6 Lessons Learned From Surviving A Pandemic

by Scott Howard | Sep 29, 2021 | Marketing and Advertising Insights, ScLoHo Sales Tips, ScLoHo's Media, The Not-So-Secret Writings of ScLoHo, WOWO Fort Wayne Radio Advertising with Scott Howard

Now that we’ve made it this far in a once in a century pandemic, I thought I’d share with you a piece that I wrote for radio insiders.

First, the backstory.

This summer, radio consultant Loyd Ford reached out to me to be a guest columnist on his website that is designed for people in the radio industry. People who work at radio stations on the air or behind the scenes. I’ve done both but for the past couple of decades, what I do is not on the radio with the exception of a few ads I voice on WOWO radio where I am the General Sales Manager.

So what I am about to share was written for a very specific niche audience, however I believe you too will perhaps get some insight and ideas for you and your business.

6 Lessons Learned During A Pandemic was first published earlier this month at https://rainmakerpathway.com/free-blog/f/6-lessons-learned-from-surviving-a-pandemic

At the beginning of 2020, none of us thought that Surviving a Pandemic would be on our to do list, but sure enough, it rose to the top of the surprises for the year.

Now that we are in year two and continuing to battle the lingering effects of the Coronavirus that still rears it’s ugly head and will impact the communities we work and live in, I’ve got a few hints on how to move forward, no matter what happens next.

1. Pivot for your people. Pivot was an overused word in 2020, but it was appropriate. We are in the people business, otherwise we would not be needed. When our radio stations needed to allow our air talent to broadcast from home, our engineers made it possible. When our sales and office support staff needed to stop coming to the office and needed some leeway to accommodate kids at home instead of in school, we worked with them instead of being inflexible.

2. Don’t dwell on the past. In Northern Indiana, we saw our weekly revenue reports going from our best ever, to being cut in half, and then negative numbers. Weeks went by with only a fraction of the new business that we had been used to and had budgeted coming in. Instead of getting stuck there, our company made some cuts and also adjusted. When we closed the books on 2020, we finished further ahead than we thought we would when everything hit the fan in March 2020.

3. Create a Plan B, Plan C & Plan D. This is a lesson that I’ve had to relearn and apply more than ever. If you never have to use the alternative plans, fantastic. However the process of creating the alternative plans helped us leap forward and update practices that needed to be revised.

4. Care about your business partners. I gave my sales team the latitude to do what they felt was needed to help their customers. Some got reduced spot rates, some received extra no charge ads. Some had to suspend their ads because they were shut down and had no way to make money. We ran free ads informing our listeners and their customers what was going on. Meanwhile we heard about other local broadcasters that stuck to the letter of the law and refused to help their advertisers because they were trying to hang on to their radio revenue. In the end, the business owners remembered who cared and we have stronger and more robust relationships with them.

5. Adapt to the new ways. Video conferencing was never really on my to do list for 2020, although I was familiar with Zoom because of a client I meet with who does a weekly Zoom meeting with her marketing team across the country. Now video calls are another tool for connecting. In the retail world, they adapted to curb side pick-up and delivery. What ways can we adapt to make life easier for people to do business with us? We also added an online payment portal in 2020.

6. Follow the Basics. No matter what the circumstances there are basics we need to do every week, like prospect, meet, present, sign, and service. Repeat. Business owners need and want our help to make bring them customers.

Our Guest Expert

Scott Howard is the General Sales Manager of WOWO Radio in Fort Wayne, Indiana, one of 6 local stations owned by Federated Media. WOWO is nearly 100 years old and continues to be both the most listened to station and top billing station in both our company and also in Fort Wayne.

Scott has been with WOWO since 2013 and his background includes sales and management positions in both Indiana and Detroit after starting his broadcasting career on the air and in programming a few decades ago.

