3 Almost Infallible Rules

Dallas Mavericks’ owner Mark Cuban is a savvy entrepreneur and thought-leader on many issues regarding technology, media and sports and more. Anytime I read one of his articles or web postings, I’m enlightened by his insights. Mark brings a unique passion, point of view and level of engagement to everything that he’s involved in.

Based on his business-building experience, Mark has developed a lot of almost infallible rules that he follows religiously. Here are three of the rules that Mark checks off against before undertaking new elements of a business. They could help you, too!

Mark’s Rules:

1. Everyone is a genius in a bullmarket
2. Win the Battles you are in before you take on new battles
3. You can Drown in Opportunity

Before adding new elements to your company/cluster, station or show—it may serve you well to check them off against Mark’s almost infallible rules. And you may also find those rules to be great guide for creating success when adding new elements to your life. Besides,the company that always gives you the best return on investment is YOU, Inc.

For more from Mark, click here.

TV Wonder

AMD’s TV Wonder™ 550 expands the capabilities of your pc, enabling you to schedule, watch and record TV or listen to FM stations. That functionality could make it a great tech tool for show prep and station monitoring. Check it out here.

High-Performance Teams

Organizational psychologist Robert Binnett of the Center for Creative Leadership (CCL) lists four leadership behaviors required in creating and sustaining high-performing teams:

1. Spend time building the team up front – then let the team do the work
2. Stay calm when the going gets tough
3. Create an environment for learning from mistakes
4. Develop team members through effective coaching

Robert discovered these leadership behaviors after studying airline crew teams, NASA teams, surgical teams, sports teams, executive teams, legal teams, and many more over the past two decades.

Improve the performance of your programming/management team by comparing its behaviors against the leadership behaviors for high-performance teams.

More at:

www.ccl.org/leadership

A Connection Between Music, Fashion And More Revenue

“We believe there are parallels between fashion and music.”
-Micheal Barber, Barber Entertainment

I’ve always thought that the radio and music industries shared many similarities with the fashion industry. All of them are trendy and focused on the next big idea—or personality/artist/model/designer. And each industry bears its influence on—and is influenced by—pop culture in an ever-evolving cycle of “what’s hot and what’s not.”

Now the retail industry is making the connection between fashion and music. Micheal Barber of Barber Entertainment is helping Nordstrom select music to sell in its stores because quote: “We believe there are parallels between fashion and music.” Also, Sears is trying to see how entertainment can play a role in its stores by selling more CD titles at its mall and stand-alone locations. Read more

here.

Could all of this present a revenue-generating marketing opportunity for your station?

Here’s an idea: Work with your staff and a local or national retailer to create a custom compilation CD. Make sure it features the best of your station’s music/content while promoting/enhancing the retailers ideal customer experience. Done right, your custom-designed compilation will reach more of your listeners where they live and shop. And that could mean a connection between fashion, music and more revenue for your station and its clients.

Top 10 Talent Tips – How To Manage Talent

Media consultant Nik Goodman shares his top ten talent tips:

1. Regular feedback
2. Be prepared
3. Pay attention to your talent
4. Connect your talent to the real world
5. Get to know your presenter’s [talent’s] personality
6. Love the talent; Love the show (even if it’s tough love)
7. Help them understand who they are
8. Smoke and mirrors
9. Never use a negative
10. Listen to other shows together

Click here to download the handout [pdf] from Nik’s presentation at this year’s NAB Europe Radio Conference.

“Fall Finale” Phenomenon

“Fall Finales” can provide big ratings bounces for network television shows. But programming executives are still challenged to maintain audience interest while their hit shows are on hiatus for the holiday break. Click here to read about evolving programming strategies at network television that turn this obstacle into an opportunity. Then think about ways TV’s “fall finale” phenomenon could help boost your station’s ratings.

Will Google Sell Radio Better Than Radio?

Media Post’s Shankar Gupta reports:

Google has started inviting a limited number of search advertisers to participate in an expanded test of its radio advertising program.

Analyst Greg Sterling, principal for Sterling Market Intelligence, said that if anything, Google's participation might drive ad prices higher. "It's quite possible that you'll get a new class of advertisers trying radio advertising," he said.

For the entire article, click here.

Want to join the Google Audio Ads Team? Click here to go to the Google Ad Creation Marketplace.

Moonves on the Future of Radio

CBS President & CEO Les Moonves recently sat down with CNBC’s David Faber to discuss the future of radio.

Highlights from the conversation:

• CBS Radio got over 14x EBITDA for selling stations in ten radio markets, there's no interest at CBS in selling off the entire division
• CBS Radio is more focused now as a major market radio company
• Howard Stern did a very good job, his numbers were high and hard to replicate
• CBS Radio comps should be pretty good, better this January than last January
• Opie & Anthony are doing terrific in many markets
• "Jack-FM" is working in most markets

Overall, Moonves says: “We are expecting a very nice year in ‘07.”

To see the interview, click here.

