Brain Rain

April 30, 2006 By Jeremiah Staes Leave a Comment

Seen this in a couple places, and thought I’d post it here because business people, in fact ALL people, have the ability to be creative, just in different ways (and as someone who’s wired to both sides, I can really say it’s a good thing to follow this idea), and expressing that inner creativity is a key to self-actualization. You just need to get the juices flowing.

It’s called “catch your brain rain.” I did it this weekend, and I think I need to do it onward, so that my lack-of-creativity spells become shorter, and after a couple days I’m feeling a noticeable difference.

From the blog by James Ledoux with special thanks to 43 Folders for mentioning it:

Keys to catching the brain rain:

  • set aside 10 minutes, each and every day
  • have pen and paper handy
  • allow yourself the freedom to think crazy thoughts
  • don’t worry if nothing really productive springs to mind right away
  • periodically scan over your notes from these sessions as things may pop into your mind after they have “marinated” for a while
  • if no ideas pop into your head pick a fun topic and doodle a bit
  • use word association to get things rolling if you feel stuck e.g. thinking -> thoughts -> mind -> brainstorm -> brain rain

I think you’ll be suprised with what you come up with. I was.

Filed Under: Uncategorized

27 Million Give Podcasting A Chance

April 23, 2006 By Jeremiah Staes Leave a Comment

27 million people. Now we’re getting somewhere.

However, we need to make sure we do a better marketing job as media professionals as to what podcasting is. There’s big confusion out there, and people answered the question only after having a definition read to them.

There are lots of people who maybe aren’t technophiles but would really enjoy them, and we need to reach out to them, instead of what some do, which is belittlement. A simple google search comes up with these folks standing on some ground of techno-superiority.

I see three major talking points:

Some of the confusion comes from the word itself, because it infers you need an iPod (when you do not, if you do it right any mp3-compatible player will do, or even just your computer and some speakers attached to it). It’s the most common explanation I give, almost on a daily basis.

We can’t abandon the word “podcasting”; after all, it’s something like 80% of the mp3 player market is iPods, it’s a rare instance where the best designed and engineered consumer product is winning, and there’s some good press mileage.

Another improvement that could be made, is that as much as it does make some sense, “subscribe” on the iTunes music store infers to some that people need to pay for it. I’ve seen lots of intelligent people get foiled by that. We must take the attitude (as somethings as painful as it may be) that wording can be confusing and be mindful of it.

Lastly, we need to try to stay away from DRM (Digital Rights Management). It restricts people, and the reality is that people want what they want, where they want it, when they want it. We must face the fact that if someone truly wants to steal content, no DRM will stop them.

We can do things like only offer the direct podcast link on a subscription page, etc. but when you start reaching into peoples’ computers, forcing them to listen while they’re online or limiting where/when they can use it, you hinder your effectiveness (think AOL video… much of it you can’t use it if you have a mac, eliminating a strong early adopter audience). I don’t necessarily blame AOL completely, as some of their top people like Ted Leonsis mostly “get it,” but the development of this medium, and it’s profit potential, will be limited as long as there is the bent toward controlling users).

Perception IS reality. Let’s improve the perception of podcasting by making it easier to use; by not going on tirades to the effect of “it’s not a podcast if you don’t subscribe!” The rest of the non-tech world does not care. They want it to work the best way it can into their life.

And, as we show people how to take what they want with them wherever they go, we’ll get more to subscribe soon enough.

Filed Under: Podcasting Tagged With: Podcasting, Ted Leonsis

Ten Things Tech Folks Forget About

April 21, 2006 By Jeremiah Staes Leave a Comment

I love technology as much as the next blogger. However, if there’s one thing I’ve learned running a multimedia production/development business is that technology-focused individuals frequently miss the boat when it comes to what a customer really wants… And then they’re flabbergasted when they do not get the sale or their “greatest idea” doesn’t get through to the prospective soul who may be saved by their brainchild.

