Official Confirmation...

I have been very excited about the changes at XM105's website. The new rewards format for our Extreme Listeners is top-notch and I simply adore the survey feature and can't wait till we can start putting the online advertising features to the test.

Some have asked whether online radio gets much attention and whether it's going to be a worthwhile investment from a business perspective. Until now, I've only had my gut feelings and years of online business to go on. Now, I've found that there is indeed official confirmation of my instincts.

According to this article, a recent report put together by Media Audit revealed that 1 in 5 surfers visited their local radio websites. I thought it was interesting that more men were apt to hop online to visit a station website. Locally, I've noticed that more women tend to be the online types than men. This could be because, being an oil & logging town, many men are away for extended periods of time and don't tend to be in offices or home the way they are in urban centres.

In any case, another sign that radio is a great way to advertise...whether it's online or on the air. Don't you think?

I was gonna, then I didn’t -- Learning to take my own advice

I was going to quit working at the radio station. I had it all planned out in my mind, when summer hit I was going to head home and start providing childcare again – as I did 10 years ago when my eldest son was an infant. In a rampant case of “Do as I say, not as I do”, I ignored most of the logical business advice that I’ve dispensed over the past 6 years as a promotion and marketing consultant.

My first mistake was not conducting any market research. Instead of turning to hard facts, I relied on perceptions and anecdotal evidence. Everyone I talked to thought there was a need for quality childcare in Whitecourt, especially with the only daycare closing down last fall, but I didn’t do any research to back it up.

Lesson Learned – You can’t judge the ultimate success of any business on perception. There needs to be a genuine need for your product or service in order for it to sell.

I failed to create a marketing plan. Of course, I have some great excuses for avoiding the process, but by failing to plan, I failed to utilize enough of a marketing mix to be successful in finding the clients within the timeline I had set for myself.

Lesson Learned – There are two lessons here. One is that planning is an essential part of building business. The second lesson is that you must use a variety of methods to reach your target market. Marketing is often a case of the sum of the whole having a higher value that the sum of the parts. In other words, using a variety of marketing tactics provides much more leverage than using only one or two.

I went in without enough passion. By neglecting to acknowledge my true interests, I didn’t develop enough of an enthusiasm for the business I was attempting to launch. My interests really are more about the promotion and marketing of small business than for providing childcare. I can do it. I’m good at it. It really doesn’t rock my boat though.

Lesson Learned – If you aren’t into what you do with all of your heart, the chances of success become slimmer. The idea behind a product or service may be solid, but if you lack a true zeal for are doing, you aren’t going to put in the effort and make the necessary sacrifices to achieve your goals.

Ultimately, I’m thrilled to pieces that I was able to pull back from the decision to leave XM105. It was a decision made out of fear (the fear of not being able to afford childcare for my own children over the summer), rather than one of a true desire to return to the daycare mom lifestyle. With a little creativity, we ended up with a compromised solution that provides for a win-win scenario for everyone involved and I’ve learned that no matter how much I know it doesn’t do me a lick of good if I don’t apply it.