Week 3: What are the best sources of revenue and how to diversify revenue?

Archived English Discussions Generating Revenue
#89

Week 3: What are the best sources of revenue and how to diversify revenue?
Hello every one
My suggestion on this week`s discussion on generating revenue and the best sources of revenue and how to diversify revenue.

  1. What sources of revenue does your farmer program currently rely on?
     Our farmer programs were relying on the sponsorship from Farm Radio Trust which was funding at least two farmer programs of Ground Nuts and Soy beans and the one of productive agriculture which takes on board any agricultural related issues
     The sponsorship now has phased out and we now only rely on adverts and sports from interested organizations.
     The programs also survive by getting some funds from other programs and projects and use them in the agriculture programs by funding field recording trips and allowances
  2. Are there other ways you think you can generate revenue for your farmer program? Please explain.
    The other ways which we community radios can use when we want to generate revenues are as follows:
     By engaging these mobile service providers like in my Country we can engage Airtel and TNM sponsor farm programs like doing adverts and spots. These mobile services can easily be willing to sponsor since they may need customers to use their line. So this can our cleverness to link them with famers by enticing them by telling them that farmers may need their line to advertise their farm produce so let’s invite more farmers to by your line for their easy access to markets with buyers
     Another means of revenue generation is by engaging Banks to sponsor farm programs, remember many banks provides some agriculture loans to farmers so for easy pay back of loans to them, farmers needs to be sensitized fully and frequently.
     Because Farmer programs always works with farmers in clubs/groups, its then easy to involve any company and organization to do adverts within the program since messages will reach more farmers within short period of time. So we can entice them to even sponsor five minutes’ spots and even quiz and they shower some awards inform of T-Shirts, Caps, Seeds and even some fertilizer and some manure/Tobacco pellets for farmers to use in their fields
  3. What challenges do you face trying to generate revenue?
     Like in most Community Radios esp in Malawi we face the common challenge of overcharged rates by other service providers since many community radios in Malawi doesn’t have their own Tower to mount in our antennas, frequency charges by Malawi Communication Regulatory Authority, plus other Bodies like NGO Board and congoma. You will find that the money that you could use to meet those that can sponsor your farm program instead due to some intimidations has been paid to these service providers for fear of disconnection. This may force your station to suffer a lot since the marketing team might not move to get sponsored due to limited finance at hand.
     The other challenge is lack of confidence by some advertisers to we community Radios. They sometimes think that we don’t work the same as National and private Radios do. For this reason, you will find that they shun working with rural radios and flock into urban and national RADIOS.
     Since community radios charge them less, they thing with the low charges which we give them, then they underrate us thinking we don’t have capacity to produce quality materials for their satisfactory.
    This then needs all community Radios to form a network where they can come up with uniform charges for programs and even adverts.
#90

I agree with Christian. Every one seems to be on the fast lane now. Not the conventional radio scheduled times. I also think once you have a good listenership base, clients will key in. Nigeria is currently adjusting its source of income from oil but the herdsmen manace has seriously thwarted these efforts, especially in my home state, Benue.

#91

@DenisLindo and @Busi_Ngcebetsha thank you for your facilitation and for a very informative discussion which has really enabled me to know more about the operations of radio stations all over Africa and more so I have learnt how farmers programs can best be presented and even how to generate money for the same. I particularly like the part where you @DenisLindo said that “The Key to containing competition is to be “SMART” in whatever we do on air or in business. The beginning point is to answer and meet our listener’s needs. We cannot get to know the needs unless if we continuously interact with the listener in this case, then tailor make our programmes to meet that intrinsic need. The listener needs keep on shifting from time to time and therefore the reason we must keep a tab on what they need. Above all, we must meet this need in the best way possible better than anyone else on the market.” This goes with out saying that once you meet the listeners needs they will remain faithful and cling to you as if they were your baby clinging/holding on your legs as you try to walk away! But this does not mean that we take them for granted, let us try all means to satisfy their needs in order to retain them since we have found out that they are the revenue generators without their numbers no sponsors.

#92

Challenges are everywhere with community radios since they deals with only communities. Like here in Uganda most radio stations are commerciallily, advertisers and sponsors value their services than community radios

#93

I know but at times when one is not the manager there are many constraints and obstacles before one does what is necessary. What is priority for a program presenter might not be for the financial controllers of the station.

Kudos.

#94

My radio station being a government owned one, depends heavily on the allocation fron the government. A couple ofs adverts are placed during prime times too.

  1. Yes, i believe sponsorhip, partnership and advertising can be sought especially through our marketers or the producers who know the content and viability of the programme better.

  2. It means time off your production, Most people prefer Television ads, Most of our airtime is taken up by Government programmes, religious personalities and tools, inadequate power to monitor and certain about production time is another challenge faced when trying to market a programme

#95

I thought this problem was peculiar to my station alone. Sometimes you would want to invite resource people to the station to speak to matters. It would be right to give this person something (transportation or honorarium) to show the resource person how pleased you are.

But you would send the budget earlier to the financial controller and the feedback would be that it was not factored into their plans.

