October 3, 2005
Picking up the signal | A Portland photographer makes a name for himself as a podcaster
By Sean Donahue
Every Friday morning, Franklin McMahon sits down in front of a microphone to serve up a weekly program of business advice and self-help tips to thousands of loyal listeners. But McMahon isn't a DJ or a talk show host ˆ he's a commercial photographer based in Portland. And his program, "Media Artist Secrets," isn't broadcast over the airwaves. It's recorded on his computer, and then uploaded to the Internet as an mp3 file for listeners to play on their computers or download to portable music players like an iPod.
McMahon is a podcaster, one of thousands of individuals and businesses creating a new kind of Internet audio programming that can contain music, sports talk, comedy routines, health and fitness tips or anything else that might be found on commercial radio. And he's a particularly successful podcaster, having won "best business podcast" in the first-ever Podcast Awards, an online competition in August in which more than 300,000 voters participated.
McMahon began offering his weekly 10-minute programs as a way to share with other creative professionals ˆ graphic designers, photographers and the like ˆ the expertise he's accumulated from reading business books and running his commercial photography company, Franklin McMahon Studio. But he also saw podcasting as a marketing channel that could help publicize his photography, and possibly help him launch a new career. "My stealth plan was to create awareness for me, just to get my name out there," says McMahon. "But I was also thinking about doing a book about being a media artist, and the podcast came along as way to position myself as an expert on creative marketing."
With that approach, McMahon is in the vanguard of the business podcasting movement, in which companies see an opportunity to find new customers, enhance their brand or just create a new corporate communications channel. Even giant companies are starting to experiment with the medium. For example, Purina offers podcasts about pet health and nutrition featuring interviews with veterinarians. General Motors' "FastLane" podcasts showcase topics ranging from highlights from the Buenos Aires auto show to interviews with engineers working on the new Corvette.
For all that interest, though, podcasting remains an extremely narrow niche. Currently, only about seven percent of active Internet users say they listen to a podcast monthly, according to a recent survey by JupiterResearch in New York. And the average podcast user is an Internet savvy male, age 18-34. "It's still a pretty small number of people using the technology," says JupiterResearch analyst Diane Clarkson. "For marketers, they need to make sure that they're targeting that seven percent, and that [a podcast] is going to suit their strategic purposes."
Finding the sweet spot
McMahon, at least, seems to have found the right combination. Since launching the podcast in May, McMahon says he has found an agent and is working on a book based on his "Media Artists Secrets" podcasts. He's also been hired to create new podcasts for Creative Cow, an online forum for media professionals. At the same time, he says his weekly show has garnered him recognition that's helped attract bigger clients for his photography work. "I'm getting more clients from this [than from] all the marketing I've done locally and nationally," says McMahon.
A year ago, he hadn't even heard of podcasting. But around the beginning of this year, a member of an online message board that McMahon organized posted a selection of songs strung together with his own DJ-like banter in between, and McMahon was intrigued. He began downloading other podcasts, and envisioned a program of his own to complement the Media Artists Secrets weblog he'd started.
By this spring, he'd bought a $5 microphone and begun recording mp3 files about how to turn a creative pursuit into a sustainable business. His show offers business advice such as developing a marketing strategy or designing a good portfolio to showcase your work. At the same time, he says he wanted the podcast to be more than just business 101, so his show also features regular motivational missives and life-coaching catch phrases ("If you don't know where [your business] is going, someone else is driving.") to inspire his listeners.
With that combination, regular listeners say he's living up to his goal of being both a business expert and a self-help coach. Gary Weinheimer, a listener from Reno, Nevada, started listening to "Media Artists Secrets" after launching his own commercial photography business this summer. "A lot of what [McMahon] says is common sense, but when you're in the middle of [launching your own business], common sense sometimes is not in the forefront of your mind," says Weinheimer. "[McMahon's podcast] helps keep me focused as I go."
These days, McMahon has ditched the $5 mic for a $99 professional unit, and spends about an hour tweaking his mp3 files, adding compression and equalization to make them sound more professional. He also spends about $25 a month with a web hosting company to ensure there's enough bandwidth for thousands of listeners (he declines to say exactly how many) to access his file. But those are about his only cash expenses, he says. The rest of the upfront investment was the time needed to learn technical aspects such as coding an mp3 file and creating an RSS feed, which allows subscribers to automatically receive his new programs. But McMahon says free software exists to help new podcasters get started.
Low costs are one reason why it makes sense for some businesses to try their own podcasts, says Clarkson of JupiterResearch. For example, she says podcasts can be a good branding tool for companies that sell expensive products that require a lot of consumer research, such as travel. A travel agency podcast could feature interviews with experts about choosing the right type of cruise, she says. "At this stage, there's a lot of benefit in experimenting for some companies," says Clarkson. "You just need to be very clear on the communications benefits behind [a podcast]."
Even with the success of "Media Artists Secrets," McMahon is still experimenting with the medium. He's planning to launch a new podcast in October focused on his photography that uses both still and video images, taking advantage of devices like a rumored new iPod with a video screen. He's also studying ways to create a subscription service on his website, where users could access features like online photography lessons and longer versions of his free "Media Artist Secrets" podcasts for a monthly fee.
