In our 19th episode, the Magnet Media Labs team discusses stories from the past few weeks including YouTube’s initial rollout of 30 paid subscription channels, some missteps and mea culpas from Mountain Dew, a public Facebook meltdown from Amy’s Baking Company, branded video from Bombay Sapphire, and we watch a viral video (and discuss exactly what that even means) from TedXSydney.

Listen here and be sure check out the week’s viral video below!

VIRAL VIDEO OF THE WEEK

What do you think of paid subscription channels on YouTube? Any thoughts on public brand meltdowns? What about thoughts on our podcast? Let us know in the comments and connect with us on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, and LinkedIn.

Register for our FREE Resource Center and Newsletter to access our growing library of valuable Guide Books, Tip Sheets, and more!

The Chris Voss Show Podcast 56 Greg Kihn Rock And Roll Interview

Also Check out GregKihn.com

What’s in this episode?

14 minutes of marketing awesomeness.

1. This week’s topic: How to Come Up with Ideas for Great Content

Whether it’s content for your emails or content for your social media sites, you can often find yourself staring at a blank screen. But creating great content is probably a lot easier than you think. Today we’ll be discussing ways to help you overcome writer’s block and create content that your audience will love.

2. Questions/topic we discuss:

• Why it’s important to capture the interactions you’re having with customers offline
• Why it’s critical to “think small”
• “How-to” content, the old standby
• Don’t get paralyzed by over thinking your content
• How to break one piece of content into many different formats
• Why you don’t always have to create everything yourself
• What about B2B content?
• Where to find prompts for ideas
• Why your opinion matters
• Remove creation roadblocks by trying to help people
• Who are you really creating content for?
• Why the best marketing doesn’t feel like marketing

As always we love to hear your feedback so leave a comment and you can now subscribe to The Speakeasy Marketing Roundtable in iTunes! So be sure to do that.

Enjoy!

Listen to the show: Click here to listen to the file in your browser. (Right-click and “Save as” to download to your computer.)

Want to take this podcast with you? Now you can! Subscribe to The Speakeasy Marketing Roundtable in iTunes.

About the Speakeasy

Your marketing questions plus a room full of beer and marketing obsessed colleagues equals the best way to spend some time on a Friday!

Listen in as content manager, Dave Charest (that’s me!) moderates a marketing roundtable discussion with social media education developer, Azure Collier, social media specialist, Danielle Cormier, social media manager, Erica Ayotte, senior manager of conversion, Josh Mendelsohn, and social media specialist, Kristen Curtiss.

Ask your social media and marketing questions in the comments below and we’ll answer them in an upcoming episode! Or you can email your questions to: SocialTeam (at) ConstantContact (dot) com

Grow your business with Email Marketing

You’ll get:

Free, award-winning coaching that’s just a call, email, or online chat away.

Templates that ensure your emails are beautiful, professional, and sync with your organization’s colors and logo.

Real business results with a tool that reaches your customers where they are everyday: their inbox.

Find out more »

In fact, podcasting is among the hottest rising trends in social media strategy today – while only 2% are currently using podcasts, 23% of marketers plan to incorporate podcasting in 2013. To help you get started, here are some tips from Mashable on building the best marketing podcast for your business.

1.) Play Around With Different Programs

One of the most intimidating parts of podcasting is picking what tools you’ll use to record yourself. Thankfully, you don’t have to shrink your savings to create a good podcast. FulltimeCasual and MacTalk host Peter Wells says that he records most of his programs on Skype, because it allows him to talk to a wider range of people who don’t live in his city. In fact, when he started recording his programs this way, his podcast actually became more popular. So quality, while important, is not the be-all end-all of a good podcast.

One great freeware program to try is Audacity. It’s one of the most popular programs for basic recording and editing, because it allows users to do an impressive amount of editing, given that it doesn’t cost anything. Of course, Garageband is also a great basic choice for Mac users.

2.) Make Your Content Shine

Just like you need to cut through the endless chatter of other bloggers when you post content to your own blog, you need to make your podcast stand out with great content. How do you do this? First, it always helps to be excited about the topic. When you’re excited about the subject matter, that will instantly make your podcast more interesting. If you talk about something you don’t care about? That lack of excitement will come across, and your listeners won’t want to stick around.

