You might want to get a tasty beverage and find a comfortable place to sit, this is a long one. Or you could skip to the pitch at the end, but you'll miss a great story.
I wanted to take this opportunity to introduce myself to potential clients by way of the work I have done. First and foremost, I am a storyteller, with a decades long involvement in broadcasting and marketing. My broadcasting jobs included both on air and off, as management and\ a part timer, and I loved every minute of it. I have also held management and entry level positions in Marketing, and built a successful entertainment business.
Even at 6, I was a ham.
I started my career in radio at WJCC, a 1000 watt daylighter AM station in Norfolk, MA. A daylighter is a station that shuts down when the Sun goes down. My job was to spin easy listening records, with artist names like Percy Faith or the Tijuana Brass, and do live read commercials between each one. I then had to write and read a newscast at the top of each hours, along with some limited ad-libbing, time and temp, etc. It was a part time, minimum wage job and having the time of my life. I went into radio partly by luck and partly because I wanted to take after my Uncle, Dave Duncan. He was one of the top morning men in Boston in the mid 60s and got to do cool things like interview the Beatles. He went on the be a national news anchor for ABC Radio News before leaving radio to open his own ad agency in Providence, RI. I also needed to get away from the nightclub DJ job I had at the time, party less, and grow up a little.
Satin tour jacket - Check! Expensive, pretentious Ray Bans, Check! Rock club DJ powers activate!
WJCC is the only station I worked as a disc jockey spinning records. (Yes kids, actual vinyl records!) Every other on air job I had in broadcasting was as in news, talk, or traffic reporting. I think it's a lot harder to be clever and engaging for 30 seconds at a time, like the music jocks do. As a talk show host, I had 3 hours to develop a story. I convinced the owners of the station to let me do an hour talk show in the 3 pm hour, and did a public affairs locally oriented show for about a year before moving on. I also had a chance to work at one of the same stations my Uncle Dave had worked at in the 60s. I did a remote broadcast on WPEP in Taunton from a giant flea market on Sundays, and I also filled in on weekends as a DJ and Newscaster.
My next gig in radio was as News Director for WKFD in Wickford, RI. I learned an immense amount from the owner of the station at the time, a former broadcast journalism professor from Maine. I also stated to use my writing to make extra money. We were an Associated Press affiliate, and they paid $11 for every story they accepted for distribution. I even broke a couple of stories before anyone else, and got called all the time to voice my stories for other local stations. This was during a time radio was still under local ownership, so we helped each other make our news operations sound bigger with more voices.
I loved to work, and that made my weekends interesting. It got to be that I would work almost 24 hours straight from Friday until Saturday morning. I would drive to work to be on the air at 9 am on WKFD, work until 5 or 6, then go spin records at a teen dance club until 11. I'd leave the club and drive back to Attleboro, MA to do an overnight talk show at WARA until 6 am.. Needless to say, that got to be a little much, so when I got an offer to take over the weekday afternoon drive talk show at WARA I jumped at the chance. That gig ended when I got replaced by a friend of the GM, something that happened a couple of times in my radio career. They offered me the News Director gig as a consolation prize, but I decided to step away from broadcasting go back to school. At the same time I was working as a nightclub DJ every weekend.
One of the pitfalls of being an older college student is that sometimes you bring life experience along that contradicts what they are trying to teach you in class. I took a journalism class from someone that had never actually written a word for publication. At that point I had written for two wire services, AP and UPI, and thousands of words of radio news copy. It made for some awkward classes as I never learned to shut my mouth and truthfully, still haven't. I managed to survive college, but 2 years was enough.
So armed with a head full of what passed for college knowledge, I ventured out in the world, and promptly foundered. It was all self-inflicted, as I was a 20 something knucklehead with a less than stellar work ethic. It took me a while to realize that it is actually a lot of work to be lazy, and getting things done is a lot easier. I bounced from one retail job to another, and ended up working in the restaurant industry as a line cook. I did enjoy cooking for a living, and to this day I do all the cooking in my house. I think I ended up a good cook simply because I enjoy eating so much. At the time I was also working in television, on a volunteer basis. I shot and edited video, directed shows, did hosting duties on camera, ran the caption generator, you name it.
Shortly after, my family had moved to Central Florida. I needed a change of scenery as I was going nowhere fast where I was in New England. It turned out to be a good choice, as I found my way, and later the love of my life.
