Testing...Testing...

I was recently interviewed for an article on lonelybrand.com about Facebook Optimization for mobile platforms, something I'm very passionate about.  One of the things I said was:

Mark Edwards, Managing General Partner at Mark Edwards Worldwide concurs, “I believe in testing, and then testing again, so what I do for most of my Facebook posts is post them so that I can only see them before they go live for the public. Then I look at them on a laptop computer, desktop, Android phone, iPhone, iPad, and two Android tablets. If I can’t see the post the way I want it to look on all those devices, I fix it and go through the same proof. If it looks right, I delete the test post and let the real post go when its time to go live. Nothing beats testing, and while this takes a little time, it makes for the best quality posts possible.”

I live by that mantra because nothing is worse for a marketer than working like crazy on a campaign and then having people not be able to see it.  Just this morning, I found a perfect example of that problem.  I got a well produced e-mail from The Cheesecake Factory saying I could win up to $250 in gift cards in their "Cheesecake Madness" promotion on Facebook.  Now, I'm not one to turn down free cheesecake (although I personally prefer Eli's Cheesecake from Chicago) so I gave the link in the e-mail a click and found myself on the contest page.  And this is what I saw for about five minutes.

THE EVIL SPINNING "LOADING" CIRCLE.  I use Chrome as my main browser, and for whatever reason, this contest page doesn't play well with Chrome.  The kids on the Interwebz call that a FAIL.

I don't know if the good people at the Cheesecake Factory or Socialtyze (who is credited with designing the page) did the right amount of testing, if my browser is somehow blocking the contest page (which it shouldn't as I have it set to let just about everything short of a virus or launch code load) or what the problem was. All I know is that as a consumer, I couldn't play the game and I'm kind of bummed.

Was this a testing problem?  Maybe.  Was it avoidable? Probably.  Would very thorough testing on different browsers, platforms, OS's, and devices have prevented the user experience I had?  Most likely.

I'll say what those who work with Mark Edwards Worldwide have heard me say over and over, TEST AND TEST AGAIN.  It's well worth the time to make sure what you post, especially on platforms you don't control like Facebook, render and work the way you want them to.

By the way, I just checked the page in the screenshot above.  The little "loading" circle is still spinning.  Ugh.

The New Website Is Here! The New Website Is Here!

With all due respect, copyright acknowledgement, and thanks to Steve Martin from "The Jerk", this is kind of how I feel today.  The All New Mark Edwards Worldwide Website is here!  Not right HERE, but HERE at http://markedwardsworldwide.com.

After helping get clients' websites and online presence all set up, I decided to design a new website from the ground up.  You'll find information about Mark Edwards Worldwide's services, links to many wondrous things on the Interwebz, multiple ways to contact me, and much more.

Please drop on by, leave a comment if you like, and let your friends and associates know that if they want to shine online, Mark Edwards Worldwide is ready to help them!

My whole family thanks you.

Mark Edwards Worldwide Client Tesh Media Group Completes Development Of New TV Show

One of Mark Edwards' biggest projects at the Tesh Media Group was taking the company into the world of Branded Content and online video. This week, the Tesh Media Group announced they had completed development of the "Intelligence For Your Life" TV show, set to air in the Fall of 2014.

Many of the concepts in the show were developed by Mark Edwards and are now available to clients through Mark Edwards Worldwide. Below is the official Tesh Media release on their new TV show.

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The TeshMedia Group has now completed the final development phase of its fall 2014 strip “Intelligence for Your Life,” the new half hour daily, syndicated TV program designed as a local news companion. The unique slate of programming features former Entertainment Tonight host John Tesh in his return to television, actress Connie Sellecca, host of the Intelligence for Your Health Radio Show, and millennial expert Gib Gerard. The hosts highlight top headlining news stories through a unique, personalized life coaching approach with branded content and experts in key health and wellness, finance, dating and relationship, and personal legal advice categories. Find out more at: Intelligenceforyourlife.com

“We’ve had a chance to prove this content-curation concept with millions of our fans and with national brands over the past 12 years”

“Intelligence for Your Life” is part of the “Intelligence For” brand and trademark (health, relationships, pets, kids, money, etc.) that Tesh and Sellecca first created for Tesh’s wildly popular radio show by the same name, which continues to grow rapidly, holding a weekly cume of 8.2 million avid listeners.

