10 Questions with ... Pamela Muldoon

BRIEF CAREER SYNOPSIS:

I started my career in radio at the age of 17 doing weekends at KZZA, an AC station in Glenwood, MN. I learned about Brown Institute from the full-time jocks at the station and upon graduating from HS headed to Minneapolis to get my broadcasting certification. I worked middays at Magic 95 in Albert Lea, then moved to Eau Claire, WI to take on copywriting/production for WAXX/WAYY. This was where I began to really connect with marketing. I took a Copy Director position at WDEZ/WRIG in Wausau, WI and eventually found my way back to Eau Claire with my family where I worked part-time for WISM.

I chose to leave radio broadcasting to return get my college degree. The past 14 years I have been working in sales, marketing, training & development. After a second layoff in 2006, I started my marketing consulting business and this year brought all my experiences together by launching the Next Stage Business Radio Network online.

1. Why radio? First, why did you get into radio in the first place, and what does radio bring to your business (and vice versa)?

I grew up on a farm in a very small town, Villard, MN. My graduating class was 19, to give you an idea of the town size. And we were one of the big classes! My radio was my lifeline to the outside world. I would listen every Saturday night to Casey Kasem and American Top 40, and became a consummate button pusher to listen to any station I could. I loved that I could get KDWB-AM from the Twin Cities at night. I felt connected to a world that was different from my own. I loved how intimate, yet big radio could make me feel.

I worked at KZZA-FM, an AC station in Glenwood, MN, as a part-time job in my senior year. So much fun to be a DJ in high school! I learned about Brown Institute for Broadcasting, and it was a natural next step for me. When I chose to leave terrestrial radio in 1996, it was a very tough decision. After getting my degree at University Wisconsin-Eau Claire, I worked in sales, marketing & training for the next 10 years.

The internet has changed everything for me. The cost of entry is minimal to add amazing media tools to business. My experience in radio broadcasting made adding radio to my business a very natural fit. It allows me to go back to a medium I love, yet also bring my marketing expertise into the equation. Audio brings an intimacy to marketing that other mediums cannot deliver as well. Along with providing an outlet as an industry thought leader, audio on the internet allows segmentation of markets imperative to attracting today's consumer. The content on my business radio network is designed to attract business owners and professionals and the audio format of online radio allows my consumer to get this at their convenience. Live, archived, downloads, all of these are imperative in using audio to grow a business today.

2. What is the radio show about? Who is it geared towards, and what can they get from it? And how about the new show you're launching?

The Next Stage Business Radio Network launched its first program ,"The Advisors," in September 2010. This show is designed for small-medium sized business owners and provides information, resources and advice from a variety of professional advisors needed in business. Each week we take a topic and through an interview format, break down best practices and real-life scenarios for our business audience. Our second program, "Spotlight Your Business," will launch in November 2010. This show will provide small business owners the opportunity to share their passion and why they started their business as well as offer a unique marketing opportunity. We also have programs slated for 2011 that will center around issues of multi-generations in the workplace, the micro-business community, the collaboration of non-profit and for-profit sectors creating social change, just to name a few.

3. We're two years removed from the October 2008 crash; Today, are you optimistic or not about the recovery? Is this a good time to expand or start a business?

One thing I know for sure, our country is forever economically changed since 2008. The recovery we will see and need to embrace is a different economy than the one we had during the Industrial Revolution. Many of the jobs lost in our country will not be fully recovered and will look very different moving forward.

Having said this, I am still very optimistic. Historically some of the best business success stories started during times of economic challenges. So many things necessary for business are at a discount rate right now. If someone has a great idea, business plan, passion and persistence now is a great time to get started! But don't underestimate the process. This is a key reason why the first show on the Next Stage Business Radio Network is "The Advisors". Smart business owners will be the first to admit that they have a great team. Consult with professionals and get good advice; whether you are starting, growing or looking to exit a business.

4. Apply your business acumen to radio. What should terrestrial radio operators be doing now to preserve and grow their businesses in the future? How can they best build relationships with listeners and advertisers?

Terrestrial radio used to be the place we went to get our breaking news, information, music and community news. With new media, the consumer can get all of this on their own and will seek out exactly what they want or are looking for. Terrestrial radio needs to break out of the traditional box and innovate alongside the new media. Radio stations need to take what they started with commercial spots & web banners and take it the next level. Think of yourselves as a marketing agency for your sponsors & clients. Ask clients what their marketing plan is other than radio. Find out what other strategies your clients are using and leverage this information. Use the social media platforms to offer additional ways to market on behalf of your clients.

