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James Rapien is Headed to Cleveland

Tyler McComas

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It was supposed to be just another ordinary day at the station for James Rapien, show prepping and scheduling guests. He refused to let his mind wander from anything else outside the walls of ESPN 1530 in Cincinnati. But suddenly, his concentration was broken when his cell phone started to ring. It was a number that he instantly recognized.  

Applying and interviewing for other jobs is the nature of the business in sports radio. Like anything else, there’s a right and wrong way to handle such things, but bettering yourself and exploring new opportunities is common amongst hosts, producers and reporters. 

When Rapien picked up his phone to answer the incoming call that could change his career, he made sure he was respectful, by stepping aside his current duties to take the call. On the other end of the line was Andy Roth, program director at 92.3 The Fan in Cleveland. After going through several phone interviews, sending numerous sound clips and even making a trip to Cleveland to visit Roth, the hosts, producers and everyone else at the station, the phone call he’d been anxiously awaiting had arrived. 

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When you’re in the middle of the job interview process, it’s extremely tough not to let your mind wander and think about the possibility of landing the job. It’s even harder, when you’ve made it onto the final list of candidates. Though Rapien admitted it wasn’t easy to shut down those thoughts, he said, “even when you’re interviewing, work at your current employer doesn’t stop.” 

That’s a great piece of advice to anyone going through the interview process. Though it’s an exciting time, what good are you to your current position if you constantly get distracted by the thoughts of working for another station?  I give a lot of credit to the way Rapien handled himself as a professional throughout this process. Even though he was going through a potential career-changing moment, he worked just has hard as he did before. 

Rapien wasn’t just looking for any reason or excuse to get away from ESPN 1530 or the city of Cincinnati. He loves working there. He loves his co-workers. The city is where he and his fiancé have made a home. So when it came down to Roth calling Rapien the first time, the interview process was going both ways. 

“When interviewing with a station, you’re also interviewing them to make sure it’s a good fit for you.” That was another fantastic bit of advice that came from Rapien. When he initially saw the opening at 92.3 The Fan on social media and Barrett Sports Media, he was interested, but he wasn’t sure if the logistics, such as moving with his fiancé to Cleveland, would work out. He wasn’t about to just jump at the first opportunity that came about, he really wanted to make sure this was the right move for both personal and professional reasons. 

Soon after, Rapien came to the conclusion this was an opportunity he couldn’t pass up. So when Roth finally called after a long interview process to offer the reporter position, Rapien was sure this was the right fit for him. 

Image result for james rapien

TM: Was there a question during the interview process that surprised you?

JR: Sure, I think there’s always questions like that during the interview process. I’m not sure if one sticks out specifically, I would say, and I think this is the key to any interview, I’ve always treated them as it’s not about really going out of your way to impress the employer, it’s seeing if it’s a good fit for you.

I go into them interviewing the company, too. Am I interested in them? When someone asks me a question that throws me off, it truly doesn’t throw me off too much, because I’m going to answer honestly and the best way that I can.

If it’s a good fit, it ends up being a good fit. I think a lot of people, in any industry, put a lot of pressure on themselves during the interview process and do a lot of prep. I didn’t really do any practice questions, or anything like that. I wanted to be genuine. If they were interested in me, great. Obviously, it worked out well.

TM: How did you find out about the opening?

JR: I saw it on Twitter, I saw that the reporter was leaving. But also, I love barrettsportsmedia.com and I also saw it there.

TM: What did you do to reach out? 

JR: I sent a resume and that’s it. You would love to have contacts and things like that, I knew one of the producers there and I just eventually applied there. Apparently, they must have liked me at least a little bit.  

TM: In terms of clips that you initially sent over, did you send a couple of segments? A full hour? How did you approach it?

JR: I sent clips of different things, me with someone else, me interviewing a couple of different people, intro to hours, but this is a reporter position, so writing came into it, as well. Things I’ve done on blogs, websites, and stuff like that I sent over. They’ve heard me, but they also needed to read me. But I also recorded some updates so they could hear my abilities in that area. 

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TM: Was there a moment throughout the interview process where you realized to yourself that you had a legit shot at getting the job?

JR: Yeah, I think after you get a call and then you eventually get a couple more, you let your minde wander a little bit. But to be honest, I didn’t want to get my hopes up. I knew it would be a big move from Cincinnati. It’s my hometown and I think I’ve established a pretty decent role here with the station.

It was just kind of a feeling out process that we continued to have. It was exciting, sure, just the thought you could potentially be wanted for another position, but I don’t think there was ever a moment where I let myself get super excited. Of course I thought about, naturally you’re going to do that, but I didn’t want to get too excited, because you do so many interviews in this industry the last thing you want to do is get ahead of yourself and think you’ve locked up the position. I tried to stay as even-keel as I could. 

TM: Is it easier going through the interview process when you already have a job, versus being out of one and just praying you find work again?

JR: I think so. I wasn’t desperate or coming from a desperate place. I was coming from a place where I really like where I’m at, what I’m doing and the people I’m working with. But, naturally in this industry, you have to be open to listening and feeling things out. You have to be open to looking for other opportunities and exploring them when they present a great opportunity.

