Writing good classified ads is tough for most people and its really hard for radio station managers.

Why?

Well unless junior has fallen directly off the turnip truck into the radio station’s lobby, anyone with any experience knows radio is a low pay, sometimes tense work environment where more often than not creativity is stifled (unless you work mornings and sometimes even then) and weekend and holiday hours are demanded.

If you have a passion for radio (and most voice talents do) you understand why people stay in the business. But it does make it challenging for managers to make their available positions sound

a) Enticing
b) Legitimate
c) Profitable

Like the odd classified ads we sometimes see in newspapers “Call Mr. C at 555-5555 for an appointment about this amazing opportunity” trade ads for radio jobs are also kind of unique in their “points of difference” shall we say?

Now I’m not looking for radio work but sometimes stations put out a call for imaging help so very occasionally I troll through on-line radio trade listings. Today all I came up with was a topic for a blog post. Sometimes that’s just how the fishing goes.

Some examples (find the red flag words or statements in these well meaning ads):

We’re getting ready to sign on a new AAA in a smaller mid-western market. Our city is one of the most livable in the country and the radio station fits right in. Since this is a start-up, it will be a labor of love.

We’re looking for a PD that can come in and DO EVERYTHING to help us get our “new baby” off the ground. We have the format and the component pieces put together. We don’t need a strategist as much as we need a hard worker and executor.

You must be okay with doing an air-shift (probably mornings) and then get off the air and work like a maniac the rest of the day.

You must be able to coach our air staff to present the station in synch with the mission of the radio station (understated, conversational adult presentation).

You will be working long hours and pouring everything you’ve got into your job so you’ve got to be highly organized and follow through.

With me, as soon as they try and sell the city as small yet livable, I roll the eyes. If you mention a labor of love, it means your holiday bonus will likely come in the form of movie promo t-shirts and baseball caps. Oh and if Miss October 1995 comes into town for the car show, we’ll let you expense the $10 fee for having your picture taken with her.

WE HAVE A GROUP OF 3 VERY PROMOTIONALLY ACTIVE RADIO STATIONS. I NEED SOMEONE THAT IS TIRELESS, IS READY TO JUMP IN AND HELP TAKE US TO THE NEXT LEVEL. I NEED A GO GETTER THAT IS READY TO GET OUT IN THE COMMUNITY AND BECOME AN AMBASSADOR OF OUR COMPANY.

BRING YOUR IDEAS. WE MAKE OUR OWN DECISIONS, NOT SOME CORPORATION. WE HAVE A SMALL STAFF, BUT WE HAVE A LOT OF FUN. IF YOU LIKE TO WAIT FOR SOMEONE ELSE TO DO IT, OR LIKE TO COMPLAIN, THAN SAVE YOUR TIME AND DON’T EMAIL ME. THERE IS A STRONG POSSIBILITY THAT THIS POSITION WOULD INCLUDE SOME ON AIR DUTIES AS WELL.

SO IF YOU ARE READY TO WORK HARD, HAVE FUN, AND MAKE A DIFFERENCE, THAN EMAIL ME. ALL RESPONSES WILL BE KEPT CONFIDENTIAL.

Promotional ads are even tougher to write than jock ads. This person’s using all caps. That makes me think it will be a low paying job working with a boss who yells a lot but who still might let you use the station van when you move from your apartment to the homeless shelter (so you got that going for you, which is nice).

Let’s try this again…

-You’re a GREAT, PERSONABLE, ON AIR PERSONALITY
-You LOVE getting involved with your COMMUNITY
-You have experience and vast knowledge of radio broadcast software systems.
-You deal well with the Sales personalities.
-Your production skills are incredible.
-You’re a little bit engineer.
-You’re a computer wiz.
-You can build and maintain the station’s web site.
-You insist on giving all of the above 100%
-You have a great desire to make ALASKA your home.
-You have a great desire to be a part of a radio company that is growing quickly in a market that is growing quickly.
-You have a strong desire to succeed and to work to help the company succeed.

The above position is extremely intense at times. You must have an incredible amount of knowledge, patience, and energy. The job is fast-paced in a market with LOADS of competition. In the end…the rewards are great! The pay is not what you’d expect from on owner-operated radio station and is more than any big radio corporation would ever THINK of paying you.

They lost me at “let’s try this again.” Was it that they didn’t find the right person in the first round of interviews or didn’t they find someone who was willing to work for food stamps and live in an Alaskan igloo?

