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"Make the inevitable a lot less painful. Give yourself some peace of mind in this unpredictable business. MAKE BACKUPS." |
Podcasts are simply portable media on demand and are becoming the marketing wave of the future for businesses large and small. There are a few myths regarding this new media that need to be dispelled from the get-go.
First, podcasts are not just audio; they are video and photos as well.
Secondly, you don't need an iPod to watch or listen to podcasts – they can be browser based or usable on other portable media players.
Lastly, like Tivo, you can subscribe to podcasts as you would shows and download them to your player when you are plugged in, however you do not need to be connected to the internet to play a podcast.
Podcasts can be created by anyone with a computer, a microphone, a video camera and a few key pieces of software. What makes a podcast a podcasts is simply the file type, identified by extension, the media must be converted to, to be played on a portable media player such as an iPod (standard, photo, and video), a PSP, or MP3 player.
Understanding the relationship that makes podcasts seem like an audible version of a blog is easy – they are both XML based technology called RSS (Real Simple Syndication). By describing your podcast in an RSS file and allowing the name and description and link to download the podcast to be broadcast though media outlets and streams and allow it to be searched for and found through RSS aggregators such as iTunes and other directories where your post cast has been approved for inclusion. What this does is allow your podcast to be found, not through your typical search engine keyword search (although niche marketing for all media types is important) but through specific podcast directories and news aggregators.
Now for the future… Podcasts were just starting to make waves as a new way to publish audio media for free to just about anyone in the world. Popular among “web jockeys”, comedians, corporations for official company messages and news during conferences, meetings etc., advertisers, and musicians the podcasts of 2005 was mostly audio based. Here's the kicker;
In October Apple sold over 1 million video iPod in 20 days. In the months after Apple met its expectations of over 11 million shipped for the holidays. Analysts said the final quarter numbers for 2005 to reach 30 million video IPods sold between November 2005 and January 2006. With so many new video iPod users the first thing they did was go to the Apple iTunes store to download media for their new players.
The only problem was, there is very little media offered at the store – a few Pixar short movies and a few TV show episodes. With little variety offered where do these 30+ million potential customers of this new media go to get content? They search engines, they search podcast directories, and they share with friends or convert their own video media to iPod format. However, most users are not savvy enough to create their own content and there is a HUGE opportunity for content publishers and marketers to make their mark as leaders in offering this new media.
So what do people want? Entertainment of course!
News, educational materials, workout videos, anything of interest including PORN and adult media. And yes, they are willing to put up with a commercial or two to keep the media free. However, making podcasts that feature your pay site featured video of the month (with a 2257 screen of course), a slide show of featured updated photos, an audio sex story and other content that can act as your members newsletter or download of the month would be something that would put your site above the competition and would be a feature to advertise to attract new customers.
Also teaming up with video content providers that offer this download type for your members is something to keep an eye out for. Even offering trailer podcasts to promote your site (simply ad a format for podcasts and add a download option button) and your site “commercial” will be traded all over the internet and a viral marketing source. So how to you create a video podcast?
And we mentioned that podcasts can be browser based as well. This may help to make podcast video formats (.m4v, .mp4 or .mov) the most versatile media format standard for 2006. We will begin to see Pay Per Download programs come out from our affiliate program providers who learn to utilize the promotion aspects podcasts provide with tracked download distributions through RSS feeds. And if you plan to keep your podcasts “vanilla” it is easy to get included in the iTunes media store and offer your podcast for free to millions of users. But remember – every download uses bandwidth from your server so the standard podcast is no longer than 7-10 minutes.
Charge ahead with a solid understanding of what podcasts and video podcasts are, how they work, how to market them and how to maximize your return on investment and you will find your self a few steps ahead of your competition. There is a niche to be formed with every new media format and with the millions of new portable media users looking to fill up their memory chips with everything from religious sermons to porn, there exists a place for everyone to make their mark, and make some money.
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