My friend Joey Cummings passed along the following video tour after the Tsunami on 9/29/2009.

Before…

After…

NEED A VOICEOVER? Choose Chicago Voice Actor Justin Kaiser when making your next casting decision. Call me at (815) 401-4632.

TECHNICAL AND WEB CONSULTING: I’m also available for one on one gear setup, web-design, and podcast consulting. Whether you want someone to get everything set up for you or you just need a little help along the way, I’d love to work with you. Call me at (815) 401-4632.

Justin Kaiser
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In the middle of American Samoa at 93 KHJ Joey Cummings reports back with video of the devastation from the Earthquake and Tsunami.

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Joey Cummings – cell on 2009-09-29 at 23_

Joey Cummings, General Manager of KKHJ-FM and WVUV-FM, was interviewed with Kirk Harnack.  He had made it back to his apartment in the Tafuna area of American Samoa.

Joey Cummings Tsunami interview 09 30 2009

Some photos of the destruction are online here… These photos are credited to Mike Cayanan in Pago Pago.

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A friend of mine is the General Manager at a radio station in Pago Pago/American Samoa. Through a large network of friends I received the following from him yesterday… finally heard from my friend who sent along the pics attached and an update that follows the initial report…

Joey, you are doing an admirable job and we are praying for you and your crew.

Justin

TsunamiAmericanSamoa1.avi

###
A little over 2 hours ago, an 8.3-magnitude earthquake struck about 120 miles southwest of American Samoa. An hour and a half later, a 20-30 foot tsunami hit Pago Pago. I was able to speak with Joey briefly and he says things are “really, really bad.” Whole buildings in the Pago Pago Harbor area have been destroyed. Many people may have died, but nothing confirmed yet. It happened just after 7am local time, so the school buses were on the road.

We were able to air the tsunami warning several times before it hit. Power went off shortly thereafter. The generator for the studio is in the parking lot, which is under 15 feet of water, so we’re now off air until we figure out an alternate power source.

Our studio facility is on the second floor of the building, so we’re dry and intact, just no power.
Our staff is all accounted for. Many of our automobiles are not.

######

From: Joey Cummings -
Subject:  Not getting rid of me THIS easily

Very dreamlike.

