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Image from
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Creative departments are being asked to do more with less
time and less people.
Standalone departments are being consolidated into multi
market HUBs.
The workload between Sales, Creative and Traffic is
shifting.
You CAN’T control
the changes that are happening in the industry.
You CAN control
the development of your own skill set so that you still have a “seat on the
bus” when change comes to town.
The very best writers
in radio today, the ones who will always have work, have one thing in
common…they’ve all realized that it takes more than “being creative” to thrive
at this job.
I call them “Triple
Threats” because, on top of knowing how to create great ads, they also know how to work and communicate.
WORK, CREATE, and
COMMUNICATE. Over the next couple of weeks, we’ll take a closer look at
what you need to bring to the table in these three key areas. Let’s begin with…
HOW TO WORK
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Image from
http://blog.capterra.com/observations-from-the-bus-stop-on-the-1st-day-of-school/
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It all starts with a
strong work ethic. The Houston Chronicle outlined the “5 Factors That
Demonstrate a Strong Work Ethic” here:
Here is how they
apply to writing in radio:
Integrity: You
build trust with people by consistently fulfilling your responsibilities and by
meeting and exceeding expectations. A big part of this in radio is making good
on all promises regarding deadlines and communication. Get it done by when you
said you would. If you say you’re going to follow up with someone, then do it.
Sense of
Responsibility: Show up on time and ready to work. Time is a commodity in a
creative department. You are responsible for spending work time maximizing the projects
assigned to you or helping your coworkers. Don’t bring your personal baggage to
work and burn half your day making the rounds telling stories. “Story telling”
is part of the job but there is a big difference between using a personal
experience to make an ad more realistic, and performing the dramas of your life
to anyone within ear shot. Share your life on lunch, on break, or after hours
on Facebook where people can choose whether or not to ingest it.
Emphasis on Quality:
Define your personal bar that you will never fall below and then always try to
surpass it with every project. There are thousands of things you can blame a
sub-par ad on:
The client insisted on voicing.
The sales rep gave no info.
The
producer messed it up.
Triple Threat writers ALWAYS DELIVER regardless of the
external factors. In fact, their best work usually comes when they have to
overcome adversity or deal with less than ideal circumstances.
Discipline: Stay
focused on the writing, instructing and communication tasks you need to
complete and their timelines. Be committed to clearing your plate before the
end of the day to work ahead and buy time for the unforeseen.
Sense of Teamwork:
Measure yourself by the amount of times you help a fellow writer, a sales rep
or a producer elevate their game. If you work in an open area, be mindful of
how your attitude and behaviour affects everyone in your shared space. Most importantly…actively
consider the perspective of the departments you work closest with. The next
time the workload permits it, try shadowing your favorite sales rep or producer
for a day. Get an inside look at what challenges they have to work with before
you start developing unhealthy assumptions about their contribution to the
team.
Once you have a
strong work ethic as your foundation, you need to build a structure of workload
management.
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Image from https://www.linkedin.com/topic/workload-management
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Here are some tips:
Leverage Technology:
Don’t just learn enough of the required software to “get by”. Learn everything
it can do and dig for anything you can leverage to make your job more
efficient. Become an “early adapter” of improvements in any tech that could
benefit the creative department.
Learn how and when to
shift gears: There are right brain tasks and left brain tasks in radio
writing. Every time you shift from right to left and left to right, it will slow
you down. Realizing this leads us to the next tip…
Structure your plate:
Organize your day into extended blocks of either right or left brain tasks.
When you get tired of one, take a break by switching to the other. Constantly
update your “time spent per project” based on the number of projects on your
plate.
Track all projects:
It doesn’t matter if you use a paper list or your favorite software, you need
to be on top of all your projects, what stage they are at, and when they need
to be completed. You also have to identify any steps in the process where the
possibility for human error is high and come up with a system of double checks
to minimize mistakes. This occurs anytime you have to transfer data from one
process to another. Examples: Transferring
client info from info sheet to script or transferring instructing data to
production order.
Want to be a “Triple
Threat”? Start by becoming a writer that knows how to work. It’s the first step
to taking your career into your own hands during a tumultuous time in radio.
Next week we’ll look at “HOW TO COMMUNICATE”. This becomes very easy when you
realize that all the guidelines for writing an effective ad also apply to one-on-one
communication and group presentations.
Ryan Ghidoni is an
18-year veteran of radio advertising and has worked with some of the most
creative sales reps, writers, producers and voice talent in the business. Want
a more efficient and creative Client Services Department? Email Ryan@AudioActiveAdvertising.com today to find out more about the benefits of bringing in a Creative
Consultant.
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| Visit us at AudioActiveAdvertising.com. |
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