1. Is your product better suited for a TV commercial or a radio spot? Does it need to be seen to be understood? Consumable products are usually in pill, powder, cream or liquid form—things that don’t need to be demonstrated to be sold. That being the case, consider using radio, a convincing and affordable way to go. Next…
2. Does your product meet the correct direct response formula? Successful DR products have ratios of 4 or 5-to-1, that’s hard cost to retail price. In other words, if you see a product selling for $19.95 the hard cost to the company should be around $4.00. Most consumable products have no problem meeting this ratio. Does yours?
3. Can you make the “ultimate” TV or radio offer? Give away a free sample! Most companies with consumable products, believe it or not, can afford to do that for virtually the price of shipping. Here’s an example: If your product’s hard cost is $3.00 and the actual shipping is about $2.50, you could give away a free sample for a cost of $5.50 or even more, if necessary.
4. So if it looks like you can, the question then becomes, why do it? Why give away free samples like the makers of IcyHot did? Because these are consumable products and when customers use up the free sample, they must order more!So, it’s the revenues generated over the lifetime a customer uses the consumable products that makes these products so ideal for direct response.Free samples can be one of your greatest marketing strategies ever. It was this strategy that made IcyHot so successful.

Another Ratio You Need to Know

1. Success in DR is measured by another ratio: the cost of airtime to sales. Generally you’re looking for 2-to-1, that is, if you spend $1000 in airtime you’re looking for $2000 in sales. Consumable products can make this ratio dynamic because, as I said, you need to take into account all reorders and the “lifetime” purchases of the product your customer will make.Want an example? You spend $1000 on airtime, did $1000 in sales, and think you broke even. But, as each month passes, re-order after re-order raises that ratio. Some companies even prepare to lose 20% or so, on their initial airings knowing that continuity programs, cross-sells and up-sells will easily make this “expensive” advertising well worth that initial investment down the road. Next…
2. I mentioned up-sells and cross-sells? Not every marketer knows what those terms mean (let alone practices them). Fortunately, at EMSI, we do. And we can help you with up-sells (“You bought product A for $19.95…how about a three-month supply for a heavily discounted $49.95?”) and cross-sells (“If you like product A you may also like product B…and you can try both at this discounted price.”).

Direct Mail – Paid For By Your Customer

1. Package inserts often go wasted at most companies, and here’s why: Let’s say you’re sending an order in a package to your TV or radio-generated customer—why not add in a free sample, an insert, a catalog or a bounce-back, while the shipping & handling is paid for by your customer?It’s ridiculous not to do this. And, since studies show customers are never more prone to buying from you than when they get an order in the mail from you, package inserts can indeed lower the cost of your advertising.

Finally…

As the goal of most consumable product companies is to take their product to retail, that’s where direct response radio and TV can play a big role. DR advertising not only gives you brand name recognition but also good, hard facts—you’ll have your actual advertising costs and the resulting sales figures—two things hard-to-convince buyers need to see.

However, over the last decade, a new kind of celebrity has emerged – the expert celebrity. These are people who are absolutely at the top of their professions, and find a way to use the media to offer their expertise to the masses.

From Cesar Millan (The Dog Whisperer), Martha Stewart, and Bob Vila to Dr. Phil, Suze Orman and Rachel Ray, expert celebrities are taking over television, radio, print publications and the Internet. Moreover, according to media expert Marsha Friedman — author of Celebtritize Yourself from Warren Publishing (www.celebritizeyourself.com) – the next celebrity expert could well be you.

“In today’s world of specialty programming on TV and radio and with the explosion of web marketing, online media and social media marketing – becoming a celebrity is no longer just for the A list of movie stars and recording artists we normally think of,” Friedman said. “Today, we have celebrity attorneys, celebrity chefs, celebrity financial experts and fitness guru’s – we even celebrity bounty hunters! So, if you’re in business and are focused on expansion, there is no better way than to become a celebrity expert in your field.”

Friedman believes that these expert celebrities and those who’d like to be expert celebrities have one primary thing in common – at one time, they were all just working folks.

