Vacation? What Vacation?

Posted: July 19, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: EXPERIENCE | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Hell-o dear readers.  I am typing this from the table of a condo sitting on the 6th green at The Nautical Estates Golf Course in Lake Havasu City, Arizona on vacation.  This is the first vacation in over 2 years , on purpose, out of Las Vegas.

Lake Havasu City, Arizona. London Bridge Beach

Last year was the summer of sending my daughters off to college for their freshman year, so any personal vacation time was not going to happen.

Now-a-days, what is a vacation?  I remember the “good old days” BEFORE laptops, Ipads, cell phones and any other electronic device that is really a umbillical chord, we went away and NOBODY would dare to try to contact you (unless an emergency).  You always left that information with just one person who you trusted would not share that with anybody.

Whether it was to Florida or the Catskills or to the Jersey Shore (for real swimming fun not the tv show garbage), you were in true isolation.

There was no Facebook, Twitter, Pintrest, or whatever site is the hottest craze, to keep everybody informed about what you are doing on vacation.  It was also easier to put work aside when on vacation.  Work was less demanding whether you owned your own business or worked for someone else.  Stress & pressure were not part of the vocabulary like it is today.

But off to vacation we went this week with our cell phones and laptops.  Mine is on the kitchen table to use and my wife’s is on the coffee table.  It’s like an addiction.  We can’t be without some connection to the outside electronic world.

Sure, I use mine for Facebook and emails, but I also listened in to Vegas Unwrapped Internet Radio and A House Party Tonight with Don Hill on my laptop.  I have been on the radio for 6 years.  I started off on a local AM terrestrial station before moving to the local AM Fox Sports affiliate in Las Vegas.  Shortly after that, Vegas Unwrapped was born on Internet Radio.

I had NEVER missed doing a LIVE show in 6 years, until last night, July 18th, 2012.  In the past when I would go on vacation, Ricky Cash my on-air partner, would take vacation at the same time and have a past show “REPLAYED”.

Last night was very strange knowing there was a LIVE show about to happen BUT I wasn’t going to be there.  I did log in to listen to the show, participated in the chatroom and even Skyped in for a short time, but it’s not the same.  I felt like a fish out of water.

Then it came to me like a wave breaking over me in the water!

It’s the passion and drive that I have for Vegas Unwrapped that is part of who I am.  It is hard to turn the other cheek from something you love.  My time on the radio is like my “guys” night out at the bowling alley or playing softball or just going to get a beer.  I also love the business end of what we do under the production umbrella and help others be on the radio that is just as satisfying.  I even made contact with some potential advertisers and show hosts while on vacation.

It’s the fear of loss or the risk of missing something good that keeps us all connected electronically.  We don’t want anything to pass us by.

By the way, after 3 years of working with Ricky and “teaching” him as much as I could, he did a great job hosting both of our Wednesday night shows.  Here are the links. Listen for yourself: http://www.lvrocks.com/details.php?id=204 & http://www.lvrocks.com/details.php?id=206

I will always take a vacation when I can but the term vacation has been re-defined in many ways due to the electronic age.

Truth be told, I wouldn’t change a thing.

Until next time…….

Host Your Own Show

Posted: July 12, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: EXPERIENCE | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Did you know that you can be on the radio and do what I do?

My partner Ricky Cash and I have a system that helps you get on the air and host your own show as part of our family of shows.  But there are a few things to be considered:

  • What are you passionate about?
  • Are you committed?
  • Are you a detail oriented?
  • Do you possess skills?
  • Are you afraid of asking for the sale?

I want to focus on that last bullet point.  “ARE YOU AFRAID TO ASK FOR THE MONEY?”

On order to get on to the radio, one needs funding.  “Brokered Airtime” is a phrase that is becoming more and more common where radio stations will bring on board personalities to their station BUT they have to bring their own sponsors/advertisers who are willing to pay for the airtime.

This is a cheaper way for stations to bring talent on the air, rather than hiring them on the payroll to host a show which means more cost.

The nice thing as a brokered show, is that the host owns it.  Meaning there is a lot more flexibility as to content that will be aired.  Should the host decide to leave the station, they can take the show with them since they would own the rights to it and not the station.

But the problem here is two-fold:  (1) many hosts to be are uncomfortable going out and talking to potential sponsors to help them get on the air and (2) advertisers find it hard to support an unknown commodity.