#96

ohhhhh thanks for the presentation. Very interesting

#97

True Rehema, if you were to take any of them for granted then that would be the start of a situation leading to a degeneration of customer care. One by one would result into the bundle that would have crossed over to other stations. LISTENERS ARE SOVEREIGN!
Thanks

1 Like
#98

Welcome Emmanuel …kindly share with me what you understood or learnt
Thanks

#99

@Jovine_Johansen_Joel Thank you for the advise, that is how it is supposed to be, but where you are not in position of dealing with funds, you have to accept whatever comes or whatever is done.

#100

Thanks Mawerere …please share with me what is you learnt or your take home on this

#101

@krizo, thank you for you post

There is need for creativity by producers and presenters to overcome the above challenges above.

#102

Thank you Denis for this question!

Actually i have learned a lot in your resource or submission. These include;

  1. Being “SMART” in whatever we do on air or in any radio business. In doing this, we are able to compete with the rest. Giving what the listeners want to hear in the program or what they need is part of being SMART and puts us in a position to be able to compete.

  2. Creativity. This is something i have really grasped here in your contribution! In fact, this is something serious that i am going to do. Even right now i am trying to package some recorded material for the On The Farm Radio Programme. It is about new technologies for dealing with citrus fruit concentrates being experienced in eastern Uganda. I am trying to put ingredients like; sound effects of farmers spraying their orchards, some effects of water being pumped for irrigating the orchard, then i am linking the citrus to the nearby Juice factory that has been constructed by the Korea government. Farmers very soon will be taking their citrus fruits directly to the factory who have set a fair price than the middle men who have been exploiting the farmers.

I am even writing proposal to the in-charge and the Korea project seeking sponsorship for this programme.

  1. Have also learned that if our radio teams took part in promotions, extension activities, farmers’ gathering and other events that can benefit farmers, the programme or station will gain fame and stand out among the many.

Thank you Denis.

I am continuing reading and learning more.

Sarah.

#103

About the radio Station providing transport, it supports running of the program by investing transport for me the presenter to be able to go to the field and get material to broadcast and keep the show going.

The general adverts i meant here are adverts not related to farming but which run during the hour of the farmers’ program because they are pre-scheduled.
Most of these adverts are got through our sales and marketing office, with our representatives going to advertisers to interest them in advertising with the radio station and not specifically the farmers’ program.
However some advertisers come to us.

About marketing the program, i intended to refer to having our sales and marketing team selling the farmers’ program as a product packaged on its own though under the radio station to get more focused ads , instead of having adverts running in the program because they just scheduled to run there.

1 Like
#104

Thanx Denis and all, looking at these suggestions(below) on tapping revenue from non traditional sources, gets me thinking, maybe i/we haven’t done quite enough for the program…it could be richer in content, interesting and get us more revenue…

o Agricultural Exhibitions/Expos

_o Farmers Contests _

o Farming/Agriculture related competitions in schools, communities

_o Direct Product Promotions _

o Events like Farming Week in a Monthly , Quarterly, Yearly Manner

o Farmers Quiz ( Could be regional in Nature)

o Farming Demonstration Activity/Zone/Location

o Improved Farming Techniques and Extension Services-( The Radio Teams Up with Technical agencies to deliver this at a fee)

#106

This is week 3 input for me as directed:

The best sources of revenue

1. What sources of revenue does your farmer program currently rely on?

a. Selling airtime in the form of 30 and 60 second commercial spots.

b. Selling content, our radio stations have sometimes been able to sell their sub-carrier programs for use.

c. Remote broadcasts of short sponsorship advertisement.

2. Are there other ways you think you can generate revenue for your farmer
_ program? Please explain._

a. Website Advertising: Stations can develop campaigns for merchants via their online web site presence.

b. Online audio streaming: Stations using digital audio playback can set up advertising that plays on their webstream that’s separate from what airs on their over-the-air signal.

3. What challenges do you face trying to generate revenue?

a. Mobile Network instability.

b. Poor internet connection.

c. Poor road accessibility.

d. Weather and climate

e. Scarcity of hardwards required for radio and computer setup maintenance.

How to diversify revenue

1) Begin Side Hustling

Do you already have a day job? Then one of the easiest ways to diversify your income is to begin side hustling. Can you offer a service, become a consultant, turn a hobby into something that earns you money, or take on a part-time, remote job?
Figure out a way you can earn money outside your job and start there. Review your strengths, ask friends and family what they think you’re good at, and see if there’s demand for it.

If you already have a wide network in your immediate area, reach out to people and let them know about what you’re offering. Perhaps you know a ton of dog owners that need pet sitters and walkers when they go away on business trips, or several small business owners that have websites in need of improvement.

Don’t know too many people nearby? Then get online, start your own website, and begin offering your services far and wide. I know starting is hard, especially if you’re in a creative space (we all deal with fear of putting our work out there), but having your own website helps tremendously as it makes you and your side business look legitimate. Plus, it serves as a great space for a portfolio if you need to showcase one.