The State of Radio: 2007

On January 2, 2007, Bunzel Media Group will release “The State of Radio: 2007”—a full study of radio for the coming year. To see an overview now, click here.

Greater Value

When Greater Media President and CEO Peter Smyth shares his views on media, he always reveals fresh, forward-thinking and thought-provoking insights. This month’s “Corner Office” column, "Interactive Media is NOT Value Added," is no different. Read it here and discover Peter’s wisdom on “value-building” with interactive media as opposed to giving it away as “value-added.” Share this article your staff and management team to remind everyone of the value that we provide to advertisers and listeners on-air and on-line everyday.

More at:

www.greatermedia.com

Mobile Media

Satellite radio? In the future, I don't think so. Like 30 is the new 20, "satellite radio" is the new "mobile media.” Mel Karmazin clues us in on the evolution of satellite radio here.

And what about terrestrial radio?

When you think about it, terrestrial radio is the original mobile (or wireless) medium. Ironically, in the future, with radio content no longer being constrained by the limits and antennae height and transmitter power, radio will be more mobile than before. We just have to make sure that that content is compelling and conveniently available to consumers when and where they want it.

After all, radio is more than "audio entertainment." It's the old and new “mobile entertainment.”

Beyond Basketball, Broadcasting & Broadband

In his new book, Beyond Basketball: Coach K's Keywords for Success, Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski shares inspiring insights from life on and off the basketball court. Some of the words Coach K uses to express his concepts: adaptability, communication, imagination, learning, passion and talent.

Here’s a little of what Coach K has to say about challenges:

Keyword: Challenges

No matter how successful you believe yourself to be, you can never feel as if you've reached the absolute pinnacle. There are always new and wonderful challenges out there, and part of maintaining success is knowing when you need to accept them. I am rejuvenated, I am nervous, I am eager, and I am so excited to discover that amazing things I will learn as a result of taking on this new challenge.

With so many challenges from new media, digital devices and emerging technologies, that’s practical wisdom that we in radio can apply, as we continue to vie for our share of listener’s time and attention.

For more from Coach K, click here.

Who Is Talking About You?

People talk about fantastic stuff and great treatment from companies [radio stations] they like. In his new book, Word of Mouth Marketing: How Smart Companies Get People Talking, Andy Sernovitz reveals insights on how you can a) give people a reason to talk and b) make it easier for the conversation to take place.

Create word of mouth for your station with Andy’s Word of Mouth Marketing Manifesto:

1. Happy customers are your best advertising. Make people happy.
2. Marketing is easy: Earn the respect and recommendation of your customers.
They will do your marketing for you, for free.
3. Ethics and good service come first.
4. UR the UE: You are the user experience (not what your ads say you are).
5. Negative word of mouth is an opportunity. Listen and learn.
6. People are already talking. Your only option is to join the conversation.
7. Be interesting or be invisible.
8. If it’s not worth talking about, it’s not worth doing.
9. Make the story of your company a good one.
10. It is more fun to work at a company that people want to talk about.
11. Use the power of word of mouth to make business treat people better.
12. Honest marketing makes more money.

Is your station boring or does it create buzz with your listeners and advertisers? Make sure your programming, promotions and marketing are worth talking about.

For more on word of mouth marketing, click here.

5 Rules

Jelly Helm, creative director at Wieden + Kennedy, offers 5 rules of creativity that drive the success of the advertising agency. Apply these rules to enhance your station’s programming and marketing efforts, and you’ll create better ratings and revenue.

Here are their rules:

>> Act Stupid. "Our philosophy is to come in ignorant every day. The idea of retaining ignorance is sort of counterintuitive, but it subverts a lot of [problems] that come from absolute mastery. If you think you know the answer better than somebody else does, you become closed to being fresh."

>> Shut up. "The first thing we do when we meet with clients is listen. We try to figure out what their problems are. Then we come back with questions, not solutions. We write these out and put them on the wall. And then we circle the ones that we think are interesting. More often than not, the questions hold the answer."

>> Always say yes. "What I've learned from improvisation is to let go of outcome and just say yes to whatever the situation is. If you say an idea is bad, you're creating conflict--you're breaking an improv rule. You want an energy flow that moves you forward, as opposed to a creative stasis."

>> Chase Talent. "Find people who make you better. It's best to be the least talented person in the room. It's reciprocal. It challenges you to keep up."

>> Be Fearless. "Do anything, say anything. In the worlds of our president, Dan Wieden, 'You're not useful to me until you've made three momentous mistakes.' He knows that if you try not to make mistakes, you miss out on the value of learning from them."

More info at:
http://www.wk.com

How To Succeed In 2007

Business 2.0 asked 50 of the brightest minds in business how they do what they do. A few of the media moguls who shared their insight include:

Richard Branson – Virgin Group
Sergey Brin – Google
Edward Brofman – Warner Music Group
Chris DeWolfe – MySpace
Chad Hurly – YouTube

To find out on how you can cash in on their advice—and many others—in the year ahead, click here.