IT Conversations Goes Deep on Convering Costs

[theFerf]

Read through a Wiki a the IT Conversations (http://www.itconversations.com) website that talked about how to cover the costs of producing and providing their podcasts. You can find the whole conversation here (http://www.itconversations.com/wikis/itc/pmwiki.php/Main/BusinessModel).

The one question I'm asked about IT Conversations more than any other is, "What's your business model?" After 18 months, nearly 300 programs and now with the New Year looming, the time has come to answer that question.

I'd like your help in deciding how to make IT Conversations self-sustaining. As is true for other podcasters (if you can call IT Conversations a podcast) this is virgin territory. No one really knows what will work and what won't. But if any business model is to be successful it's got to meet the needs of the listeners without whom there would be no business to model.

Points They Bring Up:
Sell sponsorships, Sell text/graphics ads, Sell audio spots, Micropayment, The tip jar, Membership (and the different levels) plus tons of user feedback.

[hud]

a quick word about the tip jar. there are a few podcasts that i would be happy to send $10 bucks to if there was a paypal link.

not pushing paypal but i really like the ease of payment. and if i really use a website i have no issues with sending a "gift" as a thank you for your time. surely others feel the same way.

ferf, i would put one on podcast alley .. not sure it should be a huge link but somewhere.

i am sure a paypal link may not generate a lot of cash but enough to buy a new iPod. :wink:

[SteveWebb]

One of the things I'm struggling with is the fact that my podcast is based out of my church. I would like to establish a revenue stream that will take care of bandwidth AND generate some income for a salary for myself. I do most of the tech stuff around the church on a volunteer basis because it's a smallish church that can't afford to pay me. One thing I can't do is endanger the non-profit staus of the church.

Any ideas?

[Cookiepuss]

a quick word about the tip jar. there are a few podcasts that i would be happy to send $10 bucks to if there was a paypal link.

not pushing paypal but i really like the ease of payment. and if i really use a website i have no issues with sending a "gift" as a thank you for your time. surely others feel the same way.

ferf, i would put one on podcast alley .. not sure it should be a huge link but somewhere.

i am sure a paypal link may not generate a lot of cash but enough to buy a new iPod. :wink:

Just a quick comment on the 'donation' concept. I can speak from experience that *most* people are very cheap when it comes to donations. I have ran a very successful (in terms of exposure/downloads) open source porject for going on 3 years. Total over that time people have donated maybe $400. With my dedicated server coting $120 a month it never made a ddent in costs. I am near having to abandon the project if SourceForge is not willing to host it.

So I would say you need better income than donations alone.

[phylaxis]

Cookie is right. Tip jars really don't work. I have one on my site and I have earned a total of $23.00. The best model may be seling advertising, but that sort of goes against the very concept of podcasting. Once you have ads you it's not long before you may need to bend content to meet the needs or influence of your sponsors. You can't spout of a "f*&k" or bad mouth the car industry if Ford is running ads on your network. Ugh.

[Ali_D]

I think the likelyhood of a company like Ford sponsoring a podcast seems pretty unlikely. A company that big would probably create their own, rather than plough money into an existing one.

I think the idea of advertising in podcasting is unjustly maligned. The beauty of podcasts it rightly the complete freedom of expression, but it's not nessecarily true to say that content would be bent to appease sponsors. When Dawn and Drew had the MSN mobile adverts in their show, they were brilliantly foul mouthed as usual. Reel Reviews currently has Bluecat Screenplay competition, but the reviews are still as good as always.

As someone who works for a small independant radio station, I know advertising is the lifeblood of the station. Most shows on this station have a sponsor, (normally a local business, but recently a local branch of an international car dealership) and I can guarentee we've never been put under any pressure from sponsors when it comes to either music or content.

I realise that under the current social climate that advertising is equated with censorship, but I'm planning a to make a podcast in the next couple of months, for fun. I'd love it if I could at least cover the costs involved. Advertising seems the logical way of doing it.

[camilian]

I have been trying what I feel is a great option on my site. I trade for product. If there is a product I would like to try or am interested in I will contact the manufacturer and ask for a sample to review or "media pricing". I have yet to be turned down by anyone and have received hundreds of dollars in merchandise. (my new www.Brondell.com Swash 600 toilet seat that I got for price is shipping today!). My site is about pooping so it's a little hard to ask for products that are not related, but if you are doing something you love go ahead and use the "I'm with the media" approach to get products you might purchase anyway:

Some ideas:

Lurid.com podcast - contact Subway and get Toby some sandwiches
Dawn & Drew - contact porn sites and video houses
Reality Bitch Slap - Contact film and video tape manufactures for product to test in your films.
Yeast Radio - Contact Max Factor
God Casts - Free bibles and crosses
Reel Reviews - film company screeners!