“We’ve had a chance to prove this content-curation concept with millions of our fans and with national brands over the past 12 years,” says Tesh. “Now we’ve developed a unique way to not only entertain viewers with ‘news they can use,’ but we’ve also become adept at crafting ‘native advertising’ for our brand partners. National and local advertisers can now travel along with these ‘intelligent’ tips as they continue into the digital universe.”

TeshMedia has numerous Fortune 500 clients, including Walmart, Home Depot, Macy’s, Kohl’s, Geico Insurance, PetSmart and Toys R Us.

For more information on John Tesh, Connie Sellecca and TeshMedia, please visit Tesh.com.

Mark Edwards was honored to be part of the Launch Team for this show and wishes everyone in the Tesh Media Group the very best as they prepare for a daily show. In the meantime, you can see video segments from the show at IntelligenceForYourLife.com.

Leading Social Media Blogger Says "Hire Mark Edwards"

One of the most listened to voices in the Social Media world belongs to Sarah Evans and her blog Sarah's Faves.  Sarah has become a leading Social Media thinker and has just joined the company Trackly as Chief Evangelist.  She's well known in Public Relations and Social Media circles as an innovator, big thinker, and one of the best and brightest in the online world. Sarah handpicked three people who should be working in Social Media or Public Relations and posted their stories on her blog.  I was honored to be one of the three people she thinks should be hired, and here's what she had to say about me and my work.

Name: Mark Edwards

How to Create Real Relationships With Social Marketing http://t.co/4DfHaWst

June 19, 2012 7:57 pm via iftttReplyRetweetFavorite

@markedwards

Mark Edwards

Twitter: @MarkEdwards Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/markedwardscubfan Blog: Markedwardsuncensored.com, Markedwardsworldwide.blogspot.com

Dream job title: Employee. I’m able to help in so many ways that I’ll let you, the employer, decide how I can help you best and what to call me. Three adjectives that describe you: experienced, innovative, connectedIf I’m hired by your organization I will: bring unmatched experience, knowledge, enthusiasm, and new levels of success to you.

What kind of  culture are you looking for? An environment that has energy, teamwork, and a culture of cooperation. I’ve worked in small offices, huge offices, and alone. The culture of the organization I join should foster creativity, no matter how many people are in the office.

What’s your most impressive professional accomplishment?  What about personal? Almost singlehandedly and secretly building and launching a brand new radio station, including a full suite of social media outposts and a marketing plan, in 18 days last year in Kansas City. Personally, I’m most proud of my three incredible sons. You can’t do anything more important than being a parent.

How many years experience do you have? 27 as a content creator, brand manager, and marketer using a score of traditional and new media resources.

Where should your ideal job be based? St. Louis, MO because it’s the best place I’ve ever lived to raise a family.

Are you willing to relocate? YES, Chicagoland would be my first choice, but I’ll go anywhere for the right job. I can also use the miracle of the Interwebz to work from World Headquarters in St. Louis.

Want to hire Mark? Email him at edwardsmark@gmail[.]com.

It's truly an honor to be recognized by a heavy hitter like Sarah, and yes, I'm available now for full time employment or project work through Mark Edwards Worldwide.   If you'd like to talk about how I can help your organization, please use any of the methods in Sarah's post to contact me.  You'll be glad you did!

John Tesh (of all people) erasing the line between streaming service and radio station

The following post is from The Music Meeting, my blog about music for grown ups.

I'm a huge believer that the future of music is mobile, whether it be listening in the car, on a smartphone, or on some kind of device that we haven't even thought of yet.

That being said, I'm very intrigued by a project John Tesh is working on in Los Angeles.  His radio show was carried on an FM station there, but it got taken off.  Rather than try to find another station, John decided to build his own "radio station" on the Internet, complete with streaming audio and mobile applications.  