Unfortunately, enthusiasm isn’t always enough to cut it. There may be many other podcasts covering the same topic as you. In which case, you need to sit down and brainstorm for awhile. Can you think of a new or creative way to talk about the topic? Identify what you can give to listeners that they won’t find anywhere else, and work that into your podcast.

Furthermore, be sure that your podcast offers useful, tangible advice for your listeners. It should be a resource for them, not an excuse for you to prop your products and services. They’ll be more likely to buy from you if you show them how you can help them, not what your business will do for them.

3.) Give Yourself Time to Prepare

When you’re starting out, you’ll obviously want to take enough time to get familiar with the software you’re using. But also take into account the amount of time you’ll need to get in touch with interview subjects, research your questions for them (if need be), and schedule and set up a time to speak with them. Don’t assume that you’ll be able to do an interview every week. Plan for a healthy mix of interviews and your own content.

4.) Practice, Practice, Practice

All those NPR reporters have such a soothing cadence to their voices, don’t they? Most of us probably can’t say the same. To help you get comfortable in your role as a host and also just with speaking for your podcast in general, try recording yourself speaking on different topics, just for fun. As with anything that’s new and unfamiliar, the more you do it, the more comfortable it will become.

5.) Keep It Short And to the Point

Don’t try to make your podcast any longer than it needs to be. Be short, sweet, and to the point, because although you may be providing content through a different medium, your audience’s attention span is no better than it is when they read your content.

This isn’t to say that you should avoid long content altogether, however. Some podcasts can be up to two hours long; it really just depends on the nature of the topic and the format of the show. Interviews can (and probably should) be longer. But if you’re giving your audience 5 tips on how to save money on car maintenance? The podcast doesn’t have to be the length of an opera.

Anyone can blog, but creating a podcast might just be the thing that puts you over your competition. Another perk of podcasting? You can upload the file onto your blog, highlighting some of the most important points without giving away too much information. That podcast post can help you fill up your content calendar, so you won’t be as pressed to blog as much.

image credit: adamr/freedigitalphotos.net

Director of Marketing Ryan Swearingen flew the coop this week, jetting off to California for Magnet’s West Coast office open house, leaving Brandan and myself with one less voice and point of view. But then, after weeks of hoping she’d be able to join in, the podcast’s fourth member Felicia Montalvo joined in! Three out of four. Hopefully four out of four soon!

This week, we discuss a new ad campaign for the Anar Foundation allows for multiple messages depending on the consumer’s point of view. In this particular case, children are given a different message from adults. Vimeo also comes up quite a bit this week. First of all, it’s begun a new project through which it connects indie filmmakers to larger companies for ad collaboration. Second, a new Kristen Bell movie will be released on Vimeo’s On Demand service on the same day it’s released in theaters.

We also touched upon the newest Netflix for iOS update for the iPad and talked about The Weather Channel’s tornado-in-office-Tweeting stunt.

Listen here and be sure check out the week’s viral video

VIRAL VIDEO OF THE WEEK

Any thoughts on the Anar Foundation’s ad campaign? What about thoughts on our podcast? Let us know in the comments and connect with us on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, and LinkedIn.

Register for our FREE Resource Center and Newsletter to access our growing library of valuable Guide Books, Tip Sheets, and more!

When I hear the word “podcast,” I don’t exactly think of cutting edge technology. My mind starts to drift back to the days of the original iPod and dial-up internet (scary thoughts for this millennial!). Or at least that was my impression of podcasts…until I learned better. Last month, I was fortunate enough to attend Social Slam, a fantastic marketing and social media conference. At a pre-event workshop hosted by marketing guru, Mark Schaefer, I was surprised to hear Mark touting the value, and dare I say, resurgence of podcasts as an important part of any firm’s content marketing strategy. That’s right people, podcasts are poised for a comeback!

What is a podcast?

Let’s take a step back for a second though. Some of you may be wondering what exactly a podcast is. In its most simple form, a podcast can be thought of as a pre-recorded radio program that is available on-demand through the internet. More specifically, a podcast is usually a digital media file (these days they can be audio or video) that is downloaded directly from the internet. They are distributed online using syndication feeds, or free websites, and are hosted or authored by a “podcaster.” It’s been suggested that the title “podcast” came from the original intended use of these type of audio files. The intent was that they would be downloaded and listened to like a broadcast on the iPod or other MP3 players. With the recent explosion of mobile phone devices like BlackBerry, iPhone and Androids, podcasts are now even easier to access and download at almost any time.

