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For the second year in a row GrapeRadio.com has been named as a finalist for the prestigious James Beard Foundation Award. To put it in perspective, this is kind of like finding out the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences likes your “little” movie. We have been selected this year in the category of Video and Webcasting for our short documentary: Stewards of the Land.

The credit for recognition such as this belongs to my partners in the enterprise: Brian, Jay and Eric who do the day to day heavy lifting that makes GrapeRadio what it is.

Before I start, so as to avoid any confusion or misrepresentation, I feel it incumbent upon myself to once again clarify: I am bullish on podcasting. I’ve published two books on the subject [1,2], run paid live training events, presented as a speaker countless times, become a “go-to” podcasting pundit for major media, built and sold podcasting technology, run the oldest podcasting network in existence and made my entire living from podcasting since early 2005. I am among podcasting’s biggest proponents. The opportunities in podcasting are alive and well. That said, I also don’t wear rose colored glasses. I call things as I see them.

Podcasters, it is time you face the facts. If you are waiting for a podcast advertising service to ride in on a white horse and rescue you from your monetary woes, let me help you: start looking elsewhere.

This all started because of a conversation I had a few weeks back where I had the unique opportunity to have podcasting explained to me. The fellow who was running through the monetization options made advertising through ad sales networks sound like a guaranteed no brainer - an easy way to monetize. The whole time I sat there, knowing what I know, thinking this is like telling people to cash in now on garage sales while the gold rush is on.

Read more…

Todd Cochrane and RawVoice posted a “white paper” regarding their statistics model today. I’ll save you the time. Skip it.

While I hoped it would shed some light on the statistics model they have repeatedly lauded over the last few years, truth be told it reads more as a “we know best” sales letter. Perhaps I am reading more into it than it deserves, but it appears Todd & Co are positioning themselves for a showdown with the ADM and others over metrics models. My guess is that with the recent updates to the Libsyn statistics engine the team at RawVoice would like to get out in front of the statistics issue, perhaps this was part of that strategy.

The folks at RawVoice can do better. They have some smart people on the team and I have no doubt that they have collected some interesting data and metrics. If their goal was to release a “white paper” then do a real one with the corresponding algorithms, detailed methodology, historic data, etc. Sure they have a paragraph or two with some examples, but a “white paper” it is not.

As a general observation I have always been a bit wary of the secretive aspects of RawVoice and their various media properties. The numbers are always generic - lots of fanfare but never any specifics. If they are doing what they claim why the secrecy? Mainstream media doesn’t even protect this info. It is easy to find out what a SuperBowl, TV series or radio ad costs. Why are RawVoice campaigns so different? Obviously it is their prerogative to keep it all buttoned up if they wish, I just find it interesting that in the open world of new media, CPM and CPA campaign numbers are so guarded.

Of course this is from the guy who has been doing public presentations for the last three years telling you exactly what we charge for sponsorships and how we sell them. I see no advantage to being secretive about it, no more so than hiding the cost of a gallon of gasoline. Things cost what they cost, no big deal.

As for the RawVoice white paper, I hope they’ll take another look at it and put out a proper one. In the long run I think it will do RawVoice and podcasting some good.

If you’d like to keep up to date with everything going on please follow me on Twitter. When I first set up my blogs I spent a bunch of time setting up “Asides,” basically short quips and interesting facts I could easily post to the sites. In recent months Twitter has emerged as the superior vehicle for micro-blogging and replaced my need for Asides here on the sites. So what should you do? Follow me.

I attended a conference this past weekend and had the unique opportunity to have podcasting explained to me a few times by fellow attendees. Since having sold the GigaVox production platform to Podango last fall, and now that our third child has arrived I am on the hunt for what I will do next. As part of my investigation I ponied up $3,000 to spend 3 days immersed at an industry conference in one of the businesses I’m researching. I did not know a single person at this conference nor did they know me or have any idea of my background, connection to, or involvement with podcasting.

As is usual with conferences, you learn a lot, but the real action is in the halls and cocktail lounges. I joined a group of about 10 in one of the lounges and the subject of podcasting came up. Two of the folks present were hot on the topic and went on to explain it to the entire group. Where they felt podcasting worked, where the opportunities for marketing and monetization were and how to best use the medium. It was absolutely fascinating! Even better, it happened a few more times throughout the conference.

