ScLoHo Changes

ScLoHo Changes

by | Oct 11, 2022 | Marketing and Advertising Insights, Really? The Personal ScLoHo, The Not-So-Secret Writings of ScLoHo, WOWO Fort Wayne Radio Advertising with Scott Howard

UPDATE on 2/28/2023:

Despite what I wrote and my intentions a few months ago when I wrote this piece, I am going to be updating more than once a month.  Maybe weekly again.  We shall see.  There’s just too much on my mind not to share with you.  Last night I felt the urge and wrote and published this: https://www.scotthoward.me/wheres-the-money-in-2023/

Now here’s the original article:

This article and the audio version which is podcast episode # 286 is to announce some changes. The short version is I am going to reduce the number of articles I publish and podcasts I record.

This is due to a change in focus in my life and changes in the world around us.

Right now there are 1570 articles that I wrote and published on this website and most of them over the past 5 and half years have been captured in audio form as the Genuine ScLoHo Media and Marketing Podcast.  When I began writing and publishing the articles, over 15 years ago it was the beginning days of blogging and I actually had multiple blogs.  Some were updated weekly, others 3 or 4 times a day.  This was not a full-time gig, it was a side hustle, but not quite.

Side hustles are usually designed to make money.  Writing and blogging never had a direct connection to making money for me.  This was a passionate hobby.  If I was an artist, I would have been creating dozens and dozens of pieces each week, but as someone who has spent a considerable amount of my life in the media and marketing world, writing about it has been my creative outlet.

For awhile, there were just a few of us in Fort Wayne, Indiana that were blogging consistently and then I realized I was the only one of those that started out around 15+ years ago.  Long time acquittance and friend Anthony Juliano started shortly after he joined the Asher Advertising Agency where he’s been for 18 years and his focus has changed and sharpened over the years.  Most everyone I know with a few exceptions have stopped.

First off, I’m not stopping.  I am however going to change the frequency.  My intention is to do a monthly article and podcast update instead of weekly.

Two reasons:

Time is primary for me.  In 2020, my position with Federated Media changed from being a member of the WOWO radio advertising sales team, to becoming the General Sales Manager of that team.  It has taken close to three years for me to minimize my selling role on our team. In 2020, despite my being in management, I was still the number 2 salesperson for WOWO.  In 2021, I was either #2 or #3 every month.  My goal for 2022 was to reduce my selling time even more, to next to none, and with some staffing changes the past few weeks, that looks very possible.

The beginning of October however saw some additional organizational changes start to occur and for at least an interim basis,  I am also managing 3 more stations along with WOWO for the rest on this year.  The time I need to devote to the sales teams and the individuals that make up these teams is more important than ever.

Years ago, when I was with another group of radio stations and was promoted to a General Sales Manager position, I asked my boss, which was more important, my own sales or the sales of the people on my team.  He took the easy answer and said both.  I decided that it was more important to be able to multiple my time than add.  8 plus 2 = 10.  8 x 2 = 16.

What that meant to me is instead of adding two more hours to my day, it was a better investment of time to teach, train, coach and mentor others to be their best.  That’s the multiplying principle.

Something else I’ve learned from a guy I just heard of this year, Mike Weinberg, is that that Sales Managers and Sales People should employ different skills and talents.  Sometimes they are opposites in those two positions.  Our companies outside sales consultancy has different online talent assessments that potential candidates take for different positions.  Some do well in Sales but are not so great in Sales Management.  Honestly, less than half the people we have taking any of our online talent assessments score high enough to be considered for employment.

Here’s why we put so much value in those talent assessments…

Talent is like your height, skill is like your weight.  Once we become adults, we stop growing taller.  Our core talents are what they are.  What we do have control over, all of our life, is our weight. Like skills, we can grow and develop over time with the right development.

So I said Time is one reason for my changing the frequency to monthly instead of weekly updates.

Reason number 2 is accessibility of information. You and I have access to more information that ever before.  You don’t know the answer to something?  Ask your phone!

