SOCIAL)Take Loyal Listener Email Back

6-19-2013

My sister-in-law and I were at a family event recently and she asked me, ?Why are radio station websites so crappy?? But she could have asked the same about loyal listener email. Do you get those exciting emails that have no logo and only an ad from Ticketmaster? What about the generic no-value emails that scream, ?We don?t care about you ? take our crap??   

Suppose you send a loyal listener email once a month. Maybe instead of the generic stuff, we could reform our love for listeners and give our most loyal listeners content that is of interest and value to them. You can do this as ?brief or bullet-point content? with some design to it. How about some content examples:
1. Listeners love people (believe it or not). They don?t warm up to brands first. So, if you still have a morning show or high-profile personality, use them. Let them have a few words of welcome at the center of the page on your loyal listener email. Big festival this month? Something high-profile happening (that will involve a ton of people and probably many of your listeners)? Put it in the greeting! Post a picture of the personality and include their signature.

2. Publish a quick reference concert calendar for the upcoming month. If you are a music-based station, fans love concerts. This can be shows in your market or in the region (remember:  fans will travel). If you want to do so, take an extra step and see if you can secure an extra pair or pairs of tickets to give away. Tell these ?loyal listeners? you are going to draw names only from those who receive this email and hit you back at a special email address you include in the email below the concert info!

3. Each month you have ways listeners can ?escape? in the coming month. Most people don?t love their jobs. Most people are stressed. Given even a moment of silence, most people begin immediately to think about these questions: What can I do after work? Where can I go or what can I do this weekend? You know, me time or family time. Time when you don?t have to be bound to work and responsibilities. So, give them ?options? in your loyal listener email.

4. Focus on what you own. If you know me at all, you know I encourage that in everything you do you must point people back to the on-air product and the digital products that you own. If you have a loyal listener email with this much content, include an on-air feature with great value and where listeners can find it on your station.

5. Include a community engagement calendar featuring about three charity events and/or activities where you know the cause is excellent and the community or charity action matches up well with your target audience. This should be a very brief feature, but it is a ?plug in? for active and caring listeners of your station.

6. Publish a link where listeners can find a feature (like Ten Questions) focused on one of your personalities and where they like to eat, relax, spend family time, and what they enjoy doing on the weekends. Remember: People connect with people. If your personalities are engaging and fun, use them to draw listeners closer to your brand.

7. Include an opportunity to receive a reward just because you emailed these listeners. That?s right. Tell them that you know they are busy and stressed and you know that you are not the most important thing in the world. Tell them just for pushing this email into their busy day, you are going to select several loyal listeners to receive tickets to a concert/movie tickets/dinner for two/some other ?reward.? Tell them this is not a contest; only someone receiving this loyal listener email will even know about it. Ask them to email you back at a special email address if they want to be considered for the ?drawing.? Not sexy, right? Well, that?s the point. You are just saying you value them and you want to reward them just because you intruded into their day.

It should go without saying that you should include every possible way for listeners to connect, including Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, website, e-mail, on-air studio line, and text. We are in the connection business.

Of course, you can include ads from the sales department. I think all parts of the radio business, including loyal listener email and all digital assets, should have a proper business plan that includes generating consistent advertising, sponsor or placement revenue. That is the point of this business. At our best, radio personalities are the local connectivity experts with their fingers on the pulse of what is important to listeners (this is you, right?). 

If Ticketmaster comes calling for a ?blast? to loyal listeners, make something special for that ?blast? that includes a variety of value and your own branding. Don?t just "do the easy.? Don?t simply blast out a piece of content for Ticketmaster only with no soul, connection to your brand, or extra benefits to people who might not like whatever act they are selling. Take that extra step or two.

It may be difficult to see how working smarter will always pay off in an environment that rewards cutbacks, but smart work always pays off. Do these things and you will stand out to listeners, maybe management, and perhaps an even better employer when your career goes ?next level.?  

