"...is a walk on the slippery rocks."

MUSIC
Play the hits. Ensure top testing songs are placed in every 3-4 song set. Ensure core artists are represented every hour. Avoid burn by resting songs each quarter. Reconcile dropped songs each day before scheduling. What? You expected ALL of my tricks?

TALENT
Interaction between PD and staff is a key to high performance. Regular air check sessions provide positive input, encouragement and focus. Informed independent thinking can be the difference between average and exceptional - or between looking up to a competitor and kicking their butt.

Give the air staff enough room to display their personality and the guidelines to keep their personality in check. Teach them to edit their thoughts down to the essentials and make the most effective use of every word. The way a thought is spoken is just as important as the thought.

Mornings must be a place where everyone begins their day. It must be compelling, topical, relevant, informative, unique, funny, edgy and folksy. It must create a daily "buzz."

LISTENERS
Relating to the target's lifestyle is a key. If you want the listener to become close to you, get to know what they like and what their hot buttons are. Go where they go, watch and read what they watch and read. Reach out to them for advice, support and companionship by being where they are and supporting the issues they support. Speak TO them not AT them. Speak as if you were in their living room, kitchen, car or office.

Establish benchmarks and communicate their time and appeal frequently. Make the listener a "repeat offender."

PPM Markets: Rule #1 is: "P1's RULE!" Focus all your efforts on them and keep them coming back frequently over the course of the daypart/day/week. Rule #2 is: Repeat rule #1.

PROMOTIONS
On the air or on the street, have fun and be creative. Establish an unwritten law that says "when the station goes somewhere or does something, it's an EVENT, so don't you dare miss it." Keep it simple and fresh. Find a crowd and pitch a tent. Find a cause and champion it. Find what works and do it over and over again. Use smoke and mirrors whenever possible.

Every member of the promotions staff must take ownership and pride in even the smallest van hit. Treat every event as if it was the one and only opportunity to impress.

WEB/DIGITAL/SOCIAL NETWORKING
If the target is on it, get on it and create P1's, no matter if it's Twitter, MySpace, Facebook, YouTube, iPhones or any one of the growing assortment of social networking sites.

Update the web site FREQUENTLY over the course of a day, especially the home page. Check, double-check and triple-check for broken links, missing images, typos, etc. Use videos to expand the on-air content, stroke the clients and push the envelope of the format beyond "radio."

MARKETING
Essential. Find a Newspaper, Magazine, TV station, Bus/Train Line, Cab Service and Direct Marketing firm and create a mutually beneficial trade partnership. Sometimes outdoor is worth the investment, sometimes it isn't, but don't overlook any opportunity to reach listeners through other media.

SALES
Never overlook an opportunity to team up with Sales to generate or monetize compelling promotions or digital programming. A strong relationship with the Sales Department is not only good business, but an outstanding team builder.

IN CONCLUSION
There are no trade secrets or magic bullets here, just solid fundamentals. Each market, each station, each staff is different, but the fundamentals are a great jumping off point. What happens next is what separates a good Program Director from a great one. I'm up for that challenge.