If you want to know what I think about something, there are two ways to find out.  My website has a search feature powered by Google.  Having published so many articles on the subject of media and marketing over the years, you’ll likely discover I already answered your question.   Also you can reach out to me directly.  I don’t hide.  My personal email is Scott@ScLoHo.net and you can also find my phone number for phone calls and texts at my website too.  You can direct message me on the socials too.  I’ve been on Twitter since October 2008 and am on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn too.

Thanks for your time today, my next update will be in November

 

3 Fundamental Questions To Ask Before You Advertise

3 Fundamental Questions To Ask Before You Advertise

by | Oct 4, 2022 | Marketing and Advertising Insights, The Not-So-Secret Writings of ScLoHo, WOWO Fort Wayne Radio Advertising with Scott Howard

There are 3 Fundamental Questions You Need To Ask Before You Advertise.

I’ll tell you what they are and also go a little deeper.

Question 1:

Who Do You Want to Invite to Spend Money with You?

Question 2:

Why Should Those People Spend Money with You?

Question 3:

What is the Math Needed to be Profitable?

Now, let’s dig in starting with the first question, Who Do You Want to Invite to Spend Money with You?

I want you to think about basic demographics such as age and gender but also deeper than that. Income, lifestyle, values.  Once you develop what we call a persona or two or three of your ideal customers, you will be able to decide where to advertise.  Most advertising choices have a particular audience and you want to find the audience that matches your ideal customer.

As I tell my advertising sales team at WOWO Radio where I am the General Sales Manager, it’s our job to find business that want our radio audience to become their customers.  It’s that simple on our end, and reverse it for you as a business owner and you’ll be able to decide where to advertise, or at least where NOT to advertise.

Let’s move on to the second question and dig in. Why Should Those People Spend Money with You?

This should be an easy question to answer and on the surface it is.  You can say, because we make really good  ___________. That is just the start.  Because, you are not the only one offering what you are selling.  Before Apple introduced iPhones, we had cellphones.  Many were what we now call dumb-phones, with the ability to text and talk and take a low quality picture.  Some people, those who were more advanced had a Blackberry phone, which were nicknamed Crackberries because it seemed like people were addicted to those phones.

I’ve never owned a Blackberry or an iPhone.  I went from slider and flip phones to a Samsung Android Smartphone when I joined a tech company back in 2011.  Now, it seems like everyone has either an iPhone or Android, and my old Nokia 6170 and Motorola Razr sit in the back of my desk drawer just waiting to be tossed out a dozen years later.

The Why You Question is so important, yet so overlooked.  It is the reason that people will switch from what they have been doing or using and try you instead.

The reality is that not everyone that knows about you will abandon their current provider right now, if they don’t have a reason.  The reason for someone to switch is a combination of what makes you appealing and a dissatisfaction with the status quo.  This is a topic I can do a whole series on in the future, but for today, let’s keep moving.

Question 3 is about Math.  Math involving money and customers.  How much do you need to sell to break even?  Take a step back… How much should you price your goods and services so you will break even?  You need to know these numbers because you need to know how to make money.  Yes I mentioned break even, but that’s because you need a baseline number.  You can then increase your prices on paper to set up a decent profit margin.  Then you need to also come up with alternative formulas to get to the end result.

Here’s an example using small numbers.  If you need $100 to break even, there are a few ways to do that.  You could sell 50 items at 2 dollars each.  Or you could sell 2 items at $50 each.  Or you could sell 10 items at $10 each.  All of these options add up to $100.

In retail, it is common to double the wholesale price to get a retail price and make money.  Take those formula’s we just talked about and and double the dollars so now you’re bringing in $200 instead of $100.  You have to know your numbers.  This gives you a foundation for when inflation hits and your costs climb, you can raise your prices appropriately.

It’s also important to know your numbers for advertising.  Many advertising and marketing sales people are afraid to talk about Return On Investment but my team isn’t.  We want to know that they money you invest with an ad campaign with us has reasonable goals and we can use those goals along with your tracking the results to decide the success rate and make appropriate moves in the future.

