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Jorge Sedano Is Trying To Keep Your Attention

“Let’s bring fun, smart people in here to enhance the conversation and let them challenge me on what I’m saying, or let’s laugh about something that’s going on in the world of sports and let’s present it in a unique way.”

Brandon Contes

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When it comes to the sports media industry, few people can offer better insight than ESPN’s Jorge Sedano.  With prominent radio and television experience, Sedano has covered sports nationally and locally on both coasts.

Last September, Jorge moved to his current time-slot, hosting afternoon drive on ESPN Los Angeles where he’s innovatively building a radio show.  Whether he’s implementing new concepts or eyeing his next career move, Sedano has never shied away from taking a risk.

As he’s in the process of growing his radio show and audience, Sedano has looked around the industry for ideas.  Professionals getting together to share those ideas offer a unique opportunity for sports radio to improve.

Sedano is a proponent of teaching and learning from others as a way for the industry to evolve.  With this year’s BSM Summit quickly approaching, the ESPN Los Angeles host took time to discuss the sports radio format.

Brandon Contes: You’ve had success with morning, midday and afternoon shows. For you, how different did you find doing a morning drive show versus afternoon drive?

Jorge Sedano: First of all, just simply from a press perspective, the advantage of doing afternoons is you have everything that happened the night before, plus everything that developed during the day. It allows you to be more selective and potentially go deeper into certain conversations, whereas with the morning, you’re focused on what happened the night before. If stuff develops, while you’re on the air, you’re going on the fly.

A lot more happens on the fly when you’re doing mornings and you can’t really go into as many of the deeper conversations because people’s listening habits are also different. I’ve seen this research over the years, that in the morning, people have more interest in skipping around to different radio stations and different formats.

There’s a lot of different stops in the morning, people are going out, they’re dropping off their kids, they’re getting their coffee and getting gas, they’re in and out of the car more as opposed to their commute home where, let’s face it, you just want to get home.

You have to stay a little more on the surface in the morning and they say ‘play the hits,’ you have to play the hits regardless of the time slot, but especially with morning drive radio. You really try to stay on the surface with content, give people the meat and potatoes and maybe you’re skipping dessert. That doesn’t mean you can’t have dessert occasionally, or you’re not sneaking content in that isn’t mainstream, because you do want to be able to mix in personality and have fun.  But in the morning, when you have a more limited opportunity to grab people, you have to come out firing with the hits.

BC: Do you have a preference, hosting mornings or afternoons?

JS: Oh man, definitely afternoons. First of all, you have a lot more time to breathe and really focus in on some of the content you want to discuss, and like I said, you can go deeper in the afternoon because let’s face it, especially now with technology, people are up to speed pretty quickly.  They may not be up to speed in the morning because everyone’s rushing out the door, but by time they get to you at 3 in the afternoon, they’ve been reading, listening and watching on TV. They’ve caught up to a lot of the news, so you can be more nuanced in the afternoon.

The other part of it is, I specifically find myself to be someone who is more engaging in the afternoon. By nature, I’m loud. I get very passionate and animated and I think that plays better for me in the afternoon. And then there’s the wake-up! Morning drive is really hard on your body, mentally as well.  It’s a grind. When I lived on the East Coast working in Bristol filling in for Greeny on Mike and Mike, there were a number of times I’d have to stay up, watch the game and then just deal with sleep whenever I was done with the show.

One of the last Mike and Mikes I hosted was the night the Warriors were going for 73 wins and Kobe Bryant’s last game of his career and I’m sitting there in a hotel in Bristol, watching both games, flipping back and forth between ESPN and ESPN2.  I went to bed after watching the coverage and it was such an emotional fun night, I probably went to bed 1:30 or 2 o’clock in the morning on the East Coast and I had a 4 o’clock wake-up call – so I may have slept two hours that day, but that’s the sacrifice you make when you’re doing mornings.

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It was a little easier to do it on the West Coast, obviously, because things start earlier out here. But at the end of the day, that 4am wake up is not fun (Laughs). I prefer to be someone who gets to stay up to watch everything, go to bed at 11 o’clock and wake up like a normal human being somewhere between 6 and 8am.

BC: What was it like going across country from Miami to now Los Angeles?  How do those markets compare?

JS: It’s interesting, there are some similarities; the marketplace has similar demographics. Half the town is Hispanic, and I think that plays into the way radio is rated in both cities because of the 50% that’s Hispanic, there’s a large chunk that aren’t English-dominant. So when it comes to ratings, the marketplace is frayed more than most markets.

Having that experience in my back pocket helps me understand the landscape. Both towns get a bad reputation for being bandwagon fans, but I find the fan that goes to games and listens to sports talk radio is as passionate as any city I’ve been in.

When you live in cities like Los Angeles or Miami where demographics play a factor, not everyone’s into American sports, or at least they’re not all into the sports that we talk about on sports talk radio.

With Hispanic people, soccer plays a very big role in the community.  In Miami, the Cuban community is not into soccer, but in Miami you have a big South American contingent, much like in Los Angeles you have a large Mexican Central American contingent. Soccer is a dominant sport in those cultures, boxing is big in those cultures, baseball to a certain extent, but outside of baseball, those other sports don’t get a lot of play on sports talk radio.

Then there’s the ability in both cities, where you have sunshine 300 days of the year, people aren’t always as interested in going to watch a bad product. If the teams are not performing, I can see where it’s like – I’d rather go to the beach and I get it, but I think fans in L.A. and Miami get a bad rap.

Los Angeles is obviously much bigger; it’s a much larger area, there are fans of a lot of different teams because there are so many different teams here.  Whereas in Miami, maybe the college fans are spread out amongst Miami, or Florida or Florida State, etcetera, but predominantly everybody is a Dolphins fan, everyone is a Heat fan.  Baseball might be a little different because baseball was born in the ’90s there.

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Here in LA, you could have Dodger fans or Angel fans. There’s plenty of Laker fans, a small pocket of Clipper fans, you have the Rams and the Chargers and there are plenty of other fans here when it comes to the NFL. But the fact is, fans can be frayed from all the different teams here.

BC: Did hosting nationally help you learn how to sort through all the potential topics in L.A. and know what to focus on?  If you come from an area that has just one team and you’re talking Packers everyday and then go to Los Angeles where there’s a dozen different teams to talk about, it might be hard to figure out what to focus on.

JS: I would say it was the reverse, having lived in Miami, which is transient, meaning I could talk Miami, but also talk New York, that helped me when I got my first national gig at Fox Sports radio in 2004. But once you get to the national level, you’re playing the hits because your audience is so much larger.