Since 2004 Scott has been writing and publishing media and marketing insights every week at https://www.scotthoward.me/and launched the Genuine ScLoHo Media and Marketing Podcast also updated weekly with over 200 episodes under 10 minutes each at https://podcasts.federatedmedia.com/show/scott-howard-media-marketing/

You can find him online by Googling, “ScLoHo” which is his online persona. Besides leading, teaching, training and mentoring the WOWO Local Sales Team, he also is called upon the guest lecture at area colleges and universities annually.

Thank you Loyd for the opportunity and I will be contributing to his website regularly in the future.

A Lesson in Business from the Business of Baseball

by Scott Howard | Sep 22, 2021 | Marketing and Advertising Insights, Sound ADvice, The Not-So-Secret Writings of ScLoHo

Long before baseball was known as BIG business it was known as America’s favorite pastime! But the truth be told, it’s always been a business and some valuable lessons can be learned by looking at how a baseball organization is run.

As a fan, we look at baseball as pure entertainment. Behind the scenes, the owners and managers are meticulously trying the create the perfect team on the field and the perfect balance sheet in the office. It’s not just the team they put on the field that makes them successful. There is more to it, much more!

As you work each day to build a successful business, there are some lessons to be learned from the way a professional baseball team builds, creates, and even re-organizes its rosters.

As with baseball teams, businesses have owners, managers, assistant managers, players, and personnel. They also, intentionally, have a mix of veterans, rookies, and those somewhere in between.

When creating a roster, it’s more than just pure talent that they look at. They look at personalities, and attitudes on and off the field as well. Regardless of the position, each player and person on the team plays a major role in the overall success of the team. The same rules apply when creating your roster of employees.

In the 10 Lessons from Baseball on Building a Successful Business, Lesson #4 is: Hiring or Identifying Specialty and Utility Players. In today’s baseball, every team has specialty and utility players. Having employees on your team that specialize in one area or another can be very rewarding. Likewise, having a player/employee that can play several positions can pay huge dividends as well. While a utility player may not be an all-star player at any one position, it’s the player, or in a business’ case, the employee that can fill in in a pinch without missing a beat.

Lesson #8 is: Create Fans. Fans just don’t happen, they’re created. Baseball players will tell you that it’s much easier to get hyped up when you have fans cheering you on.

Teams that have the best fans sell the most tickets, t-shirts, and logoed products. True fans are fans that cheer and promote the team, or your business, whether they are inside or outside the stadium. Do you have a plan to create raving and vocal fans/customers that not only root for you when they need you, but will root for you between purchases as well?

The similarity between a professional baseball team and your business is that you want to create a team that attracts a lot of fans/customers that are so thrilled by your product(s) or service(s) that they not only come back time after time, but they bring friends with them.

The ultimate goal is not just to win, but to be successful on and off the field.

To see the 10 Lessons from Baseball on Building a Successful Business, click here.

A Bottle of Happiness

by Scott Howard | Aug 18, 2021 | Marketing and Advertising Insights, Sound ADvice

Today, I’m going to share with you a story that began 135 years ago.

Coca-Cola taught the world to sing in perfect harmony and it also taught all of us some great marketing lessons!

On May 8th, 1886, Dr. John Pemberton sold his first glass of Coca-Cola at Jacobs Pharmacy in downtown Atlanta, Georgia.

Advertising has played a key role in Coke’s worldwide dominance since the beginning when John Pemberton invested $77 in advertising while he was only making a $50 profit.

135 years later, Coke, as it is affectionately known, is served 1.9 million times every day, and remains one of the most recognized brands in the world.

After decades and multitudes of marketing campaigns, Coca-Cola remains consistent in communicating one very powerful and effective message, “Pleasure”, using two very powerful words, “Enjoy” and “Happiness”. A product that makes people, smile, laugh, sing, and brings pleasure to our daily lives, never goes out of style.

A major reason for Coca-Cola’s success is the emphasis it places on the brand instead of the actual product. Coke rarely talks about the taste or ingredients, instead, it focuses on what the product does for you and to you. It doesn’t sell a drink in a bottle, it sells “happiness” in a bottle.