2) Invest in the Stock Market

Another way to diversify your income is to start investing in the stock market. It pays to have your money growing elsewhere, and sometimes in a place where you can’t access it immediately.

For example, if you open a retirement account, or contribute to the 401(k) at your workplace, then you’re ensuring you have income to live off of in retirement other than whatever cash you have saved in the bank. This is a good idea and pretty much a necessity if you hope to retire “on time.”

Some people max out their retirement accounts and open brokerage accounts to further diversify their investments. A favorite among early retirement hopefuls is dividend paying stocks, since they create a source of passive income. Brokerage accounts don’t come with the same penalties as retirement accounts (although they are taxable), so you can pull money from there if needed.

3) Invest in Real Estate

This can go a number of ways. You could buy a fixer-upper and flip it, buy an apartment unit in a college town to rent out to students, buy single-family homes or duplexes/triplexes and rent them out, or invest in a vacation property and list it on HomeAway.

You can also rent out a section of your home, which doesn’t exactly require an additional investment, unless you need to make adjustments to the living space.
Either way, you’re creating another income stream for yourself in the event that something happens to your primary source. If you have rentals, then hopefully you’re collecting revenue from them each month.

If you can flip houses, then at least you have the skills and connections to do that, provided there are houses for sale in the area that make sense for the work.
Creating a rental property portfolio can be great for the long-term when you’re ready to retire, too.

4) Focus on Passive Income

As you can see, many of these ideas are focused around passive income. Who doesn’t want to earn money in the background without having to actively manage the details?

There are other ways to build up to passive income beyond investing and real estate. Maybe you want to start a blog and create products to sell. If you focus on ebooks or courses, you create them once, and then continue offering them with some minor updates in the future. The point is, a sale can occur while you’re away from your computer.

Or maybe you start that blog and it gains enough traction to earn affiliate income. Or you create YouTube videos and receive pay for videos you made in the past that are still being watched.

When thinking about creating and selling online products, it also helps to focus on “evergreen” content – information that will be relevant for a long time to come. Tried and true methods that have been proven to work for others. Otherwise, your information could appear stale and outdated, turning away potential buyers.

5) Don’t Forget Your Day Job

Your day job does have a place in all of this as your primary source of income. Even though you’re trying to build additional sources to diversify, having one (mostly) steady income stream provides peace of mind and allows you to venture out.
Trust me, I say this from experience: quitting your job and then freelancing with nothing else to rely on is scary! If you have your day job, use that income as a confidence booster to get out there and offer different services and to be creative.

If you’re a freelancer, then what I recommend is having one or two “main” clients that make up a decent chunk of your income, and then having several smaller clients fill in the gaps. I know this might sound a little risky (and it totally depends on the relationship you have with your clients), but having nothing but project/deadline-based work would scare me.

I personally wouldn’t want to be in a position where I was looking for new clients/projects every three to four months. I built my business based on ongoing work, and I kept many of the same clients for a year or more as I progressed. They “grew with me,” so to speak, and I’m very grateful for that.

Thanks for reading,

Mikepac715

#107

 What sources of revenue does your farmer program currently rely on?
Our farmer programme currently does not have any sources of revenue but previously it used to rely on:
• Adverts in the programme – Business houses especially agro business used to pay for advert slots in the farmer programme. Usually the adverts were one at the beginning, one at the end and one at the end.
• Programme Grant – NGO could fully fund the production and broadcast of the programme but had conditions that their funding is used on topics within their interventions such as climate change agriculture or conservation farming.
• Programme component sponsorship – NGO could sponsor a segment of the programme that relates to their work e.g. market prices.
 Are there other ways you think you can generate revenue for your farmer program? Please explain.
Yes there other ways I think of:
• Competitions and Awards – Business houses to do competitions and present awards relating to farming within the programme and pay for that segment.
• Produced programme Sale – Selling of programmes that have messages that strongly support interventions for certain NGOs so that they give their farmers to play at any time
 What challenges do you face trying to generate revenue?
I think the major challenge is convincing advertisers and funders to pay for the programme.

#108

Week 3: What are the best sources of revenue and how to diversify revenue?

Most community radio stations are located favorably near farmers in the regions that they serve. There is both physical and airwaves reach. We should take advantage of both to deliver what we deliver best. The closer the station us to her target audience farmers the better. But with airwaves crossing and extending further than the immediate community nearer the station, efforts must be made to develop listener clubs /associations and group memberships to effectively galvanize the body listenership into a meaningful value to deliver to potential advertisers and sponsors.

#109

What sources of revenue does your farmer program currently rely on?

Mostly the farmer program relies on general advertisements made on radio stations towards marketing the specific product.
In a better manner, the presence of transport systems that are well defined help to better up the farm program from field back to the sources of product’s materials
Other ways that are more helpful in generating revenue for the farmer program are making better marketing processes that welcomes more sponsors through different presentations and proposals wries ups to support the program. However,better packaging usage materials for the products will be more promising to the market
More challenges have been there especially through making advertisements to the products and in reaching more people.
Its me Rocky Amini, a journalist and a volunteer at The Citizen magazine and Tanzania Daima magazine in Tanzania