Business Best Practicesa roundtable discussion

Podcamp Toronto 2008 - podcamptoronto.org

February 23, 2008

• facilitators:

• Donna Papacosta Trafalgar Communications - http://trafcom.com

• Wayne MacPhailw8nc - http://w8nc.com

• Victoria FennerMagnetic Spirits Productions - http://www.community-media.com/spirit

Recommended to organizations

• Podcasting easier to sell than blogging

• “Like a radio show”

• whereas blogging has comments - seen as difficult to facilitate

• “I can do this for you.”

• Start off with something simple.

Selling the idea

• Mary Shields: helping to educate people on topics such as sustainability, environmental, health issues

• using community radio - citizen media has been around for a long time

• now: new technology adapted to an old concept

• we are no longer limited - internet gives it new

E.g. a small community

a small community

• instead of streaming audio, archive as a podcast (audio files)

• Victoria Fenner - communities hosting shows at rabble radio (www.rabble.ca)

• Wayne McPhail - people have great stories but don’t know they have great stories. People think it is going to be way more complicated than it is.

creating the podcast idea

• talk to everyone in the office - why did you choose to come here?

• e.g. Cococamino - selling chocolate is a way to get the idea of fair trade out

• Starbucks podcast - scripted, slick, boring. If there is no story, there is nothing

• be careful not to make it too slick and scripted

creating the podcast idea

• get to the fundamental emotional impact of the story - there often needs to be something potentially lost for a good story

• if you want to get honest feedback, don’t make it too slick. Make it easy for people to change it. Make your recording set up look more “bush” to start. Depends on audience.

creating the podcast

• sometimes people are too wooden - record them second, third time until they loosen up

• sometimes the first off-the-cuff recording is the best, becomes too “tight” in second recording

• after a while you get a feel for what is the best content

creating the podcast

• a lot of people at the beginning are not used to podcasting, speak like real people with “ums” and “ahs” - count on a lot of post-production

selling podcasts to potential clients

• how do you get people to shift from print to podcasts?

• audience is not necessarily the younger demographic - this can be an eye-opener to the corporate executives - need to de-bunk this for them (no one too old for an iPod)

• do not sell it on the basis of subscription concept - nobody understands RSS

why do a podcast?

• another channel for reaching people

• reaches people who are auditory

• Vergel Evans - if the podcast that contains content that is “evergreen” (classic) the corporation is more likely to buy in.

• Donna - do 6 episodes as a limited series that is really a pilot project (but don’t tell anyone it is a pilot)

why do a podcast

• creates a reason to tell people to check your website on a regular basis

• Rob Clark: some consumers using podcasts as a way to quickly catch up on your company/organization

podcast as official corporate message

• don’t script, but decide in advance what will be covered

• decide in advance what certain “markers” you are going to hit - cleans up meandering, gives the podcast more cohesion, makes it easier to edit

• being interviewed is easier than having to contribute articles to a newsletter

working with non-profits

• often so cash-poor that they don’t feel they can experiment - it is perceived that it is too extravagant to podcast

• can bring stories to life

• you are providing an organization the ability to tell a story

• for the average person, we are seen as being at the leading edge of the new media (even though we feel we have been doing it for years)

• we are establishing the market - it will be easier for those who come after us

• companies are looking for ROI prediction - how can we sell the idea there will be impact from podcasting?

• some solutions: it’s not the quantity, but quality of people reached

• you cannot compare it directly to traditional venues - you are never going to reach 60,000

• the 1,000 you reach with the podcast are more interested

• use common language

• if they do not think podcasts are serious - Larry King on CNN has a podcast; show them examples of business podcasts

• show how much discussion is generated on the Internet - selling it as a way to engage an audience - generates discussion

“selling” podcast idea to the corporation

predicting ROI

• how many people linked back in Technorati, etc?

• who are the key bloggers in the market

• Donna: ROI = “return on influence”

• Ryan: ROA = “return on attention”

predicting ROI

• Dave Fleet: passionate people will search out your company and will want to talk about it

• Wayne McPhail: looking for ROI: you are asking the wrong question

• Wayne: if you are on the leading edge, you can get some media coverage as long as client is mindful this is for a very short time

challenges of bilingualism

• Robin: Canadian government is concerned about bilingualism - how do you deal with this?

• Wayne: he has experience with multiple tracks in different languages. Incorporates core messages in other language e.g. at beginning and end.

researching differences between industries?

• New PR wiki http://thenewpr.com/wiki/pmwiki.php

• Ice Rocket.com for searching through blogs

• Google blog search

thanks to all participants!

these notes generated during roundtable discussion& recorded by Connie Crosby