“These were people on the street with a passion for what they do and with a valuable knowledge that people need,” she said. “Rachel Ray worked at a candy counter at Macy’s before her passion, her ingenuity and her personality enabled her to forge her own celebrity status. In most cases, the expert celebrities you see in the media today were ordinary people before they became household names, but now they are truly celebrities in their fields of expertise.”

The first step that many experts take to establish their celebrity is to write a book about their area of expertise. In order to be successful, Friedman said that experts should ask themselves five questions before putting pen to paper:

• What message am I enthusiastic about that I want to convey?
• Who can benefit from it?
• How will it help them?
• Why am I the one to bring this idea to them?
• How can I make my points unique and different from what has already been said on the topic by others?

“You must ‘zero-in’ on the one singular, unifying idea that excites and energizes you – the one that urges you to get out of bed every morning – the one that defines who you are and what you represent,” she added. “This one central idea will be the driving force behind every single work within your book.”

Friedman also explained that building more business has been the primary driver behind the emergence of the expert celebrity.

“Businesses are struggling in this economy and success in today’s world requires business leaders to market in a way they may never have done before,” she added. “They need to rise above their competition, become THE ‘go-to’ guy in their field, the recognized expert people want to deal with. The credibility that comes with this recognition can build a business or turn one around that’s failing.”

“The cost benefit analysis of TV publicity is a no brainer. Not only do you get the benefit of this quality exposure, but the amount of credibility you build is priceless!”

The reason for this is simple. With TV, every person watching your interview will have a front row seat to your message. It’s a visual medium so they can see exactly what your products look like. You can demonstrate their purpose and value to the viewer. At the same time, you’re building trust and the almighty “likeability factor” by expertly answering the anchor’s questions. If you do a great job in all these areas, the audience will connect with you personally and buy into the value of your products. The positioning just doesn’t get any better.

The greatest challenge you’ll have is how to pitch your segment idea to television producers so they immediately see the direct benefit to their viewers and invite you on. But, once you’ve worked out those angles, the rewards of your efforts will be self-evident. As an example, a few years ago we took on a client with a natural food product. We arranged for a taste testing outside a major health food chain in the Portland area and for a local television station to cover it. It turned out to be a huge success – here’s the feedback we got from our client:

“We’ve received hundreds of phone calls. Fred Meyer stores and Safeway got bombarded with calls as well! In fact, we had originally been scheduled to start shipping to Fred Meyer sometime in May, but they were so inundated with phone calls as a result of our television appearance they called to ask me what we had done to make their phones ring off the hook! Thanks to the media you booked for us, we’re shipping product to them next week, six weeks earlier than planned!”

This coverage was a great success for our client – it was far less expensive than producing a TV spot and then buying advertising time, plus it gained them credibility with consumers that advertising just couldn’t deliver!

Publicity should play a key role in your marketing strategy for these reasons. BUT, understand that the biggest challenge you have is generating the media’s interest in you. You’re not alone in this “battle for attention.” There are limited interview slots available with numerous PR firms and companies jockeying for those slots. This is a challenge that we overcome every day on behalf of our clients.

Two important rules we practice in our agency when it comes to pitching the media are:

1. Never pitch yourself – pitch the issue on which you are an expert.
2. Never pitch your product – talk about the problem your product addresses and then your product ties in as a solution.

Women influence 95% of all purchases and control 80% of all household spending.

She specifically points out their spending habits in these categories:

• Domestic Products

“Buying the ‘small stuff’ has always been in the woman’s domain. Part of her domestic duties as wife and mother has been to keep the family healthy, warm, and well nourished. From the family meal to the family doctor, from shirts for her husband to shoes for her kids, chances are those choices have always been hers.

“What many marketers haven’t caught onto yet, though, is that women’s spending power now extends far beyond shoelaces and shirts.”

• Big-Ticket Items

“In the past, the big-ticket items like cars, insurance policies, and major appliances were historically bought by – and therefore marketed to – men. Things have changed! Nowadays, women need their own cars, their own computers, their own cell phones, and their own investment accounts – among many other new big-ticket items – and so manufacturers are facing a whole new market.”

• The Buying Power of Single Women

“Get this: Single women head 27 percent of households in the United States. Did you register that? More than one out of four U.S. households! Thus, a substantial portion of the market for cars, computers, and cell phones, for instance, is dominated by women serving as sole decision makers.”

