Let’s face it, most of the people go into podcast as a hobby. They contribute many funny and somewhat valuable contents for free. Maybe they got hundreds of subscribers who share the common interests. But they rarely make good amount of money. Did you know that you can turn it to a revenue generating marketing channel?

First of all, what is podcasting?

In a nutshell, podcasting is a form of blogging that utilizes the spoken word and/or video as the method of delivery as compared to traditional blogging which utilizes the written text.  However, it should be noted that podcasting is not used for just “blogging” . Some companies/businesses have used podcasting as a means of communication, as well as a vehicle for their marketing activities. With its rapidly growing popularity, podcasting is seen by some as the future of radio and radio broadcasts.

Technically speaking, podcasting is a method of delivering series of digital content (primarily audio and video) through the net for listening and viewing on digital media players/devices and computers (desktops and laptops).

Podcast differ from the traditional downloading of media files (though websites and web browsers) such that they rely on RSS feeds (just like blogs and news feeds) which automatically notifies the end-users, particularly subscribers, of new releases/episodes and automatically downloads the material to the user’s preferred device without the user having to revisit the site on which the files are hosted.

How do you make money by podcast marketing?

For local businesses, no matter what you provide (product or service), it’s the best way to use podcast to brand you and your business. You can do this by providing podcast subscribers with valuable content/information, for free.

Just go all out and do your best to earn the trust of your subscribers. And while you’re at it, briefly talk about your brand, talk about your products or services once in a while. Just don’t rub it in, don’t smother your audience with it.

Don’t worry you won’t see any new leads for your local business for the first few weeks or even months. Once you’ve earned your subscribers’ trust, it’s highly probable that when your subscribers would need the products or services you are offering, they will go to you rather than go look for them some place else. And that’s where you’ll get your revenue.

What’s great about podcasting is that you can use this brand building techniques in combination with other techniques such as paid (extra) contents and advertising, thus maximizing your podcasting earning potential.

Since many marketers haven’t realized all the benefits of video marketing, or they haven’t started to do that. It leaves enough room for you if you decide to do video marketing even from Today!

There are three benefits to do video marketing:

1. It has SEO benefit. Because you can put your site link in the video profile. The link which is also a backlink to your site will pass on some SEO value from those high rank video sites to your site;

2. Video is eye catching. Humans are likely to click to view a 2-3 minutes video from the beginning to the end, while rarely finish reading a 300 or more words article. So video marketing is one of the most efficient ways to deliver your message.

3. The more people view it, the higher your video will get ranked on video sites and. At the end Google will most probably rank your video on top of its search result page.

Since many marketers haven’t realized all the benefits of video marketing, or they haven’t started to do that. It leaves enough room for you if you decide to do video marketing even from Today!

There are three benefits to do video marketing:

1. It has SEO benefit. Because you can put your site link in the video profile. The link which is also a backlink to your site will pass on some SEO value from those high rank video sites to your site;

2. Video is eye catching. Humans are likely to click to view a 2-3 minutes video from the beginning to the end, while rarely finish reading a 300 or more words article. So video marketing is one of the most efficient ways to deliver your message.

3. The more people view it, the higher your video will get ranked on video sites and. At the end Google will most probably rank your video on top of its search result page.

Apple hits the sweet spot.

According to the “Smartphone Usage and Brand Study” from Crowd Science, 13% of mobile phone users surveyed worldwide (with approximately half from the US) use iPhones, overtaking Blackberry at 9%.

Not only are iPhone owners more satisfied—and more brand-loyal—than any other smartphone users, they use the most smartphone features.

Highly satisfied customers add up to big brand equity for Apple. Fully 82% of iPhone users told Crowd Science they would probably or definitely purchase an iPhone again, and 97% would recommend the device to someone else.

What’s more, 38% of smartphone users without an iPhone said they would probably or definitely buy one next, compared with just 14% of non-BlackBerry users who would purchase a BlackBerry.

The most commonly used smartphone functions, on average, were the Internet (80% of respondents), camera (74%) and e-mail (73%).

Web surfing, of course, it’s one of iphone’s biggest advantages. Nowadays, people use build-in camera a lot. What do they usually do with it? Record videos and upload them to tons of video sites. It is fun and it is one of the most powerful marketing ways: video marketing.

Video marketing is a must to build credibility with your potential customers no matter whether it’s a live one or recorded one. And it is pretty easy to do: use your build in camera (iphone or blackberry or many other cell phone), introduce you and your business in front of the camera, then record it. After that, upload the video to some video sites, i.e. youtube.com, dailymotion.com, yahoo video, etc.

As part of my consulting service, I also provide video marketing services for local businesses. I record and make professional looking videos, upload them to your site and broadcast them to hundreds of video sites. Contact me for details.