(PODCAST) Recruit High Powered Salespeople

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Ken Thoreson is the CEO of Acumen Management Group, an organization that helps build successful sales and sales management organizations. Thoreson has written several books, including "Recruiting High Powered Sales Teams." We had a chance to interview Thoreson about his book, his techniques and how radio stations can recruit, hire and compensate superstar salespeople in 2012. Thoreson details how to properly interview, how to spot a superstar seller, the traits of a great salesperson and when to stop nurturing someone who is not going to make it.

Our interview is 30 minutes long. It can also be downloaded from iTunes as a Podcast to your smartphone if your interested in listening on the go. Listen to our interview HERE or download from our iTunes page.

Reach out to Ken HERE
Check out Ken Thoreson's website: www.Acumenmanagement.com and his blog www.SalesManagementGuru.com. You can also follow him on twitter: www.Twitter.com/KenThoreson

(11/23/2011 8:30:43 AM)
"How To Recruit High Powered Salespeople" ought to be a question and not a headline.

Here's how.....give'em something to sell and pay'em well.

(11/22/2011 11:25:24 AM)
This industry has systematically bled the life out of every rep and sales manager over the last several years. Does anyone want to argue this point?

To whom is this article/podcast directed--the disconnected, absent owners? Certainly NOT anyone tasked with finding and retaining top sales talent in the radio industry.

Please stop peddling this crap; it confuses upper management into thinking they CAN find/train/retain superstars while paying them minimum wage.

Get real.

(11/18/2011 9:01:37 AM)
The Radio stations I successfully managed in Yakima Washington from 1987-2000 had a staff of 12 sellers and two sales managers. We paid 20% on direct local business...15% of agency business...and 22% on new business. We were the cash-flow king of the market.

Today that same group of stations (after Corporate America screwed them up)now pays 12.5% on local direct business, and 10.5% on agency business. That group of stations is also down to six sellers and one sales manager. Super-star sellers want and expect to be compensated fairly. You will not retain, let alone recruit quality sales people when you care more about your shareholders than you do your employees and the community you are entrusted to serve. David Aamodt/General Manger (former) RESULTS RADIO-YAKIMA, WA.

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Delilah Renews Contract With Premiere

Delilah Renews Contract With Premiere

The length of the contract was not announced, however it's said to be a long term deal between Delilah and Premiere. Delilah said ?I?m having as much fun on the radio now as I ever have, and this new contract ensures I will have access to a pretty powerful microphone for a long time to come. I?m blessed beyond belief to be connected to so many listeners through long-standing affiliations, and to be working with the  great team at Premiere.  So long as God gives me breath and a voice, I hope to speak to people across the airwaves every single night!?

Premiere Networks president, content and affiliate relations Julie Talbot said, "Delilah is a friend and confidant to millions of listeners ? that unique connection to her audience, as well as her love of music, continues to drive her  growth and success. ?We couldn?t be happier to extend our relationship with  Delilah well into the future.? 

Delilah?s nationally syndicated nighttime program airs from 7PM to midnight on approximately 200 radio stations and reaches nearly nine million weekly listeners. The program can also be heard on iHeartRadio and live streaming on http://www.delilah.com/.

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5 Ways To Making Social Media Personal

11-30-2011

(by Loyd Ford) Radio?s social media efforts are focused largely on advertising to listeners. Stations assign a person to deliver content designed to get people to ?like? your brand. That's largely considered a ?win.?  However, the mission in social media should really be more focused on connecting with emotion to personalize those connections with ?actives? or enthusiasts who always provide the 80 in the standard 80/20 rule (the 20% providing the 80).   In turn, those actives will help spread message, activities and connection to the passive listeners who can add to your overall success.  Moving these two needles can have significant impact on your brand.

Here is how to make social media more personal so you can grow your own loyal tribe (and cheerleaders):

1. Put your personalities up front. 
You?ve heard a lot about live and local.  How about personal and connected?  I highly recommend that you don?t have the person responsible for your social media post all your content as the radio station.  Engage your personalities in connecting with listeners.  After all, people identify with other people.  We live in a technically disconnected society that craves personal contact.  Put your personalities up front and have them deliver relevant content.