Why should professional services firms care?

1. Two words: mobile phones. Reports suggest that over 78% of the adult population in the United States use an Apple or Android mobile device. I’m sure most of you could tell me this without needing the statistic. We see this in action every day. People checking their smart phones at red lights, on the subway, train, or in the grocery store. Podcasts give professional service firms a tool to reach potential prospects when they want to be reached – on the go. By creating podcasts, you are offering helpful content to your potential buyers that they can access on their terms, like on their daily commute or while exercising. Podcasts help you reach your target audience in this increasingly busy and information dense world.
2. We live in a world where business decisions are increasingly being made online. In fact, more than 70% of B2B executives rely on the web for information when making purchasing decisions. When executives come to your firm’s website, what sort of helpful content will be there to help inform their decision-making? Rich and informative multimedia content, like podcasts, will help to move your potential buyers through the sales funnel by providing them with engaging information that will help with their decision process.
3. Podcasts allow professional services firms to be authentically helpful to their prospects and clients by sharing thought leadership in a convenient format. Podcasts can be used, just like blogs, to provide helpful information to your clients, or prospects considering your services. Use this medium to answer frequently asked questions, to talk about hot button topics, and to share your unique point of view.
4. Creating podcasts is cost effective, which is especially appealing for small to mid-sized professional services firms. Aside from investing in a quality microphone and maybe a little IT help to set up as RSS feed to stream your podcasts, this marketing tool does not require a large investment, aside from some of your time and creativity!
5. Podcasts allow you to take advantage of timely industry topics and news items with immediacy. Because podcasts are quick and easy to record and share, you can easily comment on hot news topics, changes in law or your industry, or even interview an industry expert, and be the first to market.

Do you listen to podcasts? Or better yet, have you created your own? I’d love to hear about your podcast experiences or recommendations of your favorite podcasters below.

Samsung Galaxy S4, LG Optimus G Pro, AT&T

Source: http://thechrisvossshow.com/the-chris-voss-show-podcast-55-samsung-galaxy-s4-lg-optimus-g-pro-att/

If you notice improved sound quality on this week’s podcast, we’re glad! It’s going to get even better soon too, so keep tuning in as we get further adjusted into the new office headquarters. Anyway, this was a great week in the digital, tech, and marketing spheres, with much of the excitement surrounding the Digital Content NewFronts events occurring throughout New York City. The growth and evolution of web TV were topics on the tips of many tongues.

Because of that, we (Ryan Swearingen, Brandan Jones, Emily Wilson) began this week’s episode chatting about Netflix’s self-published vision of the future. It’s an interesting read and we picked out some highlights for discussion, addressing the question of whether or not traditional TV could become obsolete sooner than later as more people shift to digital viewing habits. We also talked about the revamped business approach by YouTube, as presented at its own NewFronts event this week. The web video site will aim to focus more investments in its own homegrown talent rather than spending as much money on celebrity-focused programming.

We also discussed the ongoing Red Bull Music Academy happening in NYC, wondering how Red Bull manages to market itself so broadly but still come across as genuinely passionate about each event. And beyond just Red Bull, it seems that many brands are marketing themselves as “experiences” rather than just products. Lastly, we touched on the fact that TweetDeck will drop it’s Facebook integration as of May 7 and we watched the chosen viral video of the week, this one called The Matrix Retold by Mom (included below for your viewing pleasure) and it’s definitely worth your three minutes.

VIRAL VIDEO OF THE WEEK

Any thoughts on Digital Content NewFronts? How do you watch programming most often, online or via traditional TV? Let us know in the comments and connect with us on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, and LinkedIn.

Register for our FREE Resource Center and Newsletter to access our growing library of valuable Guide Books, Tip Sheets, and more!

What’s in this episode?

14 minutes of marketing awesomeness.

1. This week’s topic: Email Gets More Mobile Time

We’ve discussed the importance of considering mobile before when it comes to online marketing. And now with more data showing the increasing impact of mobile devices on internet usage—especially when it comes to consuming email—it makes sense to think about how you’re taking mobile into account when it comes to email marketing and your other online marketing efforts.

