Radio Ink Magazine March 8, 2021

I’ve never met Aurora James. In fact, I had not heard of her until she was introduced to me recently in the way so many people and things are these days: featured on a news program to which I was only half-listening that broke through whatever I was doing and made me sit up and pay attention. And I was glad I did. Aurora James is the Canadian-born, New York based-founder and creative director of Brother Vellies, producing luxury fashion accessories made by African artisans. With an impressive background in fashion, journalism, art, music, photography, and horticulture, she started her company in 2013, driven by a desire to save indigenous crafts. Within two years she had won a $300,000 CFDA/ Vogue Fashion Award and in 2019 she was named one of…

2021 is a critical year for the radio industry to show strength, stability, and steadfastness when it comes to revenue growth. It is paramount that every opportunity be maximized when it comes to revenue opportunities and market dominance. No automatic-pilot approach is acceptable. How can sales and programming — two of the most vital departments at any radio property — really execute this year and perform at the highest level? A good beginning approach is to match brand focus on the sales side with brand essence on the programming side. As step one, the program director should define and refine the “elevator pitch” for the radio station. BusinessDictionary.com defines the elevator pitch as “a very concise presentation of an idea covering all of the critical aspects and delivered within a few seconds (the approximate duration…

If one were to assume that a blank sheet of paper — complete freedom — is the best way to coax maximum creativity from the human mind, one would be wrong. The highest levels of creativity are launched from the tightest constraints. Consider this request made a couple of weeks ago by a student in our monthly webcast. “Hi, Roy, I work with a micro-distillery in our province who recently developed a lower-priced brand of affordable liquor. It is called: lōk(ə)l and they spell it phonetically, with a k and a schwa (ə) “They make vodka, gin, and schnapps packaged in plastic bottles. How can we advertise this on the radio to get people to look for the right product? Not to mention there is some muddiness marketing ‘local’ when everyone is jumping…

The question is, what’s more important? A great radio product that delivers great ratings or a great sales department that generates more than its fair share of revenue based on the ratings? That “chicken or egg” question has been heard in the hallways of radio stations for decades. The answer is “sales.” I’ve seen great sales departments generate bigger revenue than a station’s ratings deserved. I’ve seen highly rated radio stations fail because a sales department couldn’t sell advertising. We are in a for-profit business. You cannot succeed if you don’t have more income than expense. That’s a pretty basic formula, and it shouldn’t surprise anyone — yet it does. If I could crawl into a time machine and go back to the early days of my career, I would immediately introduce myself…

At 21, Josh Bookman took his place as “Son” at Bookman & Son Fine Jewelry. The store, established by his dad in 1993 in an upscale neighborhood in the Cleveland suburb of Brecksville, did little in the way of advertising. Bookman, married and with his first child, was paid $35,000 to help grow the business. “Dad tried to promote the business in the cheapest way possible,” says Bookman. “Local weekly newspapers, church bulletins, shopping cart placards, a little local cable. Business was okay, about a million dollars a year, but the debt was mounting.” So he started looking for ways to advertise. He knew more business would mean a bigger salary for him and his growing family, and the ability to inherit a successful legacy someday. “We took one big leap in 2006,”…

I hate to break it to you, but just because you’ve launched a podcast doesn’t mean people are going to find you. The space is crowded, with a lot of people doing podcasts of varying degrees of craftsmanship. If you’re doing a podcast that does sound good (to listeners, not just your friends), it can be very frustrating to find that your audience is small and not growing. Here are 10 ways to get your podcast noticed. 1. Know your audience. This is the most important thing, and something that people don’t spend much time researching. It’s not just a matter of knowing who your target demo is, but also knowing what their interests are, what other podcasts they like, and what makes them click on links. 2. Find your audience. Now…