I’m super pumped to tell you that I’ve started work on the Ultimate Guide to Podcasting (name = prototype in case, despite my best efforts at researching, a product of this name already exists. In which case I’ll revert to the original working title of unPoop Podcast: How to be generally quite good at noise).

This course will be available for free if 100 people sign up before I’ve finished creating it. You have about two weeks. Subscribe in the box to the right and you’re on your way.

Here’s a teaser in a list format. No stilettoes or scanties, sadly, but I have to use the word ‘teaser’ because it sounds sufficiently provocative to make your ears prick up and read on:

• It’s a seven day course. That’s one thing for each day of the week. Unless you’re a sloth and put every weekend in the ‘leisure’ category.
• There’ll be things to watch and listen to. I’d generally take it as read you have eyes and ears, but I fully expect even some folks from Norfolk to be interested in this free life-changing experience.
• It’s no walkover. To do this course you’ll have to be at the zenith of your abilities. If not, I’ll command the high priestess of the sea to wreak a big flood on your home office which will result in massive power cuts. Please make sure you have surge protection in case of a momentary lapse of concentration.
• You’ll be amazing. As I said, something of this ilk has never been done before but it’ll be dead good.

I might have mentioned lately that if you’re alive, passionate about something and want the world to know – or you simply want to make more money – you need to podcast. There’s an infinite number of reasons why now is the right time to podcast. Here are three:

1. You have a potential audience of billions. Podcasts are now publicised wide and far via iTunes; RIM’s business smartphones in the form of Blackberries now have a dedicated podcasting store; Microsoft Zune is making a concerted effort to attract more podcasters to the fray; YouTube is now the third biggest website in the world.
2. There’s money to be made. Consequent to the above facts, more advertisers than ever are looking for podcasts to work with. Sponsorships are ready to be had. If you have a niche, chances are you’ll find someone to help fund your efforts. This is the big time.
3. This is your chance to be deservedly recognised as the expert. Being an expert means you can charge more; speak at more events; gain ‘leading authority’ expert. All of these things will better your life.

What the hell are you waiting for? Sign up to the right.

Remember – I’m only going to make this course free if 100 people sign up! If I complete the course first, I’m going to sell it.

And I’ll have completed the course in two weeks…

Thanks to the wonderful rashida coleman-hale for this perfectly-timed pic. You’re awesome!

So it’s the start of a bold and brave and brand new week.

Things are looking exciting here at WAM. Some challenges with WordPress and conflicts with databases are putting us in creative mode to riddle a solution. We may be on the cusp. It may be too early to say.

And we’re launching a series of Mastermind Groups for participants in the Social Media Success Summit 2010. Exciting!

Much more coming up, for sure.

How’s yours shaping up?

If you’d like to appear on one of our new, shiny podcasts, drop us a line.

Summary of WAM’s week, here (please accept my profuse apologies for the quality of the audio – this is in no way indicate of sonic prowess or the capabilities of the Heil PR40 microphone – more the atrocious synching between Hercules webcam and the mixer. We’ll be back to glory once the Xacti has decided to recharge, promise…):

Got a microphone? Love a bit of chat? Got a tech runny nose you can only blow by exuding your mind all over the interwebs?

I’m launching a new show soon focused on simplifying tech for non-techies. I’ll be looking at all the great stuff you can do, easily. How to make your life easier through tech, that kinda thing.

And if possible, I’ll be chucking all manner of fun and humourish things down the audio pipes at the same time. Eventually – and inevitably – we’ll get the whole video shebang up and running, too.

Now here’s the really exciting part.

I need a co-host.

Fancy it? Reckon you have the smarts and the time to run with this once a week?

Much more to come. It’s gonna happen.

The question is – do you want in?

Let me know if you want to be there from the start on the web’s most exciting new show of 2010.

If not: stay tuned!

Consumption is a curious concept. Consumers, even more so.

The fickle, unique nature of each customer means you cannot rely on your message being digested using one medium other another.

It’s not enough to be all about words and pictures. And it’s easy to prognosticate more diverse demands.

Is your business talking the customer’s language, in as many ways as possible?

Take results of the most recent TravelHorizons survey, a quarterly pulse check on consumer attitudes by the American Travel Association (the research itself is conducted by my very good friend Peter Yesawich and his team at the Y Partnership).

In 2008, most people relied on the thousands of words at tripadvisor to help decide the paths their leisure journeys should take. It was easy, relevant and quick.

One year on, the favourite source for travel inspiration is… YouTube.

You could accredit this to scepticism over the veracity of travel reviews. You could say that a greater selection, faster internet connectivity and more prevalent use of the camcorder has nudged people to the world’s biggest video site.

I think the crusade for authenticity is a driver. I don’t think you can get an accurate impression of a holiday experience by reading a story.

