The State of Podcasting Outside the U.S.
By Monte Silver
Are the best cooking-related podcasts in France or Italy? Are the British listening to them for ideas, or does the secret ingredient get lost in translation? There are jokes galore about Italian policemen, but is it true that their State police have a popular podcast? Are the Chinese forced to subscribe to “Lets Learn English” podcasts in preparation for the Olympics? Where is podcasting most developed outside the U.S.?
Technology. Culture.
Culture. Technology.
Before setting out to answer these questions, and examine the status of podcasting outside the U.S., the assumption was that the average American podcast-enthusiast (I was born and educated in the U.S.) knew little about podcasting elsewhere. However, I was certain that outside the U.S., they were well connected and informed about cross-border activity, especially in the European Union. This four part article examines podcasting outside the U.S., answers the above questions and tests my assumption.
Part one provides an overview of the key factors which frame podcasting in the countries examined. Part two explores relative podcast adoption in each country by examining factors such as big media podcasting, corporate podcasting, advertising and venture capital involvement. Part three discusses the effects of cultural on national podcasting. Part four summarizes key podcasts, podcast-related entities and recent developments in each country.
Many factors influence podcasting in any given country. Two factors, however, are of key importance. Language is one. Broadband Internet is the other.
It is easy to predict the impact of broadband internet on podcasting. Clearly, people with low-speed dial up connections will not regularly download huge podcast files. In terms of analysis, however, broadband Internet either exists or does not exist, and does not make for interesting analysis. And in the countries examined, broadband Internet is now sufficiently available.
All things being equal, the more broadband subscribers there are in a country, the more podcasting is developed. In France, UK and Germany, 11.1M, 11.6M and 12.4M subscribers have high-speed Internet, respectively. China has about 30M subscribers. On the other hand, Australia, Italy and Spain have only 3.5M, 7.7M and 5.9M broadband subscribers, respectively. Judging by local podcast creation, in France, Germany and China, podcasting is flourishing According to Bertrand Lenotre (podemus.com), France produces 2650 different French podcasts, including 490 video podcasts. China produces approximately 20,000 podcasts, few of them video, according to Chinese Jack Gu (podlook.com). Germany produces 3300 different podcasts, including 800 video podcasts, according to Fabio Bacigalupo. (podcast.de) In Italy, the largest of the second group of countries, there are only about 220 active podcasts, and podcasting is still in its infancy, according to Valerio Di Giampietro (audiocast.it).
Surprisingly, however, the UK produces only about 220 different podcasts, very few of them video. How can that be? The UK is clearly a very active podcasting hub. It is home to Podcast User Magazine (podcastusermagazine.com), the world’s only podcast magazine, according to Co-founder and Editor Paul Parkinson. UK Podcast-enthusiasts can also boast to have hosted Podcastcon, the world’s first Podcast conference. So why are so few people in England producing podcasts? The answer is language.
The impact of language is both more interesting and far-reaching than that of Broadband. Language will impact podcasting on a country -level long after broadband Internet becomes common-place.
In talking to leading podcast enthusiasts in nine countries, what became immediately clear was their near total isolation. Leading podcast figures in one country had absolutely no idea what was happening abroad. Passionate podcasters and podcast-entities were creating beautiful gardens, but they were walled gardens. The English knew nothing about podcasting in France. The French knew nothing about German podcasting. Of course, no one know anything podcasting behind the Great Wall of China.
There was one clear exception: common language. French and German podcasters know nothing of each other, although they may live within a 30 minute drive of one-another. On the other hand, the flow of podcasts and emails between Australians, South Africans, English and Americans is very common.
Common language tears down national boundaries. Here are some examples. British Telecom and U.S.-based Podshow just launched BTPodshow. 75% of Podcast User Magazine subscribers come from the U.S. Its editor is a proud Brit. Keren Flavell is a proud Australian (mobilemedia.thepodcastnetwork.com), but 70% and 50% of the podcasts they subscribe to respectively are from the U.S. According to South African Mark Taylor (podcast.co.za), it was listening to Adam Curry that inspired him to “jump right in”.
Spanish-speaking podcasters know no borders either. Jose A. Gelado is a leading Spanish podcaster and he runs a portal too (podcastellano.com). Of the nearly 500 Spanish podcasts he lists, 150 are from Spain. The others are mainly from Mexico, Brazil, Chile and Argentina. Carlos Fernandez (podsonoro.com), his fellow countryman, agrees and is very familiar with the top podcasts and portals in Latin America.
Language can also unite communities disbursed around the world. ‘Afrikaans in Sydney’ is produced by an Afrikaner who moved to Australia, says Mark Taylor. In Afrikaans language, the podcast compares life in Australia with life back in South Africa and is popular in South Africa, as well as in the many South African communities around the world.
Other than in cases of common language, however, language is a barrier. A wall that isolates people. Here is a subtle example: Nicole Simon of Germany (usefulsounds.com) started her podcast in German, then switched to English. She drastically increased her reach, but only at the cost of alienating her follow Germans, who see this as a snub and treat her with suspicion.
