Interesting post - especially the narrowcasting comments.

I was suprised by your characterization of podcasting as time-shifting radio, though. This sounds like a rehash of the lame Tivo analogy that made the rounds when nobody knew what podcasting was.

Podcasting is not time-shifting of radio; that would require that users would be able to record the content of their choice, live, and listen to it at their convenience.

Podcasting lets people subscribe to radio-like audio content, just like you can subscribe to a magazine or a newspaper. This is pretty straightforward - so lets let the Tivo analogy rest in peace….

The choice is totally in the user/listener’s control. Which means that those who are left, who remain subscribed, are part of a community that builds over time. As an example, a few comments to Shel and Neville’s podcast led to an invitation to be a regular correspondent. I now contribute an audio report once a week. In turn, I have formed relationships with people who are in Shel & Neville’s community that have enriched me personally — people who I can now call upon, ask questions, discuss issues and enter into conversation with. Additionally, I have pointed people in my community towards Shel and Neville.

There is a lot of media ‘hoo haa’ about podcasting being a one-way interaction, an ego-driven output by someone in love with the sound of their own voice. But as FIR (Shel and Neville’s podcast) has shown, a podcast can become a mechanism for a community to voice its thoughts and opinions. Conversations are time-shifted across several episodes as a comment on one show will garner a response on the next, followed by a further response to that comment on the next, and so on.

Newcomers to the show are drawn into an on-going conversation and by this very conversation are drawn back to listen to the next show to find out what someone said or thought in response. And encouraged to add to the conversation themselves.

But how does this help a business?

“Branding” is the word. If we are to believe Seth Godin and especially Tom Peters, then we are only as good as our brand and our last project. As businesses (either corporate or soho, or indeed anywhere inbetween) we therefore have to embrace yet another distribution channel for our brand.

The difference between this new channel and, say, magazine adverts or corporate newsletters to clients, is that a conversation can take place and therefore, over time, one’s “true colours” emerge. One can hide and obfuscate behind corporate speak; one cannot hide and obfuscate nearly so easily when one is engaged in a prolonged coversation.

One cannot enter into a psychological contract with an Annual Report, but one can enter into a relationship and develop a psychological contract with someone who appears before us at regular intervals and talks to/with us in a human voice, devoid of marketing-speek. And at the end of the day, whether business or individual, it is individuals who make purchasing decisions, and individuals prefer to deal with other individuals that they have a psychological relationship of trust with. How much trust can be built from an Annual Report — especially, for example, the last annual report of Enron before their implosion?

Podcasting will not replace any current marketing or information distribution channels - but as a business you will need to be aware of its presence and, if the market you are aiming for is one that podcasting can reach (which is just about everyone), then you really should consider embracing it. And as Shel points out, the barriers to entry are next to none.