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More On The Podcasting Wave

Chuck Zimmerman

ZimmCast ImageThis image is normally used in our posts when we’re alerting you to the latest ZimmCast. This time though I just wanted to bring your attention to podcasting again and a good recent article in BusinessWeek Online.

I’ve said it before and will keep saying it. You ag groups especially should consider podcasting now. Just because a lot of farmers aren’t yet carrying their MP3 players around (anyone know how many?) doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be creating your own programs. This is even more true for groups that need to reach the consumer!! Here’s an excerpt from the BusinessWeek article that that makes some good points:

But the heart of the podcasting movement is in the world of blogs, those millions of personal Web pages that have become a global sensation. In a blogosphere that has grown largely on the written word, podcasts add a soundtrack. It’s not like the traditional Internet sound, which usually involves visiting a Web site. What’s special about podcasts is that they’re dispatched directly to users who ask for them.

In this, they’re like the written content on blogs. But podcasts go a step further. They can be delivered not just to your home page but to the music program on your computer, whether it’s Apple’s (AAPL ) iTunes, Microsoft’s (MSFT ) Windows Media Player, or another. From there, it can go straight to your MP3 player.

I say let your written word “speak for itself.” Do a podcast. I can teach you how or you can find lots of resources on the internet. You’ve probably seen our posts each week for the MBIC Report and CornTalk. These are weekly interview programs that two of Missouri’s more innovative commodity groups have been producing and distributing to farm broadcasters for some time. That’s still being done. The broadcaster has a fully produced program to air or draw sound bites from. Some do their own interviews but have this recording as a backup. Additionally, we stream the audio and create and post the file that you (or their members or anyone in the general public) can subscribe to and download the program to your computer. You can then listen on your computer or sync it into your Ipod or similar device to listen to anytime/anywhere you want.

This is great producer/consumer communications. A new public relations tool. Let me know if you’ve got questions and I’ll do my best to answer them. In fact, if you email me I’ll be glad to post an answer for others who may be wondering the same thing.

I’ll ask one of my own. Are any of you podcasting now? If so, let me know and I’ll make sure to bring it to our reader’s attention.

Ag Groups, Agribusiness, Podcasts