The highly regarded Internet industry newsletter RAIN: Radio And Internet Newsletter asked me to write about the K-TeshLA project, and here in one handy place are all three parts of the story.  

What do you think?  Would you listen to something that sounds like a radio station even though its only online?  Your comments are welcome below!

RAIN Guest essay: John Tesh (of all people) erasing the line between streaming service and radio station

Mark Edwards is an award-winning radio programmer with experience at WLIT/Chicago, KOSI/Denver, KYKY, KEZK, and WVRV in St. Louis, and more. He's currently managing general partner of Mark Edwards Worldwide, his multi-disciplinary consulting practice.

There’s very little doubt that mobile and personalized content are the future of what is now radio, and in some cases that big tower in the corn field won’t even be part of a “radio station” in the not too distant future.

Multimedia content creator John Tesh may be among the first to see and act upon that future. He's put a radio station online that, in fact, isn’t a radio station or a streaming service; it’s both and neither at the same time. Last week, the entertainer launched K-TeshLA (see RAIN coverage here) a site that looks like a"best in class" local radio station site complete with a 24-hour streaming audio service as part of the package. The only difference between this site and most other Contemporary Christian radio stations is that there’s no traditional radio station connected to the site, just the stream.

(The site was launched the site after Tesh's syndicated radio show was dropped by Salem’s KFSH in Los Angeles. Heard daily on over 300 stations in the U.S. and Canada, Tesh wanted to make sure he was still reaching the important Los Angeles market, and so built what's ostensibly a complete online radio station.) 

The K-TeshLA site is completely localized for the Los Angeles market, right down to showing the local time and weather, working with local charities and churches, and doing actual contests, giving away $100 a day and a grand prize of an iPad. The station is building its own database of listeners, and has wasted no expense in designing an engaging website and high quality streaming player. Both the site and player have deep integration with Facebook, something not found at many FM or AM radio stations.

While the station doesn’t have a mobile site or streaming app yet, K-TeshLA is available on the TuneIn Radio application, and it looks and feels just like any broadcast property on the roster of TuneIn’s stations. Having that parity with traditional broadcast outlets is certainly one of the first steps to leveling out the playing field between stations that have a transmitter and those who are going directly for online and mobile listeners.

Listening to K-TeshLA, one wouldn’t know that it wasn’t a regular FM station. The stream features lots of music, IDs, and Tesh’s “Intelligence For Your Life” content repurposed from his terrestrial radio show, not to mention both national and local advertising.

The big question is, will a localized Internet-only radio station succeed in the world of AM and FM broadcasters and their continuing consolidation into apps like iHeartRadio? We’ll look at that in the next part of this essay.

RAIN Guest essay pt. 2: Can KTeshLA (and other "local" Internet radio) succeed?

Mark Edwards is an award-winning radio programmer with experience at WLIT/Chicago, KOSI/Denver, KYKY, KEZK, and WVRV in St. Louis, and more. He's currently managing general partner of Mark Edwards Worldwide, his multi-disciplinary consulting practice. This is Part 2 of his guest essay; read Part 1 here.

In yesterday’s RAIN, we looked at John Tesh’s hyper-localKTeshLA website and streaming service. Today, let’s tackle the question of how stations like KTeshLA and other locally targeted online only sites can be successful going forward.

John Tesh already has a radio show on more than 300 stations (he launched KTeshLA after losing his Los Angeles affiliate). His show was one of the higher-rated dayparts on KFSH in Los Angeles, so there was already a dedicated local audience for his content, and he was already producing material for his national show. Given Tesh’s recording, touring, writing, and other activities, generating cash from the online venture may not have been as much of a concern as it might be for a standalone business. Staying in touch with a community -- especially without the benefit of a bone-crushing terrestrial signal -- can be costly.

One of the most significant differences between Tesh’s site and the sites of other people trying to “make it” as web radio stars is that Tesh’s site looks great. It's as good as any AM or FM radio station site on the Internet. If anything, the site takes too much from radio stations in an effort to looklike a radio station as opposed to what it is: something between a radio station and a streaming service. While the site carries banner ads, it isn’t plastered with them hodgepodge like some other “web radio” sites.

