Join a network, or Diy?

[ronaldl79]

With the explosion of podcasts, a number of networks are coming online to attract sponsors/advertisers to its podcasting community. Personally, I don't find these offerings attractive, as I feel it minimizes the independence and freedom afforded by early adopters. So, how does the community feel about this subject? I'm going it alone, which is more exciting for me -- in fact, I managed to capture the interest of a large company last week -- so, it gave me hope that I could pull off luring a big sponsor on my own.

Ron

[kinkysex]

I look at networks like my show:

I created a show I wanted to hear (or a close approximation).
Then, I went looking for a network that fit my terms. No compromise needed.

Why not just find a number of like-minded individuals and split the work? You only need one more to be a 'network'. :lol:

Remember that everyone here could start their own network. What you do with it is the tough bit.

[wlw-winegeek]

The advantage to a network is that your few thousand listeners, combined with the few thousand listeners from another show, combined with the few thousand listeners from yet another show, and so on is a more attractive market audience for the advertisers.

I signed up with Podtrac, and I can decide to decline an advertiser if I want.

On the other hand, Grape Radio appears to be running on its own, and from what I understand, it has been financially successful.

WLW

[WyethDigital]

So, how does the community feel about this subject?
I guess that depends on which network it is. Seems every community finds a way to divide itself at some point, and in the podcasting world, it seems to be allegience to what brand (or lack of) network you belong to that is the rift. That seems counter-productive to me. Do you yell at your neighbor for eating the wrong cornflakes? Then why should your neighbor's network matter?

I'm going it alone, which is more exciting for me -- in fact, I managed to capture the interest of a large company last week -- so, it gave me hope that I could pull off luring a big sponsor on my own.
That's what we're doing for now. We feel we have a strong potential audience with our Podcast, and as we grow and get better, we'll have better opportunites. That's not to say that if we found someone with a great offer, we wouldn't consider it, but until that happens, we'll keep our options open and independent.

Eric

[SamuraiShow]

I say join what ever you can just as long as you don't pay.