Running an Internet broadcast station requires a financial commitment regardless of its size. There are monthly expenditures for station operation that include : Internet access, media server bandwidth, studio equipment, computer hardware, and facilities costs.

The amount of money required to run an Internet broadcast station is dependent on the size of the broadcast operation. Some of these finances can be generated from audience donations, or program subscriptions, however this approach normally does not cover all incurred expenses.

Internet based advertising content can provide a reliable source for operating income. Broadcasters can place advertising on the station website, or within the broadcast itself. (This advertising content can be in audio or video format.)

Internet based advertising has matured into a very profitable and respectable business sector. The advertising content can be broad or narrow based. Broad based advertising is well suited for high traffic, large audience broadcast stations. Niche advertising markets have also proven to be very profitable. Niche advertising combined with niche media content has been been able to out perform broad based, high traffic advertising in some instances.

There are several things to consider prior to committing a broadcast station to a particular method of advertising.

These include :

Which media format the station will be offering – audio or video content?
(Advertising can be tailored to fit specific media formats.)

What is the target audience of the Internet broadcast station?
(These demographics are based on the media content that the station broadcasts in addition to analyzing the stations web site traffic.)

Which method of advertising is best suited for the Internet broadcast station’s financial goals?
(Will this be the primary or secondary source of income for station operation?)

Broadcasters should thoroughly research and test various advertising methods before finalizing their choice for a advertising format. A time frame of sixty to ninety days should be allowed for testing different advertising formats. It is very important to document these results, as this will allow the broadcast station to choose the best suited advertising format.

A well planned and executed advertising program can provide both valuable experience and operating income to an Internet broadcast station.

Advertising content for the actual Internet broadcast

Auction advertising
Advertising can be sold through direct Internet auctions. There are several online businesses that offer online auctions.

These include ebay.com and yahoo.com

Internet audio advertising broker
There are several advertising agencies that negotiate and sell audio advertising on affiliate Internet radio stations.

These include netradiosales.com and internetradiomarketing.com.

Internet video advertising broker
There are several advertising agencies that negotiate and sell video advertising on affiliate Internet video stations.

These include brightroll.com, vitalstream.com, instream.com and dynadco.com.

Advertising content for the station website

Video clip
(Currently Beta Testing)
Monetary compensation is based on people watching web based video clips that contain advertising.

Click to call or text
(Currently Beta Testing)
Monetary compensation is based on people contacting various business partners using Google talk or Skype. The click to call or text message links are placed on web pages.

Contextual Advertising
Banner, image, text or video advertising that is placed on websites. The website content determines which advertising is presented.

These businesses provide webmaster with contextual advertising solutions:

AdSense advertising program
Yahoo advertising program
MSN advertising program

Banner Advertising Programs

Pay Per Click (PPC)
Monetary compensation is based on people clicking banner advertisements.
Banner agencies negotiate the payment per click rate with advertisers.
(Large variety of advertising sources to choose from.)

Cost Per Thousand (CPM)
(This method of banner advertising is best suited for high volume traffic websites.)
Monetary compensation is based on sales of advertising units per web page.
Banner advertising is sold in units of 1000 impressions.

Affiliate program
Monetary compensation is generated by providing referral sales.
(Most web hosting companies provide some form of sales program incentive.)

Website co-branding
Monetary compensation is generated by placing branded graphics or text on websites.

Do you have a home based business or want to start a home based business? Who wouldn’t want to have large amounts of cash pouring in to their bank account from their home office? Who wouldn’t want thousand of loyal customers, to sell products and services to, from the convenience of their home? Who wouldn’t want more time with their family?

This is the joy of having and operating a home based business. There are literally thousands and thousands of people who make money at home and have the quality of life you are looking for. What does it take to be successful at your home based business? Are you the type of person who is ready for a home based business venture? If you are working a job right now and want to transition into having a home based business or if you want to improve your current home base business what does it take?

Answer these 7 questions and grade yourself on how you are doing right now. These questions are about how you can improve your business output. Grade yourself on a scale from 1 to 10 (10 being the highest) Be as honest as you can it will help you become more successful with your home based business aspirations. Get your paper and pen and let’s begin.

Do you have a big vision?
I have a big vision that drives and keeps me excited about my home based business. I am very excited all the time about my vision and my business. I have written my big vision on paper where I can see it. I know why I work my home based business and I know who it will benefit when I am as successful and produce my vision. Grade yourself 1 to 10

Do you have a big business community network that you work with?
I understand that my network = my net worth. I have a lot of business colleagues that I work with on a daily basis. We utilize and share information so that we can, find untapped markets, open new territories, bring in new customers over night and generate website traffic and share profits. We do not need the help of a bank loan or line of credit to run our home based business. We utilize joint venture strategies to help us all succeed as entrepreneurs. I don’t feel as if I work alone, I am part of a community of entrepreneurs who work together. Grade yourself 1 to 10

Do you have strong self-command?
I do not let any news or challenges stop me from my home based business goals. No one has command over my feelings but me. I tell myself uplifting inspiring thoughts about my ability to run a business from my home everyday. I focus only on the out come I want for me and my family. I spend part of everyday visualizing my big vision and my end results. I follow through on what I say I am going to do that day. Grade yourself 1-10

Do you have a place you can go to get new customers or clients?
When I need new clients I utilize my business community network and am introduced to someone who has a big data base, full of thousands of customer, who is looking for a new product to market to that data base. We create a joint venture and I provide that new product. I receive new clients as well as splitting the profits between myself and my business colleague. I joint venture twice a month so that I build my home base business quickly. Grade yourself 1 to 10

Are you a possibility thinker?
I do not spend time worrying, complaining or fearing about what to do with my home base business. I take action. I am a solution seeker. When I run up against an unknown problem I will explore options and implement those tools and solutions that will catalyze my home base business dreams. I do not indulge in limited negative thinking. I do not let other use lack, limited or negative thinking around me either. I am open to all possibilities and solutions. Grade yourself 1 to 10

Are you organized with your day?
I make a list of what I need to get done for the next day, the night before. I work a schedule just as I would if I were an employee, whether I work full time or part time at my home based business. I make my hourly schedule of when I will work and I stick to it. I know where all my files, papers and tools I will need are. I work effectively during the hours I set aside to work my home based business. I work at the things that will generate cash for me and my family.

