Week of June 8, 2009

A friend of mine sent me a link to a Boston Globe story last week and suggested we may be seeing a swing of the pendulum away from the "Me Generation." Check out the story at A Head With A Heart. Can you find this kind of story in your market? Seek it out. Your audience will enjoy it more than yet another story about the economy continuing to crater. And who knows, finding positive people might yield a client.

Hurricane season started last week. I hope those of you in hurricane-prone areas of the country have already prepared your facilities with hurricane plans. Having lived in hurricane areas for many years, my experience has been that some folks are extremely well prepared and some just trust in the Almighty to see them through.

If you are among the latter group, get a plan NOW. It all starts with asking the question, "What is the first thing we need to do if there's a hurricane coming off the coast of Africa?" Get your management team involved and lean on the engineering folks for plans to keep you physically on the air. Spend some time brainstorming the steps you need to take as a hurricane comes closer and is predicted to come ashore somewhere near you. Find a hurricane website with which you are comfortable and track it. Here are a couple of sites I have used: wunderground.com and hurricanecity.com. Accuweather has a good site at hurricane.accuweather.com. All of the better sites do a great job of tracking hurricanes and also have good articles about hurricanes and preparedness.

There is money to be made if you are struck by a hurricane -- even if you get a glancing blow (a hurricane that comes close enough to scare you, but does little damage). Insurance companies, home improvement centers and other businesses affected by hurricanes have contingency advertising money set aside. It can be big money if you have contacted them in advance of a hurricane threatening and have set up contacts within the station. They don't have time to search you out; they have hurricane plans with contacts they know are reliable. You need to be on the list and keep in touch throughout the season to update e-mail addresses, emergency phone numbers and fax numbers.

The National Association of Realtors announced pending sales of existing homes in April were up for the third month in a row. (It takes a month to get these figures compiled, so they are always a month behind.) April was up 6.7% after an increase of 3.2% in March. The Northeast and Midwest are the strongest with the South and Far West still weak.

Mortgage rates are at close to all-time lows, making housing more affordable. There is an $8,000 federal tax credit for first-time home buyers. Some state and local governments are offering other incentives. The chief economist for the NAR expects existing-home sales to increase by about 17% by year's end. On the other hand, new home sales are expected to fall another 12%.

In many parts of the country, major builders of new homes used to be a good category, but it doesn't look like the new home market is coming back any time soon. In this environment with existing home sales heating up, not only do you need to get creative with local realtors, but you need to be innovative with your digital assets and find ways to make it easier for your individual listeners to buy and sell homes.

To get started on leads, you can Google "home sales (name of your market)," "real estate lawyers (name of your market)," "mortgage companies (name of your market)," "home loans (name of your market)" ... you get the idea. Most of you have moved at one time or another and know all the other categories buyers and sellers need, like home inspectors, repair men, movers, etc.

I know some of this seems obvious, but have your people done more than a cursory shot at it? Have your sellers concentrate on the existing home categories for a few days. You might be surprised at what happens. Or, are they too busy with the transactional business that isn't happening.

I was talking with a friend who is in the medical sales industry. When I asked him, "How's business?" he replied that it is still very good, actually up nearly double-digits from last year, but they are preparing for sinking sales if the economy doesn't turn soon. He said many people who have been laid off still have some form of medical insurance provided in their severance, but much of it will be ending soon as their severance ends. He is hoping the economy will turn soon enough for people to get back to work. If not, he said they will be in trouble.

The lesson here is that the broad medical category is probably one we should be working on while they still have business. Have a couple of account executives concentrate on it for a few days and see what they can come up with.

Success seems difficult and elusive as we endure this long recession. There is news every day about problems in the economy ... and our advertisers' pain becomes ours. The same qualities that made us successful in a good economy will see us through this downturn and have us prepared for the economic recovery when it happens (and it WILL happen).

Two of the essential qualities we need are patience and perseverance. Never give up; keep putting one foot in front of the other. I pulled three quotes you might find inspiring:

1. "Perseverance is a great element of success. If you knock long enough and loud enough at the gate, you are sure to wake up somebody."
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

2. "Patience and perseverance have a magical effect before which difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish."
John Quincy Adams

And, I think Buddha said it best:

3. "A jug fills drop by drop."
Buddha

Have a great week seeking forward movement!