About

The Basics:

Jerod Schaefer
Billings, MT
(406) 861-2851
jerod@jerodschaefer.com

Background:

I have been in broadcasting since I was in High School back in Baker, MT.  My first real job was in 1990 with a country music radio station -  KFLN 960 AM “The Hitkicker.”  I got the job because the Speech and Drama coach, Carol Bettenhausen, knew of an opening and thought I was a good fit for the job.  So I went in and did a quick reading from one of the Associated Press stories. I remember the story I read had to do with the first Gulf War specifically concerning one of Saddam’s generals and for the life of me I couldn’t pronounce the guy’s name.  Despite my failings with the general’s name they gave me a job.  I was so excited to be working in radio even though my musical palette was pretty simple and contained only a handful of artists – none of which wore a cowboy hat. I enjoyed the work and even though I NEVER got a pay raise (thanks, Jay) my time there helped to instill a love for radio and for broadcasting in general.

After four years at KFLN I went off to college to pursue my education. My first year of college was spent in Glendive, MT at Dawson Community College. As with many college freshmen, I was unsure of what I wanted to do “when I grew up” so I spent the my first year in Glendive taking as many of my “general education” classes as I could.  I had a full-ride music scholarship (I played brass instruments and can carry a tune when necessary) so I figured I would get as much of them out of the way as possible before moving on.  After completing a year of study at Dawson my new bride, Sue, completed her associates degree and we moved to Billings, MT where we both attended school at Montana State University – Billings. Throughout the rest of my college career I worked at an office supply store where I sold computers and worked in the copy / design center. After a year there I was promoted to Customer Service Supervisor where I learned the value of treating customers as I wanted to be treated.   In May of 2000 I graduated from MSUB with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Management with a major in Information Systems.  In October of 2000 I started working for a radio station group that owned 26 stations in Montana and Washington.  It was a great gig where I learned a lot about broadcasting and developed my web management, graphic design, and IT skills.  Eventually that company was purchased by a capital investment firm along with numerous other smaller station groups in the western US.  I continued to work for that company until the end of 2008.

Currently, I work for ABC6 and FOX 4 television in Billings, Montana as the Interactive Media Manager for their website product, www.YourBigSky.com.  This position provides me the opportunity to not only manage content for YourBigSky.com, but I also get to offer it to my clients as a way to effectively market their business.  It has been a bit of an adjustment for me to be on the “other side” as a salesperson, but with my years of customer service experience during college and tagging along on sales calls while in radio, I am excited to help grow my clients’ business. While the job is certainly not easy, I have really enjoyed the opportunity to visit with local business owners and develop long-term growth strategies.  As the Internet continues to grow more and more people are researching online and buy offline so local businesses stand to greatly benefit by creating and maintaining a web presence.

Interests:

I am a devout Christian and am dedicated to raising my four kids with my beautiful wife, Sue. We do our level best to raise our kids with a deep sense of purpose and a love for people.  I trust that with God’s help they will grow into wonderful adults who will accomplish more than we will.

In what spare time I have, I enjoy spending it with my wife and four young children, photography, and studying various aspects of science as it relates to creation.  I am constantly tinkering with new Internet technology such as content management systems and I have spent considerable time studying SEO (Search Engine Optimization) over the last few years.

More to come…

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