There are a number of marketing lessons local businesses can learn from Coca-Cola’s long history of marketing successes, as well as from their famous marketing blunder.

One of the most important lessons is the value of targeting emotions with your advertising. Who doesn’t remember the emotional appeal of a multi-ethnic choir standing on the hilltop singing, “I’d like to teach the world to sing…it’s the real thing.”

And what can be more nostalgic than the Christmas spirit…everyone has seen the mysterious Christmas gift-giver, Santa, drinking a bottle of Coca-Cola.

Have you ever noticed the Coca-Cola bottler’s trucks are always clean and in excellent repair? They “walk the talk”.

No Knee-Jerk Marketing – Remember the failure of New Coke, followed by the rapid return of Classic Coke? Coca-Cola blinked when a sweeter Pepsi product was winning the Pepsi challenge in blind taste tests. Coke overreacted by sweetening their New Coke to the dismay of loyal customers who wanted “the real thing”.

The most successful marketers hold the course and do not overreact to competitors’ campaigns.

Click here to get the 8 Coca-Cola Marketing Lessons you can use to grow your business.

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8 Principles to Improve Your Life and Business

by Scott Howard | Aug 11, 2021 | Marketing and Advertising Insights, Really? The Personal ScLoHo, ScLoHo's Collective Wisdom, The Not-So-Secret Writings of ScLoHo, WOWO Fort Wayne Radio Advertising with Scott Howard

A couple of weeks ago, I was reading an article on Medium.com titled: 8 Pillars of a Satisfied and Happy Life. Here’s a link to it: https://medium.com/mind-cafe/8-pillars-of-a-satisfied-and-happy-life-847d98707e81

It was a beautiful Sunday afternoon as I read it and decided that I wanted to add my spin on the 8 Pillars with both insights on how to apply this to you business and also reflections on how I do it personally.

On the business side of my life, I am the General Sales Manager of WOWO Radio, in Fort Wayne, Indiana. I lead and coach 6 full time advertising sales people on our Local Sales Team. I moved into this position at the beginning of 2020, a few weeks before Indiana went into lock-down due to the pandemic. This is my 8th year with WOWO and I’ve been in the media and marketing world most of my life, although I do know how to drive a forklift and run a thermoformer too.

On the personal side, my wife and I have been married for over two decades and our 5 kids from our 1st marriages of made us grandparents multiple times. The people on my Local Sales Team at WOWO range in age from my age to my kids age and so I know most of what they go through both personally and professionally. The term, “Been There, Done That”, applies however the world has changed since I was a new Dad, some for the better, other changes not so much.

Pillar Number One from the Medium story:

1. Allow Yourself To Be Happy Before You “Succeed”

Absolutely. As you grow, you need to learn to enjoy the journey. Starting a new business is challenging all the time, not just in extreme circumstances. Give yourself credit for doing the work. One of the ways I measure the activity of the sales team I work with is the types of activity they are doing and how much they are doing. I know that if they do certain benchmarks, success will follow.

Similarly, my wife likes gardening and it makes her happy. It is hard work and the rewards take time to grow, but in the meantime, she is happy doing the work. How about you? Do you have benchmarks in your business or life that you use to measure success before the financial success comes in?

2. Have A Clear Vision

Goals need to be both short and long term. My team has a big picture goal that I shared at the beginning of the year, and then each month I break it down into smaller chunks for each person. Together I work with each of them to help guide them to achieve those smaller goals which will add up to the original long term goal for our team.

I’ve worked for others who had no vision or they were continually changing course which creates frustration and confusion. As a business owner, make sure your team understands the vision for your company too. When my wife and I plan a trip either for ourselves or to visit family, we agree on the important elements and then also plan the details. I learned several years ago how we best travel together and perhaps you and your spouse have learned what works best for you too.

