Podomatic: Business Podcast Services

  Competitive advantage -- companies strive for it every day and invest significant time and resources pursuing it to grow their business. In 12 to 18 months, businesses leveraging podcasting will be commonplace; but, companies that start now can significantly expand their brand and capture "customer stickiness" before their competitors.

What is Podcasting

  Podcasting, a portmanteau of Apple's "iPod" and "broadcasting", is a method of publishing audio files to the Internet, allowing users to subscribe to a feed and automatically receive new files by subscription...usually at no cost.

   Not since blogging has a technology seemed to come out of nowhere and been so widely adopted as podcasting. Less than two years old, roughly 4.8 million people downloaded a podcast in 2005 -- compared to just over 800,000 in 2004 -- and 11.4 million listeners are expected this year, according to research from The Diffusion Group. Already the Apple iTunes service offers 15,000 podcasts and listeners have signed up for more than 7 million subscriptions.

  Podcasting has exploded because it gives people more control of what they listen to, when they want to and the freedom to take their programs out and about with them.

Why Podcasting is Important to my Business

  At the beginning of the Internet age, companies with the foresight to reach and inform customers over the web were able to vault ahead of their slower-to-react competition. Today, though, having a web presence no longer offers a competitive advantage. Instead, the Internet has become a business necessity.

  Now, another fundamental shift in the paradigm for customer interaction is underway, creating the next unique opportunity for companies to grow their business and gain competitive advantage. People demand the ability to learn about a company's products or services via the Web. Podcasting allows companies to bypass inconsistent measures of reader's online habits and the increasingly ineffective use of eMail-push methods, to provide fresh content, of specific interest, directly into a persons PC, iPod, MP3 player or other portable media device.

  Today, only a handful of businesses have begun to leverage the power of reaching their customers through podcasting. The next best thing to picking up the phone and having an intimate conversation with you customers, podcasting allows companies to drive revenues and transform their website from a support channel to a sales and marketing channel.

  As your Marketing and Sales departments considers the multitude of initiatives to better compete for the attention of your customers, remember the number of people that have downloaded a podcast is expected to double, or even triple, over the next few years. This makes podcasting one of the most effective tools a company can use to grow its business.

Podcasting versus Traditional Marketing Channels

• The web is getting crowded; there is more and more (text) content vying for your customer's time.
• Reading a PDF or product data sheet is neither compelling or different than what your competitors are doing.
• How easy is it for your customers to learn about your products and services when they are away from their desks? Can you communicate with them during their commute, in their car or on the train, how about the gym?
• Blogging can be a great business tool; however it falls flat compared to the richness and mobility of podcasting.
• With Podcasting you have the opportunity to provide your customers not only with information regarding your products and services; but, valuable domain-specific knowledge they seek to help them make informed decisions.
• Why pay for expensive online advertisement when you can have your branded podcast represented for free in such highly trafficked sites as iTunes and Yahoo Podcast directory.
• Unlike spam email, which your customers view as intrusive, your customers can now subscribe to your podcast feed with one-click and then automatically receive your future podcast as soon as you post them.
• With Podcasting you now have the power to establish your brand as an expert in this cutting edge environment.

Can't we handle this in-house?

Yes; but, is it really the most efficient use of your resources? Some of the challenges you will have to deal with every time you want to publish a podcast include:

• Encoding bitrates - Make a mistake and your show will not play in certain players
• Syndication - How does RSS and XML work? As new standards evolve such as RSS2.0 and ATOM will you be able to ensure you are following accepted protocols?
• Dozens of podcast directories - Many directories have different rules pertaining to submission; understanding these rules and complying with them takes time.
• Podcasting is Bandwidth Business - Can your station secure the most competitive pricing the market has to offer?
• Reliability - Will your system design include redundancy and other availability assurances?
• Listener Statistics - Will you build a second system to track, downloads, pageviews, subscribers, and other data such as geographic IPs which your advertisers will need to purchase spots?
• Audience participation and promotional tools - Online interaction and promotion is key to growing on-and-off line listeners.
• Usability - Can everyone at your station use the tool? Or do they have to be a trained engineer?

  Podomatic makes podcasting easy! The most popular place on the Internet for anyone to create, distribute and promote their podcasts, Podomatic is the only company to offer a complete, simple to use end-to-end solution for podcasting.

You focus on message, we'll handle the rest

  If you know how to attach a file to an email you can use Podomatic. It's that simple. With Podomatic, all you need to do is upload your Mp3 file through our online wizard and we will take it from there. We will ensure your podcast is encoded properly and correctly syndicated to all podcast directories. From there you can access listener statistics to see who is listening. Podomatic also offers the most robust set of online promotional tools to grow your audience.

The Competitive Edge You're Looking For

  Your website is a valuable tool for communicating with existing and potential customers. But simply being able to view pages in a browser does not differentiate you from your competitors. Podcasting allows you to improve the way you communicate and interact with your customers, giving your company the competitive edge it is seeking.

  Podomatic makes it easy for any company to get 'on the air' using our online tools and services. Whether its guidance and training to get you started or a complete podcast production solution, Podomatic will help you 'kick-start' your podcasting initiative. Within a matter of days, Podomatic can have your branded podcast page up and running, available through your website and in all podcast directories such as iTunes and Yahoo Podcast. We also offer customized podcast production services to fit the most restrictive budgets.

  With Podomatic, you don't need to wait another day to get started.

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