English - its not my strong point

I was talking to my sister Jane or Doctor Jane as Im sure she now prefers to be known - kidding Jane! - about the miss use of English.  I was reminded about our conversation when I read on many facebook and twitter updates that grammer is knowing the difference between knowing your shit and knowing you’re shit.

I must stress that I’m not an English snob, probably dyslexic (although I spelt dyslexic right but couldn’t then spell “spelt” ffs!!!) a bit lazy in the English department. I dont read much unless its work, fact or news related - although that’s changing with the Kindle and my Blackberry Playbook - so i don’t claim to be an expert.  I have no real idea about the difference between “:” and “;” which infuriates Linda (Mrs Walker to her friends) and 5 minutes after she has told me, i forget again.

The point I’m making is that I have no fetishes about getting English precisely correct yet some things really do bug me. Particularly, and this was the discussion I had with Jane, using words that are just not necessary. As in radio traffic people saying “shear weight of traffic” what has the word shear got to do with it.

While on the subject of radio, newsreaders who use 5 sentences to say what can be accomplished in 1 - why.  Presenters whos’ desire to hit the vocal on a track that they just ramble to get there - why. Wow, that was a tester - where to put the apostrophe after whos, hope I got it right.

When we communicate, lets get close to our reader.

Its one of the first rules of radio that is, unfortunately, ignored to often. “Never distance yourself from your listener”.  It is largly about the intimacy of radio, the fact that the broadcaster is talking to one person.  There maybe 1 million people listeneing but they are listening on their own. Maybe in a car, maybe at work or at home, listening is a solitary activity. Even if you are in a crowded place, listening isnt a community event.

So, the rule holds, that the broadcaster - the same goes for a writer - should keep their conversation close to the listener, avoid the in house joke, the studio conversation between Smashy and Nicey. Avoid expressions that convey distance “you out there” “us here” type stuff.  avoid “over there in” as your listener may well be in that location and to say that indicates that you arent.  All clever psychology eh!

My point, however, isnt about radio.  Its about marketing materials generally and blogs attempting to market goods and services.  Shouldn’t we (notice what i did there) be inclusive in the way we come across to our reader.  Shouldnt we work harder to get closer to people as that is how we build trust and develop our relationship with our listener or reader?

Now, is the paragraph about more intimate and personal than …Shouldn’t you  be inclusive in the way you come across to your reader.  Shouldn’t you work harder to get closer to people as that is how you build trust and develop your relationship with your listener or reader?

Which reads better, from the customers point of view?

Time for some fresh ideas?

We live in some competitive times in the radio industry.  Recession, increased competition from higher numbers of radio stations and the relentless growth of the web with the new opportunities that affords to advertisers. Testing times indeed.

How should we meet those issues? Heads in the sand and just cut the spot rate? - if everyone does that then we just drive down inventory value and nobody wins.

Two thoughts really, one old and one not so.

Creative, sell the creative. Do what newsprint doesn’t, what the web doesnt.  Get inside the head of the client and get creative.  My fact find, free to anyone that asks, has two pages of pointers to help me get inside the clients thoughts.  Its not enough to take an order for spots, ask what the product is and draft a script brief, complete with telephone number and web address.  Get to the offer, the USP, the reason why a listener may choose their product over another’s.  Get those things. get why people use them, why the use competitors, who their customer is, gender, age, car they drive.  Use that information to think about the creative brief. Do these things well and you have a client for life.

Interactive, think about what we have.  Radio people control a wonderful medium, remember, we get inside peoples heads, we get intimate, we get personal and then we drop sales messages into that relationship… so, why arent we doing that with our own ideas and those of our clients in a more interactive way.  

A lot of radio stations have done the stack it high and sell it cheap brand builder, that works to some degree.  Fewer have tried the restaurant offer, works well. - working with some great restaurant clients and a great listener offer.  Fewer still have worked that offer with retailers - why not?  What about building partnership sites for clients to use, job adverts, business listings, local events.

We collectively operate the best marketing medium available. Use it, get creative. 

Final thought - I developed a classifieds ads system that is bought, paid for, script written - all off the website. Revenue that would never come a radio station’s way, now does. Want to know how? email me.

local radio and twitter #fail No2

I blogged recently about local radio’s tendancy to talk about the twittersphere and share with the listener whats trending in the world and neglect what is trending locally.

Ive come to the conclusion that this isnt the only misuse of twitter by local radio.  Twitter is a conversation, the best radio presenters have a conversation with their listener. So, why are we so arrogant that we dont listen to what the listener has to say.  Why do we use the radio twitter accounts to follow so few people in the arrogant presumption that we are important enough to be followed but the listener isnt important enough to us to follow then back.

Its not as though we are only allowed one twitter account.  We can follow the news and information sources using a relatively obscure account and still be curtious enough to follow back a listener that has taken the trouble to add the studio to their follow list.

If a station follows back, what does it say to the listener?  It says, you are valued to me, I want to know what you have to say, you are my friend.  And that friends is exactly the relationship that we want.  That is when we have brand loylaty, when the listener knows they have a two way street.

You can set up fancy twitter software such as tweetdeck so that you can filter the information, you can select information that is of particular interest, filter for mentions and retweet, filter content and exclude timelines. 

So, why are we not using these tools to engage with the listener?  I can only imagine that its the lovie in us, that we think we are important and that people should follow us but we are too important to reciprocate.

If we need to follow information sources, create another account. Use twitter to engage your listener. 

