John Frost “They Make No Money..”
They make no money when stuff sits on the shelf.
What’s the best time to buy Christmas decorations? Yep! AFTER Christmas!
Ever wonder why Valentine Day’s cards are half price AFTER Valentine’s Day, appliances at cheapest after the big Labor Day sale, and car dealers are eager to sell to you at $100 over invoice? It’s because they don’t just make money off of selling stuff, they make money off of MOVING stuff.
They make no money when stuff that sits on the shelf. And it takes up the space that could be used for something that MOVES.
What if we thought about our radio stations that way? What if everything we did was designed to “move off the shelf”?
In other words it is designed to come out of the speakers and impact the listeners’ life. Perhaps a transformation happens—a transformation of mood, attitude, or purpose—and then from them to others.
What if we evaluated all of our content—personalities, music, promotions—and eliminated everything that didn’t move off the shelves? That is, it didn’t benefit or help transform the listener?
John Frost is a partner in Goodratings Strategic Services, and has been a successful major market disc jockey and program director for such companies as CBS, Cap Cities, Westinghouse, Sandusky, Gannett, and Alliance during his 38 year broadcast career. John joined Goodratings’ partner Alan Mason in 1999. Contact John at john@goodratings.com
“Because we’ve always done it that way” is a phrase every leader has heard. It was also one of the common phrases at Sears, Montgomery Ward, K-Mart, Blockbuster, Plymouth and more. I think it will also be a common phrase at WalMart, Facebook, Twitter, Amazon and others. Why? Because when an organization gets successful and influential, they usually get protective. I had a pastor tell me one time that the vision for his church was “to protect those that got us here”. It WAS the largest church of its’ denomination in the state. Sadly, defense is necessary to play a game, but it rarely if ever wins the championship. As Wayne Gretzky used to say, “I skate to where the puck is going to be”.
In 1 Corinthians 2:9-10 is this famous phrase:
“What no eye has seen,
what no ear has heard,
and what no human mind has conceived”—
the things God has prepared for those who love him—
these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit.”
I truly believe that if you ask the God who dwells in you for new concepts and ideas, He is faithful to bring them to you. Proverbs 25:2 says, “It is the glory of God to conceal a matter; to search out a matter is the glory of kings”. My true belief is that God is not hiding things FROM us, He’s hiding them FOR us. I believe He wants us to know what’s next.
Good word, John.