2. Questions/topic we discuss:

• What is the top activity on mobile?
• Thinking about how we process email across devices
• What does this mean when it comes to email marketing?
• Some thoughts on mobile email management
• The importance of what time you send your email marketing
• Why you must combine your email marketing and social media marketing efforts
• Things to think about when creating mobile-friendly emails
• Tips for creating mobile-friendly emails
• The difference between the mobile phone and the tablet experience
• How to find out what devices people are using to visit your website
• The importance of designing for the lowest common denominator

As always we love to hear your feedback so leave a comment and you can now subscribe to The Speakeasy Marketing Roundtable in iTunes! So be sure to do that.

Enjoy!

Listen to the show: Click here to listen to the file in your browser. (Right-click and “Save as” to download to your computer.)

Want to take this podcast with you? Now you can! Subscribe to The Speakeasy Marketing Roundtable in iTunes.

About the Speakeasy

Your marketing questions plus a room full of beer and marketing obsessed colleagues equals the best way to spend some time on a Friday!

Listen in as content manager, Dave Charest (that’s me!) moderates a marketing roundtable discussion with social media education developer, Azure Collier, social media specialist, Danielle Cormier, social media manager, Erica Ayotte, senior product marketing manager, Josh Mendelsohn, and social media specialist, Kristen Curtiss.

Ask your social media and marketing questions in the comments below and we’ll answer them in an upcoming episode! Or you can email your questions to: SocialTeam (at) ConstantContact (dot) com

Grow your business with Email Marketing

You’ll get:

Free, award-winning coaching that’s just a call, email, or online chat away.

Templates that ensure your emails are beautiful, professional, and sync with your organization’s colors and logo.

Real business results with a tool that reaches your customers where they are everyday: their inbox.

Find out more »

HTC One, HTC First, Vegemite

Trackback: http://thechrisvossshow.com/the-chris-voss-show-podcast-54-htc-one-htc-first-vegemite/

We begin this week’s podcast with a little romance. That is, we talk about Vodafone’s cinematic ‘Kiss’ commercial, which lures you in with a beautiful tale of lifelong love and then not so subtly sells you on an unlimited cellphone plan.

Furthermore on this week’s episode No. 15, Associate Producer Brandan Jones, Director of Marketing Ryan Swearingen, and Managing Editor Emily Wilson discuss a report indicating that teens are using mobile devices to watch video far more than any other age group. While that’s not likely a shock to anyone, it’s interesting to consider how viewing habits are changing and shifting amongst generations. They also chat about MTV’s social media strategy during the recent MTV Movie Awards, and address an article suggesting that most men don’t use Pinterest because they don’t enjoy scrapbooking.

And just for fun, they watch and comment on Psy’s new music video for ’Gentlemen’. Will it be as big a hit as his ‘Gangnam Style’?

Listen below, and be sure to subscribe on iTunes so you get every episode!

Viral Video of the Week

Any thoughts on the ‘Kiss’ ad? Or what about Pinterest? Do you think its marketing towards women leaves men out? Let us know in the comments and connect with us on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, and LinkedIn.

Register for our FREE Resource Center and Newsletter to access our growing library of valuable Guide Books, Tip Sheets, and more!

Note: In this podcast, Bernie J Mitchell of Engaging People interviews Lisa Gansky. If you don’t know of Lisa, she is so worth knowing. She is a force of nature — passionate, funny, warm — a credit to the species. Her TED talk about the sharing economy was wonderful. Lisa is author of The Mesh: Why the Future of Business Is Sharing. For many years, she has been focused on building companies — and disrupting the accepted ways of things. Her attention now is focused on sustainable ventures with positive social impact. Gansky currently serves as a Director of Dos Margaritas, an environmental foundation focused in Latin America. She is also the instigator behind the Mesh2013 sharing-economy conference, which starts on April 23, in San Francisco.

***

Bernie: “When talking with Lisa you feel she is a person who would generously make you soup in her kitchen and then offer you a shot of delicious aged tequila to wash it down.”

Emily, Yiannis and I really enjoyed the time we spent making this podcast, Lisa is smart, warm and a lot of fun. We listened for ages and there are many more sound-bites where this came from.

As well as the odd website and photo sharing app she sold to Kodak in the last century, Lisa has set up some amazing projects in Latin America and my beloved Argentina. She is a champion of co-working, and is always resisting the temptation to create another start up!