When I was doing national overnight in my mid-20s on Fox sports radio, I was on 300 radio stations and in some of the biggest markets on some of the biggest stations in America.  I was on WEEI, I was on in L.A., I was on basically everywhere outside of New York. I think you just base it on whatever the big national stories are. During certain times of the year, you would talk mainly NFL and then you shift based on the sports calendar. But I do think it certainly helped some.

I’ve had a number of different great opportunities throughout my career, I’ve learned from all of it and it got me to this point where I feel like I’m doing the best radio that I’ve ever done, even though I am doing something a little different now with the Los Angeles show as opposed to the shows I’ve done previously, which to me makes it more interesting, because I’m challenging myself in the way I’m going about this LA show.

BC: Can you expand on what you’re doing differently a bit?

JS: Over the years, I’ve done different shows;  I’ve done the solo show and the partnered show, but with the L.A. show, I’m trying to combine a lot of things. For example, it’s my show, there are times I will go solo, sometimes I’ll do only a couple of hours or even just one hour solo – but the constant is – I always want people in and out of the studio.

Generally, 80-90% of the days I have a guest co-host of my choosing.  Someone I’m friends with, who I respect and I know I’m going to have a good time with while we’re in the studio. Then we’ll rotate guests that will flow within the construct of the show. The advantage of being here in L.A. and ESPN having an office here in L.A., makes that a lot easier to get those guests into the studio.

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I’ve pulled from a few philosophies, from a radio perspective. The guest co-host thing – Le Batard has done the best of that over the years and then you look at Colin Cowherd who has Joy Taylor there as his co-host, but then he also has guests in and out of the studio regularly.

I’ve married those two theories and the reason I’ve done that is because if you look at the way people are consuming audio now, it’s changed. Over the last three or four years specifically, podcast listening has grown exponentially and it’s only going to keep growing. Because podcasts have become so popular, I’ve created this feeling of constant change within the construct of the show, people swooping in and out, different opinions, resetting with different people, getting their thoughts on some of the conversations I may have had earlier.

I’m bringing that podcast feel to terrestrial radio, while taking elements from two guys that I respect immensely and it’s worked. We’ve been on for four months and every month the numbers are getting better. The audience is growing, the podcast numbers are growing, the digital impressions are growing. I think I’m in a unique position because I do so many things with the company, on television and now in radio, that I can have all these people on the show because I’ve created real relationships with people in different facets of ESPN and even outside the company.

BC: That’s very interesting, do you see that as the future of sports radio and could potentially translate to other hosts and markets, or is it unique to you?

JS: I think it’s somewhat unique to me for a number of reasons.  First, I’m in L.A. and we have an office in here with people constantly running in and out of because of the television shows that we produce there.

The fact that I’m on these television shows like The Jump, which I’m so thankful to Rachel Nichols for allowing me to be part of that family, it helped me foster even better relationships than I had previously with people that are in the NBA circles. The fact that I’m on NBA games and I do sidelines allows me to create relationships with people and have them come on my show.

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The concept of the best radio shows, to me, are the ones where you can tell the people generally like each other.

If you go back to Tony Kornheiser’s old radio show, he always had his friends on. Le Batard does that too and that’s something that I’ve now done to an extent. I try to have people on the show because we have a relationship outside of the workplace and we’re actually friends.  It gives the listeners an intimate and honest conversation each day and I think that makes for better radio.

As I’ve gotten older, I’ve gotten less of an ego, so it doesn’t have to be me being a gas bag for four hours and just ranting and raving about my own opinion. Let’s bring fun, smart people in here to enhance the conversation and let them challenge me on what I’m saying, or let’s laugh about something that’s going on in the world of sports and let’s present it in a unique way.

You can do that in a big market.  In smaller markets, it may be tougher, but I don’t think it’s impossible to duplicate. It’s about the host wanting to create and carve out these relationships with the people that matter in their communities. This business is all about relationships and I’ve learned that it’s about what’s coming through the speakers, it’s not about me anymore. One of my strengths is I bring the best out of people because I ask the right questions and I’m willing to challenge people and not everyone likes that, but I think it makes for interesting radio as long as it’s always done in a respectful way.

Could it be duplicated in other markets?  Yea, but I don’t think it could be duplicated everywhere. Less so about me, but more about the availability of the people that would need to surround the show. But so many hosts are out prove to people that they’re the smartest person in the room and I think sometimes it’s best to just to have real conversations and have fun with it.

BC: What makes radio great is the intimate connection between hosts and listeners, but when shows are new, it takes time to develop chemistry and warm up to the audience. Bringing in different hosts on a regular basis is something that a lot of people would shy away from because it takes time to develop a connection with listeners. Since you pick your friends and people that you’re comfortable with and you’re able to have unique conversations, does that help the new co-host to connect with the audience?

JS: No question about it, because what I’ll do is, I will have conversations with my guest co-host on-air, or even some of the guests that just pop in and out and I will have the conversations with them on-air that I’ve had with them texting about random nonsense. (Laughs)

I weave those conversations into an individual segment and I think that’s how I’ve been able to connect to the audience a lot quicker – because I’m putting these conversations out there.  But I think you have to still be disciplined when you do that. Where radio shows get in trouble is when they have this conversation for 20 straight minutes without any sports content. You have to be disciplined in saying – okay this will only be a conversation that’s going to last no more than three, four, five minutes tops, and then the second half of this segment I’m going to get to sports and I’m going to remind people that we’re getting back to sports. People have short attention spans.  There’s too much technology, too much stimuli out there too many options.

I used to think, it’s me – why wouldn’t they stick around for me?! (Laughs) But there’s plenty of things for them to do, so you have to remind people, ‘Hey, I promise I’m going back to sports, but I need to get this off my chest first.’

Whatever conversations you’re having, you want to weave in your personality to allow your co-host to show their personality and that way you can endear yourself to the audience.  It’s not an easy dance.

BC: I think it’s a cool approach and a good way to do something different.  Does it keep it fun and exciting for you because you’re constantly having different conversations and interacting with different personalities?

JS: Absolutely! The show on before me, Mason and Ireland, I do a cross-talk segment with them every day and they’ll ask me who’s co-hosting today and recently they asked if I like doing it this way. Look, I have a monogamous relationship with my wife.  On radio, I don’t want to be monogamous, I want different people on. Variety is the spice of life and I fulfill that with my radio show.

BC: Do you enjoy the cross-talk segments? They’re becoming more popular on different stations around the country.