One more time, here are 3 Fundamental Questions To Ask Before You Advertise:

Question 1:

Who Do You Want to Invite to Spend Money with You?

Question 2:

Why Should Those People Spend Money with You?

Questions 3:

What is the Math Needed to be Profitable?

Reach out to me for help and guidance.

 

Looking for the Very Best Sales People

Looking for the Very Best Sales People

by | Sep 13, 2022 | The Not-So-Secret Writings of ScLoHo, WOWO Fort Wayne Radio Advertising with Scott Howard

It’s a crazy time out there.  It seems like so many companies are suffering from shortages.

First it was supply chain issues that were either created or amplified by the numerous complications of Covid-19 shut downs in 2020.

Then came staffing shortages.  Even as businesses wanted to open up after the worst of Covid, many businesses simply didn’t have the people.

I’ve talked to numerous business owners and employers and most are in the same boat of not having the ideal working conditions and employment pay and benefit packages to convince someone to come work for them.

While each week I give them advice, I’ve also been listening to the people who want to work to hear both sides.

And as a result, the company I work for, Federated Media located in Indiana with radio stations in Fort Wayne and the South Bend metros have made a few adjustments and improvements.

As the General Sales Manager of WOWO Radio, I need to hire at least TWO new advertising sales people for immediate openings I have.

While pay and income is important, the people I add to my team are not entirely focused on their paycheck.  Here’s a couple more very important things that I know are important how we accommodate, no more than accommodate, we purposefully incorporate in our culture.

  • Remote work versus 9-5 office hours. Before I came here nearly a decade ago, Federated Media in Fort Wayne created a Work From Home set-up for our advertising sales teams.  Most weeks, my sales team only come to the office two hours a week.  Once for a Weekly Individual Focus Meeting aka One-on-One with me, their sales manager; and once a week for a WOWO Sales Team meeting.  When I was selling and not in management, you would rarely see me in the office.  I was meeting with clients or in a coffee shop.  Two hours a week here, the rest of your work day… go do what needs to be done to create success.
  • Brand New Flexible Paid Time Off policy.  This was launched this summer and basically it means instead of having to use vacation time to take the day off to take help your kids get moved into their college dorm, or whatever is going on in your life, just take the time off.  For sales people this really wasn’t as much of an issue, because sales people set their out schedules anyway, but this really benefits the support staff that work in the office every day.  Guilt Free days off is what I heard someone say.

Here’s what those two things mean for my sales team.  I want you to have a balanced life and do it without feeling guilty or feeling pressure that you have to conform to old fashioned working hours.  I work with you to make sure the couple of weekly meetings we have are a good fit for you too.  Currently our weekly sales team meetings are at 9am on Thursdays.  We used to have them earlier but that created a conflict with one of our team whose child needed to be dropped off for school at a time that created a conflict with an 8:30 meeting, so we changed it a few years ago.  Also, ever since March 2020, our weekly sales team meetings have been on Zoom.  We will return to having them in person in the future but that’s not likely until 2023 or 2024.   I’ll explain more on why in a moment.

All of this work-time flexibility could be taken advantage of by people who don’t have the self-discipline or desire to be productive.  One thing we have always had is a high bar to pass in order to be considered for employment with the WOWO Advertising Sales Team.  Everyone must first take an online sales talent assessment that measures a dozen different talents thru a series of about 60 multiple choice questions.  It takes between 30 and 60 minutes. Here’s the link: http://bit.ly/Work4WOWO .

Only about 40% of the people who take the talent assessments will qualify to move forward in the process.  Someone asked me this summer after they were told their talents did not match what we were looking for, what he could do to improve for the future.  Nothing was my answer.  There is a difference between Talent and Skill.  Talent is part of who you are that doesn’t change; while skill is teachable, trainable and can be improved.  Similar to our height and weight.  Once we become an adult, there’s nothing we can do to increase our height. However we do have control over our weight.  Height = Talent; Weight = Skill.

With the shortage of people looking for jobs, have we lowered our standards?  Absolutely not.  I’ve made the mistake of hiring someone whose talents were marginal and there was only so much improvement they could do… it wasn’t worth it.

