Life After Radio

I spoke to a group last week about the trials and jubilations of being a radio entrepreneur. Often times, the stress of working on your own can seem overwhelming. This can also apply to many who find themselves “just out of radio”, but with a burning desire to still be a part of the industry. The question becomes how and finding the motivation to get started isn’t always easy.

That being said, I want to share some quotes from entrepreneurs; some famous and some, not so famous. May they lift your radio entrepreneurial spirit!

I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work - Thomas Edison, inventor and scientist

The only place where success comes before work is in the dictionary - Vidal Sassoon, entrepreneur

Entrepreneurship is living a few years of your life like most people won't, so that you can spend the rest of your life like most people can't -Unknown (My favorite.)

Every worthwhile accomplishment, big or little, has its stages of drudgery and triumph; a beginning, a struggle and a victory - Mahatma Gandhi, political and spiritual leader

Failure defeats losers, failure inspires winners - Robert T. Kiyosaki, author, entrepreneur, investor

Entrepreneurs average 3.8 failures before final success. What sets the successful ones apart is their amazing persistence - Lisa M. Amos

Once you say you're going to settle for second, that's what happens to you in life - John F. Kennedy, U.S. President

In preparing for battle I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable - Dwight D. Eisenhower, U.S. President

The greatest reward in becoming a millionaire is not the amount of money that you earn. It is the kind of person that you have to become to become a millionaire in the first place - Jim Rohn

Some people dream of great accomplishments, while others stay awake and do them - Anonymous

Experience taught me a few things. One is to listen to your gut, no matter how good something sounds on paper. The second is that you're generally better off sticking with what you know. And the third is that sometimes your best investments are the ones you don't make - Donald Trump, real estate and entertainment mogul

The entrepreneur in us sees opportunities everywhere we look, but many people see only problems everywhere they look. The entrepreneur in us is more concerned with discriminating between opportunities than he or she is with failing to see the opportunities - Michael Gerber, author, entrepreneur

An entrepreneur tends to bite off a little more than he can chew hoping he'll quickly learn how to chew it - Roy Ash, co-founder of Litton Industries

The critical ingredient is getting off your butt and doing something. It's as simple as that. A lot of people have ideas, but there are few who decide to do something about them now. Not tomorrow. Not next week. But today. The true entrepreneur is a doer, not a dreamer - Nolan Bushnell, founder of Atari and Chuck E. Cheese's

I will tell you how to become rich. Close the doors. Be fearful when others are greedy. Be greedy when others are fearful - Warren Buffet, investor and billionaire

I never perfected an invention that I did not think about in terms of the service it might give others... I find out what the world needs, then I proceed to invent - Thomas Edison, inventor and scientist

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover - Mark Twain, author

May you always do what you love and love what you do. While it’s easy to say that the world has changed, or more specifically, that the world of radio has changed, I would say, “So what?” Things have always changed. And, while God may have other plans for you, nothing can be accomplished without your enthusiastic participation and vision of success.

Radio on!

The World According To Talk Radio

I have often wondered what famous historical figures would have sounded like as guests on today's talk shows. Imagine Abraham Lincoln discussing slavery with Imus, Rush Limbaugh going head to head with Benjamin Franklin on foreign policy, or Dolley Madison on The Laura Ingram Show. No doubt it would have made for some interesting conversation. But, how would today's "hardball" approach fair with yesterday's more respectful atmosphere?

Has talk radio, under the cloak of a "climate change," become more self-serving rather than serving in the public interest?

I recently discovered an essay published in 1931 entitled The World As I See It. I'm sure the author would have made a great guest, but wonder how he would have been treated. Before I tell you who wrote it, let me share an excerpt that addresses the search for and the meaning of true happiness:

"I have never looked upon ease and happiness as ends in themselves -- this critical basis I call the ideal of a pigsty. The ideals that have lighted my way, and time after time have given me new courage to face life cheerfully, have been Kindness, Beauty, and Truth. Without the sense of kinship with men of like mind, without the occupation with the objective world, the eternally unattainable in the field of art and scientific endeavors, life would have seemed empty to me. The trite objects of human efforts -- possessions, outward success, luxury -- have always seemed to me contemptible.”