Loyd Ford is the direct marketing, ratings and social media strategist for Americalist and has programmed very successful radio brands in markets of all sizes, 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. Get his radio-social media content sent directly to your smart phone or email for free here:  www.rainmakerpathway.wordpress.com. Reach out to Loyd via e-mail HERE.  Visit his Facebook radio social media page HERE.

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Senior VP CBS Radio New York Don Bouloukos

6-21-2013

Upon my return to Chicago in 1977, one of the first people I met was a sales manager from WLS Radio, Don Bouloukos. He was a tall, dark, handsome, and mysterious man who quietly led the WLS sales team. The sales staff at WLS was the best in the city -- all young guys who knew everyone and lunched every day. But Don was different. He was quiet and spoke only when it was necessary; yet when he had something to say, everyone listened. He was ?The Most Interesting Man in the World? back in the late 70s. Every young lady chased him and every guy wanted to be like him. Very few of us knew he was secretly dating the beautiful Nancy Shannon, whom he later married, breaking the hearts of women all over the Chicago area. Still stealthy and handsome, Don has had a career most of us envy. But, he has earned it and we are lucky to have him in the radio industry.

Now, in his own words, here is how Senior VP Market Manager CBS Radio New York Don Bouloukos got into radio?

I was tending bar on Rush Street in Chicago after I graduated from DePaul University. Every afternoon, several well-dressed gentlemen in the ?agency and media business? came in for lunch, always accompanied by attractive women. The lunches went well past 2 p.m. on a fairly regular basis and they always had money and tipped well. After about a month of watching this on an almost daily basis, I said to myself, "This is a business that I think I would like be involved with."

Jim Haviland, a friend of mine, was an AE at a small suburban station in Oak Park, Illinois. Jim told me that RKO had just purchased a Beautiful Music Station (a format that has disappeared from our industry) and they were interviewing for sales positions.

I pitched a sales job at RKO-owned WKFM in February of 1973 and I accepted a commission-only, ?sell or starve? position as an account executive  for the Drake Chenault Solid Gold Format. It was going to be launched on  April 1 with the new call letters WFYR (named after the Great Chicago Fire). I started selling the station ?on the come,? playing cassettes of air checks from KRTH in LA which was also owned by RKO and programmed the Drake Chenault Solid Gold Format. I made door-to-door cold calls from 7 a.m. (restaurants) to 12 midnight (bars and clubs) talking about a radio station that wasn?t even on the air in Chicago. After a couple of months of learning to sell radio by ?trial and error,? I started closing a high percentage of my calls and, fortunately, I didn?t starve!

About a year later, I found myself in a Liars Poker game at the Corona Caf?, a restaurant and bar frequented by agency buyers and radio and TV  AEs and managers. There were about six of us in the game  and after about five or six calls, I called 11 sevens  and I was challenged by Larry Divney,  whom I didn?t know but quickly learned that he was the sales manager of ABC-owned WLS. Earlier in the evening, I found out that he had an open sales position that he was interviewing for and that he was looking for an experienced agency seller. When I won the hand, I told him to keep his money in return for an interview. He told me not to bother because I did not have enough agency experience (I didn?t have any)  but he eventually let me pitch the job.

I met with Larry and Nick Trigony the GSM several times over a two-week period and they eventually offered me a job. I didn't know at the time, but soon found out, that I was just hired at one of the best, if not THE best, Top 40 stations in the country. I was born and raised in Chicago listening to WLS but I had no idea of the significance of those call letters and what they represented to millions of listeners in Chicago, the Midwest, and to the radio and music industry in general.

WLS was a GREAT place to work! It was a Hall of Fame and legendary radio station with Hall of Fame and legendary radio personalities like Larry Lujack, Fred Winston, JJ Jeffreys, Tommy Edwards, Bob Sirott, Brant Miller, and John Records Landecker.

I went on to become General Manager of WLS in 1979 and, as they say, the rest is history.

