I come from 30 years in commercial radio and have sold to hundreds of clients of all sizes. So...why to this point haven't I aggressively (or to any degree) pitched advertisers on Ultimate Oldies Radio?

Here's why.

To ask any advertiser to commit their dollars to a medium, there needs to be a consistency factor of performance. The site traffic also needs to be notable for the product itself. In this case...oldies.

Let me digress for just a moment.

We began this journey in February of 1999. On a snowy Sunday afternoon in a hotel lobby near BWI airport in Baltimore, I was introduced to webmaster Jimmy Williams and after several hours of discussion the project got underway.

Over that time, Jimmy and I have looked for that additional person or persons who could help us over the hump. We've had assistance from a number of individuals over that time period who helped things along to varying degrees, but they did not have 'staying power'. In other words, when the time arrived to upgrade the site, the involved party would not commit to bringing it across to the next phase.

We needed to 'shake out' the bugs and the detours that came sadly enough from folks whom we once counted on to help us but who on several occasions tried to sabotage us. You're never going to get to a place where you don't encounter difficulties, but one would prefer that said problems not arise from within the camp. In retrospect, it was and is better to get all of that out of the way before putting the advertiser's investment on the line.

Furthermore, Bob Mathers needed to see if he would have the stamina to provide new shows on a regular basis to keep the site fresh and ever changing and avoid a static 'feel' that websites can quickly acquire.

By the end of 2005, I had come through a period where for big chunks of time and for any number of reasons I was not paying attention to the site. It had at times in the previous 6 1/2 years, become very static. We also didn't know what we were doing, except by trial and error. Look back at the various manifestations of the site in the early years, and it was the cyberspace equivalent of the Johnny Cash song, 'One Piece At A Time'. When we couldn't go forward, or didn't know HOW to go forward, we just let it sit until we came across a new technique or received a burst of inspiration to resume our efforts..

So I decided around December of 2005 that I was going to give Ultimate Oldies Radio my full attention and it would either catch on or I was gonna shut it down and walk away.

In January, 2006 I committed for one full year to give large amounts of time for creating new programs and making Ultimate Oldies as enjoyable a site as oldies fans could find anywhere on the internet. We average 15 hours a week administering Ultimate Oldies Radio, and more when necessary, while working a full time job.

As late as April, 2006 the site was ranked 2,456,000 of all websites in the world. Then we made a few adjustments and all of sudden people began to find us.

We have jumped in traffic ranking from 2,456,000 to today's standing of 142,195. Ultimate Oldies ranks higher than just about any oldies based website in the world. Even higher in traffic than most oldies radio station websites in major markets of the US.

So yeah, I suppose we might be able to offer our advertisers a little something to work with here.

We will soon be announcing an advertising rate plan which will involve commercials in the shows, banners and tiles on the pages, and sponsorship opportunities. We'll price them reasonably and the longer the commitment, the lower the monthly investment.

We hope to have the plan in place and available on site on March 1, 2007.

Ultimate Oldies has been a 'labor of love' and truly a lot of fun to do. We hope to continue the experience and make it better.

There are things we would like to do but it will take the needed funding. Here's something rarely mentioned but not forgotten by yours truly. When Ultimate Oldies Radio starts receiving advertiser support, then Ultimate Oldies Radio will start paying BMI, ASCAP, and SESAC for the right to play their music. The fees are not as expensive as terrestrial radio (yet), but nevertheless must be paid and will be paid.

Finally, I do have a plan for upgrading and a vision for what this site can be. A good bit of it has come to fruition but not all of it.

I would prefer not to ask folks for donations any more, although a number of supporters have given and it has been much appreciated. Therefore, advertising seems to be the way to raise needed funds to offset costs and perform technical upgrades.

Stand by and stay tuned. Thanks for your comments!

Bob

• RE: Radio Station - John 02/14/2007 15:44:31 EST (0)
• RE: Radio Station - Ben Walker 02/18/2007 11:29:49 EST (1)