2. Put the fun in your product on display. 
Radio has a fun and easy to use product attached to other fun and easy to use products.  Focus on bringing that fun ? personally ? into your social media activities to engage listeners to read, view and share your activity in social media.  By making personal connection to what is happening in your format, for your listeners?you will bring listeners (and especially actives) in more direct contact with your brand.  That?s meaningful because activity breeds engagement and that expands contact and ratings.

3. People believe in causes. 
If your personalities are not involved in relevant sincere causes and sharing actionable information, opportunities and activities related to those on your social media platforms, you have failed.  Consider what loyalty comes from a local listener relating to a personality who is passionate about their own cause?  Personalizing a relevant cause that impacts your target audience has more powerful impact than you might think ? and longer loyalty benefits for the personality and station brand.

4. One person does not develop a social media strategy. 
In other words, your personalities should all have some level of involvement in your social media.  Sharing the load and sharing the impact is a great way to grow your brand activities and real opportunities on Facebook, Twitter and other social media platforms.  Don?t let this slide.  If your personalities are not able to engage and present in social media in a way that represents your brand well?you have the wrong personalities. 

5. Have your personalities respond, comment and engage listeners. 
It is not enough to post something once a day.  When someone comments on a post you made, respond to them publicly and also in private email (yes, you can find email easily these days in social media).  People want to be validated.  They want to be seen.  They want to be important.  Give this to your actives in social media and encourage them to be a part of your brand.

The opportunity to be personal and actually build your own social media tribe that translates into loyal listener ratings is there for you every day.  You only have to build a plan, engage your personalities and focus on listeners to take advantage of it in social media to bring activity (listening) back to your on-air brand.  Do this and you will look like a genius.

Loyd Ford programmed very successful radio brands in markets of all sizes for years, including KRMD AM & FM in Shreveport, WSSL and WMYI in Greenville, WKKT in Charlotte and WBEE in Rochester, NY.  Learn more about Loyd here:  http://about.me/loydford.  Reach out to Loyd via e-mail HERE Visit his Facebook radio social media page HERE

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How Are You Serving Your Community?

Radio thrives in the arena of community service. When people are in need, Radio is there. When Mother Nature pays an unwanted and unwielding visit, Radio is there, before and after. When a little boy or girl is diagnosed with terminal cancer, Radio is always first to find a way to help. Each and every time Radio uses its power or persuasion and long-standing close relationships with listeners to make a difference. What is it that you are doing to make your community stronger? We want to hear the stories. Please send details to edryan@radioink.com

(11/22/2011 12:15:10 PM)
Do you mean support the community through fundraising? Our students raised over $22k for earthquake relief in Haiti, $3k for local education, $10k for Katrina relief, thousands/year for Relay for Life while donating 11 straight hours of live DJing, and we do dozens of community events for free. Or do you mean programming? We run a weekly children's literacy program, a homeless interview program, personal finance programs and free radio boot camps for elementary, middle and high school kids...

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Writing Funny For Radio

12-1-2011

If you struggle with finding your voice and your humor in your writing, you?re not alone. Radio people, hired to talk on the radio, are now required to write too. Blogs! Status updates! Tweets! And you thought you were off the hook. Write to Done, a writing blog, posted tips on getting more humor in your writing. Many of the tips are parallel to what makes funny radio, and yet we read social media posts and blogs all the time that lack these basic elements. Here are the tips, with my thoughts on them.

1. Be the joke. Self-deprecation works everywhere.

2. Be specific. Generalizations can be funny, but specificity is better. Sensory details, in particular, take us into the story, into your life. Finish the sentences ?I see?? ?I hear?? ?I smell?? ?I taste?? ?I feel?? to dig for those details and include the juiciest ones.

3. Use comedic timing. ?This can be as simple as applying the funny word, phrase or sentence at the last possible moment. You can force a pause before the punch line by starting a new paragraph. If you?re telling a story, you can use this technique to apply the element of surprise, taking the reader in an entirely unexpected (and funny) direction. This method works 100% of the time.

Unless it doesn?t.?

4. Use a thesaurus. In writing, clever choice of words becomes even more important. One single word can be really, really funny. Monkey. Banjo. Flabbergasted. You get the idea.