But I also think people are sick of reading screens. It’s not quick enough. It’s not easy to recall what you read when you discuss the subject with others.

Set that against audio or video (or at best, both) stimulations. The effect is far more emotional; more powerful; more likely to help you draw a meaningful conclusion.

I just picked up a Sanyo Xacti from Play.com. It cost me £99. You slide an SD card in, record High Definition video. £99 to make a video you could spread far and wide, for no extra cost on Viddler, Vimeo, YouTube or whichever video distribution platform you choose to use.

Podcasts are even easier to  pull together. It takes a guest with passion, it takes you to research your subject (has it really been any easier to get what you want than today?) and it takes a certain knowledge of who you want to target with your program, and what results you want to achieve.

• Skype to patch yourselves together
• Pamela to record it
• A couple of high-quality headsets costing no more than £20 each
• A copy of the free and easy-to-use Audacity audio mixer and recorder to cut and trim your final piece…
• And you’re all set.

Of course, it takes imagination, a certain desire to think outside the box, to make your efforts stand out.

To be really successful, you need the words and the sonic sensations. You need what is best described as a Blogcasting strategy.

And you probably want some real-world examples of how blogging and podcasting is making a difference to companies.

So I tapped the collective intelligence of seven people I know well, who each benefit from the mighty blog and/or podcast as businesses or customers.

Enough of me. Let the people tell their stories:

1. We are using a business blog for years now and really enjoy the interaction it enables us with our prospects/clients by opening up the comment box to questions. Double whammy really: the wording used in the questions add to the keywords (some of which we would not have thought of otherwise) and sometimes a question and our answer turns into a completely new post.
2. I live in a small village in England. In my village there are two shops that sell newspapers and sweeties for the children. I use Gordon’s shop. Why? Because when I go there he chats with us, he tells us what’s happening in his shop, his life and the village. He doesn’t push products or sell to us. He just makes us feel welcome and keeps us in touch. The other shop waits until I’ve made my choice of purchase, then takes my money and thanks me politely. That’s how business blogging helps a business. Engagement. Making your customers feeling a part of your enterprise. It isn’t to get people to buy more, that’ll be seen through as marketing. It is to ensure that when people buy, they do it from you, not your competitor.
3. Podcasts help create a closer emotional connection to your prospects. Having someone’s voice come directly to your earbuds is a very intimate connection. You start to feel like you know them, and therefore you start to trust them. Also, podcasts are portable in a way that blogs are not: you can listen while doing other things. So if you’re trying to reach a mobile workforce, a podcast may be better than a blog, or an important supplement to it. Ideally, the two complement one another, and in any case most podcasts are published through blogging platforms, and should have fairly detailed show notes both to assist people in finding them (direct audio search is still pretty iffy) and to help people decide whether to listen and which parts to listen to if the show is long and their time is limited. For me, blogging is both a way to demonstrate expertise (since I’m in a service business) and to demonstrate writing skills (since I’m a writer). I release recordings of presentations I’ve given as podcasts, as well as producing occasional purpose-made shows (I’d make a poor podcasting consultant if I couldn’t produce a show for myself). And don’t forget the value of *reading* blogs and *listening* to podcasts for your business. You can get quite an education in marketing and make a lot of connections that help your business that way. WAM: I gotta say the idea of blogging and podcasting on intranets and for employees is inspirational. More on this soon.
4. It makes sense to include video or audio podcasts as often as possible to add compelling content to back up an opinion or demonstrate an example. That’s why I’m immediately drawn to podcasts in blogs, especially if they’re from trusted sources. I ignore the daily drivel on YouTube, but the blog format allows me to monitor my RSS feeds, again from trusted sources, and get the best video/audio blogs as they are published. I don’t think the written word will ever go away entirely, but a combination of video/audio plus text is certainly gaining ground in the blogverse, and for good reason.
5. I highly encourage the use of blog articles, podcasts and online video both as resources that are free and to provide additional streams of revenue for premium content. In particular if you publish content that not only indicates the ‘what’ but also ideas about the ‘how’ of what you teach or the products and services you offer this can help you establish trust with your customer/potential customer. My experience is that if your content is congruent with you and your companies expertise, it can also help the customer make a decision of whether to work with you. And providing additional content perhaps in a members/customers only part of your website can help you continue that relationship adding value to them over time and they may even become a strong advocate for you and your company and a great source of referrals.
6. Five years ago a static website with all your information was a great virtual business card for your business. Today, that won’t cut it. The bare minimum is a blog along with the business website where people can get a better feel for your business.
7. We publish new content everyday. We create articles that are helpful to our best customers that they may be specifically looking for on the web. For example, we write about marketing tips, social media for business, lead generation, etc. As part of our blogging strategy, we create a live video podcast and post the episodes on our blog. By offering helpful and searchable content, people find us on their own through search engines and social media. On every blog post, we include a call-to-action with targeted content. This brings the person to a form on a landing page. If the person decides to fill out the form (and they’re a good fit for our software), they become a lead. It’s self selection and completely organic! WAM: Good point. Blogs aren’t just self-sustaining – they can generate sales via enewsletter sign-up forms, or other CTA elements that feel soft-sell but do the same job as, but better than, a direct mail campaign.

