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Text Message Marketing for Radio Stations — Interactivity on a New Frequency

By admin on Mar. 17, 2009.

There are three things that we never leave home without any more–your keys, wallet, and mobile phone.

Note that we no longer have a need for a watch. In fact I dropped mine in a fish tank recently Those of us who still wear watches do so only because it’s a nice piece of jewelry; it’s no longer a functional item with a cell phone in your pocket.

There were 157 billion text messages sent in the United States last year! That’s up 61% over the 98 billion text messages sent in 2005! There are now more cell phones in the United States than there are internet connections.

And, if you’re trying to reach teens and young adults with email, that is just so yesterday. Text messaging represents 48% of all written communication by 15 to 24-year-olds. Remember pen and paper? Only 5% of 15 to 24-year-olds written communication is done the old fashioned way.

But, perhaps the greatest advantage of text message marketing is that you can reach your audience anytime, anywhere, any place. 84% of all consumers keep their cell phone on and with them 24 hours per day and 94% of all text messages are opened and read. That’s why The New York Times called mobile marketing “the most powerful advertising medium of all time.”

We all know teens love to text; 29% of teens send more than ten texts per day. But, if you think text messaging is just for teens, think again. 39% of active text message users (those sending more than ten messages per week) are over the age of 35. Even Grandma does it now–8% of those over the age of 70 are now considered active text messagers. All told, 95 million Americans are in this elite group of active text messagers today.

Another invention going the way of the typewriter is the landline phone. 15% of all cell phone owners don’t bother to have a landline phone anymore and 31% are considering giving up their home phone in the next three years.

If you’re a radio station executive and you’re not offering text messaging by now, you may still be living in the Marconi era. The beauty of text messaging to radio listeners is that since so much of radio listening is done outside of access to general media, text may be the only medium available. If they’re in their car, on the beach, shopping in pet stores for fish tanks or at the office, there’s probably no competition from television or internet. Hence, radio and the cell phone are the means to reaching your target audience.

What do radio listeners want to do with text messaging? According to the Pew Study, they want to request songs, enter contests, and obtain station play lists. It’s not surprising then that the top text message applications for radio stations to date have been contests, song requests and dedications, vote lines, station play lists, and enhanced advertising.

Enhanced advertising is where the game is starting to change for radio stations. What was once a promotional tool has now become a sales tool. What was once a cost center for a radio station has now become a revenue center.

94% of all text messages are opened and read. No other medium can make that claim, not even radio. That’s why forward looking radio station sales teams are now up-selling their customers with text programs. And, it’s working because the advertising works. It’s no longer just a spot buy when you add an interactive text promotion to the on-air commercial. Some account executives are getting in on buys in demos where they were once shutout. Others are gaining additional market share on the buy by bundling spot buys with a station text message campaign. Mobile marketing offers the sales team a weapon that others in the market simply don’t have.

Here’s how it works. Next time the radio station plans to give away tickets to a concert, why have 999 frustrated callers reaching busy signals and one lucky winner? With text messaging, all 1000 listeners get through to the station. There’s still only one lucky winner, but all the entrants receive the station advertiser’s marketing message. More importantly, the station now has a database of 1000 opt-in P-1 listeners.

Next time the station has breaking news or a pre-sale buy of concert tickets, it will want to notify the opt-in database, thus providing another opportunity to put your advertiser’s message into the palm of the hands of your loyal station listeners. Your advertiser’s message gets through and your P-1’s feel like VIP’s.

According to Forrester Research, 43% of US marketers will be using mobile marketing within the next year. Mobile marketing is projected to generate $4.8 billion in revenue in 2011.

Radio needs to jump on the mobile marketing train. If it doesn’t, somebody else will.

Robert Bentz

http://www.articlesbase.com/cell-phones-articles/text-message-marketing-for-radio-stations-interactivity-on-a-new-frequency-119385.html

Spending Thousands Learning Internet Marketing? You may have Made a Mistake!

By admin on Mar. 14, 2009.

Do you buy every e-book or new report out just to get the insider secrets on how to learn e-commerce marketing and Internet marketing? Are you going broke just trying to find the answers? You don’t have to. In fact, there are many free and adequate resources out there on the web that will tell you everything that you need to know and you don’t have to go broke trying to find them!

