Kennett pal Everett Mobley started blogging recently. He’s still finding his rhythm but is off to a great start. The blog is primarily a companion to the website for his veterinary practice and I predict it will be very popular if he keeps posting useful and interesting information like today’s on dental care for dogs. If you have pets, you’ll want to visit and subscribe to Your Pet’s Best Friend.
Podcasting, broadcasting, advertising
Excellent interview at AdAge.com with Leo Laporte. Leo is the man behind TWiT (This Week in Technology), one of the most popular podcasts (monthly reach of 500,000). Which is why the podcast has attracted Dell, T-Mobile and Visa as advertisers. According to the AdAge piece, Laporte’s podcast mini-empire could rake in as much as $2 million dollars in a year, but he says he’s more concerned about how to not ruin the medium with advertising. Excerpts:
“…all podcasters agree that podcasting has more value than radio or almost everything and we deserve a high cost per thousands [of listeners] and are going to create an environment that’s worth it for advertisers. We don’t want to jam it for advertisers. And the audience will let you know — they’re not passive. It’s more of a conversation than a monologue. … We need to hold the line and really deliver quality advertising. It’s going to be hard at first, [podcasters will have to be] turning down advertisers, running fewer ads than you’d like, not take in as much money as you’d like. But if we can focus on delivering something of value we can make both advertisers and listeners happy.”
When asked if he thinks podcasts from mainstream media companies will exercise enough restraint in the advertising:
“I hope they screw it up. I see them as using podcasts to drive to their bread and butter. We’re narrowcasters and they’re broadcasters and there’s a big difference. “Ask a Ninja” wants to be “Seinfeld” but people like me and most I know are narrowcasters. We want to super-serve an audience and develop a relationship. [Broadcasters] see themselves as delivering a lot of people to advertisers and inefficiently. But those days are drying up. There will always be the Tides and Coca-Colas who can afford that but most companies in this modern world need to be efficient and they can be by using these new technologies.”
I have no doubt MSM companies (like ours) can produce quality podcasts. And, given our built-in promotional opportunities, we should be able to attract listeners. Will we “screw it up” when it comes to the advertising model? Don’t know. To be continued.
Apple polishing
Apple CEO Steve Jobs announced some new stuff yesterday. These events get Mac users hopping from one foot to the other and –now that I have a Mac– I sort of understand why. I can’t explain why, but I kind of get it.
Speaking of “get it” … I’ll eventually have to get one of the slick new nano’s (I just watched the amazing ad for same). The new Shuffle is literally wearable computing.
And there’s a new version of iTunes. I’m a sucker for a pretty UI and this is about as nice as they come. I haven’t seen them but there’s talk of a new series of Get A Mac ads poking fun at Windows efforts to mimic the sleek look and feel of the Mac OS. I’m sure Vista is/will be pretty but if the new iTunes is a hint of what the new Mac OS is going to look like… it’s no contest for me.
If you spend 90% of every waking moment looking at a computer, that time is more pleasant…more fun… if it’s Mac.
9/11 and the Dawn of Video Citizen Journalism
I made a conscious –or unconscious– effort to not think about the attack on the World Trade Center Towers. I didn’t think I could stand to watch the video again. This evening I stumbled across never-before-seen video shot from 500 yards away and 36 floors up. I can’t think of any words to describe this video. I could not look away. It was somehow more horrible and more compelling without the mindless chatter of news goofs telling us what we are seeing.
Steve Rubel (I found this on his blog) says we should watch this that we never forget. There will be no forgetting the anguish in the voice of the woman shooting the video when the first building collapsed. I can understand why the couple never released the video. And why they finally did.
Forget all the news specials, docu-dramas and made-for-TV movies. This amazing account will sear your brain and break your heart. It’s a long download but, as Steve says, something you should see.
Early in the game
31.4% of Americans don’t have internet access; 88% of all users have never heard of RSS; 59% of American households have zero iPods in them; 30% of internet users in the US use a modem; Detroit (one million people) has six Starbucks.
Seth is reminding us “all the growth and opportunity and the fun is at the leading edge, at the place where change happens” and we’re living on a never-ending adoption curve. For those of us in media, who depend on advertising… I’d rather be early to the this dance than late.
Bonus Quote: Doing it for free
“…pioneers are almost never in it for the money. The smart ones figure out how to take a remarkable innovation and turn it into a living (or a bigger than big payout) but not the other way around. I think the reason is pretty obvious: when you try to make a profit from your innovation, you stop innovating too soon. You take the short payout because it’s too hard to stick around for the later one. ”