John Raynar called in sick this morning and I am so glad he did because I would have been on the road to work when it hit. I was sitting in for him on the morning radio show on 93KHJ when the earthquake hit about 7:50am. It lasted several minutes. we immediately sent out an EAS earthquake warning to tell everyone to stay away from possible landslide areas. we were in quick contact with the EOC and other emergency personnel to find out about a tsunami that might be coming. They advised that no tsunami was reported but to direct everyone to go to higher ground or to the second story of a building. We also asked school to initiate their tsunami plans to get kids up the mountains. We sent a tsunami warning EAS message 10 minutes later as we saw the first rising water. We stayed on the air as the water reached three or four feet in the parking lot. Our building Pago Plaza is located deep in the belly of Pago harbor close to seal level. The water stayed at that level for many minutes until it surged fantastically to around 15 feet. Tree, cars, buses, boats all rushed by in a river of mud just outside my window. I actually saw that my own car… a VW new Beetle was surprisingly boyant when floating on ut’s roof. We continued broadcasting for people to move to high ground. for the next 5 to ten minutes until the batteries on our back up power system died. There was lots of panic by the office staff and it was struggle to keep everyone calm while i was still on the air. When we went off the air and I grabbed a video camera to try to capture some of the action. The first thing I caught was the second wave and me and Lupe praying. I’ll post video later. All of the staff at the station went outside to the second floor balcony to see what was happening the air was filled with screams. The whole downstairs was completely washed out. The devastation was complete. Tables, windows, jewelry, trophies, dvds and bottles water lay strewn across the murky floor. The villagers immediately started looking for trapped survivors. I dedicated myself and my staff to helping those that were hurt and gathering food and water. I put out a call on the handheld EAS network walkit-talkie asking for a generator at my location then hooked up with two guys from the government to survey the damage in the area and look for gas leaks and live power lines. Debris was everywhere. Broken furniture mixed with old tires and trees. Children’s clothing and road signs crushed under telephone poles. All under a thick layer of much that smelled like chemicals and deisel. Two more lesser waves came but they were equally scary. We screamed for people to run up the mountain but they just ran down the street away from the wave rather than make a sharp left and up the steep mountain just feet away. We walked down the road only to find that people that weren’t trying to help had already begun looting the stores. Teenagers roamed the area with spray paint tagging buildings and overturned cars with meaningless scribble. We set up a security perimieter around our building and confirmed with plaza security that noone was trapped inside. Large fishing boats were washed up on land. The cars were washed into the harbor. I found my own car about 300 yards down the road upside down in the middle of a tennis court. I got a generator from a friend and got one of our FM’s back on the air about 3 hours later. John and Adam our TV guy showed during this time and helped get things situated, We performed our broadcast on low power over the next 5 hours just spreading information. Keep the roads clear. Beware of falling debris that may have shifted during the earthquake. Dissuade the looting. Body counts kept piling up. News from other islands was very sporadic. The cell phone networks were only working intermittently. Details were sketch…as they say. And talk about sketchy. By the time I finished my second or third patrol of the area, I was wigged out. I watched a slew of Taiwanese fisherman trying to get off a 100 ft. tuna boat that was leaning against the sea wall. School buses full of kids that were bring shipped back home were smiling and waving at all the excitement. Behind them were pick up trucks with two bodies in each of their beds covered up by lavalavas. Their feet were hanging out over the tailgate and I remember noticing that there was no mud on their feet. Everything is so nasty here. The other FM stations on the island were also on top of the situation so around 5:30pm, I signed off and sent everyone home with John and I caught a ride from some friends Rocco, Debra and Robert from the local Christian station KULA-LP who came to check things out and bring us water & food. As we drove through the area I saw more and more horrible things. The photos attached are from Rocco’s camera and some are from my camera phone. The place has changed. Where i buy my morning snacks is a concrete slab and Marge Crispin, the lady who makes the most delicious meatpies, is no badly injured at the hospital. The new day spa that my girlfriend Moana works at is no tiliting precariously on it’s foundation. The Korean store is gutted. The store where I get my lambflaps for lunch has a truck in it. The Sacred Heart aiga bus has a telephone pole skewering it like some sort of crazy shishkabob.Gas storage tanks at the fuel stations were carried off and leaking. Water mains are probably still gushing. The power generation plant near the canneries was badly hit but back up portable units were on the way in on big 18 wheelers. As we got further out of the belly of the harbor the damage was less and less noticeable. The radio station was ground zero for the worst natural disaster in recorded American Samoa history.

After grabbing some food, I took shower at my apartment and have been checking email and trying to spread as much info as possible on what happened. I’ve received calls and email from the USA, Canada, France, England, Australia and I think I’ll be on TV on the network morning show in a few hours. I can’t keep up with who I’ve talked to. The phone has rang every three minutes fot the past 3 hours….. I’ve been writing this email for two. It should have taken 15 minutes.

Best,

Joey Cummings
General Manager
93KHJ (KKHJ-FM)
V103 (WVUV-FM)
Island Info Channel 13
Island Music Channel 10
PO Box 6758
Pago Pago, AS 96799

“Advertising is nothing more than asking people to do business with you.”

NEED A VOICEOVER? Choose Chicago Voice Actor Justin Kaiser when making your next casting decision. Call me at (815) 401-4632.

TECHNICAL AND WEB CONSULTING: I’m also available for one on one gear setup, web-design, and podcast consulting. Whether you want someone to get everything set up for you or you just need a little help along the way, I’d love to work with you. Call me at (815) 401-4632.

Justin Kaiser
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All in all a great show put on by Don Anthony at Talentmasters and The Morning Mouth… but seriously, what joker books 200 or so morning radio “talent” into the same hotel as the Miss Jr. Teen USA convention with a bunch of 13 year olds?