A year ago, I was new to the idea of doing business online and because of my in-experience I was naive enough to take out my card and spend several thousands on a single package from an internet marketing company at one of their brainwashing sessions. I did this all before having a really good look at what else was available to me.

I attended another session at the same company a year later and, as I sat there, I witnessed reenactments of my own mistake through other people eagerly taking out their credit cards to purchase learning packages ranging from $2,000 up to $5,000 at the end of the seminar.

Please don’t let this happen to yourself. Don’t get me wrong, not all of the people who bought these packages made a mistake. For some, it has proved to be an effective investment of their money, while others may not have received any results at all. My point here is that, if you are a beginner, explore your options and learn as much as you can for free before handing over that card and signing your hard-earned money away.

What I didn’t know and what I want you to know, is that there are a lot of free or cheaper ways to find resources and start learning Internet marketing, so lets take a look at some of the options that you have.

Free E-books, Articles, Podcasts And Radio Shows

There are literally thousands of free e-books and articles all over the web that you can read or download. Article directories are a great place to start and you will find that most of them are filled with useful and informative information designed to educate the reader rather than be filled with worthless advertising information. This is because article directories have strict guidelines set out for those who submit the articles and they must be filled with useful content for the reader.

In the articles that you read, you can also click on the authors back link in the authors resource box and be transferred to the website of the author to find out even more information. Article directories will provide you with very basic knowledge on just about any topic including Internet marketing or e-commerce marketing, providing you with a launch pad to learn more on. All of this is free to you.

Podcasts and radio shows are also a great way to learn about topics of interest. Podcasts are much the same as radio shows although you have the option to subscribe to them, and receive information automatically using software that can read the feed formats such as RSS or Atom. Information from a podcast can be saved, or even downloaded for later and played on your mobile, ipod, mp3 player or on your PC.

Most subscriptions are updated frequently for new information, and best of all they are mostly free. Websites offering podcasts have a small icon that is orange with audio lines through it. By clicking on this icon you can subscribe to that site and receive information as it is made available.

Google It

You can also find plenty of resources by doing a search on Google for Internet marketing information. BUT keep in mind that you are surfing for information, not to purchase anything, so keep your cards in your wallet for now. Don’t be too worried if you come across ‘limited time, once time only’ offers or products and services that are at rock bottom prices. Keep focused on finding the good materials out there.

Forums

Forums are one of the best ways for beginners to find out helpful, free information on e-commerce marketing and Internet marketing. The good forums are free of corny sales pitches. The information provided on forums is mostly for readers, not shoppers. Forums often have ’stickies’ that compile all of the information and posts into a single thread that you can go through. This makes forums even more attractive as you don’t have to search for them.

One of the best forums that I have encountered is http://www.highrankings.com/forum. This forum is frequented by a host of Internet experts in the industry. The forum itself is owned by an SEO company that has been around since 1995. The only problem that you may encounter is that the threads or posts are often filled with SEO jargon, so make sure to check out the stickies that we mentioned earlier first. This site also offers an Advisor newsletter that is very informative. You can also see their archives for information from previous publications.

Blogs

Blogs are another great way to learn things from other Internet marketers. You will find that most Blogs are written by people much the same as yourself and are willing to help you along, giving you tips they have found in their travels. Blogs are a great way to learn from other people’s mistakes and get free info and resources other people have found helpful.

PPC Advertising – Take A Walk In The Park Before Entering The Jungle!

Pay per click advertising is an effective way to get your advertising message across, but before you get too excited and start using PPC ads from Google Adwords and Yahoo, start small. There are great PPC networks such as 7search.com or http://knnoodle.com that are much cheaper and will provide you the experience you need to start off. We all make mistakes and these smaller, cheaper PPC networks are a great way learn without spending too much money and to test the effectiveness of your campaigns before moving onto the big players such as Google or Yahoo.

Affiliate Marketing

If you are just beginning, the best and cheapest way to start your Internet marketing business is to sell affiliate products first. Most affiliate programs offer their affiliates resources such as pre-made ads for your PPC campaigns, solid sales and landing pages for your visitors to go to, photos of the products you are selling, follow up emails that are sent out to your customers and much more. By joining an affiliate program that has these tools already in place, you will have an insight into what an effective Internet marketing campaign looks like.