Language has a direct impact on local content creation. The more isolated the country is in terms of language, the greater the opportunity for local podcasters to fill the vacuum. Although France and the UK have roughly the same population and number of broadband users, France creates ten times more podcast titles. Germany creates 15 times more. Amateur and big-media podcasting is booming in France and Germany, less so in the UK. U.S. podcasters are setting a very high standard. With UK listeners selecting U.S. content 70% of the time, it is clear that content generation in the UK, both amateur and big-media, may be somewhat stifled.
Yet, while France prefers French and China Chinese, English remains the “global” language. English podcasts have a worldwide audience. In Israel, 2 of the top 10 podcasts are in English. In Italy, two of the top 16 podcasts, and a few of the most popular Chinese podcasts are “lets learn English” tutorials. Bonjour-America, a wildly popular French podcast is in what Lenotre of Podemus describes as “kitchen” English. While providing a humoristic view of America and Americans, it underlies the universal fascination with the U.S., and the desire to blend into universal English culture.
The impact of language may decline somewhat with video podcasting. Funny videos are more easily enjoyed by all. YouTube videos are very popular in China, according to Gu. Interestingly, however, the Chinese do not frequent the YouTube.com site due to the site’s English interface (language), and slow international Internet (bandwidth). Rather the Chinese prefer to cut and paste YouTube videos onto comparable Chinese sites.
To summarize, while broadband is becoming ubiquitous, language will remain the single most dominant factor influencing the evolution of domestic podcasting. Language will continue to impact many aspects of podcasting: the walled garden phenomenon, local content creation, the formation of multi-country groups, and the manner in which national brands, such as Podshow will port across borders.
I want to tell you a true story about a MARKETING & MONEY-MAKING
SuperConference attendee who asked to have his name kept confidential:
At last year’s SuperConference, he confided to a group of other Members
(over drinks that loosened inhibitions) that he was nearly $80,000.00 in
debt on outrageously high interest credit cards - run up by buying out
an evil business partner, had just been turned down by three banks for
re-financing his house to re-arrange this debt and get breathing room,
had a proven product and marketing campaign but was hamstrung by his
pressing debt and couldn’t exploit it, and further couldn’t figure out
how to convert web site traffic he was getting lots of into cash buyers.
One of the three Members sitting at the table with him pushed him into a
break-out session, where he got the answer to “fix” his web site.
Another directed him to yet another Member with expertise in mortgages
and bank financing. And halfway through the next day, he heard yet
another Member interviewed in a session that quite obviously had
customers ideally matched with his product.
Within 21 days after the SuperConference, he:
(1) Followed advice and got one of the banks that had previously turned
him down to re-finance his home, pay off 100% of his credit card debts,
liberating nearly $2,000.00 a month in cash flow - and gave him a
$25,000.00 business loan to boot.
(2) Re-engineered his web site, began converting 38% of his visitors to
cash buyers, added an upsell accepted by 12% of them, and went from
barely doing any internet business to earning over $10,000.00 a month.
(3) Learned to use tele-seminars effectively in selling to his
unconverted leads, averaging another $3,000.00 a week and…
(4) Connected with the speaker he heard on a joint venture that put
$67,000.00 of profit in his pocket.
Those may not be Big Numbers to you. To him, of course, they changed
everything. Almost overnight. And his story is not that unique.
And without yet giving you a single detail about the Amazing Array Of
Superhuman Marketing And Moneymaking Heroes and League Of Extraordinary
Experts we have lined up of the next Super-Conference Speakers or
discussing the Galaxy Of Experts Exhibit Hall or any other Activities, I
have just told you exactly why you MUST attend.
NOW…if you want to find out about everything that Bill Glazer and I
have planned for you, simply click onto the link below:
http://www.SuperConference.DanKennedy.com
This earth shattering event is already 43% SOLD OUT From
Pre-Registration and if you hurry you can still grab a …FREE Bonus
Renegade Millionaire Day Exclusively that I will be delivering
personally that you will not want to miss.
http://www.SuperConference.DanKennedy.com
Dedicated To Multiplying Your 1ncome,
Dan Kennedy
PS: What would a SUPER-Conference be without a SUPER-GUARANTEE?
Guarantee: If, at the dinner break of Day#1, you do NOT agree that you
are participating in a Life-Altering Event and Experience of SUPER
Importance and Value to you, you may advise us of your disappointment,
exit the Conference (and the Hotel), with a FULL, 100% REFUND OF YOUR
FEE plus up to $500.00 REIMBURSEMENT of documented Air Travel and Hotel
Costs.
Be sure to visit the internet’s ONLY OFFICIAL
SOURCE for the latest news, information and marketing systems/events from Dan Kennedy and Glazer-Kennedy Inner Circle at:
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Occasionally I post about real charities ! I just received this email from a retired Nurse ! Below is her e mail and also a letter I wrote to the producer of the Imus In The Morning Show ! I hope someone will forward this mail to: Mr and Mrs Imus !
This is an enquiry e-mail via http://www.all-podcast-secrets.com from: joannemcrgrathx1@netzero.net
joanne mcgrath joannemcgrathx1@netzero.net
Dear Imus and Mrs. Imus,
I’ve been a big fan of your TV/radio show for the last couple of years now. I have Parkinson’s disease and I don’t sleep well at night, so your show has been a godsend. I live in Whitefish Montana, so I’m up by 4am to catch the whole show.