Daniel Anstandig – McVay New Media’s 3 Reasons To Get Your Show Online

1. Develop an asset and platofrom of your own
2. It’s the new 24/7 Morning Show Promo
3. Supplement your morning show salary.

Top quotes…

“Be more brief and more to the point…  the world has ADD. “  Joel Denver – http://www.AllAccess.com

“Stop the Foreplay – Start the F**cking”  Steve Reynolds – The Reynolds Group

“The Ingredients Count” Kipper McGee

NEED A VOICEOVER? Choose Chicago Voice Actor Justin Kaiser when making your next casting decision. Call me at (815) 401-4632.

TECHNICAL AND WEB CONSULTING: I’m also available for one on one gear setup, web-design, and podcast consulting. Whether you want someone to get everything set up for you or you just need a little help along the way, I’d love to work with you. Call me at (815) 401-4632.

Justin Kaiser
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There are a variety of ways you might know the name of Darren Marlar. First and foremost, he’s been a drive-time radio personality for the past twenty years.

If you don’t know him from his on-air work, you might know him from his station imaging through Marlar House Productions – or perhaps you’re one of the over 1,000 radio personalities who have used his show prep in the past ten years.

Or maybe you know Darren Marlar as a clean standup comedian, as he performs in front of thousands of people every year. Or perhaps you’ve read his monthly humor column at TheChristianPulse.com. And we won’t even mention the possibility of an upcoming TV show.

His latest (and arguably biggest) venture is the creation of MARLAR 24/SEVEN (a.k.a., “The Darren Marlar Radio Show”).

According to Marlar, the product is a blending of both syndication and voice tracking – allowing a station to have a major market quality syndicated show, but have it be virtually local and yet remain affordable.
MARLAR 24/SEVEN comes with 35 fully produced cuts each weekday, several pages of dry voice work each month, a daily show promo, a monthly humor column by Darren for the affiliate station’s website, newsletter, etc., five “Power Charge” promos per month, a daily podcast for stations to make available to their listeners, and quite a bit more.

“This is something I’ve been thinking about for close to five years now,” says Marlar. “I’ve run it through my mind a million times but the timing never felt right until now.”

What made the timing right? For one thing, it was the possibility of unemployment. Marlar explains, “The announcement was made back in May that K-Love – that is, EMF Broadcasting, was purchasing the station (WQFL-FM). Everybody seems to think they know exactly what to expect when K-Love buys a station… you’re immediately out of a job, right? Turns out that’s not entirely true as they have decided to keep 101QFL live and local – but nobody, not even EMF, knew that would be the case at the time of the purchase.

“I didn’t really feel led to relocate, and the tiny amount of leads I had for radio jobs fell through very quickly anyway. So I resurrected the idea of having a syndicated radio show, and after a lot of thought and prayer it became abundantly clear that was the direction we needed to go. Doors began opening for us right from the start. Even before we had the website done (www.Marlar24Seven.com ) we already had our first affiliate: WWIL in Wilmington, North Carolina, which begins airing the show on Monday, August 3rd… and we’ve got a lot of stations asking about it already. It’s very exciting – I just wish I could get some sleep.”

To find out more about MARLAR 24/SEVEN, you can visit the website at http://www.Marlar24Seven.com , or call Bryon Poirier at 815/988-3210.

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Clearing out old e-mail and came across the following from Pinnacle Media Worldwide.

The news, five minutes sooner” was one of the counter- programming tactics the late Rick Sklar used when programming the legendary WABC-AM/New York in the 60s and 70s. While every New York City station was presenting news at the top of the hour, WABC delivered the news at 55 minutes after the hour. Rick knew being different was good, and presenting the news “five minutes sooner” allowed WABC to play music while every other station was talking and let news junkies know that they could hear news 5 minutes earlier than anywhere else. It was counter- programming tactics like this that helped WABC become the most listened to station in US radio history.