Who is this man who lived a life filled with kindness, beauty, and truth? And, who goes on to say that the most beautiful experience we can have is the mysterious: That is, the zest and quest for knowledge.

These are the thoughts of one the greatest thinkers the world he loved has ever known: Albert Einstein.

Let's go to the phones.

The Good Word

Do you remember the best radio company you ever worked for? Perhaps it is where you are now?

Chances are, the reason for your choice is one simple ingredient that could be missing in radio today.

It's something that corporate America is rediscovering the hard way.

As the story goes, there’s a word that a potential candidate must use to describe their future job at Dell Computers before they are even considered for the position.

That word is: Fun.

Apparently, the culture at Dell is built around a principle that more and more companies are subscribing to: A happy employee is a productive employee.

This comes at a time when the contentment level of the American worker is at an all-time low. A whopping 76% of those surveyed said they dislike their job.

While it’s easy to say, “If you don’t like something, don’t do it,” most feel they don’t really have choice.

They do.

The choice comes in making the best of the hand you’re holding while making plans for a new game all together. That choice comes from a change in attitude and a sense of hope.

Veteran Texas singer Augie Meyers said something in an interview that I will never forget. He said, “I do what I have to do, so I can do what I want to do.” In his case, he was talking about the gigs he would sometimes, rather not do. They help to pay the bills and fund the fun.

Perhaps, that what that choice is all about: funding our fun with money and thoughts. Positive thinking is attitude well-earned. It keeps you focused on how you want to and can feel.

While we all can’t work at Dell, Southwest Airlines, Disney, or Google, we can live in a world we build for ourselves. It is a world of the hope of a better tomorrow and a productive today. More importantly, it ‘s a world where work and fun are one in the same.

Are you having fun, yet?

The Future of Radio

I received a note from Don Barrett of LARadio.com this week, that read:

Many Los Angeles Radio People have concerns about the current state of L.A. radio - hiring freezes, layoffs, one company losing $850 million last quarter, another company on the cusp of going private for $19 billion or not, and another multi-entertainment company unhappy with the performance of the radio division.

If you were in charge of L.A. radio, what would you do?

Here is my reply:

Dear Don,

For many, it is no surprise that radio is in trouble. Those of us who are proud to have shared the airwaves in Los Angeles when radio still commanded a sizable audience, know what hard work it takes to attract and keep a listener entertained.

Perhaps, therein lies the whole problem. In that one word: Entertainment.

No matter the format, if what comes out of the speakers is not compelling enough to cause those sit-in-your-driveway moments, then it's not good radio.

A story I heard recently comes to mind that applies. It seems two businessmen came across a small diner that made fabulous soup. People came from far and wide, it was so good. The pair bought the place and made it bigger. As their business grew, so did the profits.

Then one day, they decided that they could increase their revenue even more by adding just a little water to the soup. Before too long, people stopped coming. They upped their prices to make up for the losses and eventually, the restaurant went out of business.

Somewhere along the way, in Los Angeles, and markets across the country, someone started adding water to our radio soup. Profits soared, but listeners stopped coming around.

iPods didn't wound radio. Neither did the Internet. It happened because someone panicked and needed to show a quarterly increase to those who weren't radio people.

So, how do we fix it?

LA station owners can begin by letting Program Directors live up to the title.

Let them "direct the programming," not sell it.

Give them the power to, once again, be able to say, "That's not good enough for our radio station."

Let them proclaim that, "This radio station is not an infomercial. We are broadcasters before we are salespeople and our standards apply 24/7, weekends included.

Let them hire the best talent they can find, no matter the price, and let them grow these superstars by giving them space to take flight. Let the excitement continue after the morning show.

Let them cook up and serve radio promotions that have the whole town talking and contests that "compete" with, rather than "compliment" other stations in the cluster. May the best chef win.

Radio in Los Angeles is not dead. It is in intensive care and there are "doctors" just waiting to be asked and given permission to save it. This is brain surgery, but we have surgeons who have given their lives to attending to this magical medium.

As long as the ears on the other side of the microphone still belong to living, breathing, human beings who laugh, cry, and respond to live entertainment, we have a chance.

I say we do it! If only to leave our children with something worth becoming: A broadcaster.