Would You Pay .25 for a Listener?

[cybercooler]

Hello everyone,
A month or so ago I created www.learntosubscribe.com (http://www.learntosubscribe.com) to help the community teach our listeners how to subscribe to a podcast (get links at www.learntosubscribe.com/linktous.htm (http://www.learntosubscribe.com/linktous.htm) )

Now what I've done is tacked on a new kind of podcast directory at www.learntosubscribe.com/podcast (http://www.learntosubscribe.com/podcast) ) The thought being that now that we have a fair amount of traffic coming in, why not get the new potential listeners while they are hot? (they go directly from the tutorial to the directory).

To help pay for the site, I've made this directory a little different (OK alot different). You have to pay to be included. But wait, hear me out. You can spend as little as $5 and you buy clicks (20 for $5 or .25 a click). You upload your 300X300 jpg image and if nobody clicks your image, your account is unchainged. If people click your link they are taken to your site where they will hopefully subscribe (remember they just watched the video on how to subscribe).

So the question is, would you spend .25 to get a new listener? I would love all feedback (good, bad, ugly, etc).

Dave Jackson
www.learntosubscribe.com (http://www.learntosubscribe.com)

[X Pat Radio]

So the question is, would you spend .25 to get a new listener? I would love all feedback (good, bad, ugly, etc).


No way. I'm not going to pay to get listeners!

[etomorrow]

if i was paying, it would be a viable advertising source.

[WildeGeek]

So the question is, would you spend .25 to get a new listener? I would love all feedback (good, bad, ugly, etc).
Not unless you included a sure-fire scheme for me to get $0.75 or more from each one before I owed you the $0.25.

[Yotto]

I personally would not either.

[Barefoot Radio.com]

Offhand, it sounds ridiculous to me!!

[cybercooler]

First of all, thanks for the input.
I got the same thing at the pickle. I'm trying to find something to do with www.learntotsubcribe.com (http://www.learntotsubcribe.com) (you can put a video on your website to teach potential listners how to subscribe).

My initial creation of the video was not to monetize, but now that people are using it (and thats a good thing) I wanted to do something to help pay for the bandwidth of the video. With so many free directories it does seem silly (even if you are more likely to be featured on the front page, and you only have your balance deducted if a click happens).

I have podcastclicks.com (a compeltely free service), but that (at times) is a headache with people putting adult-ish content in the wrong category. I was hoping this would be a few, concentrated podcasts, instead of overwhleming the potential listener with thousands of choices (which could lead to confusion).

What would do you at the end of the www.learntosubscribe.com (http://www.learntosubscribe.com) video. Just stop it and do nothing? I purposely didn't point it at my podcast as I wanted people to use the tutorial.

What about this $5 bucks a year to use the video, and your podcast gets added in the directory? hmm not sure I like that idea much either. Any suggestions what to do with this traffic?

[Rasheed]

I think your idea of creating a list of podcasts is flawed, because you lead new podcast listeners/viewers into believing that finding new podcasts is easy, because there are only a few podcasts worth listening/watching.

BTW This is exactly what is flawed in current podcast directories. Finding what is interesting depends on a powerful search engine, which has an easy to use and understand user interface. I rather have a distributed way to find podcasts. What are your friends and other people you're interested in listening to and what are their favorites? Having a central database is so web 1.0, so wanting to control people and decide for them, instead of simply enabling people and letting them decide for themselves.

[Hittman]

As I said on The Pickle, I don't think the idea is bad, just that you're charging approximately five times too much. Make it five bucks for a hundred clicks (which might turn into 10-15 subscribers) and I'd consider it.

[WyethDigital]

You know my thoughts from the Pickle. To paraphrase here, my response was that a fee is only fair if you charge people who aren't giving your video a spot on their home page.