JS: Definitely.  Those guys are a blast. They’re legends in Los Angeles.  They’ve been doing middays forever and I think they’re the best midday show in America. They’re so different, yet so much the same.  

With cross-talk, I throw in a different vibe of someone who likes to mix it up with them, but also likes to laugh.  For example, not to say John Ireland doesn’t like to laugh, but John is more the sports guy and Mason is a sports guy too, but Mason likes to laugh. For me, it’s a great balance of trying to make Mason laugh, while John gets a kick out of it and then John brings it back to the center and talks sports. It’s a fun dance to be in there with those guys and three people in a room, especially three big personalities, isn’t easy to juggle, but we make it work and most months it’s the highest rated half hour on the station.

BC: Are there ever times when you don’t want to do the cross-talk? After the Saints and Rams championship game, a polarizing finish, I’m sure you have plenty of opinions on it and Mason and Ireland were just talking about it for three-hours. Would you rather just start the show by yourself and say what you need to?

JS: I still enjoy the cross-talk with them because once my actual show starts, I get to open it how I want. I’ve done it before where I take the first segment to do what I feel I need to and then I’ll bring in the guest co-host after.  I have that flexibility. I’ve trained the audience in a way where, slowly but surely, they get it. The first month or two were tough because they didn’t get it, they didn’t know what was happening, but now they’ve embraced it and understand the rotation of people.

We try our best to rotate the same group of people as frequently as possible. The station has done a great job of promoting the show as being a completely different style of show than anything else they’ve ever had on-air. The station’s support has helped and the audience keeps growing. We’ve seen it not only in Nielsen numbers, which while no ratings measurement is an exact science, it’s palpable, but I go out in the city and people are talking to me about the show and they want to discuss the guest co-hosts. They’ll gravitate to sports conversations, but they also gravitate to the non-sports conversations. We’ve done events for the show where we just invite the audience to come hang out with me and watch a game and it’s really, really flattering how people have supported the show very quickly.

BC: Do you prefer hosting local or national radio?

JS: That’s a great question. I think hosting locally is more unique because you get to ingratiate yourself to a community, you can go out to these events and there is a real sense of who’s listening to you.

Nationally, there’s almost a barrier, you’re not going out and doing a lot of events outside of the studio, just the occasional a big event like the Super Bowl.

BC: Does Radio Row make for good radio?

JS: I chose not to go this year – first because Radio Row does nothing for me from 6 to 10 PM Eastern. But secondly, I don’t think the audience wants it. There are too many people hocking stuff, everyone gets the same guest so it’s annoying because you’re seeing the same things being recycled. Could you get a few good minutes of content? Sure, but I think the whole experience is overrated at this point.

BC: It’s definitely harder to build that community you were talking about with national shows.  When I listen to a new radio show, I almost enjoy not getting all of the jokes at first – I like that they have their own community and it takes time for me to understand everything.  I think that shows they have great chemistry with each other and the listeners.

JS: Right, and you do want your own inside jokes on a show.  Will it turn some people off? Sure, but I think it makes people more inquisitive about the show.

Honestly, Le Batard has done it the best of anyone, when it comes to building a community with a national radio show. Outside of Stern, I don’t know if there’s a better person to pull that off. Dan has been able to do that unlike anyone I’ve ever seen.

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There are some similarities to what Howard built with him and his cast of characters to what Dan has now done with Stugotz, Mike, the Shipping Container and those guys. But, to answer your original question, I would prefer local mostly because of the unique experience of being able to really feel part of a community where that’s just so much harder to make happen on the national level.

BC: When you look around the sports radio industry, it’s very white-male dominated, both with talent and management, so how does the industry do a better job of creating more opportunities for Hispanic people, people of color and just get more diverse in general?

JS: The biggest problem with sports talk radio – and to be clear this is not only an issue in sports talk radio, but we really have a huge problem with this – they don’t allow young people to develop. They’re afraid of giving a young person an opportunity because radio is so ad and sales driven that you’d rather go get a guy who is the local TV anchor, or a newspaper columnist because he has some name recognition, even though he or she may not be a great talk show host.

I’m not trying to single those people out, I’m just using them as examples.  It could be anyone in a particular community who has some name recognition, but radio is hard! People don’t realize that. I’ve become good on television because I’m good on radio.  I’ve seen people try to do the reverse where they’re good on television and try to do radio and it’s much harder.

The ability to speak hours on end on radio for 10 minute segments or longer, allows you the ability to adlib and freelance on television and seem more seamless when you’re having these conversations. If anything, the hard part about doing television after doing radio is you have to be more succinct, but the content and the ability to speak and flow, makes it so much easier.

I’ve had this conversation when I lived in Miami and also here in L.A. – we need to do a better job of finding the young Hispanic kids, or young African-American kids who are in these colleges in local communities, who want to be broadcasters. Let them come in and do weekend shows or find the guys who are doing a really good local podcast and put them on the weekend or at night where it’s not a high leverage situation and you’re not worried about ad revenue or things of that nature. Just let it bake a little bit!  

Traug Keller who runs ESPN radio has a saying, ‘let it bake’, and people don’t do that. They want instant gratification and radio isn’t like that. It takes easily six to nine months for a radio show to gain any real traction and it doesn’t matter who you are.

I remember when Le Batard first started doing local radio, he will be the first to tell you it wasn’t good!  But you know what? They stuck with it and it’s become arguably the best show on all of radio, let alone sports talk radio.

It’s thinking outside the box.  People are averse to taking risks in the industry. When I was coming up 20 years ago, there were a lot of guys doing local radio in small markets and they were working their way up, but now a lot of these small markets don’t do as much local, so you don’t have as many guys coming up that way. And then the big stations are more risk averse, so they they’re going to go with the names that people recognize as opposed to giving someone coming out of college a chance. I think it starts there because when you go to colleges, there are going to be people from all different backgrounds and whether they’re white, African-American, Hispanic, Muslim, there will be all sorts of different people and that’s how you become more diverse.

But the Hispanic thing to me is fascinating.  I get it in a market where there’s not very many Hispanics, but when I was doing local radio in Miami, a city where 50% of its demographics are Hispanic, there were three Hispanic hosts on the air when I was there for a long, long time. It was me, Dan Le Batard and Orlando Alzugary.  That’s ridiculous! In L.A. we could do a better job of that as well.

And by the way, I’m talking about the spoken word format because I do think FM stations do a nice job of being diverse, particularly on the younger formats.  But it starts by going to the local colleges and finding kids that want do this for a living and grooming them, and I bet you there’s plenty of them. We need to do better with people of color in general.