5. Use a ?swipe file.? When you read other people?s writing, keep track of words and turns of phrase that you like. The example the article uses is ?not to be outdone?? I wrote a Facebook post on November 15, after reading the article: ?I met a mom of 4 last night who has finished and wrapped all her Christmas presents. Not to be outdone, I am taking down my pumpkin arrangement.?

6. Edit. Use the rules above to make your first draft better. Then do it again. Then read it out loud to someone, to allow you to hear, and correct, the cadence of your writing.

And a final note not included in the writing blog: Use exclamation points and text language like LOL sparingly for more comedic punch. My friend Shay just posted on Facebook: ?turns out it?s not a good idea to drop the phone in the soup.? Compare that to ?Turns out it?s not a good idea to drop the phone in the soup!!!!! HAHAHAHAHA!!!!? It?s effective to allow the reader the opportunity to figure out for themselves if something is funny, or how funny it is.

Angela Perelli is a SVP at the The Randy Lane Company (www.randylane.net).
She can be reached at angela@randylane.net
www.facebook.com/TheRandyLaneCompany
www.twitter.com/TheRandyLaneCo

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What Do Your Listeners Really Care About?

11-30-2011

You?ve heard it time and time again (mostly probably from me), now that relevant, engaging, entertaining and/or informative posts are the only path to showing up on users? News Feeds so you can be seen, content is king now more than ever.  You are simply dead meat without it.  And you can?t get by with filler this time?it?s got to be good or it?s not going anywhere.

Which may leave you scratching your head wondering, ?Okay, just what content is so good, or at least good enough, to make my listeners so excited about it they?ll Like or share it??  Step 1: Ask the on-air entertainers you have right there in the building, because they instinctively know.  Don?t bother asking card readers and board ops.  Successful on-air talents have the answer, because it?s their job and it?s how they win.  They come up with that content every single day. If you have no entertainers, please see the ?dead meat? comment above.

Step 2: Why not take a look at which TV shows are generating the highest levels of social network activity?  Clearly, there?s something about these shows that makes them shareable, tweetable, and re-tweetable.  Separate out the elements that make them social ?hits,? apply them to your radio station, and you could be in decent shape.

Top cable shows ranked by social activity from Trendrr for the week of 11/21:

#1: CNN Republican National Security Debates
Why it?s Social: It?s an event vs. regular programming. 
What You Can Steal: Without staging the occasional special event, you?re 24/7 audio wallpaper. 

#2: Soul Train Awards on BET
Why it?s Social: Users love to discuss performances, people and clothes as they watch in real time. What You Can Steal: Yes, you?re radio, but try giving users something visual to discuss, even if it?s just still pictures.  Or why not set up a feature where you debut a new song and invite users to post or tweet their reaction to it as they listen?  The real time element is the critical thing here.  Social is immediate.

#3: The Walking Dead on AMC
Why it?s Social: Users classify and identify themselves by genres, and tend to be cliquish about it.  Zombie fans want to talk to other zombie fans. What You Can Steal: Sounds mean, but pit your listeners against each other.  Pro and anti-Justin Bieber.  People who think Steven Tyler?s a sell-out vs. people who don?t.  Etc.  Build camps.

Top broadcast shows from the same period:
1. X-Factor
Why it?s Social: People like to critique, but without risk.
What You Can Steal: Ask listeners what they think of the station and you may or may not get honest answers.  Ask them what they thought of the Katy Perry show last night and you?ll get plenty of engagement.  Why?  People love to give opinions while safely out of reach of the person they?re opining about.

2. Dancing With the Stars
Why it?s Social: It?s sport.  It gives users someone to root for.
What You Can Steal:  People love to take sides.  People love to pick their horse, then see how it does.  Any time you can set up a competitive feature where users are asked to take sides, they will and they?ll stick around to see if they were right.

3. Family Guy
Why it?s Social: Aside from wanting to connect with people who have the same sense of humor, this is an easy show to take social.  Individual bits/jokes are easily passed around. 
What You Can Steal: Like Dorothy?s shoes, you had this all along.  Radio bits and talent comments have always been a sourceof short material and short attention span material.  In the social world, short is gold.

Key Takeaway: Your listeners owe you nothing.  Your social presence is 100% about them, and getting them what they like and what they want.  Their behavior will show you the way, provided you don?t ignore what they?re telling you with their social actions.