• The Buying Power of Married Women

“Looking at married households (55 percent of U.S. HH), the fact of the matter is that the woman of the house spends not her own paycheck but a good deal of her partner’s as well. She still handles all the domestic spending. And when it comes to the big-ticket items, not only is she buying her own products – like the single women above – but she also has a disproportionate say in the shared decisions, such as cars, investment accounts, and family vacations.”

So, what’s the “take-away” from all this information? Again, it’s that – Women influence 95% of all purchases and control 80% of all household spending.

As it’s important to me that our clients are groomed to do their best, we provide them with helpful tips they can study and apply. Let me share a few of these tips, in case you’re also using this medium as a means of promotion. These particular tips relate to your appearance: how to dress, which colors show best, make-up (that includes you guys as well) and more. I hope you enjoy them!

1. Wear something that conveys your personality and your message: You don’t want to be judged by your appearance, but knowing that happens, prepare for it. You want to appear confident and professional, so make sure you are comfortable in what you wear and that the color and fit compliment you. Keep in mind that not every camera angle is going to be close up. Your whole outfit will show, including the shoes. Make sure that your shoes are polished and that laces are not frayed or missing all together. Remember, you want to give a good impression so that your appearance speaks to your credibility!

2. Be choosy about color and pattern: Small, tight patterns do not come across well on TV – they tend to shimmer, so solids are better. Certain colors are overpowering on TV or tend to bleed. Black, white and red fit this category. Blue works very well on camera. You want the audience to focus on your message, not your clothing, so keep it simple and classy.

3. Jewelry: Microphones are very sensitive, so although those dangling earrings and that big chunky necklace go beautifully with your suit, you will want to remove them so they do not make any distracting noise. Keep it tasteful and simple; a nice necklace, a ring or two and classic earrings are a good choice.

4. Manicures: Manicures are not just for the ladies anymore. Clean, buffed, trimmed nails are important for men and women alike. When the camera zooms in for a close up on your book or product, your hands will reflect your level of professionalism. For the ladies, if you choose color for your nail polish, tone it down so it doesn’t detract from the cover of your book or product.

5. Put on your face: Not all shows have make-up artists. You should make sure you are made up in an understated and professional manner. Some base and some powder should do the trick. Base will help keep your pores from showing and powder will keep you from looking shiny. This goes for the men, too. Yes, you are going to have to wear make-up, and you may have to apply it yourself! Make sure, gentlemen, that you cover your face and your forehead with powder; you want your message to shine, not your forehead! If the show has a makeup artist, they can then enhance what you have done. If they don’t, then you will look good anyway. Remember…less is more.

Now you can be more prepared for that close-up!

