For some, podcasting is the Sutters Mill of our time. Some people are panning for gold, some are buying the gold others collect, some are selling the food and drink, some are building hotels, some are financing the expedition.
Sponsorships, advertisers, tip jars, conferences, software, services — the list of ways people are trying and, in some cases succeeding, to make money from podcasting isn’t quite endless but it is long. Wired News looks at the folks following the money outside the VC zone. (Memo to the editors I sometimes write for at WN: please kill the term “podosphere” now.) One of those featured is Tim Bourquin, who has a sports podcast that was sponsored by Gatorade and is now sponsored by Fleet Feet Sports and has a podcast-tips show with his brother. He’s also organizing next month’s Portable Media Expo, which represents our part of the podcasting food chain as the current sponsor of that category here. For Bourquin, one of the challenges is explaining what he does to his own sponsors. “I’ve learned not to go in and say, ‘We have a podcast and you should advertise,’ because their eyes will glaze over. Instead, say, ‘We’ve got this online radio program.'”
Some big-name sponsors are testing the waters. Slate sold Chrylser on a sponsorship of its daily podcast. Acura is underwriting some NPR podcasts.
For others, podcasting is another marketing tool that pitches their own entertainment, news, etc. But not everyone has a ready-made brand or audience and, as the story points out, indie podcasters can have a hard time finding the right metrics needed to woo advertisers. Apple’s iTunes, while boosting podcasting’s profile and distribution, is like a metrics wasteland. Even so, sponsors zero in for their own reasons. Two podcasts — Coverville and The Nashville Nobody Knows — wound up being selected for sponsorships by Tower Records without knowing the opportunity was there. Tower marketing vice president Mike Jansta was attracted by the individuality that sets indie podcasts apart from their branded counterparts. “The quality of the commentary and content of both are fabulous,” Jansta explained.
With podcasts and pseudo-podcasts going online every day, podcasters with genuine followings created out of thin air could have a map to the real gold.
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