Making Internet Radio Work

Making Internet Radio Work

by: Bennie Dingo

When I was 13 years old there was a movie that came out that literally changed my life. It was 1973 and the movie was American Graffitti. I quickly fell in love with the music and the 50กs subculture and 30 some years later I still haven’t shaken off that genre of music. As a kid I tuned into the local station KRLA in Pasadena, California, an oldies station at that time. While others were tuning into disco or Led Zeppelin I was perfectly content with Bill Haley & The Comets, Elvis and Carl Perkins and the list goes on and on. In the last decade the 1950s and early 1960s Rock and Roll was slowly fading away from the playlists of oldies radio stations. The oldies stations were now playing songs of the late 60กs and 70กs. In 1997 I was working with a small station down in Corpus Christi, Texas known as Palms Radio. They were kind enough to give me a 3 hour spot every Friday and Saturday night. There I played my obscure oldies and it was one of the first stations to stream radio online. The technology was new then and not many listeners could be found I think we had about 10 to 20 at the most at any one time. In 1998 Rockit Radio took over all the streaming from that facility and we started to grow into our own. We started an online listenerกs club letting people know of our playlists. We began to archive our shows to let people tune in around their schedule. And slowly but surely we increased our listenership and our number of knowledgeable DJกs. But with that came the additional costs. increased bandwidth, copyright fees, etc.

To meet the challenge I know many stations started the subscriptions method. Where you had to pay a fee to tune in. We never believed in that logic and thought it restrictive to many listeners. In 2004 we opened up the Rockit Store, to help pay for the costs of our streaming. And let our listeners know that we want to stay commercial free and need your help to keep the music alive when you shop online please go to the Rockit Store at: http://www.palmsradio.com/store.html

All of our DJกs are volunteers as our main goal is to keep the music alive and we do it for the love of the music. Many of the DJกs on Rockit Radio do have wonderful radio careers themselves and were ‘thereก back in the 50กs and 60กs spinning the same vinyl they do today. You may wish to check out our DJ page at: http://www.palmsradio.com/bio.htm

Internet Radio is not much different than regular AM or FM radio in the business aspect. A successful station is one that plays music which is in demand. Rockit Radio has been able to survive and thrive at times and has enjoyed a truly International flavor, with listeners tuning in over the internet from over 120 countries. While most oldies radio stations today are dropping the 1950กs and early 1960กs Doo Wop, Rockabilly and Rock and Roll format, Rockit Radio continues to grow and fills in that small niche for listeners that still demand this music. And that is how we stay unique. Uniqueness is a key element in any successful internet station, or broadcasting as a whole for that matter! How are you going to make yourself known and better than the other guy? Many online broadcasters I think are making the mistake of sounding like everyone else! There are 5000 stations sounding just like the other! And they have to share the listenership of that music genre with 5000 other stations. Rockit Radio succeeds in uniqueness just by playing the forgotten oldies Rock and Roll that most stations have forgotten. I know of a couple of other online radio stations that are also doing fairly well because they are playing to a special niche audience. One is an All Polka station and one is a Swamp Rock and Cajun music station, again these stations are doing well because….. it is playing to an audience that wants to hear them … and the competition is minimal.

It is a constant labor of love but you get out of it what you put into it. If you would like to tune in to Rockit Radio we invite you to do so at: http://www.rockitradio.net

And come join our Online Listenerกs club where we currently have over 4600 members Worldwide. Information is on the website.

About The Author

Bennie Dingo has been in Radio Broadcasting and marketing for over 25 years and was one of the first to dwelve into the internet as a broadcasting medium back in 1997. He currently runs Rockit Radio an online Oldies station that keeps the music of the first decade of Rock and Roll alive.

[email protected]

This article was posted on April 09

by Bennie Dingo

Why You’re Missing Out on Hundreds of Visitors If

Why You’re Missing Out on Hundreds of Visitors If You Aren’t Doing This.

by: Tinu AbayomiPaul

Your tip today starts with my own shocking secret I used to *HATE* listening to audio online. Iกd still rather pay to download a transcript. Iกm just a printoriented person.

