by Scott Howard | Sep 30, 2015 | Marketing and Advertising Insights, The Not-So-Secret Writings of ScLoHo, WOWO Fort Wayne Radio Advertising with Scott Howard
Time to share the thoughts of many business owners: Salespeople are annoying. And unfortunately in my business of media, marketing and advertising, it’s not much better.
I never wanted to sell advertising, but I do. I take a reverse approach. I help people buy. There is a difference. Let me explain.
I ended up on an email mailing list from a person that sells advertising in a business publication. A couple times a month I get an email from her with some offer or promotion that her bosses told her to sell. The email opening is always the same: Dear Decision Maker, blah blah blah… She sends this email to everyone at once. This is considered spam in the email world. It’s just annoying to most recipients. But it’s easy to delete too.
Another example. I am helping a friend with their marketing plan. She and her husband were high school classmates of mine 40 years ago and we started talking this summer about how she didn’t have a marketing plan and that’s not her background, (she was a C.P.A.) but making decisions on advertising is her job because she pays the bills. Because of my role as her marketing adviser, I went with her to a meeting at a local tv station that wanted to invite businesses to check out their “geo-fencing digital advertising options”.
She asked the salesperson who invited her if she could bring me as her marketing adviser and with a little reluctance, I was invited.
The day arrived and for nearly two hours we were in a conference room with one other potential TV client and 5 people from the TV station. The first hour was all about the history of the TV station and their parent company and how big their signal is and on and on and on and on about how great they are. We watch a short video and sat politely as they read from a power point. We also heard plenty of insider jokes about living in rural Indiana along with one guys story about his daughter’s college basketball career cut short by….. stop. please stop I was thinking. 
At the end in was after 5pm, my friend mentioned she needed to be at a meeting at 5:30 and so the salesperson who invited us had to rush through a binder of information about a package that they were pushing connected to all of this. The price was way too much for my friend to consider spending right now and when I heard there was a deadline of next Friday to sign up, that was the final red flag.
The details of the TV package where bad, but what I really found bad was the whole method that had for selling. Like I said earlier it was backwards. Instead of learning about my friends business and trying to determine how they could help my friends business grow, the TV people were more interested in selling their own stuff so their TV advertising business would grow.
I have worked for organizations like this TV station, that pushed packages with false deadlines and the focus is on selling. It’s not fun. It’s why I don’t work for those organizations anymore.
My focus is to help business owners and managers make wise decisions with their marketing and advertising. I will recommend advertising options that they can buy from me when it fits, and I will recommend advertising options that they can buy from others too when it fits. I’m all about their success in selling their goods and services, not mine.
There are about 100 or more people in the Fort Wayne area that want to sell you advertising. I would rather help you buy advertising and marketing services that fit your business goals.
I work with WOWO Radio, Federated Entertainment, Federated Digital Solutions, under the Federated Media umbrella. I was on the American Advertising Board of Directors locally for 7 years. I know people at most of the advertising venues and agencies in the area. I can and will help connect you with the ones that can help you. But beyond that connectedness, I want to help you create a marketing strategy based on what your business needs, not on what people want to sell you.
See the difference?
by Scott Howard | Sep 24, 2015 | Marketing and Advertising Insights, Really? The Personal ScLoHo, The Not-So-Secret Writings of ScLoHo
#TBT For Throw Back Thursday, I’m really stepping back in time, 10 years. In 2005, my wife and I were doing some outdoor home improvements which inspired the following which I wrote back then, from the ScLoHo archives:
Never confuse the foundation with the design of your project.
These words of wisdom can be applied to almost anything, but what brought it to mind was a pallet of paving bricks in my backyard. My wife is excellent when it comes to having a sense of style and design in most cases. Me? I have my own style that has been influenced by others in my life, but between the two of us, I usually let her have her way and I like her ideas.
The paving bricks are part of a project that she initiated in our backyard to build a brick patio. As Kathy focused on the design she wanted and I assisted with some of the grunt work, we came to realize that the foundation of this patio was not turning out right and we had differences in our approach to solve the problem. Basically in the end, I insisted that we get the foundation the way it needed to be, and then the design that she wanted could be accomplished afterwards.
How is your business operating? Do you have the basics in place? That could be a legal adviser, accountant, banker, along with the rest of your business plan? Or are you the type who is just going to “wing it”? Please get the foundation in place first, then you can play with the design of your business.
And in case you haven’t done so yet, include a marketer to your staff of advisers and experts. Someone who is honest and not just a yes man, someone who can give you valuable advise based on what you need. There is a difference between an advertising salesperson and a marketer who sells advertising.