1. THE RIGHT DEMOGRAPHICS. Every year Talkers Magazine does a research project to profile who’s listening to talk radio. And, every year their survey confirms that the talk radio listener is, “diverse, educated, attentive, active and affluent…” If this describes your customer – it’s a perfect match!
2. TARGET AUDIENCE. Not only are the demographics of talk radio great – but with specialty talk shows on politics, health, relationships, lifestyles, finance, consumer advocacy, sports, etc., we can identify shows that are a perfect match for your service, once we know the audience you’re trying to reach!
3. EFFECTIVE SALES TOOL. Publicity is definitely not paid advertising. But it can be far more effective. Just ask Dr. Arnold Goldstein, well-known financial advisor and author, “The interest in our books from radio interviews has far exceeded the response we’ve seen from our advertising campaigns. Dollar-for-dollar, talk radio interviews has shown a much better return!”A compelling radio interview can promote your product or service without the audience even realizing it! And, as hosts don’t want to be bombarded with phone calls with questions about your company, they’re highly motivated to frequently mention your website or toll-free number.
4. THIRD PARTY ENDORSEMENT. Talk radio hosts have loyal followings – that’s how they maintain their ratings. And listeners tune in daily to hear what their favorite host is talking about. As that host is often thought of as an old friend or even a trusted advisor, when you appear as a guest on their show, listeners hear an implicit endorsement of you, your service and your message!
5. CREDIBILITY. This is a crucial ingredient in every marketing campaign – and talk radio supplies it in abundance. One of our clients told us, “…every show I’ve appeared on – the host tells his listeners about my great expertise, my many accomplishments and how proud they are to have me as a guest! Of course, the more important I am, the more important the host appears to be. As far as promotion and credibility goes – it just doesn’t get any better!”
6. TIME TO TELL YOUR WHOLE STORY. As a guest – you get not just 60 seconds, but ten to sixty minutes of quality time with a very targeted and attentive audience. You have enough time to talk about your service and in many cases you have a chance to answer questions from callers. It’s a perfect way to get your full message heard and understood by the audience!
7. COST-EFFECTIVE PROMOTION. Talk radio interviews are all done by phone. So without ever leaving your home or office you can have a direct and oftentimes live conversation with consumers around the country. Plus our fees for this publicity service are minuscule compared to what you’ll spend in advertising dollars to buy the same amount of air time!
8. IMMEDIATE EXPOSURE. You can be on the air within two to three weeks! And, because talk radio keeps up with changing times and topics, we can continuously create new angles for your topic that reflect current events, to keep you on the air and in the news on an ongoing basis.
9. BEST BANG FOR THE BUCK. With probably 1,000 + talk radio interviews under his belt, nutritional products spokesperson, Dr. W. Wong says, “Talk radio is the greatest way to get your message across to a large group of people at one time. There’s a captive audience during morning and evening drive times, in the middle of the day with stay-at-home moms and people in the workplace and for those folks awake late at night. It’s better, cheaper and faster than TV appearances. Without question – talk radio provides the best bang for the buck!”

And what about the 10th reason? You tell me! In the comment field below share with everyone your success stories using talk radio and other reasons why talk radio really is a terrific promotional tool.

The face of radio has changed quite a bit over the past decade here are just a few of the changes. The hosts of major-market radio shows, which had extremely attractive audiences, used to bring guests in the studio for long chats. Not three or four minutes, but how about half an hour or longer! This was a time when a guest could knock off a couple radio interviews and send sales soaring. What has changed? First, there are not as many big stations that accept guests – many have changed to a music format or don’t accept guests that have a product or service to sell. Another change is that the amount of guest air-time has been greatly reduced. Radio talk shows nowadays find that listeners are more likely to stay tuned if they have three 10-minute guests per show rather than one guest featured for 30 minutes.

Unless you are a big name, the chances of hitting pay dirt with a couple of large radio interviews are pretty slim.

As a public relations expert who has been in the industry for over two decades, I believe that in order to get your book, product or service the exposure that it deserves, it is crucial that you know what the playing field is like. Now that you are aware of the competitive nature of this media marketplace, let me share a suggestion for anyone who is just starting out with their book promotion: small radio stations.

Below are some great reasons why small stations can really make a difference in the promotion of your book!

The More Interviews You Do…

When it comes to publicity, and in this case radio publicity, quantity is very significant. This means that you shouldn’t scratch a radio show off of your hit list or reject their booking request just because they doesn’t have the hottest host or the highest wattage. Every show counts! The more interviews that you do the more buzz you are building. Although it would be awesome to exclusively book yourself on shows in the top 5 radio markets that are 50,000-watt stations and hosted by a celebrity…but this no longer the norm. Don’t let this be a mental block, there is power in numbers…meaning quantity!

Think about it: even with a 1,000-watt station, you are still reaching an audience. So say a 1,000-watt radio station has around 100 listeners, it’s a waste of time right? Wrong! What if you had the opportunity to speak to an auditorium full of 100 people about your business? Would you go? Of course you would! Keep this in mind when looking at stations. Every small station has value and adds to your overall quantity which fuels the buzz.

Practice Makes Perfect

Imagine it: getting booked on your first show in a major market with a top host. You probably have never even given an interview in your life. Possibly you may do a few practice runs with a friend or colleague, but nothing live on the air. So you get on the air, the host throws you off your topic, you get lost, agitated all resulting in a very unprofessional start.