I learned a lot about how people who are new to the podcasting medium view it as opposed to those of us who have shepherded it along since the late summer of 2004. While intellectually I have always understood some of these ideas, I have never had them explained to me as “fact.” If you think about it, most of the conferences I go to, people are talking to me after I’ve given a presentation or been on a panel, etc., their comments and questions are shaped by the dynamic established by the conference: “presenter - attendee.”

I have never been in the position to have anyone be the “expert” and explain podcasting to me. As a result of what I learned this past weekend I have modified some of my presentations. Clearly people new to the podcasting game have a very different approach to podcasting, and while I was definitely on the right track for connecting with them in my presentations, it is now crystal clear to me where I can better refine my presentations. My goal when speaking/presenting is always to connect with the largest segment of the audience possible and give them the take away value they deserve. Whether or not I pursue the business I was researching at the conference, the information I gathered and how it can improve my own presentations on podcasting and new media was well worth the price of admission.

So the lesson for podcasting experts and consultants: when given the opportunity to discuss podcasting among folks that don’t know your background, hold your tongue! Everyone will be duly impressed by your expertise and credentials, etc., by the end of the conversation, but you get the real take away value by waiting and quietly listening at first.

So what did I learn? Well, that cost me $3,000, so I’m going to hold on to it for now. I can tell you that it reaffirms the things I’ve been thinking about regarding where this is all going and it has definitely helped to crystalize how I can best communicate it to people who have little or no experience with podcasting and new media.

Libsyn sold to Wizzard for $15 Million? Well at least $15 Million in stock according to a new article in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. The Libsyn sale last March made headlines in the podcasting world, but I never saw any indication of the size/scope of the deal. According to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review:

Wizzard Software, Inc., a technology company based in Bloomfield, snapped up Libsyn last year for $15 million in stock.

Interesting number given that Wizzard’s total market cap is roughly $109 Million. Wizzard (WZE) started trading on the American Stock Exchange last week and toyed with $3.00 a share but has since settled down roughly 17% to the $2.50 range. I never would have thought to dig, but the $15 Million number caught my attention. SEC filings reveal that there are a number of milestones and it would appear that the $15M number is a best case scenario. But if you are curious about the sale, stock, milestones, cash payments and some employment contract info etc., here are the relevant SEC filings. [PLAN OF MERGER & FORM 8-K] (The joys of selling to a publicly traded company.) The Libsyn team are great guys, I hope that everything works out as best as possible for them.

The question is what will Wizzard do with Libsyn over the long haul? Last week some controversy erupted around the 1 Billion download claim that Wizzard/Libsyn made. Scott Bourne pointed out that a press release from Wizzard last month stating that 1 Billion podcasts downloads had been achieved in 2007 was followed up just last week by a statement that Libsyn was “fixing” issues with its stats engine. Frankly the total number is irrelevant, whatever it is, it’s big, but once again the stats issue raises its ugly head. For true advertiser support/adoption of podcasting, stats need to be quantified and agreed upon.

The bigger issue as I see it for Wizzard is their podcast publisher base. The article details, “Wizzard’s growing roster of 8,500 shows…” While we know that these shows are not Wizzard’s, Wizzard certainly has an opportunity to assist in the monetization of these productions due to their position in the distribution chain. However, of those 1 Billion downloads / 8,500 shows how many really matter to advertisers? (As a side note, the 1 Billion / 8,500 number is suspect. It would mean that the average publisher has 117,647 downloads a year or 9,803 downloads a month. This contradicts their own VP of Podcaster Relations, Rob Walsh, who arrived at the optimistic number of “73.5 subscribers per podcast feed.” But I digress…)

Libsyn is a great service that enables any podcaster to handle their media distribution for $5 dollars a month as a base package. That also means that they often attract those willing to pay the least amount. Those of us who have been around from the start have witnessed publishers using the Libsyn system having to endure numerous outages and slow delivery at times from a system clearly experiencing growing pains. Libsyn’s users have been amazingly supportive and understanding during these service issues - true fans of the service. For hobbyists this makes sense. But for mission critical delivery: businesses, large scale podcasts etc., Libsyn Basic has not been the choice of professional podcasters, they have tended to go with larger CDN delivery networks.

As a result, Wizzard ends up with amazing volume but is it really the kind of content advertisers are looking to associate their brands with? Further, with such a disparate pool of producers what is the internal cost to deal with all of them on a single ad campaign? Except for their large publishers, Wizzard does not get to enjoy the benefit of economies of scale, it might actually work against them. Contrast that with a company like Federated Media: few publishers, but they all have incredible reach/size. FM’s publisher count is finite enough that advertisers know what they are buying and who they are associating with, plus internally dealing with 20 large publishers on a campaign is much easier than trying to coral hundreds of smaller ones. This is probably why you have seen the WIzzard/Libsyn team putting so much time and attention into the Libsyn Pro product, a media publishing platform built and priced much closer to a traditional CDN.

