Building Your Army

So, is the iPad the revolutionary gadget that will change media forever, just like all the hype said it would be? We won't know that for a while, but, truth be told, that revolution started long ago, and it's going to have an impact on your career.

First, let's get the iPad out of the way: It's very slick, it's very cool, there may be applications for the technology that we don't yet see, but we already have gadgets that make streaming and podcasts portable and ubiquitous. The iPhone, the iPod Touch, Android phones, even Windows Mobile phones already let you stream and have for years. If the iPad hastens the progress of streaming to the point where it's a viable competitor to broadcast radio, that's fine, but it's obvious that portable wireless streaming and customized streams and podcasting and all or some of the above will be part of radio's future, and, to some extent, they're part of the present.

The ultimate result of this is, as we've discussed here several times before, that if you're creating radio content -- if you host a show, or produce one -- you'll ultimately be doing so not necessarily for a radio station with a tower and antenna, but for any number of alternative delivery systems. You can already cut out the middleman and send your show to listeners without a station; you can already create an app for the iPhone or iPad or Android and make it easy, and you can podcast and stream to computers, too. You're probably doing at least some of that now. And, at some point, you'll be able to make a living that way.

Not yet, though, with some exceptions that tend to target specialist interests (like the Leo LaPorte empire). Right now, it's very early in the game, and the consumer advertising industry hasn't quite caught up to the new marketplace. But when they do, they'll likely be buying based on demonstrable results -- per-click or per-response or per-sale-generated -- so you'll have to keep that in mind. And if you do a subscription model -- if you charge for the show, or charge for the app -- you're going to have another sales job on your hands.

And that's what your future is going to be all about. In order to be successful in a media landscape where there are, essentially, no barriers to entry and an unlimited number of choices, the winners will be those who give people a reason to listen, build intense loyalty, and are able to get that loyal audience to pay, or patronize advertisers. You'll have to create your own Wack Pack or O&A Army or Dittoheads. The size of that audience will be less important than the bond you build with it.

Ask yourself right now if you're doing the kind of show that engenders that loyalty. Are you unique? Are you someone whose audience listens to every word you say? Do they take your recommendations, participate in every promotion, talk about you even when the show's not on? Do you have a community following you? Because in the next media world -- in THIS one, too -- you HAVE to have that. You have to be a star to enough people to sell, to get response, to matter. It shouldn't matter what technology carries your content to the public. And if you're not special, if you're just like lots of other hosts, if you haven't built that following, well, you might want to start working on that right now.

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One way to build an army of listeners is to talk about stuff that's different, that people actually care about or that's entertaining (or, preferably, both). And -- here comes the plug -- you'll find just that kind of topic fodder at All Access News-Talk-Sports' Talk Topics column. Whether you're stuck for an idea or just want some alternate takes on the big stories, Talk Topics can help. This week, for example, among the hundreds of items you'll find there are the tale of the drunk guy in the McDonald's play area and what he ordered his kids to do to the cops, an unfortunate supermarket attack, the trouble with trains, who some scientists think the Mona Lisa really was, the "other" iPad, celebrity death hoaxes, why running shoes might be a waste of money, caffeinated beef jerky, what's really in counterfeit perfume (ew), "nakations," the short cut to getting stimulus funds, that guy playing with a chicken on the subway, why Miami hospitals are sending Haitian refugees away, the Walmart of Weed, where your Haiti relief donations are going (and where they're not going), the Toyota recall, the end of the college yearbook, and the strange case of the dead truck driver, plus much more, from kickers to "real news," sports to entertainment to politics. Wow. Not only that, but you should check out "10 Questions With..." newly-minted KKFN (FM 104.3 The Fan)/Denver PD and fantasy football freak Nate Lundy and the rest of All Access with all the usual news and resources you love, need, and want, all free.

Okay, we're done here. I'm gonna go prepare to watch the Big Game, meaning, of course, the Pro Bowl. Football played by guys who don't want to be there and don't want to get hurt... does it get any better than that?

Perry Michael Simon
Editor
All Access News-Talk-Sports
psimon@allaccess.com
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