By using an affiliate program, you also have the added advantage of having a ready-made product just waiting for you to start marketing. All affiliate marketing programs are not created equally, so don’t just sign up for the first thing that comes along, make sure that careful consideration goes into the products that you choose to market.

Your internet business depends on the products that you choose. If you don’t find products that are in demand or competitively priced, people won’t buy them and you will not learn anything from this simply because you will not be able to track your results and measure how effective your efforts have been.

I am personally active in an affiliate program which provide quality products sold at reasonable prices, as well as already prepared advertising material with easy to understand guides to help you use them. At the bottom of the article, I will provide you links that you can follow for more information on those.

Conclusion

I have written these tips to help other Internet marketers or those who would like to make a start in the industry. To let you know that there are options out there that will cost you less money and effort when you are looking for information about learning internet marketing.

You can choose to spend your money and buy one of those expensive packages. By doing this, you may save yourself a lot of time searching for information or you can use the tips provided in my article and spend a little more time doing it. The choice is yours, just as long as you know all of the options that are available to you. Once you start with Internet marketing, remember that you will need to invest both time and money to make your business successful.

Despite what the hype and ads stating how easy it is now, an Internet business is just that, it is a business and needs to be taken just as seriously as a brick and mortar business. It is not a walk in the park, it is hard work and will take a lot of perseverance and patience to get it just right. But when you do, you will reap the rewards.

Thien Kai Wei
http://www.articlesbase.com/ecommerce-articles/spending-thousands-learning-internet-marketing-you-may-have-made-a-mistake-85810.html

History and Benefits of Internet Marketing

By admin on Mar. 11, 2009.

The commencement of first Internet marketing was is early 1990s with simple, text-based websites, which offers product information. As the time passed Internet marketing evolved into more than just selling information products, now there are people who are selling advertising space, more software programs, business models, and actually many other products and services. Today companies like google, yahoo and msn leveled the playing field of internet marketing. They offer local advertising to small to medium sized businesses; ROI has also grown while the bottom line has been lowered. This type of internet marketing is a backbone of modern capitalism, permitting anyone with a though, product or any service to reach the widest possible audience.

Houston Internet marketing is gaining popularity day by day. Actually, the internet marketing could cover any face of outline marketing as described above; latest used term internet marketing commonly refers to the use of direct response marketing strategies, which were conventionally used in radio, direct main, and TV infomercials, have applied to internet business space. This ability for careful analysis has become quite general now, that is why you would commonly see terms such as ROI, conversion rate, and sales letter generally come up when discussing about internet marketing.

Benefits

Some of the advantages related with Houston Internet marketing comprise the availability of information. Consumers could simply log onto the Internet and know about products and as well as buy them, at any hour. Companies, which use Internet marketing, could also save money because of a reduced need for a sales force. Overall, Internet marketing could surely assist in expanding from a home market to both national as well as international marketplaces. Unlike established marketing media (such as print, radio and TV), entry into the kingdom of Internet marketing could be a lot less expensive.

Compared to the other media marketing (such as print, radio and TV), Internet marketing is rising extremely fast. It’s also earning fame among small businesses and even consumers when attempting to monetize their blog or website. The calculation of the internet marketing as a media makes it very easy to experience ground-breaking e-marketing tactics, which would prove a better Cost of Acquisition than other media. However, in most urbanized countries, internet marketing and advertising spending is about 5% only, while TV, radio, and the print are far more.

Houston
http://www.articlesbase.com/internet-articles/history-and-benefits-of-internet-marketing-125907.html

Finding Radio Shows On Audio Books Websites

By admin on Mar. 8, 2009.

Do you have fond memories of sitting with your parents listening to the radio at night after supper? Well, now a new generation can make good memories of radio too! Just download a radio show from an audio book website to your iPod, Mp3 player, or computer and you can be listening in minutes

Radio went out of fashion for quite a while. Our society has fallen in love with television and now the internet threatens to take over TV as more and more shows and movies are available online. Radio was for all intents and purposes replaced except with the early morning commuters who listened to talk radio. And the problem in the past with talk radio has been that it was attracting only a certain demographic. Not all people have lengthy commutes and many people don’t have jobs where they are able to sit and listen to radio. The ironic thing is that one of the forms of media that has helped to replace radio, the internet, has now brought new life to it.

