The Television Bureau of Advertising – Marketing Conference 2008took place in NYC yesterday. As expected, alot of the conversation focused on how TV can harness the power of local, and the Internet. Note how similar these issues are to what Radio and Newspaper execs are currently dealing with.
Pictured above:President of NBC Local Media; John Wallace, Nexstar CEO Perry Sook, and Gordon Borrell of Borrell Associates
The new battleground is online, and it behooves local media companies to properly leverage their traditional assets in order to build web-based revenue share.
Below are some take-aways from the event, courtesy of TV Business Report
Get our LSMs out on the street a whole lot more-if the only time you’re out on call with your AEs is to do rescue missions, you don’t have a clue if they can really sell.”
Abolish straight commissions. “Many AEs get ‘accidental raises’ because their agency got hot. Stop making “budget the only standard by which we evaluate salespeople.
Borrell noted a few common threads for the best-producing local sites and their management: Online only sales staff Non-traditional customer base, A consultative sales strategy (ask about what they need first then call back with a solution) Lots of sales training and re-training, etc.
Some Broadcasters are smartly developing local websites that are not branded to the TV stations.
Think your job is safe in Broadcast or Newspaper? Hopefully it is. But just in case you want to be pro-active in order to increase your chances of avoiding a layoff…..read this……
After 32 years in the biz, sport writer Paul Oberjuerge got whacked from the San Berdardino Sun. Unfortunately, this is an all to common occurrence. Not just in Newspaper, but in Broadcast too. Paul drew up a list of “Tips on Keeping Your Print Journalism Job.” Some of it is politically incorrect. Some might make you cringe. Yet, it’s worth a read.
Alot of this stuff applies to those in TV and Radio as well. Note that “embrace the Web” is Number One. Here’s a few from the list:
Ten Tips for Staying Employed:
1. Embrace the web. It’s going to be extra work, and you’re going to be on your own 24-hour news/opinion cycle. But that’s how it is; you can rest up when you’re dead. Management is keenly aware of the foot-draggers on this front. Don’t wait to be ordered to “serve other platforms” of the paper. Volunteer. Blog. Post photos. Consider video. Offer podcasts. Do web-only quick-and-dirty news stories. You’re a multi-media machine now!
4. Stop whining.Journalism is a business notorious for its contrary and crabby people, for second-guessers and “that’s not how we’ve done it before” grousers. Five years ago you might have been overlooked as the Charming Curmudgeon. Now, you’re the Negative Nellie. When the call comes down to trash another 10 percent of the newsroom, don’t be the relentless kvetcher who immediately pops into the editor’s mind. Oh, and remember, “second-guessing” now consists of anything other than instant acceptance.
Think mobile Internet Radio is still many years away? Click video above to see how you will listen to Radio, on the go, in the very near future. Nokia is jumping ahead in this space.
Yup. That cell phone or PDA in your pocket, is quickly becoming the most important communications tool that you own.
Took some pics from the recent Phima social event, last Thursday at the Field House in Center City, Philadelphia.
Phima is the Philadelphia Interactive Marketing Association.
These events are a great for anyone in the interactive marketing space; agencies, publishers, reps, and clients alike. Some events are educational, some are social. Membership is free. Click here to join.
You may also want to consider these organizations as well:
Innovators Club: a Philadelphia based networking and social environment for entrepreneurial people engaged in Internet businesses, strategies, Web 2.0 and mobile communications. Hear from experts, present your current business ideas, seek advise and council from peers and network to find “new connections” who “get it” in the Internet space. Next Meeting: Great American Pub in Conshohocken, March 4, 2008. 6pm
Mobile Monday: Great organization for getting up to speed, and keeping up to speed, in all things Mobile. While Mobile Monday is an international organization, there is a Philadelphia based chapter. These educational and networking opportunities occur monthly. Click here to see pics and recap of the last MM event in Philly. Next FREE event is March 24 at Traffic.com in Wayne, Pa. Click here to RSVP.
Online Revenue Strategy for Local Media. Tough love for Broadcast, Newspaper and Pure-plays. Tracking their progress as they evolve and re-invent themselves, for this new digital age.