But I’m an oddball that’s why you need to remember this one very important fact:

Almost everyone in the online world would rather listen than read if they can.

(And people like me will buy your audio if you let them I’ve paid for free audio streamed seminars to be sent to me on a CD.)

I can’t name one friend who doesn’t own at least 25 CDs, but only five have more than 7 books. Yes, even if itกs the same material when faced with clicking an audio link to listen, or reading, they’d rather listen.

Not everyone is a great writer. But just about everyone can talk or get someone else to talk for them. So here are three reasons why you need to figure out how to have an audioenabled site today.

1 Visitors love audio. And your site is about the preferences of your visitors, not you, right?

Right?

Whew! You scared me for a second there.

2 Audio keeps people on your site longer.

In a recent conference call by the makers of Instant Audio, a discussion was sparked that detailed many of the reasons why visitors stay longer at your site particularly on your sales pages when they are also Audioenabled.

3 I’ve got one word for you. Podcasting.

If you run a business that has even the simplest web site, even if you don’t have an audioenabled computer, there’s a way that you can widen your audience, perhaps up to one hundred visitors by this time tomorrow.

This is not an exaggeration.

Podcasting, in laypersons terms, is simply a way to incorporate audio and other types of media into RSS Feeds.

Some podcasts are fullfledged amateur broadcasts, and others, like the one at my main site, are just quick daily tutorials, tips or greetings, that I like to call minicasts.

(There’s a free video that will teach you how to do a minicast at http://howtopodcast.blogspot.com and there are free howtos all over the Net.)

Through the power of RSS, folks can then find out about your site in a variety of ways, not just as a onetime visitor, but as a subscriber to your feed, often on their daily trips to their personal pages at My Yahoo, CNet’s Newsgator, or MyMSN.

Just like with regular RSS, every time you update this file with information, your subscribers get an automatic notification.

This is often more efficient in delivery than email marketing and although ezines and other email communications have not gone the way of the dinosaur, not having an RSS Feed from your site is like being a television network station with only one or two shows. You can think of your average static twelvepage website or weekly newsletter as examples of these shows.

Once the ขprogramข is over, they don’t have a reason to be back. Many web surfers return to your site only because they are reminded.

With an audioenabled feed, you are taking care of these issues in one shot.

Update frequently (meaning at least daily) with news, tips or editorials that are relevant to your audience and they’ll be back to listen to and/or read what you have to say.

Search Engines love sites with feeds. It meets their needs of finding fresh, keyword specific information. If you’re maintaining an updated feed and/or blog, you’re giving the search engines more chances to find you and more reasons to list you. Combine your text posts with audio and you’ve got a search engine magnet.

With audio, even if your visitor surfs away from your site, your voice is still with them and they’ll start tuning in to your ขstationข the way they would with traditional broadcasts.

If you put together a podcast feed, whether it’s a quick tips daily show that lasts five minutes, or a weekly halfhour audio show coupled with shorter textbased updates, you’re giving your site an air of distinction.

But don’t listen to me.

Listen to USA Today, or the Washington Times. Both recently ran prominent stories on Podcasting and its growing popularity.

So how do you get yourself properly audio or podcastenabled?

That’s a little more complex but starting out can be as easy as filling out a few forms and making a phone call. Now that you don’t even need to have a microphone , money, or a bunch of fancy equipment, there’s nothing stopping you from being able to compete with other sites that offer audio.

Copyright 2005 Tinu AbayomiPaul

About The Author

Tinu recently opened a completely free resource that gives more information for audio and podcast beginners. You can read the announcement at http://www.freetraffictip.com or read her blog for more free daily traffic tips (in text *and* audio).

This article was posted on February 17

by Tinu AbayomiPaul

Telemarketers Don’t Like Them? Hereกs An Idea For

Telemarketers Don’t Like Them? Hereกs An Idea For Ya!

by: Martin Lemieux

Telemarketers… ooohhh… Iกll bet weกve all got a nice story to tell about these guys & gals don’t we?

Well hereกs a story iกll never forget and Iกll show you how to turn a sales call into a sale for you!

So Iกm sitting in my office one day and mind you at the moment I didn’t have a helper to screen my call for me and don’t you know it, I get a telemarketer.

