Posts Tagged Advice

Aren’t we on the right track?

Posted by Rob Paterson in Advice, Business Model, Collaboration, Context, Engagement, Experts, Impact, Reinvention on November 4th, 2009

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I think that Mark Ramsey is one of the best thinkers about radio today – here is a very helpful post that I think sums up what we are all trying to do in the FTMC project. His focus is for profit – but the ideas remain true for all of us.

As we come to the end of the year – I look forward to looking at what we have learned – my bet is that it is more than we think!

  • We are solving problems
  • We are organized around an audience/people versus a platform
  • We work directly with our partners – some of who will fund the work
  • We are creating whole channels and platforms for content
  • We are measuring outcomes rather than ears and eyeballs”

He starts with this provocation:

“Don’t read this if you don’t care about radio’s future or if you’re counting down the days to your retirement.

Every now and then some thinking comes along that puts it all in perspective. This piece from Ad Age is one such summation of thinking that has been bubbling up over the past few months from folks like Tom Asacker and others.

What is the blueprint for what radio will need to be to compete successfully as a vital enterprise in the years to come?

The trajectory of our future can be summed up as follows:

Almost every consumer marketer I’ve spoken to…is moving toward the goal of making marketing more outcome-specific, targeted, useful and conversational, and less about blasting of what we’ve generally called “brand” messages via specific platforms. They see some of today’s media companies as shaping into useful potential partners in those efforts, and others as increasingly redundant — and they’re spending less and less with the latter.

The radio – media – company of the future will:

1. Act more like a marketing company than a media company.

Says Ad Age: “Good partners will be marketing companies, operations set up and focused on solving brand marketers’ problems by means of the connection they can create with an audience and results that connection can deliver.”

In other words, the model will shift from selling access to listener ears in bulk toward selling solutions to marketers’ problems via connections. That is essentially the difference between “advertising” and “marketing,” so choose your side of the fence wisely.

2. Be organized around an audience and not a platform.

Broadcasters frequently talk about being “platform agnostic,” but too often what that really means is putting our radio signal in other places or on other devices. That’s just transporting the problem, not solving it. Your job is to rally an audience of raving fans and satisfy the appetites of those fans while connecting them to the marketers who crave them. Period.

3. Work directly with marketers.

Being bought off a ranker is not the same as working in partnership with marketers. Increasingly, the ranker-buyers will be the obstacles to our success, not the reason for it.

4. Not just create spaces for ads next to content, it’ll create whole media channels and platforms for brands

Writes Ad Age: “Brands want to be at the center of content and communities and they’re going to create these channels with or without media companies.” It’s up to us to bring the talent to the party and to build these channels in concert with advertisers. Or they will simply build them without us.

5. Employ technologists who can build device-agnostic platforms for marketers.

Note the distinction between building these platforms for marketers and building them for your radio brands. Recognize above all else who is in the driver’s seat. Hint: It’s not your radio brand. It’s your radio brand’s customer base, the marketers.

6. Know how to deliver instantaneous gratification when it comes to measurement, and it’ll be measuring outcomes not outputs. A rating…stat is not going to be enough in the future, and certainly not when it’s presented weeks after the fact.

The dawn of the post-Arbitron world is before us”

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Unemployed? A Great Resource

Posted by Rob Paterson in Advice, Personal Story on October 22nd, 2009

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Amber Johnson sent me this 100 item resource today – real – personal – effective and the POV of taking control – brilliant. Here is how it starts:

Whether you’re fresh out of college and looking for work or trying to get back in the workforce, unemployment can be quite a predicament. Chances are, you’ll need all the help you can get. Make use of these lifehacks to make your unemployed life just a bit easier.

General

Make use of these general unemployment lifehacks.

  1. Appreciate being unemployed: Enjoy your unemployment while it lasts.
  2. Stay social: Make sure you keep putting an effort into maintaining a good social life.
  3. Get a business card: This tiny tool can help you connect with others, especially employers, in a really big way.
  4. Improve your mindset: Use unemployment as an opportunity to tackle problems in your life.
  5. Join a support group: Get help with unemployment by seeking out libraries, churches, and other organizations that offer unemployment support groups.
  6. Give yourself an assessment: Look at your strengths and think about what you really want to do now that you’ve left your old job.
  7. Stay positive: Look on the bright side and take advantage of your time unemployed.
  8. Make friends with your librarian: Visit your library for free entertainment, job hunting help, and great community resources.