Downloading radio shows from audio book websites is now more popular then ever. You can download a copy of an old radio show like the Jack Benny program or your favorite morning radio show. You can then listen to it at a time that is convenient for you. This practice is especially popular in Britain where 45 million Britons are now listening to radio. It is believed that this number is due to the popularity of iPods and other mobile audio devices.

The BBC has even brought some criticism upon itself for planning to make available on the internet all of its radio broadcasts upon demand. Radio shows are receiving a revival thanks to the ability to download them from the internet and take them with you. You can download all kinds of radio shows and listen to the broadcast from your computer or transfer it to your iPod or Mp3 player.

Radio might have seemed like a thing of the past but Mp3 players, video players, and even cell phones are giving radio a revival. Check out a website that sells audio books and you are likely to find radio shows for download as well. Now you and your family can share radio together by downloading family radio programs from the internet and listening to them in the car or on the computer. It’s not too late to give your children the gift of radio.

David Stargel
http://www.articlesbase.com/art-and-entertainment-articles/finding-radio-shows-on-audio-books-websites-105679.html

How Internet Radio Will Help Direct Sale Work-At-Home-Moms

By admin on Mar. 5, 2009.

Are you constantly on the lookout for help with your direct sales business? Do you secretly long for a good, solid network support system?

Running a direct sales business and selling products like fish tank aquariums or how to play guitar products can become taxing, if you aren’t careful. It is easy to become overwhelmed with a full, busy work schedule. When you add a family to the mix, you suddenly realize that you’re juggling one too many balls at once.

With a little help from the Internet, you can have complete access to a great radio program that will help you find balance, enhance your business smarts, and increase your networking skills.

What is a Podcast?

A Podcast is audio (or video) files that are published online. They are readily available for instant download to a personal computer. You can also playback the files on a mobile device, such as an iPod or any other MP3 player.

Podcasts have become wildly popular over the last couple of years. More and more radio programs are being built and distributed using this method. Because you can have access to the radio shows 24/7 and can download them into your mp3 player to listen to on the go, they are increasingly common among households in America.

How can a Podcast radio program help direct sales WAHMs?

Direct sales businesses include a wide gamut of opportunities for work-at-home-moms. With the pressures of building and maintaining your home and business, you need constant support, ready and at your fingertips at any and every moment of the day.

With a direct sales radio program, you are able to hear interviews with other successful WAHMs. You can also learn ways that other direct sales moms have found to balance home and work, as well as experience a measurable amount of success in their businesses. A direct sales radio program can give you tried-and-true tips from other “real” work-at-home-moms, just like you.

Can a simple radio program really help direct sales work at home moms like you? Absolutely! So tune in and listen to one today!

Kristina C

http://www.articlesbase.com/business-articles/how-internet-radio-will-help-direct-sale-workathomemoms-125006.html

What Are Internet Radio Hosts Looking For In Their Guests?

By admin on Mar. 2, 2009.

Copyright 2005 Black Butterfly Press

http://www.maxinethompson.com

As an Internet radio Host of On The Same Page on
www.voiceamerica.com, over the past three and a half years, I
have interviewed such illustrious guests as Haki Madhubuti of
Third World Press, Dr. Rosie Milligan of Milligan Books,
Celebrity Mother Love, Mark Victor Hansen, Jack Canfield,
(Chicken Soup For the Soul Fame), Dan Poynter, and other
writing/publishing experts. From the experienced to the
non-experienced guests, this much I have gleaned—these skills
are learnable. Even if you are a first-time author, you, too,
can become an exciting interviewee.

Why is Internet radio important as a media? For one, it has a
global audience. I’ve interviewed guests who were as far away as
Paris and in the Bahamas. Anyone with a computer and Internet
Access can listen to your show

Most of all, Internet radio is not only the wave of the future,
it is beginning to be heard in automobiles, so this is a good
place to start your publicity trek.

What are Internet Radio Hosts looking for In Their Guests?

