Sunday, September 23, 2007

Podcasting Used As a Business Marketing Tool by Media Publishing Giant Simon & Schuster

This is something I am interested in doing once I get established in my new location, get a new computer, and an "office" that is quiet.


Podcasting has hit the marketing world big time with the recent launch of a new podcast by Simon & Schuster. I was recently involved in a consulting role with a podcasting project with publishing giant Simon and Schuster and their website www.simonsays.com. They are using this podcast RSS feed to interview world famous authors and have authors read excerpts from their books. This is a brilliant marketing strategy for their website, authors, products and brand.

They are actually using the podcast to promote the products that they publish. This is a very innovative business marketing strategy. They are publishing 30 minute podcast shows every week. This allows potential consumers to get exposure to their products. This will create increased interest in their products. This will in turn drive sales and increase the branding for their business. This professionally produced podcast series of shows will undoubtedly become a favorite of many consumers.

It is also noteworthy to mention that you do not need an iPod to listen to a podcast. You can simply listen to podcasts on your desktop computer. You can subscribe to podcast feeds with Yahoo, iTunes, Mozilla Firefox, Google Desktop Search Toolbar 2.0, or any variety of desktop podcast RSS feed reader software tools.

The business benefits of a proper podcast marketing strategy can be quite immense. Podcasting is another business communication and marketing tool that allows businesses to communicate with their target market. Subscribers to the podcasts RSS feed will automatically receive new podcasts when they are published. Businesses that create podcasts can have a direct communication and marketing channel online.

Having a quality professional podcast that delivers value added exclusive content can increase your online visibility. Search engines such as Google will index podcasts feeds, Blog and podcast directories will list podcast feeds, and targeted traffic will subscribe to thos e podcast feeds. Let's also remember that a quality podcast has the opportunity to be listed in the iTunes podcast directory and found by over 40 million users.

Leveraging podcasting as a business promotion and marketing tool is going to be part of the business landscape online for years to come. When media giants such as CBS, Viacom, and countless other business giants such as IBM and Oracle are podcasting; you can bet money that this marketing media format is here to stay.

Your business should give serious consideration to creating a podcast marketing strategy with experienced professionals in this field. This is a marketing and communication medium that your business will want to execute and leverage for maximum marketing and business benefit online.

You may want to read an informative white paper about this new business marketing technology. You can read this white paper at www.leveragedpromotion.com/products.html

Author Bio
Rodney Rumford is the founder of http://www.Podblaze.com and is a business marketing consultant specializing in new media marketing tools such as Podcasting and Business Blogs. He is also co-founder of www.leveragedpromotion.com

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Monday, September 17, 2007

Will Work for Books!

The Great Bookstore Job Hunt

OK, I have been burned out in Colorado Springs. The pay is too low, the cost of living too high, along with the temperature, it is so boring, almost to tears. I need a change. I need a better paying job. So I have begun the search.

I have three or four, out of state cities in mind. I will be seeking out opportunities. One major criteria is good public transportation, since my car was stolen back in July. Uh huh.

I'll start with my current employer, the competition, and private books stores. Even if everything else is the same, I won't be here. Colorado Springs truly sucks......LOL.

One thing I find strange about my current employer, but not the first, is they don't utilize me to the fullest. I have over ten years experience in retail, five in management. I have taken 50% of required MBA courses in Management and completed a M. Ed program. I am a bookseller, along with a dozen 21 yr olds who never finished college, and at the same rate of pay. I have been “employee of the month”, got good reviews........my first raise was 7 cents. Uh huh. I get no benefits, because they keep me below 32 hours (usually 30 hours per week). I made twice as much on unemployment! I made twice as much as a temp! Why would employers not utilize employees to their greatest potential? Just to save a few bucks per hour? Are corporations really that cheap?

Or is the fact I just turned 59 the problem? Hmmmmmmmm?

Three years till I turn 62 and get those SS checks..which will be larger than my current paycheck. I'll survive!

Let the job hunt begin!

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

Writing Straight To DVD Movies

Screenplay is a reference to a script for full-length movie. In times past, full-length movies were always distributed to and shown in movie theaters. There's a new strategy, however, for any number of produced full-length movies, and that strategy is bypassing movie theaters completely, and instead being distributed as a home rental DVD.

One of the benefits of straight-to-DVD releases is a reduction in marketing costs. Marketing costs for a theater release film are not at all insignificant. It wouldn't take a great deal for a theater release movie to spend thirty million dollars in advertising.

Consider that virtually every theater release film is advertised in some form of print media, and often on television as well -- mostly at so-called prime time hours, where the greatest reach occurs but where costs are also highest. And costs for television advertising can be astronomical. The cost for a Super Bowl ad is at the million dollar level. Given such a scenario, it's easy to see how a prime-time television show with good market reach could mean an ad spot cost of three hundred thousand dollars or more.

The straight-to-DVD film can spend on advertising, but it's not especially typical. In most cases the main form of advertising for a straight-to-DVD movie is its box cover. The DVD box cover sits on a shelf in a video franchise store, customers walk past, see the DVD box, make some form of a choice about the film, and make a purchase or not. This is why having a name actor can be critical to a straight-to-DVD's commercial success: the name actor serves as a selling point, and will be always featured prominently on the DVD box cover. This sort of leverage makes for potential profit points in addition to a salary.

The screenwriter for a straight-to-DVD production will likely see no profit points, and will receive a lesser salary than the screenwriter writing for a major theater release film. This should not be seen in a pessimistic light. Writing a script for a straight-to-DVD release that has a good amount of push behind it will generate a pay of tens of thousands of dollars, at least. It will also count as project experience, and having project experience counts for a great deal in Hollywood.

Being a screenwriter for a straight-to-DVD production also means becoming part of the straight-to-DVD market. The reality is that straight-to-DVD movie making is a profitable industry, and the proof of this is that straight-to-DVD movies are still being produced. The bottom line in the entertainment industry is profit, and if there's no profit to be made, no product will be made. The writer who writes the script for a straight-to-DVD film is a member of a profit industry, and gets access to all the perks that go along with that.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR


Zinn Jeremiah is a freelance writer. Read more of Zinn's work at article exchange. Find resources about screenwriting at screenplay writing.