Question: You're the man who owns Podcasts.com. That's just about the most important domain on the Internet right now. When did the ephiphany occur to register it?
Answer: I watched the idea of podcasting birth into the mass consciousness and I knew that it was a very important development. Our company Success Media Group Inc. had been broadcasting on the Internet for eight years. We had a similar idea built into our business plan... the idea of portability but we thought it would be the PDA that would be the first device. Being a guy who doesn't listen to music, the IPod for spoken word took us a bit by surprise but it's like finding true love... "once you see it.. you know it".
Question: You've actually been providing alternative "programming" through the internet for some years. You were out there streaming when that was hot but you converted over to podcasts. What are the advantages for a program host?
Answer: Yes, we're officially grand daddy's in the industry and we have the scars to prove. If I didn't have such a farmer work ethic I think I would gone fishing a long time ago, but now it is really starting to pay off that we stuck around.
The advantages are so many. The greatest advantage we offer as a network is a way to earn income from archived content. We can help everyone from the church pastor who podcasts his weekly sermon and turns it into a revenue source for his church to the single mom earn some extra money telling other single moms how to cope better with the stresses of doing it alone. With podcasting in general it is much greater audience and a greater capture of mind time (the length of time someone spends in and around your content) that are two of the biggest I think of.
Question: How many shows (hosts) do you have now at Podcasts.com? It's split into channels, right? How much content is that all together.
Answer: We have repurposed over 1600 hours of content into the podcasting arena. We have over eighty podcasters now and 51 different, topic-specific channels. Some channels are new to us and some have over 300 podcasts available on them.
Question: What kind of people sign on with you?
Answer: On the listener side we attract subscribers who understand the value of an idea. You know, it just takes one idea to get you in a hellofa lot trouble... just ask lots of guys who got a little to feisty one night after the bar. Some of those ideas trap us for a lifetime. But, the good news is that it only takes one idea to get us moving again. What is true for me is that every time I made a major step forward in my life, or solved a major problem it was the result of something I heard, a story, an observation, something that inspired me. No web page can ever compete with the spoken word because there is not enough depth in written word communication to cause some levels of change to happen.
Our subscribers value being able to access lots of sources of idea in one location, where they want it, how they want it and when they want it. These are the hybrid requirements of the information age.
In relation to Podcasters, we attract people who understand that their ideas are valuable. We have authors, speakers, coaches, counselors, consultants, industry experts from all walks of life, clergy, visionaries, thought leaders and futurists. Podcasts.com does not try to be all things to all people We focus on personal and professional life enhancement.
Question: They are very willing to pay a fee to podcast through your portal - yet they share revenue. Can you explain this a little more?
As wonderful as podcasting is, it's not only about getting people to listen but in being rewarded for your efforts. We focus on helping podcasters to build revenue streams from their content. They received a substantial portion of the revenue that results from their podcasts and they also share in a common content revenue pool which all Hosts and we as corporate contribute to.
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