In a few weeks it will be three years since I published my first podcast. Definitely an important milestone. While I have been blogging for a few years it was podcasting that really got me interested in all aspects of social media. For the good part of the last year I dedicated a significant amount of time to the marketing efforts for startup in the podcasting space. I’m no longer involved with that company so I think its time to start feeding my knowledge to the community at large.

There are a good number of companies out there that are vying for the affections of podcasters and their audiences. Some are selling software. Others as selling content. And many are selling their version of a directory or social network. Most of these companies are grasping at straws. There is a definite lack of understanding when it comes to what podcasters are all about. They’re not simply people who need media hosting and a feed generated. And most podcasters don’t have their nose in magazines salivating over social media topics. Some do for sure. But this small segment of the market is covered.

Take this to the bank. You can’t create a lucrative business around podcasting until you have a deep understanding of who podcasters are. I believe that Stephen Covey would agree with me.

• Podcasters are media publishers. We are publishing audio and video. It sounds simple but I think that publishing has changed drastically in the last few years. Where it used to be, “I publish to my site.” It is now, “I publish to my site and I update a number of other places.” What places? Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and iTunes to name a few. We’re maintaining many presences and we need help managing publishing to a variety of outlets.
• Podcasters are community builders. Some are and some aren’t. You can bet that the podcasters who are building communities around their media are also fiercely passionate about what they are doing. I started my Amazin Moments Clubhouse to have place to create a deeper connection with my audience. Epic Fu uses Ning to power their Mix community. Neville and Shel at FIR have created a community around both text and audio comments. Keith and the Girl have an active forum and even do live events. We’re going beyond the media to create strong bonds and provide services to our audiences.
• Podcasters are entrepreneurs. Once again, some are and some aren’t. Some podcasters are out there looking to make a business out of what they are doing. Not all podcast entrepreneurs are building communities, although I think that step is a critical part of the process. These people are seeking streams of revenue from their shows. Many focus on advertising. Some are promoting books, movies or services that they provide. This is a very complex, but also very lucrative segment of the market. Anyone who is seriously in the game to make money should be willing to pay for the right services that can help them build a business. Many companies in the space have taken what appears to be the easiest route to revenue by focusing on selling advertising. More on that in a future post. Just be advised that there are other ways that companies can helped podcast entrepreneurs and generate revenue while doing so.

A word about audiences. Let the podcaster bring their audience to you. Forget about creating a destination for the audience. When I’m looking for media online I either got to Google or iTunes to search for what I’m looking for. I’m not coming to your site. And if the search result in Google brings me to your site, I’ll click through to the content creator’s primary site. That’s where I can find their comments, community and the other things they have to offer.

If you provide valuable tools and services then you will benefit from podcaster’s audiences without having to be a destination. FeedBurner is a great example of a service where the podcaster voluntarily brings them their audience. FeedBurner doesn’t host audio or video. And they aren’t a destination site. They provide media publishers with value added services that those publishers can port to their own sites and communities. Things have worked out well for FeedBurner.

The time and money that you spend getting to know what podcasters really need is a very good investment. If you use that knowledge to provide services that help podcasters to take their publishing, community building and entrepreneurship to the next level then everyone will win in the end.