I have seen it with numerous clients; it takes at least 10 radio interviews before most guests get comfortable behind the microphone. This is the beauty of small stations. With a substantially smaller audience they give you the real live feel without the fear of massive embarrassment. At the end of the day small radio stations allow you to practice how to be not just a focused guest, but one that sounds like a “radio pro”.

No Fear, No Errors

Not everyone is a natural born communicator, and if you are an author whose expertise is in the written word it is rare to find a great author who is also a great verbal communicator. First time authors are especially prone to stage fright – yes, even on radio!

Stage fright on the radio has one major result: errors! Typical errors for first time guests on talk radio include not giving out the web site address or 1-800 number. Or giving them out too much or not enough! A huge mistake is to mention your web address and phone number too often and in turn upset the host, who will let you know in no uncertain terms that this is their show and not an infomercial.

Technical guests have a tendency to slide into techno-babble, and even good guests inevitably walk out of their first few interviews knowing they could have been better. Wouldn’t it best if you are new to the radio game to make your mistakes in front of a smaller audience? Getting your feet wet in on 1,000-watt radio shows will help you remove your fear factor and reduce the amount of error for when you get on the big-time shows!

Give Your Message a Tune-Up

When you are just starting out promoting on talk radio it can be pretty tough to know what your true message is. You know what your business is about and the passion that you have for it, but everything seems relevant! How do you cut it down? This is yet another great function of starting out your campaign on smaller channels….you find ways of trimming down your book’s message to a few powerful words.

The more you get to talk with interviewers, even though the audience may not be huge, will enable you to crystallize your thoughts on your topic. Hey, it may even give you new ideas about your topic that you never realized before the interviews!

Don’t Let Size Fool You: Be Prepared

Booking small stations can be an adventure. Be prepared to run into some hosts who are unprofessional. To beat this make sure you confirm an interview at least twice before you are scheduled to appear on the air. These hosts may also not be as prepared as their big-time counterparts (meaning they probably have not read you book). So you will need to be ready to walk them through your major topics.

The best idea is to prepare for these interviews by considering how you would explain your book to a stranger on the street that you have met for the first time. Just know that some very bright people listen to some very small radio stations; make sure not to talk down to your audience.

But, having been in the PR industry for 20 years, I know public relations has always been like that 2-for-1 advertising deal.

With advertising you need a big budget because a successful ad campaign comes down to repetition, repetition, repetition.  Even with the right vehicles in place for your ad buy, as well as the best placements and a quality message, consumers still must see or hear your ad numerous times in order for it to be effective.

And spending on advertising can be hefty.  In the United States alone, from January to September of 2008 over $54 billion was spent on advertising…and that was just the amount spent by the TOP 10 ADVERTISING CATEGORIES!

So it is no surprise that in this tough economic climate that advertising would be the first to go.  A recent survey conducted by the Association of National Advertisers (ANA) found that 77% of marketers who responded are planning to cut their advertising budgets.

But, even if your ad budget isn’t being cut, one thing that advertising doesn’t deliver as well as PR is consumer trust.

TNS, a leading marketing information group, surveyed 1,000 US households regarding consumer trust late last year. In that survey, a mere 35% showed any level of trust in advertising.

As well, in a Nielsen Online Global Consumer survey, when asked what sort of advertising they trust the most, a whopping 78% said they trust referrals from customers more than any type of advertising.

And that is exactly what PR delivers: trust, credibility and word of mouth promotion.  The implicit third-party endorsement that comes with appearing as a guest on radio or TV, or to have a story written about you in newspapers and magazines is absolutely priceless.  Something you can’t put a price tag on.  This is what can be achieved with PR and at about one-half to one-fifth of the price of an ad campaign.

A maverick in the world of radio broadcasting, in addition to being a weathered trade journalist, Harrison has been at the center of many of the most exciting radio revolutions of the past 30+ years.  As you know, Talkers, is the leading talk radio publication and was one of the first radio trade journals to expand into the cutting edge technology of the “New Talk Media” which includes talk on the Internet and satellite radio as well as cable television.

Recently, Marsha Friedman, News & Experts Founder and CEO of Event Management Services, sat down with Michael and interviewed him about the changing landscape of talk radio and how these changes will revolutionize the industry as a whole. Please click here to read Part 1 of this interview.

