Week of April 27, 2009

For many people, managing capital expenses can be an unwieldy nightmare. If that's the case you need to make it a controllable part of your job. Make sure your chief engineer is on top of all capital expenses and explains the technical data in terms you can understand. Build a simple spreadsheet prioritizing all your projects with enough detail that you can see the scope of each project. Then, take one more step and build another simple spreadsheet for each project that goes into a bit more detail. You can build the spreadsheets yourself with the help of your chief engineer and business manager, or one of them can do it with the help of the other department head and you. It is important that you are involved, so the analysis is understandable to you because, after all, this project is for your edification.

What's the most satisfying thing you do as a manager? Here is a list of some possible answers:

1. You helped an account executive make a great sale that seemed impossible.

2. You gave a young program director a chance to do it his way and it worked.

3. You and your staff did a multi-tiered presentation that included many of your assets. You knew it would return great ROI for your client; he bought it and it worked.

4. Here's one that would be great, but doesn't happen much any more: Making budget in spite of the bad economy and downturn in advertising.

What's my point? I have two of them. First, you can make your own list of satisfying things and it might brighten your day. Second, I have something satisfying you may not have put on your list. You ran interference with your boss for one of your employees and the employee has no idea you did it. Telling the employee what you did would take away from your satisfaction so you never divulge it. That silent satisfaction can be among the best.

Technology is at warp speed, developing new ways to deliver content to consumers. One of the latest is a tiny computer chip that replaces a wired antenna for radio reception in cell phones. We all know the geeks who develop new technology can do anything in time. Chrysler just revealed a concept car at the Detroit Auto Show that will tag Internet music for purchase using the radio controls and has a tablet PC integrated in the dash allowing Internet access. Who among us would have thought 15 years ago that everything we play on the air -- from commercials, to songs to public affairs shows -- would be on a computer? I had a corporate chief engineer who said it would be impossible as late as 1993.

Here's my point: Embrace change and make sure you are ready for it. Most of us can't develop new delivery systems and the people who develop delivery systems can't develop something compelling to deliver. People still want interesting products on whatever system they use to receive it. Our job is to create those products and make sure they are being delivered in as many ways as possible. These new days are the same as the old days; the winner is the station with the best product that's branded right and delivered seamlessly.

Make May "Brand Month" at your station. Use everything at your disposal to learn how your current audience feels about your product and focus on those feelings. I know, you are thinking "I have no money for research." That's true, it's unfortunate, but it's reality. So what are you going to do, sit back and let your product die from lack of attention? Think about what you have that can be used to get input from your audience. You have your website, your current employees, YOUR OWN AIRTIME. Those are just three things and I'm sure you can identify more.

Take an hour and put your most creative people in a room. Tell them it is important to them to find out how people are emotionally attached to your station. Give them thought-starters such as: Use the website to reach out; send people out at remotes to query listeners (not air talent; but regular folks such as the receptionist); run an ad on the station asking for input. This won't take a great investment and could yield something valuable.

It only takes one great idea to move the needle. Until the earth moves again on its axis, you're not going to have big research money. You must innovate or get a job selling shoes. Oh, and before you start this project, make sure you understand the definition of branding. A good start would be to Google "branding." Wouldn't it be great if you could make your brand not only a noun, but also a verb like the word "Google"?

I am amazed to see the number of managers who are not fluent in simple computer programs like Excel and Word. If you need to rely on someone else to build a spreadsheet or document, take a class now. Excel is an easy program that allows you to do quick calculations and planning without going to the trouble of either pulling out the calculator and doing them by hand (1970s technology) or trying to explain what you want to your business manager, who is already snowed under, with other work. Once you are even slightly fluent with Word, you'll never compose anything on a legal pad again and your will save countless hours.