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Survival – Not just being local but being vital to your community

Posted by Rob Paterson in Advice, Context, Engagement, Experts, Impact, Journalism, Local, Personal Story, Reinvention on October 10th, 2009

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Here is a find by Mark Ramsey – whose opinion I value more than most:

It’s Not About “Being Local”

When you can’t compete with the same headlines folks can get everywhere else, you focus on the local stories they can’t get anywhere else.

That’s how they did it at this small-town newspaper.

It’s not about “being local,” my broadcasting friends. It’s about mattering to your local community because what you do there is essential and irreplaceable.

Never confuse the two.

Here’s the video from the NBC Nightly News. Click the post title if the embed is invisible.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

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KERA’s Great Tips for Managing your Money In Tight Times

Posted by Rob Paterson in Advice on September 17th, 2009

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Trying to make sense of your finances?

Beth Kobliner, author of the best-selling book “Get a Financial Life: Personal Finance in Your Twenties and Thirties,” offered some key insights on the television special Your Life, Your Money.

The program broadcast on KERA-TV Sept. 9, but you can watch it online here.

Here are Beth Kobliner’s Top Ten Tips for Keeping Your Finances on Track

1. Your 401(k) is still your best financial friend. Wall Street’s meltdown knocked 50% out of the value of a lot of retirement accounts, but the best place to save for the future is still a 401(k) with matching employer contributions—which are basically free money. If your company kicks in 50 cents for every dollar you contribute, that’s like earning an interest rate of 50 percent. And if you’re nervous about putting money in the stock market right now, your 401(k) offers a menu of less risky choices.

2. Quit living on borrowed cash. With credit card rates and penalties rising and credit limits falling, now is the time to rein in your debt. Make it a priority to pay off your credit card balances, starting with those that charge the most interest. Even if you pay just $10 a month more than the minimum on your cards, you can save thousands of dollars.

3. Guard your credit score. Get a sense of your score for free at sites like creditkarma.com (or pay about $16 to get the real thing from myfico.com). If you’re in good shape, stay that way: Don’t close any accounts without a good reason, and go on paying your bills on time. One missed payment could mean a higher-rate mortgage in the future, amounting to tens of thousands of dollars in extra interest.

4. If you have health insurance, hang on to it. If you get laid off, see if your ex-company will extend your health coverage for a few months as part of your severance package. Even if that doesn’t fly, under the law known as COBRA, you are legally entitled to keep your current coverage for 18 months if you pay for it yourself. And thanks to the new economic stimulus package, the government will pick up 65 percent of the bill.

5. Automate your finances. Set up automatic payment on regular bills (phone, electric, etc.) to prevent late fees that can damage your credit. Timely payments are the most important factor in your credit score, and the one you have the most control over. Opt in for email or text alerts from your bank before your credit card bill is due. And automate your saving habits, too. If your company won’t deposit part of your paycheck directly into your savings account, set up a monthly transfer through your bank’s website.

6. Keep emergency money in a safe place. Ignore people who say it’s dumb to keep money in a savings account paying just 1 percent or 2 percent. These accounts may not earn much interest, but at least you know your money’s protected. Find the best rates at bankrate.com and then work to save at least three months’ worth of living expenses in case you lose your job or get really sick.

7. Use every trick at tax time. Make sure to open an IRA and take advantage of tax savings. You can contribute up to $5,000 to a traditional IRA and get a tax break of as much as $1,250. Also, see whether you’re eligible to deduct student loan interest and job-hunting expenses, as well as whether you qualify for the latest tax breaks for homebuyers.

8. Speak up. If you want real answers (or any sort of break), pick up the phone and talk with a lender, a bank, an investment company, a landlord, or even an airline (if you’re trying to use your frequent flyer miles). Asking for the retention desk at your credit card company will give you an opportunity to argue your case for a lower interest rate.

9. Get real about buying a home one day. The days of banks giving mortgages to everyone with a pulse are over, so if you plan to buy a home, make sure to keep your credit score in top shape and save a down payment (at least 3 percent, but many lenders will want to see 20 percent) even before you start looking. Mortgage rates are low right now so if you’re in good shape, take advantage of them.

10. Don’t waste money. Where can you cut back? Think convenience-store coffee (99 cents) versus an extra-flavor venti latte ($4 plus), tap water rather than bottled, and shopping your closet rather than the racks. Keep an eagle eye on your bottom line. And watch out for ATM fees, overdraft penalties, and other service charges that cost the average American around $100 a year.

See how your finances shape up using the special calcuators for retirement planning and paying off credit cards on the Your Life, Your Money Web site.

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