All this said, I am curious to see how the team and product(s) evolve. They have some smart folks working with them and I hope that Libsyn/Wizzard can pull it off.

Professional Podcasting #2: Mic Flags. Before we move on from microphones I want to cover an easy way to distinguish yourself from the pack: mic flags. I have often described the “magical” power of mic flags in presentations I have given. It constantly amazes me the power these small plastic cubes have. Once you properly outfit your microphone with a professionally produced mic flag, doors open. The reasons for investing in mic flags are overwhelming:

Branding: This is a great opportunity to get your branding image and logo out there. Think back to photos of just a microphone versus those with large easy to recognize logos or wording on their mic flags. Each photo is one more brand impression for you. This is especially important for video podcasts. This is an easy way to get your branding in every frame!

Recognition: If you do large roundtable, red carpet or media events, interview subjects want to know who they are talking to. Your mic flag identifies your affiliation and makes it easy for the interview subject(s) to remember. I’ve found that interview subjects seem more at ease when I approach them with the sort of clear identification that a mic flag provides.

Professionalism: Mic flags are used by all “professional” media. Again we can take a lesson from their decades of experience - trust them on this one. Once you have a mic flag, people assume that you are a member of that same “professional” media. After all, who has a mic flag that is not serious about what they are doing? If you do in-studio interviews, mic flags offer that extra touch that sends the message: this is serious. At GrapeRadio.com we have outfitted all four shock mounts for our RE-20 mics with mic flags similar to the style I have in the picture above. We have successfully placed our MD-46’s with mic flags on the dais at a number of large wine events. They look great in the press coverage of these events.

X Factor: I’m not quite sure how to explain this, but mic flags seem to hypnotize people. It is as if folks assume you need a license to get one. I can’t tell you how many times I have talked my way into interviewing someone based in large part on the fact that I have that big plastic cube on my mic. You can see them looking down at the flag and asking, “you’re with the media?” Of course…

I always recommend Impact PBS for mic flags. They have no minimum order size or set up fees. In fact, you can order flags one at a time if need be. They have a wide assortment of styles to choose from and will certainly have one that fits your needs. The graphics are sharp and clearly visible. All sides of the flags are finished and use a nice foam center to accommodate most any microphone. (I have no affiliation with Impact PBS other than I like and use their products.) Last year I asked Glenn Love, who runs Impact PBS, to be on Behind The Mic. You can listen to the interview here.

Podcast Consultant “Trick of the Trade”: Impress you next client by having custom mic flags made. Don’t tell them ahead of time or include it as a line item in your bid, just do it. It costs next to nothing and they’ll be impressed and appreciative. Sometimes it is the little things.

Bottom line, a professional mic flag will set you back about $60 - that is nothing. Brand yourself appropriately. This is an action step for today. Order one now!

Additional resources: Podcast Solutions and Podcast Academy: The Business Podcasting Book

Professional Podcasting #1: The Microphone Matters. This should come as no surprise, but your mic(s) are not a place to skimp. When recording audio or video everything starts with the mic. Microphones sound different and you certainly “get what you pay for” in the quality department. However, that doesn’t mean you need to spend an arm and a leg on microphones. The key is to ensure that you purchase microphones appropriate for their intended task. Obviously, the MP3 compression process will degrade your audio, this is why you want the best source file possible. Compression will only exacerbate issues if the source is poorly recorded. With an audio podcast, the quality of your audio is the main determinant of the listener’s first impression. Here is what we use:

Studio Mic: Electro-Voice RE20. This mic is standard equipment in almost every broadcast studio you might visit. It is a dynamic cardioid microphone with an internal pop filter and is a consistent performer. It works well off-axis and is an all around champ. We use these both in my home studio and at our GrapeRadio.com studios. I also have a number of clients who have installed these in their offices. Engineers who spend all day focusing on their station’s broadcast audio keep installing RE20s. There is a reason, trust them. You might also consider the RE-27N/D. If the cost of the Electro-Voice mics is a bit high, take a look at the Shure SM7B. [Podcast Academy article on the SM7B]