We are looking forward to meeting her in person at Mesh 2013 in San Francisco where we will be making more of a ruckus!

Big thanks for Freeagent.com for sponsoring my trip to Mesh 2013!

Add comments on twitter with the #sharingeconomy hashtag

Click the player to listen now:

Other Ways to Listen to the Podcast:

Subscribe in iTunes
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What’s in this episode?

20 minutes of marketing awesomeness.

1. This week’s topic: Should you add a new social media platform to your online marketing?

What better time than Spring to try new things? And of course that includes new social media platforms. Maybe it’s Pinterest, Instagram, or Google+.

2. Questions/topic we discuss:

• Are there any new social media platforms that have caught our eyes?
• How much time should you spend on a new social media platform before giving up?
• How do you determine which social media platform is best for your small business?
• What things should you be looking at to determine if your efforts are successful?
• How can you save time managing your social channels to make room for a new social platform?

As always we love to hear your feedback so leave a comment and you can now subscribe to The Speakeasy Marketing Roundtable in iTunes! So be sure to do that.

Enjoy!

Listen to the show: Click here to listen to the file in your browser. (Right-click and “Save as” to download to your computer.)

Want to take this podcast with you? Now you can! Subscribe to The Speakeasy Marketing Roundtable in iTunes.

About the Speakeasy

Your marketing questions plus a room full of beer and marketing obsessed colleagues equals the best way to spend some time on a Friday!

Listen in as content manager, Dave Charest (that’s me!) moderates a marketing roundtable discussion with social media education developer, Azure Collier, social media specialist, Danielle Cormier, social media manager, Erica Ayotte, senior product marketing manager, Josh Mendelsohn, and social media specialist, Kristen Curtiss.

Ask your social media and marketing questions in the comments below and we’ll answer them in an upcoming episode! Or you can email your questions to: SocialTeam (at) ConstantContact (dot) com

Sam Levin JBL Coachella

The lineup has changed for this, the newest episode of the Magnet Media Labs Podcast. Episode No. 14 features discussion from regulars Brandan Jones and Ryan Swearingen along with Emily Wilson, the newly hired Managing Editor. Though she cannot possibly replace the likes of former M.E. Ryan W. Neal, she’ll do her best to voraciously discuss the latest in digital media, web video and social marketing with the rest of the team on a weekly basis.

This week, the three discussed a new California law making the use of smartphone GPS illegal, along with chatting about irritating mobile app functions and Google’s new account manager designed to take care of your personal account in the event of your untimely demise.

Additionally, they check out the surprisingly hilarious KMart commercial called “Ship My Pants,” featured below.

Listen to the podcast below, and be sure to subscribe on iTunes so you get every episode!

Viral Video of the Week:

Any thoughts on our podcast? Any topics you’d like us to discuss? Let us know in the comments and connect with us on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, and LinkedIn.

Register for our FREE Resource Center and Newsletter to access our growing library of valuable Guide Books, Tip Sheets, and more!

What’s in this episode?

25 minutes of marketing awesomeness.

This week’s topic: Facebook Home, LinkedIn Tagging, & the 40th Anniversary of the Cell Phone

This week we’re discussing the new “Facebook phone”, a new Facebook-like feature now on LinkedIn, and our old friend the cell phone turns 40.

As always we love to hear your feedback so leave a comment and you can now subscribe to The Speakeasy Marketing Roundtable in iTunes! So be sure to do that.

Enjoy!

Listen to the show: Click here to listen to the file in your browser. (Right-click and “Save as” to download to your computer.)

Want to take this podcast with you? Now you can! Subscribe to The Speakeasy Marketing Roundtable in iTunes.

Bonus: Watch these throwback commercials for the cell phone.

About the Speakeasy

Your marketing questions plus a room full of beer and marketing obsessed colleagues equals the best way to spend some time on a Friday!

Listen in as content manager, Dave Charest (that’s me!) moderates a marketing roundtable discussion with social media education developer, Azure Collier, social media specialist, Danielle Cormier, social media manager, Erica Ayotte, senior product marketing manager, Josh Mendelsohn, and social media specialist, Kristen Curtiss.