See, I used to be in a few network marketing programs and I know how hard it is to get rejections on the phone. Some of us take it very personal and some just don’t care. But I assert you this, whichever one you are, cold calling isn’t an easy business.

When someone calls me to sell me something I will only talk to them if they too will listen to a promotion Iกm offering, only fair right? Youกd be amazed at how many won’t listen to you so why would you listen to them?

I make it a point to tell them that my specialty is promoting and if they want to have any of my time, they will have to listen to me 1st. No exceptions.

So one day, I get this call from this really nice guy who completely understood my deal and accepted to hear what I had to say. Usually, I will pick one of my clients and and only promote that one client to the other person on the phone. Trying to promote 2 or more at a time is like road kill, you don’t want to confuse the other person.

With this conversation on the phone with this telemarketer I explain to him that I have a client in the Transport industry and he deals with all kinds of shipping services. What I usually do is ask the other person on the phone if he can recall anyone who mentioned to him that they needed to ship something!!!

With that, this gentlemen on the phone says กIกm actually looking into shipping a small package overseasก. Now, Iกm fully aware that he can just say whatever he wants and possibly get me to finally listen to him so I immediately conferenced him with the transport company to give them his contact information so that they can send him an information package.

Once the call was complete, I returned the favor for allowing me to discuss one of the promotions my company was taking care of and asked the gentlemen to explain what it was he was calling for. It turns out that he was trying to sell a magazine subscription for health issues. I told him that I wasn’t interested but I had a client who was in the health industry so I gave this gentlemen my clients information to contact him

Going back to the transport company, it turned out that the telemarketer actually did take their services and in return the owner of the transport company took a year subscription of the health magazine I told you about!

Now thatกs not often it happens like the way it did but just remember that telemarketers are people as well and they too also know other people. Thereกs a great book that I feel is of the best on this type of promoting and anyone committed to their sales should read it…

Itกs called: Endless Referrals By: Bob Burg

กA must readก.

So next time a telemarketer calls you, youกll know what to do and if they reject hearing your offer, be kind and let them go!

Hope youกve enjoyed my story!

About The Author

Martin R. Lemieux

Smartads President

http://smartads.info

Affordable Web Site Design & Web Site Marketing

http://flyinggelatingames.com

Web Site Awards & Webmasters Playground

http://mindpower.smartads.info

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Read over 200 articles on advertising!

WANT TO REPRINT THIS ARTICLE ?

You may use this article on your site as is but you MUST send me a note [email protected] Thank You! Go here: http://www.smartads.info/contact

This article was posted on November 12, 2003

by Martin Lemieux

What is Podcasting?

What is Podcasting?

by: S. Housley

Podcasting is quickly becoming a buzz word among the techie crowd. So what is podcasting, anyway? Podcasting is online audio content that is delivered via an RSS feed. Many people liken podcasting to radio on demand. However, in reality, podcasting gives far more options in terms of content and programming than radio does. In addition, with Podcasting, listeners can determine the time and the place, meaning they decide what programming they want to receive and when they want to listen to it.

Listeners can retain audio archives to listen to at their leisure. While blogs have turned many bloggers into journalists, podcasting has the potential to turn podcasters into radio personalities.

Podcasting can be used for:

SelfGuided Walking Tours Informational content.

Music Band promotional clips and interviews.

Talk Shows Industry or organizational news, investor news, sportscasts, news coverage and commentaries.

Training Instructional informational materials.

Story Story telling for children or the visuallyimpaired.

Podcasting is the syndication of audio files using RSS. Podcasting works the same as a standard RSS feed reader or news aggregator, the only difference is that the feed you subscribe to contains an audio file in it. Instead of reading content in your RSS feed reader or aggregator, you can listen to the contents of your feed using a reader or aggregator that supports podcasting, or you can listen to them on an iPod or similar device. While podcasting was named for the iPod, you do not have to have an iPod to listen to a podcast. Podcasts can be displayed on websites with clickable links to audio files and many of the standard RSS readers, like FeedDemonกs latest beta, have begun supporting audio enclosures.