Taking the time and spending the money to design a world-class website should be the first part of the plan for any webcaster. Clearly, the TeshMedia team considered the visual appeal of their product along with the sound, something rare in the world of webcasting. (Some of the ugliest websites I’ve seen over the last 15 years have been for air personalities putting a show or podcast on the web. They’re littered with banner ads, bad photos, and unusable navigation links.)

A significant expense for the local webcaster is for the stream itself. Beyond royalties and bandwidth costs, some kind of automation system needs to push out the content if it is a full-time format, even if it’s a podcast or constantly repeating three or four hour show. There are ways to do the automation inexpensively, but streaming should not be a bargain basement decision. Great quality, constant uptime, and full-time support are needed for a successful stream, and that costs money. The good news is there are new technologies on the horizon that will significantly lower the cost of streaming, and add personalization and ad-targeting to the stream, helping to generate more revenue.

The world is racing to a mobile, personalized, on-demand model for entertainment, and the opportunity for locally-targeted Internet-based stations is here. If the stations are done right, they’ll generate traffic and response for local advertisers. It can be done, and now is the time to get started on hyper-targeted projects like KTeshLA.

We'll wrap this up with some comments from the people behind KTeshLA and see how their station is performing.

RAIN Guest essay pt. 3: KTeshLA starts "writing the playbook" for radio stations without transmitters

Mark Edwards is an award-winning radio programmer with experience at WLIT/Chicago, KOSI/Denver, KYKY, KEZK, and WVRV in St. Louis, and more. He's currently managing general partner of Mark Edwards Worldwide, his multi-disciplinary consulting practice. This is Part 3 of his guest essay; read Part 1 here; Part 2 here.

Previously in this series, I looked at the differences and similarities between the online-only KTeshLA.com “radio station” and its terrestrial counterparts. Make no mistake about it: everyone working on this project sees it as a radio station without a transmitter, not a streaming channel, a supplemental service of some kind, or anything else.

“John told me he wanted KTeshLA to be like a regular radio station,” said Chris Shannon, Program Director. “We’re adding more to it every day and treating it like a radio station.” That’s evident by listening, online or through mobile aggregator TuneIn. (The station recently launched its own mobile apps for iOS and Android, but I found the listening experience on TuneIn to be far superior to the Triton Digital-provided Android app.)

Clearly, KTeshLA is a work in progress; the streaming player lacks artist and title information, for example. But the concept of running a real “radio station” and doing it "direct-to-consumer" -- as in without a transmitter, corporate ownership, or the expense of all of that -- is incredibly attractive to content providers like John Tesh and his TeshMedia Group.

A direct-to-consumer, online- and mobile-optimized radio station could be used for a myriad of purposes: to target a single locale (like KTeshLA), to use technology to serve ads to mobile listenersbased on their location (whether they’re listening to a locally targeted station or a national service), or to serve specific niche audiences (once the dream of HD Radio).

KTeshLA has a direct format competitor in Southern California: Tesh’s former home, Salem’s KFSH-FM. This raises the question of if, and when, KTeshLA will begin a marketing effort to lure listeners away from their FM competition. Once that happens (and assuming Arbitron is encoding the streams of the online station), the real power of a local radio station without a transmitter might be seen for the first time.

Los Angeles, after all, has a significant number of Pandora listeners, and a huge amount of mobile listening. KTeshLA is poised to take advantage of Angelenos' comfort with listening to mobile "radio." Whether it takes months or years, the station could be among the first to be on par with traditional radio. Developments like the "connected dashboard," streaming aggregation applications, and the growing trend among consumers to perceive anything that makes noise on a computer or mobile device is "radio" may make acceptance and adoption of services like KTeshLA easy... perhaps even easier than launching a new format on FM. 

While it may seem odd to call John Tesh a “trailblazer,” his project in Los Angeles may serve as one of the early instances of direct-to-listener "broadcasting."

Who Is Mark Edwards And How Can He Help You?

