Friday, June 23, 2006

Podcastaway

A friend has approached me about doing some podcasting together - a regular weekly "radio show" for the Net.

I would love to get a better idea of who listens to podcasts, and why. A number of people have told me that business-related podcasting is becoming a Big Thing. While it's not attracting Big Numbers (and let's face it, neither do most blogs), I am told podcasting is becoming an important medium for promotion, networking, community building - and business development.

So tell me - Do you listen to podcasts? Where, and when? Do you listen live, or download to an iPod? Do you have favorites you listen to regularly? Why do you listen to them? What have you gotten out of them? Do you prefer audio blogging to the text versions (like this blog, for instance)?

When I was speaking to a group of young entrepreneurs a few months ago, I asked how many of them listened to podcasts. Very few hands went up. But hey, if it's the right hands, maybe that's enough.

Please leave a comment or send me an e-mail (rick(at) rickspence.ca). Even if you have never heard a podcast, or have no intention of listening, or have never heard of this podcasting thing before, I would love to hear from you. Thank you for your feedback.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Rick. I am a podcaster and of course I listen to podcasts too. At the gym in the morning, I'd rather listen to a podcast than watch Regis and What's Her Name on TV. While doing housework, I have my MP3 player in my ears. Ditto for long walks. Mostly I subscribe to business/marketing/communications shows. There are lots to choose from!

Rick Spence said...

Rick here. A visitor who claims to be a regular reader of this bog responded to my query by email. His message was different from the above.

"I have never listened to a podcast and really have no intention to, although I do have a friend I consider very web-savvy that does. I prefer the written blog to podcasting, and know many more people that read blogs than listen to podcasts."

So, what do YOU think?

Anonymous said...

Saw the link to your post on Thornley's blog. Thought I'd drop by.
Yes, I'm a big podcast listener. Most of the podcasts I listen to are business/tech news/communication oriented. Although, I do listen to a few hockey related ones...team news, commentary, and an indie one from Las Vegas too.
What do I get out of them? I recently wrapped up my master of arts degree in communications with a PR focus. I would say 1/3 of my education came from podcasts (another 1/3 from blogs). The Internet made getting valuable content easy and education. I wrote my graduate project on Online PR based quite a bit on what I learned about social media from podcasts and blogs (lot of podcasts). Like Donna wrote, there are plenty to choose from in the communication field.
I listen mostly in the car on my iPod since I went to school (and now work) forty-five minutes from my home. I sometimes listen while exercising or doing yardwork or home-related chores.
The benefit is that audio is good for keeping your hands and eyes free to do other things. Some people complain that repurposing already printed content (journalists reading their columns) is a waste of time. But if I have plenty of drive time and not a lot of reading time - it sounds like a perfect match for me in certain situations.

Anonymous said...

I spend about 8 - 10 hours a week listening to podcasts. I listen when I am in my car, gardening, in planes, in bed... I find them entertaining and like Luke I find they are educational.

I prefer them to reading blogs. One caveat -- a podcast is not an audio blog. It is more like radio -- that makes it more demanding to produce.

If you did one, I'd probably give it more attention than your blog - that I read perhaps every two weeks.

Tom Beakbane

Anonymous said...

Hi Rick.

I mainly listen to entertainment-related podcasts -- I especially enjoy The Onion Radio News.

I find that I can't "get into" business-related podcasts because I'm relaxing while listening to podcasts. I also prefer to have any important or helpful information in print, which makes it easier for me to refer back to.

Now, if there were transcripts of podcasts...

Great job on the blog, by the way. I'm a regular reader.