Plus, I got to explore places like the Florida Keys. Pic of the family at Bahia Honda
Now keep in mind that my career in communications was still on hold after I moved. I worked in the restaurant business for a while, waiting table and cooking until a new opportunity came along. I was hired on at a local DJ company as assistant office manager. After many wacky adventures (I left to go wait tables again), I decided to go off on my own as a party and wedding DJ. The thing about being a wedding DJ is that this is often the only time in a person's life they hire entertainment. This leads to a lot of anxiety on the part of both the DJ and the client. It also lead me to start handling more and more corporate business. Fortunately, I lived in Orlando, one of the top destinations for conventions in the US. I built my company to the point where I was providing services to a client list including Disney and the odd billionaire. It was a decade of charting my own destiny, and succeeding along the way. Duncan Productions was one of the go to companies for event technical productions, in addition to the nightclub sound system installations and pool of deejays we provided to clubs.
My very first logo, designed by my Uncle Dave
Then I met my wife, and I decided it was more important to have my evenings free to spend with my new family. I sold my company, and walked away from the events business. On a whim one day, I picked up the Yellow Pages (it was still a thing then) and turned to the radio station listings. I literally called my way down the list. When I got to WORL, the General Manager said he needed someone to run the board and do production on Tuesdays, so could I be there in an hour. My one day a week shift became a weekday talk show interviewing local newsmakers, and co hosting a show with a local financial planner. He hired me to help market his business, and that started my foray into marketing. I handled promoting his business through referrals and managing a marketing budget consisting of Co-op money from the stock funds we placed clients into.
Neither one of these jobs was paying enough for me to provide for my new family, so the GM of the radio station got me a job at Metro Traffic, doing traffic reports for several stations, recording newscasts for some stations and writing wire copy for their news service, Metro Source. The coolest part of this job was the time I got to spend shooting video from a helicopter for television. I mainly provided video of the roads for TV traffic reports, but I also got to do ENG (Electronic News Gathering) for the local News 13 and even CNN. My position changed to one where I was working for Metro, but working at ClearChannel (what is now iHeartMedia). I had to be at their studio to not only produce traffic reports for their Orlando stations, but also for their stations in Melbourne, FL by loading them into their computerized broadcast system.
In short order, ClearChannel offered me the chance to help produce the afternoon talk show on 540 WFLF (a station that branded on air as WFLA). I did traffic on a split shift, morning and afternoon drive, and in between I was pulling topics and news stories for the host, Bud Hedinger, who is still on the station 15 years later as the morning show host. Then the morning show host, Shannon Burke, left to go work at the FM talker WTKS, Real Radio 104.1. They had open, on air auditions to replace him and I asked the Program Director if I could have a shot at the job. The conversation consisted of him saying he didn't know if I could do talk radio, and me saying that I had years of experience. Of course I think at that time it was barely 2 years total experience, but he accepted my assertion. We went through 2 weeks of various people hosting the morning show, some better than others. I got to hear and see all of them as still in the building doing traffic. I got to do 2 days hosting out of the 10, and won an online poll asking listeners who they thought should get the job. However, the guy who won was from the same state as the Program Director, and honestly was probably already the choice before the auditions began. Because I kept my cool when I was told I didn't get the job, I got to fill in on the morning or afternoon drive shows on a regular basis. My boss at the time at Metro let me take the time off on an unlimited basis so I could fill in, and supported me all along. On a side note, the guy who usually filled in for me doing traffic at ClearChannel (iHeart) is now one of the regulars on Fox Radio News, Eben Brown.
After a while, ClearChannel realized what a cash cow traffic reports were, so they created their own traffic department called the Total Traffic Network. This meant all the ad revenue from traffic was kept in house, and they also made money selling the traffic data to in car navigation systems. One day while I was doing my work as producer of the afternoon talk show, the person who was creating the new traffic department came to offer me a job. His name was Alan Freeman, and when I mentioned that I was the second generation of my family in radio. When asked to elaborate, it turns out that Alan had worked in Boston radio in the 60s with my Uncle Dave, and thought a lot of him. Good thing, because I had a non-compete with Metro traffic, so I couldn't do traffic in the Orlando market for a period of time after I left there. Because Alan and I had a connection, and he had heard all kinds of good things about my talent he made accommodations by letting me do the traffic for a Jacksonville, FL station. My boss at Metro let me take the offer because I wouldn't be technically working in the same market, so no violation of my non-compete. I figured when the non-compete expired in 90 days I could start doing stuff in Orlando again, but the Universe had other, much better plans for me.