Email Don at Don.Bouloukos@cbsradio.com

Lisa Miller is the President of Miller Broadcast Management in Chicago. She's also one of Radio Ink's Most Influential Women in Radio. Miller can be reached at Lisa@millerbroadcast.com or 312-454-1111.
So, how did you get into radio? We'd love to hear the story about why you're passionate about radio.

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RTDNA Says FCC Indecency Policy Too Vague

6-21-13

On the heels of comments made public by the NAB, the Radio Television Digital News Association has also filed comments with the commission as the FCC begins to review its indecency policy. The RTDNA calls the current rule, "unconstitutionally vague,"  adding it creates "an impermissible chilling effect on protected speech." Read more about the RTDNA comments HERE

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Congratulations To Beasley's Darlene Evans

6-21-13

The town of Davie proclaimed today Darlene Evans Day. Evans has been with Beasley's 99.9 KISS Country (WKIS-FM) for 25 years. She joined the station in 1988 and is currently the midday host at the station. Here she celebrates with Susan Starkey, Councilwoman of the Town of Davie, Beasley Broadcast Miami Vice President and Market Manager Joe Bell (left), and WKIS-FM Program Director Ken Boesen. Congratulations can be sent to Darlene Evans at Dar@wkis.com

Councilwoman Starkey surprised Evans at the WKIS-FM radio studies this morning and presented her with a ?Darlene Evans Day? proclamation signed by Town of Davie Mayor Judy Paul. The entire Beasley Miami staff shared in the spontaneous celebration.

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(Friday Conversation) Dave Graveline

6-21-13

Dave Graveline has been broadcasting a tech radio show for 18 years now. The former Miami police officer was talking about technology on the radio way before society decided it couldn't live with a smartphone super-glued to a body part. Today, Graveline's weekend technology show is heard on over 190 stations and he travels around the world doing remote broadcasts. The show launched in 1996 on WIOD in Miami and Graveline says the PD at the time made him call the program "Toys for Boys," alienating half the audience. Graveline changed the name to, "Into Tomorrow," which is what it's still called today. Radio Ink Editor Ed Ryan caught up with Graveline to discuss his show, his nearly 20 years of success, self syndicating and much more. Here's our Friday conversation with Dave Graveline.

Congratulate Dave on his 18-year run dave@graveline.com
Check out his website at www.IntoTomorrow.com
Follow him on Twitter @davegraveline
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(6/22/2013 11:27:07 AM)
The anonymous "Whitworth" reminds me of yet another bonehead PD that once told me "your show sounds like a plug fest because you talk about so many products" DUH! How else do you cover products, without talking about them??? How do these people even become "management" in radio?

As for the second comment... Small mind.

Oh well, we've had to deal with the jealousy of success all these years. :-)

(6/21/2013 4:38:35 PM)
The issue with this show has always been his cozy relationship with the tech industry vendors-manufactuers. Why else would Graveline attend all these shows on his own buck? I'm not talking about Vegas, dude goes to Berlin etc.
(6/21/2013 2:09:48 PM)
Dave and Eric definately have one interest in common - suck Bob Struble's cock!

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(HIRING) What Goes Around Comes Around

6-21-2013 

I recently wrote a blog about the way many managers treat potential hires. I have had some strong feedback on this topic. With the challenge today of hiring quality employees, half the battle is not just locating them, but actually getting them to join your team.
One of the most common issues that are facing radio stations is the problem of finding and hiring good people. A big part of helping your rate of success with hiring is to build a reputation of being a good company to join and a big part of that is practicing common courtesies when dealing with people.
Starting conversations with a potential hire and then never returning calls or emails when they are inquiring about the status is plain unacceptable. If the tables were turned, is that how you would want to be treated?
It is always best to be honest with job seekers. Let them know where they stand, what your process is and what your timeline is; if you are still talking to more candidates, be upfront about it. Looking for a job can be a very stressful situation so consider where they are coming from. If you have no interest in them, let them loose to pursue other positions.
If you have been approached by, or reached out to people, with experience that matches what you are looking for, don?t blow them off. Maybe they can fit somewhere else in your company; maybe one day they will be in a position where you need to ask them for a job. Maybe they will get hired somewhere else and become a stronger candidate you'll want to hire down the road.

