LPFM- Brainstorming a possible start-up.

[Goat Rodeo Cowboy]

...... and market such a station?

Different industries use the term "market" and "Marketing" in various ways. I'm not sure how you are using it here.

For the purposes of a licensed non-com radio station, I would break it down into sub-group definitions:

1. Marketing to grow audience and retain audience. From the discussion on these boards I get the idea that going out and doing remotes, giving away tee-shirts, sponsoring concerts, and providing beer-can coozies, bumper stickers and coffee mugs with logos are a big part of this kind of marketing. For an LPFM, it would depend on the nature of you community: a neighbor hood of young people within a metro area would call for one approach to marketing, while a tourist village/retirement village up against a lake in the mountains would probably call for a different method of audience growth and retention.

2. Marketing for staff and volunteer recruiting. How do you discover, recruit and retain people who want to be volunteers and staff. That will be different than attracting listeners. See the last paragraph in this posting.

3. Reaching contributors and donors. In some cases these will be people who ARE NOT regular listeners. They may be busy people who are not listeners but they recognize the value of the station being of service to the community. We could be talking about the wife of a lawyer. We could be talking about an airline pilot. We could be talking about a native of the community who currently lives elsewhere because of their career but they want their hometown to have the benefits of a community radio station. This group may or may not be reached by on-the-air content and announcements requesting their support and contributions. It may take legwork to find them.

4. Marketing to sponsors and endorsement providers. These people are different than those in item three. Those in the previous paragraph may not NEED or WANT their name on the air. Sponsors and Endorsement folks DO WANT their name on the air and as much info as we can legally include under the FCC rules. These people are not so much making a contribution as they are making a PURCHASE of service from the radio station.

5. Marketing to reach people who can provide content. These include national groups who produce little short programs that can be dropped into your broadcast day. Some may have long-form program content that would be valuable. This group will also include your local law enforcement people who can include you when it is time to inform the listeners about roads being blocked, floods on the way, etc. PTA, civic clubs, schools, churches. LPFM cannot afford staff to be aggressive journalists. LPFM needs to have "promotions" that cause all this stuff to end up in your hands to truly result in COMMUNITY radio.

Some people will be volunteers if you will give them some time to fill with programming. Some people will be volunteers who are not that gregarious. Give them ONE of these marketing tasks and they will become a part of your team.

 

[Black_Shire]

I have no plans to shoot for an LPFM station (LP-10 or LP-100); I don't have the money or stamina. I was interested in promoting presentation and discussion of ideas from those with expertise (such as yourself) that could be helpful to would-be LP-10 or LP-100 LPFM station operators. You have provided much food for thought, and I thank you!

If I were planning to set up an LPFM station, I would prefer an LP-100 as well. But, with the FCC being what it is, the only LPFM window opening in a given area might be for an LP-10 instead of an LP-100, so prospective operators should be prepared to "takes what they can gets."


-- Black Shire

 

[KevinFodor]

Kevin: Report back to us from time to time on what new. Just checked out your website. Well done.

What's with the lady listed as the "station singer"? Does she sing to make up part of your musical programming, or does she create some kind of image and ID songs and jingles?

Sorry, I've been tied up last couple of days and just had a few minutes to answer here.

I'm not sure the station's website has been totally updated yet (that's actually not my area there). I have seen the picture of the lovely young lady but have not yet had the chance to meet her.

Right now, though...all of our imaging has been created with purchased buy-out radio production and imaging libraries that are readily available, plus the use of some imaging stuff which is also legal for us to use.

On another posters questions about LP-10's...take it from a guy who started his career by building, licensing and running a 10 watt high school FM station. At best, you're looking at about 2-3 miles of coverage area...with secondary coverage that, depending on terrain, your antenna height and antenna system can get you out to maybe 5-7 miles at best. To make that successful, you'd better be in a small area with a format most everyone in the area will like.

And, I'm sorry to you religious operators, but 10 watts is little more for you than adding noise to the band. Unless there's a large nursing home or mega church with most of its parishioners within about a 2-5 mile area of the tower...otherwise, you'll have to buy about 10-thousand of the things to even hope to make it financially work. And, if you are going to try some synergy of dinky stations, realize what you're buying. We have a broadcaster in a nearby small town here with an Class C AM station that can barely be heard in the suburbs of the nearby bigger city, whose website claims they have an "affiliate" in the bigger city. With all due respects, if you're a religious organization, it's not good to be misrepresenting your coverage area. I think the Man upstairs takes a dim view to that sort of thing...Religious broadcasters, in my view would be far better off to take the time, raise some money and buy full power stations, AM and FM where available than try to organize networks of hundreds of "dinky" LP's.

It's very difficult to raise money on LP's. Beware and do your homework before just doing the "if we build it they will come" thing...