BC: It’s great that there are so many platforms and ways to get started in the business with college radio stations and podcasts.  There are certainly opportunities for people to have their voices heard and it also creates the opportunity for management to find those people as you pointed out. But are the opportunities for people to climb within the industry there?  I’ve compared it to the NFL – there are plenty of people of color that are hired as assistants and scouts, but how many of them actually get the opportunity to advance to head coaching or general manager positions?

JS: Yeah, you’ve hit the nail on the head.  That’s the unfortunate reality that we live in, but until people are willing to take more risks and by the way, teach!

When I was coming up in radio 20 years ago, people taught me! Now you’re expected to step right in and do the job. You have to coach people and that goes for hosts too. I have two producers, both African-American and I’m very proud of that and I look at those guys and I knew them a little bit, but I have to coach them to do things the way that I like and do things the way that allows me to be as successful as possible, and they’ve been great about it.

And coaching has nothing to do with the diversity question, but we don’t coach people.  Whether it’s management or hosts, we expect people to do the job and expect them to know how we want it done.  It’s important to explain to people, ‘Hey, here’s the method behind the madness. Let’s just do it this way. Is that cool with you?’ Most people in this business want to keep growing and they’ll accept coaching because they know that the product will be better for it.

BC: Is there a specific person you could call out that helped teach you along the way?

JS: Yea, it’s definitely a variety of people.  I’ve been in contact with so many great people over the years, I could go through a million who have helped me.  The first person who hired me was Manny Munoz and he works at a news/talk station in Miami, WIOD, but he was the person that taught me what it was like to work hard when I didn’t know anything. I did everything; I ran a board, updates, I hosted and all of that is important and having someone there to show you the ropes is important.

Throughout the years, so many different people at ESPN helped me grow and I like to pass that along and help others. One of my proudest moments is the fact that a lot of the guys that I’ve worked with that produced my shows have gone on to bigger things.  The guy who produced my last iteration of my Miami shows, Andy King, he’s a Director of Sports Programming at Sirius now.

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What are the people you’ve worked with doing?  How have you helped them get better? To me, that’s as big of a legacy as anything.  I don’t recall anyone ever reaching out to me or pulling me aside to chat for a couple of minutes and I wasn’t able to give them my time. I had so many people that helped me along the way so I make it a point that if a kid reaches out to me via email or at an event and asks me questions, I absolutely go out of my way to talk to them for as long as time allows me to.

I don’t have a magic elixir or formula as to how it’s going work for everybody. Everybody’s situation is unique and different, but I always feel like you need to pay it forward.

BC: I know you’re unable to attend because of an ESPN assignment, but how important is it for programmers and people in the sports radio to attend conferences like the upcoming BSM Summit?

JS: It’s important for the programmers to get together, to listen to talent, to be able to interact with some of the younger talent and see how their line of thinking has evolved and it allows programmers to evolve too.  It also allows the talent the opportunity to explain to people how it is that they do their work, which then allows people to see there are different methods to the madness.

The way I prepare for and execute a show is different than the way Colin Cowherd or Dan Le Batard does. It allows people to share their own ideas on how they decide to go about it and how they see the business moving forward, both from a content perspective and a business perspective. Sharing ideas is always a good thing and we should be doing more of it.

BC: We obviously hit on a couple of important issues in sports radio, but what do you hope gets addressed at the BSM Summit?

JS: I think the two things that need to be addressed are diversity and the coaching of talent, producers and everyone under the employ of a programmer.

Local radio stations need to reflect the community.  If the community is diverse, then the station needs to reflect that diversity because it will only help your radio station build a stronger community of listeners. It will grow from a listenership perspective, the audience will grow, the ratings will grow, the revenue will grow and all of that matters.

And if we don’t reflect the community, then I think you’re really missing out on the big picture.  You’re there to service a community, and if you’re going to do it, you should do it right.

Brandon Contes is a freelance writer for BSM. He can be found on Twitter @BrandonContes. To reach him by email click here.

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Day Spent With: The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz

“What a beautiful gift to have the ability to make something that is about you; your imaginations; your principles and have it reach and imprint someone else.”

Derek Futterman

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Day Spent With – The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz

We’ve reached the end of BSM’s ‘Day Spent With‘ series. I hope you’ve enjoyed reading these pieces as much as we’ve enjoyed creating them for you. I want to thank all of the brands, companies, and professionals who made time for Derek Futterman during the past two months. None of these projects work without help from a lot of quality people.

Our goal from the start of this series was to shine a light on what a day entails inside each workplace. Whether folks work in radio, digital, television, voiceover/imaging, media buying or management, consistent success can not be achieved if all departments aren’t working in sync. Fortunately, we’ve got a lot of good ones continuing to raise the bar across the sports media industry.

To close things out, we sent Derek to South Beach to spend a full day with The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz. My thanks to Dan, and the entire crew for making time for us. I also want to thank Bimal Kapadia for putting the wheels in motion. We don’t travel a lot for projects, but when this idea came up, I thought it’d be a great way to put a bow on an awesome series. I’m sure as you read the piece, you’ll agree that it offers a great peek into life on the pirate ship. I just hope Derek didn’t bring home an eye patch or lose a hand in the process.

Jason Barrett

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A loud bell rings two minutes before the top of the hour, signifying to all those within the facilities that the show is about to begin. This tone, albeit fleeting in its duration, has a resonance that rings true throughout the entirety of The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz, but it is hardly the catalyst for the natural energy and congeniality exhibited inside the studio walls. There is a calculated verve and mental calmness that permeates the space combined with an inherent awareness of the expectations and commitment to its audience.

Although there are elements of improvisation and joviality within the three-and-a-half hour show, hosts and contributors do not simply enter the studio without a plan. Personnel arrive at the Meadowlark Media studios in Miami in two waves with a cognizance of news across a variety of topics. In an office space with the Port of Miami and Kaseya Center visible in the distance, the cast brainstorms potential talking points and informs those involved in audio and video production of any content they might need. Of course, part of the job is also remaining prepared for a deviation off script depending on the discussion percolating or breaking news off which to react.

Co-hosts Dan Le Batard and Jon “Stugotz” Weiner have been working together for nearly two decades, first at 790 The Ticket in Miami. The local version of the show quickly flourished through its blend of sports and other worldly discussion. There have been several different permutations over the years. Consistent through it all is knowing and accepting their roles, and embracing the sublime to the ridiculous, while enjoying content selection freedom.