Marsha Friedman: First off, what effect do you think the new Arbitron Personal People Meters will have on talk radio?

Michael Harrison: I think that Arbitron is having a difficult time rating radio accurately.  It is not their fault, it’s just down to the fact that radio is almost impossible to rate accurately.  It’s so large, mysterious, idiosyncratic, fractionalized, unstable and spread out in so many different directions.  There are so many things going on at any given moment that there are numerous ways of slicing and dicing the ratings for specific target audiences.  Thus, there are lots of ways of being number one in something. Also, it’s so unwired, meaning there’s no way of really attaching a meter to the reality of the act of listening to the radio without interfering with how a person listens to the radio.  All of that combined makes it almost impossible to accurately rate radio.

The diary method worked for a long time, although it was extremely inaccurate.  There was a huge “guesstimate” element involved in terms of a margin-of-error and it was very chancy depending on many factors: who got the diary, how it was distributed, and even if the person could recall what they listened to.  Everybody in the business knew that it wasn’t a very good method, but the diary method was geared to dealing with the mom-and-pop culture of radio that existed before corporate consolidation and everybody had a stake in it.

You heard broadcasters say things like, “Well, it’s not a good system, but it’s the only system we have, so we have to live with it.”  But in corporatized radio that doesn’t cut it anymore, especially since we’re in a highly technical era where people want exact numbers.  They want specifics and they want them now. The whole diary method being old and last quarter just doesn’t cut it anymore.  The problem with the People Meter goes back to what I said before about radio.  It’s so difficult to track that in order for Arbitron to do it truly accurately from a standpoint of mathematical science, they have to have so many units out there and painstakingly monitor the distribution of these units – which would make it nearly impossible for them to make any money in doing it.  So, that’s why they keep having these fits and starts and different factions complaining that it’s not accurate, that it’s not fair.  Of course, Arbitron won’t admit this… and I can’t really blame them.  They are doing the best they can.So to answer your question, they have a lot of work ahead of them and there are a lot of problems that are deeper than Arbitron can really be responsible for.  What are the big problems facing terrestrial radio as we enter into the 21st Century?  A big one is the fact it’s almost impossible to rate accurately.

Marsha Friedman:  You say it is nearly impossible to rate accurately Michael, but do you see a better solution in sight?

Michael Harrison: Well, I don’t really see much of a better way to do it because you can’t attach a wire to everybody’s radio in their car and at home to really be able to monitor accurately.  We have to come to grips with the situation and deal with it honestly.  We have to have better salesman in radio, better account executives that go out and educate their clients as to how to really buy radio.  We have to educate the agencies because you can’t just sell PPM and radio by the numbers.  It’s not good for radio or the clients, only the agencies because it makes their lives simple. Cost per point should just be one element of the marketing equation based on the premise that it is a guess at best.

There has to be a massive education as to the qualitative nature of radio beyond just a quantitative nature of radio, and that burden falls on the shoulders of the marketing departments of radio stations.  Clients out there also need to be educated and demand more of their ad agencies.  Putting money out there based upon cost per point is not going to give them the effectiveness for their dollar that they seek.

Even deeper, as we enter the age of the Internet, you cannot talk about the future of radio without talking about the future of the Internet. We’re going to reach a point where, because people will be able to find whatever they’re looking for using search engines, the nature of the programming will define the nature of the audience.  If you’re doing something either on the radio or the Internet that people want to hear, see or consume, common sense will indicate that you’ve got an audience.  And the key is for us in the marketing world to understand the nature of the programming will be defining the audience.  If you build it, they will come.  But if you build it and they don’t come, it’s because they didn’t want it or need it.  I guess, simply put, radio sales people have got to sell the idea of common sense.

Marsha Friedman: In this electronic age, what do you think that terrestrial radio needs to do to survive?

Michael Harrison: For terrestrial radio to survive it needs to have the best programming available anywhere, and that programming has to be exclusive to AM and FM radio.  If they stream on the Internet based upon the current conventional wisdom that people will hear it on the Internet and thus go back to listen to the radio…they’re not going to.  Once they’re listening on the Internet, they have no reason to go back to the AM or the FM dials.