Stick Mic: Sennheiser MD-46. For man-on-the-street style interviews, the MD-46 is my go-to microphone. Originally designed for NBC reporters at the Olympics, this unidirectional dynamic microphone breaks all the rules and ends up being an extremely effective mic for avoiding “plosives” and “handling noise.” I like that it is longer than many other mics making it easy to accommodate a mic flag with plenty of room to spare. These are the mics we have used for the last 3 years to produce the official Disneyland Resort Podcast. At Disneyland there is a lot of background noise from the park’s attractions and guests, the MD-46 lets just the right amount of ambient atmosphere sound in while maintaing solid recording of the interview subject(s). We have also used these mics successfully table mounted for roundtable interviews. Another mic we occasionally use is the Electro-Voice RE-50N/D-B (a favorite of Paul Figgiani). When budget is a concern, these mics can serve double duty in your home studio.

Lavaliere Mic: Audio Technica AT-898. If you are going to do sit-down style long format interviews, covering live stage events or doing video, add some lavaliere mics to your kit. There are a lot of choices for lavaliere mics, but I’m pleased with my pair of Audio Technica AT-898s. I have connectors for my various digital recorders and wireless transmitter packs. Another mic to consider is the Countryman E6i (an over-the-ear headset model.) Leo Laporte often endorses these. While I do not own one, they always sound good and I’ve thought of picking one up to take with me to events where I am speaking. Always nice to ensure that at least you sound good.

An investment in quality mics will pay dividends. Good sound is always a plus and the mics I have suggested will deliver. Bottom line, podcasting professionals need a kit of microphones to ensure they have the proper “tool” for the project. Hiring a Podcasting Consultant? Easy test: ask them for a list of their microphones and recording equipment. [Digital recorders will be covered in a future post.]

Additional resources: Transom.org - great info on Mics. Books: Podcast Solutions and Podcast Academy: The Business Podcasting Book

Many people hold themselves out as podcasting consultants or have decided to spend the extra time and effort to produce a “professional” level podcast. What should one look for in a consultant and what skills and knowledge are required for a “professional” level podcast? Answering these questions are the goal of this series.

Podcasting is an amazing medium that allows anyone to communicate their passions, thoughts and expertise to the world. The fact that the barrier to entry is almost non-existent is a big part of the allure and its power. I think everyone should give podcasting a try. If it is an enthusiast podcast, when starting out focus on the content. However, when you are selling your services as a podcast consultant, or are in pursuit of the best audio/video available for your production there are some tried and true lessons you need to know.

After publishing two books [1 & 2], producing the live Podcast Academy events, 3 years of consulting, creating the 2006 Podcast of The Year winner and giving a good number of presentations on the subject, I get emails all the time asking about the equipment we use, work flow, techniques, contracts etc. I’ve decided to post some of the “Professional Podcast” lessons I’ve gathered over the last few years. I’ll post the answers to the most common questions I receive. Whether you are a podcast consultant, obsessed about quality or are just looking to hire someone to produce your organization’s podcast, I hope you’ll find these posts helpful. My goal is simple: make these short and to the point. These posts will be easy to understand and provide a good starting point for your further investigation.

First post will go up Monday and I’ll link back to this as an overview of the series.

As covered in a press release today and picked up by Paul Colligan, we have sold the rights to run episodes of GrapeRadio on American Airlines starting next month. An assortment of episodes will be available on the in-flight personal entertainment media players in both Business and First Class.

This was a long time coming and we are extremely pleased about our new partnership with America Airlines. I think this is another great example of the kinds of opportunities overlooked by most “podcasters.” As I mentioned in my PNME 2007 presentation, you are more than just a podcaster. Once you stop focusing solely on your RSS feed and start to see yourself as a Digital Media Entrepreneur all sorts of other opportunities for building your brand, your distribution and monetization appear. Congratulations to my partners at GrapeRadio, great job! You can read the press release here.

We need to have the current WordPress theme we use on a number of sites, updated and built as a stand-alone theme. Currently it is a highly customized version of K2 that we built with support for 3 columns. All the neat features in K2 are awesome for a single blog where you can constantly fiddle with the design, but deployed on multiple sites it is turning into a waste of time, processing power and generally make updating a P-I-T-A.

I need a blog design that mostly mimics our current one but is a base stand-alone theme that we can easily deploy on our sites. We want to go a bit wider on the “content” column but the others will remain the same, as they are specific sizes for sponsors etc. Basically we are looking to simplify our pages by having a true theme and not something as “integrated” as our custom K2. Also, the current custom development is almost 2 years old now, time to refresh. Of course we have a few ideas we’d like to “borrow” from other sites etc. to bring everything up-to-date. This is a project we are ready to move on immediately. If you can help or have a referral to offer please contact me. Thanks!