To some podcasters, especially hobbyist podcsters, or "HobbyCasters" (did I just coin a new podphrase? And is "podphrase" new, too?!), a spot for your video on their blog is no big deal. To someone hoping to monetize their own show/website, however, it can be a very big deal, especially if the act of watching the video takes my web visitor to a site or a directory of podcasts other than my own. Remember, the idea of putting your video on my site in the first place would be to get them to subscribe to my podcast, not someone else's. Sounds cold, but let that other podcast train their own viewers/listeners how to subscribe to a podcast.

Here's a new idea for you (I should get a consulting fee for this, it's so brilliant): Instead of charging podcasters to list in a directory you have to maintain, why not approach an existing podcast directory about being linked to the video. You could even do some branding in the video or it's player to tie it into the directory.

Your current revenue idea is so-so for podcasters, but if a directory was looking to spend some ad dollars to gain new users, I can't think of a better way than a branded tutorial on how to subscribe to podcasts. I don't think you'll get rich, but you'll more than likely earn more than selling this to podcasters.

Eric

[cybercooler]

why not approach an existing podcast directory about being linked to the video. You could even do some branding in the video or it's player to tie it into the directory.
Eric

I've sniffed the idea with the pickle, maybe I should talk to the ferf. In reality I think (I do not know this, just my thoughts) most directories want people to listen online in front of their advertisers... maybe....

[WyethDigital]

I've sniffed the idea with the pickle, maybe I should talk to the ferf. In reality I think (I do not know this, just my thoughts) most directories want people to listen online in front of their advertisers... maybe....

That's an interesting thought. I've never gotten that impression, except with the PodShow site. I think if directories in general did think as you suggest, they would put more emphasis on the quality of listening experience. To be quite honest, I've yet to be impressed with a podcast player on a directory.

But that brings to mind a counterpoint to yours: If a podcast directory such as Podcast Pickle wanted a listener to consume the podcast at the directory, why make a player available to podcaster's to embed on their website, as P. Dilly and the Pickle staff do? And in the case of PCA, why not put a player right on the front page that would play the Top 10 or random podcasts? I think most directories probably expect you to subscribe and listen remotely. That is what podcasts are all about...

Eric

[cybercooler]

Ok,
Per everyone's suggestion on every message board I posted this idea. The price has been dropped to .05 a click on every page except the front (which is .10) Keep in mind, if nobody clicks your image it just keeps on rotating, and rotating, and rotating...

[NeilShapiro]

I signed up at your new rates. I figure that for the small investment I can see from your stats page how well it does and if it does good for me I think it would be a no-brainer to continue. When I consider the money that I have put into this podcast doing such things as buying microphones I think the cost for potential listeners to start the ball rolling is reasonable. One thing, the alt-tags do not seem to display for me when I mouse over a banner ad, neither my own ad or any of the others. I'm on a Mac using the Camino (Firefox enhanced for Intel Mac) browser.

Neil Shapiro
neil@bookhobby.com
www.bookhobby.com (http://www.bookhobby.com)
feeds.feedburner.com/bookhobbycom
"Books Are More Precious Than Gold"

[Shawn]

I think your idea is OK, Dave. I think that the fundamental problem you're facing here is that you're selling traffic, and traffic doesn't automatically convert to listeners (unfortunately). Still, it's not a bad way to monetize your site, and the initial invenstments for podcasters is pretty low. Maybe I'll give it a try just to see if it does anything for me.

[kickasspodcast]

This is a dumb idea. You can't "buy" listeners. Obviously people must feel compelled to download and timeshift based on the quality of the content. Plain and Simple: bad idea.

If you are a podcaster and are taking this idea seriously, stop. Improve one small thing about your show and it will be time better spent. Save the nickels, buy a better mic or buy tickets to a concert and record yourself at the show, pay a crackwhore to upper deck your dentist and record it- doesn't matter, in the end it will be better than following this notion of "buying" listeners.

Jack

[EndGamePR]

As I posted over at the Pickle, I just don't think this will work. There are too many free directories out there that would be competition.