“How Do You Own Radio Real Estate?” [Milestone Video]

Milestones for Small Business are weekly answers to questions from small business owners across the world. At the end of a year, we’ll have a created a 52-point roadmap to small business success.

Milestone for Small Business #4

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Hey, what’s up? I’m Tim Miles with this week’s Milestone for Small Business. I got this question at a seminar recently.

After you posted the words “we invest slowly and simply,” you stated “we buy only what we can own.” Can you explain what that statement about “owning” means? How do you “own” radio real estate?

It’s a great question. Let me start with the first part of that.

We invest slowly and simply. Almost all of my clients use radio successfully, but we don’t use it like a lot of traditional businesses tend to use radio – which is for spot buys, for short flights to promote events or sales.

Rather, we see radio as a world class marathon runner who’s in it for the long haul, who uses the intrusive power of sound and story to communicate and anchor feelings and emotions of a brand, of values, to a business, to a customer.

It anchors them together so that when a customer needs a product or service he thinks of our client first and already feels good about them.

Now, to the meaty part of your question, how can you own a radio station?

What we try to do is reach as many people in a market as we can afford to reach where we reach them every week, three times a week, every week of the year. Let me say that again.

We try to reach as many people as we can afford to reach three times a week, every week, for 52 weeks a year, year after year after year.

Most people fall into the trap of buying way too many people, way too much reach at a sacrifice of too little frequency.

So you’re hitting an awful lot of people but you’re not hitting them with enough frequency to remember what you stand for and what you stand against. Rather, own as many people as you can afford to reach, three times a week, every week.

If you can afford only one or two stations, perfect, do that.

If you can only afford one station but you can reach everyone on that station three times every week, do that. If you have to shrink the station down to just one day part, say you only buy 10:00 am to 3:00 pm or 11:00 to 4:00 pm, do that. Shrink down to the most people you can afford to reach relentlessly and you will own a position in the hearts and minds in those consumers.

That’s this week’s Milestone for Small Business. I’m Tim Miles, thanks for joining us. Have a successful week.

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