“I would say that we’re following our curiosities, so I want the show to have range, but I’m going to say [it is] a sports show in costume; a sports show in disguise,” Le Batard said. “I want it to be about other things and it also has sports, but I don’t want it to be limited as a sports show.”

Le Batard and his team do not hesitate to address divisive issues head on, adopting a direct approach rather than espousing their opinions in a indirect manner. There is both deliberate and indirect self-effacing comedy within the show, which begins with a “Local Hour” broadcast streamed live on YouTube weekday mornings at 9am ET.

Consumers wait for the countdown to commence to showtime, which is set to a pulsating theme song with its wide array of cast members engaging in different activities around the facility. Conversely, Weiner is stuck in Miami traffic trying to arrive at the studio on time and dashes through the door to arrive just on time. Abstaining from the pre-show meeting, however, is usually part of the plan in how he executes his infamous “Stugotz” character that has been cultivated for nearly two decades.

“In terms of what’s going to be thrown at me, I really have no idea, and there are many, many times I don’t know what my response is going to be to some of the topics of the day until it’s actually asked to me by Dan,” Weiner said. “I’d rather just not know where I’m going to go and just go with my gut.”

On this particular version of the program, Weiner is not in the studio and in the midst of taking vacation. Miami Herald sports columnist Greg Cote is live for his weekly appearance on the program in a tradition that has become a favorite among colleagues and listeners. Le Batard opens on a somber note, discussing the sudden collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, disclosing that the program was not going to show the video of the incident.

Cote believed that the video should be shown one time just as it is any calamity, prompting Le Batard to explain his opinion on how the footage will likely be promulgated by the internet. The program then moves on to discuss Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs, who had his properties raided by authorities as part of a federal investigation pertaining to sexual assault, sex trafficking, firearms and illegal narcotics.

Over the years, industry professionals have frequently associated the word ‘pontificate’ with Le Batard, referring to how he expresses himself and often spans beyond sports. During his time at ESPN, the program had to clear certain creative elements or segment ideas with upper management. Many people began to foresee a split between Le Batard and ESPN approaching, and that resolution was eventually reached. Le Batard thinks critically and objectively about different topics, outlining his opinions about various matters on the air, and he always desired the ability to possess more creative control.

“Our show is just meant as an audio experience in a family-like environment, creating laughter and weirdness and pretending like it doesn’t know a lot of people are watching,” Le Batard said. “That needs to be protected, and we’ve thrown a lot of change at it.”

In the last several years alone, the program has enacted alterations in its process pertaining to the studio, cast members, clock, visual elements and start time. At the same time, Le Batard’s brother, David, was battling brain cancer and later passed away, but he did not want to give his audience the vulnerability associated with the hardship. Le Batard considers the creative process to be sacred and values the intimacy of their communication medium.

“I allow our most passionate fans to have strong opinions that make me reconsider mine,” Le Batard said. “I like a community that has sparks in it even if we get accused of being an echo chamber, but I would say that over the last couple of years, I have found fewer and fewer spaces where the criticism is constructive enough to be heard over all of the poisonous devices [and] rhetoric that is now internet spaces that are covered in acid and fire.”

When radio show producer Chris Cote was included in layoffs at ESPN in November 2020 without Le Batard’s knowledge, Le Batard immediately re-hired him as his assistant and offered to pay his salary. For Cote, the act was unsurprising because of Le Batard’s loyalty to his staff members and something he believed precipitated his exit from ESPN.

“That was an interesting time,” Cote recalled. “I would say I’ve made the joke on the air before that people like to blame me and say I’m the reason we left ESPN. I think what happened with me was the final straw that led to the divorce.”

Cote knew Le Batard from the time he was young since he worked with his father, Greg, at the Miami Herald. During those visits though, he did not realize Le Batard could one day be his boss. He now views it as funny that things ended up unfolding in this manner. Le Batard hosted this edition of the show with Greg Cote, someone he originally wanted as his partner on the air.

“If he and I had chosen to do the show with 20 years of reps, it would have felt like Larry David and the late Richard Lewis,” Le Batard said. “It would have been a chemistry because our friendship is real. It’s not borne of television; it’s not borne of broadcasting.”

“My dad brings that special sauce that Stugotz brings to the show where we’re talking about sports and then he says something, and the next thing we know, we’re spending 10 minutes just making fun of something he said,” Cote added. “My dad is like the gift that never stops giving. He’s just a gold mine for random stuff that has nothing to do with the conversation we’re trying to have, and he’s a content factory.”

The character of ‘Stugotz’ is not as much acting as it is an exaggerated version of who Weiner genuinely is in his life. On the show, he tries to represent how most people consume sports, affirming that Le Batard does it in a different manner. Part of his inspiration came from Christopher “Mad Dog” Russo, longtime radio host at WFAN and SiriusXM. Weiner believes that things clicked when he started to mock him rather than try and successfully facsimile his approach.

Part of the allure and mystique around ‘Stugotz’ is in his absences and fans not knowing when he will be on the show. As time has progressed, the character has appeared on other programs such as the God Bless Football and STUpodity podcasts, but he has long been synonymous as Le Batard’s sidekick who is relatable and intriguing. When he is missing from the program, the show rebrands its graphics to read “The Dan Le Batard Show without Stugotz” and plays off the aura of the personality.

“I wish it was my idea, I’m upset that it wasn’t my idea and this is the first I’m finding out about it,” Weiner said. “You’re telling me they do this every time I’m not there? Well two things – it shows, (a), how much attention I’m paying to the show when I’m not there, which is slightly less than I am when I am there, and No. 2 is my reaction to it. Me laughing is what makes our show our show. I’m pissed that I didn’t come up with the idea; I am proud of them for coming up with that idea and executing it. It’s laugh-out-loud funny.”

Le Batard and Stugotz broadcast their show facing a pane of transparent glass, behind which lies an addendum to the studio space. Chris Cote is part of the group within the “Shipping Container,” a room containing different producers and contributors who operate audio equipment, coordinate guest appearances and frequently contribute to the conversation. Both areas are adorned with artwork and sports memorabilia from the city of Miami. Mike Ryan (Ruiz) has been part of this labyrinth for several years, especially when he served as the show’s executive producer. In the present moment, this role is filled by several different personnel who rotate depending on schedule and show needs.

“The best shows are when there’s a lot of creative energy bouncing off one another [and] a lot of workshopping because this is basically a writers’ room where we trade off ideas and we try to figure out, ‘Who’s the best vessel for this joke?,’” Ryan said. “Sometimes we feed it to one of the talents; sometimes someone else says it here.”