1. Hosts are drawn to an energetic, upbeat, personable guest. If
you have a flat liner personality, be honest with yourself.
Practice on a tape recorder, even if it’s your own answer
machine, or in the mirror. If necessary, get a media coach. But
practice, practice, practice.

2. Host like guests who are well-informed and on top of their
game. Stay abreast of trends and provide updated new
information. (Read the newspaper, the Internet, do research. Be
an information junkie.) Consider different hooks and angles,
i.e. how has the Internet changed the way we do business? How
can writers market their books on the Internet?

3. Hosts like controversy, but not particularly of the “shock
jock” variety. If you are speaking on a controversial subject,
be non-judgmental and do not offend any particular group of
people. Make sure you learn how not to use language, which is
condescending or demeaning such as using phrases like “those
people.”

4. If you are a fiction writer, show how your novel addresses
social issues such as race, police brutality, crime, corruption,
drugs, AIDS, etc. Most of all, show how your story can provide
information that improves the quality of other people’s lives,
even if your story is fiction.

5. If you are from a medical, business or scientific background,
make your interview interesting and lively. Don’t make it a
pedantic lecture.

Tips for Improving Your Interview:

Send the host your press release and a review copy of your book,
including news articles or book reviews, before the show.

Send the host a list of questions or topics that you are well
versed in.

Become a guest who knows how to talk about his/her work and not
just all about “me.” Remember, people are always tuned into this
station—WIFM—”What’s in it For Me?”

Don’t just try to sell the store (your book, your seminar, your
product), but sell the story.

Learn to answer in sound bites. Do not go over one minute for a
reply.

Drop your voice to cue the host that you are through speaking
and waiting for the next question.

Give the host time to ask a question, without having to
interrupt, which means you are going on too long.

Learn the importance of pausing and deep breathing. Don’t run on
like a motor mouth.

Learn the power of the pause, even while you are answering. This
habit will make listeners lean forward to hear what you’re
saying. It also sends a message that you are a serious person
who chooses his words carefully.

If possible, use anecdotes, recite poems, or read excerpts from
your book. Tasteful humor always works.

Don’t forget to provide your web page and where your book can be
purchased.

When you hear the music before the break, you have 30 seconds to
wrap up whatever point you were making.

Sharpen your axe. Attend Toastmaster’s or join Speaking Bureaus
to become a better speaker.

Learn how to adlib and speak off the cuff, particularly if a
caller catches you off guard.

Learn to disagree, without being disagreeable.

Listen to other shows as well as “On The Same Page” on
www.voiceamerica.com.

Before the show, confirm with the host. (Most of the time, I
confirm beforehand.) Email if an emergency comes up and you
can’t be on the show.

Although I usually email a thank you note, I seldom get them
back. Remember to send a Thank-you email. This could go a long
way if you get on Howard Stern’s Show or Oprah’s.

* “On The Same Page” airs on Tuesday at 6:00 a.m. Pacific Time
live, then re-airs at 6:00 p.m. Pacific Time, Friday 4:00 p.m.
PST and Saturday at 1:00 p.m. Pacific Time.

Maxine Thompson
http://www.articlesbase.com/business-articles/what-are-internet-radio-hosts-looking-for-in-their-guests-525.html

Setting Up your Own Internet Radio Station

By admin on Feb. 27, 2009.

Radio has been lagging for some years now, seeming to be a dinosaur compared to streaming internet radio, podcasting, XM satellite radio, and the plethora of other technologies that have reared their heads in the past 10 years. One of these new technologies is basically the same thing as old-school AM/FM radio, and that is internet radio. They both serve the same basic function, except with internet radio, you can set up your own station and play the music you want to play. I find this to be really exciting. So, with this knowledge in hand, how would one go about setting up an internet radio station?

Internet radio stations use streaming audio technology to deliver audio content to your listeners. Basically, streaming audio is a more efficient and effective solution for delivering audio content. Instead of someone having to download the full audio file to listen to it, it is “streamed” off of a server so the end user can listen to the content live instead of having the file’s data stored on their computer. There are special servers that deliver streaming media, and most ISPs have streaming media abilities, so you need to ask your internet provider first to make sure that you’ll be able to do so.

