1-ish: The Podcast Business Model panel hosted by Chris Pirillo. Panelists: Jonathan Cobb, founder, Kiptronic; David Mansueto, co-founder, Libsyn; William Jeakle, creative director, Filmateria Studios.
1:15: Libsyn is delivering 1 million downloads per day! Kiptronic connects podcasters and advertisers; they have about a dozen sponsors on board so far. Filmateria Studios is trying to help folks make their video podcasts better.
1:19: Chris: The onus is still on the podcast producers these days to figure out the value of their show and negotiate the deal with an advertiser. This is what Kiptronic is trying to broker. William: My (cousin?) is an ad exec and he is really pissed at the whole podcasting thing for undercutting the ad model. William is trying to encourage him to get on board… work the system from the inside, as it were.
1:25: Jonathan: Advertising models are coming; it’s our job to make sure it gets done right, in a way that’s fair to both sides. Kiptronic is working on connecting advertisers with the right niche podcasts.
1:30: Chris: You’ve got to have a brand to promote, not just a podcast. William: A lot of people don’t trust iPods, especially in the business world. There’s a business opportunity there to sell them into this new, hip space.
1:35: Chris: Apple doesn’t sell hardware, they sell sex. William: We have some work to do to educate people about the benefits of iPod stuff, but also that you don’t need an iPod; you could have any portable media player. Now, there’s a technical discussion about formats. Over my head; not afraid to admit it.
1:40: Question from the audience: What’s the threshold for getting advertisers on board? Chris: Development of the content and of branding (it’s all about branding). What about Ricky Gervais & his new subscription model? Chris: Subscription models will make sense when what I’m paying for puts money in my pocket. William: The cable network model is being dismantled & cable broadcasters are scared.
1:45: Audience member suggests a model that works just like Kiptronic. Kiptronic inserts current, relevant ads into your podcast at the time they are downloaded.
1:50: Great panel. i’m missing a bunch of good stuff; apologies. William: The viral nature of podcasting is great, and advertisers love it. Chris: downside is that you can’t track the viral stuff, which is why he focuses on … say it with me … branding! From the audience: Gentleman from the City of Seattle lets us know that the City has a new podcast featuring Seattle bands. The podcast is promoted through the hold music that people get when they call the City.
1:56: Discussion about the word podcast. Calling a show a podcast will scare some people off. Podcasting is NOT a genre. (Something like:) “Everyone has a website; my grandma is on Myspace and she’s dead.” Generally, the panelists are making a distinction between the medium and the genre. You’ll be more successful by taking the idea and applying it across media/hardware platforms. David: Ricky Gervais was the star that brought my mom onboard. He was the gateway drug for a lot of neophyte podcast consumers.
2:02: It’s less about the size of the audience than they quality of the audience’s connection to the brand you’re pushing. (In other words, if your podcast (sorry.. show) is about tennis balls and your audience is all really into tennis balls, you’ve got a very valuable property. Question from the audience: How do you find out who your audience is? Jonathan: Kiptronic uses tracker services to figure out listener locations; suggests that you’d have to survey them to find out more. Use the carrot of, say, a secret episode to encourage people to complete your survey.
2:06: Question from the audience: I know nothing about podcasting, how do I find out about it? Alex: Ask the podcast agents. They’re like ninjas. (You had to be there. Basically, the answer was to find people who are podcasting and ask them to teach you. And, hey, come to a Seattle Podcast Network meeting. We’d be glad to help guide you through.)