Joining Ryan in the Shipping Container during this show were Billy Gil, JuJu Gotti and Anthony Calatayud. The live-streamed “Local Hour” is packed with topics and news the show discussed beforehand. Every hour of the program averages approximately 40 minutes on the podcast side and contains two breaks, each with a two-minute duration. Once the hour ends, Le Batard and the staff usually take a 15-minute intermission before resuming the show.

“We have a show that is kind of imperceptible when Dan isn’t driving a show,” Ryan said. “It’s this amorphous ensemble, and the trick is to not let anybody really know that there is a perceived leader – that it’s all just a free-flowing conversation – and I think that that’s a delicate balance that comes with time and developing chemistry.”

Gil was responsible for executive producing this edition of the show, running the audio board and coordinating with the television producers. When Le Batard mentioned Alan Thicke, Gil sifted through audio archives to track down something related to the topic. Additionally, he was taking notes to denote different titles and descriptions for segments geared to be released in podcast form.

“A lot of times, we’re trying to come up with jokes for Stugotz,” Gil said. “There’ll be days where naturally just bits will form, so then we’re getting sound for the bits; having voices done for the bits; kind of putting that together so there’s opens [and] closes. If a top-five or something comes up naturally, figuring out the top five. There’s a lot of in-show production and things going on that if you’re listening, we’ve gotten away with people being like, ‘Oh wow, that’s a lot of prep,’ and it’s like, ‘It happened on the fly.’”

Le Batard and former ESPN president John Skipper founded Meadowlark Media in 2021, a content studio with a wide array of programming and partnerships spanning sports and entertainment. The move was liberating to many show members and has been built out through The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz and other programs available in both audio and video formats. Le Batard’s show in particular has significantly expanded the staff situated within its Shipping Container with young and dynamic talent.

JuJu Gotti, for example, landed the job as the show’s social media manager through a friendship he forged with Ryan. Gotti gained attention when he revealed to Mike Golic and Trey Wingo that he had a tattoo of Greg Cote and was later featured on the program. Even though he does not live in the area, Gotti travels to the city once every two weeks where he provides his opinions and monitors social media platforms. Later in the day, Gotti participates in several meetings with the Miami-based Meadowlark Media team and continues his other work.

“I look at it like it’s a blessing to wake up every day, so anything beyond that is triple exciting because the people who are in the Shipping Container with me [are] not necessarily bad people at all,” Gotti said. “I enjoy hanging with them and talking to them, so it feels wonderful.”

After working as a video producer for Sports Illustrated, Jessica Smetana joined Meadowlark Media in its early stages and is on the verge of her third year with the company. Growing up as a devoted fan of ESPN and Le Batard’s program, she understands that there are diversified interests and opinions. Smetana does not hesitate to present her perspectives on different matters, such as the demise of Sports Illustrated amid uncertainty towards its future with a change in publishers.

“I don’t want to regret not saying what’s on my mind a month from now when I see a bunch of my friends out of jobs,” Smetana explained, “so I think it just comes from not wanting to hold anything back when some of those topics come up.”

Meadowlark Media and DraftKings agreed to a distribution deal in 2021 where The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz, along with programs across the “Le Batard & Friends Network” are disseminated to a variety of different outlets. Ninety minutes of Le Batard’s show airs live on DraftKings Network every day as part of a two-hour programming block, the final 30 minutes of which is a replay of selected material from earlier in the show.

Within the ensuing hours of the show, which includes interviews with journalists Jemele Hill and Tim Kurkjian, Le Batard poses interview questions to his guests surrounding current events and new projects. The show also welcomes Amin Elhassan to the studio, who occasionally fills in as a host while also growing his Oddball podcast.

Le Batard, Cote and Elhassan are in the main studio and speak with those in the “Shipping Container” through the glass. Weiner believes the wide array of voices and perspectives keeps the show young and relevant as he and Le Batard continue to grow older. In watching the show evolve over time, Le Batard evinces that the new cast members coerce the audience to face unpredictability and leads to the show deviating from doing things in the exact same ways as it had previously.

As the newest member of the program, Lucy Rohden splits her time between the Shipping Container and reporting around the country. She was recently in Iowa covering the first round of the NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Tournament, including watching her alma mater Iowa Hawkeyes and star guard Caitlin Clark.

“I found that traveling and creating content on the road is what I enjoy doing most, and so if that means sacrificing time on the show to get to do that, that’s sort of worth it for me,” Rohden said. “But it’s still something I’m balancing and learning how to do, and it’s something that the show is also balancing and learning how to incorporate because they haven’t really had an on-the-road correspondent before, so it’s still a work in progress, but lots of caffeine.”

Smetana and Rohden are the only two women who are in the Shipping Container. They have developed a friendship while working together. When Rohden first joined the show, Smetana helped her assimilate into the program and a new city. Both realized how important it is to include women on the show, especially with the proliferation of women’s sports.

“It’s always disheartening for me when I’m watching a sports show and I’m looking for someone who looks like me or who I relate to,” Rohden said, “and so I think it’s really great for (1), just rounding out the show, and Jess is unbelievably funny and talented, and I believe I do the same.”

“Obviously women’s sports has exploded in the last five years and it continues to explode, and I think there’s still a huge number of really popular sports shows in the U.S. that don’t have any women on them, which I think is crazy,” Smetana added. “But I still think even though I’m on the show now, we obviously could still do better.”

Part of the allure of the program for Weiner is in the unknown of who will be in the Shipping Container on a given day. The show has several contributors and content creators who follow changing schedules, and many of them partake in other projects both related to and outside of Meadowlark Media. Roy Bellamy, for example, started working with the program as an intern at 790 The Ticket and has been involved through various iterations over the years.

During the show, Bellamy focuses on his work and carefully selects when he will speak. A passion for hockey has led him to create a new podcast, titled The Hockey Show, which he recently debuted with co-host David Dwork. While Bellamy reviews metrics and other performance-related information, being able to interact with the fans and hear their opinion on the show is meaningful and keeps him motivated.

“I would say there are a lot of people that come up to us on the street and tell us just how much their lives have been bettered or change or how they got through issues, such as the pandemic, just based on listening to our show,” Bellamy said, “so the impact is there, and the impact is felt and it’s huge.”

Unlike a preponderance of live radio shows, the program does not usually implement callers and instead reviews messages in chat rooms or on social media during the episode. Those in the studio and Shipping Container can communicate with one another through microphone talkback and/or between segments, allowing them to integrate different show components in real time. In Las Vegas, members of the show stayed afterwards for a meet-and-greet session with the audience, providing them a chance to thank their fans. The experience resonated with producer Anthony Calatayud, who recognizes how the show has withstood internal and external changes to realize widespread societal acceptance.