Ask your social media and marketing questions in the comments below and we’ll answer them in an upcoming episode! Or you can email your questions to: SocialTeam (at) ConstantContact (dot) com

Ok, so we missed a week and lost our podcast co-founder / “Mayor” / only-labs-host-to-appear-on-all-previous-episodes, Ryan W. Neal. We did actually record a farewell episode last week, but alas, the tech gods did not smile upon us and some technical issues made it unsuitable for sharing.

But that was then and this is now. We’re back for Director of Social & Interactive Anwar Warner‘s final episode, in which a veritable smorgasbord of Magnet staffers make quick guest appearances for your enjoyment and Brandan Jones, Anwar, and Ryan Swearingen look at the week’s news in digital media, web video, and social media marketing

This week, we discuss a FastCoDesign article about a proposed high-tech payphone which would provide immersive digital information on NYC streetcorners.

We also debate whether YouTube is growing more mature to match its aging audience now that it’s reached the ripe old age of 8, as explored in TubeFilter’s article.

Listen below, and be sure to subscribe on iTunes so you get every episode!

Viral Video of the Week

What did you think of our podcast? Anything you want the team to discuss next week? Let us know in the comments and connect with us on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, and LinkedIn.

Register for our FREE Resource Center and Newsletter to access our growing library of valuable Guide Books, Tip Sheets, and more!

Marcus Sheridan is someone you probably never heard of — but if you are interested in content marketing, he’s someone you won’t ever forget. Marcus is the owner of River Pools. The story of how River Pools survived and thrived through a major recession makes for a fascinating tutorial on the really simple idea of how to use your customers’ and prospects’ own questions to completely turn your marketing budget upside down and get seen first in search.

In this podcast, the first in a series of interviews with Bernie J Mitchell of Engaging People he say “Marcus is like a Red Bull shower — he has an infectious energy for both life and content marketing and best of all he has lived his advice.” In his interview Bernie and Marcus discuss using blog content to build traffic, qualify prospects, nurture leads, generate sales, and (maybe most important) build relationships.

You should certainly zoom over to “The Sales Lion” and check out what Marcus writes about and also his podcast here.

Click the player to listen now:

Other Ways to Listen to the Podcast:

Subscribe in iTunes
Download the Podcast

What’s in this episode?

17-minutes of marketing awesomeness.

1. This week’s topic: Facebook Changes Cover Photo Rules and More

This week we’re discussing some new Facebook changes and what they mean for small businesses.

2. Questions/topics we discuss:

• Changes to Facebook’s Cover Photo policy. Hooray!
• Facebook’s Lookalike Audiences: A new way to reach potential customers
• Facebook’s new comment reply feature to improve conversations and engagement

As always we love to hear your feedback so leave a comment and you can now subscribe to The Speakeasy Marketing Roundtable in iTunes! So be sure to do that.

Enjoy!

Listen to the show: Click here to listen to the file in your browser. (Right-click and “Save as” to download to your computer.)

Want to take this podcast with you? Now you can! Subscribe to The Speakeasy Marketing Roundtable in iTunes.

About the Speakeasy

Your marketing questions plus a room full of beer and marketing obsessed colleagues equals the best way to spend some time on a Friday!

Listen in as content manager, Dave Charest (that’s me!) moderates a marketing roundtable discussion with social media education developer, Azure Collier, social media specialist, Danielle Cormier, social media manager, Erica Ayotte, senior product marketing manager, Josh Mendelsohn, and social media specialist, Kristen Curtiss.

Ask your social media and marketing questions in the comments below and we’ll answer them in an upcoming episode! Or you can email your questions to: SocialTeam (at) ConstantContact (dot) com

The Magnet Media Labs podcast is back! A few weeks ago, we made a big move from our office at 12 West 27th Street all the way down to 122 West 27th Street. It took us some time to find the ideal place to record as the dust settled, but now it’s better than ever.

This week, Anwar Warner, Brandan Jones, Ryan W. Neal, and Ryan Swearingen start by looking at HitBliss, a new platform that hopes to change the way we interact with ads. There’s also the latest feature from Google, which allows users to search for animated GIF files, and a new iPhone app that advises users on the best possible way to use their credit cards. The big story this week was the Kickstarter campaign for the “Veronica Mars” movie, which became the biggest crowdfunding project of all time and could even impact the entire Hollywood industry. Finally, there’s the viral video of the week, which features a high school guy asking Kate Upton to the prom.

