Brad’s Ramblings – October 2014

Definitely rambling – I’m writing this 41,000 feet over somewhere between Boise and Salt Lake City, en route to Las Vegas – the first leg of the return to the crazy part of my life. Our team of unintentional volunteers are working like crazy to keep YOUR MUSIC, OUR MUSIC alive and available around the clock and around the world. We are dedicated to this mission, determined to succeed. There are a few things that can and will make a BIG difference, and you can play a role in any or all of them.

1)      Share the Martini: You’re saying to yourself, here we go again. This is SO critical because it effects everything else I’m going to say here.

  • Number 2 below is about advertising revenue. The handful of commercials we air (3 minutes twice an hour on the Miracle Martini Player from RadioLoyalty.com – 2 minutes twice an hour on most of our other streams) are worth more as more folks are tuned in. The longer you have us on, the more revenue we receive from our advertising/streaming partners. So imagine if all 12,600+ folks who’ve “Liked” the Martini in the Morning Facebook page were to bring one new listener to MITM, all those new listeners will dramatically increase the value of every commercial that airs on MITM.
  • Number 3 below is about regular monthly support – that money we can count on coming in month after month, so we can budget and know how and when to pay the rent, the Time Warner connection to get the MITM signal out to you, and all the other bills that come month after month whether we have the money or not. Imagine, as above, 12,600+ new listeners – some of them are likely to jump on board and become supporters. That spreads the expense across a lot more people. If just 10% of those folks supported MITM at $10 a month, that’s $12,600 a month, double our fixed monthly expenses.
  • So you see, it is ALL about “Sharing the Martini.” If we had the money to do a big national (or international) advertising campaign, we are confident we could build the audience to a level that would make us sustainable – even profitable.  But we don’t. So as I’ve said so many times before, YOU ARE OUR MARKETING DEPARTMENT.

2)      As above, ad revenue increases with the number of listeners we have, and the amount of time each listener spends with MITM on. It’s a funny thing about Internet advertising – some folks leave the “Miracle Martini Player” on pretty much 24/7. Like Vinnie Imbier in Waterford, MI – he has us on all day at Vince’s 300 Pro Shop, but when he leaves for work in the morning, he leaves MITM on at home for his cat Cozmo. I’m sure Cozmo is grateful for the companionship – and we’re grateful that we get paid for every commercial that Cozmo hears (or doesn’t hear). If you’re listening on a mobile device, we get paid for the commercial TuneIn Radio runs when you first log on, and the 2 minutes of commercials that air twice each hour. And by the way, that’s 4 minutes compared to 15 to 20 minutes per hour on most FM music stations in the US.

3)      Monthly Support is “Insanity Insurance.” MITM listener, supporter and sponsor Susan Moeder of Bennacht Counseling and Consulting in Grand Rapids, MI, talks about Brad’s monthly cycle, the panic trying to figure out how to pay the rent and other first of the month bills. Ken Pfeiffer in Nashua, NH says he can hear “The Need” in my voice. That is INSANE. Walt Kendall who came up with the “Martini 100,” a group of MITM listeners supporting Martini in the Morning at $100 a month, opines that we will likely always be a hybrid, sustained by a combination of advertising revenue and listener support. To stop the insanity, to make that work, we need more listeners spreading the support load across a larger audience. That means less pressure and less insanity each month.

We’re starting to descend into Las Vegas so I’ll wrap up here. Please, SHARE THE MARTINI and as we grow, we’ll be a force to be reckoned with, and be able to compete against big broadcast radio, against the big Internet music services, and serve the entire MITM community with the music you love. With your help, Sharing, Supporting and Sponsoring Martini in the Morning, our music will not only survive, but we will thrive. 

 

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