I can remember in one of the many CHR battles I fought, we deliberately hired a station voice talent that sounded completely different than the big deep generic voice heard on the competition. What Bobby Ocean lacks in resonate pipes, he makes up for in style. Bobby has an extraordinary ability to use his tenor voice like a fine-tuned musical instrument. He is phenomenal at bringing copy to life and painting pictures in listener’s minds. Bobby made a difference, and helped us turn around the station and annihilate the competition in 90 days.

The DMG Radio Group in Australia built a strategy on counter-programming the long commercial breaks heard on most stations Down Under. Instead of subjecting listeners to 10 ads in a row, the Nova stations promised to never play more than 2 ads in a row. And you know what, its working. Their stations in Sydney, Melbourne and Perth have become market leaders in a very short amount of time.

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Clearing out old e-mail and came across the following from Pinacle Media Worldwide…

Have you ever wondered why radio stations all present news at the same time? How about traffic and those annoying ads? Sometimes it seems like every radio station is playing commercials at the same time. If you haven’t thought about counter-programming lately, you need to know that savvy radio listeners are raising these questions in focus group after focus group. And it doesn’t matter whether we are moderating a focus group with listeners in the United States, Canada or Europe.

When I was first started learning about programming in the late 70s and early 80s, programmers were obsessed with counter-programming. Programmers stressed to disc jockeys how important it was to hit breaks on- time so they could beat the competitors back to music, or be playing a power song during their competitions ad breaks.

Today, counter-programming just doesn’t seem as important to radio programmers as it does to radio listeners. Maybe since consolidation has eliminated most of the head to head format battles, programmers just don’t think it is necessary anymore. Perhaps the lack of counter-programming today is partly responsible for the declines in Time Spent Listening, too.

Nowadays, many radio stations and radio markets, regardless of the music format, sound more or less the same. For instance, how many stations in your market or cluster air news around the same time, play ads at the same time, have big ballsy station voices, and only have female DJs on air in midday or as sidekicks? In the U.S. this past December, two to three stations in many markets claimed to be “The Official Christmas Music Station”.

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Just received an e-mail from a regular participant on BroadcastMastery.com…

“I’ve just gotten hired to voice-track a country station… how do I make it sound local and relevant?”

Tommie Lee from TommieAndTheBartender.com passes along some tips…

The only reasons I was even moderately successful during my two brief stints in Country without knowing the music are these:

1) I treated it like a Hot AC gig in terms of my delivery, because in essence, that’s what the format has become.
2) I wore out the content websites like a Bible in Salt Lake City.
3) I remembered that Country Radio isn’t a format so much as a cause. Those who love it are DEVOTED to it, and they’ll gut you if you screw with their baby.

—

And Darren Marlar offers this bit of info…

Go out and IMMEDIATELY get “Country Radio Weekly” if it’s still being published. When I was doing Country radio I found it invaluable for little odd day-in-the-life items for the artists. I often got compliments from the PD and the other jocks on my tremendous show prep, when all I did was use my typical day-to-day prep and added Country Radio Weekly to it. I had a 12-share on the weekends doing this.

As for radio show prep – feel free to use mine. http://www.onairprep.com.

DARREN MARLAR
No Cursing, Just Comedy.
www.DarrenMarlar.com

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I’m clearing out some e-mail this morning and came across an e-mail from Eric Rhoads. I thought it was well worth sharing…

Being a radio manager is like being a piece of wood in a vice: pressure from two sides, and you’re the one getting squeezed.

The company is cutting your resources, providing fewer tools and demanding that you hit impossible budgets. The client wants results and accountability. You also feel pressure from employees who need your support and demand more money, more resources and more time to hit budgets. You are over-stretched, under-compensated, over-worked and under-appreciated by clients, employees and the company. You’re ready to explode. And don’t forget the pressure to spend more time at home with the family.

Are you ready to scream yet? You’ve been holding it in too long. Do it. Go ahead. Close the door right now and let out a big, giant, primal, guttural scream: ARRRRGGGGGHHHHH!!