Check it out, it’s our best podcast yet. And be sure to subscribe on iTunes so you get every episode!

Links Discussed

• HitBliss, The Pandora Of Ads, Will Pay You To Watch Commercials (TechCrunch)
• Google Makes Animated Gifs A Permanent Part Of Image Search, Find Falling Cats Easier (TechCrunch)
• New and improved Glyph: Hack your credit card utilization(Pando Daily)
• Veronica Mars has opened the doors to a new kind of game funding (Gamasutra)
• Crowdwatch: Veronica Mars, the Crowdfunding Game Changer (Magnet Media Labs)
• The Nielsen Family is Dead (Wired)

Viral Video of the Week

What did you think of our podcast? Anything you want the team to discuss next week? Let us know in the comments and connect with us on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, and LinkedIn.

Register for our FREE Resource Center and Newsletter to access our growing library of valuable Guide Books, Tip Sheets, and more!

Tim Sae Koo Co-Founder Of Tint
Check out Tint at: Tinup.com

Pres/Founder Henri Min of Nestivity
Check out Nestivity.com

The “Golden Leads”…

Attracting targeted, high margin clients like these are why many businesses start blogs in the first place and why content marketing is so powerful…

…and in many ways text-based content marketing is a niche marketers dream. Using the seven basic principles of content marketing and SEO to attack the keywords our target audience uses to search for our product or service.

However what many businesses find out very quickly about content marketing is it takes time, effort, patience and practice to generate the type of high margin business we need to run our business effectively.

That is, unless you start a podcast.

Podcasting is the godfather of long form content marketing

Long form content marketing is a methodology for attracting the specific target audience that drives our business.

The idea behind long form content marketing is the longer we can keep a perspective leads attention focused on our content the better chance we have of actually capturing them as a lead and the more qualified they will be.

Many experts would tell you to create content in short bursts. We hear this rhetoric attached to blog posts and video all the time.

“Never create a video longer than three minutes…”

”Don’t exceed 750 words with your blog posts…”

The thought process here is consumers on the Internet have such short attention spans they will not stay focused on our content for more than a minute or two.

Long form content marketing, specifically podcasting, flushes that idea down the toilet…

…create better content in a format your audience enjoys and they will stay longer.

Enter the podcast.

The podcast audience, by their nature, is deeply invested in the content they consume. I call podcasting the godfather of long form content marketing for two reasons:

1. Podcasting has been around for a long time yet very few people are aware the power it yields
2. Podcasting takes your audience outside the Internet world most of us create content in, operating by a different set of rules.

Yes, our podcast audience can listen to episodes online, but that is NOT how must podcast listeners consume content. The podcast follows consumers outside the world of the Internet into their everyday lives and allows them to consume our content on their schedule when they’re away from a computer screen.

This is an incredibly powerful concept.

With a blog post or video content, our audience has to be in front of the computer screen or iPad or smart phone. When someone is consuming a text-based post or watching a video they cannot be multitasking.

Think about that for a second, if you create a video the reason it has to be three minutes or less and you have to break up the content into a intro bumper and outro bumper and add bloopers is to keep your audience from multitasking. As soon as your audience begins to multitask, your message is no longer being delivered.

This isn’t the case with a podcast. Your audience can be running on a treadmill, driving home from work or working on paperwork at their desk. With a podcast all your audience needs is a set of speakers.

Your podcast goes where your audience is instead of your audience having to come to you…

27 Minutes of Authority

My podcast, the Content Warfare Podcast, {listen to the episode where I interview Tom Treanor}, runs on average 33 minutes per show.

We focus on content marketing and social media marketing strategies all in the quest to Win the Battle for Attention Online. That’s 33 minutes of me, establishing my authority as an expert in content marketing and social media marketing. I can tell you from my Google Analytics account that the average person who reads one of my blog posts stays for two minutes and seven seconds. Whereas the average listener of my podcast stays for 27 minutes.

So if I’m able to produce one text-based blog post every week that produces two minutes and seven seconds of audience focus versus a podcast which produces 27 minutes of audience focus, in which format am I gaining more attention?

Yes the audience that listens to the podcast is less in terms of sheer volume numbers but the people that do listen to the podcast are so deeply invested in me as an authority in content marketing that they are willing to spend 27 minutes of their day with me.

