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How to Start a Blog for Your Online Radio Station: Tips and Tricks

Manolis Zografakis — Wed, 19 Jun 2024 09:30:36 +0000

In a previous blog post, we covered various ways to attract new listeners and grow your internet radio station; one of those ways was to start blogging. If you want to try that out, but don’t know where to start, this blog post is for you!

Why your internet station needs a blog

When it comes to online radio, a blog can be a powerful way to engage and entertain your existing audience but also to connect with new listeners and promote your station. In this post, we’ll discuss tips for starting a blog and creating content that will help your station grow. We’ll also talk about what to write about, and how to keep your blog fresh and interesting. Finally, we’ll provide some resources to help you get started.

1. How to come up with topic ideas for blog posts

You first need to figure out what your blog will be about. One thing you definitely need to do is make your blog relevant to your radio. For example, if your internet radio programming is all about Jazz, it won’t make much sense to blog about Pop. Your blog should be your written representation of your radio station style and content. Here are some ideas about what to write about:

Music industry news
Album reviews
World news
Industry news and gossips
Playlists of the month
Concert reviews
Interviews with singers and musicians you invite to your shows
History of music
Music festivals
Books that music lovers should read

If you’re stumped for blog topic ideas, consider ideas from your own life. Don’t be afraid to blog about a topic that hits close to home; it’s important to write about things that interest you because this passion will come through in your blogs. There are various online tools that can help you find inspiration and topic ideas on what to write about. Here are five content idea generators:

I’ve recently launched an internet radio station for my website Soundhealing.gr focused on sound healing, and meditation music. I knew that an effective way to attract new listeners is through a blog where I would write content related to sound healing, and sound meditation. The first thing I did is to write down topic ideas that I would find interesting as a reader. I also did a Google search to find topic ideas according to what people are looking for in relation to sound healing. I then used Google Adwords’ Keyword Planner to narrow down the topics to the ones which would have potential organic traffic. The idea is that people who are interested in learning about sound healing, would end up on my blog and hopefully would want to listen to the station. I started seeing an increase in organic traffic 1 month after launching the blog.

This post about how to come up with topic ideas for your talk radio show might give you some extra ideas on finding interesting things to write about.

Extra tip: You can use social media polls to ask your fans what type of topics they want to see on your blog.

2. Finding your voice

Finding your blog’s voice is an important step in building a successful blog. Your posts should have a distinct style, and your content should not be boring or copy-and-pasted from other sources. Try and think about matching the tone of your blog with the voice of your internet radio show.

3. How regularly should you post?

Frequency of posting is totally up to you. However, if you aim to have a successful blog that gets organic traffic (which means readers who could become radio listeners) you will need to blog regularly. Aim to blog at least once a week, if not more. Many content marketers who aim for increased awareness blog daily, but you can blog less frequently and still generate traffic and engagement. You just need a content plan (weekly or monthly), write engaging content, and never give up the idea of writing. Trust me, it will pay off the moment that you will see your organic traffic and listenership rising!

4. How to engage your blog audience

You should engage and interact with blog readers through the post’s comments section or on social media. This will help build a following for your blog. Readers always appreciate being acknowledged and seeing a reply from you will give them a reason to be more engaged and comment again in the future. Also, lots of times those comments will give you inspiration for future blog post ideas. Keep in mind that when running a blog, you’ll want to take comments and interaction into account so that you can write blog posts that will generate interest and discussion. Another potential way to interact with your blog audience is through quizzes. Quizzes can be highly engaging and interactive, allowing the active participation of readers. You can create quizzes related to your blog topics or content, offering your audience a chance to test their knowledge, discover something new, or even just have fun.

5. Accept guest post contributors

Another great way to engage your audience is to ask them to share their own content and publish it on your blog as a guest post. You can let people know through your radio and website that you are up for guest contributors. Obviously, you can choose what content to publish. No one obliges you to publish all guest content you receive. On your website, create a blog post category for these guest contributions. After getting their post published on your blog, guest contributors will likely want to share this great news with their friends on social media, which means extra exposure and potential readers-listeners for your station!

6. How to build blog traffic

Regardless of how regularly you blog, blog promotion is key for building traffic and engagement. Blog promotion includes search engine optimisation (SEO), blog post promotion on social media, guest blog promotion, and blog post pay-per-click advertisements. It won’t make much sense to create content that no one reads. Therefore, you will need to spread the word about it. You can of course let your listeners know about your new blog posts through your radio show and share your posts on your social media channels. You can also host webinars or online events related to your blog content to promote your blog.

Another great way to get more views and readers is to join relevant Facebook groups and communities and share your posts there. Finally, you can use platforms like Reddit and Medium to reach a wider audience.

