Visability

They key to getting people to listen is to make your station known. 

Here at Iron Range Country - KEBS radio we've done that over the past year with artistic posters on all the community bulletin boards all over town, sponsoring printing of the local festival posters that included our logo at the bottom, a front page article with half page color photo in the local paper, getting our audio on the local cable TV system, stopping in local businesses and reminding them of the FREE ads they can have just for the asking. That and a lot of word of mouth.

I'm kinda letting this out before it's fully hatched.  Visability also comes from having an office/studio on main street with a sign.

This building was a hair salon/tanning outfit that went out of business. I've had my eye on this spot for years thinking something fun should be done with it if it ever became available. The building changed hands and the new owner was looking for a renter -- except that it would be for a year or so as he was planning on turning the ground floor into apartments (lot more rent that way). After convincing him we need to save downtown with a business presence whenever posssible facing mainstreet, and that I only needed a 10x8 office in the front with a window and the front door -- he built me an office and gave me a year lease for an ungodly cheap price. and I can have it for as long as I want it.  So, that front door and right hand window are mine.  His son-in-law is opening a small tax office in the left hand side, and the HUGE back of the floor will, if things work out right, become a recording studio for local musicians which will be part of the Edwards Broadcast Service empire, which currently includes KEBS/Iron Range Country and the Roller Derby Radio Network. My plan is to build the studio and rent it out accordingly.  We have a lot of local musicians and no place for them to record.  They go to Duluth or Minneapolis. The owner will do construction as I  need, including a big Studio, control room, vocal booth, and a couple small rooms where amps, etc can be stashed for isolated recording when necessary. 

Still waiting for the "window dressing" to arrive. The actual transmitter and broadcasting computer remains at my house, half a block away, and I'm not going to move it because it's working so darn well.  Presently the office contains a rack with a mixer, digital recorder, and a full 19" wide rack mount LED VU meter that's being driving by off the air audio.  It's easily visable from the sidewalk when passing by and it has already caused one guy to sit out front with a radio to see it if was really working!

Just part of why I've been so darn busy the past few weeks!

Phase two coming in a couple weeks.

Tim in Bovey