This felt like that. But absolutely, it’s much different and harder if I was coming from a more desperate place. I’ve been in that situation and it’s tough. The hard part is maintaining and not looking that way. It’s still realizing, oh, I’m not going to take this just because it’s offered, I’m going to take it because I think it’s a good opportunity for me. You just have to keep in mind that you’re gathering information on you, just like you’re gathering information on them. 

TM: It’s the nature of the business, guys leave and find new opportunities. But what’s the conversation like when you approach your current employer and tell them you’re accepting a position at another station? 

JR: My current employer, iHeart Media in Cincinnati, was just awesome throughout the process. From everyone I talked to about it, they totally understood and were excited for me. It wasn’t a, “Oh my goodness I can’t believe you’re leaving and taking that!” it was, “Wow. That’s awesome and a really good opportunity for you.”

Image result for iheart cincinnati

I’m grateful for that. I feel like that’s probably rare in this type of industry. This is where I was groomed and grew up in sports radio. They’ve seen me grow and were excited for me. I wasn’t nervous about telling them and I think that speaks to their character and how they view me and how I view them. 

TM: Did you list any references on your resume that worked at your employer?

JR: I didn’t include a natural reference area. Clearly, they saw I do a show with Mo Egger and that helped, but during the interview process I made it clear I do have them. My resume is a lot of little thing I’ve done, from play-by-play to writing for different websites, things like that. I’ve chosen, over time, to pick up little jobs like that to turn into resume builders. Naturally, everything is online these days and that’s how you apply. But no, references from the station weren’t on my initial list. 

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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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‘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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Kim Mulkey Now Has Everyone Anticipating Washington Post Story

I can’t imagine what headline, under normal circumstances, the Washington Post would have to put on a Kim Mulkey story to make me want to read it.

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photo of LSU women's college basketball coach Kim Mulkey
Credit: Dailymail.co.uk

The Washington Post, you might’ve heard, has a story coming out about controversial LSU women’s basketball coach Kim Mulkey. The reason you might’ve heard is because Kim Mulkey told you. The Tigers coach read a fiery prepared statement just before her team started the Women’s NCAA Tournament. In the statement, Mulkey threatened to sue The Post for defamation before the first word was even published.

Now, I’ve never run a public relations firm but that did not seem like a good idea. The Washington Post story on Mulkey is one of the bigger stories in sports right now and nobody even knows what’s in it. The reason the story, apparently unflattering to Mulkey, is even on anyone’s radar screen is Mulkey herself.

It all started with an innocuous social media post by Sports Illustrated’s Pat Forde right in the middle of the most anticipated two days in sports, the NCAA Tournament Round of 64. On his X account, Forde posted: “Hearing some buzz about a big Washington Post story in the works on LSU women’s hoops coach Kim Mulkey, potentially next week. Wagons being circled, etc.”

You know what generally will go unnoticed at 4:00 on the first Friday of the NCAA Tournament? A post on X about a women’s basketball coach. But don’t tell Mulkey, she saw Forde’s post and decided to fight fire with nuclear weaponry. The result: the average person like me now is really interested in what has Mulkey so incensed. By “average person like me” I mean that I can’t imagine what headline, under normal circumstances, the Washington Post would have to put on a Kim Mulkey story to make me want to read it. Maybe:

“LSU Women’s Coach Discovers Ark of the Covenant”

Or:

“Mulkey Reveals True JFK Assassin(s)”

Perhaps:

“Famed Women’s Basketball Coach Reveals the Mystery Behind Slow Drivers in the Left Lane”

Literally any of those catch my attention more than whatever will likely be the Washington Post headline about Mulkey. But now Mulkey is “Mad as Hell and is not going to take this anymore” so I now have an interest I would never before have had in this story. It has been fascinating to watch the online speculation about the subject of the article and all we really know, as of now, is that it will be written by Kent Babb. This is a dream come true for Babb; he writes an article that is, presumably, not flattering about Kim Mulkey and, before it is even published, she gives the article the greatest commercial anyone could give it. Babb couldn’t have entered into a business agreement with Mulkey and had this turn out better for him.

For those who don’t follow Babb, he is a former NFL reporter who now is an award-winning writer for the Washington Post. In his 14 years with The Post, he has written sports features and authored a couple of books. One of those sports features stories was a deep dive into what he viewed as a large inequity in the level of pay for LSU head football coach Brian Kelly and his LSU players. It is this piece Mulkey described as a “hit piece” and, based on that piece, referred to Babb as a “sleazy reporter.” Babb, and many others, resented the fact his story was labeled as a hit piece. In fact, Babb essentially confirmed he was the author Mulkey was referencing when he shared the original article on X with the comment: “Hit piece?”

Whether a printed piece or a recorded interview, I can’t imagine a better promotion for it than the subject of the interview threatening a libel/slander lawsuit, especially before it is even released. That simply screams “This piece is salacious!!” Also, libel and slander suits get settled all the time, right? Of course they don’t, they seem to never even get filed. That little thing called discovery is a scary thing for most public figures.

The NCAA Tournament has been very entertaining, and I think the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight will be terrific. For only the fifth time ever, the top two seeds have advanced to the third round which sets up for a remarkable weekend. For me, I guess it will now include a Washington Post article, not a sentence I’d normally say.

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