I’m very interested in your ranch in New Mexico and would love to join the staff if you have any openings. I have my own horse and I still enjoy galloping him, so the Parkinson’s hasn’t slowed me down to much. If I take a short nap in the middle of the day, then I can do most anything. I was a nurse (LVN) for almost 30 yrs, so I can be of some help in that department too. I want to be a part of something good and positive with the kids that come to the ranch. I think it’s wonderful what you are doing and I feel that working with these kids would be probably the most rewarding thing I can do in my life. I hope you’ll consider me, I love children, all animals and I feel I’d be an asset to your staff. I have many references if you need to check my history and I’m sure you do that with everyone. Thank you for your time and I will
anxiously wait for your reply. Thank you,
sincerely, Joanne Mcgrath
Imus Ranch
Naomi & Marshal Sandler
606 S Williams Apt 607
Royal Oak Mi 48067
Msandler1@comcast.net
Attention: Mr Bernard Mc Guirk
Producer “ Imus in the Morning!’
MSNBC Studios
MSNBC Plaza
Secaucus NJ 04941
Subject: Imus Ranch
Enclosed is an e mail sent from one of my web sites www.all-podcast-secrets.com
From Joanne McGrath, requesting work at the Imus Ranch! From time to time I post about the show and the Ranch on my site. It seems a legitimate E Mail you might want to forward it to Mr. And Mrs. Imus!
Respectfully
Marshal Sandler The 70-year-old Blogger
Successful Marketing Strategies- The Two Paths Of
Succesful Sales Letters
We have been talking about copy in direct mail and the job
of the copy which is to SELL! In the previous Success
Marketing Strategy Email I mentioned that there is a
little trick used to improve readability of copy and to
keep the reader moving through the copy as well as to sell
the person who skims and does not read the copy no matter
how short it is.
That trick is called a double readership path. It is
based on the idea that there are two extremes of consumer
behavior, the impulsive buyer and the analytical buyer.
The impulsive buyer is in a hurry. Makes quick decisions
and rarely reads anything. He skims. In most cases he’ll
read only headlines, subheads and photo captions.
The analytical buyer, however, is slow to make decisions,
requires a lot of information to do so and will read lots
of material.
Two different people requiring two different readership
paths.
Path #1 requires you to sell your proposition purely
through the headlines, subheads, photo captions and major
boldface sentences in your copy.
Path #2 follows the same order as one but let’s you flush
out the details in between the guide posts.
Most amateur copyrighter’s error in creating a piece with
only one readership path aimed at the people most like
them. By using a double readership path you greatly
increase the appeal of your piece.
The other important step in making your copy readable and
keeping your reader interested in your piece is what I
call graphic enhancement. This can be done with:
Photographs
Captions
Varying type sizes
Italicizing key words and phrases
Boldfacing key words and phrases
Simulated hand written notes in the margins
Boxes or circles
Shading an area behind a paragraph
The only limits are creativity, costs and the cooperation
of the production people you are working with. Your
creativity can best be enhanced by studying as much junk
mail as you can get your hands on, noticing the different
techniques used and building files of the ideas you like.
You will also want to explore the costs of doing different
things with your printers. How much to add a second
color, for colored stock, to print the back, to do shading
with screens? If you run a small business and are doing
very small quantity mailings there are things you might
consider doing by hand. If you’re only mailing, say a
1,000 units you could send out fifty a day for twenty
days. At that rate you could add a second color by hand
by using a yellow highlight pen to mark certain key
sentences.
The third factor the cooperation of the production people,
artists and printers is a difficulty you need to be
prepared for. Their orientation is in getting the job
done not on getting the job done in a way that will sell
the most goods or get the highest possible response. As a
result they will rush you. They will argue with you.
They will resist many of the little modifications you want
to make. Do not be bullied, intimidated or stampeded.
The italicizing or not italicizing of one sentence can
make a percentage difference in response.
In the next Success Marketing Strategy Email I want to
talk about the last item in the structure of a direct mail
piece, which is the call-to-action and what is the most
important thing to remember when creating one that works!
Dedicated To Multiplying Your 1ncome
Dan Kennedy
See the profit producing, wealth attraction resources
at http://www.dankennedy.com/products.html
********** Today’s Featured Success Tool *****************
Dan Kennedy has created more millionaires in more
industries than anyone else on the planet…
Clients pay thousands of dollars for his advice. In this
special system you will be able to access the Best Of The
Best of this profit producing information.
For all of the details go to:
http://www.DanKennedyBestOf.com
or paste the link into your browser.
There are 15 different special confidential reports that
cover every imaginable moneymaking tool and
opportunity available…
And that is only a small part of this system.
