GO JOE GO

[AvgListener]

If you know anyone in that building then you would know that most calls coming in are from bill collectors not clients. Also I hear that sometimes … paychecks bounce.

Just a thought: If every piece of equipment is leased and you do not make any payments, then that equipment is repossessed. Lets do the math together:

Solid format + Dependable staff + Great Ratings + NO Equipment = FAILURE

You can earn all the ratings in the world, but you still can't run a radio station without equipment.

My guess is that even though the numbers are very good, the national revenue won't be enough or come fast enough to save them financially.

Also, do any of their sales staff even know how to sell numbers? Only one to my knowledge and she will wait until the last minute and take the lowest rate.

Another thought, if you don’t pay Arbitron, you don’t get the numbers to sell.

Again, I fear poor management will doom Joe FM, not their staff or format. So If I am wrong about my February deadline, then I am wrong.

Congratulations everyone and Good Luck!!! Oh, and keep those resumes updated.

DUKE

Oh, one more thing, the latest rumor on the street is that Joe FM's owner is looking to sell the stations now that he has some good numbers - probably not a bad idea.

Ok Duke you say your close to former Buzz employee's then how in the world do know anything on JOE unless your hearing it from a third party. So I'm sure we would like to know What is your proof or are you and your buzz buddy just making this stuff up. I believe you should back up what you say with facts not here-say.

Again...and this is tiresome, I AM friends with a few former Buzz employees. Just because they are former Buzz people DOES NOT mean that they don't work for Joe - the Buzz doesn't exist anymore. Therefore anyone who works there now and worked there 8 months ago is a former Buzz employee. I will be keeping names to myself.

So, no, I haven't been overhearing conversations in coffee shops or going through someone's trash.

And I agree that here-say is baaaad, one should never do it:


That's fine an dandy Duke! But again what is your soild evidence. What! you heard the ramblings of disgruntal employee. Well i'm sure that's proof enough for your little mind

 

[Sandman_316]

Duke, in hearing your ramblings and bashing of Joe FM and Magnum Broadcasting itself, it's obvious your one of two things...

1. A former MAGNUM employee (doesn't mean you worked on The Buzz...WBLF maybe?) who is still bitter about the "flip" back in June or some other thing that you feel management has done to you. If that's the case, you need to put away the crying towel and move on with your life.

2. A current Magnum employee who has decided to stir up a bunch of crap because for some unforseen reason you find no satisfaction in your job have some sort of beef against management. If this is the case, quit and move to another job. I'm sure Magnum would be better off without the likes of you.

What are you trying to prove with your posts about Magnum? It doesn't change the fact that the did a great job in the last book.

You say that spreading rumors based on heresay is "bad". So who's to say everything you've said about Magnum is true? Time to grow up and let go of whatever problem you have with Magnum and Joe FM. Move on, little man.

 

[marpediem]

I'll step up here as a former employee, and a former member of the management team... I agree with loyal, magnum is a country club to work for. The management team works on a shoe string not just because they have to, but because they want to. That helps keep costs down, keeping costs down allows for finances to be used in other areas, and looking towards the future is what it's all about. The future of the company, the future of the staff and the future of the listener base. Many businesses have been doing that to keep their bottom line up, including a few of the large corporate conglomerates, and not just radio. I wasn't around for the change, I was gone long before that. I didn't leave because I had a problem with the company, life just pulled me in a different direction and a different geographical location and it was too good an offer to turn down. I'm retired from radio, happy in my career and hold no ill will towards magnum. They got a good book, the first of many to come from what I can tell and are finally on their way to carving a place for themselves. Why not pat them on the back and welcome them instead of trying to tear them apart. when the competition gets better, all benefit because they have to strive a bit harder instead of riding on their laurels like what happens so often in any business. if you want to knock the competition down, make your performance better than the competition fair and square instead of talking bad about them. Go into your favorite bank and ask them about their competition. They will never talk bad about anyone because they won't use their competitions name in the presence of a customer. They want you to only associate their name with any dealings you have with them. Mention the competition and the customer may remeber the competition instead... marketing 101 in any college... But that's just my opinion.

 

[gargoyles]

Marketing 101? Not mentioning the competitor in the presence of a customer or potential customer is (1) old fashioned and (2) insulting that customer's intelligence.

People are not fools. They know their bank (or car company or radio station) is not the only one.

If Magnum bought the book, they should be pointing proudly to their newly credible figures compared with Frog. Moreso if they can show a trend in their direction.

Conversely, Forever can still show that they're number one with Froggy and totally dominate the ratings in both SC and Altoona, using any competitor(s) as comparisons.

Public dissing of the competitor remains a bad strategy. But people don't live in bubbles and they comparison shop.