The Brick Patio? It took longer to build but it was built on a firm foundation.
by Scott Howard | Sep 23, 2015 | Marketing and Advertising Insights, The Not-So-Secret Writings of ScLoHo, WOWO Fort Wayne Radio Advertising with Scott Howard
WOWO radio is the radio station I work for, doing advertising and marketing consulting, helping business people make smart advertising and marketing decisions, and selling advertising solutions on WOWO and with our digital options.
But this is not about me, or WOWO directly. It is about the talk radio advantage for advertisers.
This is a conversation I have several times each month. It is about the mental state of people who are exposed to your advertising messages.
We are going to look at the big picture and include many of the places you can spend money to advertise.
Start with television. When you and I sit down to watch a show, we are paying attention to the show. When commercials come on, most of us stop paying attention, at least not the same level of attentiveness that we have during the show.
Newspapers and magazines. Unless it’s a fashion magazine that is chocked full of 50+ pages of ads before the articles start, we are not really interested in the ads. We bought the paper to read the stories, get the scores, or see if someone died.
Social Media. Facebook for example is a place to go to find out what’s happening with friends and family. They have managed to work ads and sponsored posts into out timelines so we can’t help but seem them but we are not on Facebook to check out the ads.
Radio. Not all radio stations are created equal. For this discussion, let’s look at the difference between music based stations and talk based stations. The reason we tune in to a station that plays music, any music for that matter, is to hear music that we like. In Fort Wayne we have country music stations, rock music stations, pop music stations and plenty of variations.
Every listener to a music radio station selects that particular station because they want to hear that particular style of music. Anytime the music stops for any length of time, say 2 minutes, we pay less attention. If the station plays 5 or 7 minutes of commercials in a row, we really tune out and pay less attention. Some may even change stations. The reason we listen to music radio stations is to hear music. It’s to escape. Anything other than music on a music station is an irritant.
Talk based radio stations are a different animal. Stations like WOWO which are a combination of News and Talk have listeners who tune in for information. The programming on talk radio stations is brain food, not escapism like the music on a music radio station. When the newscaster or program host is talking, listeners are paying attention to the words. It’s the information that people want to hear.
So what happens when your commercial airs on a talk radio station like WOWO? 1st off, it’s not interrupting music, taking the place of your favorite song, so it is less of an irritant. Next, if your ad is a live endorsement from the radio personality, that is the very best kind of commercial because you have the credibility of the radio personality combined with the credibility of WOWO and a receptive audience that is listening to hear the talk, whether it is about politics or your business, it doesn’t matter.
If you air regular recorded commercials on a talk radio station like WOWO, you still get a receptive audience that is not turned off by talking on the radio and you are on WOWO which adds credibility to your business.
Last year I discovered another way to use WOWO’s talk radio format to help your business and that is with our live 10 second sponsorship messages of news, weather, traffic and sports. These are done live by the newscasters and program hosts and are embedded in the program and carry almost as much weight as a full endorsement.
This relationship between the WOWO listeners and the WOWO air staff with our news and talk radio format is one of trust. For many it’s as strong a bond of trust as a trusted friend. You don’t get that with a newspaper ad. You don’t get that with a TV commercial, You don’t get that with nearly any other form of advertising you can spend your money on.
This is the Talk Radio Advantage WOWO advertisers receive. Want more info? Let’s talk.
by Scott Howard | Sep 18, 2015 | Marketing and Advertising Insights, The Not-So-Secret Writings of ScLoHo
When you hear the word, ‘Free”, does it attract you? Or does it decrease the value of the product or service?
Let me put that into context. 
A friend of mine announced that he was going to stop offering free consultations.
This man is not a lawyer, or a doctor, or an auto mechanic or plumber.
He fixes computers.
Here is what he put on his website last month:
Over the years I have met with many potential clients to discuss their situation and how I can help them. I usually don’t charge for these meetings, but as I look back a lot of time was spent. During the meetings I give them advice and ideas which I usually don’t get compensated for. I’m going to stop giving away this advice and information and whenever I meet with someone, it’s billable. When I was working for another computer service company one of the owners said something I’ve never forgotten. He said he was tired of meeting for free with people. From that point on, all meetings were billable because his time was valuable. What are your thoughts?
What does that say to you?
Is this a wise move or is there another issue that needs attention?
I believe it’s a time management and expectation management issue.
See it really doesn’t matter what your profession is, you have a limited amount of time each day, week, month, year.