Blogcasting is the sweet spot in the 21st century marketing principles of any company.

Wherever you are with your customer relationship strategy, it’s obvious you need to be playing with at least one of these tools.

What do you think? Are you Blogcasting, or do you plan to be? Drop me a line if you want to discuss your opportunities in greater detail.

You probably want some real-world examples of how blogging and podcasting is making a difference to companies.

So I tapped the collective intelligence of seven people I know well, who each benefit from the mighty blog and/or podcast as businesses or customers.

Enough of me. Let the people tell their stories:

1. We are using a business blog for years now and really enjoy the interaction it enables us with our prospects/clients by opening up the comment box to questions. Double whammy really: the wording used in the questions add to the keywords (some of which we would not have thought of otherwise) and sometimes a question and our answer turns into a completely new post.
2. I live in a small village in England. In my village there are two shops that sell newspapers and sweeties for the children. I use Gordon’s shop. Why? Because when I go there he chats with us, he tells us what’s happening in his shop, his life and the village. He doesn’t push products or sell to us. He just makes us feel welcome and keeps us in touch. The other shop waits until I’ve made my choice of purchase, then takes my money and thanks me politely. That’s how business blogging helps a business. Engagement. Making your customers feeling a part of your enterprise. It isn’t to get people to buy more, that’ll be seen through as marketing. It is to ensure that when people buy, they do it from you, not your competitor.
3. Podcasts help create a closer emotional connection to your prospects. Having someone’s voice come directly to your earbuds is a very intimate connection. You start to feel like you know them, and therefore you start to trust them. Also, podcasts are portable in a way that blogs are not: you can listen while doing other things. So if you’re trying to reach a mobile workforce, a podcast may be better than a blog, or an important supplement to it. Ideally, the two complement one another, and in any case most podcasts are published through blogging platforms, and should have fairly detailed show notes both to assist people in finding them (direct audio search is still pretty iffy) and to help people decide whether to listen and which parts to listen to if the show is long and their time is limited. For me, blogging is both a way to demonstrate expertise (since I’m in a service business) and to demonstrate writing skills (since I’m a writer). I release recordings of presentations I’ve given as podcasts, as well as producing occasional purpose-made shows (I’d make a poor podcasting consultant if I couldn’t produce a show for myself). And don’t forget the value of *reading* blogs and *listening* to podcasts for your business. You can get quite an education in marketing and make a lot of connections that help your business that way. WAM: I gotta say the idea of blogging and podcasting on intranets and for employees is inspirational. More on this soon.
4. It makes sense to include video or audio podcasts as often as possible to add compelling content to back up an opinion or demonstrate an example. That’s why I’m immediately drawn to podcasts in blogs, especially if they’re from trusted sources. I ignore the daily drivel on YouTube, but the blog format allows me to monitor my RSS feeds, again from trusted sources, and get the best video/audio blogs as they are published. I don’t think the written word will ever go away entirely, but a combination of video/audio plus text is certainly gaining ground in the blogverse, and for good reason.
5. I highly encourage the use of blog articles, podcasts and online video both as resources that are free and to provide additional streams of revenue for premium content. In particular if you publish content that not only indicates the ‘what’ but also ideas about the ‘how’ of what you teach or the products and services you offer this can help you establish trust with your customer/potential customer. My experience is that if your content is congruent with you and your companies expertise, it can also help the customer make a decision of whether to work with you.  And providing additional content perhaps in a members/customers only part of your website can help you continue that relationship adding value to them over time and they may even become a strong advocate for you and your company and a great source of referrals.
6. Five years ago a static website with all your information was a great virtual business card for your business. Today, that won’t cut it. The bare minimum is a blog along with the business website where people can get a better feel for your business.
7. We publish new content everyday. We create articles that are helpful to our best customers that they may be specifically looking for on the web. For example, we write about marketing tips, social media for business, lead generation, etc. As part of our blogging strategy, we create a live video podcast and post the episodes on our blog. By offering helpful and searchable content, people find us on their own through search engines and social media. On every blog post, we include a call-to-action with targeted content. This brings the person to a form on a landing page. If the person decides to fill out the form (and they’re a good fit for our software), they become a lead. It’s self selection and completely organic! WAM: Good point. Blogs aren’t just self-sustaining – they can generate sales via enewsletter sign-up forms, or other CTA elements that feel soft-sell but do the same job as, but better than, a direct mail campaign.

Wherever you are with your customer relationship strategy, it’s obvious you need to be playing with at least one of these tools.