Let me start off by saying we actually like Steve Harvey but if you think you can be the next Steve Harvey in Black radio we’ve got some bad news for you… HOWEVER all is NOT lost… following these tips may help you reach your destiny nonetheless.
Some of you are sitting at home (especially those working in Urban Radio) wondering how can I become the next Steve Harvey. The corporation does not seem to notice me. Well first and foremost, LEAVE Black radio. If you are waiting for an opportunity to spring up while you work in Black radio and continue to get older you are more than likely wasting a LOT of time.
Go and do something else, see where you can utilize your broadcasting experience and make more money then come back later when you have more leverage so that YOU can call the shots. Oh but now you might be too old, never mind.
Just know that you will NEVER and I mean NEVER get rich working in Black radio. You will ALWAYS make a living only but you can certainly take the EXPERIENCE and run. Here are some more tips that may (or may not) bring you closer to Harvey Dom Good luck… (click “Next” above or below)
1. Be a Comedian First. Even if you are not funny.
This is what Steve did and the odds were so much more in his favor to be a successful comedian than it would have been for us in radio. Comedians, if you have noticed are able to transition into TV with ease.
They usually get sitcoms, the black ones mostly on the smaller networks: Martin Lawrence, Jamie Foxx, Wanda Sykes and of course Steve Harvey started off this way…
2. Find an Untapped Industry Where you can Market Your Skills
Be as mad as you want for Steve coming into the Urban Radio arena and literally taking over a hundred jobs so that his show could run in syndication and we here at TheIndustry.biz do not like Premiere Radio, the parent company that handles Steve’s show, but he came with a name and the corporations saw the benefit so all the black announcers who were in the process of climbing the ladder to the glass ceiling were blown out the water.. bye
3. Understand the Rules of the Game
Don’t you hate rules? You better like them cause in order to win, you have to play. Steve was savvy enough to understand a black man was only going to go so far in Hollywood waiting on disconnected agents and managers to get him there.
He had to take the bull by the horns and create his own opportunities and build a brand. Steve would still be waiting today, like MANY comedians I see in LA, for the next opportunity instead of building his own empire. What he did for HIMSELF was nothing less than brilliant.
4. Get Some Black Church People Behind You.
Gloraye! Black people are beyond serious about their chuych and I honestly have to say you have to go for YOU and connect to YOUR higher power.
If you can go and not let other Black people’s beliefs and concepts infiltrate what YOU believe in, you may be able to navigate the Church maze and get something out of it.
Believe it or not, I did at one time. I may not like church but I can tell you when you get those church women behind you, it’s like an iron gate nobody or nothing can touch you. You may have to sacrifice and become religious to surround yourself with these types but it’s worth it in the long run.
5. Get rid of the People that Won’t Come With You..
That means wives, husbands, boyfriends, girlfriends whatever, if the person that you are laying up with cannot see your vision it’s time to look for another bed to lay up in. The people that you surround yourself with will make, break or TAKE you (then break you) if you are going to reach for the clouds you may as well surround yourself with stars.
6. Learn to Properly Communicate…
There is nothing worse than a rich person who can’t talk. Does anyone remember how Beyonce talked when was younger? You would not know it is the same person.
7. Update your Look
If you want to look like a star you have to LOOK like a star. Steve realized the Larry Blackmon Word Up haircut had to go and he parted ways with the accessory.
Someone must have finally told him that black men stopped wearing their hair like that in 1987.
8. Tell Urban Radio You will Work for Free
If you want black people’s attention especially Black radio tell them you are willing to work for free and hope they don’t try to charge you for it. Free sounds great as long as THEY don’t have to work for free so they will be all ears.
