Podonomics

I find the quest to be interesting for more than 12-hours quite exhausting. Last night, I passed up a pool party and dinner with Shel, Terry and others to hit the sack early. I spent most of today just interviewing people and finally getting a chance to play with the toys that the exhibitors were showcasing.

I met many people, too many to count, but I will provide a separate entry on my impressions of Scott Bourne, Robert Scoble, Paul Colligan and Bruce Murray (whom I think is the sweetest podcaster out there right now - and he’s Canadian).

As I sit here at the airport waiting for my flight, I’m struck by the enthusiasm I felt at the Expo. It’s one of the first times I’ve travelled to a conference without a feeling of apprehension that once I got there, I’d feel so alone. As soon as I reached my hotel, I was already making plans to meet up with CC, Julien, John and a few others.

My blog and my podcast have helped me to find friends in distant places. But more than that, social media has given me a place in both blogosphere and podosphere. My voice and my thoughts are recognized in this space. Social media has allowed me to shape the very image I want others to have of me. Thankfully, that image reflects who I am - my authentic self.

Even while at the Expo, I continued to feel the warmth and friendliness from everyone there - whether they were podcasting pros or neophytes. People who have been podcasting for a long time were more than happy to tell a newbie the tips and tricks on how to record properly, or how to interview with confidence.

I met many who were so enthusiastic about podcasting, that they bought an audio recorder at the show and stopped me and other speakers just to get a 3-minute interview. This is encouraging as it shows that podcasting is only going to get bigger and better.

The tools that I discovered at the show also gave me hope that podcasting could only grow from here. Gigavox just launched a tool that will help podcast producers lessen the amount of time they spend editing a recording.

I met another group who is releasing a product called Podcast Link that enables podcast listeners to download their favourite podcasts without using a computer. The president of the company even told me that his product passed the “grandma test” as his grandmother is able to use the product with ease.

Yet, as I look around this airport, reality settles in. Now that I’m off the podisland and back into the real world, I’m overwhelmed by the amount of work the podcasting community still has to do to educate the masses as to what podcasting is.

I can’t wait for the day when I no longer have to hear, “What’s a podcast?” I look forward to the day when the seats are filled with people who are beyond the podcasting 101 stage. I’m anxious to start having those discussions that take us well beyond the “What gear are you using?” to “What strategy are you using?”

I hope my pilot had more sleep than I.

Technorati: pme, podcast expo 2006, podcasting

The Friday podcast was delayed because I forgot all my downloading equipment in Toronto. I’ve got interviews with Joanne Colan, Tim Bourquin, Robert Scoble, Ron Moore, Tim Street and Scott Bourne. Some interesting thoughts from these interesting people about podcasting. I’ll put it up on Monday.

I finally had a chance to sit in on the corporate podcasting track here at the Podcast Expo. I sat in on Peter Levitan’s presentation called Podcasting: Marketing’s New Change-Agent. Peter, who’s President of Ralston360, gave tips on how to integrate podcasting into a corporation’s current marketing strategy.

Peter talked about his Big 4.

1. Create a creative brief. Define the target market, the intended action item, the key message.
2. Determine a budget. How much are you willing to spend on a podcasting strategy.
3. Hire a pro. Listeners are now demanding that it sounds professional.
4. Integrate. Mention your podcast in your brochures, on your website and in other communication tools.

Peter also mentioned that if you’re trying to convince your peers or your CEO to podcast, don’t send them on a goose chase to download podcasts in iTunes. Instead:

1. Hand him or her a few podcasts on a CD.
2. Tell him or her to listen to it on the drive home.
3. Then, tell him or her that your company needs to offer this type of content for free online.

Some great points.

Technorati: pme, podcast expo 2006, podcasting, peter levitan

Here’s a list of the presentations I missed yesterday. Most of them were in the corporate podcasting track, however, I understand that they’ve been recorded and will be released on the Podcast & Portable Media Expo website sometime in the near future.

Solving the Corporate Dilemma: Create Your Own Podcast or Advertise On an Existing Show? by Michael Geoghegan, CEO of Gigavox. I was sitting in Scott Bourne’s presentation while Michael’s was going on. I’m curious to know how Michael answered this question and whether he prefers one approach over the other.

Integrating Podcasts into the Marketing Mix: Building a Business Case and Demonstrating Value by Eric Schwartzman, CEO of Schwartzman & Associates. I was sitting in Paul Colligan’s presentation at the time. I’d like to have known what tools one can use to measure success with a podcasting strategy.

Podcast to Your Employees and Improve Your Internal Communications by Shel Holtz, Principal of Holtz Communication & Technology and host of For Immediate Release. I was talking to a publisher and then ended up debating with some guy on how to sell a podcast solution while Shel was speaking. I wonder if Shel shared some case studies of corporations currently using podcasting as an internal communications tool.

Again, the recordings of these sessions will be available at some point in the future, so once they are, I’ll post an update.

Technorati: pme, podcast expo 2006, podcasting, eric schwartzman, shel holtz, Michael Geoghegan

Sitting here listening to Paul Colligan, co-author of The Business Podcasting Bible and overall a pretty savvy marketing guy. Here are some points:

• Podcasts don’t make money, clicks on websites do. Use your podcast to lead people to your website (this is what I preach).
• CPMs on podcasts will go away very soon as soon as people figure out how to really make money from podcasts.
• The seven monetization strategies:

1. Benefactor - Sponsorships, tip jars, donations.
2. Newsletters - Give people a reason to subscribe, then send out your ezine weekly.
3. Merchandising - Sell items on your website or through cafepress.com. Mention these products in your podcast.
4. Premium Podcast Content - Have people pay to hear your podcast. Use audible.com.
5. Commissioned Sales - Otherwise known as affiliate marketing, mention products in your podcast, list the affiliate links in your show notes. When your listeners buy, you get a portion of the sales.
6. Web Clicks - Use adsense to drive people to your website, then offer a community complete with transcripts, boards and comments that listeners can participate in.
7. Sell Your Own Products - Digital is better as you keep more of the profits. Use PayPal.com or AutomateSales.com to do this. Mention your products in your podcast, then lead people to your website to purchase the download.

