Having a smart phone is important to the modern radio manager and sales pro these days.

As I wait for the arrival of my new iPhone 3G (to replace my Blackberry Pearl, which replaced my Blackberry 8730, which my original iPhone, which replaced my….) I was looking for a manual to get some advance info about the phone. But, it was ridiculously hard to find. So, for those of you that have the new iPhone, I thought you may be in the same predicament as me…wanting to know all you can about your new tech toy.

Click here to download the iPhone 3G manual (PDF)

There are chapters on:

1. Getting started
2. Basics
3. Phone
4. Mail
5. Safari
6. iPod
7. More applications
8. Settings
9. iTunes store
Appendix A. Troubleshooting
Appendix B. Other resources

Leave a comment below and let me know how you like your iPhone 3G or whatever smart phone you’re using these days.

Inside Radio recently conducted a survey of radio sales executives that I thought you’d find interesting. Below are the results. You can download the pdf if you click here.

What size market are you in?
#1-25 31%
#26-50 20%
#51-100 11%
100+ 31%
Unrated 8%

Are your personal advertising sales increasing or decreasing?
Up - 10% or more above last year. 16%
Up - Slightly more than last year. 22%
About the same as last year. 15%
Down slightly less than last year. 22%
My sales are off more than 10% for me when compared to last year. 26%

What are you doing to reduce the use of gasoline?
Nothing - still have to make the sales calls! 21%
Using the phone more. 27%
Using the internet/email more. 31%
My manager requires our sales staff to be OUT of the office most of the day. 12%
My manager does not mind if salespeople stay around the office to use phone/computers. 9%

Does your station offer any kind of fuel reimbursement?
Yes 17%
No 83%

Will you likely make more money or less money in 2008?
More 30%
Less 41%
About the same 29%

Have commission rates changed in the past year?
Yes - rates are down for Agency and Direct Sales 26%
Yes - rates are down for Direct Sales 8%
About the same 47%
Commissions have increased for Internet sales only. 13%
Commissions are up for the sale of shorter-length commercials only. 7%

Career outlook in the next year
I hope to remain at this station/cluster and watch sales improve. 62%
I hope to move to another station/cluster in my market. 2%
I hope to move to another city to work in radio. 8%
I would like to work in media, but perhaps in TV, Internet, out-of-home. 12%
I am looking for employment in another industry outside of media. 16%

How long have you worked in the radio industry?
Less than one year. 2%
1-3 years. 3%
More than 3 years. 20%
More than 10 years. 75%

September will be College Savings Month, Library Card Sign-Up Month, Mold Awareness Month, National Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery Month, National Coupon Month, and National Hispanic Heritage Month (9/15-10/15).

Assisted Living Week: September 7-13
Chimney Safety Week: September. 28- Oct. 4
Labor Day: September 1st
National Grandparents Day: September 7th
Patriot Day: September 11th
Video Games Day: September 12th
Wife Appreciation Day: September 20th
Business Women’s Day: September 22nd
Women’s Health and Fitness Day: September 24th
Hunting and Fishing Day: September 27th
Family Health and Fitness Day: September 27th
Good Neighbor Day: September 28th

I was recently asked if I thought an initial/first radio promotion or event should be called “First Annual” or not.

There are some that think the phrase “first annual” is fine. I don’t have a problem with that because it conveys you intend to have the promotion each year. However, there are also usage experts that recommend you should avoid the phrase.

So, I’d recommend you play it safe, and leave off your annual intentions until you know for sure (and you won’t know “for sure” until next year) that you’re having another.

An alternative is to use the phrase,”Inaugural.” This way it can indicate the radio promotion/event should be the first in a series, without automatically conveying that it will occur every year.

If you do continue the tradition, you can then call them, “Second Annual,” “Third Annual,” etc…

According to a new survey from Vodafone, business professionals (and that sure does mean radio AE’s and managers) have only 30 minutes to respond to business emails if they’re not to disappoint. Can you say, “it’s time for a Blackberry?.”

• One in ten businesses expects a 30 minute turnaround on business email, and one in three businesses expect a response to email within two hours.
• Office of National Statistics data shows that slow response to email is generating losses up to GBP 7,345 billion per year.
• Three in ten workers suffer stress when encountering a very full inbox upon returning from meetings.
• 42% of all workers now say they need to be able to access and respond to emails when away from office during work hours.

In our new series of radio executive profiles, here is some background on Greater Media President, Peter Smyth.

Mr Smyth is currently Chairman of the Radio Advertising Bureau’s Board of Directors, he was named 2007 “Radio Executive of the Year” and “America’s Best Broadcaster” in 2005 by Radio Ink.

After serving as an Account Executive, Local Sales Manager, and General Sales Manager, Peter Smyth joined Greater Media in 1986 as General Manager of WMJX-FM in Boston. He was appointed Vice President/General Manager in 1987, Group Vice President of Radio and Chief Operating Officer in 1988, and President and Chief Operating Officer in 2000. In 2002, Mr. Smyth became Greater Media’s President and Chief Executive Officer.

Mr. Smyth was also General Sales Manager at WOR in New York until 1986 (when moving to Greater Media). He is a graduate of the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts.

Advertiser optimism is waning across all major media categories, with fewer buyers expecting to increase budgets in TV, newspapers, radio and outdoor than they were a year ago.

While that conclusion, drawn from a new survey by market-research firm Advertising Perceptions, can hardly come as a shock, it’s far from welcome news for a shaky media economy teetering into the second half.

Read the rest at Advertising Age: http://adage.com/mediaworks/article?article_id=128186