i need some help/advice

now radio soldier

im in my mid 20's,living in cavan with my girlfriend and two kids,i've been on the social for last two years and im fed up.i've had this idea in my head for awhile about setting up a online radio station.i set up a company name with cro and its a LTD too.I know what equipment is needed,and how to get it up and running (i have some experiance in fm radio & mobile dj business ) I would like to get between 6-8 k to get it up and running. I would also have a friend who sells ads to companys selling 30-60 second on air ads for the station when its up and running so that would get some money in.
Only problem is getting funding/investors into it.I was told enterprise board wont go for it And when it comes to fancy talk and business plans and all that im lost.
Can you guys give me some advice or help me out here.

Thanks for taking the time to read this

YouBuyLocal

That sounds cool, surely not need that kind of investment for a podcast series to start you off though! Make podcasts and throw them on facebook. Then you'll have a sort of listenership + portfolio to show people and you can throw ads into the podcasts.

Build into online radio, don't just jump in with the whole investment.

Cianos

I don't know much about online radio but I do know that I don't use it, and neither does anyone I know really.

Have you done any research in to the industry? How popular is it now? How fast/slow is it growing?

Like podcasting, are there any alternative ways you could break in to it? 6k sounds like loads in order to get set up. You don't need the best gear to get started, start off with whatever tools you can get for free and work from there.

Would you be looking to cater towards a niche audience, or the general population?

now radio soldier

I have researched into it,beleieve it or not,in the usa,when it comes to radio they are at the top of there game.While in work,46% people listen to internet radio,they listen to a wide range of stations.

I sent emails to Irish that are living outside of ireland (not them all,friends of friends) and they listen to online irish internet radio station as a way to remember home and keep up with news from here.

When irish army are deployed on peace keeping missions abroad also,they have mobile broadband and listen to irish internet stations while in bunk on small pa systems.( i talked to people in defence forces from donegal,cavan and dublin about this)

And i researched through facebook,badoo,bebo and twitter,and alot of younger people,i asked over 300 people average age was 16-28 Would listen to online radio while on social networks or while playing games.
And alot of girls listen to online music while getting all dressed up on friday,saturday night before clubbing.

With the way internet and radio has gone in last few years,tech wise,internet radio is the future,and i want to seize that now rather than the future.My dream would be to go for a temp fm broadcasting licence too.

Theres a internet radio station that also does temp fm called heartbeat fm,they have more online listeners than any other online station in ireland.Anyone from dublin that was around in 80s or 90s would remember them,and recently many woulda heared them in dublin on fm too.

I looked at the money i was looking for,as you guys said start off small,and 2k is what would get it moving maybe at push abit less.

The podcast thing is something i wouldnt want too get stuck into at at all,recording shows and that,not worth all the down time in a studio,where as live shows back to back online,thats the way to hold listeners.

smcgiff

Best of luck with it - I'd say it'd be a hard sell to get companies to pay for ads on an internet radio station.

What would be your target company/region, and why would you be a better proposition for their hard won advertising euro?

It's a tough time in the advertising business right now.

Also, where/how are you going to source your music?

YouBuyLocal

Well follow your dream anyway, if you know the market.

No doubt internet radio is the future, but building a listener base with that investment, its tough when there is so much competition from all the regional radio stations like Northern Sound & all. But if you can find a niche and team up with a lot of other interested individuals to carry off the air-time when you are busy. Get a big crowd behind it and maybe it'll fly.

Good Luck:-)

YouBuyLocal

smcgiff wrote: »

Best of luck with it - I'd say it'd be a hard sell to get companies to pay for ads on an internet radio station.

What would be your target company/region, and why would you be a better proposition for their hard won advertising euro?

It's a tough time in the advertising business right now.

Also, where/how are you going to source your music?

Actually, the analytics of your listeners are much more accurate than conventional radio, so maybe small/medium sized local businesses will trust you more for that reason. If you can say exactly how many listeners you get every day then thats massive.

And there are tonnes of independant, unsigned quality musicians that would kill for a bit of play. Find out what gigs are playing in the area, then play the music of the guys that are playing soon, advertising the gig while you're at it. I would listen to that, I listen to music on-line purely to find out what live music is on soon and how good it is. The venues would then promote your station as a promotional tool for themselves.

I'm actually from Ballyhaise, Cavan myself, so I know that there are plenty of gigs that come around and my parents are always desperate to find out what gigs are going on soon in the area. It ain't so easy to find out that stuff on-line, the local venues don't tend to advertise on-line all in one place.

