Posts from — April 2008

“Should I stay or Should I go?”  This was the gist of a recent email from a friend.  My friend had a concern that a conference wasn’t exactly in line with their area of interest. 

Here is my philosophy…  Life is about relationships. 

[Read more →]

Don’t forget New Media Expo Registration rate of $299 goes up after April 30th to $349 until June 30th and $399 after that. You can register for FREE, if you just want to visit the Exhibit Hall and Keynotes.

I will be presenting this at Podcamp Ohio, Podcamp Boston 3, and the New Media Expo. Follow along and help me as I prepare my Expo Presentation. I’ll keep this page updated as I create it and once done, this will be the place to see what was actually presented. Add your thoughts in the comments or call them in to 678-884-0524. Thanks for the help.

[Read more →]

Just because you can, does that mean you should? The costs associated with blogging and podcasting are so low, the question can become “Why don’t I make it longer?” or Why don’t I put out more content?”  Just because we can podcast for 87 minutes straight, does that mean we should? Traditional media has been constrained for a long time by the commercial break. We’ve all been trained to adjust our behaviors around those breaks. But, now consuming what you want, when you want and where you want, has erased the need for the traditional structure of our media. But, back to the question. Should we? Is some structure good? Is some time constraint and frequency constraint good?

As is my normal approach to things, I’m firmly on the fence about this. There is room for everyone. Some people will go too long; some people will go too short. Notice I didn’t mention a time. One person’s “too long” may be another person’s “too short.” If we are trying to grow an audience and produce something of value to someone else, then we are in a service industry and have to pay attention to what the audience wants. Does the listener want it longer or shorter? Does the listener want it more often? It always depends on the listener.

Don’t let the False Economy of the cost of production allow you to create something just because you can. Unless, of course, that is what you want to do without regard for an audience.  Let the audience drive the length and frequency.

So, with that in mind, am I blogging often enough? Long enough? Should I be podcasting? Audience, let me know. 678-884-0524.

I just registered to attend Podcamp Boston3, 19-20 July, 2008.  This has been a great, podcamp.  I highly recommend it if you can make it.  This year will be different as they will be charging $50 to attend.  There will be some discussion about this, but $50 is so much less than so many other conferences.  I hope to see you there.

Here is my brain dump of links I sent out to others today:

• Twitter Creators Video - Robert Scoble inteviews.
• Robin’s Twitter – If you know what this is, follow me.
• Taxes and Podcasting – Wired Magazine article
• Association for Downloadable Media – Proposed Standards for Advertising and Audience measurement
• New Media Expo Registration – Click to register.  I am a paid speaker, but have to refer people to be in the paid speaker pool.

Give me your thoughts on any of the above in the comments.

“Brilliant!” I say. I wanted to be the first to say that.  I want to talk about why I think it is so good. I’m not telling you the link to the video, because I don’t want you to get caught up in the message and miss the elegance of the method.

Separating the message from the method, here are the reasons the creator(s) got it right. They carefully:

• picked a controversial subject
• leveraged someone else’s celebrity
• kept the call to action very subtle, but clear
• made it easy to spread virally
• made it easy to spend money

Before I give you the link to the video, set your personal beliefs aside for a few minutes [Read more →]

Here is the link to Arbitron’s highlights of the report: The Infinite Dial 2008: Radio’s Digital Platforms. Here are the interesting points I found in the actual Edison Research slide deck.

• Slide 27 -iPod/MP3 player ownership continues to grow by 20 plus percent per year across all ages.
• Slide 30 – When I do the math on the slide, of the 35 percent of the people who actually own iPod/MP3 players, 28% are listening to radio less. The title of the slide is “Only 10% Report Less Radio Listening due to Time Spent with iPod/MP3 Player.” We are both correct, however. It just depends on how you look at it and who you are “selling” your report to. Refer to slide 27, if you are in the traditional radio business.
• Slide 34 -The numbers keep going up. More people are consuming audio podcasts as more people buy iPods or MP3 players. Although the number is up five percent from last year, surprisingly, only 18 percent of people have ever listened to a podcast. I see this as good news. There is still LOTS of room for this industry to grow. That’s why I’m here.
• There are some interesting conclusions at the end that seem a little defensive about traditional radio, but point to the in-roads, new media, social media, and hardware convergence are all making in the broader media landscape.
• Comments were turned off on the Edison Media page.   I have to wonder why…

In the past month, two people I know personally have made the huge leap, leaving full time jobs so they can devote all their time and effort to new media. Congrats to Carrie and Debba. I’m proud to know these pioneers. This report points to your future success.