Twitter & Local #radiofail

I listen to a lot of local radio, its my job, so its a sort of necessity.  I don’t just listen to the stations that I may be working for but to their competitors and others in the broadcast market place.

There is a recent trend that is getting on my nerves - Twitter.  Don’t get me wrong, I use twitter, have an account with a couple of thousand followers, see some - perhaps not all -of its benefits. All round, I like it but that isnt the point of this blog post.

At various times of the day, various radio presenters on various local radio stations (all names removed to protect the less than innocent) will tell me what is trending on twitter in the world at large…. and the point is?  As I am listening to local radio do they not think that I might actually care about what is trending at a local level? Would that not be of more interest than what is trending across the globe. Perhaps not always, but wouldn’t it be better to have a mix of what is trending rather than just the pater I can get by loging into twitter myself. It displays a lack of thought, prep and knowledge to me.

This picking up on easy, trendy subjects reminds me that some of these people haven’t a clue about what their audience might be thinking or why they might be listening.  The presenters who do this perhaps think that they are on one of the mighty BBC nationals where localness just doesn’t matter.  Wake up chaps and chapesses … its the only reason the listener tunes to you, localness.

Stop with the Dave Doubledecks delivery and start to think about your listener.

Management - its not a process

Gosh its a while since I blogged.  Fresh back from holiday, I thought hey ho, why not write a bit.

Its always amazed me that people proclaim themselves as good managers when all they really do is follow a process.  This is particularly true of large organisations but can also infect smaller companies. If management was as easy as following a predefined process could replace managers with computers and just work the binary process and flow chart to the desired result.

A manager is someone who controls destiny, who uses rules and procedures appropriately to full fill that destiny and not as a crutch to lean on all the time. A good manager, in my view, understands their team, knows what motivates them as individuals as well as a team. Understands their commitments to the organisation and their role in other environments.  They also need to lead … how does a jobs worth process follower lead people? They dont.

In addition, and I appreciate that some rules are necessary and some people like a structured environment, the more pseudo managers impose silly rules the less likely that the staff member buys into the ethos of the organisation.  One jobs worth reaction provokes a jobs worth response. 

I can see the odd person who has worked for me in the past thinking “he was a right ba**** with me” well that may be what was needed Andrew! lol only joking about the “Andrew” bit  The point being, a manager of people needs to modify their behaviour depending on who they are managing.

Douglas Bader said “Rules are for the obedience of fools and the guidance of wise men.” how very true and not just about management

Ofcom and Annual Reports

Managers of community radio stations know that once every year they have to file a report on their activities with Ofcom.  Not many people outside the radio industry are aware of this or ever read it, or indeed anything about it.  This report is considered, with others, and forms a Ofcom report on the community radio sector of the broadcast industry.

Ofcom’s annual report for 2010/11 is just out and it makes interesting reading.  Like the economy this sector of the radio industry has reduced its turnover per station as public sector support and advertising revenue shrinks.  It will be an interesting few years for community radio as they 231 licences issued face a tough economic time.

I have bloged previously on my opinions about community radio and, what I believe to be, an over reliance on public sector grants.  I think I called it, “too many social workers” or something similar. In increasingly difficult economic conditions, where tough decisions are being made about public services, Community Radio really needs to prove its value in communicating messages and opportunities if these stations are to survive and flourish. 

Off the top of my head I can think of stations that are closely connected to their listener, add value, inform and educate and I can also think of stations that have no real benefit except for the volunteers that produce it.  Which of those stations will survive in this climate? I hope its the former and that the later adapt and become more relevant and therefore important to their communities.

There is a strange thing for me, and I guess some of the other authors of the radio stations annual returns and thats to read what you have written quoted in the more substantive report.  Often as a benchmark.  It adds another inch or two as you walk and think “I did that!”

I haven’t blogged in a while, if you dont count the 5 times a day on the other site!

Its been a while since I visited my tumblr account. Too long, or not long enough dependent on you view of my blogging skills.

Since the last time Ive been blogging several times a day on a new site called www.InTameside.com.  Friends and I came to the conclusion that there was a gap in the market for a site that mixed news, events and other features (yet to come) in a localised web site.

With decreasing interest in print and increasing news sources coming online it may appear obvious as it does to friends and I.  Create a source of news, events, whats on, opinion all about the area.  A useful resource, activity guide etc.

Two weeks in and we arent the only ones to think so. 1000 visitors in the first 8 days, revenue from google ads - not exactly flowing in, but they are there.  First stage of development nearly complete, lots of topic, lots of news, lots of events. Areas covered, news, community, health, events, sport.  This is only stage one.

If you want to get involved then there are opportunities for contributors, advertisers, businesses who have a special offer for readers - all, as they say, coming soon.

watch this space, or rather watch the space that is www.intameside.com

A revolution, of sorts

10 years ago today a revolution started.  It was a revolution that would change our consumption of music, video and the media in general. The chief revolutionary was Steve Jobs.  Today, the 23rd October 2001, 10 years ago, the first ipod was sold.

I thought at the time, it will never take off! 10 years ago, most radio stations used CD players and cart players to create their entertainment, now they are in the store room as its all done from the hard drives of computers. 

Ive resisted this revolution, never owned an Ipod, Ipad or Iphone - a bit like Sky, I dont have that either, always preferring the generic mp3 player.  However, would the mp3 player have been developed as fast or as well without the ipod, I doubt it.

And, from the Ipod all things became possible, mp3 players, digital video players, smart phones, all these products trying to feed our frenzy for the latest and the best digital pocket sized entertainment.

So then, where next?