This tutorial is concerned with setting up and working a internet radio station utilizing pre-recorded content. (You can also broadcast live, but that’s another tutorial in itself.) So, let’s jump right into what hardware you’ll need to get going.

Gear you’ll need to get going:

1.CD Player You’ll most likely be using and audio player on your computer, such as Real Player. You can set-up your playlist as you see fit. Some ISPs offer streaming radio services that utilize your media player playlist to figure out what you want played, and when to play it. You will need to check with your ISP to find out the details, as every one is different.

2.CD ripping software (To gather your audio files) I personally use Windows Media Player to rip my audio cds, it seems to be the easiest I’ve come across. Please keep in mind that there are special rules for broadcasting copyrighted content, and you will be liable if you broadcast any copyrighted content.

3.Audio editing software If you decide to record anything yourself, station identification bits and the like, you’ll need a microphone too. I use Sony Soundforge for any audio editing, as it’s a very simple, intuitive program. This will also benefit you if you’d like to censor any of the songs, or add anything to them. It also helps out if you want to cut down on the song’s file sizes. You can pull a .wav file into Soundforge and output a compressed MP3 file in seconds.

4.A standard hosting account with an ISP Every ISP is different, so you’ll have to check with yours. All you really need to ask is if they support streaming internet radio, and if they do, you’re good to go.

This is a very simplified guide to setting up and internet radio station, but it should be an adequate primer if you have no knowledge of streaming internet radio. There are many programs out there, free and paid, that will help you get the job done too. There is a great repository of resources over at http://www.webdevelopersjournal.com/software/multimedia_goodies.html that I suggest you check out. Anyways, I learned a lot writing this article, I hope you learned just as much reading it.

Jason Cole
http://www.articlesbase.com/internet-articles/setting-up-your-own-internet-radio-station-70578.html

Internet Radio – the New Vehicle for your Marketing Message

By admin on Feb. 26, 2009.

Marketing professionals have always been extremely innovative in using various mediums and Internet marketing professionals are probably the most proactive group in this fraternity when it comes to employing some new medium to spread their message.

While Internet marketing has come of age with the recent social media marketing evolution and other aggressive variations like viral marketing; marketers are yet to discover the full potential of another extremely effective medium – Internet Radio.

Radio has been used as a marketing medium ever since its inception. However, with the advent of TV, Internet and various other ways of entertainment, traditional radio has lost its importance to some extent. Internet radio has been successful in bringing back the focus to this medium. As the number of Internet users is on the rise every passing day, so is the number of people who listen to Internet radio. This growing number of Internet radio listeners definitely provides a lucrative field for the marketers to push their message.

There are several Internet radio stations that are extremely professional and host quality shows. These radio stations have a good number of regular listeners. There are stations that are particularly dedicated to certain industries and these Internet radio stations can actually be a gold mine for marketers working in those specific niche.

There are several advantages of using Internet radio as your advertising medium, some of which can be as follows:

• A relatively new medium used by lesser number of advertisers, so your message doesn’t get lost among another thousand advertisements.
• Many Internet radio stations are specific to certain niche, so if you are advertising a product specific to that niche, you are actually hitting your target segment specifically.
• You really don’t need to give an advertisement! You can simply be a guest at any of the talk radio shows on a popular Internet radio station and that would do wonders to promote your brand. Of course you need to know your stuff if you are considering this option.
• When a user listens to an Internet radio station, he actually logs on to that website or clicks the “play” button to listen to it. More user involvement indicates more engaged users resulting in easier penetration of marketing message.
• We come across more ads on visual media than on any audio medium – it is expected the attention share would be more in this case.
• Internet radio carries with it the inherent nature of Internet – it is Global! You are not just advertising to your own city or town, Internet radio has the capacity to take your message to the world.

Some marketers have already started using the better-known Internet talk radio stations for advertising their products and services. However, this medium is still probably at its infancy with respect to commercialization. It is expected that the marketers will definitely make full use of its potential with the increase in popularity of the medium. Who knows, Internet radio might turn out to be the next big thing in the marketing field!

Ray Smith
http://www.articlesbase.com/advertising-articles/internet-radio-the-new-vehicle-for-your-marketing-message-124298.html