For all of the details go to
http://www.DanKennedyBestOf.com
or paste this link in your browser
http://www.DanKennedyBestOf.com
==================================
PLEASE DO NOT RESPOND TO THIS EMAIL - ALL QUESTIONS/COMMENTS SHOULD BE DIRECTED TO:
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Be sure to visit the internet’s ONLY OFFICIAL
SOURCE for the latest news, information and marketing systems/events from Dan Kennedy and Glazer-Kennedy Inner Circle at:
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Have Nokia and Ericsson hi-jacked the industry and done more harm than good?
The feature article of Mobile Europe - “Power to the People” by Monte Silver
seems to say so.
APPLICATIONS DEVELOPMENT – POWER TO THE PEOPLE
Development of services is being held back by the self interest of the main vendors, says Monte Silver, who perceives a ‘Great Industry Conspiracy’.
Since GPRS, the hype surrounding non-SMS data applications has been constant. In Cannes/Barcelona, one can easily identify the annual killer-application. Mobile internet (WAP), MMS, streaming and mobile TV have all enjoyed the spotlight, but none have delivered the mass-market. While there can be no single explanation for this failure, this article argues that these services have failed because they have primarily been generated to serve the interests of industry – network and handset vendors, and to a lesser degree the operators.
Vendors promote services which favour perpetual network and handset upgrades. Operators promote portals to strengthen their brand. Unfortunately, the user is low on the totem pole. Although we all hold devices and are constantly pressing their buttons, we have not adopted data services. This article argues that if services continue to favor vendors and operators, rather than focus on client-oriented user and usability issues, DVBH and HSDPA networks will be launched, but not used either.
Seeking to exploit the internet revolution, the leading handset and network vendors saw a huge opportunity in GPRS if they could persuade cellular operators to upgrade networks and market internet-enabled handsets. There was only one way to off-set declining voice ARPU, it was argued, and that was by tapping into the ‘pent-up’ demand for mobile data, anytime, anywhere. Mobile internet was positioned as a natural extension of the PC experience and flattering analyst reports all agreed. Mobile internet hysteria was born.
Late 2000 marked the deployment of the first major WAP services in Europe. Ericsson and Nokia’s combined network sales that year was approximately $23.7 billion. In addition, Nokia sold 128,000,000 handsets, generating €21.8 billion. Operators searched for the killer GPRS application. Users found WAP, however, to be CRAP. Notwithstanding, with global networks emerging, operators needed to build strong global brand. The WAP portal was born. While teens continued to download ringtones, logos and games, and people SMSed themselves, the portals remained the domain of early-adopters only.
Despite the failure of WAP, vendors were now focused on the next really big thing – MMS which, of course, required new handsets. MMS was positioned as the natural evolution of SMS. But the user experience of the native client was horrible. Opening the MMS client required several clicks. Composing a combined visual and audio was close to impossible. Add operator interoperability issues and the need for a compatible handset on the receiving side. Operators could not commercialize MMS, so simply stuck poor quality photos on the portal to download. As an end result, MMS and picture messaging has disappointed everyone but the handset vendors. In 2000, about 400,000,000 handsets were sold. In 2004, 257 million camera phones were shipped worldwide, representing approximately 39 percent of total handset sales. In 2004, Nokia sold 207.7 million units, all with color screens.
The 3G opportunity
PC-based internet was evolving towards broadband and rich-media. Mobile broadband (3G) presented the vendors with an opportunity to completely replace existing networks and sell more phones. GPRS, they argued, could not support rich-media, and mass-adoption would congest the networks. There was only one solution: UMTS.
As only a few UMTS licenses were tendered per country, operators could not afford to be left behind, so they played along. In the UK, five operators paid 35.4B for UMTS licenses. In Germany, six licenses cost the operators $46 billion. In 2002, the first year of large-scale UMTS network sales, operators paid vendors $45 billion. Ericsson and Nokia received about 43% of this amount.
Vendors direct network and service evolution primarily for their benefit, not for that of operators or users. The focus on mobile TV is a perfect example. Watching countless live TV demonstrations at Symbian developer events and at recent 3GSMs, it was clear that streaming/mobile TV applications have had the vendor spotlight for years. The reason is simple. Of all the rich-media services, streaming generally, and mobile TV specifically, places the greatest demand on the radio network, the most precious network resource. So by promoting these services, vendors are forcing operators to upgrade networks and phones with each new radio technology.
Streaming is more demanding than other types of services for several reasons. Firstly, viewing content involves delivering and viewing content in real-time. Content is not stored so delivery and viewing occur simultaneously. Secondly, to meet this real-time requirement, the radio link between the user and network must be sufficiently broad and consistent to enable the user to watch the content smoothly, without delays. GPRS, the vendors argued, could not deliver the requisite bandwidth. Rather, UMTS was required.
Inherent problems
There are several inherent problems with streaming. Firstly, streaming over any cellular network (even UMTS) has proven problematic. One only has to commute on a trial or enter a metro station to know that network access is not constant. Secondly, and more importantly, cellular networks can not guarantee constant bandwidth throughout a viewing experience. The radio resource is limited. When few data subscribers are in the cell, bandwidth is available. When more enter, bandwidth is shared. Thus inconsistent streams and poor user experience are inherent. The situation is worse in crowded areas or peak times, which is usually when services are used. Thirdly, rich-media (even mobile TV) can be delivered in other ways which are more radio-efficient and user-friendly, as will be discussed below.