I know professionals who offer free consultation for one purpose:
To determine if a paid relationship is needed.
That determination comes from both parties, the professional and the potential paying customer.
Lawyers need to know if the person has a valid case or need. I used one last year and our initial conversations, in his office were free. When I asked him to prepare a document, I was charged a reasonable fee.
Doctors usually don’t offer a free office visit because they prioritize their time in the office for paying patients. Many docs do offer free services at a time and place of their choosing.
Auto Mechanics may or may not charge for a consultation. Depends on if you are asking a question or if they need to open the hood and run some tests.
My experience with plumbers has been mixed. I had one company send out one of their crew after I explained in detail what the problem was, and the plumber they sent was not qualified to do the work and didn’t have the tools on his truck to do the job. Yet they wanted to charge me for his visit which was worthless.
On the other hand, I have had exceptional service from another plumber that went above and beyond to fix our issue and showed us ways to save money including ways to avoid having to call him back!
My computer fix it guy friend I have known for 10 years and have seen his business grow. What he really needs to do is decide what he will continue to do for free and what he will charge for. He needs to manage his time so he is putting his highest priority on paying customers and still has time to help others unless he doesn’t want new customers.
That’s a dangerous decision to make. The one where you decide not to take any new customers. Instead you usually need to decide which new customers to take on.
I’ll share a couple examples from my life.
In the radio advertising world, there is a lot of work that is done without direct compensation. For the most part, advertisers only pay for the actual air time and not the creative process or the time devoted to creating the ads or campaign. For example, I have an advertising partner that pays for the 30 ads they air on WOWO each week, but not the meetings and planning that takes place to create everything. It’s simple. We contract for the number of ads and they get a bill for the airing of those commercials.
About 10 years ago, I had a client that wanted to see me every Wednesday at 2pm to discuss the next ad and also hand me a check. When I had the time, this was fine, I thought. But the reality was this client was nearly an hour from my office and the 45 minutes we met each week was really about 4 to 5 hours of my week when you factor in the work I did back at the station to get their ads updated after the weekly meeting.
Taking care of this client was simply taking too much time each week and I needed to fire them unless I could increase their value. I took the time to see if we could help them in other areas that they would spend more money by running more ads with me. Nothing. I attempted to get some additional business from referrals that they knew. Another nothing.
I didn’t really fire them and pull them off the air. Instead I gave them to a newer sales person on our team who wasn’t as busy so I could focus on higher paying clients.
Fast forward to today and what I do at WOWO and Federated Media. Part of the process I and my other WOWO sales team members go through is a consistent evaluation of our on-air advertising partners.
The top 25% in terms of annual spending are labeled Keys. It has been shown that this 25% are responsible for at least 75% of the revenue. We go through a process of qualifying potential advertisers to see if they will fit the profile of those in the top 25%.
The businesses that spend the most or have that potential are going to get the most attention because they have earned it.
Now before you go wacky on me and say what about the little people… It really doesn’t take much to rise to that top 25%. If a business is not willing to invest in themselves to qualify then there are 3 possible scenarios:
- They are new and small. They may need to grow a bit before they are able to invest enough to be a Key Account. Often times we can still help them with some marketing options but sometimes they are not ready for a paid advertising program.
- They are events. Like a concert or a festival. There is a limited amount of what we can do because they are in a short-time span or seasonal business.
- They don’t understand the importance of having a marketing strategy that includes human relationship principles.
That last one, number 3 is where I spend a lot of my time. I actually help businesses develop a marketing strategy. This is different from an advertising strategy but they overlap.
I will devote hours working with business owners helping them develop a plan for marketing that is strategic and customized just for them. The very last step is to decide which advertising mediums to use.
This is what I offer for free. I decide who to offer this service to. Some folks are amazed that I do this. A friend of mine asked 3 times if I would be willing to do this and each time I said yes. She was used to paying an advertising agency for these kinds of services and being charged by the hour for everything, or paying a retainer.
That is not the way I work. I actually have time in my schedule devoted to this free service. It is how we discover if I can help you when you want to spend money advertising. It is the way we build a trusting relationship. Not by charging you first, but by this method.
I’ve gone on long enough for this article, want help? Contact me.
by Scott Howard | Sep 1, 2015 | The Not-So-Secret Writings of ScLoHo
In Indiana we have two seasons, Winter and Road Construction. Neither one is much fun to drive in. However today I’m going to share the parallels of these two seasons and challenge you a bit. Let’s dig in to: Why You Should Destroy Your Business to Rebuild It.
