KBA WEEKLY NEWSLETTER

November 4, 2021

TODAY: POWERFUL STORYTELLING PART 2

PROVIDED FREE FOR KBA MEMBER STATIONS

KBA presents the following journalism webinar from the Poynter Institute. The webinar is scheduled from 12-1 PM Eastern and provided free to KBA member stations.

Powerful Storytelling Part 2 (11/4/2021)

The eight motivators that make any story more interesting
Getting beyond the obvious to the more important “why” of the story
The power of the Ladder of Abstraction (how to make interesting stories important and important stories interesting)
Sentence structure that makes information unforgettable
Navigating the friction between creative storytelling and clear storytelling

RAB SALES ESSENTIALS WORKSHOP

NEXT TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 9TH

HONORING YOUR SPORTS CREW

SPECIAL NEWSLETTER TO RECOGNIZE SPORTSCASTERS AROUND THE STATE

On Wednesday, November 24th, the KBA will recognize local sportscasters and sports crews across the state with a special Thanksgiving newsletter. Simply click on the link below and tell us a little about your sportscaster or sports crew.

The deadline to submit is close of business on Friday, November 12, 2021.

HONOR YOUR SPORTSCASTER

UPCOMING LBS WEBINAR FOR KBA MEMBERS

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 9TH @ 12:00 PM ET

HOW TO WRITE A "CREATIVE" SPOT IN MINUTES - EVEN IF YOU'RE A NEWBIE

Regardless of the time of year (hello, “Holidays”) your clients are depending on you to deliver results. When a client wants to be on the air but has no idea what to talk about in their spot, or you know their ad is an unfocused mess and is beyond repair, it’s on YOU to devise an ad that will bring them traffic. Tim Burt is going to show you his “Subway Map Method” to writing a spot – in minutes – that can speak to your client’s audience and solve their problem.

JOURNALISM PAYROLL TAX CREDIT

NOW INCLUDED IN BUILD BACK BETTER ACT PACKAGE

The journalism payroll tax credit has been included in the just-released Democratic reconciliation text that House leadership plans to bring to the floor as soon as this week! This represents a significant step towards inclusion of this provision in any final Build Back Better Act package. While there remain some hurdles to the larger agreement in both the narrowly-divided House and Senate that have yet to be fully resolved, this package has gone from excluding broadcasters from credit eligibility last month, to the credit being completely dropped last week, to being re-included with full broadcast eligibility.

Derived from the formally-titled Local Journalism Sustainability Act (LJSA), the provision would support local news production by television and radio broadcasters, as well as certain print and digital publications, by making a tax credit available for the hiring and retention of up to 1,500 local news journalists each year over five years. An employer qualifies by owning or operating a broadcast station (as defined by the Communications Act) and employing “local news journalists.” A “local news journalist” is a full-time employee who works an average of not less than 30 hours per week engaging in certain activities related to developing and providing local news to the broadcast station’s local community (i.e., gathering, preparing, directing the recording of, producing, collecting, photographing, recording, writing, editing, reporting, presenting, or publishing original local community news). A “local news journalist” must also reside within 50 miles of the station’s local community.

For each employee qualifying as a “local news journalist” (capped at 1,500), the credit equals:

50% of the employee’s compensation, up to $50,000 in the first year ($25,000); and
30% of the employee’s compensation, up to $50,000 in each subsequent year for four years ($15,000 per year).

By example, if a local television station employs 50 full-time newsroom staff working not less than 30 hours per week in news function, and assuming all 50 employees make at least $50,000/year, the credits would be as follows:

Year 1: (50 qualified employees) x ($25,000) = $1,250,000
Years 2-5: (50 qualified employees) x ($15,000) = $750,000 annually
Total over 5 years: $1,250,000 + (4 x $750,000) = $4,250,000

We will keep you updated as the process unfolds, but wanted to share this important update with you now.

JEFF SCHMIDT'S SALES TIP OF THE WEEK

YOU'RE NOT JUST ANYONE

We’ve spent a fair amount of space on this page devoted to prospecting and new business development. We’ve shared concepts like the Pre-Contact Checklist for doing homework before calls, Valid Business Reasons, Seeding, and many other fundamental, effective strategies for building new business.

The ultimate compliment, the ultimate goal when selling anything is to be “the person” people depend on for such services. Even better, when those who depend on you tell others about you. Referrals are a great source of new business because of three things:

They are Authentic – true words from the experience of a current client
They are organic – they happen naturally without compensation
They have the most credibility – Clients believe other clients more than salespeople

I love reading Seth Godin’s blog. Sometimes it’s short and powerful like this one:

“You can buy this from anyone, and we’re anyone. That’s not going to get you very far when you sell stuff, raise money, look for a job. What if instead, you created a reputation as the person or organization that can honestly say, You can’t get this from anyone but me.”

At the RAB we teach the Four Keys of Advertising Success. The keys also apply to building your personal brand. This is how you can ensure referrals:

Reach – Are you working with enough customers and prospects to achieve the results you want?
Frequency – Are you in contact with them frequently to make certain you are top of mind when they need marketing and business advice?
Consistency – Are you providing consistent service, consistent results, consistent contact? Have you identified the “one thing” you want to be known for and are you consistently demonstrating that “one thing?”
Compelling Creative – Are you share your brand message in unique, compelling, and memorable ways?

How would you like to get people talking about you, people reading about you? When this happens in the non-selling mode you are demonstrating your expertise and ability to solve problems. Are you deploying the Four Keys for your own brand?

Jeff Schmidt is the SVP of Professional Development at the Radio Advertising Bureau. You can also connect with him by email JSchmidt@rab.com or on Twitter and LinkedIn.