This is my target audience.

If you’re struggling to determine who your target audience is, then a podcast is a great tool to carve out that audience.

Anyone who is willing to spend 27 minutes listening to you talk about what your area of expertise wants to do business with you… at a minimum they’ll take your phone call… at a very minimum they’ll open and respond to your email.

The Rub

There is a barrier to entry with podcasting. It’s not as simple to get a podcast going as buying a domain name and one-click installing WordPress. That being said there are plenty of “How to start a podcast” tutorials (I recommend this one by Pat Flynn) from very reputable sources that make the process of starting a podcast very easy.

Having published 20 episodes {view my podcast episode index} of the Content Warfare Podcast over the last six months, I can tell you without question it has been my greatest decision as a content marketer.

My audience is more invested in what I have to say than they’ve ever been before and I’ve tapped into a completely new audience of people that would have never visited my blog or watched any of my videos on YouTube.

These are people who consume content on iTunes, Stitcher, Zune and Blackberry and if you want to capture them as a potential audience, you have to start a podcast.

And remember we all have a face for podcasting…

What’s in this episode?

22-minutes of marketing awesomeness.

1. This week’s topic: New Facebook Changes Coming and SXSW Recap

This week we’re discussing some new Facebook changes and we’ll get recap from some folks who were at the South By Southwest Conferences and Festivals.

Special guest: Senior communications specialist, Stephen Russell. Read Stephen’s post on personal branding.

2. Questions/topics we discuss:

• Changes to Facebook’s News Feed: What do they mean?
• Changes to Facebook’s Timeline for profiles, Timeline for Pages likely to follow
• Will Facebook soon support hashtags?
• Recap and takeaways from SXSW (including favorite food items.)

As always we love to hear your feedback so leave a comment and you can now subscribe to The Speakeasy Marketing Roundtable in iTunes! So be sure to do that.

Enjoy!

Listen to the show: Click here to listen to the file in your browser. (Right-click and “Save as” to download to your computer.)

Want to take this podcast with you? Now you can! Subscribe to The Speakeasy Marketing Roundtable in iTunes.

About the Speakeasy

Your marketing questions plus a room full of beer and marketing obsessed colleagues equals the best way to spend some time on a Friday!

Listen in as content manager, Dave Charest (that’s me!) moderates a marketing roundtable discussion with social media education developer, Azure Collier, social media specialist, Danielle Cormier, social media manager, Erica Ayotte, senior product marketing manager, Josh Mendelsohn, and social media specialist, Kristen Curtiss.

Ask your social media and marketing questions in the comments below and we’ll answer them in an upcoming episode! Or you can email your questions to: SocialTeam (at) ConstantContact (dot) com

What’s in this episode?

This is a special one-to-one edition of the Speakeasy. Check out this 8-minute conversation with Erik Mintz, director of EventSpot from Constant Contact.

1. This week’s topic: Event Promotion: How to Get the Most Out of Social Media

When it comes to extending the word-of-mouth for your events, there’s no better tool than social media.

2. Questions/topics we discuss:

• Social media as part of your event strategy
• The essential social media networks
• Other social media considerations

When you’re done listening be sure to register for our upcoming webinar, Filling the Room: Simple Strategies for Maximizing Event Registration.

As always we love to hear your feedback so leave a comment and you can now subscribe to The Speakeasy Marketing Roundtable in iTunes! So be sure to do that.

Enjoy!

Listen to the show: Click here to listen to the file in your browser. (Right-click and “Save as” to download to your computer.)

Want to take this podcast with you? Now you can! Subscribe to The Speakeasy Marketing Roundtable in iTunes.

About the Speakeasy

Your marketing questions plus a room full of beer and marketing obsessed colleagues equals the best way to spend some time on a Friday!

Listen in as content manager, Dave Charest (that’s me!) moderates a marketing roundtable discussion with social media education developer, Azure Collier, social media specialist, Danielle Cormier, social media manager, Erica Ayotte, senior product marketing manager, Josh Mendelsohn, and social media specialist, Kristen Curtiss.

Ask your social media and marketing questions in the comments below and we’ll answer them in an upcoming episode! Or you can email your questions to: SocialTeam (at) ConstantContact (dot) com