Chad Bradley “The Cost Of Admission”

Is the price of admission too high? #inflation.

I’m not talking about the cost of admission to generic, unnamed theme parks where you will spend way too much money to get in, then stuck in long lines forever, under the hot hot sun, only to get on four rides in ten hours. Sure, it’s fun but you do not feel as if it were worth it because of the thousands of dollars it cost to only have six true minutes of fun. 

I’m talking about the cost of admission to your show. Is it affordable for your listener to interact with you?

Maybe you have had an experience like this:

You are prepping your show and you spend extra time looking for that perfect angle for a phone topic. You want the one that no one else at your station or in your market could possibly think of. You avoid the low-hanging fruit topics because it’s basic and boring to you, so you journey deep into the well of your creative genius. 

During your show you set up the topic and solicit calls perfectly, and bonus, you even hit the song post! You feel so good about what you just accomplished. But something is off, no calls. When that happens we start blaming everything else. Is it raining, or maybe a holiday? Is there a county fair or some other event that we can use to explain the lack of interaction?

What went wrong? Any number of things. It’s live radio. But, there is a possibility that the angle of your topic was too much work for your listener. It could be that the cost of admission was too high. Your listener is driving around, busy,  and only half listening. It is possible that the topic could have required too much thinking for them to come up with a response. 

The planned content was fun and the payoff would have been gold, but it just didn’t land. 

In order to get the interaction you want without asking the creatively tough question can be as easy as lowering the cost of admission. 

Here is a simplistic example. Recently, Delta Air Lines reportedly offered passengers $10,000 each to get off an ‘oversold’ flight.

What you want: a phone call conversation from your listener about what the bottom-dollar amount that would take to for them to give up their seat. 

So what do you ask?: yes or no, would you take the $10k to give up your seat?

Here’s the call 

Caller: “Umm yeah, obviously.”

You: “That would be a huge win, right? Would you take less Though? $8k? How about $2k?”

Caller: I Wouldn’t do it for less than $2,500. I could get three tanks of gas for that. Anything less wouldn’t be worth it!

*Song Post*

You did it. You have the end result that you were looking for. Now, would they have called if you asked them what the bare minimum they would take? Possibly. But there is a better chance they would not be interested in haggling with you on air if that is the first thing you presented them with. 

The low cost of admission for their interaction with your show is easy for them. They just have to answer yes or no. It’s  affordable. But you get to your angle by getting them to call first, and then ask them your questions to drive the conversation to your point. 

The example given is very simple. but you will get to what you want by aiming for the lower-hanging fruit topic WITH the intention of directing the conversation to your desired goal.

I’m also not suggesting that you only choose low hanging fruit because it’s easy. Know where you are going, and plan it on purpose.

Your show is not cheap just because you made the price of admission affordable.

Chad Bradley is a Morning Show Host and Podcast Director at 104.9 The River. Voicetracker, Voiceover Artist and Dreamer. Chad can be reached at cbradley@riverradio.com