FrequencyNews's Blog

To win in business, you need a 360-degree approach, a solid team doing great work, a well thought out plan of attack, strategic marketing and promotion tactics and exemplary customer service. As I sit and think about how it all connects, I would like to share some thoughts on a variety of these winning tactics

Listen To Your Listeners :

When was the last time you sat down with your listeners and talked about what they like and dislike about radio, local radio stations and specifically, YOUR radio station and website? When was the last time the sales manager and program director joined an account exec at a client’s location and brainstormed with them on how we can be a marketing solution. Whose Got next? Who and where is the next generation of radio people? PDs, on-air talent, promotion directors, sales managers, account execs, general managers… do you know? It is up to us to find them, groom them and coach them. Imagine if baseball didn’t have minor leagues. Where would they find the next generation of pitchers and hitters? Imagine if there was no college basketball. Where would the NBA find new talent? We are in that position now. Through cutbacks and the elimination of positions, we have no minor leagues. Some of us more “seasoned veterans” started by doing overnights and weekends, driving the vans, running the board, or in my case at one station, painting the studios. We don’t have some of those positions any more, so we must get creative in how we find the next generation of radio talent. I think it starts with interns. I feel very strongly about this: we must ALWAYS have several interns in our stations learning the ropes. We can then grow our own talent and create that next generation of radio stars, plus, interns can also be an asset to us. They live the digital and social media life. so they can help with our station websites and digital initiatives. They can help us find and pick the new music. And they can add energy and that fearless attitude.

RECRUIT INTERNS AND GET THEM INVOLVED IN YOUR OPERATION!

Customer Service Always Wins : When listeners come to our stations, make them feel like a star. You have heard from me or read my previous articles on customer service. But I can’t emphasize it enough. If you make that listener feel like a star and treat them as a true friend when they enter your building, they will be fiercely loyal to you. In Philadelphia, Bruce Demps, Elroy Smith and Boogie D. have instituted a mandatory policy that all listeners upon entering the building get to meet one of the personalities from the appropriate station and get a tour. Imagine how that makes them feel and how many people they will tell. And it doesn’t cost a cent!

Keep your Websites Fresh :

Maintaining your website is a team responsibility. I have sat in several listener focus groups in our markets in the past month and every single one of them said they visit our websites. That is great. But every single one of them also expressed disappointment. Some said the sites are hard to navigate, others said the news stories and posts were old and others said there weren’t updated pictures and videos. Social Media Is Crucial: The moral of the story is that we need to do a better job keeping our websites fresh, topical and updated. And all of us need to participate in this. All staff should have their station website as their home page when they light up the computer. All staff should randomly go to our various pages and posts to see if our articles are fresh. And of course the sales folks need to be sure the ad copy is updated and correct. How about Tweeting? Do your DJs all Tweet and are they setting appointment-listening through Twitter? Twitter was made for PPM! You can have your talent creating events and then setting appointment times to drive on-air traffic with their Tweets and then the re-Tweets. This is especially true on our mainstream stations since the younger listeners tend to be more engaged with Twitter. And as a manager you should make it a point to follow all of your talent to see how they represent the station and to verify they are taking advantage of the opportunities that Twitter offers to our stations. As always, we need to be making it “Good To Great” in the 2K11!

Big Bink: SO FRESH My MVJ’s (Most Valuable Joints) Out Right Now! By: Big Bink MD & On Air Personality, KBFB

Since the NBA playoffs are jumping off right now I definitely have to represent my Dallas Mavericks even though we are kind of trippin’ right now with the series tied. If the Mavericks don’t show up and don’t make it to the next round, it’s the Memphis Grizzlies all the way. So…the NBA has MVP’s and I have MVJ’s (Most valuable joints.) Here are my MVJ selections to heat up your iPods and CD collections this spring and summer.

Kelly Rowland – ‘Motivation’ ft. Lil Wayne

Throughout my career in radio I can’t think of a song that has shot through the roof as quickly as this song has. Everywhere I go, every party that I DJ women are asking me to play this record. If you know the record, it isn’t even a club song! That’s how bad they want to hear it. Big shout to Kelly too because she is a very approachable and her music speaks volumes. You know how sometimes with the big big stars like Kelly you would think that she since she has had all that success she would have a big entourage with 7 security detail and 5 PR people and then you get bout 3 minutes to talk to her. Not the case at all last time she was in Dallas, myself, Kelly and Tim got on that radio and had a great interview, took pictures, shot videos and she did everything that we asked with a smile on her face! It is her time to shine with this ‘Motivation’ joint. All of the former members of Destiny’s Child have had their time to shine and now it’s definitely’s Kelly’s time…again. She has reinvented herself big time (if you don’t believe me check out the ‘Motivation’ Video.) Look for the new album hopefully this summer. Lastly, how can you go wrong with Lil Wayne on this joint… right? Lets Go Kelly!