Here we grow again! We’re expanding our flight crew and adding another daily flight on Dayton’s New FLY 92.9. We’re looking for another true communicator who can serve as host in a natural, unaffected manner. Please …”DJ’s”, “announcers”, “jocks” or “personalities” need not apply. Your conversational skills take priority over your format experience, but a broad knowledge covering several decades of contemporary music is desirable.

Additionally, candidates should thrive out in front of the public, be immersed in pop culture, possess strong production skills, and be tech savvy enough to maintain their own strong web presence.

Takeoff time’s quickly approaching, so rush your package now, and be sure to include a photo.

OK, this is too cutesy for me and I’ll give lots of leeway for someone to be creative. The aviation references are um, what’s the French word….silly! And now it looks like you need a photo to work in radio so if, like me, you have the perfect face for radio you needn’t apply.

Y94 is Fargo-Moorhead’s Number One Hit Music Station and is seeking part-time personalities for nights, holidays and weekends. You’ve heard of paying your dues? This is it.

Ah, honesty. Always the best policy. I think I’ll apply.

Your observations herein (even in defense) or experiences elsewhere are genuinely welcomed.

Tags: advertising, announcers, commentary, internet, radio, voiceover by peter k. o'connell, your friendly, neighborhood voice-over talent
2 Comments »

Here’s why I ask the question (and we’ve kinda talked about this before but bear with me here): a couple of times on sites like LinkedIn or in general research, I will type in a company’s specific name and hit search.

When a company’s web site doesn’t show up on the first or second search pages (especially if it’s not a generic name) I mentally dismiss the company as somehow inadequate or less than successful.

To me, their name is a vital and basic key word that should get some play early on in the search process but it doesn’t sometimes.

I realize that there are many companies who are successful who don’t yet use the internet very well, but my expectation is that a modern, successful company will have at least a modest web presence that should show up pretty quickly on Google or MSN or Yahoo.

Am I expecting too much? I am putting too much stock in Google? Have I become a technological snob? Will some companies (and individuals) just not let go of the phonebook? Or are some companies woefully undervaluing what a successful web presence means to their branding and their sales.

You have to talk me through this. What do you think?

Tags: advertising, commentary, google, internet, marketing by peter k. o'connell, your friendly, neighborhood voice-over talent
11 Comments »

If you look to the front page of the audio’connell Voice Over Talent web site, next to the title “audio’connell breaking news” you’ll see that popular orange RSS icon. I put it there at a cost of thousands of dollars and hundreds of man hours but this is what I am willing to do for you, my valued readers.

Ahem, well, maybe it cost me a little less than that but Mother always said to me it’s the thought that counts and my Father always said hyperbole sells.

Ahem, well, while Mother may have said that “thought” thing my Father never got really hyper about anything…a very calm man, he.

The point is when we publish a new press release, if you have subscribed to that news feed, you can receive it right away. For those of you still unclear on the whole RSS thing, note the “what’s this?” link next to the RSS icon, which gives you the lowdown on RSS.

Now some of you are subscribers to voxmarketising (and thank you again for that) and you’ll notice that we also reprint these media releases here (in more of a social media release-like format). You too can subscribe to the news feed (as they are separate feeds) or just read the releases on the blog as we will continue to post them here too.

We now return to our regularly scheduled blog, already in progress….

Tags: audio'connell voice over talent, blogs, commentary, internet, technology by peter k. o'connell, your friendly, neighborhood voice-over talent
2 Comments »

This post is for:

• Anyone who has every attended a trade show for any business so you’ll know why they may be changing drastically or going away entirely (so your sales, networking and educational opportunities may start to evaporate)
• Anyone who has ever exhibited at a trade show so you’ll know your dissatisfaction was and is not singular (so your marketing and sales plan will change and the thumpings you’ve received from your CFO on expenses may have to finally be heeded)
• Anyone who is in the trade show industry so you’ll know why you may be losing your job and who is responsible (in many cases, you may be part of the problem and if its not you, you know who it is)

THE GOOD AND BAD
Trade shows (like the recent VOICES, or SXSW or CES – The Consumer Electronics Show and hundreds more) are extremely valuable to exhibitors and attendees alike for networking, education, new product roll out, sales, client retention and hospitality among a myriad of positives.

Trade shows are also now more than ever ridiculously expensive to produce, travel to and exhibit in because of costs like hotels, food and beverage, exhibit hall and union fees as just a few of the myriad of prohibitive negatives.

