In my podcast earlier this evening, I went public with my recent signing up with Back Beat Media. I’ve been giving a lot of static to the various podcast networks, so here is their opportunity to fire back. I am in fact in a network per se, but one organized around the one function I’m not good at and don’t like to do – getting sponsors.
My rules aren’t changing. I’m still not taking preproduced announcements and only taking things that people will let me riff on and make fun of their message, and so forth. From my perspective, I’m outsourcing something I’d prefer to leave to those who are better at it than me. They have no say in the editorial end or in the content or delivery in any way. For me, this is the best of all worlds. I’m still playing my own game my own way, you just deal with my agents when you want to sponsor it.
If you’d be interested in sponsoring this here shenanigan, you can request a quote online. However, bear in mind that we are sold out through the end of the year so it can’t start right away.
Cool-congratulations! When do you start dressing like Madge? LOL. Like my favorite podcaster said, “there’s no such thing as selling out, only selling too cheaply!”
First up, congratulations on what looks like a reliable source of sponsorship income. I do have a question however. Is this really any different to signing up with PodShow?
Looking at what has happened so far with PodShow and the reactions to playing regurgitated radio advertising on podcasting, they seem to be heading down the same path of “let the podcaster write the ad”.
Letting the network find sponsors for you appears to be PodShow’s entire business premise – so if one day you find yourself on what amounts to the same thing as PodShow, will you still want to be there? 🙂
To me the problem that Podshow is facing is that it is trying to attract great podcasts and then shoehorn them back into a radio format. This, in addition to the advertising, is what has led me to unsubscribe from every show that I have previously enjoyed. Specifically – Daily Source Code, Dawn and Drew, and the Rock And Roll Geek.
I lived their shows when they were buzzed about the doing of their show. Then they suddenly HAD to produce a show, and advertise, and fill a time slot.
Contrast that to ReelReviewsRadio (who I was listening to before they started supporting the EGC). Michael G was commercial from the getgo but doesn’t fill a format does his show when he has something to say.
As long as a podcast has something to say then I what to hear it, but if it just has to say something to fulfill a contract then they may not really have anything to say at all. [reminds me of the theme music for Mister ED]
–nick coster
Congrats, Dave!
More here: http://www.quietvoice.org/index.php/2005/11/30/dont-beat-up-the-backbeat/
-k-
Pretty cool Dave,
This is a step in the right direction for advertising – away from stupid copy toward a human voice! Away from ‘acting’ in voice overs to a natural voice. Very cool.