Creative Ideas For Members
Here’s a few ideas that could be on your target listener’s mind in regard to Valentine’s Day:
“At the touch of love, everyone becomes a poet.” -Plato
I hope he got a reservation, cause Valentine’s day/weekend is going to be busy.
Your love language vs her love language (How the way you feel loved is different that the way she feels loved)
Gary Chapman’s 5 Love Languages: Quality time, gifts, acts of service, physical touch or words of affirmation. Which one are mine? Which apply to my spouse (We are different in what makes us feel loved)
“She’s beautiful, and therefore to be wooed; She is woman, and therefore to be won.” – Willian Shakespeare
I wish we had more options for baby sitters!
Those conversation harts taste like cardboard.
A baby sitter costs more than the actual dinner we’re going to have on our date night.
I can’t remember the last time we had a quiet night without any kids.
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails -1 Corinthians 13:4-8
I want my husband/boyfriend to do something romantic
Chocolate supersedes any workout regimen or diet I had.
When was the last time be bought me flowers?
Sometimes a card says it all. I love you.
“You can give without loving, but you cannot love without giving.” –Amy Carmichael
Respectful wife/Respectful husband. I long to do better. I hope he does the same
Romance, mystery & peace.
I love it when he dresses up in a tie.
There are three things that amaze me—
no, four things that I don’t understand:
how an eagle glides through the sky,
how a snake slithers on a rock,
how a ship navigates the ocean,
how a man loves a woman. -Proverbs 30:18-19
I can’t believe he actually took the time to make me a Valentine card?
Remembering our love story. Remembering the day I realized I loved him.
It started with us, before we became a family.
I love it when my husband puts me before the kids and all our responsibilities.
It’s a nice surprise.
I want to be beautiful, but I can’t really afford it.
Servant leadership. I feel something special when I see my husband serving.
Valentines day is more than cards & candy. It’s a feeling that I’m special.
Wish the family finances were stronger, so I could enjoy Valentine’s Day (Not feel guilty spending the money)
God’s love vs romantic love.
Matthew 22:37–39: Jesus said to him, ‘You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’
Remembering our engagement. How he proposed.
Us before we had the kids. I can barely remember what it was like!
“When I saw you I fell in love, and you smiled because you knew” – Shakespeare
Our relationship together vs our relationship with the kids. What’s the same and what is different
God’s Word and how it fits into the dating & romance plans for our kids.
Our family is a different kind of love.
Praying with my spouse/significant other
Love is protection. I protect my kids, the best I can, but ultimately they are in God’s hands.
Sometimes when my husband tells me I’m beautiful I don’t know what to do.
New marriage, same spouse. Always working at our marriage.
I want to encourage my husband to be the spiritual leader of our household. What does that look like? What does that actually mean to me?
1 Corinthians 13:1-3: If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.
Peace in our romance. Hope in our journey.
“Her passions are made of nothing but the finest part of pure love.” -Shakespeare
Love seems the swiftest, but it is the slowest of all growths. No man or woman really knows what perfect love is until they have been married a quarter of a century. – Mark Twain.
“There is always some madness in love. But there is also always some reason in madness.” –Friedrich Nietzsche
I want a love that lasts forever. What do we have to do to break the cycle of just getting by?
I’d love our routine to have a little more surprises. (Maybe a little more romance)
Serving together. How my husband & I can serve together in our church, our community or somewhere locally.
I’d love to bring more romance into our marriage. Where do I start?
Simple home date ideas because it’s hard to find a babysitter.
There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. -1 John 4:18
Most romantic thing he’s ever said to me.
What is really is that makes me “feel” loved.
Date night! What that means to me.
I love surprises.
And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. ‘1 Corinthians 13:13
Yes I expect him to be home from work on time on Feb 14th
I can tell if he picked out this card at Hallmark vs at CVS 2 hours before he gave it to me.
Restoring the hope in my marriage.
“And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.” – Colossians 3:14
“Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.” – Peter 4:8
“A friend is one who knows who you are, understands where you have been, accepts what you have become, and still gently allows you to grow.” –William Shakespeare
I love it when he “shows” me he loves me.
“Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.” -1 John 3:18
“I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality. That is why right, temporarily defeated, is stronger than evil triumphant.” –Martin Luther King Kr.
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Want a podcast for your show in iTunes?