I was speaking with a potential client yesterday and she asked me to describe myself.  I did, and it made me think that there's another way to describe who I am and what I've done and can do.  So, here for our viewing pleasure is the Official Mark Edwards Word Cloud.

Get to know me better at http://www.markedwardsworldwide.com or http://about.me/markedwards!

World Radio Day And How The US Can Learn From The Rest Of The World

I ran across a post on the PBS Mediashift Idea Lab blog that told me something that I did not know.  UNESCO, part of he United Nations, has declared February 13th to be World Radio Day.  On their website, here's what they say about radio:

The World Radio Day seeks raise awareness about the importance of radio, facilitate access to information through radio and enhance networking among broadcasters.
Radio has to be recognized as a low cost medium, specifically suited to reach remote communities and vulnerable people: the illiterate, the disabled, women, youth and the poor, while offering a platform to intervene in the public debate, irrespective of people’s educational level. Furthermore, radio has a strong and specific role in emergency communication and disaster relief. There is also a changing face to radio services which, in the present times of media convergence, are taking up new technological forms, such as broadband, mobiles and tablets.  

The World Radio Day website, as well as the Idea Lab blog, wax poetic about how radio is important to most of the Earth's inhabitants, but not in the way that American broadcasters have changed the medium in our country.  Consider this from Amy O'Donnell, who wrote the Idea Lab post:

In an era where every revolution has a hashtag, we must remind ourselves that community radio has been a forum for collective dialogue for more than 100 years. By a generous estimate, Twitter has 500 million users. Juxtapose this with the 6 billion active mobile subscriptions and 95 percent of people who have access to the radio.

Radio is particularly important for those who aren't online or able to get a newspaper delivered. Radio requires minimal electricity (a negligible amount with a windup or solar radio) and tuning in is free. Applications using SMS with radio -- two of the world's most used platforms -- is proving that mobile technology has the power to create new possibilities by transforming radio from a one-way broadcast to a two-way dialogue with listeners.

She goes on in the post to talk about how radio and SMS messaging has revolutionized communication and community building around the world, especially in the poorest parts of the planet.  She speaks about how radio should be decentralized, how important it is for local communities to have control over what their people hear. And she talks at great length about how important radio is to the people who use it. If you are like me and still have any affection for radio, the post is a must read, and you can reach it by the link at the beginning of this paragraph.

I am not here to judge what has happened to American radio, that's something a historian but will do in the future and many are doing now.  I still have a deep passion for radio, and while my days of working inside of a radio station may be over, I still believe that radio is a vital communications and entertainment medium for millions of Americans.

The facts are the facts. What is a vital communications link to people all over the world is a business that needs to have a 50% margin in America. What is the only lifeline to billions of people who need it the most and is sometimes the only way for them to communicate with the world outside their community is an experiment in computer automation, centralization, and uniformity in our country.

I know that many of the people who run radio companies in America love radio as much as I do. and I know that radio has become a business that has to deliver a profit. I hope these CEOs can take a few minutes away from looking at the stock charts and dealing with their VC people and can take a cue from World Radio Day and think of ways they can make their properties just as important and relevant to listeners in America as thousands of radio stations are to people around the world.

Radio still means something to a lot of people. Regular people, poor people, rich people, people who are striving just to stay alive. I find the concept of World Radio Day to be inspirational, to show how important a century-old technology still is and can continue to be in the new digital world that we live in.

This is a case where you can have the best of both worlds. You just have to think of how to balance the need for profit with the need for serving the public interest, convenience, and necessity. It can be done, and it would be amazing if some initiatives to make it happen were in place by the first World Radio Day on February 13.


Related articles

• Datebook: February 13 - World Radio Day (thefrontblog.wordpress.com)
• UN set to celebrate first World Radio Day (vanguardngr.com)

Rare Video Cameo By Mark Edwards

First of all, let's get the legal mumbo jumbo out of the way.  I did not receive any compensation for appearing in this video, writing this post, or endorsing the company involved in the project.  So take THAT, Federal Trade Commission.

One of the most important things in establishing a presence on the Internet is to have a dependable, reliable web hosting service. The company you choose is your lifeline to the Internet, and they have to provide hosting, keep your domain registration straight, and make sure that you're not missing any opportunities to promote your business on the web.

