Insights into the evolution of media

Anticipating and predicting the future of different media formats (or lack thereof) is a favourite sport for many online commentators. Yet it can be difficult to predict who truly has the experience to add real validity to their insights/claims. So when I had the chance to speak to a man who has nailed both the radio and literature industries, I was keen to take it. Joel Roberts is a former prime time radio host who now runs a communications consulting firm with a particular focus on the development of media strategies for publishers and authors. Joel will be in Australia shortly for the Wealth from Marketing Seminar, and took some time out to answer a bunch of questions relating to the future of media.

You first made a name for yourself as a radio talk show host. If you were starting out again, where would you begin, given the rapid evolution of the media landscape?

At the risk of sounding unspeakably chauvinistic, if I had it all to do over again, and I could do it exactly the way I did it before, I would! Talk radio is one of most powerful communications laboratories on the planet. The demands of spontaneous articulation, breadth of knowledge, rapport creation and on-the-spot adjustment are second to none. The fact that I was lucky enough to do Los Angeles talk radio for a decade – and prime time for a year, until our station’s format changed – is something I wouldn’t trade for the world.

Now, I am, of course, exceedingly mindful of all “new media” (if one can still use the term), and I certainly celebrate its profusion of possibilities. There’s just one problem: unlike what Marshall McLuhan believed, the medium isn’t always the message. Not every podcaster is a true broadcaster. And not every blogger is a true publisher. Let me put that another way: the technology of mass communication has been democratized, but the techniques have not. You still need to know how to create media hooks. You still need to be able to grab an audience and keep them. You still need to master the laws of demographics. You still need to be able to tie into daily news stories in order to maintain evergreen relevance.

In fact, I’ll take this a step further. All this new technology has brought us two things: more potential customers than ever, but also more competitors, too! Add to that the ever dwindling international attention span — which, sadly, we westerners have exported to the planet — and you have a fascinating dual dynamic, one in which (in my company’s trademark phrase) —

The stakes are higher than ever before and the moment is briefer than ever before.

So, in our extremely loud and crowded world, the question is: how do you get heard? That is where our work comes in. And that work, in my view, is served incomparably by my decade’s sojourn in American talk radio.

Do you believe all current mainstream media formats will survive the next ten years?

Yes, but in answering that question, allow me to draw a seemingly odd parallel: just as America will no longer be the world’s sole superpower and just as a more balanced integration of the planet is emerging, so too the hegemony of the “big three” – radio, TV and newsprint – is over, but that doesn’t mean the mainstream is dead. It does mean, however, that the marketplace will be increasingly diverse, diffuse and fragmented. This, in my view, is both good and bad. The benefit is that more people than ever now have a voice, and the possibility of reaching a macro stage.

The downside is that everything is segmented now. Everyone has their news source, and everything is filtered through political prisms. In the vastly expanded marketplace, individuals may actually contract. The irony of this cannot be overstated: with the astonishing profusion of media out there, we may actually be communicating less, if by “communicating” we mean engaging in open dialogue with a willingness to reconsider opinions. Mind you, I have no objection to listening to “the choir.” The problem is when it’s the only music you hear.

What proportion of resources/budget do you recommend for online vs. offline media? How do you see this evolving in the future?

This is an excellent question, but a single, pat answer is hard to find. Remember: “offline” media isn’t exactly offline. It’s still alive, thriving, and massively influencing billions of people! Every time a blogger makes reference to a network newscast, that’s an example of the “new integration.” True, things are more balanced and symbiotic now, but everyone, including traditional media, has an important role to play.

In planning media strategies, ideally, of course, one should “attack on all fronts,” but limited resources often preclude that. I would say that if funds are scarce – and, in fact, even if money is abundant — definitely begin with blogs, podcasts, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and anywhere else you can go for free. There are at least two advantages to this: a) online niche marketing can be incredibly effective; and b) often the mainstream will pick up on stories that have their origins in “humbler” quarters.

That last sentence reveals a prejudice. Yes, I do believe that the mainstream is still important. An article in the Sydney Morning Herald continues to carry a certain cachet that blogs and Facebook posts might not.

Finally, let me further emphasize a critical point: even if one stays “online,” the masters at grabbing and keeping an audience are still very often in the mainstream world. The skills they possess are among this planet’s most vital curriculums. That’s what I teach, and I believe in it totally.

You are renowned in the field of media consultation and training for authors. What advice you do you give emerging authors on the use of new publishing platforms such as blogs?

My company is privileged to have media-coached probably more best-selling authors than anyone else. It is by no means the whole of what we do, but we’re extremely proud of our work in this area. Recently, when I was in Sydney, I walked down the aisles of a Dymocks location and saw over a hundred titles that we had worked on! We’re passionate about helping authors, and I plan to become one!

My answer to this question is largely contained above. Everyone, author or not, has to become a media mogul (or at least a mini-mogul). Pursuing online venues is no longer an option, it’s an obligation. Books can no longer be promoted without online media. In fact, I’ll go one step further: you have to show an online presence in order to get a book contract! If that’s not motivation to go online, I don’t know what is!

The culture and expectation of free content is now well entrenched on the Internet. How can authors utilise this trend to their advantage rather than their detriment?

Another great question! My basic philosophy is “give ‘em something great for free, and they’ll be more likely to pay for the rest.”

Complimentary reports. Delectable downloads. No-cost newsletters. Inspiring videos. Sample chapters. Anything you can provide for free that will get consumers into your universe can only HELP your sales in the end. Obviously, you don’t want to give away the whole grocery store. But the aroma of free samples gets them walking in the door.

How are Ereader devices such as the iPad and Kindle are changing the market, and what are the implications for authors?

These devices are incredibly exciting (I’m an Apple freak, and about to get an iPad). They bring content distribution to a whole new level and allow us to not only interact, but (in some cases) to actually collaborate, with authors.

The implications are vast on all fronts. On the one hand, aspiring writers can go directly to Amazon or iBookstore for the dissemination of their work. They no longer need a traditional book deal. And yet, the other side of the coin is abundantly true, too. We, as mentioned, have worked with every major publisher in the world and I can tell you that ALL of them have “new media” departments.

I would sum it up as follows: not only will writers find new venues for their work, but that work will be changed by the possibilities of those venues! “Books” are already no longer “just text and pictures.” They are multimedia phenomena, nuclei of atoms joined to millions of others that form the molecules of our truly miraculous world!

Here’s my bias, though: Technology is great, but it alone won’t produce great ideas and great writing.

And here’s another bias for you: to me there is still something sacred about actual, physical, hold-in-your-hand books. My wife and I have a nearly three-year-daughter. We won’t be leaving her “hyperlinks” in our will!

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My thanks go out to Joel for his detailed responses. If you like what you read, check him out at the Wealth from Marketing Seminar