With all the discussion about recession, everyone seems to have skipped over this subject to concentrate on basic on-air revenue. I love the web because it's become so cheap to do and has so much potential billing.  We can do audio, video, coupons, create a million dollar database - it goes on and on. I know small markets where the stations' websites are the virtual local tv station and newspaper.

A suggestion for managers. Once again Radio Ink will conduct their excellent ConVergence workshop  in San Jose Feb 9-10. Last year I heard cutting edge ideas that made lots of people lots of money.

Click here for all the info http://www.radioink.com/convergence/.

Next Wednesday we'll do our second Selling in a Tough Economy - for Managers and Senior Sellers. That's because the problems are (a) different and (b) more acute. When they lose a piece of business it's usually higher than average billing. Likewise, seniors usually tend to become more dependent on avail business and thus haven't had to exercise the skills learned when they were newcomers. Kind of gotten out of shape. Need to trim a few pounds and head for the gym. To wit; they need to go back to Direct.

There is good news for Senior Sellers. First, it's become easier to call on Directs; there are new simple systems. Secondly, over time they've learned second-nature selling skills that many aren't aware of. 

Next Wednesday, January 21st we''ll present our first online workshop on this subject.

Click Here for Details & Registration

For those of you who haven't seen recent stories, a Katz client, after placing a national buy, came back to stations asking for a 20% discount from the rates that had already been contracted. While we can just sit there and explode with indignation, we might instead take a look at it.

• Can't blame them for trying. Wouldn't you?
• Yes, it's breaking a "contract." Not nice, but we've had Cancel Before Start before and who among us regularly enforces two-week cancellation?
• I fear that it's one of those new rules of the New Economy. It will become a common practice.

Solutions?  So what do we do?

• We all know that national business is in a steep decline, with a giant rep firm virtually leaving the scene.
• Because of cutbacks, there haven't been as many national sales trips lately. Many haven't called on a New York media buyer recently. It's amazing. Many of them - after all the mergers - don't know all of the accounts in the house. They can't keep up with the sheer number of them.
• Boy, oh boy did I get spanked in Phoenix and learned some big lessons. Our News/Talk station had a 9.0 share, our FM was runaway #1 in Women 25-54. Add to that one of the world's best ever NSMs, Paddy Ramsay, and we regularly knocked off 20% of all the market's national business. Hey, it was easy money. Our percentage of national versus local got to 22% - and, K-BLAM one of those pesky recessions popped up.  Since a recession always shows up first in national business - we got murdered. National dried up overnight and we had to go out and make up all that money. 

Lessons I learned.

• Never allowed national to go over 15% of total billing - and watched it like a hawk.
• I became (and remain) a Local Direct Whack Job. You can always go back to that well.
• LD is far more controllable and predictable, less dependent on rates & ratings.
• I can actually talk to the actual client-decision maker.
• Even in this nasty time, there are still qualified prospects. To wit . . .
• A small market exercise. A GM will say, We've called on everybody - there's nothing left to call on. I respond, I'll make you a bet. I'll bet my house against yours that today, between 12 Noon and 5PM, I can find ten qualified clients who haven't seen a serious presentation in the last year. Nobody has ever taken me up on the bet. Even for $5 bucks.  

Begin by standing on a comfortable surface, where you have plenty of room at  each side. With a 5-lb. potato sack in each hand, extend your arms straight out from your sides and hold them there as long as you can. Try to reach a full minute, then relax. Each day, you'll find that you can hold this position for just a bit longer.

After a couple of weeks, move up to 10-lb. potato sacks. Then 50-lb. potato sacks, and then eventually try to get to where you can lift a 100-lb.potato sack in each hand and hold your arms straight for more than a full minute.

Once you feel confident at that level, put a potato in each of the sacks.

Good, huh?