For a long time, I was a customer of GoDaddy.com. Their prices were fair, their service was good, and they never messed me over. However, they made the critical error of supporting Internet censorship legislation and I could no longer do business with them in good conscience. I asked my friends and Twitter followers who provided good hosting and domain services, and heard about a company called name.com. After a little investigation, I moved all of my websites to name.com and have since advised my clients to do business with them as well.

This company provides excellent customer service, comes up with great solutions to my silly problems, and has a great sense of humor. You can see the latter in this video that they produced over the last couple of weeks. They were looking for people to be a part of it, and were kind enough to ask me to join the fun, but you have to look fast to see my appearances. I'll give you a hint, I'm wearing the shirt of my heroes.

No, that is not me in the picture above.

The video is a cute diversion, the work of some people who are really bright about the Internet and know how to have fun at the same time, and comes from a company that I highly recommend if you are looking for any kind of Web services. Just to be clear, read the first paragraph of this post and you'll see that I got nothing for saying that. Nothing. Nada.

If you are so inclined, check out name.com's blog as they are running a contest in connection with this video. Clearly I have no chance of winning it, but you might and it could be worth entering. If nothing else, you can learn a little bit more about this great little company in Denver and the high quality work that they do for Mark Edwards Worldwide, our clients, and people around the country..

Mark Edwards Worldwide Featured In "Taylor On Radio-Info"

The prestigious radio industry website and publication Taylor On Radio-Info wrote about "The Music Meeting", the latest in the portfolio of online assets maintained by Mark Edwards Worldwide.

“The Music Meeting” is a new Mark Edwards site focusing on “music for adults.” Mark’s programmed adult-leaning stations in Kansas City, St. Louis, Denver, Philadelphia and Chicago. He says that after getting downsized last October “I am listening to music like a real person again.” So the Music Meeting website is a consumer-facing site with music news and commentary. (Mark calls Lana Del Rey “the biggest fraud since Bernie Madoff” and has news of Paul McCartney’s “early Valentine’s gift.”) Meanwhile, the veteran PD and strategist is also operating Mark Edwards Worldwide, serving business and artists who want to “use the Internet and social media in ways they’ve never imagined before.” Mark’s “Music Meeting" site is here http://www.musicmeeting.co.

MARK EDWARDS WORLDWIDE LAUNCHES “THE MUSIC MEETING” WEBSITE, ALL ABOUT MUSIC FOR GROWN-UPS

(ST. LOUIS, MO) “The Music Meeting”, a new website focusing on music for adults, has been launched at http://www.musicmeeting.co by veteran broadcast and online content innovator Mark Edwards.  The website joins the many online portals maintained by the multi-faceted new media firm Mark Edwards Worldwide.

“It’s becoming harder and harder for grown-ups who really love music to discover great new product,” said Mark Edwards, Managing General Partner of Mark Edwards Worldwide. “The Music Meeting will introduce people to the latest songs from the artists they already know and love as well as expose them to up and coming artists, the kind of people who are making great music that may never get on the radio these days.”

The website will use the latest multimedia resources to let visitors discover songs and artists and has formed partnerships with exciting new technology providers to bring entirely different, personalized content to users in the months ahead.  Mark Edwards Worldwide is recognized as being on the cutting edge of online and mobile innovation, and http://www.musicmeeting.co will introduce some of that innovative technology as part of the user experience.  In addition, the site will be presenting Live Music Meetings around the county to introduce music lovers to new recordings and artists. 

“The Music Meeting will let me share the music I discover, give visitors some insight into their favorite artists, and provide them with some very special opportunities only available to Music Meeting users,” according to Edwards, winner of multiple awards for his radio programming efforts. Specially curated playlists will be posted on the website and on services like Spotify so people can become acquainted with the music showcased on the website no matter where they are.

Mark Edwards Worldwide works with clients in multiple industries to create compelling content for online, mobile, and broadcast use. For more information on the company and its capabilities, visit http://www.markedwardsworldwide.com.