With the right product or service, traditional radio is a great medium for marketing, but has a very short shelf life. Traditional radio can be costly and limits you to a thirty to sixty second spot.

A great alternative is Internet radio, also known as Web radio. As the name implies, web radio is a broadcasting service transmitted via the Internet. Although some web radio stations correspond with a traditional radio station, many web stations are completely independent and only broadcast on the Internet.
Internet radio is an extremely cost-effective way to market and promote your products and services. Whether your genre is business, women's issues, spiritual, health, wellness, financial, or dog training, you will find shows of every description looking for guests.
Some web radio programs will charge you a fee to be a guest, but most do not cost anything. If you choose to pay for a guest spot, the fee can be put under the category of advertising costs.
If you are going to invest financially, whether it is $5 or $500, do your homework to find out if the investment will be beneficial. In some cases, the investment will be well worth it. But if you are not careful, you can foolishly spend money and gain little or no return on your investment.
When looking for a Web radio program for your product or services, consider the following

o What is the station's market reach

o Who is the market

o What are the marketing strategies of the radio program

o Who are some of the other guests that have been interviewed

o How experienced is the host

Although it may seem like you can get incredible reach with web radio (and in many cases you can), you can waste a lot of time and money following false promises.

Since are free services on the Internet that allow virtually anyone to start a web based radio program, practice due diligence to make sure you are investing time and money wisely. There are some online services available where someone can literally start a station in a matter of minutes. The challenge with this is you have lots of rookies claiming to be well-positioned in the market place. So again, do your homework!

On the other hand, if you are dealing with a professional host and station, there are ample benefits. A well-positioned show and station can gain you instant access to a global market for practically no cost. You can quickly become a recognized expert in a very short period of time through the power of web radio.

Although it does take time to find great places to be interviewed, it can be well worth the time invested especially if you are what is considered a perfect guest.

Great guests are more difficult to find than most people realize. If you are a star guest, chances are you will be invited back again and again. You may also be referred to other web radio hosts. Imagine what this can do to increase your market reach and lower your cost per lead conversion rate!

Treat any radio interview as a great opportunity - because it is! If you are using web radio as an integral part of your marketing mix, invest in the services of a good media coach. Your coach will be able to help you polish your message in a very professional and engaging manner.

Once you have secured an interview, make it easy for the host to work with you. Provide the information the host needs as soon as possible. Prepare a short bio and a selection of questions to the host. This gives them an idea of what to ask. Make sure that you can be clearly heard while being broadcast; don't use a cell phone or headset during the interview.

In most cases, you will be interviewed to inform, educate, entertain or inspire, not to sell something. Speak clearly, avoid industry jargon, shut out background noise and most of all, have fun!

If you have not included web radio in your overall marketing, it may be time to rethink this. With new stations popping up every day, show hosts are always on the lookout for great stories and people to feature. Why not you

Kathleen Gage is a bestselling author, keynote speaker and Internet Marketing mentor who works with individuals and organizations who want to increase their market position, sales and level of achievement. She is the creator of The Directory of Internet Radio Shows. Visit [httpwww.streetsmartsmarketing.comradiointernet.htm] to learn more.

In the early '20s the radio industry has started its broadcasts to its locality; however, it wasn't until the launch of the transistor radio that the radio became accessible in mobile situations. Well, the internet radio is in pretty much in the same situation. Not until the 21st century that people started to get hooked on listening to the radio over the internet due to the sky-rocketing popularity of the PC. In comparison to the traditional radio station broadcasts, the internet radio has its own distinguished use and advantages that has made users wanting for the best.

Unlike the internet radio stations, the traditional radio station broadcasts are limited by two factors - the power of the radio station's transmitter and the available broadcast spectrum. One advantage of an internet radio is that it has no geographic limitations. This implies that internet music stations can be heard all over the world. For instance, radio broadcasts in Kuala Lumpur can be heard in Kansas while streaming on the internet. This has broadened the audience base of these radio stations globally. The potential for internet radio is as vast as cyberspace itself by offering more than 20,000 radio stations broadcasting live all over the world.

In addition, the internet radio is not limited to audio. By having a radio broadcasting software, the internet radio broadcast can be supplemented by photos or graphics, text and links, as well as interactivity, such as message boards and chat rooms. This development allows users to do more than just listen. Also, the internet radio is equipped with an intelligible control panel so that people can listen to the vast choices of music internet stations as soon as they log in. Distributors can also market their own company by placing their logos or banners on the control panel allowing users to click or view the company site whenever they log in. This creates a new approach in marketing one's own company site while enjoying your favorite music playing on the background.

Lastly, the internet stream radio software offers a wide variety of broadcast genres, particularly in music. Traditional broadcast radio is increasingly controlled by smaller numbers of media conglomerates. In some ways, this has directed to more mainstreaming of the programming on radio broadcasts, as music stations often try to attain the largest possible audience in order to gain the utmost possible rates to advertisers. In contrast, the internet radio offers the chance to inflate the types of available programming. This involves a much less cost of getting on the air for an internet broadcaster and as an added bonus, the internet radio can appeal to micro-communities of listeners centered on special music or interests.

Of course, there is always room for improvements and the radio is not willing to be left behind. The radio industry has to find creative ways in gaining more audience in the 21st century since the traditional radio is starting to loose its popularity to its other music media gadgets. With this being said, the enhancements of the traditional radio to the internet radio have opened countless of possibilities in making radio listeners explore other music stations worldwide. This has greatly grabbed the attention of listeners because they can still enjoy listening to the radio but in a more modern way.

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