Am I Good Enough?

Insecurity plagues us all.  And, who hasn't stepped on a vocal, rambled on too long about something you knew was going nowhere and ended a shift saying, "that was the worst show of my life!"?

Later that same day, a listener recognizes you at the grocery store and tells you how terrific today's show was .. because you just happened to play their favorite song right when they got to work and turned the radio on.  They wanted to know who sang it and you related the title and artist right after it ended, precisely when they wanted that info.

This is a lesson in expectations and perspectives.  What we expect from ourselves is not the same thing as the average listener expects.

Take it easy on yourself as you critique your work.  Get on base every time to come up to bat and stop trying to swing for home runs.  Make it sound effortless and have fun.  Give listeners what they come to radio for.

Once you can do that consistently, you're "good enough."  Relax and live there.

However, to build a "better than good enough" reputation, the next step is to be occasionally great.  Meeting and also exceeding expectations is what makes a talent stand out from the crowd and drives consistently great levels of daily listening occasions.

Ron Chapman at KVIL/Dallas must have had one of those "am I good enough" moments back in 1988 when on March 31 he asked listeners to send him $20.  $244.240 later, he and his audience made a meaningful donation to local charity.

It still works.  Classical KING-FM/Seattle, newly incarnated as a community supported classical music station, just asked its audience to help them qualify for a Bill and Melinda Gates foundation grant by donating to the station.

7,000 listeners got out their checkbooks, giving a total of $1.8 million in just a couple weeks.

Could you do something like that?  How would your audience respond?

You'll be surprised.

More than good enough, I predict!

Ingredients Of A Great Country Radio Station (Part One)

* A powerful, memorable brand.

* Very clear and simple positioning, such as: Today's Country; Country Favorites; Continuous Country; Classic Country; Real Country Variety (pick ONE); etc. The actual highly divisible music balance and flow in every ten minute time period delivers on it, proves it's true.

* Everybody has a fun-sounding, character-building nickname, including the weather personality. No nicknames for news people! Characters are defined by the local, relevant content they briefly convey.

* Two ongoing simultaneous contests which become famous, one to promote TSL (i.e. Double Your Paycheck, Triple Your Pay, Live Life Free, Count the Country Favorites) and one to promote cume (for example, Country Cruiser/Super Stickers, free donuts/coffee at remote location all morning until 9).

* Fewer, if any, 'newscasts.' Instead, lots of service elements - staff meteorologist, traffic reporter. Fresh story selection, avoiding the sense that "the same stories are repeated all morning". A good news teaser that SAYS this clearly: "coming up, stories we've haven't covered yet (headline)..."

What are you hearing right now that you like?

Imagine If They Covered Your Show Today Like This

Check out especially the debate time line! I'd hate to see a transcript of every DJ crutch and cliche I used today, with the precise time and number of times I said 'em!

Writing A Promo Or Commercial? Talk To The People In Your Head

At least, that is what Jay Suhr, senior partner and senior vice president of creative services and account planning at T3, claims he does!

How To Make People Like You: Talk In Color

A former fashion and advertising photographer of international renown, Nick Boothman became aware that his work for clients such as AT&T and Revlon depended on establishing instant rapport with his subjects. Determined to look deeper into the ways that people connect with each other, he put his cameras aside and earned a license as a practitioner of Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP):

All conversation, big or small, is about painting word pictures of your experiences for other people. The more vividly you can convey these experiences, the more interesting people will find you.