Author Archives: Rod Schwartz

About Rod Schwartz

Rod Schwartz backed into a lifelong career in radio advertising in 1973 in Springfield, Illinois. He joined the Pullman (Wash.) Radio Group in 1979, where he worked until his retirement at the end of 2022. From 1991 to March 2024, Rod and his family operated Grace Broadcast Sales, providing short-form syndicated radio features to radio and TV stations across the U.S. and Canada. Rod currently operates an independent advertising, marketing, and media consultancy for radio stations, independent business owners and busy professionals, and he continues providing syndicated audio features to radio and TV station clients. More information is available at RodSchwartz.com. An avid photographer, Rod shares some of his favorite images at PalousePics.com and on his Viewbug gallery. See Links for details.

The Charge of the Mosquito

Posted on August 27, 2011 by Rod Schwartz

Mosquitos suck. They’re tiny. They’re irritating. And they’re inevitable. Even if you’re fortunate enough to live in an area where these biting insects aren’t a problem (does such a place exist?), you still face the … Continue reading →

Posted in Communication, Sales & Marketing, Storytelling, Uncategorized | Tagged adversity, anxiety, delay, elephant, inconvenience, mosquito, problem-solving, problems, worry | 1 Comment

RADIO (Still) Gets Results!

Posted on August 16, 2011 by Rod Schwartz

The fact that I retrieved this presentation from a cassette tape tells you something about how long ago I put it together. (Hint: it was before we recorded onto flash memory cards, before we emailed MP3 files, even before we burned CD’s. Seinfeld was … Continue reading →

Posted in Advertising (General), Branding, Client-voiced commercials, Professional Services Advertising, Radio Advertising, Radio Commercials, Radio Production, Sales & Marketing, Storytelling | Leave a comment

DONT U MAKE THESE MISTAKE’S

Posted on July 14, 2011 by Rod Schwartz

Working in radio does not give us license to trash the English language. After all, we’re supposed to be professional communicators, right? We radio folks may find it easier to hide our misspellings, grammatical and punctuation errors behind a microphone … Continue reading →

Posted in Advertising (General), Communication, Professional Services Advertising, Radio Advertising, Radio Commercials, Radio Copywriting, Radio Production, Sales & Marketing, Storytelling | Tagged ad, Advertising, communication, copy, copywriting, English usage, grammar, language, marketing, punctuation, speaking, speech, spelling, writing | Leave a comment

RADIO-MERCURY MUSINGS

Posted on July 12, 2011 by Rod Schwartz

Each year since 2004 I’ve retained copies of my best radio work from the previous year, with a view toward entering them in radio’s premiere creative competition, The Radio-Mercury Awards. My 2010-11 folder contains some 15 commercials from which I’d … Continue reading →

Posted in Advertising (General), Casting Talent, Client-voiced commercials, Communication, Grace Broadcast Sales, Professional Services Advertising, Radio Advertising, Radio Commercials, Radio Copywriting, Radio Production, Storytelling, Uncategorized, Voice Acting, Voiceover | Tagged 2004, Advertising, Award, Commercial, Competition, copywriting, Engaging Radio Commercials, Mercury, Production, Radio, Radio Mercury Awards, winner, Woodpecker | Leave a comment

The Power of Words

Posted on June 27, 2011 by Rod Schwartz

“Choose your next witticism carefully, Mr. Bond. It may be your last.” –Auric Goldfinger to James Bond, who is about to be cut in half by a laser beam. Bond: “Well, you’re forgetting one thing. If I fail to report, … Continue reading →

Posted in Advertising (General), Branding, Casting Talent, Client-voiced commercials, Communication, Professional Services Advertising, Radio Advertising, Radio Commercials, Radio Copywriting, Radio Production, Sales & Marketing, Storytelling, Voice Acting, Voiceover | Tagged 1964, Advertising, audio, Cold War, Goldfinger, Goldwater, James Bond, nuclear, Radio, script, Soviet Union, Tony Schwartz, words | 3 Comments

CAR DEALER RADIO ADVERTISING…IMPROVED

Posted on May 25, 2011 by Rod Schwartz

Too many car dealer radio and TV ads sound the same. They all use the same tired clichés, hyperboles, and ad-speak. They shout at the listener, thump their chest, and answer questions nobody’s asking. Small wonder that consumers find it … Continue reading →

Posted in Advertising (General), Branding, Client-voiced commercials, Communication, Radio Advertising, Radio Commercials, Radio Copywriting, Radio Production, Sales & Marketing | Tagged auto, auto ads, automobile ads, car advertising, car dealer, Commercial, copywriting, dealer, Radio, Radio Advertising | Leave a comment

Grace Broadcast Sales Celebrates 20 Years of Service to Local Direct Radio Advertising Sales Departments and Radio Advertisers

Posted on May 10, 2011 by Rod Schwartz

(reprinted by permission from Small Market Radio Newsletter, May 9, 2011) 20 Years of Service The year was 1991. A radio seller and sales manager was about to take the leap of faith familiar to all business owners. For years, … Continue reading →

Posted in Communication, Grace Broadcast Sales, Radio Advertising, Radio Production, Radio Sales Cafe, Sales & Marketing, Uncategorized | Tagged Grace%Broadcast%Sales, Medal%of%Honor, Memorialy, Radio%Salesfe, Radio%Vignettes, Radioatures, Shop%Hometown, Shop%Local | Leave a comment

The Problem With Groupon-style Deals

Posted on April 16, 2011 by Rod Schwartz

Earlier this month a friend shared a story about a bakery owner who lost $8000 cash honoring an ill-advised experiment with Groupon. Not surprisingly, their unfortunate experience isn’t an isolated incident. An article in Milwaukee Journal Sentinel detailed a Milwaukee … Continue reading →

Posted in Advertising (General), Branding, Communication, Professional Services Advertising, Promotions, Sales & Marketing | Tagged coupons, Extreme Deals, Groupon, Instant Gratification, Living Social, Out-of-Business, Promotions | 3 Comments

Taming Room Noise Harlan Hogan’s Way

Posted on April 6, 2011 by Rod Schwartz

I’ve recently started experimenting with a new microphone, a Lawson L47MP condenser mic I purchased some time ago. Among the differences I’ve noticed, compared to the Electrovoice RE-27 N/D dynamic mic that’s been my mainstay since 1992, is the Lawson … Continue reading →

Posted in Client-voiced commercials, Communication, Radio Advertising, Radio Commercials, Radio Production, Sales & Marketing, Voice Acting | Leave a comment

Happy April First!

Posted on March 31, 2011 by Rod Schwartz

This is one of eight different commercials running heavily all day April 1st on all six commercial radio stations in the market. (If the local NPR affiliate would allow it, they’d be running there, too.) It’s a special one-day campaign, … Continue reading →

Posted in Advertising (General), Branding, Client-voiced commercials, Radio Advertising, Radio Commercials, Radio Copywriting, Radio Production, Sales & Marketing, Storytelling | Tagged Advertising, April Fool's, branding, Client-voiced commercials, Radio | Leave a comment