3. Devote Yourself To Something Meaningful

I really dislike most advertising salespeople. At least the way they do business, too many are focused on themselves, not on their clients success. That has been the secret to my success. To help others succeed, using the wisdom, knowledge and experience I’ve learned. That’s one way I devote myself to something meaningful. I also am involved serving on a non-profit organizations board to give back to the community. How do you and your employees give of yourselves?

4. Become a Lifelong Learner

The day I stop learning is the day I stop living. My formal education is not documented with college degrees but I keep getting invited to speak at numerous higher education colleges and universities. Be curious. Learn from others, listen and ask questions and figure out how to apply it to your life, your business or the people around you.

5. Do Not Settle For Less

I’ve done this a couple of times. I’ve walked away from the world of advertising and took a break, but then I returned. Some people decide not to return to their dreams and by doing that they never know if they could accomplish what they once sought. On the personal side of life, this is very personal. On the business side, you are going to have to decide what is important and what isn’t. I used to work with an auto repair shop that was going to be open 24 hours a day. Then when the owner discovered that it wasn’t a sustainable way to run his shop, he settled for less hours. He also discovered how to merge what his customers really wanted with his vision and came up with a business plan that was unique, and he’s doing great now.

6. Remember To Have Fun

I took my WOWO Local Advertising Sales Team out for a morning of golf and lunch last month. It was a team building event but it was more than that. It was a time to set aside time to just have fun. It wasn’t a reward for hitting a certain goal, it wasn’t earned based on performance, it was simply a guilt free way to hang out on a day when others were working and have fun.

At work, at home, having fun is something we all need to include in our lives regularly, not just special events. How do you accomplish this?

7. Take Care Of Yourself

At the end of 2020, I decided to improve my health by dropping a few pounds and lost 20 pounds in about 6 months. I’ve maintained that and am slowing dropping a few more this year. Stress is the silent killer for everyone it seems. 99 out of 100 people you see this month have something stressful going on in their lives that you may never know about. You need to take care of your health, and encourage those who work for you to do the same. Physical, Mental, Emotional and Spiritual health are all needing our attention. The H. R. Department at WOWO’s parent company, Federated Media sends out reminders about this and also provides resources that members of my team have made use of.

8. Cherish Those You Love

This is the last pillar from the Medium.com article, but it’s not the least important. I’m blessed to have loving relationships with my family and we work at making sure we stay in touch and express that love.

While the dynamics are usually different in a business setting, how would the culture improve if you really told your staff individually what you appreciated about them?

They need to know that they are appreciated and why. The companies that have problems retaining employees are the ones that have the worst company cultures. As a business owner or manager, you set the example. A genuinely positive work environment is also appreciated by your customers and clients too.

I hope you’ve learned a few things today, and perhaps go back and answer those questions I mentioned to see how 2021 can be even better for you and those around you.

Compare With Caution

by Scott Howard | Mar 2, 2021 | Marketing and Advertising Insights, ScLoHo Sales Tips, Sound ADvice

Comparing one product or service or one business to another is always acceptable… when you are the consumer.

But as a business selling itself, comparing comes with caution! Make sure you’ve given deep consideration before you compare your product or service with your competition!

This word of caution holds true whether you are making a comparison in your advertising message, or communicating face to face with a customer.

Think back to the last time a salesperson was comparing his or her company, product, or service to their competitors’. If they went too far and made unsubstantiated claims, degraded the competition or its people, it can easily backfire. Instead of gaining confidence in the product, service, or company, they may end up losing credibility and therefore the sale.

In our Do’s and Don’ts of Comparative Advertising many of the rules that apply in advertising also apply when selling person to person.

This applies to major companies as well as small local businesses. In the famous “Get a Mac” advertising campaign, Apple gave great consideration to the possible retaliation that the PC manufacturers could re-attack with. If you are ever considering comparing your business to another, you should too.

Like dynamite, comparative selling and advertising can be a very powerful strategy, but it can also blow up in your face.

Proceed with Caution!

To see the complete list of the Do’s and Don’ts of Comparative Advertising, click here.

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