TTN's Original Logo
While I was working at Total Traffic, I was still filling in for the hosts, morning and afternoon, at WFLF. The morning show host at WMMB in Melbourne, FL was taking a job in Northern California. That meant they were looking for someone to not only host the morning talk show, but also be the Program Director (PD) for the station, an opportunity I couldn't pass up.. I threw my hat in the ring, and later found out that there were people in management in Orlando pushing for me to get the gig. Alan Edwards, my boss at Total Traffic and Tom Benson, the PD of WFLF were both in my corner. The managers over in Melbourne loved the way I delivered their traffic reports, so they already knew my voice.
I was thrilled when I got the call offering me the job. The Melbourne management were under a deadline, and didn't have a deep bench of talent to fill in while they found a replacement. WMMB was actually 2 different lower power stations that simulcast the same content. The entire cluster was located in a storefront in the old Melbourne Mall which had been converted to offices when the new mall opened. My studio was out in front, with a giant, curved, floor to ceiling plexiglass wall.
The WMMB Studio as seen from the mall concourse
The 2 years I spent working in Melbourne was one of the true highlights of my life. I got to run my own show with very little interference from upper management. The team that ran the cluster consisted of Market President Barbara Latham, Operations Manager Ken Holiday, Chief Engineer Andy MacDonald, General Sales Manager Cameron Brown, Promotions Director Billy Alverson, Lite Rock 99.3 PD Mike Lowe, Kiss 95.1 PD Brian Richardson (B-Rock), and little old me. Billy, otherwise know as Billy the Janitor on WJRR in Orlando, was tragically killed not long after I started in Melbourne and was replaced by Deano Chaple, another consummate radio professional. The only tough part about my time there was the commute, an hour and a half each way. It affected my family life and wore me out. But I got to do some really cool stuff, and I like to think we did some great radio. I had the opportunity to broadcast live from NASA for the launch of the Space Shuttle, interview local and national newsmakers, and produce 15 hours a week of hopefully memorable content. It also honed my skill as a storyteller, as I had to present a fresh 3 hours of topics to engage my audience 5 days a week. I tell people it was like having to write a term paper every weekday, with the chance that the topic of that paper might change in the middle of presenting it. Ultimately, my morning show grew into a ratings leader, with 75 percent of the talk radio audience in Brevard County, FL listening to my show, even though I was also competing with stations bleeding over from Orlando, a much bigger market. I also learned how to read and interpret ratings from Mike Lowe, who was a master at it from his 4 decades of experience in radio.
Standing beside the Apollo era countdown clock with Shuttle Endeavor behind me
But, as the saying goes, all good things must come to an end. I was let go from the job in Melbourne when the person I replaced wanted his old job back. He had a longer history in the market and was closer friends with the Ops Manager, so he came back. People look at me funny when I tell this story, but it wasn't that uncommon in the radio industry. I don't hold any ill will toward the parties involved, and because I didn't raise a stink, it allowed me to get back into radio later with a reputation as a team player. I took the opportunity to get involved in my stepson AJ's Boy Scout Troop as an adult leader, and explore other career options.
My next endeavor came about because I decided to get away from broadcasting for awhile. I worked for a company doing educational lead generation, running a national job board and creating millions in revenue. I learned how to manage a Google AdWords account and make it generate income. We were some of the pioneers in online marketing, using content to bring in leads to sell to the for profit colleges. During this time my daughter was born, one of the happiest days of my life. That blessed event helped me put things in perspective and take myself a lot less seriously.
Next, I began my long relationship with the medical profession. I had returned to radio as a talk host, interviewing doctors on a Saturday show that they would purchase time on. One doctor and I clicked, and when he needed a new Director of Marketing, he offered me the job. It was a pulmonary practice called Florida Pulmonary Consultants that also offered sleep medicine, as well as doing high quality clinical research for major drug companies. In fact, the clinic had such a great reputation in the research community they were being offered trials in other areas of medicine besides pulmonary treatments. I doubled the sleep lab business in 6 months, and had the chance to recruit patients for national drug trials. My duties included handling local and national media buying, and creating brochures, white papers, and even signage. I was also still hosting radio shows on the weekends.
