Multiple Points Of Failure

As The Wall Street Journal reports that newspapers reached a “tipping point” in 2010 and ad revenues were bigger for the Internet than papers, Tom Taylor adds that radio had its own moment a year or two ago, when its total revenues were surpassed by online and Radio Ink’s December 6 Eric Rhoads editorial notes that newspapers once a upon a time had classifieds, paid subscriptions and ad dollars to run their business from. Then, Rhoads cautions that radio’s “single point of failure" - advertising dollars - could dry up as a new trend develops and advertisers no longer want traditional ads.

The 2010 spending for Internet ads will finish $3 billion higher than for newspapers ($25.8 billion versus $22.8 billion). Newspaper ad spending (separate from classified and other revenue sources) likely dropped 8.2% this year and could fall another 6% in 2011. By comparison, radio revenues were running 5% ahead of 2009 through the first three quarters of this year, so it’s tempting to ignore the Radio Ink publisher’s plea that radio increase our research into finding new ways to generate revenue that are not reliant on the current model of being paid to run commercials.

For most of us worker bees who don’t have the power to make the courageous investments it takes to build branded web and theater-casts, product/app sales, event and digital/mobile strategies or other ways of leveraging our audiences for new sources of income, it may seen that the average employee’s only option is to move from an employer who fails to see the risk of having a single potential point of failure to one with more vision.

However, that overlooks each individual’s role in creating meaningful content which drives usage and enhances the brand.

Make sure your name stands for relevancy which drives daily usage.

Failing to stand out from the pack is every “average” radio personality’s most dangerous single point of failure.