“I think the personal touch in the community that the show has created with people that don’t know each other from all different parts of the globe – that they’re able to sit down and be like, ‘Oh, you get the show? Perfect, I get the show too,’ and have a camaraderie about that is something that can’t be measured with numbers, with money or with anything like that,” Calatayud said. “I think the impact of that is lasting.”

As the show reaches its conclusion within its postgame hour, it continues its ‘March Sadness’ bracket by reviewing entries within the ‘Greg Cote division.’ Preceding this segment was a review of a basketball take from ESPN host Mike Greenberg and another version of ‘Back in My Day’ with Greg Cote.

Once everyone involved in the show emerges from the studio and subsequent control rooms, there are more meetings to be had throughout the day about new content ideas, initiatives and other business matters. Audio and video editors are simultaneously diligently working around the office to deliver the final product en masse. Jeremy Taché is the primary audio editor for the program and also contributes within the Shipping Container a few days per week.

“I have to stay focused on the show every day and plugged in, whether I’m on the air or not,” Taché outlined. “I also write our titles and descriptions for our podcast episodes, so I’m always kind of trying to think, ‘What are the biggest jokes? What are the ones that landed?’”

The Meadowlark Media facility in Miami has an additional production studio that is used to record various podcasts and other audiovisual content. There are days where the studios are packed with shows moving in and out, whereas other afternoons are relatively quiet in terms of new productions.

Meadowlark Media has offices in New York City as well, and signed deals with companies to continue moving into the content space. The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz, for example, is available to stream on Max with the B/R Sports Add-On. All The Smoke Productions also agreed to a strategic content partnership with the company for its flagship podcast hosted by former NBA players Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson.

“We all dream-build over here at Meadowlark, and we’re hoping that it can go to really, really impressive places,” Ryan said. “I don’t mean to sound like we haven’t already accomplished some pretty impressive things so far. The company is growing in great ways, and adding All The Smoke, those are two really reputable talents that give us something in our locker that we didn’t really have before – players’ perspective and a real, true name that you can put up in the marquee there next to Dan’s show.”

Weiner believes that his time on the show is finite, asserting that he does not believe he or Le Batard will want to continue in their sixties. Projecting outward, they want to ensure they provide a professional working environment where employees can create and thrive in the job they want. There exists a possibility where they could one day take over the show, which will be moving to a new location in a few years. For now though, everyone involved is trying to enjoy the ride and help precipitate continued growth.

“I’ve always said the key to our show is Dan’s happiness,” Weiner conveyed. “He’s the straw that stirs the drink, and so in an odd way as frustrating as I can be and as frustrated as I make him, he’s a creature of habit, and having me next to him makes him more comfortable, and I think he would probably acknowledge that. Our staff knows how to produce me in a way that they don’t know how to produce anybody because they’ve been doing it for 20 years.”

“What a beautiful gift to have the ability to make something that is about you; your imaginations; your principles and have it reach and imprint someone else,” Le Batard said. “To be able to express yourself freely is something that my parents fled Cuba so that their kids would have the ability to be a writer in one case, and in the case of my late little brother, an artist. Freedom of expression and freedom in general is why I live in this country.”

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‘NHL on TNT’ Gives Hockey Fans the ‘NBA on TNT’ Treatment

Watching Albert and Olczyk call a hockey game is like watching Picasso paint and da Vinci sculpt. They are masters of their respective crafts.

John Molori

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NHL on TNT studio

Let’s play a little word association, sports media style. If I say TNT, what is your response? Chances are it will be a three-letter abbreviation of your own, namely, NBA. Over the years, TNT has built a reputation as arguably the premiere network to telecast the National Basketball Association.

The NBA on TNT pregame and halftime shows have become the gold standard with stars like Ernie Johnson, Jr., Kenny Smith, Charles Barkley, and Shaquille O’Neal. Still, it’s not just this quartet of roundball royalty that has fortified TNT’s hoops coverage.

The rep was also built on tremendous play-by-play announcers like Bob Neal and Kevin Harlan, color analysts like Doug Collins and Reggie Miller, and courtside reporters like the late Craig Sager and current sideline star Allie LaForce.

Indeed, TNT and the NBA have become synonymous, but I have some news for you. This network is not just about professional basketball. This past week I went off the grid with TNT looking at their in-game and studio coverage of the NHL.

On March 24, the NHL on TNT provided coverage of the Pittsburgh Penguins at Colorado Avalanche matchup. Kenny Albert did play-by-play with Eddie Olczyk on color. Albert is not as noted as his legendary broadcasting father Marv Albert, but he has certainly staked his claim as one of the best in the business – able to cross over to multiple sports with equal aplomb.

Hockey is a strong suit for Albert. His rat-tat-tat, drama-building style draws viewers in and keeps us on the edge of our seats. Similarly, Olczyk is one of the top four or five NHL game analysts in the business. His style is understated, providing calm and clear analysis of key plays. They work really well together.

Albert eschews any kind of hackneyed and trite catch phrases for his goal calls. An emphatic, “He shoots and scores!” is plenty enough.

Hockey is a different beast when it comes to play-by-play. Unlike basketball, baseball, football, or even soccer and tennis, there is a minimum of breaks in the action. With hockey, a play-by-play announcer has to know the names of the players like he or she knows her kids’ names.

To me, it is the hardest sport for play-by-play and equally difficult for a color analyst. In basketball, after a team scores, the play-by-play announcer will keep silent and give the color analyst time to talk until the play crosses center court. In baseball and football, there is ample room for commentary.

Hockey does not offer such space, but Olczyk gets the most out of the minimal amount of time. Watching Albert and Olczyk call a hockey game is like watching Picasso paint and da Vinci sculpt. They are masters of their respective crafts.

Coming back from a break in the game, Albert and Olczyk provided on air commentary and then tossed to ice level reporter Brian Boucher who has grown into a tremendous asset to the TNT broadcasts. Boucher provided real talk about Colorado’s objectives of staying on top of their division and vying for the top seed in the Western Conference.

The Penguins, squarely in a rebuilding year having dumped talent at the NHL trade deadline, surprisingly jumped out to a 2–0 lead in this game, and the TNT between periods studio crew was all over it. The excellent Liam McHugh hosted alongside Colby Armstrong, Anson Carter, and Keith Yandle.

