Pinterest's co-founder says he is focused on his product because consumers deserve something that is worthy of their time.
Doing a radio show (or any other job) five or six days a week can be a real grind.
I don’t mean just showing up and reading liner cards in between saying what song you just played and what song is coming up next.
I mean doing a show with great content, audience interaction, social media presence and everything else that goes into entertaining an audience.
So here’s a reminder from Ben Silbermann, co-founder of the rapidly growing social media site Pinterest, about why you should strive to do a great show everyday.
In a recent interview at the South by Southwest interactive conference, talking about why he obsesses more over Pinterest’s product than potential revenue generating strategies, Silbermann said, “If you don’t give [consumers] something that’s worth their time they shouldn’t give you their time.”
It’s really that simple.
Your listeners (or customers in any business) have a limited amount of time and attention they can devote to you. Give them something that’s worth their time everyday or you have no reason to expect them to stick around.
Dan Wilson
April 30, 2012
Good day. I guess I’ve been doing it right. I host a Saturday afternoon show on a local radio station (500W day, 126W night) and I play Honest-To-Goodness “Oldies” from 1950-1964. The show is 4 hours and I take phone requests. The show opens with the Pledge of Allegiance recited by a celebrity or a school class, followed by a patriotic song. Each hour features one song from a chosen year. Over the four hours there is also a special piece dedicated to birthdays on that day, events in history for that day, and special events that took place in history during the week (all with audio clips when available). I also feature a novelty song, a Big Band selection and a Classic Country selection. All included, my show prep averages 3 to 4 hours including burning the necessary audio to CD to be played at the station. I am averaging 30 phone calls a week during the show and NO COMPLAINTS!
Mike Stern
April 30, 2012
Dan:
Sounds like you are doing a great show. The hard work pays off.
Thanks for the read and the comments.
Mike