Podcasting can be audio or video. You can shoot digital camera film, edited down to a size that’s easily portable and in a format that people can view on a portable device. The term basically covers the creation and distribution of portable digital media. (Think phone screens, Sony PSP, video iPods, etc). So, can you see the ways your business could use podcasting? You could train a bunch of people at once with instructional information. You could record audio thoughts for the week or day that your sales people could take with them on the road. You could have your field people put together how-to productions and share them around. All these things are fairly easy to accomplish once one buys a few inexpensive pieces of technology, after a bit of set up, a little bit of training, and some practice. It can be used as a force multiplier. You can send podcasts to prospective customers to share feature points about your products. You can make marketing projects to have your customers recorded for your staff to hear or view and learn from. Imagine putting a videocamera in front of your customers and asking them the cold hard truth about your organization. Think you’ll learn something? Here’s another thing. It’s really easy to build other media into a podcast. So, an audio podcast on the right receiving equipment can shoot still images in another stream while you’re listening along. Imagine sending out a small file for someone’s portable media device that gives one installation instructions for your software. There are lots of ways this technology will be useful to businesses in the coming months and over this year. More and more organizations (especially colleges) are learning about podcasting, and how it can increase their effectiveness. Is it time to consider it for your organization? Or better still, are YOU ready and able to help out your organization by showing them the ropes? This is the internet boom of 2006, not Web 2.0, in my mind. Based on what I’m seeing, this space is a very interesting space to watch. What’s your take? Chris Brogan writes about self-improvement and creativity at [chrisbrogan.com].