Clogged networks
Operators realized that even moderate adoption of streaming in peak hours would clog the networks. So they pixilated and shortened the content and, like MMS, stuck it on their portals. We, the users, continued to stand on the sidelines, while vendor and operator solutions served their needs, not ours.
Next came mobile TV. Mobile TV is like streaming, only it involves the real-time streaming of ‘always-on’ multiple-channel TV, delivered to many users simultaneously. It sounds complex. It is complex. However, as with Mobile Internet and MMS, the vendors took a popular experience – TV in this case – and just added ‘mobile’. A natural evolution.
A simple analysis of the network data capabilities readily display the many current problems, as well as the futuristic network/handset features that would have to be in place before mobile TV is possible. Firstly, current UMTS networks can not deliver a decent stream to a few users in a cell. Delivering multiple always-on channels to multiple users on current UMTS networks is not technically feasible. Aware of this, the vendors have introduced solutions that this time, they claim, will solve the radio problems and enable the delivery our much-loved TV to the mobile user. HSDPA today and MBMS tomorrow are the solutions, each requiring their own network upgrades and handset replacements. Alternatively, Nokia is championing DVBH, which requires building entirely new non-cellular networks, not to mention the need for new Nokia handsets.
One would expect that the industry will eventually ask fundamental questions before investing billions on new network components, frequencies and user services. However, the tendency to believe the latest hype is strong. No one wants to ignore industry leaders, analysts or the media, or allow the competitor to move forward alone. However, at some point, should one not suspect the message from an interested messenger?
The key message is this: it’s user and usability issues, stupid. We, the users, are constantly holding and pressing our phones, looking for things to do with it. However, an immediate user experience on the client is mandatory. Instant access to content and functionality is a must. The service is the client. It is what the users sees, and can press and can use immediately. Thus, to take user and usability factors into account means promoting a client experience that provides an immediate access to resident content and functionality.
Emerging alternatives
Despite the vendor and operator structural bias, numerous independent alternatives have emerged which address user and usability issues. For example, On-Device Portals (ODP) seek to overcome the WAP interface by providing client-based immediate access to locally-resident content that mirrors the operator portal. ODP deliver sample content to the handset in the background, usually ringtones, wallpapers and sample MMS clips. This allows the user to effectively and immediately discover the content on the handset, without a WAP connection. Accessing and purchasing the full-version still requires a WAP session, but it is greatly abbreviated. The win for the user is an immediate on-device experience with an attractive GUI. In addition, the access and purchase processes are expedited. The operator wins sees greater revenue from content consumption. Furthermore, the ODP generally mirrors, and thus leverages, the existing portal. ODPs currently operate on existing Symbian devices with Java support emerging.
A second area is that of background download. Client-based background download delivers high-quality rich-media files to the handset without any user-activity required. Whether overnight or while in the pocket, the device receives rich-media content transparently. That content is resident on the handset for immediate viewing when and where the user wants. No WAP sessions are needed.
Background download services are typically subscription oriented, with users subscribing to specific channels, such as video/music clips, TV mini-series or Podcasts. The win for users is that top quality content is immediately available for viewing when and where the user wants. Where once the consumption of media by train/underground commuters was difficult, with background download, captive commuters are the target audience. From a network perspective, congestion is eliminated. Background downloads can be scheduled off-peak. In addition, by avoiding real-time delivery, high quality lengthy content can be delivered. Background download services work on existing Symbian and Java MIDP2 handsets.
The client approach has one major drawback: the client must be customized per handset type, and installed on the handset. Deployment of non-native client solutions adds significant levels of complication. However, many examples of successful deployments of advanced non-vendor client-server services exist. Instant Messaging by Vodafone, Verizon Wireless’ BREW-based converged IM solution, and Push-to-Talk are but a few examples. The network and handset vendors will dislike the client view. Non-real-time services mean using the existing networks better. Furthermore, the clients are developed by others. Worse, the client works on existing, not futuristic handsets.
To summarize, cellular data networks and devices have significantly evolved since voice and SMS. Being vendor driven, data network and service evolution has been, and will remain, technology dependant, with each specific technology requiring expensive network and device enablers.
Will real-time services such as mobile TV remain industry favorites? Yes. Will the portal remain dominant? Yes. However, upcoming client solutions are placing emphasis on user and usability issues. At the end of the network is the user holding a phone. If the user is to use that phone for services, the on-device experience must be immediate and attractive. This requires a client approach.
Implementing a client solution is not trivial. However, considering the investments to date in networks, frequency, marketing and device subsidies, a slight shift in focus toward user and usability might actually show some return.
* We are a client of eContnentCafe ! This is not an advertisment, we find their free newsletter a great source !
Dear Reader, ✓ October 2, 2006 6:54 AM
In the final installment of our series on growing your
business with original content, I’ll show you a way that you
can leverage every one of our other four methods to build a
new stream of revenue that complements your existing
business.
So far, you’ve learned:
* How to stay in front of prospects with a newsletter.
* How great articles grab the attention of search
engines.
