Date Posted:
04 | 21 | 04

It's Not 'Who You Know'

It's not 'Who You Know' or 'What you know.'

It's BOTH.

'Who you know' is the key to showing 'WHAT you know'. Think of it this way: 'What you know' gets you the job, but 'who you know' helps to land the interview... and landing the interview is everything.

Let's say you know a lot. You totally get the idea of talking to one person who represents the many. Let's just assume you know how to entertain one person who represents your target demo in a way that reflects their interests instead of your own. Let's say that you know how to turn today's Arbitron book into a plan of action. Let's assume that you know how to take a typical lame sales driven promotion and put a fun spin on it that turns passive listeners into active fans... dot dot dot... etc etc etc...

What good does any of it do you if your demo is not heard?

"The dreaded "box" of demos is your enemy. The phone is your friend."

So, following that line of thinking, let's say there is an opening at a great station in a decent market. You mail a cd with your aircheck.

Repeat after me: "SO WHAT."

Your cd gets dropped into the same box as the 150 others. At that point, "what you know" is irrelevant, because you're in the dreaded box.

The dreaded "box" of demos is your enemy. The phone is your friend.

(ring, ring.... ring, ring... "hello? ...who? ...hang on, lemme see if I've got his cd. ...no, never got it... wait... here it is... hang on... HEY! He sounds great! Who is he? Really? ...So he's a good guy? ...And he did that working THERE? ...and they LET HIM GO? ...Wow... What's his number...")

WHAT YOU KNOW gets you the gig, but WHO YOU KNOW can get you noticed.

Colophon:

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Think About It:

  • The Gamblers: Anatomy Of An Implosion, Kenny Rogers' Style:   One might think driving down the rate card while building massive debt would be the most ignorant of ignorant decisions... but Clear Channel saw the ignorant hand they'd dealt themselves and raised the entire industry a stupid.

  • Private Investment:   Terrestrial radio is only special so long as the content on terrestrial radio is special. Once it isn't... it isn't. And that's it.

  • Portable People Meter Teasers:   If you're on a date with a woman and you realize she's nothing but a tease, are you going to bother seeing her again? Why would we want our radio stations to become the embodiment of a bad date?

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