There are a couple reasons why we have road construction.
One is that the road is worn out. It is filled with potholes. Wear and tear with time and weather, especially those winters. This happens to businesses too. Certain aspects need to be fixed or replaced due to age and use.
Another reason we have road construction is that the road has become popular. More traffic is using the road and it needs upgraded. For the last couple of years, they have been widening a road near our house from 2 lanes to 4 lanes to accommodate the extra volume of cars and trucks. Is your business limited because of size? Are you turning away business because you are not capable of handling more due to the structure and organization of your business?
A third reason we have road construction is that the original road was inferior. While this is not as common in the road business, it is pretty common with new businesses. Because of the standards that are in place for building roads and all the checks and balances along the way, most roads are fine when they are built and will last for years without needing repair or patching.
Not so with new businesses. You don’t need any special qualifications to start a business. Just an idea and the action to make it real. This leaves many new businesses with missing pieces that were overlooked when the business started and will need to be fixed as soon as possible. It could be related to permits, accounting, taxes, payroll, or any number of issues that are not at the forefront of most entrepreneurs.
For any or all of these reasons you may need to Destroy Your Business and Rebuild It. But hang on and let’s continue to look at the options compared to the road construction industry.
If there are some fatal flaws that will land you in jail or paying fines, you must address those now. Not paying the state the sales taxes you collect is one of those fatal flaws I have seen occur more than a few times in the past dozen years.
Sometimes you need to shut down a portion of your business while you fix or rebuild. Be sure to provide a detour and let your customers know what is going on or you can lose them forever.
Sometimes you need to expand in order to meet the demand. Always keep in mind the end goal when you do this and beware of short cuts that are only temporary fixes.
Sometimes you will meet resistance. The neighbors like the two lane gravel road and don’t want a four lane blacktop road. “Hey, it’s been like this forever and worked so there is no need to change it now” statements are common. With that type of thinking we would be stuck in the past forever. Too many businesses are going to die with this mindset. I understand the battle but instead of hanging onto all the traditional ways of doing things from the past, look at ways to hang on to the traditional values of the past and see how you can adapt them to fit the business you are building for the future.
Very few people, (I know NONE), want to return to dirt and gravel roads and eliminate pavement as a preferred road.
Your challenge is going to be figuring out the logistics to accommodate your current customers while you are rebuilding your business to better serve them and serve your future customers.
One thing is for sure. If you don’t Destroy Your Business and Rebuild It, It will fall in disrepair and you won’t have a business at all.
Need help? Contact me.
by Scott Howard | Aug 18, 2015 | Marketing and Advertising Insights, The Not-So-Secret Writings of ScLoHo
When I talk to business owners and managers about advertising options, they want to feel good about the money they are going to spend.
Did you see that?
They want to feel good.
They want to feel smart, confident, happy and wise.
Often times this feeling comes from examining facts and figures and from calculating the Return On Investment they will get from spending (investing) in advertising.
This is such an imperfect science that we should eliminate it all together but like I said, people want to feel good when they are going to spend money.
I was talking with a friend recently and we came up with a return on investment that looks like this:
For every $3000 he spends, he needs 3 sales to break even and the 4th sale produces a profit. This is based on 3 years of being in business and the knowledge that he has of his average sale, expenses and those operating numbers.
Great information, I wish more business owners knew this.
What we don’t know is how to accurately track the Return On Investment of each individual advertising and marketing message he has out there.
Here’s why: His truck is logoed up and has his contact info. When he is driving down the road or sitting in traffic, his truck is planting marketing seeds (impressions) on future customers. You can’t accurately measure the Return On Investment of his vehicle wrap can you?
He takes part in some consumer trade shows. Hundreds of people have seen his display and dozens have spoken with him each year. Only a small percentage of the people who see his display (the ones he talks to and gets contact info from) are trackable for Return On Investment measurement.
Advertising and marketing messages overlap. We are exposed to a business via multiple methods which nullifies the results of tracking the Return on Investment of each individual advertising and marketing message.
The web was supposed to be the ultimate source of accurate and fool proof tracking, but it falls victim to the same limitations of measurement that off line marketing has.
You could try combining the two which might help, or produce some really weird and useless ad campaigns like this one from 2012 that tried combining Billboards with QR codes:
The Unscanable QR Code
So how do you deal with Return On Investment as a way to measure the success of your advertising campaign and more importantly how do you feel good about spending money on advertising?
Ask the right questions.
Know the limitations.
Deal with trustworthy people.
More on this Wednesday.
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