Let us set it up for you! We just charge $50 to set it up.
It’s a great way to showcase highlights from your show and expand your audience! Email Scott.Herrold@gmail.com if you’re interested!
Here’s Scott Herrol’d podcast if you want to subscribe or listen!
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Jock Brainstorm Thursday, January 24th!
10:30am Pacific/1:30 Eastern
Mark it on your calendar.
We’ll talk about ideas for phone calls. How to get the phones to ring, how to intro calls and drive momentum with phone calls on your show. Bring a few ideas on phone call topics that get great listener feedback and/or phone strategy ideas.
Dial-in Number: (213) 493-0800 Access Code: 502051#
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Here’s the audio from our New Year’s Brainstorm!
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When we approach a new year, it’s a great time to benchmark our success. I challenge you to take some time this month to do a S.W.O.T. analysis for your show. I think it will really help you think about your show in a creative way.
SWOT stands for: Strength, Weaknesses, Opportunities & Threats
STRENTHS
List your personal on air strengths and the overall strengths of your show.
You might also look at:
*Your Facebook insights (What you post on Facebook that is connecting)
*Average Quarter Hour (AQH) ratings – People listening in an AVG 15 min period)
*Average Weekly Time Exposed/Time Spent Listening (AWTE/TSL) – How long people listen to your show each week
*Look at things like caller interaction, starting breaks strong, momentum, closing breaks, call editing, showprep, emotion, storytelling, bits etc.
*Ask your co workers & friends what they see as your natural gifting
*List things you are confident in and often take for granted while on the air
WEAKNESSES
*List your personal weaknesses as an air talent and any weaknesses or vulnerabilities of your show. (Weaknesses are generally things that are mostly within your control or in control of the radio station)
*List things you are not confident in while on the air. (Things you wish you were stronger in)
*List things you are consistently working on.
*List things that affect your concentration, time & focus while you are on the air.
THREATS
*List all the external threats you can think of that affect your show. (These are things that are generally outside of your control.)
*List competitive things going on in our market
*List things your listener may be doing at the same time that your show is on the air each day.
OPPORTUNITIES
*Compare your strengths with your weaknesses & external threats.
*Make a list of ways you can use your strengths and the resources of our company & our staff to help you overcome some of these weaknesses & threats.
*List any changes to you show that would help you do your job better
If you are a paid Creative Cardio member, Jayar & I would love to go over a SWOT Analysis with you personally for your show. These ideas should showcase some new opportunities for your show to grow and connect better in 2013.
Email Scott.Herrold@gmail.com and we can schedule a time to connect over the phone in January.
-Scott
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In order to find your Facebook Insights try this:
1. Open the menu below your Page’s cover photo – this must be a FAN PAGE in order to see INSIGHTS Metrics
2. Select View Insights
You can access your Insights data through the dashboard, or export it using the Export button in the top right corner.
If you decide to export it, a dialog box will allow you to specify:
§ The date range for which you want to get data
§ Whether you would like to get the data as as an Excel file or as a CSV (comma separated values) file
§ Whether you want to see data at the Page level, or for each individual Page post
If you decide to access the data through the dashboard, you can start by selecting the date range you want to see data for in the top right corner of the page. If at any point you’re unsure of what the date range of the metric is, you can mouse over the question mark next to the metric.
This resource will show you exactly what you post that is resonating with listeners and what posts are not resonating.
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CHRISTMAS BRAINSTORM AUDIO
Here’s the audio from the entire call!
We talked about call in discussions, stories & giving ideas that all bring out the heart of Christmas.
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FAITH BRAINSTORM
Here’s the audio from our October brainstorm. We talked about addressing faith on the air. Thanks for all your input! Feel free to download this audio & share it with your staff.
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THE DJ & THE RACE HORSE
There are a thousand things fighting for our listener’s attention during our show. We have to be more strategic and focused if we want to grab that attention!
It’s time to treat our mind & body the way horse owners treat their prized phillies before a big race.
Click here for some ideas to keep yourself focused for the most listened to hours of your show!
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I HEAR IT ALL THE TIME….
“I wish I had time to do creative things like that morning show….”
“I wish I had a staff to help me do creative things like that….”
“I wish I had time to edit in a few extra touches for my interviews….”
I’ve never had a producer or a sidekick to share the duties of a morning show. I’ve never had much of a budget to purchase extra tools for my show. I’ve just learned to adapt and work harder.
