Kyle Benham

A Love for Radio and Developing The Modern Web

by Kyle Benham

I have always had a passion for the immediacy radio offers. As a kid, growing up in Virginia Beach, it was fascinating to hear radio hosts engage with their audience live on the air.

When I was 15, I applied for a work permit to learn more about the industry. After realizing most radio stations do not hire high school students, I negotiated an agreement with my technology teacher, Mr. Swanger. The agreement was simple; I would receive 1 extra credit point on a test if I were to successfully complete an internship with a local radio station.

After hearing “No, you’re too young, kid,” from nearly every Virginia Beach-Norfolk radio station—Heather Gooze, Director of Marketing at Eagle 97, called with the rewarding “Yes" that would introduce me to radio.

I completed my dream internship and in 1999 and was hired by John Crenshaw, Program Director at 100.5 WCMS (sister station to Eagle 97). I was 16-years-old at the time, and featured in The Virginian Pilot as a “Rising Star: The Youngest Norfolk-Virginia Beach Radio Personality.”

It didn’t take long for me to recognize that my high-pitched voice wasn’t exactly the standard “radio voice.” If I was going to succeed, I’d have to learn the importance of engaging with the target audience.

Kyle On-Air at 16 Years Old | 100.5 WCMS – Virginia Beach, VA

Kyle Benham in 2013

Founder of A Modern Website and Musical Director on Leo Laporte – The Tech Guy, syndicated by Premiere Radio Networks.

For the past 11 years, I have played an integral on-air role in creating original content for two syndicated talk radio programs. While attending George Mason University (BA 2005), I worked on the Elliot in the Morning Show, syndicated out of Washington, D.C.’s legendary DC101.

Presently, we reach over 1 million listeners every weekend on Leo Laporte – The Tech Guy, syndicated by Premiere Networks. It is rewarding to be at the forefront of technology with the ability to connect and help others.

In 2012, I launched, A Modern Website, to help businesses quickly develop, optimize and promote original content on the modern web.

At A Modern Website, every adjustment is evaluated to increase exposure, sales, brand recognition and profits for our clients. Our services have real, definable, value. There is no more guessing.

By creating an audience that is engaged in your content; they become a part of your brand, and they want to share that story with their friends.

Prior to launching A Modern Website, I co-founded Bootcamp Lights with the goal of making advertising simple, effective, and affordable for all.

With simplicity in mind, our team engineered a new form of targeted advertising using a custom built R22 Helicopter, outfitted with a 36 x 8 foot digital billboard to reach key areas.

Bootcamp Lights is the only company in the Mid-Atlantic region with authorization from the Federal Aviation Administration to fly digital media over metropolitan areas.

Very similar to radio and the modern web, our helicopter isn’t effective if the message is just shouted out at people. We use our new approach to involve the audience, bringing them from out-of-home to multiple online platforms where we can resourcefully track engagements.

Search engine optimization (SEO) is significantly changing in 2012

“Today we're beginning to support authorship markup—a way to connect authors with their content on the web. We're experimenting with using this data to help people find content from great authors in our search results.”

It is important to correctly use Google's verified authorship markup to maximize exposure for the credible content you publish on the modern web.

For Valentine’s Day 2012, I used our online platforms to engage with the Baltimore community. The two articles we produced were indexed with verified Google authorship combined with surpassing all of the other Valentine’s Day opportunities.

Since the launch of Bootcamp Lights, we have successfully pivoted our business model four times to continually innovate our approach and promote everything from a high-end national security and defense intelligence provider (Six3 Systems campaign) to a guy looking for a creative way to say, Will you marry me?

More information: A Modern Website » | Bootcamp Lights »