How did we get so smart to be able to evaluate a person’s sales talent online?  We didn’t.  We work hand in hand with our sales consultancy, The Center for Sales Strategy who have evaluated thousands of sales people and are pretty darn good.  So good that we use C.S.S. for more than hiring.  They are our partner in on-going training.  Which brings me to my next reason to apply to join me at WOWO:

On-Going Training and Professional Development. I just mentioned the Center For Sales Strategy which is our companies lead sales consultancy.  I also have additional resources and training from both outside experts and internally.  Bottom line is we don’t just bring people on board and wish them luck.  We are always providing training and resources to help you be successful.

I will also be upfront and honest with you.  Currently I’m in my 3rd year as the General Sales Manager at WOWO, after 7 years selling myself for WOWO, plus years of radio, advertising and sales experience elsewhere.  These past 3 years I’ve observed what it takes for someone to succeed and what others have done that have prevented them from being successful.  If you are not willing to do what it takes, and to take the actions needed, be coachable and want to win, then this is not the place for you.

We are an elite team at WOWO and Federated Media.  I was watching the Legacy series on Hulu over the weekend.  It’s the story of the LA Lakers and how they became successful with multiple championships and that is what we are building here too.  Want to see if you can join our team?  Contact me.

 

 

WOWO’s Baby Boomers Still Want to Spend Money With You

WOWO’s Baby Boomers Still Want to Spend Money With You

by | Aug 23, 2022 | Marketing and Advertising Insights, ScLoHo's Collective Wisdom, The Not-So-Secret Writings of ScLoHo, WOWO Fort Wayne Radio Advertising with Scott Howard

6 years ago, May 2016, I wrote an article titled, WOWO’s Baby Boomer Audience Wants To Spend Money with You.

It’s still true.

Despite all that has happened the past 6 years with the economy, with politics, with.. well, you name it… the WOWO Radio Audience has money to spend and they are spending it every week.

I’m getting some fresh research into our audience and the audiences of other media and it is fascinating.  I also have more than 6 years of antidotal stories of businesses using WOWO than I had when I first wrote the original story. What follows is what I wrote in 2016 with a few updates.

I’m going to lay this out for you, Mr/Ms Business Owner in the Fort Wayne area:

WOWO’s Baby Boomer Audience Wants To Spend Money With You

A lot of attention is given to the under 50 crowd because, well, people over 50 are nearly dead,  Or dead broke.  Or drooling toothlessly in their soup, or…

I wonder what other myths you have about Baby Boomers? I found an article that addresses some of them.  We’re going to look at them in a second.

First the relationship between WOWO & Baby Boomers.  WOWO radio was the radio station we listened to as school kids to find out if we had to go to school or if old man winter caused the school’s to close or delay.  As a 6 year old when my family first moved here, we learned that Bob Siever’s was Mr. WOWO with all the answers in the 60’s and 70’s, (my youth).

Now in 2022 WOWO continues to have the most loyal audience in town of adults over 21 years old and the biggest chunk of those 60,000 weekly listeners are baby boomers.

Let’s break some Baby Boomer myths from the article:

Who’s got the money to spend? Boomers accounted for 70% of the disposable income in the United States in 2012, and they will continue to be the wealthiest generation in the country until at least 2030, when they’ll still have nearly 45% of the disposable income. Ten years later, in 2022, Baby Boomers still have more than half the wealth in the United States according to the Federal Reserve.

Here’s 3 more from the article:

1. Baby boomers are not tech-savvy.

Both Steve Jobs and Bill Gates were born in the boomer years, and their generation was the first to experience the massive productivity increases that technology can drive.

Baby boomers are just as tech-oriented as are younger generations. Eighty-two percent of Boomers use Facebook, with 15.5% spending more than 11 hours per week on the site. Boomer women are also one of the fastest-growing categories on Pinterest. They also spend more time consuming and sharing content online than do other demographics.

In 2022, Boomers are also using Instagram, and doing online shopping.  Boomers are even teaching their grandkids how to use technology!

