Date Posted:
04 | 21 | 04

It's Not 'Who You Know'

It's not 'Who You Know' or 'What you know.'

It's BOTH.

'Who you know' is the key to showing 'WHAT you know'. Think of it this way: 'What you know' gets you the job, but 'who you know' helps to land the interview... and landing the interview is everything.

Let's say you know a lot. You totally get the idea of talking to one person who represents the many. Let's just assume you know how to entertain one person who represents your target demo in a way that reflects their interests instead of your own. Let's say that you know how to turn today's Arbitron book into a plan of action. Let's assume that you know how to take a typical lame sales driven promotion and put a fun spin on it that turns passive listeners into active fans... dot dot dot... etc etc etc...

What good does any of it do you if your demo is not heard?

"The dreaded "box" of demos is your enemy. The phone is your friend."

So, following that line of thinking, let's say there is an opening at a great station in a decent market. You mail a cd with your aircheck.

Repeat after me: "SO WHAT."

Your cd gets dropped into the same box as the 150 others. At that point, "what you know" is irrelevant, because you're in the dreaded box.

The dreaded "box" of demos is your enemy. The phone is your friend.

(ring, ring.... ring, ring... "hello? ...who? ...hang on, lemme see if I've got his cd. ...no, never got it... wait... here it is... hang on... HEY! He sounds great! Who is he? Really? ...So he's a good guy? ...And he did that working THERE? ...and they LET HIM GO? ...Wow... What's his number...")

WHAT YOU KNOW gets you the gig, but WHO YOU KNOW can get you noticed.

Colophon:

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Think About It:

  • The Downfall Of Radio Is The Downfall Of Man:   Eventually, radio will either be wiped out by the internet or it will merge into it. The determining factor will be the strength of each individual radio station's content at the point in time when AM and FM radio listenership truly collapses.

  • A Pig On A Seesaw:   There is absolutely nothing wrong with radio. The transmitters still work. Car radios still work. Clock radios still work. The radio in the lobby of your dentist's office still works too. All of this equipment is functioning perfectly. 100% A-OK. Trust me. I checked.

  • Bottoms Up!:   I'm not saying the Japanese are better. I'm saying a system of top-down management is worse. And that is exactly what deregulation brought to radio.

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