Welcome To Self-Employment And It’s All Good!

The day of the gold watch after time served with a single company is long gone and the project-by-project employment model has now been the norm for much of America for years, so why do we in broadcast and marketing so lament moving on to the next project? Maybe because we feel that all of the time and effort we put into the medium itself has somehow been wasted? Traditional media’s mutation to both new and emerging media platforms is necessary and natural, although challenging to each of us and to our individual skill sets.
Radio, from programming to sales, has always been an intensely personal medium for the producer as well as the consumer, so it stands to reason we all take any change very personally. Any good sales person has cultivated deep relationships with their clients and has thereby lived the ups and downs of each client’s business cycles and strategic decisions, good or bad for years. Sales people feel just as much loss from those relationships being severed as an on-air personality no longer being able to share in the daily life of each listener.
We are all being forced into making deeper decisions on our own path to success and relying less on any one company’s employment.
So lets try to separate ourselves from the emotion of the moment, and look at the bigger picture of starting our own business. Of course, this process begins with building a business plan for you own new company.
(From the myownbusiness.org site)
Does Your Plan Include the Following Necessary Factors:
* A sound business concept
* Understanding your market
* Healthy, growing and stable industry
* Capable management
* Able financial control
* Consistent business focus
* Mindset to anticipate change
* Plans for online business
We all need to be able to do our market research and build a model that will be in demand not just today, but into the future far enough for us to develop the skills and gather the capitol we’ll need for the next business cycle and then the process begins anew.
Now is the time for all of us to embrace our newfound independence and do everything possible to control our own destiny and no longer be working at the whim of some investment company and their momentary valuation of our worth to their strategic market play (most of those models crashed and took billions of investor’s capital with them).
Since deregulation began with the subsequent “right sizing” of some of the most creative minds in broadcast, we should do as many of them have and go about creating and building the next platform for the delivery of entertainment. As the number crunchers in San Antonio are literally executing their vision of corporate value for the next five minutes, so should we develop our own individual plan for the next several years and begin it’s implementation about right NOW! Research thoroughly, plan well, work hard and just as you always have, do it BIG! Let’s get started!     -     Garry Leigh          Snafu Consulting

Newly In The Hunt?

It amazes all of us as we watch business people take over and reformulate art.  How many songs have been written by a senior accountant?  How many number one broadcasts have been hosted by major shareholders?  Did they buy into an accounting firm or a living breathing changing evolving creator of in-the-moment entertainment?  Yea.  It will come full circle as the artists are allowed to connect with the customers in so many new ways either with or without radio.  For those looking for a new outlet at the moment, don’t confine your search to what has been, but rather what will be.  Good luck and don’t let any of this change your artist’s perspective.  It is who you are!

This post may help too….   Gar

Commentary
Dear Bev: What Should I Expect If I’m Unexpectedly Laid Off?
by Beverly Weinstein, 2 hours ago

This holiday season has brought an unwelcome surprise to unprecedented numbers of people in the media business – pink slips.

If you’re among the unlucky, you’re probably going through some predictable emotions. Noted psychiatrist Elisabeth Kubler Ross’s five stages of grief pretty much sum up the emotional roller coaster many of you may be riding right now.

Denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. You may not experience them all and you may not experience them in rank order, but Ross says you can expect to experience at least two.

In my 12 years as a recruiter, I’ve talked to countless media executives that have lost jobs. I’d say denial and anger are the more common one-two punch with an overlay of depression.

Denial. Even with unemployment rates at an all time high and lay-offs occurring in every industry, we all can’t shake the “it won’t happen to me” delusion, until, of course, it happens. You’re crushed, left high and dry by the company you’ve been loyal to for years. Or maybe you were just unlucky enough to be part of the “last in/first out layoffs and it’s way too late to regret leaving that other job for a mere 15% to 20% salary boost. But the tears dry quickly as you move into phase two: Anger.

Now that you’ve had time to reflect on all you’ve done for the company, all the blood, sweat, tears, overtime, and lost weekends that went into producing the best work possible, you’re downright mad. And here’s where it can get tricky. Whether the anger is justified or not it is often rashly directed at the person who gave you the bad news.

Placing blame is easy in this state but burning bridges is something you will quickly regret once you’ve entered the acceptance stage. Avoid the temptation of trashing your boss or your company to anyone that will listen. If you have to complain, even if you’re justified, try to keep it to your loved ones and trusted friends that don’t work in media. And, this should go without saying but no angry e-mails, IM’s, Facebook postings or Twitters. In other words – no digital trail.

Once the anger has subsided, even if it hasn’t gone away completely, depression sets in. Feelings of hopelessness are normal, especially with daily announcements on the economy’s downward spiral flooding the news. But as with any break-up, you’ll find love again. So shove this phase aside and prepare yourself to move on. Who needed that job anyway?

Finally, the acceptance phase. You’ve come to terms with the harsh reality and now it’s time to reorganize and plan your next steps. Pull out your Rolodex and start planning your triumphant return, because they haven’t seen the last of you yet.

Editor’s note: If you’ve lost a job in the media industry recently, or are afraid of doing so, despair not. Beverly Weinstein’s column will reappear here regularly dispensing sound advice and practical tactics for managing your career in a volatile employment market. If you have specific questions about what you should do, please post them below, and Bev will help you out. Or if you feel uncomfortable posting your queries publicly, feel free to email Bev anonymously at bev@markhammedia.com