Then I got an offer that set the tone for the last 8 years of my life and sent me back on the path to being self employed. One of the account executives I worked with on ad buys for the pulmonary practice told me that iHeart in Orlando was looking for an Account Executive to replace someone who was leaving. The best part is that the person in charge of sales for the cluster of stations was my old boss in Melbourne, Barb Latham. It's always a good thing when the person interviewing you hugs you when you walk into their office. I took over a book of business, and learned even more about how to help people tell their story and attract customers. My skill set was unique among account executives, as I could not only create a marketing plan using on air and online assets, I could also write the copy and voice the commercials. I specialized in helping people create brokered shows, where someone purchases an hour of air time and does a talk show to sell their business instead of the usual 30 or 60 second commercials. I could coach them into producing good quality radio so they could attract and hold an audience of potential customers.
By this time, we realized that Central Florida wasn't necessarily the best place to raise our daughter. The schools were sub par, something we knew too well because of my wife's work as a teacher. We started searching for a new place to call home, and after narrowing down the possibilities, ended up in the Raleigh, NC area. I tried to transfer with iHeart, as they needed account executives there but that never materialized so I was in need of a job. I was listening to the legacy news station in Raleigh, Curtis Media's WPTF, and heard that the Morning Host and PD Brian Freeman was going to be broadcasting from a job fair in town. I literally ambushed him at the event with a copy of my resume, and he agreed to let me come in the next day to cut an audition newscast. The exact quote while we were sitting in his office listening to my freshly recorded newscast was, "Too bad you suck. You're hired." The funny thing is that I used to listen to WRKO in Boston when I first started in radio, and here I was going to work for a station on the same frequency, 680 AM. WPTF has been on the air for over 95 years, and you can almost feel the history when you walk into the studio.
Intrepid reporter? Or jaded radio lackey? You decide.
After 3 months of part time work, filling in at the station where they could use me, I realized I needed to find another job to support the family. Radio is a lot of fun, but it doesn't pay very well anymore. So I got hired on at Issuer Direct, editing press releases for publicly traded companies to be distributed on their wire service, Accesswire. After 2 years, I was convinced that you didn't need to be able to write or communicate to succeed in business. There were always people like me to help polish your message. Being able to tell a story in a compelling manner is a unique skill, honed by years of experience across multiple platforms. Toward the end of my time at Issuer Direct I moved into sales, and did well there by drawing on my experience as a radio account executive.
All this time I had stayed at WPTF, filling in when I could, mainly hosting the Saturday morning news magazine. Getting up at 4 am is tough even if it is only one day a week, But after 3 years of waiting for something to break in my radio career in North Carolina, I walked away at the end of 2017.
I thought it was time to once again explore the wonderful world of self-employment. January 2018 dawned with me trying to hustle up freelance work, using all my experience and skill. I was still job hunting, hedging my bets by seeing if anyone would hire me to work in marketing. Spoiler alert! They won't. Job hunting has been a horrifying process, full of junk science psych tests, badly designed online applications, and getting issued homework assignments before even talking to a real human being.
So this leads me to today. Before I make the big announcement, let's recap where this journey has taken me in terms of experience and skills. First and foremost, I am a storyteller, with an innate sense of how to communicate with any audience on almost any topic. I can think on my feet, lead a team, plan and implement a project from start to finish, and learn new skills quickly. I can do all of this while maintaining a positive outlook and avoiding drama. I can script, storyboard, shoot, and edit video. I can produce, host, and edit a podcast or radio show, or write and voice commercials and voiceovers. I take a pretty decent picture, as I was a published photographer at 15. Because of wide range of experience, I can interpret ratings and analytics for literally any medium, including print, broadcast, online, even billboards. Online coursework has added to my skill set, including a Social Media Marketing certification from HubSpot and a Digital Marketing certification from Linked in Learning, with an added refresher course in Adobe Premiere Pro 2020. Building personal connections is easy for me, and one of my favorite things to do.
So here is the final destination, at least for now. I am going to devote my time and energy to building something for me. I am officially launching my new agency, Duncan Marketing & Advertising, focusing on helping small and medium sized businesses tell their story. To start, it is going to be just me, partnering with some other talented freelancers along the way. Ultimately, I want to build a full service ad agency offering both online and traditional media campaigns. But I will still focus on helping the little guy, and also find ways to give back.
I have a logo!
Reach out to me. I can tell you the story of how Gladys Knight was my opening act once, or how I got an apology from Linda Blair for scaring me. I can share a million stories about my crazy life, or even better, we can talk about how to tell your story. You can call me at 919-336-9993, email me at scott@duncanmarketing.co or find me on the web at www.duncanmarketing.co. Let's talk soon, I'd love to get to know you at least as well as you know me after reading this.