* How weblogs connect you to a world of active
conversations.
* How autoresponders teach your prospects to read your
messages.
Up until now, you’ve been learning how to grow your business
by using all of this original content to build relationships
with your audience while you frame yourself as an expert in
your field.
What happens once you’ve converted that prospect into a
client? If you’re a service professional, you might be
happily trading your time for dollars, helping clients solve
their problems. If you manufacture a product, you can use
everything you’ve learned to ship more units out the door.
Why stop there?
You can repurpose and repackage all of your original content
into something we like to call an “infoproduct.” Depending
on your audience, the ideal infoproduct could be a paperback
book. It could be a downloadable special report. It could be
an audiobook. Or, it could be a combination of all those
things - something we call a “big box” product.
There are two types of customers that will love to buy
infoproducts from you.
First, some customers that want to work with you personally
but can’t yet afford your fees can get many of their needs
met with an infoproduct. Purchasing a book or a set of
recordings from you means they can still use your methods
while they build up the courage or the cash to hire you.
Second, your existing clients would love to purchase
infoproducts from you, because they reinforce the work that
you’re doing together. If you have ever read the books
written by the founders of Chik-Fil-A or Hilton Hotels, it’s
hard to come away from those experiences without a renewed
passion for those companies and their products.
You can do the same thing, and you can do it without dealing
with writer’s block.
For starters, you can put all of your other content in one
place and frame it up as an anthology. A growing number of
authors are compiling their weblog posts into books. Seth
Godin just did it, and so can you. It’s so much easier to
finish your book if you add a few paragraphs a day. You can
polish them and rearrange them so they make more sense, and
you can add insight and updates to older posts.
Next, you can add more value to your infoproduct by
including some exclusive information. Many readers of
business books love to see case studies of clients that have
successfully used your techniques. You can either write
those examples out, or you can record an interview with
someone and have that conversation transcribed into a
compelling text.
Finally, you can maximize the value - and the selling price
- of your infoproduct by connecting your readers to each
other. Offer a members-only mailing list, discussion board,
or chat room. Cultivating your audience this way not only
lets them get the most for their money, but it keeps them
engaged while you create more products for them.
All five of the tips that I have shared with you are
straight out of the experiences that my partner, Jason
Broadwater, and I have used in our own businesses. We now
have the resources and the expertise on our team to help you
achieve your own success with original content. I hope
you’ve enjoyed this series, and I hope that you can put all
of these tips to use, whether we have the pleasure of
working together or not.
If we can be of service to you in any way, feel free to
contact me by e-mail (just hit reply), or call my office at
1-703-286-2048.
I wish you much success with your business, and I hope we
have the chance to work together very soon!
Sincerely,
Joe Taylor Jr.
Managing Editor
eContentCafe Professional Writing Services
1-703-286-2048
P.S. Right now, we’re running another special to get you up
and running with a revenue-generating infoproduct. For only
$1497, we’ll interview you on the phone and create an
original, 50 page e-book that you can either sell on your
website or give away as an incentive. We’ll also wrap an
original autoresponder sequence around your new product, so
you can start building your own client funnel. Our client
calendar is filling up, so please contact me today to take
advantage of this special offer!
Dear Reader,
In the final installment of our series on growing your
business with original content, I’ll show you a way that you
can leverage every one of our other four methods to build a
new stream of revenue that complements your existing
business.
So far, you’ve learned:
* How to stay in front of prospects with a newsletter.
* How great articles grab the attention of search
engines.
* How weblogs connect you to a world of active
conversations.
* How autoresponders teach your prospects to read your
messages.
Up until now, you’ve been learning how to grow your business
by using all of this original content to build relationships
with your audience while you frame yourself as an expert in
your field.
What happens once you’ve converted that prospect into a
client? If you’re a service professional, you might be
happily trading your time for dollars, helping clients solve
their problems. If you manufacture a product, you can use
everything you’ve learned to ship more units out the door.
Why stop there?
You can repurpose and repackage all of your original content
into something we like to call an “infoproduct.” Depending
on your audience, the ideal infoproduct could be a paperback
book. It could be a downloadable special report. It could be
an audiobook. Or, it could be a combination of all those
things - something we call a “big box” product.
There are two types of customers that will love to buy
infoproducts from you.
First, some customers that want to work with you personally
but can’t yet afford your fees can get many of their needs
met with an infoproduct. Purchasing a book or a set of
recordings from you means they can still use your methods
while they build up the courage or the cash to hire you.
Second, your existing clients would love to purchase
infoproducts from you, because they reinforce the work that
you’re doing together. If you have ever read the books
written by the founders of Chik-Fil-A or Hilton Hotels, it’s
hard to come away from those experiences without a renewed
passion for those companies and their products.
You can do the same thing, and you can do it without dealing
with writer’s block.
For starters, you can put all of your other content in one
place and frame it up as an anthology. A growing number of
authors are compiling their weblog posts into books. Seth
Godin just did it, and so can you. It’s so much easier to
finish your book if you add a few paragraphs a day. You can
polish them and rearrange them so they make more sense, and
you can add insight and updates to older posts.
