The News - Trends and Reasons
April 2003
In the last month millions and millions of Americans have spent many hours glued in front of the television watching the events in Iraq unfold. As part of that, a new trend has developed and there appear to be some very good reasons why.
First, the statistics. Two of the three networks
with news departments were way down and the other was up slightly. Cable news
stations were way up. In early April I went to the Drudge Report and saw that
Fox News had audience shares equal to or greater than CNN and MSNBC combined.
The question is, what's going on here? In
watching all three cable news channels and a little of the broadcast news I
determined there are [at least] three reasons for the above numbers.
Be Bold
Fox News is bold. They're confident. They come
at you with all the subtlety of a tank blasting through a gate. They look like
an organization that understands their market and that they're in the 21st
century.
Do you do that in your business? Do you take a
frontline position and proclaim to all who can hear (this means your customers
and prospective customers) that you know what you're doing and can be the best
value proposition they could ask for?
I regularly hear things like, "We don't
want to be pushy." I'm not suggesting you act like the old image of a used
car salesperson who won't let someone off the lot without buying a car. At the
same time, you must have faith in your product or service. There's a difference
between arrogance and confidence. If you don't ask someone to place an order you
take the chance that they will perceive you don't believe in what you're doing.
Get Noticed
Especially to people who don't like them, Fox
News is opinionated, brash and biased. To people who love them, they represent
everything their competitors aren't. Bottom line, they stand out. They get
noticed. And that's the name of the game.
What do you do to stand out in your market?
Whether or not you are opinionated and brash, you have to let your customers
know the benefits they get from doing business with you.
This is not the vehicle to give a lengthy
discourse on marketing strategies. No matter what your level of expertise in
marketing, do the things you know you should do to have your customers think of
you first (or hire someone to help and guide you).
Be Positive
Fox News proclaims themselves to be "Fair
and Balanced." Whether you believe this or not, it does have a nice ring to
it. During the war coverage they were the most upbeat of all the news agencies
that I saw, read or listened to. That could of produced dire consequences
if the battlefield results had been different (and especially if their reporting
was perceived as not accurate).
I've never found it beneficial to
"bash" anyone. My opinion is that if someone does a lot of
complaining, sooner or later they'll be complaining about me. Therefore I'm
cautious with them.
As a businessperson, it's a lot better to tell why your product or service is better than to say your competitor’s product or service is not good. More than that, this positive attitude is contagious to your employees, customers and vendors. Just ask the employees where the owner or boss is upbeat and positive. A huge difference compared to firms where management is harsh and tyrannical. You'll find the same feelings with vendors. They know who they like to do business with and grant favors to.
We learn a lot from the news. Also pay attention to the reasons why the top all news channel is on top.