The New Rules Of Podcasting - Part IV
The New Rules Of Podcasting.
- Networks are a losing business model.
- Signing away the exclusive rights to your podcast is a stupid thing to do.
- Speaking at conferences does not qualify as an accomplishment.
- Statistics and demographics are meaningless and useless.
- Ninety percent of podcasting news is worthless.
- What you knew last summer has almost certainly changed today. Nothing lasts forever and nothing is static in the world of Social Media technology. The world of podcasting is moving and today's info (including these rules) just might be stale a few months (or even weeks) down the line.
I think that it's important to point this out because people in general tend to get very comfortable in their knowledge and rest on their laurels. This is a very dangerous thing to do if you want to make a business out of Podcasting. Whether your trade is consultant, show producer, investor, podcast network guru or educator doesn't matter. You need to keep up on the latest happenings in order to be adding true value to what you do and the people you keep in contact with.
I recently attended a podcasting event where the author of one of the early podcasting books was asked a question. He was asked if the book was out of date or not. I was disappointed in his answer because he said that the book wasn't out of date. Was the guy lying? I don't think so, but he was showing bias towards intellectual property that he created. The fact is that any book on podcasting from nine months ago is going to be missing some key points that any podcaster today should probably know.
After all, the tools, techniques and players have changed wildly since the summer of 2005. Where there were once just a few players in the directory space there are now dozens. In just the last few months we've seen the addition of services like Pluggd and Podcast Ready to the mix. Podcast.com has quietly moved into Alpha phase. And more are on the way. Meanwhile, early directory iPodder.org has quietly done a fade in favor of newer players like the kitschy but popular Podcast Pickle.
The tools have changed as well in one way or another. I'm talking about tools for producing, publishing, subscribing to, discovering and promoting podcasts. The iPodder podcatching product is now called Juice Receiver. The popular Mac client iPodderX is in the process of being redesigned and named Transistr. A new podcatch client called WinPodder is making some waves. And on the video side there are a few great, new choices for publishing and subscribing to video podcasts like Democracy Internet TV. Google Video now supports video podcasting in their own kludgy way. Face it folks. The tools they are a changin!
Meanwhile we've seen shifting alliances and new networks aiming to aggregate like content or capitalize on advertising dollars. PodShow is slowly moving towards....well...something new I guess. The Culinary Podcast Network has formed. The Insomnia Radio Network has expanded into a coast to coast indie music juggernaught. And the Tech Podcast Network has become a global source for techie info delivered via podcasts. These are just a few developments. A lot more has happened than I can right in this space.
On the suit and tie front corporations and established entertainment companies are boldly moving into the medium, either through sponsorship of existing podcasts or release of their own content via iTunes or their own websites. The Dixie company ponied up a six figure sum to get the word out via the Mommycast. Major League Baseball and the NBA have gotten in on the act. And how about that Nacho Libre! video podcast. The major players are moving in folks, and that only means that the space will change even faster.
Companies like Podtrac, Fruitcast, Kiptronic, LibSyn, Blubrry and others will be there to help you capitalize.
So what's my point here? Very simple. If you want to be a player in the world of Podcasting you need to invest time in keeping up with the latest developments. If you want to produce and promote your show in a quality manner. If you want to speak at conferences and teach others. If you want to start a company to capitalize on the Podcasting phenomenon. If you want to write a magazine about podcasting. You need to know today's information and not the information from six or three months ago.
By continually educating yourself you insure that you represent yourself properly while providing value to those you may be serving or teaching. And you're less likely to look like a fool. I'm not going to tell you how to go out and do this properly. If you've got the passion, you'll follow some links and find your own way.
So if you think that you know the ins and outs of podcasting, think again. And you'll be doing more of a service to the community of Podcasting then you can ever truly realize.
Recommend Podcast NYC To Your Friends
posted by PodcastNYC.net at 6:29 PM
1 Comments:
Seeing that it was me you were talking about, you defnitley took me out of context, I said the book was written in a way that anyone getting started in podcasting would find all the info in the book. I did say that there was nothing in it about iTunes and a few of the new tools. But when I say few it is a few because there have not been that many developments recently.
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