SHOW ME THE PREP

I recently saw a post on Facebook from a radio personality that was upset he wasn't going to get his show prep service over the holiday.  I certainly hope nobody is using a prep service for 100% of their show.  If you are, then you probably have nothing on our show that a listener couldn't get someplace else.

Don't get me wrong, having multiple sources of prep is great.  The more the merrier.  There's a lot of great show prep sites out there that are well worth the barter.  Most have great stuff, but the one thing they don't have is what ONLY YOU can bring to your show.  Your own stories, experiences and thoughts.  You can't find that stuff in any show prep service.

When I was on the air everyday, I always had a note pad in my car and by my bed.  I wrote down everything that I thought would work on my show.  Only about 25%-30% of what I wrote down actually made it on the air, but that 25%-30% of my show was stuff that no competitor had.  I used life as my show prep and supplemented it with a great national show prep service.

You should always have a wide variety in your prep.  Pack your show with different things like pop culture stories, celebrity news, tons of audio (all things you can get from show prep services), listener calls and a lot of local stuff.  Remember, you also need to bring relatable things that happened to you.  Those won't come from any show prep service.  They can only come from you.

Ask yourself this, what kind of show would you have if the internet went away tomorrow?

HOW'S YOUR CUSTOMER SERVICE?

Have you seen this video?  Watch it then come back and read on (if the link below doesn't work, go to You Tube and search "Why Lego Is The Best Company In The World.")

 

WHY LEGO IS THE BEST COMPANY IN THE WORLD

What a great move from Lego and they probably didn't even know the family would record the little boys reaction and then have it go viral.

How's your customer service?  Probably not that good.

I've always had a problem with radio people calling frequent winner's "Prize Pigs" behind the winner's back.  After reading that little boys letter, it's clear that Lego didn't refer to one of their most loyal customers in a negative way.

I'm not sure if the call back/response rate is bad in every industry, but it's brutal in radio.  And I'm just not talking about responding to listeners, I'm talking about responding to job seekers, product vendors and clients.

Why do radio people hardly ever call back or respond to listeners?  I know we are all busy with a lot of stuff on our plates, but EVERYONE deserves a call back or response. 

I was really touched watching this video.  It made me feel really good about the story and their product (even though Legos are really expensive, I now feel better about buying them for my kids and will continue to do so).  I want to spread the word of how they treated a loyal customer.

Word of mouth is great advertising.  Make sure your listeners and clients are saying great things about you, and that starts with great customer service and great customer service starts with a call back or a response to an e-mail.

I think this video is a lesson for all of us.

BE THANKFUL

 

 

 

Today is Thanksgiving and I thought it would be good to reflect on some things we should be thankful for working in radio.

Now before you roll your eyes, I know times are tough, not just in our industry, but nearly every industry (glad I don't work for Hostess right now).  Radio is still a great gig and sometimes we need to be reminded of a few things to be thankful for.

• We work in radio. We play music and connect with people for a living. Pretty cool.

• We get to go to concerts for free and many times meet the artists backstage.

• We don't have to get up at 5am in the cold pouring rain to collect people’s trash or roof a house when it's 95 degrees in the blazing sun.

• We get to talk to thousands of people each day that think of us as a friend. We have thousands of friends!

• We get to create magic (or at least you should be creating magic).

• We get to listen to music and get paid for it.

• Many of the biggest stars in country music know us by name.

• Our office environment is unlike any other place on the planet. Try working for a lawyer or CPA. Their offices are boring and stale. I've never worked in a radio station where someone didn't have a guitar in their office and played it often.

• Most of us are doing what we've wanted to do since we were kids. I bet most of your non radio friends can't say that.

•  Nearly 95% of all Americans listen to radio each week. That's an impressive number. Very few media outlets connect with that many people each week.

• Each day we get to make people laugh, cry and think.

• Every day is different. Perfect for radio people that have ADD...which is most of us.

• We get free tickets to nearly everything.

• Competition makes us all better and radio has a lot of it.

Stay positive and take this weekend to think about all the great things that come with working in radio. There are many.