Laid off? Take your Skills to the Web

The photo above is from a recent ’Matt & Huggy’ nightclub appearance in Philadelphia. About 300 listeners of their infamous Philly Radio show were in attendance. Pretty normal stuff for a major market Radio team. Yet, this time, they weren’t representing the local CBS rock station where they have been working for the past 11 years. Instead, they were mingling and toasting with fans due to the popularity of their independent Podcast and Internet Radio show.  

You see, even though Matt and Huggy had a strong track record, they were still laid off a few months back. And instead of just sending out resumes and aircheck tapes to prospective employers, they kept their momentum going by starting a regular podcast. Not surprising, their 45 minute online shows continue to be downloaded by a growing number of fans each week. Read the full story here at FMQB.

Downsizing, right-sizing, and lay-offs. Pretty common these days in the land of TV, Radio and Newspaper. Most of the time they are due to the economic pressures of having to hit a new budget while the business struggles. GM’s and Publishers have only a few basic ways to hitting that nut: #1. Raise rate. #2. Sell more. #3. Cut costs by showing people the door. With slipping circulation and ratings, and the continued fragmentation of marketing dollars, those first two are pretty damn tough. The last one (handing out pink slips) is a whole lot easier.

In the pre-Internet days, when you let that seasoned, fairly well paid employee go, they either moved away or quietly sat out a non-compete. Today, that person can get right back into the game via the Web, and in many cases, compete directly with their former employers the very next day.

Other examples of this phenomenon:

>> The self-proclaimed online queen of gossip; Perez Hilton, was fired from the STAR celebrity publication for spending too much time on a personal project-a blog. His boss considered the blog a conflict of interest, as it poked fun at the very Hollywood stars Perez was supposed to cover for the mag. Today, PerezHilton.com is profitable and has propelled it’s founder into TV. Read the full story here.

>> Radio One dumps the Modern Rock format and staff of Y-100 in Philly. Former PD Jim McGuinn then takes the station & jocks online as Y100Rocks.com. Advertising and audience follows. Eventually it becomes a part of the WXPN family of terrestrial, online, and HD Radio programming.

>> Local TV Weather talent in North Carolina gets the heave ho. Keenly aware that her name has brand equity and value in the local weather space, she starts her own Charlotte weather site. Read more about this story here via Terry Heaton’s blog.