I have personally produced, from the exhibitor side of things, many tradeshows from small 100 person gatherings to exhibits in the top 10 biggest trade shows in the country. The negatives are starting to significantly outweigh the positives for exhibitors and this valuable and worthwhile marketing channel is in trouble.

And this pending change, this economically mandated evolution if you will, will impact your business no matter what it is and no matter whether you are an exhibitor, an attendee or a show producer.

THE FACTS FROM SOMEONE WHO KNOWS
Direct your attention, if you will to a blog post by Tim Bourquin, who owns TNC New Media, a company that produces multiple trade shows each year.

The post offers a fairly naked behind the scenes view of the problems with the trade show industry. You should read the whole thing. He’s saying exhibitors and attendees can spend their marketing dollars elsewhere and will. That is a smack on the back of the head of the trade show industry from one of its benefactors.

WHETHER AT THE RAMADA OR THE PEPSI CENTER = MONEY
Convention Centers are going to be in trouble if they don’t change their ways, trade unions and non-union workers in these facilities are going to be out of job if they don’t significantly adjust their attitudes and convention dependent hotels and vendors are going lose more money than they could ever have possibly imagined.

Trade shows as we know them WILL change. The internet has given people the knowledge that bigger is not always better. That centralization (having one big industry convention) is effective only to a point and that “point” will be determined by cost. That threshold, Bourquin’s blog post and my experience tells me, is now cracking.

Is it the end of the world? No.

But the evolution, in my opinion, will be drastic. So what’s it to you? If you don’t think the trade show industry touches your personal business, industry and global economies like a largely mutated octopus, you are not paying attention.

Tags: advertising, blogs, commentary, internet, marketing by peter k. o'connell, your friendly, neighborhood voice-over talent
Comments Off on poor business practices – a view from the top

You didn’t ask but I’ll tell you anyway. I came home and nobody was around so I decided I’d have a little chocolate milk. So over to the fridge for the milk and some (well the way I make it, a lot of) Hershey’s Chocolate Syrup.

And then I start singing the Hershey’s jingle that I have not heard in a billion years but up it popped out of my one good brain cell. No I didn’t recording this particular jingle session. I wouldn’t do that to you.

However, being the age of the internet I decide I should go look for the spot and darned if I didn’t find it. So as far as you know, this is what I sounded like when I was singing the Hershey’s jingle.

But then there was something on You Tube about Carrie Underwood and Hershey. Turns out she has an advertising agreement with them and did spots promoting a bunch of their candy brands and a t-shirt giveaway.

I won’t editorialize on how brilliant it was to tie in a young but widely respected American country singer to revive old jingles and who looks Great (note the capital G) in t-shirts but I’ll let you judge for yourself as I have to go out and buy some chocolate bars.

Tags: advertising, commercials, internet, marketing, peter o'connell, silliness, tv by peter k. o'connell, your friendly, neighborhood voice-over talent
Comments Off on this is how my mind works sometimes

While I am sure I am late to this wordsmith party (that which I will henceforth describe) I must note that while I think I am always late on these kinds of things, most of the world is a lot later than me so I hope you enjoy this.

I read (or more often scan) blogs and RSS feeds for many reasons with the primary one being my desire to learn new things.

And while learning about new marketing techniques, voice over opportunities and advertising campaigns are great fun, sometimes it’s the writing or a word that gives my day the wonderful epiphany we all seek (or at least should seek).

Today I was reading the Lifehacker blog, subtitled tech tips, tricks and downloads for getting things done. Gina Trapani was writing about email innovation you might want to know about (both still in beta and available now at a store or web site near you).

What caught my attention was this sentence regarding the dreaded and often unavailable “undo” button for emails we immediately regret sending.

At one time or another, all of us have hit the Send button and immediately regretted it. While Gmail offers a nice (and unusual) “Undo” option for most email actions—like labeling messages or archiving them—there’s no Undo once you’ve sent a message. What would be super-useful for those facepalm moments after you’ve sent a regrettable email is the ability to take it back.

The facepalm moment. Immediately I knew what it was but I had never heard it called that. I loved it. But I also knew such a great phrase must have caught on somewhere.

It did. Yes, that’s a site called facepalm.org featuring famous pictures of the dreaded facepalm. There are 530,000 references on Google for facepalm. This will be 530,001

Glad I could contribute.

Thanks for reading.

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Tags: blogs, commentary, google, internet, marketing, peter o'connell, silliness, technology, voiceover by peter k. o'connell, your friendly, neighborhood voice-over talent
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