Radio Sales Café

NOTE FROM ROD:  I just posted this piece on my blog.  Because it represents such an important and timely opportunity for my radio colleagues here at Radio Sales Café, I am sharing it with you in this forum as well.  Please feel free to comment and discuss.  I'd especially like to know if you're already doing something similar in your own market, and how it's working for you.   -RS

First, take a look at this website.  (Right-click on the link and choose "Open in a New Tab" or "Open in a New Window")

"The Best of the Palouse" is an online enterprise just now getting started and attempting to gain traction in our local marketplace.  It's an individual enterprise. I know nothing about the fellow who's launching it, other than what I might infer from poking around the site, which as a template seems robust and well thought out. 

I understand that this individual has entered into some sort of partnership with the local newspaper, which is a good choice, but not the best choice.  He should have explored working with the local radio stations (or our esteemed competitors across the border), based solely on the pervasiveness and intrusiveness of radio, as opposed to the inherently passive nature of print.  In my opinion, working in partnership with the radio stations would give this new site a better chance of making a big splash and sustaining it.  Furthermore, the newspaper's own website (still trying to find its legs) will necessarily be a direct competitor to the independent site it is helping to promote.  It'll be interesting to see how that relationship plays out over time.

A year ago, I blogged about why radio stations should pick up the ball and spearhead a "Best of _____" promotion in their communities.  The article was later picked up by Radio World.  As I explained in that article, the idea has been around a long time and, in my experience, has most often been the province of a print medium.  Up in Spokane, the hugely successful regional alternative newspaper, The Pacific Northwest INLANDER, just completed their annual readers' poll.  You can bet they'll be picking up new advertising dollars and enjoying a great deal of free publicity themselves as a consequence.

I share this with you now in the hope that, if such an opportunity exists in your market and you are inclined to jump on it, you're able to seize the moment before a competitor does.

If you do, please come back and share your story.