7. How to monetise a blog for online radio

Monetising blog content can be done in a few different ways. You can blog about particular music albums that you play on your radio and link to music play stores where your audience can purchase that album. There are play stores that provide affiliate partnerships to publishers like yourself. You will get a commission for every reader of your blog who clicks on that link and makes a purchase. You could also use blog advertisements to generate revenue through blog visits. You can sign up to Google Adsense and use their service to feature banner ads on your blog and get paid every time a reader clicks on those ads. Here are some more ways to make money from your station.

8.How to take advantage of SEO to bring organic traffic to your blog

SEO is the way to make your website and blog rank on search engines. You can check out this guide to find how it works. The truth is that it’s not that easy to implement a successful SEO strategy if you’re not familiar with the subject and the techniques. However, I wasn’t either before starting my first blog and it didn’t take long until I started seeing a spike in organic traffic on my blog. If you want to take advantage of SEO, you will need to know some basic concepts and ranking factors, and always keep in mind those key factors whenever writing a blog post.

Be sure to make use of keywords and SEO techniques so that your blog posts can be found by listeners online. Here are some blog post SEO tips to get you started:

The easiest way to find the right keywords to use in your copy is through this simple and free browser extension called Keywords Everywhere. You will just need to search for the topic of the blog post you want to write about in the search engine and Keywords Everywhere will show you monthly search volume metrics right inside the search pages.
If you want to dive deeper into keywords research and analysis you can use Google Adwords’ Keywords Planner tool, which is also free to use.

9. Use Canva for blog design

Canva is a cool website where you can create nice design elements for your blog, like spot banners. It offers hundreds of beautiful templates to use so that you can create a beautiful banner without having design knowledge. Just sign up for a free account and look for blog graphics.

10. Stay Informed with Industry Trends and Current Events

By staying informed about the latest industry trends and events, you can discover new topics of interest, predict changes, and offer timely insights to your readers. Engaging with industry news also positions you as a knowledgeable authority, establishing you as a credible source and attracting a broader audience. Regularly monitoring trends helps you adapt your content strategy continuously. Sharing knowledge and updates about current events keeps your content fresh and up-to-date, improving loyalty among your audience who rely on your blog for valuable perspectives on the latest news.

And there you have it, you are now ready to start a blog to promote your internet radio programme!

The post How to Start a Blog for Your Online Radio Station: Tips and Tricks appeared first on Airtime Pro.

How to Sell Your Internet Radio Station

Manolis Zografakis — Mon, 18 Apr 2022 08:09:14 +0000

You’ve been running your internet radio station for some time now and it has been an epic journey so far. Years passed without even noticing it. You’ve managed to create a strong community of listeners/fans who you consider family. However, in the last couple of months you feel that the station is more of a burden than a pleasure. What do you do? Have you considered selling your station? If you have, this post will walk you through the process.

1. Why sell your internet radio station

It can be hard to let go of your station. You feel like it’s your child. You saw your station growing from just an idea, a passion of yours to play music, to a strong brand that reaches thousands of listeners a month. How can you even think of selling your station, right? Here are a few reasons:.

You’re not passionate about your station any more

When someone starts an online radio station, it often is borne of passion. However, we tend to evolve and change as we age and therefore our interests and passions also change along the way. If your passion for online radio goes away, it’s a good idea to sell it.

You’re in need of money

Another common reason why you would consider selling your station is that you’re in need of money. Being in a difficult financial situation is a common reason why people look to sell valuable items. However, in such a case, you need to be sure that you won’t regret it in the future. So, if you have financial issues and you also don’t find pleasure in running your station anymore then, selling is a good way to go.

You need to save money

When you first started your online radio station you might not have thought about all of the costs that go into running it. These costs include your internet radio software, your website server, the licensing fees, rent, etc. If you haven’t monetised your station, then you just spend money and you have no profit.

If you don’t want to sell your station but you indeed need to save money then you may consider the following tips:

Pay annually and save

Pay annually to save monthly. Most internet radio software providers offer discounts to those who pay on an annual basis. For example, Airtime Pro offers 2 free months (equivalent to 16% off) on all annual plans. So, if you’re an Airtime Pro user, paying for the starter plan, and you choose to pay annually you will pay $33.29 instead of $39.95 per month.

Downgrade to a simpler plan

All this time you may pay for a plan that you don’t even need. It’s like paying for a 4-bedroom flat while using just one room. You’ll need to investigate your analytics to see how many listeners you have a day and how much storage you use. For example, you may need just 5 GB storage and you actually pay for 15 or you may get around 500 listeners a day and you pay for 1,000. So, you will want to downgrade your plan and if you see that you indeed need more features, then upgrade.

Monetise your station

If you don’t like the idea of selling your station then you just need to think about how to save money and at the same time make money out of your station. From selling radio ads and banner ads on your site to finding sponsors to sponsor your station or each show, there are various ways you can monetise your station. We’ve written an in-depth piece on this exact subject. Here are 13 ways to make money with your internet station.