In today's marketing model, content and context is king. Leverage the commercial marketing strategy to other opportunities to get your clients in front of their market. Don't just think outside the box, break it. Different will get noticed.

Self-branding is key to marketing and on-air talent is a perfect fit for this. Terrestrial radio stations need to put their on-air talent through marketing training. The listeners connect with the talent. It's how talent gets and keeps their jobs. Encourage them to self-brand on social media. Along with a station page/profile, on-air talent should be branded as well. Allowing talent to engage with fans/followers directly other than on the air will build stronger loyalty.

5. Who are your mentors, influences, and heroes?

My first radio mentor was Casey Kasem. I listened to American Top 40 every weekend. He was so good at the break promos; I listened to hundreds of commercials because Casey had me glued to his program waiting for the next song or long distance dedication. He knew marketing.

The instructors at Brown Institute. I am so proud that this amazing school is in Minnesota. I learned so much from my teachers at Brown and had life come full circle when I got the chance to work alongside many of them in 2004 as a contracted Radio Sales & Marketing instructor for the night students. It was a highlight for me.

As a business owner, there are so many mentors & influences. Richard Branson on business, Seth Godin for marketing, Daniel Pink with innovation, John Maxwell on leadership, Julie Gilbert for women in business... the list goes on and on!

Hero: My dad. My dad was a farmer his entire life. As I build my business on relationships and collaboration, I realize that everything I know in these areas I can attribute to how my dad worked the farm. He passed away in December 1996. He was the first entrepreneur I ever knew. He was a business owner (mom was the CFO ;-)), teacher, and master networker. The real deal.

6. What's an example of a great marketing strategy? What recent campaign would you say most exemplifies an effective marketing plan, executed to perfection?

I have to give Domino's pizza a lot of credit on their 2010 marketing campaign. Less than 2 years ago a YouTube video went viral that cost the company millions of dollars in lost revenue. One of the reasons they lost so much was their inability to react in real time by not having a strong web/social media presence. This year they came back better than ever. To tackle the perception brought on by the video, they changed the recipe of their pizza and made that a focal point of the initial campaign. They embraced the main Social Media platforms and began engaging with the consumers online. They even developed a pizza tracker on their website so customers could track the preparation, baking and delivery of their pizza. They segmented their markets and took mass customization to a new level by running television commercials that feature one person who had not yet tried their new pizza recipe. And the latest is asking consumers to take photos of their pizza and sending them into Domino's. Again, consumer engagement.

The most recent television ad has CEO Patrick Boyle himself addressing one of these photos directly and how Domino's will not tolerate poor quality. Authentic, engaging, admitting fault and making improvement. Domino's has done a great job in 2010 of developing & implementing their marketing plan.

7. About what are you most passionate these days?

Building the Next Stage Business Radio Network! I see what we can do at the Network as bringing the best of what I learned from terrestrial radio and the opportunities of the newer, online platforms together to help develop the next evolution of broadcasting. Because the new media platforms are so accessible, it is somewhat the Wild, Wild West out on the online audio platforms. But great content, like cream, will always rise to the top. Great content with an audience that wants it will never go out of style.

8. Of what are you most proud?

As a mom, you gotta know it's the birth of my son, Sean. He grew up in radio and had a playpen in the studio on the weekends! Hard to believe he just turned 21!

Professionally, launching my own business in 2006 and expanding it this year with the Next Stage Business Radio Network. I love marketing and I love radio. I am so exited to bring my first career into my current business and share great content and talent with our listeners. I fell in love with radio because it made me feel connected. Now I get to produce shows that allow our listeners to connect with professionals and talent they never would have met without the platform. This new media platform is only as limiting as my imagination and creativity, and that is very exciting!

9. Fill in the blank: I can't make it through the day without _______________.>/h5>

...my iPhone! My iPhone is my business. It allows me to stay on top of my business from anywhere at any time. Of course, this also means it can be a challenge to actually take time away from work;-) But I love what I do, so it's rarely work anyway!

I also cannot start a day without my Caribou Coffee.

10. What's the best advice you've ever gotten? The worst?

Best advice: Don't be afraid to make mistakes. Every 'mistake' is just another opportunity to learn. As John Maxwell says, it's "failing forward". Never give up and learn from every mistake I encounter.

Worst advice: Building my business based on somebody else's business model. Learning my own voice in business and developing marketing strategies that made sense for my business, my target market and my brand all came from doing a lot of it wrong in the beginning. But then again, even bad advice can bring about great opportunities. Next Stage Business Radio Network would not have launched without my having to face this bad advice.