Innholdsfortegnelse for January 11, 2021 i Radio Ink Magazine

The past year has altered life in many ways. It goes without saying that there are many devastating stories that have resulted from the pandemic. As someone wisely noted, we may be in the same storm, but we are all in different boats. Which brings to mind another part of this human drama in which we find ourselves. It’s that revealing slice of life we could not have dreamed of at the dawn of 2020, the one that turned back the curtain on certain previously understood formalities. We may be socially distanced and masked in public, but we’ve become more up close and personal than ever before. And we’ve gotten to know each other in ways we could not have imagined a year ago. Beyond the six feet that distance…

This has likely been the most challenging period for this generation of managers. There’s no need to recount the pain, obstacles, fear, and unnerving demands we have all encountered. And if you did not know it before, you know it now: Job One is managing people and problems. Certainly, there is no blueprint for what we are enduring, or what we have learned along the way. But when we faced other issues, like a deep recession and 9/11, we pivoted, adjusted, and survived. This will end, we will return to pre-COVID conditions, and we will be better prepared for the next crisis. The editors at Radio Ink asked if I would share some of what our leadership team enacted during 2020 to keep our organization calm, energized, hopeful, and performing…

2020 tested our resolve as leaders, friends, and co-workers — and as total strangers in a world we could never have imagined. Our resilience skills were in constant flux, and we needed to be more adaptable than ever. There were many days that was not easy. As Radio Ink starts the new year by honoring Executive of the Year Dave Ramsey, let us emulate Ramsey’s leadership excellence by looking at 12 thoughts for the 12 months of 2021. 1. Make an environmental evaluation. Internal culture is frayed at the edges, and it is time for leaders to acknowledge that the safety of their people rests in how psychologically sound they are. This is a crucial starting point for everything that will happen this year. Do not sweep this priority under…

Dave Ramsey started as a co-host on a Nashville radio station that was in bankruptcy, back in 1992. By 1996, he was syndicating his show — self-syndicating his show, one station at a time. “Death by a thousand cuts,” he calls it. Today, Ramsey’s show is heard on over 600 radio stations across the country. Ramsey Solutions employs 950 people, and the network has seven hosts. The 223,000-square-foot Ramsey campus sits on 47 acres in Franklin, Tennessee, and a second building is now under construction. Once it’s finished, the two connected buildings will be more than 400,000 square feet. Phase three of Ramsey HQ will be a 50,000-square-foot conference center. Here’s our interview with Radio Ink’s Radio Executive of the Year, Dave Ramsey. Radio Ink: How has the pandemic impacted…

This is what good marketers see when they close their eyes: 1. Win the heart and the mind will follow. The mind of the customer will always create logic to justify what the heart has already decided. 2. We buy what we buy to remind ourselves — and announce to the world around us — who we are. 3. A tribe is made up of self-selected insiders. 4. Identify a tribe (an affinity group). 5. Develop that tribe. 6. Market to the tribe you have developed. 7. Gathering your tribe is easy: In your first encounter, make sure they win big. Give them far more than they gave you. 8. All of the above can be summarized in two words: identity reinforcement. 9. Entertainment purchases the time and attention of…

2020 will be remembered for many things, some good, a lot bad. But for many, it was the year they started a podcast. This year brought shortages in USB mics and boards as tens of thousands of Americans started podcasts during their time at home. Most are hobbies and will be gone in 2021, but for a lot of radio professionals, the hope is that podcasting can give their careers a second life. If you started a podcast and have hit roadblocks, here are my tips for jump-starting your show in 2021. Analyze your listen-through rates. This is the most important metric for me as I analyze a show and how it’s doing. If your listen-through rates are consistently under 70%, there is something that is not working. Usually, it…

2020 should teach us that radio is the strongest, most directly connected medium for immediate and vital information, companionship, and, now, innovation. I for one have more promotions, ideas for client categories, and planned-out promotional schedules than I have in my entire career. 2020 can be the year that makes us look at everything as an industry and find the things that matter most. Like our connection to our audience, how many people we keep company during a pandemic when they may otherwise be alone, and, most of all, recognizing the people from your team who stepped up, put their heads down, and were there for their station and their community no matter what was happening in the world around them. To me, steady, calming leadership that brings people together…

2020 will go down as one of the worst years in the history of radio, thanks to COVID-19. We started to see something of a recovery toward the end of the year and heading into 2021, but there’s still a long way to go. We asked several of Radio Ink’s 2020 Best Managers how they see the radio industry coming out of this situation. Here’s what they had to say. Radio has adapted and changed constantly over the last 100 years. I am confident, as we start the next 100 years, we are ready to meet the new challenges of our post-pandemic world. This crisis has accelerated the need to adapt and prepare for the future. I believe as long as radio stays focused on making a difference in the…

Radio Ink: How has the pandemic impacted you? Howard: I’m such a people person that it’s something that has been a very hard adjustment. I have a defective heart valve from birth and one stint of cancer and I’m 65, so I’ve been in hibernation since March 13. If I were a politician, I would be what they call a “retail politician.” I have a studio in my home, and that’s been it. I don’t get to see my producers. I’ve used virtual platforms to keep in touch. For those of us privileged enough to be able to keep working from home, we haven’t had to make the difficult choice many have had to. I’m one of the lucky ones. It’s hard to whine too much. As a family, we’ve…