When Cash & I meet with a potential hosts, the first thing we suggest to do is to grab a piece of paper and label the top with two headings: WARM & COLD.   The WARM list really is the key to getting started on the air.  These businesses that are familiar with you already.  Maybe it is your favorite restaurant that you go to a few times a week?  Maybe it is the nail salon? Dry cleaners? Auto body shop? etc….

You have an established relationship that should make it easier to get over the hump of being afraid to ask for their support.

The COLD list is the market to be explored AFTER a host has been on the air for a while and can being them results.

If a host doesn’t believe they can bring in the advertising dollars they need, how can they expect an advertiser to support them.  It may take more NO’s to get to the YES you need to get on the radio.  It becomes smooth sailing once you break through the first time.

Until next time…..

Why is it so hard?

Posted: July 8, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: EXPERIENCE | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

I’ve been taking a break from things lately because of a major change to my schedule.

With July 4th this past week, we re-ran a “best of” Vegas Unwrapped and A House Party Tonight with Don Hill. It’s funny, it seems like an eternity since I was behind the microphone.  The good thing I am getting excited to get back on the air LIVE this week from 7-9 PM PST on www.vegasunwrapped.net. (SHAMELESS PUG.)

It also gives me time to really listen to past shows as a “listener” rather than a “producer”.  When I am LIVE on the air, I really can’t listen to the show.  It’s almost like an out-of-body experience.  I have gone back to every show each week for the last 6 years and listened to the podcast as if I were a listener.  It gives me the chance to listen to what is being said, the delivery of a segment, how as the energy of the show, etc.  This has been the best tool for me to hone my craft.  I am not saying that I am Bob Costas of radio, but I think I have a fairly good grasp of how this all works.  But sometimes it is harder than I expect.

I am always thinking a segment ahead to the next piece of the show.  I am producing during breaks with the engineer and on-air partner.  I am gathering material all week-long to have for the show not knowing where we may go with things.

I was listening to Colin Cowheard from ESPN the other day talk about how good tv broadcasters are because as they are talking they have their directors talking to them in their earpiece about where to go next during the telecast.  It is like carrying on in two conversations at the same time only you can’t reply to one of them, you can only listen as you speak only in the first conversation.

As crazy at that sounds, I would love the opportunity to try television broadcasting.  I am very proud of the myself for the self-created opportunity of getting started in radio some 6 years ago after doing color commentating for Junior Golden Gloves Boxing from Mesquite, Nevada.  That was post production television, where I did have a director talking to me but if we made a mistake, we could stop and do a re-take.

It’s interesting when I have downtime, I try to re-establish my foothold on where I am going.  as long as it is straight ahead, I can not complain.

Until next time….

 

Value of Internet Radio Part 3: Financial

Posted: July 2, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: BENEFITS | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

I remember when I was a co-host on the local Fox Sports radio affiliate here in Las Vegas, I thought it was going to great. Don’t get me wrong, it was, but boy was it expensive.  The show I co-hosted aired from 6-7AM PST on Saturday mornings.  The time change for our East Coast listeners went over well but those are early hours even for a “24-hour” town like Las Vegas. Especially when trying to obtain advertisers for our show.

I remember thinking, what bar or restaurant was going to buy advertising for that time slot.  I unfortunately nailed that one.  For many businesses, the cost of the airtime didn’t warrant the expense for these establishments.   The airtime cost could have bought a decent used car for a college student!

The overhead for a traditional terrestrial radio station is quite high.  But not for an internet station.  Theoretically, anyone can do an “internet” radio show with just a computer and some sort of internet connection.  For what I paid for that Saturday airtime, I could offer a business almost 6 MONTHS of marketing and advertising  for their business.  The overhead is substantially less on the internet.

How much one chooses to spend on the internet depends upon the quality they want to project to their listeners.  I prefer to be in a studio with an engineer so I can concentrate on the material for my show.  I also want the sound of the show to be authentic, you know, like we are in a REAL studio.

There are very inexpensive methods of Internet radio broadcasting that are available, but to me they sound like glorified tele-conferences AND you have to engineer your own show.

With the lower cost of being on the internet, I can pass those savings on to potential advertisers and be extremely competitive in pricing.  I can also deliver a much wider audience due to the internet for local pricing.  To me, that’s the best of both worlds.

Until next time…..