune in or what makes people tune out. No one gave a damn about anything else. It is terrible. I won't tell you my formula for what it is. I will tell you this much: You have to achieve interest in your company from a local level. In other words, we have the one thing that nobody else can do. If there is a traffic accident outside my window at 5:00, at 5:01 can have it on the air. Nobody else can do that. We can do that. We have to be very local. We have to be very much involved in the community. We have to be needed."

Kalmenson will appear on the cover of the March 12th issue of Radio Ink magazine where subscribers will be able to read more of his open and honest dialogue about the radio industry, the company he's grown from one station and how Hispanic radio has become mainstream. It's our special issue on the explosive growth of the Hispanic format and it features interviews with some of Hispanic radio's top General Managers and Program Directors. To subscribe to Radio Ink in time to receive this special issue, go HERE

(2/23/2012 6:46:55 AM)
I agree . . . I've been saying this for at least 20 years . . . live and local . . . but I have been frozen out by the morons who want to perpetuate the status quo. Let's just keep voice tracking until it's all gone.

Add a Comment | View All Comments Send This Story To A Friend

View the original article here

5 Things You Might Not Be Doing To Increase Ratings

by Randy Lane

1.    Commit to a weekly planning/brainstorming meeting.
Everyone connected to the show from intern to PD should attend this meeting. Use 100% of the available creative brainpower at your station. At the meeting, everyone is responsible for bringing in multiple ideas from categories like: phone topics, personal stories, games, new features, guests/interviews, production piece (song parody, etc.), promotion, stunt idea, serial story line, web/viral content idea.

2.    Make imaging the show a priority.
Imaging speeds up the process of  familiarizing people with the show, for both new and established shows. Many  people cume the radio station yet may not listen to the morning show. Make the promos a priority as opposed to being the last thing the show does before flying out the door.  We can help you brainstorm ideas on how to best promote your show.

3.    Asking is better than telling. 
An effective way to start a difficult conversation with an employee or coworker is by asking a question. Often a personality or employee will know themselves when and even why something didn't work. If you start with "That sucked!" or "Why did you do that?!" the person feels defensive immediately. By asking a question, like "How do you think that [break] went?" the person has the opportunity to learn from their mistake by taking responsibility. "I know. I hated that break." 

Then you can follow up with questions like "What can [we/you] do differently next time?" and the person is still with you in the conversation, not mentally on the phone with their therapist. 

4.    Create more anticipation for content by mastering the art of the tease.
When you pose a question that creates mystery -- or what scientific studies call an information gap in the brain -- it arouses people's curiosity and they feel compelled to find the answer or the resolution. So the purpose of teasing is twofold: One: to retain listeners through each segment of the show. Two: to create a mystery or create an information gap that engages listeners emotionally. It breaks down to: mystery (the information gap) + resolution (fill information gap) = ratings (more listeners).

Raise a question (create mystery/set up an information gap) for every segment including every phone topic, show feature, guests and appearances by the show or individual players. Listeners will feel like they're going to miss something if they aren't listening.

There are two types of teasing:
#1) Vertical teasing is for content that is coming up later in that day's show.  
#2) Horizontal teasing is for content you're doing at the same time on future days. You can be confident that most of the people listening at 7:45 am on Tuesday can listen at 7:45 am on another morning. Add a column to the show's run sheet that includes a "coming up in the next couple of days".

Horizontal sells should be longer and more exaggerated than vertical sells. It is not too much to spend three minutes selling something that is going to happen at the same time later in the week.

5.    Take an improv class. 
Improv sharpens listening skills, builds confidence, gets the creative juices flowing, teaches you how to build and expand the  content and conversations, improves team rapport and bantering skills. Maybe most importantly, it stretches you and gives you practice being out of your  comfort zone. The less guarded you are, the more your authentic personality can come through. And believe it or not, it helps not just talent, but also producers and even managers, to find their comedic voice and to loosen up. 

Email randy@randylane.net
Read more at his website
Like to The Randy Lane Company on Facebook facebook.com/TheRandyLaneCompany
Follow Randy Lane on Twitter www.twitter.com/TheRandyLaneCo

Add a Comment Send This Story To A Friend

View the original article here