Mike Stiles is a writer/producer with the social marketing tech platform, Vitrue, and head of Sketchworks comedy theatre. Check out his monologue blog, The Stiles Files.
Find him on Facebook or on Twitter @mikestiles
Stiles Facebook: www.facebook.com/mike.stiles

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Kindle Fire Review

(by Dan Halyburton) My Kindle Fire arrived UPS shortly after my order. The order and tracking from Amazon was timely and updated regularly. The unit arrives in a eco-friendly cardboard carton that?s utilitarian but attractive enough. A simple instruction card is tucked into a slot in the lid of the box. The Fire is wrapped in a film to protect the device and its easily removed. The only other item is the charger. A micro USB affair but the cord is hard wired to the power lump, a move to save money I?m sure.

The Fire powers on with a very small button on the bottom of the device. This will prove to be a hassle in the future. The device is black, the button is black and there are no other external controls. My biggest issue with the form factor is that I don?t know which end is up. The IPad has a home button, that helps you orient to the device. I guess I will need a case that tells me which end is up.

I fire up the unit for the first time and slide the unlock banner and I am in business. Wi-fi set up and other adjustments are super easy. I play a bit and get distracted with a call, so I power off the Fire. I return to the machine, and now I have a problem. It?s stuck on the logo screen and nothing will fix the problem. My quick call to Amazon finds no fix, and they send a new Fire.

My new Fire arrives next day and all is well. It?s time to PLAY. The Fire is already set up on my Kindle account, which is a nice touch, and my books are all there. I just need to download my latest read which is the Steve Jobs biography. Fire is a bit heavy for a traditional Kindle reader, but it is lighter than the IPad. In my hand, the smaller form factor just seems comfortable. The screen is very bright, and the touch is crisp with only an occasional lag from input to response.

The familiar bookshelf style graphics holds all of my books and apps. There are sections for Newsstand, Books, Music, Video, Docs, Apps and Web. There are a few preloaded feature apps. Interestingly, there is no calendar app installed. You will have to go to the app store to find that free app. You can set up imap or pop mail.

Streaming movies work great from Amazon Prime and Netflix. There is also a Hulu app in the Amazon curated store. This is a heavily modified Android operating system that is focused the Amazon walled garden. When I dig into the settings section, I found the ability to open the device up to ?unknown 3rd party apps? from Android. I found plenty of the useful apps without opening myself up to the sometimes-dicey Android Marketplace.

Streaming on The Kindle Fire
Radio fans and operators will both like the Fire. Although I didn?t find any station apps in the curated Kindle store, they may be available if you open up the Kindle 3rd party apps capability. The lack of station apps are not a problem because the Fire has three of the most popular radio apps which are TuneIn, iHeart Radio and Pandora which are available in the store. All of these download and install easily, and they are free.

iHeart Radio wants my zip-code and wants me to log-in or create an account with my email. I select ?later?, and it takes me to a quick tutorial page and the station selections menu. iHeart stations start playing almost instantly. TuneIn takes me to a welcome screen, senses my location and then shows me local stations and genres. Stations in TuneIn take 4 to 5 seconds to spool up the buffering depending on the station. The wait seems normal for mobile devices. When I opened Pandora, it asked me to log in. Since I have an account, it quickly showed all my stations. Stations played faster than in TuneIn, but a bit slower than iHeart Radio. All three apps sound good, and the Fire?s sound is decent for a tablet. It?s loud enough and clear.

The Fire and The iPad
There will be a great deal written about these two segment leaders. Apple clearly has a very refined product. The IPad has more power, polish and features. The IPads lead is considerable. The power of the iTunes store will be hard to beat. The closed and controlled Apple architecture makes the IPad easier to use, and IPads are fully featured and priced accordingly.

However, the Fire is a worthy competitor. The $199.00 price tag should light up sales. Fire handles its reader and multimedia role nicely. If estimates of sales for the Fire are in the neighborhood of 6 million units, Amazon has a hit on their hand. If Tablet users discover the multimedia power of these two worthy competitors then streaming radio wins too.

Dan Halyburton is EVP McVay Cook and Associates and can be reached at 214-707-7237. Follow Dan @danhalyburton. E-mal Dan at dan@halyburton.com

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