They should create different programming for the Internet and leave their best programming, or their real meat and potatoes, on the AM and the FM dials.  On their Internet site, the people will hear clips, excerpts, cutting room floor stuff, special programs which will compel them to go back to their AM or FM radio to hear the station itself.

That’s the only answer.  The current model of streaming your programming, although in the short term it gives your advertisers and your brand more exposure (which is a good thing), but in the long run it’s quickening the demise of the AM and the FM channel having any value whatsoever.  But because corporate radio lives in a world of quarterly reports, there is the irresistible urge and pressure to sell the future out for immediate gain.

Marsha Friedman: Do you propose this to save their lives or just prolong the lives of the AM and FM stations?

Michael Harrison: I want to point out that this is only a measure that will prolong the life of AM and FM.  It will not extend it indefinitely. The only thing that AM and FM can do today that makes sound business sense is to prolong their life an extra few years because I think the handwriting is on the wall.  I don’t believe that AM and FM can survive for very long one way or the other in the wake of the Internet. The Internet is going to continue to change everything. These websites that we now consider to be adjuncts to the radio station, or promotional vehicles for the radio, will actually replace the radio station.  And, they’re going to do so a lot quicker than we realize.

Marsha Friedman: Wow. So Michael, what happens to the whole terrestrial radio industry?

Michael Harrison: It moves to the Internet and becomes bigger and better than ever before. It becomes more diverse. It becomes multi-channeled. It becomes infinite in terms of its real estate, inventory and creative ability. It becomes unfettered and unrestrained by FCC regulations. It will be superior. Today’s AM and FM radio station will evolve into tomorrow’s “media station” – a broadband superstation, if you will. The only parties that have anything to lose by this transition are the people who have serious money invested in the licenses.

Marsha Friedman: So what you are saying is that in the future you won’t need licensing?

Michael Harrison: No, you don’t need a license to be a broadcaster in this new era that’s unfolding.  What you need is to have a product that people want to hear, and not only will they hear it; they will also look at it and read it.  Again, I predict that we’re going to see the rise of what I call a media station which will be oriented to audio, video or to text.  It’s going to replace the radio and television stations, magazines and newspapers.

For example, the media station of The New York Times will be oriented to text because its history is that it has writers.  The heir to WABC-AM will be a media station oriented to audio because it is the heir to great speakers, talkers.  The media stations of the big television stations will be video oriented, again because their roots are in video.

The only difference is that they will all have elements of each other.  They’ll be no such thing as what I call “monomedia” – media that exist independently of each other with special appliances necessary to receive them such as “radios” and “television sets” or “CD players” and “DVD players.”  Audio-only in this new environment will seem archaic because the appliance that you’re listening to it on now has a screen.  And will the screen be blank?  Of course not, you’ve gotta put something on this screen, and it doesn’t mean that you have to have a television show.  It just means that there will be a video accompaniment to whatever it is that you’re presenting in an audio way.

For example, say you are interviewing an author of a new book.   While the author is being interviewed on the radio, people who are consuming this on the media station will also have a chance to see a picture of the author, a picture of the book cover, maybe a coupon that they could print out, maybe extensive information about the subject in text form that they could download and print out and on and on.  We are adding to the dimensions that we’re playing with and this requires intelligence and abstract reasoning.  It’s a completely new paradigm and it’s unfolding before our very eyes.  My educated guess is that within 10 years it’s going to be a completely different landscape.

And the only thing standing between websites being an accompaniment or an extension of 20^th Century media (radio and television stations) is a couple more clicks of the technological evolution towards cars having Internet radio in them and video monitors being standard equipment.  In other words, cars being completely Wi-Fi’d and people being able to click on any of an infinite number of media stations with the same ease they can now turn on a radio or television station.

Marsha Friedman: I had another question about the quality of weekend programming for radio stations.  We’re seeing far less radio infomercials being produced and time being bought which certainly affects the revenues of the radio stations.  But also you have the issue of the quality of weekend programming being so inferior.  How do you see all of that playing out?

