No, I won’t take your money…

I make money selling advertising on WOWO Radio.  I also make money hooking up businesses with some of our online web offerings.

You would think that is simple.  You want to buy an ad or a bunch of ads, I give you a price, we agree and sign papers and the deed is done.

But I don’t and won’t work that way.

I care too much.

I want you to be successful when you spend your money with me.

I want it to be a good investment, not a waste.

Honestly it is impossible to get a 100% accurate measurement on the success of your advertising.

But there are clues and signs that give indications.

Over the next several weeks I’m going to write on Wednesdays about the ins and outs of successful marketing and advertising.

I want you to understand and I also will share with you what I do that others, even those in my own company don’t do.

And to kick it off, here are a few reasons why I won’t take your money even if you want to spend it with me.

• You want to “test us.”  Sorry but we don’t offer a free test drive.  Even if you want to pay for the ads to air, unless you agree to certain minimums and we can agree on what to expect, I’m not going to burn bridges by taking your money, crossing my fingers and praying for a ton of business to come your way.  Either we agree on what it will take to make it successful and we do it that way, or you can go “test” some other advertising.  Odds are both you and the advertising media will fail the test.
• You are not ready to take care of the potential customers I can send you.  We have lot’s of people who listen to us every week.  Over 100,000 according to the rating services.  While you are not going to get all of our listeners coming to you, can you handle the ones that do want to do business with you?  Are you big enough to handle an increase in business and give those new customers the best treatment possible?  If not, no, I won’t take your money now, maybe in the future, but get your business in order first, and I’ll be happy to advise you on what steps you need to take.
• You need new customers now or you are going out of business.  Big Red Flag in my book.  I’m not a miracle worker. Sounds like you have other issues that need attention too.  Despite having the biggest audience of radio listeners in Fort Wayne, they’re not trained seals who are going to come rushing to your rescue to buy from you because you need them to right now.
• You are a crook.  Yeah, that’s right.  Your way of doing business is questionable, shady, sort-of-above-board-but-not-completely…   I only want to work with businesses that I trust to take good care of my listeners.  I have fired advertisers before.  Eight years ago I discovered a mortgage company that was on one of the stations I worked for was bending the rules to get unqualified people loans, I kicked them off the air.  Don’t play that game with me.
• You have not convinced me that you know what you are doing.  I had a “social media guru” come to me a few years ago who wanted to advertise her services.  She was just a beginner and I knew more than she did about her “craft”.  She failed my “test” of basic knowledge of how a couple of social media platforms work.  She needed to up her knowledge before I could recommend her to anyone, and I would not take her money.
• Sometimes you are doing nothing wrong, it’s just not a good fit.  You want to advertise your teen night club on my station.  95% of our listeners are 25 and older.  I’ll connect you with someone from one of my sister stations that would be a better fit.

I’m sort of picky and that’s good because I don’t want to waste your time, your money, or my time either.  I want to develop long term relationships, whether its business or personal.  I want it to be built on trust, not money.  That’s why there are times when I won’t take your money…