Next, you can add more value to your infoproduct by
including some exclusive information. Many readers of
business books love to see case studies of clients that have
successfully used your techniques. You can either write
those examples out, or you can record an interview with
someone and have that conversation transcribed into a
compelling text.
Finally, you can maximize the value - and the selling price
- of your infoproduct by connecting your readers to each
other. Offer a members-only mailing list, discussion board,
or chat room. Cultivating your audience this way not only
lets them get the most for their money, but it keeps them
engaged while you create more products for them.
All five of the tips that I have shared with you are
straight out of the experiences that my partner, Jason
Broadwater, and I have used in our own businesses. We now
have the resources and the expertise on our team to help you
achieve your own success with original content. I hope
you’ve enjoyed this series, and I hope that you can put all
of these tips to use, whether we have the pleasure of
working together or not.
If we can be of service to you in any way, feel free to
contact me by e-mail (just hit reply), or call my office at
1-703-286-2048.
I wish you much success with your business, and I hope we
have the chance to work together very soon!
Sincerely,
Joe Taylor Jr.
Managing Editor
eContentCafe Professional Writing Services
http://econtentcafe.com/
1-703-286-2048
P.S. Right now, we’re running another special to get you up
and running with a revenue-generating infoproduct. For only
$1497, we’ll interview you on the phone and create an
original, 50 page e-book that you can either sell on your
website or give away as an incentive. We’ll also wrap an
original autoresponder sequence around your new product, so
you can start building your own client funnel. Our client
calendar is filling up, so please contact me today to take
advantage of this special offer!
Taylor Creative Management
125 Caldwell St.
Suite 102 Rear
Rock Hill, SC
29730
US
All Podcast Secrets - Tut:
more freedom less crap:
So far, I’ve showed you how you can gain the trust of your
audience using newsletters. You’ve learned how the right
articles on your website can attract new prospects to your
client funnel. And we’ve explored how a weblog can keep your
site fresh and interesting.
Today, I want to show you how you can start to filter all of
that great content you’re creating into a simple, effective
tools that blends the best of all three worlds.
And you’re looking at one right now.
It’s called an “autoresponder sequence,” and professional
marketers use it to serve their very best information to
prospects in an easy, effortless manner.
Using a simple piece of software or an inexpensive web-based
tool, you can send targeted messages to prospects that sign
up for newsletters and special reports on your website. By
offering critical information over the course of a few days
or even a few weeks, you can heighten your audience’s
expectation about what you’ll deliver.
Remember at that start of this series, when I wrote that
multiple exposures to your ideas would help frame you up as
an expert more quickly? Autoresponders can do that for you,
even when you don’t have fresh issues of your newsletter
every week.
By splitting up your report over five or seven issues, your
prospect learns more about you, your products, your
services, and all the ways you can solve their problems.
They also learn that an e-mail with your address in the
“from” field means that they’re going to learn something
useful.
That awareness converts to incredible power later on, when
you update your list with new special offers and promotions.
Instead of suffering through the usual low open rate of
e-mail communications, your messages will reach more members
of your intended audience, because you have trained them to
love hearing from you!
The length of an effective autoresponder sequence varies,
based on the kind of business you run and the type of
product or service you offer. For example, if you want to
sell a paperback book for $17, a quick series of sample
chapters can close some fast sales. On the other hand, a
realtor or a broker that might cultivate a client for months
before closing a deal can benefit from a very long sequence
- one that contacts the prospective client as many as thirty
times over the course of a year.
Autoresponder sequences also let you target niche markets
for your products or services. Even though you might have a
“mothership” site that lists everything that you do for your
customers, you can benefit by setting up standalone sites
that only offer access to a specific special report
sequence. Using your software, you can track which prospects
responded best to which offers - and you can customize your
services accordingly.
Remember that, to be effective, your autoresponder messages
must be sincere, informative, and entertaining. If you start
slamming your prospects with endless sales pitches, they’ll
click the “remove” link and never read another one of your
messages again. Try to balance your copy so that your
informative content leads the way, and segues into gentle
pitches for your services at the end. You’ll have plenty of
time for the hard sell later on.
In our fifth and final installment of this series, I’ll show
you how to tie all of these elements together into a
powerful new source of revenue for you and your business.
It’s simple, it’s effective, and it works - even if you hate
writing.
Until then, please feel free to contact me if we can be of
any service.
Sincerely,
Joe Taylor Jr.
Managing Editor
eContentCafe Professional Writing Services
http://www.eContentCafe.com
1-703-286-2048
P.S.: Naturally, you don’t have to go through the hassle of
brainstorming and writing your autoresponder sequences on
your own. Our current autoresponder special for readers of
this series includes five customized messages based on a
telephone interview we’ll conduct with you. We’ll even set
up the messages in your software so they look great in your
prospects’ inboxes. You’ll get all of this for just $497,
but only if you reply to this message.