As a personality, we have to remember that are are in SHOW BUSINESS. The hardest working shows usually win. The guys with 4 people on their morning shows still work just as hard. So let’s drop the excuses that we just “don’t have time” to put in the little extras that make our show more memorable.
The work ethic & the extras are what make our shows stand out and connect better.
Look for fun ways to take a subtle story and make it into more of a bit. Use music or clips and build some drama into it. Let the music & SFX help tell the story! When you can add some dramatic elements every once in a while, it really makes your stories and your show memorable!
Try it and challenge your creativity!
You can also add music and clips into your artist interviews. It’s pretty easy to string some song intros together in Adobe Audition and make a unique music bed. Pull some pop culture audio clips and edit them in to reinforce what you are talking about with the artist. Change it up! Grab the listener’s attention!
Don’t use the “I don’t have a producer or an intern to help – I don’t have time” excuse. This is YOUR show. Step up your game and make it more memorable! Your on air sound is more important that updating Facebook and returning email. Make time for your show and your prep if you want to win.
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OCTOBER CHALLENGE FOR MENTORS
Talk with the person you are mentoring and ask for a 2 minute aircheck. Listen to the beginning of EACH break. Look at how this person starts their breaks. Listen for tone, pace, vibe, voice inflection and most importantly, how it connects. The start of a break sets the tone for the entire on air discussion. Listen for a strong start and share some ideas to make it better.
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IF YOU MISSED THE BRAINSTORM – HERE’S THE AUDIO
We had a great discussion about how to talk about Halloween & fall seasonal activities on our shows. Feel free to share the Creative Cardio Brainstorm audio mp3 or the link with you co-workers. (If you click where it ways MP3 in the box above, it will download the file to your desktop)
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Today I actually asked my listeners for feedback on why they tune into our show each morning. I simply asked, “What is it about Christian radio that keeps you coming back each morning?” I also asked, “What are your expectations when you tune into SOS Radio? What do you expect to hear?” (I also posted this on my Facebook page.) I didn’t expect to get as many calls as we did. The phone rang off the hook for an hour!
Give her hope, encouragement, help her experience God and connect with him.
Click HERE for what she said!
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ONE SIMPLE THING.
Try this one simple thing for a week and watch how it changes the dynamic of your on air calls.
When you answer the request line, say: “HI SOS Radio…. This is Scott……”
Generally the caller will address you by name and tell you why they are calling!
Like: “HI Scott…. this is Cindy……how are you?” or “HI Scott…. This is Mike from Henderson…. I was calling ot ask you about the Mercy Me concert…”
You have automatic setups for your calls that feel so personal.
The person introduces you, they often introduce themselves and you automatically sound like friends! Try it and let us know if you notice a difference.
By the way – RECORD EVERY CALL!
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YOUR CHALLENGE FOR SEPTEMBER. BE A MENTOR.
Mentorship is a HUGE part of what the Creative Cardio community is ALL ABOUT. With your paid membership, you were given a free login for a younger jock. You are their mentor. Before the end of September, call and challenge your friend to think about what their listeners are doing while they are on the air. Break it down hour by hour. Walk them through it over the phone! Ask them for an aircheck and get very specific.
Brainstorm some ideas! Challenge your friend to think about new ways to connect better with the listener during the specific hours they are on the air. Write up a list together and give suggestions to make the ideas connect directly!
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LISTENERS DO CARE ABOUT YOUR PERSONALITY – NEW RESEARCH
University of Southern California & Katz Radio Group did a communication study that shows listeners do have a real bond with radio personalities! U.S.C. professor Paula Patnoe Woodley and Lauren Movius, PhD, said “It is clear that parasocial interaction, or listeners’ feelings that they have real relationships with radio on-air personalities, definitely exists.”
75% of the respondents said that they turn on the radio because they know their favorite personality is on the air.
72% of respondents talk to their friends about their favorite personality or what they heard on the show.
The study showed that listener engagement extended into the online realm.
70% of participants said they follow their favorite radio personalities and/or radio stations though social media.
(Click here for the full report!)
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WHAT YOUR CITY NEEDS. CONNECT.
I just returned from vacation. It reminded me how there are so many hurting people in my home town that still haven’t experienced a real relationship with God! They may be seeking, but many of them don’t even realize it. Yet.