Do you utilize marketing strategies that are low cost and effective?
I run my home based business lean and mean. I do not use my resources to buy unnecessary marketing or advertising products when I can joint venture instead. I keep my costs down and my profits high. I know how to get supper affiliates to sell my product at no cost. I know how to optimize the referral market. I do not pay for leads or buy lists hoping to find clients. Grade yourself 1 to 10

The lowest score is a 7 the highest is a 70. You can see by the score and number where you need to improve your home based business skill sets. If you are starting your home based business or scored in the 7 to 55 range you may want to improve your business by learning about what a joint venture is and how you can explode your home based business sales using that tool.

Here is my last challenge to you. Give this test to your spouse and ask them to grade you without any reprisal from you. Then together you are on the same page and can explode your home base business dreams together. Sometimes just finding better solutions can help your home based business thrive.

Hi, my name is Walt. I’m an auctioneer with 25 years of experience in the auction business and licensed in the state of MA. I own Quick Auction Service, a company that specializes in building and running custom auctions, I’m also the webmaster of my own site and have been on eBay for 8 years. Besides eBay, the types of auctions I run most frequently are antiques and on-site estate auctions, although I’ve run everything from business overstock auctions to charity & special event auctions.

I enjoy sharing my knowledge and stories of the auction business. My goal for article is to help folks get the absolute most out of their auction experience.

Whether your fresh out of the package or a seasoned dealer I think I can offer something in this article to help you with your auciton adventures.

There may be as many reasons to attend auctions as there are types of auctions to attend. Maybe you want to attend an auction to buy items for re-sale on eBay, or some other market. Maybe you want to furnish your home with wonderful antiques, or you want to furnish your home as inexpensively without sacrificing quality.Some folks are just looking for a fun night out. With a little perseverance all these things are possible.

There are antiques and estate auctions, auto auctions, overstock auctions, absolute and no reserve auctions, real estate auctions, specialty auctions where only one genre of items are sold, tailgate auctions, live auctions, online auctions, sealed bid auctions, silent auctions, charity and fund raising auctions and many more.

Can you really buy for pennies on the dollar at an auction? You bet! Many times I’ve seen folks buy and re-sell at the same auction on the same night for a good profit, although be advised, this should only be done after the auction is over.

There are a lot of ways to find an auction, but here are some tips on how to find and attend the best ones.

Visit the genre of shops in the area that apply to the type of auction you want to attend. IE: If your looking for a good antique auction to attend, stop in the local antiques shops and ask for what there are for good auctions in the area. Sounds obvious right? But listen to what they don’t say as well as what they do say. Oftentimes when a dealer speaks poorly about an auction he or she attends, it may be likely that they are trying to keep a good thing secret. Think for a moment, why would a dealer keep attending a lousy auction?

Newspaper ads: I personally like to find ads in the classified ad section rather than flashy display ads. Flashy ads are usually indicative of an auction that will be high priced, may have reserves, (a set price on an item), and usually an enormous crowd. While any auction can be profitable to attend, it is usually best to steer clear of the glitzy ones, at least for the beginner.

Here’s the minimum you want to find out before you go. If there is a phone number in the ad, call and ask for the terms of the sale. What forms of payment do they accept? Is it an absolute auction? An absolute auction is one that has no minimum or reserve bids on items. These are the best auctions to attend! Is there a buyers premium? A buyers premium is like a tax that everyone who makes purchases at that auction must pay above the winning bid price. Most auctions these days do charge a buyers premium, 10% is not unreasonable but I feel much more than that is greedy, and the auctioneer that charges over 10% is counting on most bidders not doing the extra math as the bids quicken in pace.

A fair auction will have ample time to inspect the merchandise, usually at least 2 or 3 hours. Find out when inspection starts and make sure to attend! Never attend an auction if you can’t make the inspection, not unless your prepared to gamble. Most auctioneers sell at a rate of about 100 items per hour, which is why they sell “as is”. They simply don’t have the time to give a detailed description of all the items. Since almost all items at auction are sold AS IS, there are sure to be some damaged, refinished, fake and incomplete items at any given auction. Beware of any auctions that offer very little or no inspection time.

Good auctions will usually have 150 to 400 lots. A lot may be one item or a group of items. The exception to this are specialty auctions, auto auctions, real estate auctions etc.

When you attend your first sale, take note of the 1/2 dozen or so dealers that buy the most often. See if you can find out about other area auctions they attend.

When you do find an excellent auction, attend it as often as possible. By frequenting good sales, you help increase the bottom line of that business. It’s difficult for many auctioneers to keep the quality of merchandise consistent, so good attendance certainly helps. And when an auctioneer gets to know you as a buyer, he/she will go out of the way to accommodate you, to keep you coming back.