P.P.S.: Many of the clients that get to this point in our
own autoresponder sequence ask me to recommend software for
them to use with their own projects. I’m a huge fan of
Professional Cart Services. They’re one of the biggest and
most reliable companies providing this service, and their
recent redesign really bowled me over. We’ve got clients
using dozens of different systems, and I can easily say that
this one is the very best. (It’s why we use them!) You can
take their system for a test drive by following this link:
Taylor Creative Management
125 Caldwell St.
Suite 102 Rear
Rock Hill, SC
29730
To Be Or Not To Be [Podcast or Netcasting] Ipod September 23, 2006 11:43 AM
I read with great interest in Micro Persuasion by Steve Rubel,efforts
by Apple Computer to protect their Branding Position Of , “Ipod!”. Apple
has spent Millions on developing Brand Identity ! The Ipod may be as identifiable
as Coca Cola ! I personally feel any one has the right to protect their products
in the Market ! I have read a few posts on the net, that are against Apples
efforts ! Will there be a payoff in their efforts I don’t have an answer the real
problem will be the use of “POD!”
Does Apple own the pod? Could podcasting, podcasts, and anything with the word “Pod” in the name become the property of Apple computers? Current legal actions taken by Apple include applying to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to register the word “pod” as a trademark [2] and filing cease and desist orders with any company using the word “pod” in their title. [3] [4]
In response, technology expert Leo Laporte has suggested changing the name to Netcast. [5]
Will this be an example Of Gamer Theory ? [ Ask the Folks At Google]
Investopedia Says: Game theory attempts to look at the relationships between participants in a particular model and predict their optimal decisions. One frequently cited example of game theory is the prisoner’s dilemma.
game theory, the prisoner’s dilemma is a type of non-zero-sum game in which two players can “cooperate” with or “defect” (i.e. betray) the other player. In this game, as in all game theory, the only concern of each individual player (”prisoner”) is maximizing his/her own payoff, without any concern for the other player’s payoff per se. In the classic form of this game, cooperating is strictly dominated by defecting, so that the only possible equilibrium for the game is for all players to defect. In simpler terms, no matter what the other player does, one player will always gain a greater payoff by playing defect. Since in any situation playing defect is more beneficial than cooperating, all rational players will play defect.
The unique equilibrium for this game is a Pareto-suboptimal solution—that is, rational choice leads the two players to both play defect even though each player’s individual reward would be greater if they both played cooperate. In equilibrium, each prisoner chooses to defect even though both would be better off by cooperating, hence the dilemma.
In the iterated prisoner’s dilemma the game is played repeatedly. Thus each player has an opportunity to “punish” the other player for previous non-cooperative play. Cooperation may then arise as an equilibrium outcome. The incentive to defect is overcome by the threat of punishment, leading to the possibility of a cooperative outcome. If the game is infinitely repeated cooperation may be a Nash equilibrium although both players defecting always remains an equilibrium.
In game theory, the prisoner’s dilemma is a type of non-zero-sum game in which two players can “cooperate” with or “defect” (i.e. betray) the other player. In this game, as in all game theory, the only concern of each individual player (”prisoner”) is maximizing his/her own payoff, without any concern for the other player’s payoff per se. In the classic form of this game, cooperating is strictly dominated by defecting, so that the only possible equilibrium for the game is for all players to defect. In simpler terms, no matter what the other player does, one player will always gain a greater payoff by playing defect. Since in any situation playing defect is more beneficial than cooperating, all rational players will play defect.
The unique equilibrium for this game is a Pareto-suboptimal solution—that is, rational choice leads the two players to both play defect even though each player’s individual reward would be greater if they both played cooperate. In equilibrium, each prisoner chooses to defect even though both would be better off by cooperating, hence the dilemma.
In the iterated prisoner’s dilemma the game is played repeatedly. Thus each player has an opportunity to “punish” the other player for previous non-cooperative play. Cooperation may then arise as an equilibrium outcome. The incentive to defect is overcome by the threat of punishment, leading to the possibility of a cooperative outcome. If the game is infinitely repeated cooperation may be a Nash equilibrium although both players defecting always remains an equilibrium.
more freedom less crap
Recently I watched an Interview with a NASCAR Driver
turned announcer, on MSNBC Don Imus Show ! American is car crazy and I feel
NASCAR will win the Race for TV ratings! First and foremost what ever Organization that is marketing NASCAZR is excellent ! If they have not already, I am sure there shall be a NASCAR video cast!
I downloaded the Pixar Video Pod-cast [Cars] the other day ! I played the episode where the Animators were at the track driving in actual cars ! It was letter perfect sight and sound ! Professional sports are not affordable to families since, you must hock the farm to buy an NFL ticket! Pod-casting the races would be a great tool to building future fans !
The Announcer on the Imus Show put out a very subtle challenge ! I am sure the NFL will
not catch the word of the future since like TV they to Shall be As Dead As Custer !
More Freedom Less Crap
Deer Hunting With Jesus: Dispatches From America’s Class War
Well my friends, lo and bediddle, I woke up to this morning to an email from my friend Nancy informing me that my book is now offered for presale on Amazon.com. So I guess it’s OK to talk a little more about it than I have previously, not wanting to inadvertently screw up those mysterious processes by which book publishers and marketers and other slick folks up there in the Big Tater do their thing, and also not wanting toot my own horn in a more embarrassing manner than I already do at times.
