New Deal

With the summer months ahead, and with some transitions in the works for podcasting, radio, and me, this week’s post is a collection of opinion and information.

Know When to Hold ‘Em

One of the biggest challenges I had as a screenwriting professor was keeping my students working on their scripts. After 50 pages or so, a student would come to me and beg me to allow him or her to write a different script. I was always assured the new script had a better story and would be far easier to write.

I usually said no.

I knew that after 50 pages of this new script that same student would be in my office with the same request. And that the process would repeat until the student ran out of time (I tried not to run out of patience).

After that first creative rush, any idea feels as if it sucks.

Know When to Fold ‘Em

At the same time, some ideas do suck. Or, they need extraordinary intervention to have the slimmest chance of success. In those cases, you have to be shrewd, confident, and adventurous and trash your original idea.

It’s a harder call to make than staying put. But, sometimes, that’s what you have to do.

That’s the point I’m at with my syndicated radio feature. After carefully analyzing the available data, I’ve come to the conclusion my original idea—give away the feature to drive an audience to my blog and sell advertising on the blog—isn’t go to work.

I need to fold it.

I’m not abandoning it, just changing the model. I’m moving to a straight barter, where an advertiser pays for the show and the stations get it in trade for a 30-second commercial (which the advertiser uses).

It’s a different model, and it requires a different approach to selling it. It’s a little like real estate. I have to satisfy two parties, the advertiser and the station.

But, my analysis indicates that if I proceeded with my original idea, I would most likely wind up both successful (the feature would be on the air across the country) and broke (the advertising I could sell on my website wouldn’t support the show).

Know When to Walk Away

There’s an incredible amount of activity in both the podcasting and radio arenas lately, activity that’s far more interesting than what’s happening with my syndicated feature.

What’s more, this new idea will proceed slowly (I’m told), and my weekly reports could probably be synopsized as “More of the same.” I’m not sure why you’d want to read that. I know I wouldn’t.

So, I’m going to make a change to the blog, one which I hope will meet with your approval.

Know When to Run (With It)

Beginning September 15th, I’ll post a combination of news and commentary on what’s happening as radio and podcasting race toward convergence. Podcasting has changed. Radio has changed. The intersection is where the action is now.

Between now and then, I won’t be posting every week. Instead, I’ll post when there’s something interesting to report. I’ll also be releasing some of the stories from my Out Of My Mind blog as podcasts. When I post a story I’ll put a note about it here.

Have a great summer. I’m sure we’ll chat between now and September, but be sure to check in on September 15th for news and insights about the combined podcasting and radio’s next phase.