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Podcasting 4 Profit
"Podcasting", a new word in the venacular, broadcasting to boomers on the ever shrinking I Pod...
Date: 1/18/2006 12:01:10 PM ( 18 y ) ... viewed 2130 times How to Profit from Podcasting
Lockergnome’s Chris Pirillo spills secrets of podcasting success.
January 14, 2006
There’s enough money in podcasting for unlimited personal broadcasters, says podcast pioneer Chris Pirillo. As long as they make these audio web feeds interesting, of course.
Mr. Pirillo, the founder of tech media network Lockergnome and host of a podcast sponsored by Microsoft, flew from Seattle to San Francisco last week to address an overflowing crowd of Apple fanatics about the “podcast economy” at Macworld.
However, in an interview with RedHerring.com after the talk, he said he regretted the decision to give a generic concept like “on-demand audio” a catchy name so closely associated with the Cupertino, California, computer company.
“I fought it,” he said, referring to the naming process a couple of years ago. That’s because the overlap between “podcast” and Apple’s wildly popular “iPod” portable music players has led to assumptions that the broadcasts can only play on Apple devices.
‘If somebody figures that out, they’ll probably make a billion dollars.’
-Chris Pirillo
Lockergnome
Indeed, Apple competitor Creative got heat at the recent Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas for saying “podcast” stood for “personal on-demand broadcast.” It was seen as a blatant attempt to avoid mentioning the iPod.
But that etymology is no recent invention—it was discussed about the time of the birth of podcasting—said Mr. Pirillo, and he should know.
However, Mr. Pirillo acknowledged the connection to Apple’s hottest product has been a boon for the young world of podcasting. “It was a fortunate and unfortunate thing,” he said.
Besides selling 14 million iPods in the last quarter alone, Apple played an instrumental role in bringing podcasts out of the realm of geeks by including ways to subscribe to new shows in its iTunes software (see iTunes Now Plays Podcasts, iTunes ‘Podcatchers’ Top 1M). Apple CEO Steve Jobs unveiled podcast creation software last week (see Apple Fans Embrace Intel Macs).
Profiting from Podcasting
Mr. Pirillo’s formal remarks, offered in Microsoft PowerPoint on his IBM/Lenovo ThinkPad, were a departure from the standard Macworld fare. Rather than enthusiasm for Apple products, he offered advice for starting up a profitable podcast.
Mr. Pirillo told beginning podcasters to pay the extra money for audio quality, focus on building a brand, and provide enough text to attract good search results but not be a substitute for actually listening to the audio.
“We’ve gotten to the point that everybody and their grandmother can produce a podcast and everybody and their grandmother is producing a podcast,” he said. “Now it’s about separating the wheat from the chaff.”
As for a business model, Mr. Pirillo—who said he makes a fifth of his income from podcasting— recommended sponsorships. He suggested there are legions of companies who will pay for relevant discussion of their products to an engaged audience, mentioning his own lucrative deals with Citrix, Nikon, and Microsoft.
And the listeners probably won’t be the trendsetting legions of iPod-toting college students. An older audience that, perhaps, faces a commute and a need for regular diversion, is a better target. “The younger people don’t care about podcasts. It’s the people who are steeped in their careers,” said Mr. Pirillo.
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