Armstrong was especially entertaining. With Pittsburgh outshooting the Avs 16-4, Armstrong noted that it’s the best he’s seen Pittsburgh play in a long time. His reasoning was that teams get geared up for playing Colorado even if it’s out of fear. Great stuff.

Both teams tallied two goals in the second period giving Pittsburgh a 4-2 lead heading into the final frame. When Colorado’s Nathan MacKinnon set up Jonathan Drouin for a goal to make it 4-3, Albert and Olczyk showed their strengths.

Albert called the pass from MacKinnon and one-timer goal from Drouin, and immediately noted that MacKinnon now had a point in all 34 of Colorado’s home games this season. On the goal replay, Olczyk showed how the play developed pointing out how McKinnon allowed Pittsburgh’s Evgenii Malkin to come in close before making the past to Drouin.

The TNT production team then showed a graphic displaying that McKinnon is now second all-time in longest home points streaks trailing only Wayne Gretzky. This was a sublime sequence of symmetry between talent and technicians like a songwriter, musician, and singer creating beautiful music.

What was supposed to be a blowout win for Colorado had now become a hockey barn burner, and the TNT crew was up to the task. Every goal and key play was followed up with replays from multiple angles showing the genesis of the action.

TNT has certainly taken to the velocity of the hockey broadcast with movement that challenges directors, graphics professionals, and videographers.

When there were breaks in this non-stop action, Olczyk was at his best. No hockey analyst draws on his experience as a player and explains that experience better to viewers. The TNT broadcast also lets Boucher freewheel and join in the flow of discussion without having to be introduced.

TNT does not merely rely on the traditional wide shot of the entire rink. We see close-up shots of each goaltender after a great save and the sweat of players on the bench or in the penalty box.

When McKinnon tied the game at 4-4 with 4:38 left in the third period, we got a series of tremendous crowd shots showing the Colorado fans going absolutely berserk. The sage Albert and Olczyk wisely remained quiet for several seconds, letting the cheers do the talking.

When Drouin scored the game winner at 4:06 of overtime, Albert exercised controlled enthusiasm, raising his voice on the call of the goal, but not becoming the show and overshadowing the play itself. He is definitely in the mold of Dan Kelly, Gary Thorne, and Sean McDonough, announcers who enhance but do not supersede the game.

Putting a cherry on top of this hockey Sunday, TNT showed a graphic that the Avalanche now led the NHL in comeback wins this season with 25 and that they were riding a 9-game winning streak. In analyzing the goal, Olczyk opined that the altitude of playing in Colorado was prevalent as the Penguins seemed to tire as the game progressed – really interesting insight.

In the postgame show, Anson Carter made a great point that the chemistry between Drouin and MacKinnon stems from the fact that they have been playing together going back to junior hockey. McKinnon joined in from the arena for a postgame interview. The analysts asked solid questions and even did a funny MVP chant together as the interview ended.

The NHL on TNT takes no back seat to its elder NBA sister. The broadcast provides viewers with flash, dash, and serious hockey talk from every angle – in studio, from the broadcast booth, and on the ice.

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How to Help Your Clients with Low Website Conversions

Don’t assume there isn’t enough traffic; focus on optimizing user engagement once visitors arrive on the site.

Jeff Caves

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Graphic for how to increase website conversions
Credit: WPDesigner.Biz

Are your clients dealing with low website conversions? Whenever a marketing campaign is run, and the goal is to convert website visitors into leads, the temptation is to blame low traffic, amongst other issues, for low form fills or appointments being generated.  Just spend more money, you may think! Sometimes, you must look at at least four other potential issues to tackle poor conversion rates. Here are some actionable steps using the IT services industry to increase website conversions.

IT Solutions specializes in providing products, services, or solutions related to technology, particularly in areas such as software development, hardware sales, IT consulting, cybersecurity, cloud computing, networking, and digital transformations. They faced challenges with their website conversions. Despite driving substantial traffic through Google Ads and other SEO tactics, they struggled to convert website visitors into form fills for appointment requests. A 2% to 5% conversion rate could be considered reasonable. Of course, conversion rates can vary based on various factors, such as the competitiveness of the local market, the quality of the website (and radio stations help most to fix that) and its user experience, the effectiveness of marketing campaigns, and the reputation and offerings of the IT solutions business. Focusing on improving the quality of leads and providing exceptional customer service can be just as crucial as achieving high conversion rates. Don’t blame EVERYTHING on the marketing tactics! 

The Diagnosis

Upon thorough analysis, several critical issues were identified with IT Solutions’ website:

1. High Bounce Rate: Nobody was checking out the business. If 70% or more of website visitors only visit the landing page, that is an issue.  It could be slow loading times, irrelevant content, poor user experience, or unclear calls-to-action that prevent them from wanting to know more about IT Solutions. You can check the bounce rate on the Google Analytics page for the website in the left-hand sidebar, click on “Behavior” to expand the menu, then click on “Site Content,” and finally, click on “Landing Pages.” You’ll see a list of landing pages and their respective bounce rates.

2. Complex Navigation: It was hard to move around the website to find relevant information about IT services, and it was unclear who they were initiating contact with and for what purpose.

3. Unclear Calls-to-Action (CTAs): The website lacked clear and compelling CTAs guiding visitors toward requesting an appointment. Simply stating “click here for an appointment” is like asking for a meeting whenever or without establishing value. Here are 28 CTAs for free.

4. Lengthy Forms: The appointment forms were long, without qualifying information, and requested excessive information upfront, deterring potential leads from completing them.

Action Plan

1. Optimize Landing Pages:

   – Redo high-traffic landing pages with clear messaging and compelling CTAs.

   – Showcase IT Solutions’ services as benefits, making it easier for users to request appointments, thereby increasing user engagement and conversions.

2. Simplify Navigation:

   – Reorganize the menu and add more action-oriented links.

   – Provide additional options for users to access relevant information, such as “Get a free IT Solutions 15-point checkup NOW” and “Take this 5-question survey to diagnose your IT issues,” motivating them to book appointments.

3. Enhance CTAs:

   – Utilize concise and persuasive messaging throughout the website.

   – Encourage visitors to take action, whether requesting a free download about “5 things you can do to solve your IT issues on your own” or “get a free pizza for booking an appointment.”

4. Improve the Form Fill:

   – Add a further line about the number of employees who qualify for incoming leads.

   – Highlight the value of leads based on company size, prioritizing forms with higher potential impact.

Review landing pages, navigation, CTAs, and form experience to address website conversion issues. Don’t assume there isn’t enough traffic; focus on optimizing user engagement once visitors arrive on the site.

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