2. Baby boomers are reluctant to spend money.

Adults 55-64 consistently outspending the average consumer in nearly every category.

In fact, if taken as their own economy, the 100 million Americans who are aged 50 and over would rank the third largest in the world behind the U.S. and China. When it does come to retirement, however, two-thirds plan to spend more time doing things like shopping, traveling and entertaining.

And some more numbers from 2022:

  • Baby boomers account for about 38 percent of pet spending. [Source: Pet Business Professor]
  • Baby boomers increased their spending on new clothes by 28 percent compared to before the pandemic. [Source: Retail Dive]
  • 59 percent of baby boomers are willing to pay extra for socially compliant, sustainable products. [Source: Deloitte]

3. Baby boomers are old fashioned.

A recent study called Baby boomers “media-loving, eternally optimistic, self-indulgent consumers.” Now that they’re rid of burdens like college tuition, mortgages, and child care expenses, they’re looking to re-tool themselves and re-define their lives. Now rid of debts and obligations, they have the means to do it.

My 2022 update: Baby boomers are no longer the largest generation, but they do possess more wealth than Gen Xers, millennials and Gen Zers. With high average spending and a propensity to indulge in luxury purchases, baby boomers have an outsized effect on the overall health of the economy.

 

Want some examples of Boomers?  Boomers are not your elderly grandparents. Prince was a baby boomer. So was David Bowie. George Clooney, Barak Obama, Donald Trump, Bill Clinton, Paula Abdul, Jeff Bezos, Tom Cruise, Tom Hanks, Kenny Loggins, Brad Pitt, Jerry Seinfeld, Demi Moore, Madonna, Oprah … all baby boomers. Not a single, crotchety, old fogy among them.

Adding to the clear proof of Boomers’ immense consumer power, they drive almost 50% of all retail sales whereas Millennials represent a mere 10%.

Here’s the opportunity that you have with WOWO Radio.  Want to see how it can work for your business?  Contact me.

 

How To Build Instant Trust For Your Business

How To Build Instant Trust For Your Business

by | Aug 9, 2022 | Marketing and Advertising Insights, The Not-So-Secret Writings of ScLoHo, WOWO Fort Wayne Radio Advertising with Scott Howard

If there was only a way to get someone to trust you instantly…

Actually we were born that way.  We trust from the very start.  Then as we experience life, we discover that things aren’t always trustworthy.

Depending on a persons life experiences and outlook, we develop either an optimistic or pessimistic attitude.  Most of us are a blend of both depending on the situation.

As I’ve talked about in the past, Trust is one of the key foundations of our lives and this applies to everything.

I’m going to focus on the necessity of trust in business and marketing including your advertising.

I’m also going to share with you examples that you can use today to create “Instant Trust”.

Trust is an emotion first, and logic second. No matter what the data says, you have to win the heart, not just the mind.

Certain forms of media are trustworthy for different people.

A century ago, newspapers were the trusted source of information.

Half a century ago, TV was, especially CBS News Anchor Walter Cronkite who would end his nightly broadcasts with his signature sign-off, “And That’s The Way It Is”.

All of this was before the online world which gave anyone and everyone a voice.

The most trusted media people in my city are now the local radio and television personalities.

But they are not all equally trusted.

Particular stations and networks have their own brand and people put trust in that brand.  If your business advertises on a particular station that is trusted, there is a transfer of trust that spreads to your business.

In the TV world, we have newscasts on 4 stations and over the past couple of decades there has been a changing of the guard so-to-speak as some TV veterans retired and others took their place.  TV viewership has eroded as alternative sources of news and entertainment have continued to become available.  I no longer have to sit down at the appointed time to watch the evening news to see what happened while I was at the office.  I get news instantly from the apps on my phone, whenever I want. I have not watched a single local newscast from start to finish this year and I see no reason for that to change.

The radio world in Fort Wayne has nearly 2 dozen radio stations.  The oldest is WGL which I worked for a couple of times. Listenership is very small according to the rating data I have access to and the format has changed numerous times.  The next oldest is WOWO.