There, that feels better.

Ok, lets be realistic. Are things getting better? Are things getting less stressful? Is there an end in sight, or is the end the day you have a stroke from the pressure?

Einstein Was No Dummy
We’ve all heard Einstein’s definition of insanity: doing things over and over the same way and expecting different results. If this doesn’t describe radio, what does? Your company expects better performance from you and your team, yet most stations have fewer resources and fewer tricks in their bag. Does anyone have any earth-shattering ideas that offer renewed hope?

Outta Touch With Reality, Eric?
You probably think of me as an idealist, a magazine publisher with “out-there” ideas that don’t work in the real world. Yet, I have been a successful station manager and owner. I know reality. I also know that it’s human nature to cling to the past – even when it is not working – and resist new ideas. It’s just easier. When I was in the consulting business, every client in every market said, “Sure, your ideas worked there, but they won’t work here.” But, in spite of their resistance, the new ideas did work in their towns. I have to fight my own resistance try new things, to leap into the future. It’s frightening, it’s risky. I could fail. I have to force myself to stand on the ledge, because failure is a better option than staying stuck.

Did I Say Stuck?
Radio is stuck. Because I love it, I spend most of my time trying to get it unstuck. I got an e-mail today from a buddy referring to my Roy Williams conference. “Eric, the majority of radio managers fear what Roy teaches. It would be one thing if he advocated doing radio better, but Roy is a rebel, and his position challenges radio’s greed-infested culture.” The e-mail continued, “[Roy] teaches people to be better marketers, but he also preachers that they do the right thing. Sadly, doing the right thing takes a back seat to hitting the budget. It’s no longer about the local client; it’s about shareholders and reaching unrealistic budgets, at any cost. Roy is right for our time, but radio managers fear his message. Following Roy would result in a revolution. Radio doesn’t have the stomach for that. The revolution will come when clients possess the power to make radio do the right thing.”

A Secret Discussion With A Group Head
If I reveal the source of this, I’m out of business. “Eric, my biggest frustration is that leadership is non-existent in my company at the local level. No one wants to try anything new, no one wants to buck the company systems, everyone fears that it’s the company way or the highway. Maybe, if I had some rebels in the company, we could reinvent the way things are done in a few local markets, and pave an entirely new way for the company. It’s so *@$%* frustrating! The culture says innovation is a bad thing, but it’s what I crave. I wish just one manager, somewhere, would have the guts to buck the system.”

Are You A Follower Or Leader? Be Honest!
A follower would say, “I’m a company man (or woman). What they say goes. Right or wrong, I’m going to do what they say.” A leader would say, “We’re on a dead-end street. Somebody has to try something new – it might as well be me. I’m going to get fired anyway because, eventually, I won’t be good enough. I might as well go down in flames for trying something.” Revolution is required! Are you going to be the one to create a revolution in your market? Are you the person your boss is secretly hoping will originate ideas to reinvent the company? Are you really a follower?

Screaming Competitive Advantage
In a few weeks, Radio Ink will present one of the most amazing life-lesson teachers in the world of advertising. Roy H. Williams is not only a brilliant teacher; he is a brilliant strategist, a remarkable thinker and a very giving person. Every five years or so, Roy blows up his own theories and forces himself to find new, more relevant answers. In Dallas, you will be the first in radio, the first among advertisers and clients, to hear Roy’s newest theories. This is not what you heard at previous Radio Ink Roy Williams conferences; this is not what you have read in his best-selling books, this is not what he tells to the world’s top advertisers. This new, bleeding-edge information explains why traditional advertising models are dead, and outlines exactly how to survive – and thrive – in the world of advertising. Roy is not a radio guy or a radio trainer, but he spends tens of millions on radio – and the way he does it is about to change. You will know those secrets. This is not sales training, and this is not pro-radio hype. Roy will reveal how to open the floodgates of ad dollars in your local market. Advertisers will embrace you as the only person in town who understands their business and fills their stores with customers, while your competitors are still doing radio the old way. It will be like watching everyone else drive model Ts after you have driven a Formula racecar.

