While in high school my daughter worked at the Build-A-Bear workshop in the mall. They often had her stand out in the mall walkway holding a bear and welcoming people to the store.

I wonder what would happen in our format if people actually felt welcomed rather than excluded.

Below is the sign at the entrance to a very large church near my home. Maybe this is part of the reason they are a very large church.

Welcoming people seems to be a pretty big priority for them.

For a radio station to grow it has to be designed to welcome new listeners.

There are a couple of ways to do this.

One is by directly welcoming new listeners (like the photo) and letting them know what to expect.

Another is more subtle and perhaps even more effective.

Design everything on your radio station to be meaningful to a first time listener. (This is where our format often earns an “F”).

Build-A-Bear sends their people outside the store to greet people before they even enter the store.

How is your station greeting new listeners?