Filtering Posts by Topic: Radio

The Key Is To Create Interesting, Unique, and Relevant CONTENT.

Then Find Bigger And Bigger Audiences.

“You should turn your business into a TV show.”

When I heard this advice from my friend Troy Dunn in about 2005, I thought he was crazy. Turn my business into a TV show? What does that even mean? Who would even want to watch such a thing?

Before I could voice my objections, he clarified: “You should think first and foremost about your expertise in your field. Anyone who is in business SHOULD consider themselves to be an expert. If so, the best way to solidify yourself as an expert is to create a TV show about your business. It makes you the unquestioned leader in the field… not just locally, but everywhere.”

And he knew what he was talking about. His company was a special-flavor private investigation firm that specialized in tracking down and reuniting long-lost family members. His clients were typically adopted kids who were trying to find either their birth parents and/or birth siblings.

He got in early on the “reality TV” thing by volunteering to have his services documented on daytime TV talk shows like Sally Jesse Raphael, Montel Williams, Oprah, and so forth. His claim to fame back then was that he held the world record for having appeared on more TV shows as a guest than anyone else. Think about that for a minute.

A few years later, as reality TV morphed from competition shows like Survivor and American Idol into shows about literally ANYTHING (think: Treehouse Masters, Pawn Stars, Storage Wars), Troy took his expertise and passion for TV to a new level by creating a show called “The Locator” on WE TV. After 5 seasons, he moved over to TNT with a show called “APB with Troy Dunn.” I’ll be darned if Troy didn’t do exactly what he had told me to do: He made his business into a TV show.

Meanwhile, back on earth…. the point of this article is NOT to tell you to turn your business into a TV show—although you shouldn’t necessarily discount that either (more later). The point is to find ways to showcase your expertise so that you can position yourself as an authority and enjoy the credibility that comes with it.
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Sure The Sales Reps Are Friendly… And Sure They’ll Promise The Moon.

The Truth: They’re Counting On Your Ignorance So They Can Sell You A Bag Of Magic Beans.

By Rich Harshaw

Rich:

We are looking to start advertising on the radio soon, and have been talking to some of the local stations. They have all agreed to “waive” the 15% agency commissions for us, so that’s going to save us some money. I’ve attached proposals from three of the stations; they look pretty good to us, but we’d appreciate it if you would look them over and give us any advice or opinions. Any feedback would be great!

Robert

Hi Robert,

Thanks for giving us an opportunity to look over this and give you some guidance. Unfortunately, the proposals sent to you by these three stations are all trying to lure you into making uninformed decisions.

The fact that they are waiving the agency commission is a smokescreen—don’t let them fool you into thinking that they’re doing you any favors. In fact, there’s a 99% chance these schedules are TERRIBLE.
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The Website Took A Loooong Time To Finish… But It Was Worth The Wait!

Here’s A Good Example Of A Website That Looks Great, Oozes With Identity, And Makes Prospects Absolutely FALL IN LOVE.

By Rich Harshaw

Normally, I like to get things done fast. Really fast.

I met my wife in mid-October, 1992; we were engaged on January 7^th, 1993, and married on May 1^st that same year. You read that right: five and a half months from “met to married.”

Then my first son was born fifty-one weeks later.

I can buy a suit in fifteen minutes. One-click shopping from Amazon with free two-day shipping is my best friend. I lease my cars because all I have to do is call my leasing guy on the phone, tell him what I want, and he delivers the vehicle to my house two days later and only requires four minutes to sign all the paperwork.

I just don’t like to mess around.

So when we launched a website for New York contractor Upscale Remodeling earlier this month—nearly three years after starting the project—you might be surprised to know that instead of anxious and antsy, I was feeling calm, cool, and collected.

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Tips, Tricks, & Advice For Determining What Size Ad To Go With.

My friend Chris got up at 5 AM, waited in line, and bought the new iPhone 6 on the first morning it was available for sale. I met with him for lunch later that day and held my suddenly-puny iPhone 5 next to his gargantuan new model… and was horrified. My scrawny phone was dwarfed by iPhone 6 awesomeness… so even though I’m not one of those “gotta have the latest and greatest gadget” kinds of guys, I determined right then and there I would upgrade as soon as possible.

But what about the iPhone 6 Plus?

Now that sucker is HUGE. I asked Chris why he chose the relatively tame 6 instead of its elder brother, and he replied that the iPhone Goliath was simply TOO BIG. I had seen pictures of course, but Chris reported that the real McCoy was too big to fit comfortably in his hand… or pocket for that matter. It’s just too big.

Or is it?
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