Think about what your city needs. Think about the biggest challenges that face your city. Family, jobs, school, safety, cash and recreation all play a huge rule in your listener’s life. As a personality, you can speak into those issues. You can speak into family & community. You can challenge your listeners to move.
I live in Las Vegas and LOTS of people really do care about spiritual things in my city. They just have a lot of baggage from poor choices in the past. Some have consequences to deal with from past sin, but that doesn’t mean God can’t change them! We can help our listeners understand the difference between the starting point, the journey and the destination. Years of red tape may have affected their worldview. As a personality standing on God’s Word as your moral authority, you can help your listeners cut though that red tape like a machete! Communicate truth with love. That’s what connects.
There is a reaction for every choice we make. Sin always has a consequence. It’s ok to address that, if it’s done in love. It’s ok to quote the Bible. It’s the foundation you live by, so just own it! Jesus said it all in love 2000 years ago. You can do the same thing. You are a Christian radio station. Your listeners know that. Don’t try to be something else because a majority of your listeners come to you primarily for hope & encouragement! I have a stack of focus groups & perceptuals from listeners on my desk right now that say exactly that.
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MAKE YOUR TWITTER BETTER
Did you know you can make your own background for your Twitter page? Take any pic and upload it there by clicking “settings” then “design” then “change background image.” You could add personal info or a special graphic or special links on the left hand side if you design in with a graphic in the first 210-250 pixels on the left hand side. Here’s a great link on a few things you can do to get more Twitter followers too!
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HERE’S A LIST OF RANDOM THOUGHTS TO INSPIRE YOUR SHOW TODAY.
Be an encourager
Every story is a gift
Listen more that you speak
Blessed are the peacemakers.
Paul said, “People will know notice your spiritual growth by the fruit in your life.” (Love/joy/peace/patience/kindness/goodness/faithfulness/gentleness/self control)
Listen to the words in the songs you just played
Reflect the lives and the loves of others
What’s important today? What is your listener thinking about RIGHT now?
Talking to someone if different than talking down to someone
Let the listeners talk
If Christ be lifted up, he draws all me to himself
Showcase the heart of your listeners
Stand on God’s Word. Make the Bible your true moral foundation
Use more verbs than adjectives. Shock the broca!
Think about where your listener actually is RIGHT now. Build that into your show.
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Do you have an actual strategy for your show to connect with listeners online? You should! Here’s over 100 examples of how brands are using Facebook in unique ways. Remember – the way people connect with other people online is MUCH different than the way people connect with brands. You are a person, but your radio station is a brand. Keep that in mind.
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Connect better with your listeners. Use more verbs! It overloads the filter in your brain. The Broca filter likes to throw out anything that’s predictable.
“Describe what you want the listener to see, and she will see it. Cause her to imagine taking the action you’d like her to take, and you’ve brought her much closer to taking the action. The secret of persuasion lies in our skillful use of action words. the magic of advertising is in the verbs.” – Roy H Williams
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SELF PROMOTION
I spent waaaaay too much time & energy promoting my show in the past. I learned a few things about why it wasn’t translating into ratings. Click here for my thoughts.
-Jayar
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GREAT CALLS BREED MORE CALLS!
If you want to start a phone topic on air to get listeners calling, you can network with other jocks on this site and exchange cell numbers! Call them and record the call you’re going to start with on the air.
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PERSONAL VISION VS. RADIO STATION VISION
The Bible says, “Without vision, the people perish.” Figure out the difference between your personal vision and your radio station vision. It will change the dynamic of your show. Here’s my thoughts on it.
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ALL IN
The show has to be number 1. If you’re spending your time adding facebook/twitter friends/answering email/checking your fantasy football when you’re on the air, you’re not all in.
We all have plenty of other responsibilities in the office that can easily eclipse our showprep. You have to protect your prep time. You have to protect your time on the air or all the frivolous duties in your week will eat your show alive.
Turn off your cell phone. Stay off the websites that waste your time while you are on the air. Don’t check stocks, balance your bank account or checking sports scores. Prep before you walk into the studio.
You have to be ALL IN with your show. This IS your personality. This IS your brand. Most importantly this IS your product. When you’re in the studio, you need to focus everything you have on your listeners and how to connect with them in a deeper way. If you don’t you will miss the mark.