Brian And Me

I've come to the conclusion that I'm a lousy salesman of myself. How else can I explain the fact that up and down the dial I hear talk hosts who I know are not as talented or experienced as I am. Yet they're working and I'm not.

A more blatant example: a couple of years ago when I was between gigs, I contacted an acquaintence who runs a news/talk operation in my home town, and offered my services.

"We can't use you as a talk host," he said. "However, we can use you as an anchor and producer."

Producer as in glorified call screener. I was at the end of my financial rope. I took the gig.

So there I was, a trained talk host with years of experience (including major market work) screening calls for someone whose level of skill could be charitably described as entry level...

What's wrong with this picture?

Truth is, I've never been good at pitching myself. Realizing that, when I was younger I adopted the strategy of busting my ass. The idea was to become so good that my talent would sell itself.

Obviously, it didn't work.

The bottome line is I blew it; I bet the house on the wrong horse. Or the right horse with the wrong jockey. Whatever...

It's a little late in the game for me, but there is a lesson here for you younger guys on the make. I think it's this:

Hard work is not enough. Sometimes it's not even necessary.

You need a promoter.

Or to put it another way: if you're a budding John Lennon, you gotta find a Brian Epstein...