Tear down my landing page or maybe just the whole idea

Idea Pitches
#1

So I’m triyng to gauge some interest and get some emails before I start building this out more, but at the same time this is a product I’m actually going to be building for myself to use as well.

I have a landing page with some copy and a mailing list sign up. No screenshots yet unfortunately.

similar products in this space:



http://www.centova.com/en/cast

So there are definitely a few people doing this who seemingly have more dev/design/marketing power than just me alone can do. However going into a place with some competition seems a lot better compared to my last product idea, an ebook for some very unpopular software. At least it shows that the market exists!

I’ve looked at some online broadcasting forums and a common theme I see is people looking for better auto DJ and playlist controls, scheduling tools, how to get more listeners, etc. So I feel like I could address those pains with software.

I haven’t the slightest idea on how to find customers. I’ve started searching for stations and cold emailing some. Most station owners seem like they are running on the tiniest shoestring budgets, often with a paypal ‘donate’ button somewhere on the page. I haven’t gotten any responses yet.

How can I find customers who are willing to pay more than $9 a month, with places like this offering stream hosting for under $5 and even “free” plans? Hopefully I can avoid the ‘race to the bottom’.

I plan to start doing some content marketing, via a blog, about the space as well.

#2

Have you considered adding some stock art to give your page more visual appeal?

Your pricing should probably be listed low-to-high instead of high-to-low.

Some of your competitors list customers; you could look for similar businesses/organizations as potential customers.

I wonder if you might be legally liable if someone streams music they don’t have the right to.

Have you considered talking with podcasters and seeing if they might be a market? I keep hearing about new podcasts, Serial has gotten widespread attention, etc. It seems to be a growing market.

#3

  1. Way too wide. Have a look at medium.com for layout ideas.
    For a single column, 700px is wide enough. 45-70 characters per line (you have 130)

  2. You don’t need this ‘circus’ coloring of each paragraph. If you decide to keep it, at least use a much lighter color.

  3. Bad ratio between headings and copy - headings are the bigger part of your page.

#4

Instead of racing to the bottom of the set, rise to the top of a single niche.

Internet radio isn’t niched enough that you can consider dominating it from your current perspective. Find a smaller segment that you can dominate within a year or two, that might be willing and able to pay you more than they’d pay the incumbents, and that you can serve better than the incumbents. That would come from understanding their specific needs better and possibly doing things that the incumbents just can’t do because they have to consider the entire market. E.g. offer better service, hand-hold every person who signs up to get their radio station up and running. Coach them. Hassle them until they quit on you or have a radio station.

Check out the book “Crossing the Chasm” for more on that. You’d be targeting the left-hand side of the chasm for now (innovators and early adopters), but at least that helps you think of your customer segment.

2 Likes
#5

I’m pretty much playing in the same field with my http://www.radioboss.fm project (the service is based on Centovacast), so I think I could provide some useful feedback.

Well, I’m not sure where you could find customers who would agree to pay $79/month for 200 listeners/100GB disk space. It’s way too expensive, especially considering the fact that most of the stations are non-commercial, hobby or low-budget. For that kind of money you’ll have to offer a lot more, like help set up things for them, teach them the basics of Internet radio, offer mobile apps, 24/7 phone support and live chat, solve problems fast etc.

Anyway, I’m glad that someone else is starting something new in this niche (if you decide to sell your platform to stream hosts, not for end customers only). Currently Centova is the most popular, but it has its issues, some of which are fundamental and therefore unlikely to be resolved anytime soon.

1 Like
#6

Thanks for your reply Dmitry.

Airtime has even more expensive plans, but I suppose they are probably mostly looking to sell to professionals.

I did not even consider selling the platform to streamhosts, that’s definitely a possibility. This could take me out of the equation of trying to figure out pricing for these plans which I’m finding quite difficult to figure out.

And also if I’m selling to stream hosts, at that point I’m selling to businesses, not hobbyists, who are much less likely to have the cash to spend.

#7

Selling to stream hosts is another market which I think you should try as it brings lots of possibilities. Centova sells only to stream hosts, and they’re doing pretty well IMO. Competing with Centova is a challenge, it has lots of features, it’s scalable and mature, but nothing is impossible :smile:

For end users, I wouldn’t suggest taking Airtime pricing as starting point. For instance, their $9.95 plan can’t be used at all in a real world. It only allows 5 listeners, which may be enough for testing, but can hardly be used for anything else.

#8

You mentioned one of the challenges people are facing is how to get more listeners. That could be a good place to start, as you don’t need to build any software to solve it. You could start by building your audience through content about getting listeners. Given your interest in streaming, I’m guessing you have your own station. Growing your audience and talking about how your doing it could be an interesting approach. You could copy the monthly income report style some people on this board are using, and apply it to a listener report instead.

#9

Paul,

I really liked this idea and I’m trying it out!

http://freedrool.us/blog/how-to-grow-your-radio-station-listeners/

Not perfect, but its a start.