Michael Harrison: Well, I think that it’s self-defeating for radio stations to have to broker time to inferior programming on their precious airwaves in order to make money which goes back to what I said before about selling out the future for immediate survival.  Unfortunately, the reason they are forced to do this is because of the problems they are having selling spots and advertising.  So sadly they have to resort to a method of generating revenue that at one time was considered embarrassing. It would behoove the stations to be as selective as possible in their choice of brokered shows and help their clients produce as decent a product as possible. Not likely to happen, though.

Marsha Friedman: I remember back in the early 90′s when I first got into business, there were a few stations that brokered time.  Boy has that changed!

Michael Harrison: Correct, correct.  This is an unfortunate thing, but I understand why they’re doing it because we’re in a period of time when we’re seeing the decline of the radio spot as a workable unit of measurement.  It’s getting harder and harder to sell these things and as a result, they have to do whatever they have to do to survive.  But again, it’s killing the viability of radio and its future unless, of course, they put good shows on.

I have to say out of fairness, there are a percentage of brokered shows out there that are actually very good.  It is not a majority percentage, but they do exist. So let’s not paint all brokered shows as being bad.  That’s one.  Two, there are a lot of shows out there that are not brokered but are still paying to get on and that’s called compensation where the syndicators are paying the stations, not the stations paying the syndicators, but the syndicators paying the stations to get on. They’re calling it by the more positive term “compensation” because it’s more mainstream well-known talent than your local chiropractor promoting his practice. But it’s still a form of brokered show.

So, again, it comes down to the fact that terrestrial radio is having a terribly difficult time generating revenue via traditional advertising sales and this ties back into the discussion we had earlier about the difficulty in getting accurate ratings and selling this product quantitatively in a marketplace that understands radio has serious, serious problems.

Without quality content there can be no future for AM and FM radio.  It can’t be because you can get better stuff on the Internet.  And then as soon as the Internet is a few notches more accessible and ultimately ubiquitous – it’s over.  Ah, but out of the ashes of good ol’ 20th century terrestrial radio will rise the phoenix of exciting, unlimited media station broadcasting – and what a wondrous scene that will be!

Please click here to read Part 1 of this interview.

What They Need & When They Need It

With that in mind, if you have products to promote, I want to let you know it is not too late to get on the air before the holidays! If your products are available for purchase and have mass appeal, then now is the time to let holiday consumers know about it…and there are still a limited number of interview slots left for you to take advantage of.

As talk radio “insiders” we know what the hosts and producers are currently thinking about.  Right now, they are gearing up for the pre and post holiday season.  Why?  Because most producers and hosts go on vacation during the holidays and as a result their show goes on “hiatus.”  During this hiatus they run “best of” shows instead of new programming.  So in the run up to their vacation, hosts and producers are deciding: who they will be interviewing as guests in December, which shows they will re-run during hiatus and finally who they will be interviewing during the first week of the New Year.  The final point is very important to them, as the last thing they want to do when they come back from vacation is to have to scramble for guests.

The advantage for our clients is that we not only understand the timing and scheduling of talk radio, we also understand the needs of the producers and hosts and the fact that there are only a certain number of talk radio interview slots available for choice guests.  For example, we know that there is an intense scurry for the “must-have” New Year interview slots, where hosts and producers are really looking for the New Year/New You angle. So with that in mind, we position our clients in a way that is going to grab the media’s attention during the holidays and after the holidays.

And because we’re a top resource for talk radio guests, hosts and producers take our calls and schedule our clients if the topic is a good match for their audience.  This gives us a distinct advantage over the hundreds and thousands of pitches that hosts and producers receive daily.

But keep in mind that when it comes to radio air time, being interviewed as a guest is much different than buying advertising time.  With advertising you have a broad selection of stations and shows to choose from to run your spots.  While the playing field for being interviewed as a guest is not anywhere as wide.  You first have to know which stations have a show with a format for guests.  Then, you need to know which of those shows have an audience that would be interested in your topic.  It’s also knowing who to call; when to call and how to reach them to respond to your pitch.  This is where we can help – as this is what we do for our clients, day in and day out.

The point I really wanted to press home to you is if your products are available now and if your message is timely, then you can take advantage of the few cherished interview slots still available out in time for the holidays and for the beginning of the year.