When I was growing up there was a television station in Dallas that kicked off the 10 o’clock news with, “It’s ten o’clock. Do you know where your children are?”

Despite being an ABC affiliate, which was the third place network in those days, Channel 8 always dominated the news ratings. Many of their news anchors were on Channel 8 for decades!

Trust.

Trust is not impulsive. Trust can only be built over time. Trust is built with a mindset of a farmer, not that of a hunter. Plant, tend, plow, fertilize, weed, repeat. Build relationships and be there when they need you.

What is your station’s role while the Coronavirus is in the headlines and impacting your listeners’ daily lives?

Consider three things:

It’s simple. There are only two things in the design of a music radio station. There’s the music, and then there is everything that isn’t music. 💡

In the design of a successful station the music serves one purpose. The “everything but music” is designed for another purpose.

💡!

How a program director designs each will have a transformative impact on the station’s success.

Let’s talk about the everything else.

So, what did you do with your extra time on the extra day?

“How did it get so late so soon?
It’s night before it’s afternoon.
December is here before it’s June.
My goodness how the time has flewn.
How did it get so late so soon?”

Dr. Seuss

In our business time IS what we do. We sell time, we fill time, we announce the time. Whether our vernacular is “time spent listening” or “average weekly time exposed” we are in the business of time.

When was the last time someone did something for you?

When was the last time a business did something for you?

Now it gets harder. When was the last time a radio station did something for you?

In his book “Know What You’re For,” Jeff Henderson shares that most businesses see their customers as fans in the stands rooting for the business. His suggestion is transformative. Imagine your customers are on the field and you’re rooting for them.

We’re really good at talking about ourselves, how “real” we are, and what we want from our listeners (“help keep us on the air”), but we fall short in demonstrating what our listeners mean to us.

After a terrible 108-loss season, Baltimore Oriole players sent out thousands of handwritten thank you cards to every one of their season ticket holders.

Planet Fitness decorates their walls with encouragement to those working out. “You did something great today!”

We can all remember the first time someone said, “I love you.” (We can also painfully remember each time someone didn’t).

We are created to be known. From the early playground experiences of “Mommy, mommy, look at me,” to the moment you discovered the pretty girl knew your name.

“To be loved but not known is comforting but superficial. To be known and not loved is our greatest fear. But to be fully known and truly loved is, well, a lot like being loved by God. It is what we need more than anything.”

Timothy Keller

Being known means we’re valued, seen as special. Being known validates who were are, that we have worth.

Hallmark knows this.

“Listen at 7:20, 10:20, and 4:20 for the next three weeks and write down all the clues we call out. Then on the following Thursday be the 103rd caller when we announce the secret phrase and we’ll put you in a drawing for a chance to win. And if you go to our website you can download all the clues by clicking the tab labeled ‘Promotions,’ then scroll down to ‘February’s promotions’ and enter your loyal listener number which you can find on the back of the bumper sticker you can pick up at several of the 37 metro area Chick-fil-A restaurants. For a list of locations enter your zip code on the dropdown box in the far right corner, unless you’re browsing on your phone then it may appear on the bottom left. Not valid if listening online in Nevada.”

PLEASE! Sometimes we make listening so difficult.

Our format is either a bunch of songs that people don’t know by artists they’ve never heard of…

or…

… it is a format of stories and songs about the most important things in our lives.

The former results in a station with a one share. The latter results in a station that is a market leader.

Most radio stations aren’t really all that bad, but most aren’t all that good either. Even the ones that ARE good aren’t good all the time. An elite few are good most of time.

Stations that are good most of the time get that way by understanding the transformative power of CONSISTENCY.

The beginning of a new year seems to me to be a good time to consider how we internalize the values in our organizations.

Andy Stanley suggests, “Just start celebrating what you value. People will value what you celebrate, and they will celebrate what you value.”

I’ve recently been reading, “Breakfast with Fred,” the conversations and ideas of Fred Smith, Sr, a mentor for many leaders such as Zig Ziglar, Philip Yancey, John Maxwell and my friend Steve Brown.

“When Fred was in his early twenties, he visited a cemetery and asked himself what he would want the epitaph on his tombstone to read. It was at that moment he chose the phrase that would set his life direction: ‘He stretched others.'”

That stretching led Fred to value conversations and the sharing of insights and wisdom. So much so that the “Breakfast with Fred” concept evolved as his health deteriorated as his breakfast meetings with a few moved online for many to read.

There is a phone in our home that we never answer. Seriously. A constant barrage of robo-calls and “Anonymous” caller IDs has left that phone to be no more than a nuisance. In fact, we no longer even listen to the voice mails because of so much time wasted checking them.

We live in an OPT-IN world, defined by Merriam-Webster online dictionary as “to choose to do or be involved in something.” If I didn’t give you permission to communicate with me then your efforts, automated as they be, will be met with an unanswered ring.