2. How to find buyers

There are two ways to sell your internet radio station: by yourself or through a third-party agent or marketplace. If you are a natural salesperson, then the first option might sound ideal, as you will try to get the most money possible without spending on commission. However, keep in mind that this option can be tricky and time-consuming. If you already have an offer in hand then you could negotiate with that buyer for a deal that would make both of you happy. If you don’t have an offer, you will need to find potential buyers yourself and that’s not an easy task. If you decide to work with a private broker, then you can find a third-party marketplace, and the good news is that there are indeed some good options to choose from. Below are the two most popular marketplaces for buying and selling online businesses.

https://flippa.com/

https://empireflippers.com/

You will need to sign up and start looking for potential buyers. Keep in mind that it might take some time before you find a buyer, and also until you actually make the deal and receive the money. The commission that you will need depends on your final sale price. They range from 5% to 15%.

Sell your station with Empireflippers.com

Empireflippers.com is a full service marketplace. They curate online businesses that meet their requirements and offer a dedicated team to take care of the website transfer. They won’t charge you a monthly fee, but instead they will charge a commission once your station is sold and the commission is deducted from the sales price. Empire Flippers only accepts online businesses that earn at least $500 per month in profit. The commission rates depend on the value of the business. For example:

If you sell your station for less than $700,000, the commission will be a flat 15% on the sale price.

If the deal closes between $700,000 and $5 million, then the commission will be reduced to 8% on the amount above $700,000 and below $5 million.

You can find out how much commission you will need to pay based on your estimated listing price via this commission calculator.

Here are the four steps of the sale process through Empireflippers.com.

Submit your station

You’ll first need to submit your internet station for sale to the marketplace. They will ask you a few questions about your business and then they will review your application.

Submission review & approval

You will need to wait for a few days until a review of your submission is completed. If they require additional information they will contact you. Otherwise, you will get notified that your application is successful.

Publish & Accept Offers

After your listing is successful they will promote your business to potential buyers and you will start receiving offers.

Help selling your station

You will receive help negotiating and structure deals that get you top value and a lightning-fast close. They help you in every step so that you close the deal. They even transfer the business to the buyer for you.

Sell your station with Flippa.com

Flippa is a peer-to-peer marketplace and it’s the most widely used marketplace for selling online businesses. They charge a listing fee as well as a 5% success fee payable when you sell your business. The platform offers various listing packages starting from $29, which include: 3-month duration marketplace listing, data integrations, and same-day support. Flippa lets you chat and negotiate directly with potential buyers. You can list your business yourself or ask Flippa’s team for help. They also promise to beat any success fees provided by other relevant marketplaces by 1%.

Starting an online radio station has never been easier. No credit card required!

7 day free trial Plans from $9.95/mo

3. Determine the value of your internet radio station

You can find how much your online radio is worth through an online business valuation tool. Both of the marketplaces listed above offer such a tool, so if you’re curious to know the value of your internet station you can try both tools as they are free to use.

Flippa’s online business valuation tool

Empire Flippers Valuation tool

You will first need to provide some basic info and metrics about your internet radio station and they will then be able to let you know an asking price for your internet station.

Some key factors that will determine the value of your internet station are:

Daily visits/listeners
Domain authority score
Monthly revenue
Age of the domain
Bounce rate

You can either set an auction where you set a starting price and then you accept bids from buyers, or you set a sales price and you then negotiate directly with buyers.

4. Should you set an auction or selling price?

Setting an auction

If you choose to set an auction you will need to set a starting price and then you will start accepting bids from buyers. An auction is ideal if you want to sell your business quickly and you

want to create a “buzz” in your listing. However, if you choose this type of listing you will need to manage bids from lots of different bidders.

According to Flippa, the best way to maximize your selling price is to start with a low minimum bid and low reserve. There is no need to worry if your reserve price is not met after the auction ends because your listing will remain live on Flippa and you can still negotiate directly with potential buyers.

Asking a set fee

If you set a price, then you will get messages from potential buyers and negotiate directly with them. This type of listing is ideal in case you are not in a rush selling, meaning you are willing to wait to find the right buyer. Also, in this case you will not get less inquiries than in an auction.

5. How to prepare your radio station for the sale

Before selling your station you need to make sure that your station is a sellable asset.

Have a list of your station’s standard operating procedures (SOPs).

Having a clear list of all those procedures will help the buyer understand your business better and will also help with handing over your processes to them. You can create a document or how-to videos specifying all important aspects and procedures of your business.

Get your finances in order

The buyer will want to know if your station is profitable or not. Therefore you need to show them a financial overview of your business. If you’re serious about selling your business and you’re looking to close the best deal possible, you will need to cut back on any unnecessary expenses (see above) and perhaps monetise your station before reaching out to potential buyers. The ideal scenario is that you cut back on expenses at least 3 to 6 months before selling your station, so that your financial plan is more sustainable.

Conclusion

Selling your internet radio station is not the easiest thing to do. If you want to achieve a good deal, then you’ll need to plan wisely, and these tips and ticks should help you get the best price possible. Good luck!

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The post How to Sell Your Internet Radio Station appeared first on Airtime Pro.