(This is part 1 in a series:  “lessons radio can learn from Google”)

Know what business you are in and commit to being the industry leader in your market.

Ask any Investment broker or media buyer what business Google is in and you will hear replies including “the advertising business”, “technology”, “internet search” etc.

Ask any Google executive or Googler who has been with the company more than 6 months what business Google is in and you will get a very different, yet completely logical response. 

“Google is in the software engineering business.”  Google builds software solutions that enable end users to accomplish a myriad of things from Internet search, to word processing, photo management, mapping, smart phone technology etc.  Software engineering is the core focus at Google and the company is wildly successful in part because there is NO confusion amongst the rank and file employees as to what the company focus is. 

Google makes it a point to hire only the very best whether it be software engineers or advertising account managers and the hiring process is notoriously difficult and challenging.  No one is hired without the Executive Management Group signing off on the person in question.  Not surprisingly there are very few dismissals at Google because of this.  It is further evidence Google is committed to being the industry leader by vetting candidates thoroughly and producing the very best software solutions period.

So how does this compare with most radio companies you know?  Try this experiment: Take a straw poll of the employees at your station cluster.  Ask the question “what business are we in”.  Count the number of blank stares followed by an answer stated as a question… “advertising?”, “news?”, “music?”, “pop culture?”“entertainment?”.  If the staff doesn’t fully grasp the business they are in, or understand your company focus, how can they possibly work together as a team to achieve the position of industry leader in your market?

Be like Google, KNOW what business your company is in whether it is the entertainment business, the news business or the information business, and make certain every single employee, right down to the weekend board op understands what business you are in.  Commit to being the industry leader in your market by acquiring the very best assets possible to run and execute the day to day operations of your business.

Advertising is the means by which Google funds it’s engineering endeavors.  They service hundreds of thousands of advertiser accounts, but grow shareholder value by attracting hundreds of millions of users to their software offerings who then support those advertisers.  There is no confusion about priorities at Google…  take care of the end user and the advertising dollars will follow. 

The same concept can be applied to your radio station (albeit on a smaller scale).  You service hundreds of active advertisers yet your listeners number in the thousands or hundreds of thousands.  Take care of your listeners and the advertising dollars will follow. More on that in part 2 tomorrow.