Treating people poorly can hurt the reputation of the whole company in a competitive industry; it is advisable to take a few minutes to follow up either by a voicemail or e-mail. A few seconds of honesty can go a long way.

Laurie Kahn is Founder and President of Media Staffing Network and can be reached at 480-306-8930 or via e-mail at laurie@mediastaffingnetwork.com. Visit the Media Staffing Website http://www.mediastaffingnetwork.com/

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NAB Calls For Indecency Clarity

6-20-13

What is and what isn't an indecent broadcast these days? The FCC has demonstrated it's not clear on how to enforce the indecency rules which leads to the question of how the government can expect broadcasters to know. For sure, for now, broadcasters are airing on the side of caution. Who needs a big fine at a time when revenues are flat? On behalf of broadcasters, the NAB has submitted comments regarding the FCC's review of indecency policy. In the 42-page document, the NAB asks the commission to put an end to the vagueness of the indecency rule and act in a more timely and transparent manner when dealing with indecency complaints. The NAB also says technology should be a factor regarding a rule that has, "crumbled under the weight of changes in technology and media consumption." And the NAB wants the commission to clearly state that it will no longer treat fleeting or isolated expletives and images as actionably indecent.

The NAB says broadcasters cannot be the only group held accountable to protect children when they are getting content from so many different devices these days. "Specifically, with regard to the government?s concern that children may be exposed to adult-oriented or otherwise inappropriate material, there is no principled way to focus solely on broadcast content. Children in particular enjoy unfettered access to content via devices that they carry in their pockets and backpacks?access that usually involves no subscription or special parental involvement. In this environment, the constitutionality of a broadcast-only prohibition on indecent material is increasingly in doubt. Parents in the 21st century are clearly concerned about their children?s access to online content, not just broadcast material. Many parents of young children even fear that their children may become 'addicted' to mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets."

On the vague regulations, the NAB says the Commission must draw a clear line in the sand. "In revising its indecency standards, the Commission must use language that is as precise as possible and provide relevant examples and context in its policies and decisions. If the Commission cannot establish sufficiently clear indecency regulations so that broadcasters know what is expected of them, then broadcasters cannot be subject to liability for alleged violations of those standards."

And, the NAB believes when the Commission decides on editorial content it's an attack on free speech. "In an environment of inconsistent and arbitrary regulation, where the Commission repeatedly substitutes its own editorial judgment for that of program producers and broadcasters, the inevitable impact is chilled speech. This is not just a hypothetical concern. Broadcasters and the courts have cited multiple examples of broadcasters choosing to abandon certain material over uncertainty about application of the indecency rules. Rather than impose penalties based on its fluctuating disagreements with broadcasters?/programmers? artistic and editorial judgments, the FCC should decline to act absent a significant abuse of licensee discretion."

Read the NAB document HERE and, of course, the infamous Pacifica desision HERE

(6/20/2013 2:04:23 PM)
I have to wonder why the NAB even makes an attempt by going through the motions to ask for clarity, especially since none is available. With the exception of those calling to incite, it seems to me the only people sweating "indecency" anywhere, including on-the-air have suspicious, arbitrary motives and a questionable agenda.

Besides, what, I also wonder, would be the point of picking on radio while other media are running roughshod over any guidelines that some organization might supply or attempt to adjudicate and police.

Such an organization would be erring by making arbitrary judgments about what is airing, so to speak & spell. :)

(6/20/2013 11:39:55 AM)
Writers seem to be erring by skipping high school English class.

"broadcasters are airing on the side of caution"

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