A discussion about corporate and business podcasting with tips and guidelines

Note: Leesa Barnes takes over this blog while Jon enjoys his nuptials and honeymoon on the West Coast. He returns August 10th. Enjoy Leesa's take on podcasting in the meantime.

I provided 6 reviews of the many instant podcast services out there. I'm going to continue plugging away and perhaps combine all this into a resource that can be downloaded.

Here's my reviews
Gabcast
Podooch
Podomatic
AudioAcrobat
WildVoice
ClickCaster

Here's my summary
These services are awesome for raising the awareness of podcasting, however, they're not well suited for businesses. Here are a few reasons why I believe businesses should NOT consider using these services: Note: Leesa Barnes takes over this blog while Jon enjoys his nuptials and honeymoon on the West Coast. He returns August 10th. Enjoy Leesa's take on podcasting in the meantime.

I provided 6 reviews of the many instant podcast services out there. I'm going to continue plugging away and perhaps combine all this into a resource that can be downloaded.

Here's my reviews
Gabcast
Podooch
Podomatic
AudioAcrobat
WildVoice
ClickCaster

Here's my summary
These services are awesome for raising the awareness of podcasting, however, they're not well suited for businesses. Here are a few reasons why I believe businesses should NOT consider using these services:

1. Once you reach your bandwidth limit, your podcast stops working. Is this the image you want to project about your business? That you're too cheap to pay for something good?

2. If you want to run a business - and not your podcasting strategy - these services may not be up your alley as you'll still need to hire someone to take care of the editing & mixing, plus design a podcast cover. Again, your brand is at stake and if the sound levels are off or if those ums & ahs still remain in your podcast, you'll lose subscribers.

3. The templates provided in these instant podcasting services for your blogsite are good, however, you'll have to give prospects a URL that includes the instant podcast service's branding in it eg. clickcaster.com/caprica. Also, because most of these templates are static, you won't have the ability to upload your logo or do too many changes to the structure. Clickcaster was the only exception.

4. One of these free services put their verbal branding at the end of your audio file. For a business podcast, this isn't good. You'll have a call to action, for example, asking listeners to sign up for your newsletter. Just when you think your podcast has ended, in pops in a voiceover saying "podomatic.com." Now your listener is confused, or worst yet, remembers the very last thing she heard then goes to podomatic.com instead of your website. Terrible for business.

As I reflect, Gabcast and ClickCaster are probably the 2 that I could give a thumbs up for businesses to use. The others are perfect for hobbyist, those wanting to get their feet wet and try out this podcasting thing.

But for a podcast that's going to fit into a communications strategy for a business, you need to ensure that your brand is maintained in your podcasting strategy. Everything from the cover to the page your podcasts sit on, if you don't provide consistent branding, your podcast strategy will be ineffective.