I’m About to Shut Up
For the past few Fridays, I’ve sent you an e-mail about this conference. When this conference sells out, I’ll fade away from your mailbox. My goal has been to sell 125 seats, to find 125 people who will be the leaders in their markets, who are bold, rebellious and a little crazy. So far I have found 105. Will 20 more reveal themselves in the next two weeks? Are you one of them? If you are expecting your company to send you, they probably won’t. Roy Williams is a threat to the status quo. If they do send you, they are indeed visionary. This is a career investment.

Change
Change is uncomfortable, but it will set you free from the bondage of mediocrity and the insanity of sameness. Twenty seats for 20 rebels. Isn’t it time you pulled your head out of the vice?

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I was clearing out some old e-mail and found the following from Tommy Kramer.
I get asked a lot about exactly how to do show prep.

It all starts with the Listener Profile for your station. Obviously, if your target demo is 18-34 males (like on a Talk or Rock station), your prep is going to be different than if you’re a 35-54 female-targeted Soft AC station. So that’s the first step—know who you’re talking to.

You have to know what SUBJECTS your listener cares about. You may have seen my coaching tip on the five subjects that always work (Jobs, Entertainment, Relationships, “The Buzz,” and “Things that grow out of the show”). Just use those to guide you, so you don’t waste time talking about things your listener doesn’t care about, and sift them all through The 3 Questions: Why is it on, where are you going with it, and what does it mean to me (the Listener)…here in my city…today?

The bottom line is that it’s not about what YOU find interesting. It’s about what’s relevant to your LISTENER’S LIFE, what’s top of mind for her/him, filtered through your experiences and observations. Use the available tools of magazines, TV and movies. Examples: Female targeted? Watch “Oprah” or “Live with Regis and Kelly.” Young male targeted? Watch “The Bachelor.” Consider the differences in how a man feels about “American Idol” as opposed to a woman. Movies? Same thing. My wife saw “Finding Nemo” in the theater with our little nephew, rented it to watch it again, and now wants me to buy her a copy for her birthday. I watched it once, thought it was cute, and now I’m ready to move on.

Then it’s a matter of putting it into a form that your listener will find most interesting. Don’t just read some newspaper or magazine article to me, or make some generic comment. That’s not content, it’s just a deejay quacking.

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An interesting article from my friend Paul Weyland…

I assess the power of a will by how much resistance, pain, torture it endures and knows how to turn to its advantage. –Friedrich Nietzsche

For many stations local direct sales is now the only hope to make budget. But if broadcasters want to stimulate long-term local direct sales we’ve got to ditch the out-dated model and go back to good basic strategic selling tactics.
We’re our own worst enemy. Even now as local direct clients need us more than ever, we’re still not stepping up to the plate for them. Broadcast salespeople seem stuck in a late ’90s time warp, still offering clients the same old rankers and cheap packages. But in this financial climate local decision makers aren’t buying. The fact is they’re cutting back or canceling. Why? Because in a recession our old ’90s sales model of answering the phone and taking the order isn’t working for the clients anymore. From this point on we must earn our money the old-fashioned way by first earning the respect of local business owners. Earning client respect requires broadcast sellers to have two important skills:
1. The ability to convince decision makers that advertising is a necessary and measurable long-term investment, not a gamble or a luxury.
2. The ability to do the client’s advertising and marketing thinking for him. In other words the broadcast seller must learn how to come up with short and long-term rock-solid creative strategies that will capture the hearts and minds of the client’s potential customers without sacrificing the client’s price. We can’t leave it up to the client any more.
Let’s face it. Most local clients don’t have a long-term marketing and advertising plan. In fact, most local businesses don’t even have a short-term plan. It’s evident as they jump from radio to broadcast television to cable to print with no discernable creative strategy and then when times get tough they cancel. It’s not their fault that they’re ignorant about what broadcast advertising could do for them especially in a bad economy, it’s our fault. By properly educating local direct clients now we can stop the cancellations, get more appointments and close long-term business with big ideas.
Later in this article we’ll discuss how to come up with big creative ideas. But now we’ll cover three reasons local clients are canceling and how you should respond.
• Nobody has any money. Why throw our good money after bad? Intelligent business owners realize that even in a tough economy people are still buying. A recession economy simply means that we must fish deeper to catch your fair share of the consumers that still can and will buy what you’re selling from either you or your competitor some time this week. How can these consumers buy from you if they’re not even thinking about who you are, what you do or how to get in touch with you? For those not ready to buy this week we’re starting the branding process so that in the future when they are ready to purchase they will think about you rather than your competitors. And at the same time you’re investing in dominating your product/service category so that your share of the market will grow as the economy comes back. There you are, three great reasons to advertise with you all year long, especially in a tough economy.