I’ll apply it to podcasting, which is a core push as of late for our organization (shameless plug). We do great web design/development, and we will continue to, however, the founders’ vision is to be strongly involved in multimedia, because it’s been our core believe that convergence is the future.

After all, there are a lot of web deselopment (if I could remember where I saw that first, I’d link to them… I like made up words, such as “loftice”) companies out there, many who have good skills. What we do best is integrate it with information delivery vehicles (such as multimedia) into so-easy-to-use-grandma-gets-it solutions. We do a lot of work knowing that one size does not fit all. And why? Because it makes the customer look good.

The source of my inspiration is Jeffrey Gitomers’ Little Red Book of Selling. I don’t know if it changed my life but it did speak to many things I believe in as far as self-accomplishment. In the book, it talks about 10 things that customers really want, and that it may have nothing to do directly with your product of service.

The theory is, and I’ve seen it work myself, is that if you can show how a customer/client will get a good number of these accomplished with your product/service (and there will not be exact answers for everything in every case, and so it may double up), you’ll sell. If you cannot figure this equation out, sit down with a notepad and figure it out before you start missing rent.

1) More Sales. Our service enables your message to be embedded into peoples lives, while they jog, drive, browse.. And our production quality will ease their acceptance of it. It also builds trust because you are facing the public and speaking to, not at, prospects.

2) Greater Productivity. Employees, vendors, clients, etc. can all be easily kept abreast of happenings they are interested in (whatever they may be, from investor information to product release) in the ways they want and are entertaining (audio, RSS, video, etc). This saves a lot of legwork, and personalizes the relationship which helps get and keep people “on your team.”

3) More Profit. In one fell swoop, you can communicate a message to a lot of people in the format they want at a reasonable price, even more reasonable than streaming solutions. It also affects sales (see #1) which increases profit. The flip side will also relate to #9, because we make it much easier and let you do what you do best, while we do what we do best.

4) Better Image. High quality always improves your image and value proposition. We provide extremely high quality at a reasonable price, and are fierce guardians of your brand and image. Need help with your brand/image? We got that too.

5) More Customers. Aimed at a client/consumer audience, what we do can be extremely powerful. However, many companies make the mistake of producing a long-form radio commercial. People don’t want long form commercials, they want entertainment, they want knowledge, they want their ten wants answered too. Or they’ll subscribe, listen to the first episode, and never come back. What we do is consult to create material that’s actually entertaining and useful. You have to think outside of the big three (billboards, radio, TV) that agencies usually do to succeed because this is a different animal.

6) Loyal Employees. Employees that feel part of a team, part of something bigger, are happier employees. This helps with that (see #2).

7) Better Morale. (See #2, #6).

8) No Hassles. That’s why you hire a professional… to eliminate hassles. What we do doesn’t seem hard (there are plenty of “do-it-yourself” podcasting solutions), but our years of experience, qualified personnel, and specialized equipment make us the best choice, especially in situations with multiple concerns (conference audio, meetings, live events, etc… our specialty is on-location work, which requires many hours of co-ordination, planning, etc. which most of our clients don’t have, not to mention our skill set).

9) More Free Time. (Everyone wants this). You get more free time because you can write a check and have your time and effort investment into this technology significantly reduced. You could learn basics and get out an okay product with weekends and nights reading, buying software, testing, etc. or you could just have it done, and you know it’ll sound/look awesome and it’ll impress people.

10) Notoriety. Embracing technology is almost always good for a business. Reaching out in new ways is also a good thing. People, newspapers, blogs, etc. will talk about you and talk about you well because your content and your production values will be high.

Well, that entry lasted longer than I thought. Maybe more will come later to me. In the meantime, to see what I think might be the best large-company marketing push as of late, check out The Slowskys and have a laugh. Great way to establish value for a much more expensive product, using the most persuasive selling tool anyone has… humour.

Filed Under: Tips Tagged With: Better Image, Better Morale, Greater Productivity, Loyal Employees, More Customers, More Free Time, More Profit, More Sales, No Hassles, Notoriety