Technorati: pme, podcast expo 2006, podcasting, paul colligan

Scott Bourne, host of PodcastingTricks.com and a host over on the TWIT network, gave some tips on how to keep your sponsors and advertisers based on his many years in the broadcast field. Some points:

• When you make first contact, sell the appointment, not the sponsorship.
• Always keep in mind that you’re trying to help people.
• If you know what they want, you can help them with a solution.
• Handle objections with empathy, not with whining or additional objections.
• Feel - Felt - Found is a perfect formula in dealing with objections, for example:

Prospect says, “The price is too high.”

You say, “I understand how you feel. Many others felt that way, but I found that with the type of customer service I provide, my price is very competitive.”

• 90% of business is lost because we don’t close the sale, so just ask for it.
• Once you have the sale, develop an ad that focuses on the benefits and not hte features.
• Have a call to action in your ad by asking the audience to do something.
• Start your ad with headlines, such as, “Don’t you just hate it when…” or “If you do this right now…” or “Are you tired of…”

Technorati: scott bourne, pme, podcast expo 2006, podcasting, podcasting tricks

During his keynote, Ron Moore, the creator of the reimagined Battlestar Galactica series, spoke about his experience podcasting.

I’m a huge BG fan, so it was rewarding to hear from the person who prompts me to lock myself in a room and turn off the ringer on my phone for 60-minutes each week.

He talked about an episode that he felt took him to a low in his professional career. Black Market, Ron said, wasn’t well done. He thought it was filled with cliches and resembled a traditional way of producing a TV show.

In the podcast he released just after the show, instead of saying that the show was a success, he decided to “be real” and admit that he wasn’t happy with it. Ron said that many wondered why he would trash his own episode, but to Ron, he couldn’t pull the wool over the eyes of his audience since they would just read through it.

Ron loves podcasting because it gives him a direct line to his audience. He can invite them into his house, set the rules, decide the content and there’s no one to interrupt them.

How many corporations can say that they can “be real” through the message they send to the media, to their customers, to their prospects? There’s so much corporate spin on a message that it’s no wonder that people tune it out and don’t trust what executives have to say.

In this era of Enron, Worldcom and now HP, people are demanding honesty and will support the corporations that embrace the communications tools that give them a perception of honesty.
Technorati: ron moore, podcast expo 2006, pme, podcasting,

Leo Laporte, hailed as the Podcaster of the Year, gave a short keynote this morning. Some points he made:

• We should look at using another name besides podcast to call what we do. Tying our name with a brand has been one of the stumbling blocks for podcasting.
• We need to build a consortium that unites the podcasting community to address issues from a united front.
• Podcast monetization is decided not by audience size, but the relationship we have with that audience. We need to work with agencies and advertisers that understand this.

Most importantly, Leo reminded us that podcasting isn’t radio, it isn’t TV. We will only succeed if we treat the monetization of podcasting differently. We should be careful not to copy the mistakes of past media.

Technorati: pme, podcasting, podcast expo 2006, leo laporte

Last night, I was overwhelmed. I took in the speakers only schmooze event and it was buzzing. I met a variety of interesting people and discovered some interesting news, so here’s a quick summary.

• The Business Podcasting Bible - Finally met Paul Colligan who has a big personality and is so in the know. He whipped out a copy of his book that he co-authored and flipped to page 245 that features my podcast monetization case study about Cubicle Divas. I practically bragged about it the entire night to anyone I met. Paul should hire me for sales.
• Robert Scoble - A simple guy with big ideas. He was wearing a black t-shirt and looked relaxed. His hair - which is blond - reminded me of a surfer dude. I liked the way he introduced himself, “Hi, I’m Robert Scoble.” That’s it. Love it.
• The Canadians - We’re such a posh group. Everytime I go to these types of conferences, the Canadians seem to gravitate towards each other, find a corner and camp there all night. The Canadians include Bruce Murray, Julien Smith, myself and (oh I forget his name) a chap from Calgary.
• Ben Williams - I think this guy’s on something because his enthusiasm was up there all night, although it’s just that he loves podcasting so much. I liked him for a couple of reasons, 1) He’s one of the few Black folks podcasting and 2) He’s actually making money helping others podcast.
• David Jackson - School of Podcasting, I met him online through Ryze and the International Podcasting Expo. Way taller in person than I thought and such an enthusiastic guy.
• Doug Kaye - Another man very excited about podcasting, he told me about a new product that Gigavox is coming out with called the Levelizer. I get a chance to play with this today when the exhibiting floor opens up.
• James Pearson - The PR guy for Audible.com. He’s married to a Canadian actress (I don’t remember her name). She starred in Show Me Yours and I remember a long time ago, she starred on this show called Dear Aunt Agnes (this is going way back). In any case, I liked James because he understands how to create a buzz using the media and he gave me a ton of ideas.

I’m off to polish up my presentation before meeting John C. Havens for breakfast. I’ll be blogging from the conference floor, so check in with me in a few hours.

Just to let you know:

• If you’re attending the PME and would like to meet up with me;
• If you can’t attend the PME and would like to get an insider’s look for your podcast;
• If you’re a journalist and need quotes for your article or program about PME or podcasting in general;

…call or text me at 647-225-3792.

Technorati: podcasting, pme, portable media expo