And here is an idea! Once you get that going you set up a franchise. The same model, local news on internet radio for your local area, and find the right partners to use your brand regionally.

F*ck, I might do this:P

PS, get people to sign in with FB to listen to you if you can so you can know the demographic profile of your listenership.

TheCostumeShop.ie: Ronan

I think this is probably likely to end up being a hobby rather than a business. There is no way an online radio would get advertisers interested before they get over the 1million listeners mark.

Your much better off recording your mixes, putting them on sound cloud / Podcast and once your sets are reaching over the 1Million mark then maybe looking for a show sponsor.

A radio station is only as good as the music it plays or the personality who's on, online you're competing against podcasts from Radio1 in the UK and all the well know names in each sector etc. Maybe your better off following the Steve Cooper Model, he has some of the top downloaded podcasts in the country and doing a few shows on RTE digital to get your name out.

smcgiff

YouBuyLocal wrote: »

Actually, the analytics of your listeners are much more accurate than conventional radio, so maybe small/medium sized local businesses will trust you more for that reason. If you can say exactly how many listeners you get every day then thats massive.

You're right, the analytics would be more accurate, but how do you prove your figures. The Sations use the independent JNLR (and increasingly Facebook likes). How is Joe the Mechanic down the road going to get comfort that your figures are genuine? Plus, he's only going to be interested in local town listeners and not some guy listening from Australia wondering what's happening back home.

Mmm, unless you've a very short on air time, you'd need more than enthusiastic amateurs.

What’s going to drive listeners to your show?

How much are you going to charge advertisers for a 30 second slot?

How/where are you going to record your ads?

Also, even though you’d only be on the internet, I think you’d have to register with the BAI. That shouldn’t be much of an obstacle, but you’d have to sign up to their codes of practice, which would include libel insurance.

Good luck, but I suspect it’s likely to be slow to build up.

now radio soldier

thanks for all your comments,i dont need to register with the BAI as im not broadcasting on fm,mw or any wireless transmitter so im not breaking any regulations or law in ireland,checked that out with a mate that works there.

libel insurance issue,i have libel insurance with hiscox insurance through j.c collins insurance brokers which covers me while on air,its costing me 1080 a year and covers the company.

music issue.
i have a huge collection of music which ive build up over the years on cd and then i rip them as mp3 files.
I also i have a supplier of dj and chart music mp3s ranging from 70's till now and the're in the uk.
I have to pay the rights to play but thats low.

Listenership.
The company that hosts the web page will give a detailed report of vistors and average time spent on site.
Then the company that runs the stream,viastream.com gives a detailed report of number of people listening on a daily or weekly basis and time spent and weather it was on pc,or mobile device.

Ads.
Today i had calls asking about ads,will keep you up to date

Voiceovers/promos/ads
I have the services of two profeesional vo artists that make them for me.
I already have the station id's / sweepers made.

smcgiff

Howdy,

Looks like you've your home work done.

Not sure about the bai - for example the city channel are regulated by the bai and they are only on UPS. If you use those music sources you'll have to pay imro for sure and possibly some others.

Will follow your post with interest.

Good luck!

smcgiff

Just thought of something...

Not sexy or even rock and roll and assuming you'll have a website...

Even some fairly large regional companies run a regular death notices section on their station. How about you record a daily update and post the file on your website, it would certainly draw a certain age group.

You could then advertise its availability and I'd say you'd get traffic.

Tangled

Sounds like you have this well researched - well done on that! If I were you my next step would be to approach the enterprise board to look for help putting all that information together in a business plan (they could assign you a mentor for this) and then use that document to go about getting funding.

Best of luck with it all!

now radio soldier

youbuylocal,id love too talk to you,you live close too.pm me

id like to thank the rest of you for comments and support,i will be meeting with enterprise next week,i will keep you all updated,please,if anyone has idea post them

MyBusinez.com

Hi New Radio Soldier,
If you know your market and know you have a viable and potentially profitable business I would recommend writing a business plan and a market research report. It may sound daunting at the beginning but once you have this to show potential investors or the enterprise board they can then see the proof that you have a viable business. It will also give you a better understanding of your business and what you need. If you have no business plan everyone is going to poking holes in your idea left, right and centre and asking you questions you might not be able to answer.

If you have the above documents you will be taken much more seriously because it shows that you have experience and that you have put the work in so it's not just a pipe dream. It also shows, on paper, a strong argument that your business is worth supporting and it is harder for them to argue against it. If you need any help I can send you samples.

Good luck with it! PM me if you need any help.