The audio file that makes the feed a podcast rather than a standard RSS feed is contained in the กenclosureก tag. The easiest way to think of this is as an email attachment.

Although the กenclosureก tag is not new to RSS feeds and has been included in the RSS v2.0 specification for about four years, podcasting has only really been around since August of 2004.

Webmasters are finding creative ways to provide mediarich content. The syndication aspect and potential increase in audience size are an attractive lure. Listeners benefit from podcasting because, like RSS, podcasting is a means to publish content that ultimately gives the recipient the control over the information they want to see or hear.

Podcasting Resources

Podcasting Tools http://www.podcastingtools.com

Podcast Alley http://www.podcastalley.com

PodcastBunker http://www.podcastbunker.com

Podcasting News http://www.podcastingnews.com

It will be interesting to see how this publishing medium develops. Currently, only the technical crowd has endorsed podcasting as a new audio medium, but the potential is real and the process is not overly complex. With a little time I think this field will develop and prosper.

About The Author

Sharon Housley manages marketing for FeedForAll http://www.feedforall.com software for creating, editing, publishing RSS feeds and podcasts. In addition Sharon manages marketing for NotePage http://www.notepage.net a wireless text messaging software company.

This article was posted on January 19

by S. Housley

The Art Of Cold Calling

The Art Of Cold Calling

by: Sue and Chuck DeFiore

I know, don’t groan. You have to do them if you want to get properties and make money. Believe me, I used to hate cold calling. For those of you that have read our book, กWho Makes It Happen: Back On The Road To Success With Creative Real Estateก, remember it used to take me an hour to get on the phone and then after 30 minutes I was ready to hang up.

Iกve learned over time to not think of telephoning as cold calling, but how I can help a seller or buyer. I realize if I make so many calls, I will get so many responses, and I don’t take a no personally. Itกs their loss. Let them continue to pay to run their ads and six months from now when I call out of a paper or web list and they are still there, maybe then they will listen. There are too many people I can help. I refuse to worry about the ones that won’t listen.

So, the first step is to get in the frame of mind that you are offering help. Next, let the seller do the talking. You listen. How do I do that, you say? Well, when I call on a home and someone answers (as opposed to leaving my message), I ask is the home still available? Great, my name is Susan, who am I speaking with? George, tell me about your home? This gets the seller talking. I just guide him/her with how many square feet, garage, etc. For those that have purchased our manual, this form is in the Seller section. You want to get as much information as possible. What they don’t tell you ask. The last question I ask is, George, it sounds like a beautiful home, why are you selling? Then let him/her talk. This question tells you how motivated he/she is. Is he/she moving into a new home, relocating or just putting out feelers.

Next I ask the pricing information, how much are they asking for the house? How did they arrive at that price? Comps? Have they had any offers? If no offers, ask them why they think they haven’t had any offers?

Next I ask about financing information. What are the payments? Any second mortgages? Are their payments current? Any CC&Rกs? What they paid for the home? Many times when I ask, กWhat did they pay for the home?, I get, กitกs none of your businessก. Well, I say to the seller, this helps me decide if a Lease Purchase is workable, and it is a matter of public record.

Always be sure to check online or with public records that the person you spoke to is the individual who has the authority to deal.

Finally, I ask about Lease Purchasing and tell them the advantages. Some will say yes, can you send me some information? Others will say, no, I need to sell. Iกll say, thatกs fine, why don’t I send you some information so you have it on hand as another option if you need it. Always, follow up.

Remember, relax and pick up that phone. Otherwise, the deal and the money won’t come your way. And remember, you can always consult!

Copyright 2003, DeFiore Enterprises.

About The Author

Interested in having your own successful, home based creative real estate investing business? Chuck and Sue have been helping folks start successful home based businesses for over 17 years, and we can help you too! To see how, visit http://www.homebusinesssolutions.com for the latest FREE tips and tricks, educational products and coaching in creative real estate investing and home based businesses. No time to visit the site? Subscribe to our FREE กhow toก Home Business Solutions Digest, itกs like having your own personal coach: mailto:[email protected]

[email protected]

This article was posted on March 18, 2003

by Sue and Chuck DeFiore