Curry cast the pod into success

Podcasting is a very hot topic for those who appreciate the importance of a serious web presence, so I went to seek advice from one of the originators of the craft, Adam Curry, also known as "The Podfather."

His story is the classic combination of having talent and being in the right place at the right time. Being passionate about music, his first proper job was as a DJ on a pirate radio station before eventually going legitimate with MTV, providing chat and comment between the music videos.

The Internet arrived in the early 90s and he decided it was fun and interesting long before there was even a World Wide Web. Curry made the crucial observation that all the cool kids who watched him on MTV were also online and wanted to communicate with him directly.

He personally registered the domain name www.mtv.com and then set about finding ways to monetise this new audience. Curry realised that what they wanted to do was relatively simple: Browse content, archive information, chat to each other and send e-mails. His first big coup was to acquire the exclusive web rights to the Grammy awards and he cleared £2 million (Dh10.12 million) on one event.

Advertisers then came knocking on his door and he built up a very successful new media agency showing how companies such as Proctor and Gamble, Budweiser and Reebok could leverage their brands on the Web. Eventually, he decided to sell his company, a decision seen as very foolish at the time; Curry remembers appearing on the cover of a well-known business magazine with a dunce's cap Photoshopped onto his head. A few months later the dot com crash turned into a visionary in an instant.

After the traditional period having fun, flying helicopters and buying a castle in Europe, he became re-engaged with technology, this time spotting the potential of the cool new device from Apple, the iPod. While others just saw the potential of listening to music on the move, he saw an opportunity for his audience to subscribe to audio content and download talk shows. Podcasting, broadcasting not to the airwaves, but to an iPod, was born.

There is no inherent magic about podcasting; all it does is provide on-line audio, connecting people who cannot get exposure on traditional channels with listeners who want bite-sized chunks of content when it suits them, not necessarily at a particular broadcast time. Curry's view is that while on-line, video should be no longer than three minutes.

Monetisation of your podcast is simple once you have a large number of regular listeners. Advertising is an obvious source of revenue, and Curry recommends what he calls "brand safe" videos, bespoke and appropriate content for advertisers.

Podcasting is clearly a sensible option for those who generate content for a living. Any company can turn its successful customer stories into podcasts for relatively little expense compared to a traditional advertising campaign. This will not only give your happy customers a chance to tell the world your success stories for you, it will also make them much more loyal, a very desirable attribute in these challenging times.

The writer is a best-selling author, keynote speaker and entrepreneur mentor and co-founder of Beermat.biz, an on-line resource for entrepreneurs.