Advertising on Podcasts (and Other PR Blog Jots)

Yea or Nay: Advertising on Podcasts
Trafcom News
There have been a couple posts lately about the value of selling ad space on podcasts. As an active sponsor of a popular PR podcast ourselves, CustomScoop is on board with the idea that ads can have their place on a podcast--ultimately it's up to the podcaster, but it's important take audience into consideration. When the audience of FIR reacted somewhat negatively to our initial spots on that show, we revamped and received high praise. Donna Papacosta offers some insight into the question of when advertising on your podcast is right for you. "So let's get back to the podcaster who's trying to decide whether to run an ad. Ask yourself this: Is the money you'd earn worth the risk of alienating your listeners? Are the ads relevant to your audience? Is the time devoted to ads just a small slice of the running time of your show? Overall, what do you gain and what do you lose?"

Go Google Yourself
Personal Branding Blog
Ah, self-Googling. I am an unabashed supporter of this practice, as should anyone with any interest in their personal brand. It helps to have an easily Googleable name (I am constantly bragging about my name's uniqueness, I will likely be doomed to marry someone with the last name "Smith" or something), but everyone should be doing a few searches on their personal brand on a regular basis. Personal branding guru Dan Schwabel agrees. "People are Googling you as we speak and you better make sure you have some internet presence if you want to exist. Employers will be searching for you or people like you. 'Given that everyone from potential employers to potential mates is likely to be Googling you, you should have a good idea of what they will find,' said Alexander Halavais, a Professor at University of Buffalo. The Wall Street Journal even wrote a story called 'You're a Nobody Unless Your Name Google's Well.'"

Go Fly a Brightkite
The Buzz Bin
Brightkite is the latest social media application to offer up beta invites, and I definitely found it to be so-so. I liked the idea, but I'm honestly not sure (not living in a social media hub like Boston) how often I would really need to know where my various contacts were, and tracking people's physical locations also just seems a little bit creepy, doesn't it? Larissa Fair gives the site a good review, and is equally iffy on its ultimate value. "Other issues include the fact that it does NOT integrate with Verizon phones, and requires you to manually enter in your location every time instead of leveraging mobile location technology. Brightkite also requires you to join another social network as opposed to fully integrating."