• My competition isn’t advertising. Why should I? You just said it. Because your competition has cut back or isn’t advertising means you have a chance of a lifetime to steal some of their customers now, build your brand in the minds of consumers as your competitor’s brand is weakening and dominate your category. Studies from previous recessions concluded that businesses that continued to advertise did much better than those who didn’t.

• I don’t have the money right now to gamble on advertising. Gamble? Really?

You’re a divorce attorney. Your gross margin of profit is 60 percent after the cost of labor. Your average sale for a contested divorce with children is what? 15-20 thousand dollars? Per 5 thousand a week spent on advertising how many new customers would we have to bring you?

You’re a remodeler. Your average sale is 30 thousand dollars and your gross margin of profit is 30 percent after the cost of materials. Per 5 thousand a week spent on our station how many new customers would we have to bring you?

You’re a plumber. Your gross margin of profit is 40 percent after the cost of labor and your average sale is 300 dollars. Per five thousand per week spent on advertising how many new customers must we bring you?
You sell furniture. Your average sale is 900 dollars on a gross margin of profit of 44 percent after the cost of the merchandise. How many new customers would we have to bring you to justify a 5 thousand dollar weekly budget on our station?

You are an Internet service provider. Your average sale on a T-1 line is 575 dollars a month on a gross margin of profit of 70 percent after the cost of labor. But nobody buys just one month. So your average sale is really nearly 7 thousand dollars for an annual contract. How many new customers would we really have to bring you to justify our tiny little 10 thousand dollar weekly schedule on our station?