 

[marpediem]

Actually, it's not insulting as you put it. A potential customer is well aware of the competition, they don't need to hear it from you. That just reinforces it in their eyes. Old fashioned? perhaps, but if it ain't broke, don't fix it... It's been part of marketing 101 for years and will remain a part of the course for years to come, there's a reason for it... If you feel the need to use a different strategy, that's fine if it works for you, the rest of us have our own ways of doing things that works for us, let's just agree to disagree on it and be done with it like true adults. As far as using the books and hitting the streets, I'm sure they are using it to their advantage in their own way, however it works best for them within their budget. Nobody ever got rich spending money unnecessarily, they saved it, spent what they needed to and got rich. Trust me on this, I know quite a few people that can afford great things and still purchase used cars, buy clothes at discount stores and even thrift stores if they find something they like. They save their money so it can make more money for them instead of spending it and flaunting it without reason. I can tell you from current experience that even the government is cutting back and saving, trimming unnecessary expense where they can and it will pay off, it's just a new field for them to reuse and recycle and they have to get used to it as well....

As far as market domination goes, numbers do count, but so do connections, working with people, networking, cross marketing, branding, give aways, etc... People will buy where they think they can get the best bang for their buck, Bigger numbers also means bigger price tag in a time when money is tight. Sure, Froggy covers most of the state, but how many people are going to come to state college from half way across the state for a cup of coffee and a danish or a pizza? Perhaps a car if the deal is great, but that also means coming back here for service when it's due. How much is gas there right now? It's about 2 bucks a gallon here, but I'm betting it's a bit higher there still... Someone would have to save a lot to travel an hour every time they needed service... Lower costs passed on to the consumer for some reason seems in vogue these days more than ever. A thousand listeners within a mile is a better gamble than 10k listeners traveling 90 miles for a fraction of the advertising cost. Altoona is pretty self contained, they have car lots, culture and coffee shops as well as their own walmart and krispy kreme donut shop... Some people will come out to remotes for the talent, but a lot of return customers come for the deals or just plain loyalty.

 

[marpediem]

To everyone else, sorry I sidetracked this thread for the marketing class.

Congrats to Joe FM, they are finally on their way. Do I miss the Buzz? You bet, the music was great, the staff was great, but timing is everything. Austin was a great programmer, Fish was a great programmer, Chris and Jim, Fish, Drew and the rest of the air staff were awesome. Laura and Cliff were great as well when they had the place, Laura both as a manager and air talent, but the timing and marketability wasn't there to make a reasonable profit in the marketplace.

 

[mistermicrophone]

Actually, it's not insulting as you put it. A potential customer is well aware of the competition, they don't need to hear it from you. That just reinforces it in their eyes. Old fashioned? perhaps, but if it ain't broke, don't fix it... It's been part of marketing 101 for years and will remain a part of the course for years to come,

Marketing 101? Ad's for soda, beer, fast food, cars, auto insurance, et al, have been breaking this philosophy for YEARS. I agree it may not be insulting to not recognize the competition, but sometimes comparing your product to another while selling your product's benefits, can build brand leadership in the eye of the consumer (if the campaign is done right).

 

[wiseman]

Correct Glen, in this case going after Froggy directly (and it's weaknesses) is the right move. It will highlight and emphasize the choice, straight Country vs. lame, spent, embarrassing Frogountry. JoeFM needs to be the hometown adult choice. Derisive laughter is the best offense, ....and a strong sales effort.

 

[marpediem]

Mr. Mic, that's getting into marketing 201, lol. The key words in your statement are "IF IT'S DONE RIGHT"... Yes, if it's done right, anything goes. It's like the rules of writing, follow the rules until you need to break them to make a statement. I gues the simple point I was trying to get across to gargoyles is that when someone isn't part of the management team, or who is and disagrees with the rest of the team, it's easy for that person to critisize from the back seat without all the information as to why the decision was made. That's the difference between being an employee and owning a business or managing one. Who ever owns and operates has to make tough decisions, sometimes they work and sometimes they don't, but they have the option to make those decisions because it's their proverbial donkey on the line. To be able to make those decisions for anyone else is easy, all they have to do is own their own business and run it how they see fit instead of having to fit the mold of being an employee... the other option is to find a place that has the same ideals and philosophies they do and work for that company....

I've worked corporate management for many years in fields other than radio and have had to make some tough decisions that weren't popular, I've been the victim of tough decisions that weren't popular, and I've run 4 of my own businesses over the years, some of which I still have, operating profitably. All it takes is a vision and some creative work to start one of your own. It's one of the great things about this country, we actually promote starting small businesses, they are the foundation of this country and still account for more jobs in this country combined than the large corporations...