Mary J Blige – ‘Someone to Love Me’ ft. Diddy & Lil Wayne 

Few would have imagined back in 1992, when she dropped ‘What’s the 411’, that this young girl from the projects of Yonkers, NY would become the face of Hip Hop. Mary J has earned numerousindustry awards, been able to bring swag that has empowered both women and men worldwide, crossed over to mass appeal audiences and cut across race and genre boundaries in the process. From the pre-internet days to the digital takeover in the music industry, Mary J. is still the queen of Hip Hop/ Soul. And now, she has this new joint with Lil Wayne and Diddy (good to see them back together right?), called “Someone”. I knew this joint was a banger the first time I heard it on Diddy’s “Last Train to Paris”. I like how Mary re-vamped the hook and put Wayne on it. My opinion this will be the “go to” record for the summer. Plus, its up tempo and we need that so we can start dancing again! Mary is a class act. I remember that “My Life” album pretty much was the soundtrack to my life back in 94. Here it is 2011 and Mary is about to drop her 9th album. She is the definition of longevity in the game of hip hop and R&B. Think about your life and what you have been through and how Mary helped you get through it in some way or another through her music or is that just me. Over 40 million records sold? C’mon! Mary will DEFINITELY be in the building this summer!

Jeezy and Lil Wayne – Ballin

This joint is a fool! Already bangin’ throughout the south and with both Jeezy and Wayne this is the combination that you cannot go wrong with. These two artists along with maybe Ross are the most sought AFTER MC’S IN HIP HOP right now. It’s a straight southern Club Joint and you can ride this one out through the whole summer. Ballin’ is actually Jeezy’s record for the streets from his is upcoming TM103 album. We should expect the Carter 4, from Wayne this summer too. Side note – You know sometimes rappers are always viewed with negative press. I didn’t know this about Jeezy, He opened his house to the victims in an effort to help them have a place to stay back when Hurricane Katrina hit in ‘05 – so much love on that one.

To wrap it up: Its gonna be a HOT summer and these joints are going to have you sweatin’….guarant eed!!

Here are my MVJ Honorable Mentions:

Twista – Love affair

Lloyd Banks – I dont Deserve You – (favorite joint right now)

Ross and Wale – 600 benz

R. Kelly – Number One Hit

Keri Hilson – One Night Stand

Congrats to industry vet Juliette Jones who will soon be exiting her post at J/RCA Records as VP of Promotions to start at Warner Bros records as SVP of Promotions. She will be based in New York for the time being and will eventually relocate to California.

TV One wraps up the season of its first original scripted series, “Love That Girl!,” with a special two-part finale Monday, April 11 and Monday, April 18 guest starring Martin Lawrence, who’s also the executive producer. Created by Bentley Kyle Evans, the show stars Tatyana Ali as a young divorcee who returns home to Southern California for a second chance in life and a career in her father’s real estate business. When her unemployed brother Latrell (Alphonso McAuley), an aspiring stand-up comedian, unexpectedly moves in with her, the world that she was trying to create is suddenly turned upside down, and life will never be the same. Lawrence will star as Tyana’s Uncle Gerald, who interrupts her much-needed “staycation” when he drops in and needs a place to stay for a few days. Uncle Gerald becomes an annoying house guest, and when Tyana finally thinks he’s going to leave, Gerald tells her he must stay for a few more weeks while he waits to collect his winnings from a horse race.

Two men have been arrested in the shooting death of EMMIS Top 40/Rhythmic WQHT (HOT 97)/NEW YORK and BET's "106 And Park" personality DJ MEGATRON. NEW YORK CITY police said WILLIAM WILLIAMS and RICHARD CROMWELL were arrested on charges of murder, robbery and criminal weapon possession. DJ MEGATRON was shot last week. His manager told THE ASSOCIATED PRESS that DJ MEGATRON "was killed while heading to a store near his STATEN ISLAND home around 2a SUNDAY (3/27). Police say the 32-year-old, born COREY MCGRIFF, was found dead with a gunshot wound to his chest.

Rapper Christopher “Notorious B.I.G.” Wallace was shot and killed with a very rare form of ammunition, according to new documents released by the FBI under the Freedom of Information act.

While most of the information is known, the FBI documents reveal details into what the agency knew about the case. The FBI investigation also stated that a variety Los Angeles Police Department officers, both on and off duty – with gang ties – helped the shooter escape, in addition to stymying the investigation, by not following up on witness reports, or properly documenting witness statements.

At one point, at least 10 witnesses were ready to provide information, but refused to talk to the LAPD. They were willing, however, to talk to the FBI about the murder. The FBI also has uncut video of the shooting. The documents states that while Death Row was making millions selling records by artists like Tupac, Snoop Dogg and Tha Dogg Pound, other associates working for the label were allegedly selling kilos of cocaine for $14,000, which were then re-sold on the East Coast, for $24,000. According to the documents, B.I.G. was shot and killed with rounds of Gecko 9mm armor piercing ammunition, which is rarely found in the United States and made in Germany.

After an anonymous caller tipped other police that an unnamed Mob Piru Blood’s gang member was involved, Los Angeles Police Department officers obtained a search warrant and found 9mm guns and more Gecko 9mm rounds. The LAPD never conducted ballistic tests and according to documents, more officers were involved in thwarting the investigation, including two of former Chief Parks’