You can see some current deployments here:

mwgblog.com, graperadio.com, podcastacademy.com, and reelreviewsradio.com

Today I replaced my original Mac Pro G5. While most computers are merely tools, this one holds a special significance for me. I was a happy-go-lucky insurance executive when I tasked one of my assistants to call every local Apple Store searching for the elusive “Dual Processor Liquid Cooled 2.5Ghz Mac Pro”. Like a champ, while others waited for their online orders, my assistant had identified and secured one of the rare G5 beasts for me. In September 2004, this was a hot commodity! I took it home and on the following day searched for an Apple Script to reorganize my iTunes Library. That day, September 4th, 2004, I saw a small note about an Apple Script to download Adam Curry’s Daily Source Code. Just 3 weeks old, that is how I got into podcasting. No name for the concept had even been established (that would take another 2 weeks,) just passion and enthusiasm. I have made countless friends and benefited immensely since that day. It changed my life. I still think back to those of us who forged the way, Dave Slusher, Adam Curry, Doug Kaye, Steve Gillmor, Dave Winer, Dawn & Drew, Michael Butler, myself and many others. I kick myself for not having insisted on a photo of all of us at BloggerCon #3. How often do you get the opportunity to capture the genesis of something? In retrospect, it would have been a great snapshot of a time that was…

We have posted my “infamous” presentation from last year’s Podcast & New Media Expo. This equally maligned and applauded presentation is the one people refer to as the “Podcasting Is Dead” talk. While many podcasting “thought leaders” refer to it, given their comments, any fair listen will reveal they have never actually heard it, they have only “heard of it”. (In fact, one podcasting big wig had to retract his statement about it.) I challenge any of the podcasting glitterati to disagree with its basic premise. In truth, it is a surprisingly optimistic and practical presentation for new media producers.

Further controversy surrounded the presentation because I revealed the actual “time to get paid” from the major podcast ad networks. I don’t know that they were terribly pleased with this, but with a lot of room for improvement I am hopeful that they will improve and that podcasters will enter these relationships with a practical understanding of what to expect. (Podtrac’s Mark McCrery had a very pragmatic and reasoned response when I spoke with him that weekend. I found our discussion encourging.)

So as to end all the debate surrounding the “Podcasting Is Dead” presentation here it is.

Editorial note: when I see that someone is misquoting or misrepresenting the presentation I’ll link back to this post.

UPDATE: Leesa Barnes was quick to make my point. She posted “Unprofitable Podcasters Claim Podcasting is Dead.” My name and a link to this post lead off. This is a perfect example of someone who, clearly it would seem, has not listened to my presentation (or is just misrepresenting it) but is still willing to publicly comment on it. Leesa states:

…I must share this epiphany… I now see why some are saying podcasting is dead. Quite simply, it didn’t work for them because they didn’t make money.

Huh? The presentation, properly entitled: “Selling the Unique Value of Your Content: Determining What Your Show is Worth and Convey It To Advertisers, Sponsors and Investors,” is all about successful ways to make money with your podcast as a digital media entrepreneur. I’d love to know what her “epiphany” that “Unprofitable Podcasters Claim Podcasting is Dead” has to do with me or my presentation.

I have been a life long fan of Hunter S. Thompson. After the success of my last call for help, once again, I am reaching out to my readers. For years I have been looking for a rather iconic shirt that Hunter S. Thompson had - pictured here on the cover of this biography by E. Jean Carroll (click for larger image). Does anyone know where you can get this shirt/jacket? I guess you’d describe it as red, khaki, mustard, green and blue corduroy. I assume some small specialty hunting shop somewhere sells it, but I have yet to find it. If I can buy it or have it made - either way, I am committed. Any help is greatly appreciated.

UPDATE: - Thanks for the emails. So far, it looks like no one knows where you can get this shirt/jacket. I’ll probably have to have it custom made. I am working on seeing if I can contact the costume designer from the film Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas; they reproduced the shirt for some scenes at the Polo Lounge when Johhny Depp played Hunter. I assume they used the original as source material. Yes, I can be a bit obsessive. While I am at it, anyone else want one?

We have posted the complete audio from this year’s Podcast and New Media Expo on our Podcast Academy site. You can get immediate access and download the entire set of all 50 sessions and the 3 keynotes for just $99!

You can find complete details here.