WOWO will be a century old in 2025 and for more than a quarter century has been a news and talk radio station.  In December I will have completed 9 years at WOWO with many more to come.  When I was a kid I listened to WOWO and it was the most listened to station with over 70% of all of the listeners tuning in each morning.  WOWO is still one of the few stations with over 100,000 weekly listeners.

Federated Media bought WOWO in the 1990’s and owns and operates other heritage stations in Fort Wayne including WMEE, which I once worked for a few decades ago. 98.9 The Bear and K-105 are the other two Fed Med stations that have huge audiences in Fort Wayne and have earned the trust of our listeners.

One of the things that makes WOWO unique however is the whole news/talk format and how listeners interact with WOWO.  When you listen to a music station, you pick the station that plays the music you enjoy listening to.  The radio personalities are there to complement the music and add to your listening pleasure. 70% or more of what your favorite music station plays is music.  Music is the main emotional connection.

With WOWO being a news and talk radio station, we don’t play music.  We talk instead. In the morning, it’s news, weather, sports, traffic, farm reports, and interviews. The rest of the day the newscasts are twice an hour with talk filling in the rest of the hour.  People listen to WOWO to hear people talk.  Big difference.

WOWO Listeners Trust the WOWO Brand.

WOWO Listeners are not annoyed by talking the way they can get annoyed by too much talk on a music station.

WOWO’s advertisers are trusted simply because those businesses are on WOWO.  There is an implied trust and emotional bond that businesses get that advertise on WOWO.    But that’s not all.

WOWO cranks it up two more levels for our advertising partners.

There is what I refer to as a Platinum Level for WOWO Advertisers.  We all know that the Gold Standard is the highest level of any business.  This is a step above the Gold Standard.

Platinum Level Sponsorship on WOWO is the personal endorsement or testimonial of one of either or afternoon host Pat Miller or morning host Kayla Blakeslee.  This is the trust factor on steroids that no other station in Fort Wayne offers.  A Pat or Kayla endorsement campaign means they will be your local spokesperson and do live 60 second ads for your business.

They receive a talent fee for this and WOWO charges a premium for that minute of airtime.   But it’s well worth it.  I’ll give you a couple of examples in a moment.

These live ads are exclusive for a business category.  For example, Pat Miller endorses Fairhaven Funeral Homes.  Fairhaven will be the only funeral service provider Pat will endorse.  Other funeral homes can advertise, but none will have Pat’s voice on them, endorsing them as long as Fairhaven continues.  Kayla Blakeslee endorses Shield Exterior Roofing and so while other roofers can advertise on WOWO, none will have Kayla as their spokesperson.

WOWO Listeners have an emotional bond with Pat and Kayla and they are trusted by their listeners.  When Pat and Kayla are talking about something political, you bet their listeners are emotionally invested.  That emotional trust carries over to our listeners when they also talk about the businesses they endorse.

A few years after I started at WOWO, before Kayla was hosting Fort Wayne’s Morning News, she was the news director and news anchor in the morning.  Charly Butcher was our Fort Wayne Morning News Host until he suddenly passed away 4 years ago this week.  I worked with a small specialty shop that was going to have a special open house on a Saturday and they bought a ton of radio ads on a music station and just 3 or 4 ads with Charly’s endorsement.  After the event, the owner continued with WOWO because he heard customer after customer tell him that Saturday they were at the open house because Charly told them to come.  The music station’s ads did nearly nothing apparently.

Before I wrap this up, I mentioned two levels of trust building beyond the regular ads on WOWO.  The 2nd one is something I started using a lot of when I came to WOWO and they create an implied endorsement of a business to our listeners.  We have news and weather sponsorships that are done live by the WOWO local newscasters.  We have local news 13 hours every weekday starting at 5am, so there are plenty of these “embedded” sponsorship mentions that are live 10 second messages.  This was my secret sauce for success for my advertising partners when I came to WOWO.

Instant Trust? Hmmm, not quite but pretty close.  Contact me for more details.