As excited as he is about the medium, though, McMahon realizes that relatively few people have even heard the term podcasting. But instead of being discouraged by the small numbers, McMahon is excited about the growth potential. "The sweet spot is when your mother has a podcast," says McMahon. "That's when [a technology] hits critical mass."
McMahon is a podcaster, one of thousands of individuals and businesses creating a new kind of Internet audio programming that can contain music, sports talk, comedy routines, health and fitness tips or anything else that might be found on commercial radio. And he's a particularly successful podcaster, having won "best business podcast" in the first-ever Podcast Awards, an online competition in August in which more than 300,000 voters participated.
McMahon began offering his weekly 10-minute programs as a way to share with other creative professionals ˆ graphic designers, photographers and the like ˆ the expertise he's accumulated from reading business books and running his commercial photography company, Franklin McMahon Studio. But he also saw podcasting as a marketing channel that could help publicize his photography, and possibly help him launch a new career. "My stealth plan was to create awareness for me, just to get my name out there," says McMahon. "But I was also thinking about doing a book about being a media artist, and the podcast came along as way to position myself as an expert on creative marketing."
With that approach, McMahon is in the vanguard of the business podcasting movement, in which companies see an opportunity to find new customers, enhance their brand or just create a new corporate communications channel. Even giant companies are starting to experiment with the medium. For example, Purina offers podcasts about pet health and nutrition featuring interviews with veterinarians. General Motors' "FastLane" podcasts showcase topics ranging from highlights from the Buenos Aires auto show to interviews with engineers working on the new Corvette.
For all that interest, though, podcasting remains an extremely narrow niche. Currently, only about seven percent of active Internet users say they listen to a podcast monthly, according to a recent survey by JupiterResearch in New York. And the average podcast user is an Internet savvy male, age 18-34. "It's still a pretty small number of people using the technology," says JupiterResearch analyst Diane Clarkson. "For marketers, they need to make sure that they're targeting that seven percent, and that [a podcast] is going to suit their strategic purposes."
Finding the sweet spot
McMahon, at least, seems to have found the right combination. Since launching the podcast in May, McMahon says he has found an agent and is working on a book based on his "Media Artists Secrets" podcasts. He's also been hired to create new podcasts for Creative Cow, an online forum for media professionals. At the same time, he says his weekly show has garnered him recognition that's helped attract bigger clients for his photography work. "I'm getting more clients from this [than from] all the marketing I've done locally and nationally," says McMahon.
A year ago, he hadn't even heard of podcasting. But around the beginning of this year, a member of an online message board that McMahon organized posted a selection of songs strung together with his own DJ-like banter in between, and McMahon was intrigued. He began downloading other podcasts, and envisioned a program of his own to complement the Media Artists Secrets weblog he'd started.
By this spring, he'd bought a $5 microphone and begun recording mp3 files about how to turn a creative pursuit into a sustainable business. His show offers business advice such as developing a marketing strategy or designing a good portfolio to showcase your work. At the same time, he says he wanted the podcast to be more than just business 101, so his show also features regular motivational missives and life-coaching catch phrases ("If you don't know where [your business] is going, someone else is driving.") to inspire his listeners.
With that combination, regular listeners say he's living up to his goal of being both a business expert and a self-help coach. Gary Weinheimer, a listener from Reno, Nevada, started listening to "Media Artists Secrets" after launching his own commercial photography business this summer. "A lot of what [McMahon] says is common sense, but when you're in the middle of [launching your own business], common sense sometimes is not in the forefront of your mind," says Weinheimer. "[McMahon's podcast] helps keep me focused as I go."
These days, McMahon has ditched the $5 mic for a $99 professional unit, and spends about an hour tweaking his mp3 files, adding compression and equalization to make them sound more professional. He also spends about $25 a month with a web hosting company to ensure there's enough bandwidth for thousands of listeners (he declines to say exactly how many) to access his file. But those are about his only cash expenses, he says. The rest of the upfront investment was the time needed to learn technical aspects such as coding an mp3 file and creating an RSS feed, which allows subscribers to automatically receive his new programs. But McMahon says free software exists to help new podcasters get started.
Low costs are one reason why it makes sense for some businesses to try their own podcasts, says Clarkson of JupiterResearch. For example, she says podcasts can be a good branding tool for companies that sell expensive products that require a lot of consumer research, such as travel. A travel agency podcast could feature interviews with experts about choosing the right type of cruise, she says. "At this stage, there's a lot of benefit in experimenting for some companies," says Clarkson. "You just need to be very clear on the communications benefits behind [a podcast]."
Even with the success of "Media Artists Secrets," McMahon is still experimenting with the medium. He's planning to launch a new podcast in October focused on his photography that uses both still and video images, taking advantage of devices like a rumored new iPod with a video screen. He's also studying ways to create a subscription service on his website, where users could access features like online photography lessons and longer versions of his free "Media Artist Secrets" podcasts for a monthly fee.
As excited as he is about the medium, though, McMahon realizes that relatively few people have even heard the term podcasting. But instead of being discouraged by the small numbers, McMahon is excited about the growth potential. "The sweet spot is when your mother has a podcast," says McMahon. "That's when [a technology] hits critical mass."
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