Radio has been very good to me. In fact, had I not been rescued by a Radio career, I’d likely have entered the family Roto-Rooter business. Not that there’s anything wrong with the plumbing profession. But, having Roto-Rooted my way through high school, I didn’t see a lot of outlet for my creative ambitions. Sadly, Radio today isn’t what it was in the glory days (i.e. before the Internet). For the first time in Radio history, year-to-year Radio revenues are down. A full 6% decline compared to last year. The Internet has forever changed how radio fits into our lives. Much the same way as cable changed the face of broadcast television. I still feel Radio is an affordable way to reach a targeted audience, but there’s no denying Radio is not what it used to be back in “the day”.
Over the years, I’ve produced dozens of programs for broadcast, both short and long form. Last week, a longtime friend of mine called to ask my assistance in producing a radio program for XM Satellite Radio. He runs a company that manufactures a niche product for the trucking industry. His vision was to produce a weekly roundtable program that would focus on transportation issues. After much discussion, I talked him out of it.
For his niche market, broadcast just wasn’t the way to go. Instead, we decided it made the most sense to produce a weekly Podcast. For those unfamiliar with Podcasting, just think of it as a radio program without the constraints of broadcasting. There are no rules. You decide. It can be as long or short as you like, sponsored or not, with none of the restrictions that the FCC places on your broadcast. And the best thing about the Podcast? It’s always on. With Radio you need to set an appointment to listen to the program. Radio dictates the schedule. Podcasts are there when you are ready for them. And, Podcasts are portable. Listen to them on your computer or download them on your iPod. Listen to them in the gym, on the plane or in the car, whenever you have the time.
Another way to think of Podcasting is as an audio newsletter. Several years ago an associate of mine, Bernie Wagenblast, started a daily e-mail newsletter for the transportation industry, specifically targeted at DOT (Department of Transportation) employees and vendors. The newsletter is simply a collection of links to stories of the day. This newsletter has become extremely popular in his niche and has made him a household name in his industry. Today he has several thousand subscribers to his daily newsletter. Not a huge number, but this very targeted list includes many key decision makers in that industry and his newsletter carries advertising for anyone who would like to reach this highly desirable audience. And the best part? It works.
The smaller your niche, the more you can likely benefit from a Podcast. Keywords on the web page that host the podcast are indexed by search engines. Individuals searching for information on that specific topic are introduced to your business. Because the relevance is 100%, the impact and subsequent results can be quite powerful.
In fact, my first contact with Kevin Price was as a result of finding his audio on the web. I had done a web search on one of his radio guests and as a result was introduced to the Houston Business Show.
Need another reason to investigate Podcasting? It is incredibly affordable. For the price of a single ad broadcast on a single radio station (or less) you can produce a Podcast that will work for you forever. From now until the time you remove the file from the server, anytime anyone searches for the keywords in that program, that Podcast is waiting to go to work for you.
Like any other advertising and marketing vehicle, Podcasting is not for everyone. Every business has it’s own unique profile and needs to design a marketing program tailored to meet those specific goals. However, for all of the reasons just discussed, Podcasting is definitely a media option that should be given serious consideration.
With apologies to the creators of the famous Roto-Rooter jingle, Podcasting just might prevent you from flushing your ad budget “down the drain”.
For more on Podcasting or any questions you may have relating to video and audio production for business, broadcast or the web, contact me at Jim@LoneStarSound.com
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