You run a body shop. Your average sale is 12 hundred dollars on a gross margin of profit of 45 percent after the cost of labor. How many new customers must we bring you in order to break even on our 5 thousand dollar weekly schedule?
Gamble? No. Looks like a good calculated risk to me. Once the client understands that it is in his best interest to advertise consistently, even in tough times and that advertising is not gambling but a good calculated risk he will be much more likely to buy your station on a long-term basis and your rate will be the last thing on his mind.
The Big Idea
One of the biggest reasons clients say, “I tried radio/television once and it didn’t work,” is because the commercial does not sell. A vast majority of local business owners are not qualified to handle their own marketing and advertising. So why do so many clients dictate the creative? They think that their account executive doesn’t know any more about the difference between good and bad copy than they do (correct most of the time). And when you combine stingy budgets with bad commercials you’ve got yourself a train wreck.
It is our job to come up with a five-year marketing and advertising strategy for the client and it’s not that hard to do. We’ll use pure logic to help the client come up with a specific Identifiable Difference (what makes our client’s business identifiably different from his competitors in language that would solve a consumer’s problem). Then we’ll stick with that idea for five years. A good long-term idea is worth gold to a local businessperson and he’ll gladly reward the person who brings him that good idea. . As I’ve said before, when the client fully understands that our idea for his success is better than his, he will open his wallet and let us take the creative lead.
Here are a few great long-term ideas. I’m not interested in hard-sell or soft-sell, only deep sell. When sell deep in our commercials and identify and solve problems that keep consumers awake at night, it’s no longer a pesky spot…it’s a public service announcement.
Divorce attorney- This approach works. If you’ve been threatened with divorce you are in no emotional condition to make financial decisions that might affect the rest of your life. At _______ Law Firm we protect our clients like a big, big brother. We’ll make sure you get exactly what you’ve got coming to you. And your disloyal spouse? We’ll make sure they get what’s coming to them as well. Call us at ____________.
Do you think we might catch a few fish with that bait?
Remodeler- Fact…People are less likely to be moving to a new home in this economy. Fact… Because of more than a few bad apples people are wary of the remodeling industry. So for five years we’ll run a series of testimonials by the client’s happy customers. Additionally your client will educate your audience on the benefits of remodeling by telling stories of how he changed lives by changing homes to fit the people who live in them. He’ll remind spouses that good cooks deserve nice kitchens. He’ll remind the elderly that by refitting their present home with railings, ramps and wider halls and entry ways they won’t have to move to an assisted living facility, etc. Reward is a powerful sell. Remind women that their spouse deserves a cool new garage. Remind men that their wives deserve a new kitchen or garden bath.
Plumber-If the plumber doesn’t already have an easy to remember telephone help him get one. Plumbing problem? Call 777 POOP. If we’re not there within the hour the service call is free. Why would a plumber give anybody any reason to have to play Russian roulette in the Yellow Pages when they need to call a plumber? For at least five years we’ll burn the number into the heads of our listeners or viewers.
Furniture-When home sales are down that means the furniture business is down. Smart furniture store owners remind your audience that new furniture might be the least expensive remodeling they could do. Sell one piece per commercial, the same as you would if the customer was on the showroom floor.
Computer services- Data backup and storage, disaster relief, T-1 lines. Scare the living Hell out of people. Constantly remind your audience of what could happen if their computer files were compromised by weather, fire, hackers, thieves or breakdown. What’s on your computer? Your client’s confidential data? All of your photographs? All of your music? Your daughter’s wedding video?
Body Shop or automotive repair- Ask any group of women if they have ever felt intimidated or ripped off by an automotive repair place. Nearly 100 percent will raise their hands. There is a huge opportunity in every market for one auto repair facility with a good reputation with women to run dozens of testimonials with woman after woman telling their stories and saying, “I totally trust him.”
Media sales is a thinking person’s game. Coming up with great ideas is part of the fun. To be successful in this business we need to take control of the budget and the creative. If your station needs help getting sellers to come up with and sell big ideas hire a good trainer.
When you present big ideas to your clients and convince them that their calculated risk is low they will buy you long-term at rate card, regardless of your ratings, your geography or your programming.

NEED A VOICEOVER? Choose Chicago Voice Actor Justin Kaiser when making your next casting decision. Call me at (815) 401-4632.

TECHNICAL AND WEB CONSULTING: I’m also available for one on one gear setup, web-design, and podcast consulting. Whether you want someone to get everything set up for you or you just need a little help along the way, I’d love to work with you. Call me at (815) 401-4632.

Justin Kaiser
Tags: audience, broadcast, budget, consumers, ego, ev, fair share, fish, hack, heart, irs, job, listener, listeners, marketing, money, noun, pens, pot, prod, radio, recession, salespeople, testimonials

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NEED A VOICEOVER? Choose Chicago Voice Actor Justin Kaiser when making your next casting decision. Call me at (815) 401-4632.

TECHNICAL AND WEB CONSULTING: I’m also available for one on one gear setup, web-design, and podcast consulting. Whether you want someone to get everything set up for you or you just need a little help along the way, I’d love to work with you. Call me at (815) 401-4632.

Justin Kaiser
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After working in Wisconsin radio for several years in the 90’s I remember my first morning gig at WLDY playing an hour of Polka in the mornings. As the song goes… “In Heaven There Is No Beer… That’s Why We Drink It All Here…”

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