If you’ve been trapped inside by the winter weather lately, why not curl up with a book? Dave Beasing has made a recommended reading list for programmers who wish to absorb some new ideas and concepts when it comes to promoting, programming and marketing your station.
Dave Beasing
By: Dave Beasing
Whether you read them on a Kindle or iPad – or on good old-fashioned paper – these books are timeless. Most aren’t bestsellers, and they aren’t even about radio. Here’s how they can help you program and market a radio station.
Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind and Marketing Warfare by Al Ries & Jack Trout (McGraw-Hill)
Are you on offense or defense? Or are you performing a flanking maneuver? Ries and Trout will help you instantly recognize and classify your marketing situation. Then they apply time-tested rules for you to follow. Strategic metaphors for business never get dated, and these 2 classics from the ‘80s are beautifully simple. With apologies to my colleagues through the years, I cite Ries and Trout in almost every meeting – so far, without objection.
Purple Cow by Seth Godin (Penguin Group)
Actually, pick a Godin book. Any Godin book. They’re all works of humble genius and easy-to-read, and so is his daily blog. The sleeve to this one probably explains the concept better than I could: “Cows, after you’ve seen one or two or ten, are boring… A Purple Cow though… now that would be something. Every day, consumers come face-to-face with a lot of boring stuff – a lot of brown cows – but you can bet they won’t forget a Purple Cow.”
No amount of marketing will make people want to see (or hear) another brown cow, and a Purple Cow really doesn’t need marketing, does it? Your listeners are in constant conversation with their friends via Facebook, Twitter, text. Godin reminds us to be remarkable.
Letting Go of the Words by Janice Redish (Elsevier)
Skim this one, then share it with everyone who writes on your station’s behalf – on the website, blogs, Facebook, in press releases. Good writing changes over time, and the Web is accelerating the rate of that change. Janice Redish’s book is today’s style book, a modern Struck and White.
Saving the World At Work by Tim Sanders (Doubleday)
No matter how many times you witness focus groups for radio, it’s still an eye-opener: We think there are vast differences between us and our competitors. To the listeners, the differences are usually small – and getting smaller. PPM has a mainstreaming effect. It’s causing Smooth Jazz stations to add more vocals and Rock stations to play more Gold. Hip Hop stations are sharing more with Mainstream CHR. So if we all have similar playlists, what may ultimately separate us could simply be good feelings about a brand – and about the people behind it.
We don’t have to be saints to make a difference — for the world and for ourselves. For example, the author cites a survey by LEK Consulting that finds nearly half of consumers would gladly switch to a product or service with a smaller carbon footprint. Maybe that’s your Purple Cow.
The Power of Cult Branding by Matthew Ragas & Bolivar Bueno (Crown Business)
Apple, Harley, Oprah, Jimmy Buffett, Vans, Star Trek – Their followers’ religious zeal didn’t happen accidentally. Or even if it did, it is possible to recreate that magic. My favorite cult branding principle: “Every hero needs an enemy.” Even if you never state it publicly, your audience should be able to list some things that you oppose, reasons for you to exist.
In-N-Out Burger: A Behind-the-Counter Look at the Fast-Food Chain That Breaks All the Rules by Stacy Perman (Harper-Collins)
If you like your business books with a gossipy story line – and fries on the side – order this one. Ask any of your friends from Southern California about In-N-Out, and then watch them drool. The Snyder family built a devoted following with a relentless focus on burgers. Just burgers. Single, double, triple… End of menu. Tacos are catching on? Pizza? “That’s nice. We make burgers,” they said.
The good news is that an In-N-Out may open near you soon. Time will tell whether the Snyder grandkids can grow the chain while maintaining high standards. Will the fast food equivalent of “voice tracking” lead to their demise?
Be Quick – But Don’t Hurry! by Andrew Hill with John Wooden (Simon and Schuster)
The title is one of many wise sayings from John Wooden, the legendary UCLA basketball coach. There are several good books that explain his leadership philosophy, but I like this one best. Author Andy Hill became an accomplished media executive after playing (and sitting on the bench a lot) for Coach Wooden. You’ll find several of his anecdotal illustrations to be relatable.
Every chapter gets its title from another of Wooden’s gems, like “Fairness Is Giving All People the Treatment They Earn and Deserve.”
The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs by Carmine Gallo (McGraw-Hill)
Let’s face it: We’re all salespeople, even if we don’t carry rate cards. Whether you’re selling your ideas up the chain of command, getting passionate buy-in from your own staff, or playing “guest expert” on sales calls… making a confident and compelling presentation can change the game.
Check out a video of Steve Jobs introducing a new Apple product on YouTube. Compare that to a presentation given by the average radio salesperson. You’ll make yourself invaluable by bringing just a little of Steve’s razzle dazzle to your organization.
Soar With Your Strengths by Donald O. Clifton & Paula Nelson (Delacorte Press)
It’s no joke that being a good program director also means being a shrink. Author Don Clifton is the business consultant who built the Gallup organization by offering a psychological approach to managing people.
Teaching a rabbit to swim makes as much sense as teaching a fish to jump. Likewise, discovering what your employees are good at is far more productive than getting them to improve where we’re lacking. That may seem obvious, but some of my worst mistakes as an employer have resulted from trying to ignore that simple premise.
Is Howard Stern right?
If – as Howard says – radio is a business of C students, studying a few good books could really set you apart.
Dave Beasing
Dave Beasing is program director of Bonneville’s innovative new “100.3 The Sound” KSWD-FM in Los Angeles. Dave has explored changing media habits as both a researcher and consultant.
