James Obermayer, Executive Director and CEO of the Sales Lead Management Association and President of Sales Leakage Consulting is a regular guest blogger with ViewPoint.
In a recent article by Ryan Faughnder in the Sept 23rd edition of the LA Times under the title “Internet radio's drumbeat is getting louder,” said that half of Americans (consumers) who go online listen to Internet radio and that the industry is becoming mainstream.
This is a result of a new study by Edison Research apparently sponsored by Pandora Media Inc., Spotify and TuneIn which surveyed more than 3,000 people age 12 and up about their online music consumption. The study found that 53% of web users listen to internet services. Some hightlights of the study:
- “TuneIn is a Palo Alto company that aggregates online radio stations and streams to more than 40 million active listeners.”
- “Slightly more than two-thirds of those surveyed said they listen to more online radio than they did a year ago as they access content on more Internet connected devices.”
- “More than 80% of smartphone owners said they listen to some kind of Internet radio on their mobile gadgets.”
SLMA Radio - Since 2010
That brings us to what the Sales Lead Management Association started 28 months ago in August of 2010 with its first interviews of Dan McDade of PointClear and Phil Fernandez of Marketo. The SLMA Radio program, live on Thursday at 5 PM Pacific time, has broadcast 116 shows and 209 executive interviews. The shows fall into 33 categories covering a wide spectrum of marketing and sales topics. A few of the executives we have interviewed:
- Jill Konrath of Selling to Big Companies
- Phil Fernandez of Marketo
- Bill Godfrey of Aprimo
- Jim Meyer of eTrique
- Mike Schultz of the Rain Group
- Viki Donlan, Author of Her Turn
- Marco Marini of Clickmail
- Dan Perry of Sales Benchmark Index
- Christine Crandell of New Business Strategies
In the beginning we interviewed two executives per show and gradually we moved to one per show for more in-depth interviews. More recently, we have moved away from just executive interviews and into more subject driven programs such as:
- How Legitimate Database Providers are Different from Those Who Fake It with Tim Slevin
- Is the Traditional Sales Compensation Program for B2B Dead? with Daniel Perry
- Why It’s Time for Women to Lead in America with Vicki Dolian
- Should Marketing be Compensated on Revenue with Eric Lundbohm
Another popular show that interviews successful marketers is WRMR Revenue Marketer Radio which predates SLMA Radio by about 12 months.
This show is hosted by Debbie Qaqish, Principal and Chief Strategy Office for The Pedowitz Group. To date Debbie has interviewed real-world marketers like Rachel Spasser of Ariba (a SAP company) and Cleve Bellar of LexisNexis, as well as notables like Charlene Li, Founder of Altimeter Group and co-author of Groundswell.
And then we have Dan McDade’s PowerViews, which are Q&A video interviews with recognized sales and marketing thought leaders like Koka Sexton, Ann Handley, Jim Dickie, Ardath Albee and yours truly.
The point is, Internet Radio’s time has come. I get calls from people who have listened to the shows, live and on iTunes. Because the shows are recorded (all of those above do it), the shows have a long life and can be posted on the interviewees website.
The new media isn’t so new, but it is asserting itself and as a media outlet it is becoming a serious communication outlet. It’s a powerful way to build community and gain mindshare.
Topics: B2B Marketing, B2B Sales, Guest Blogs
