Podcast Pandemonium

So this is my first post on this blog, and I suppose the purpose of this blog, is to start a discussion on the various areas of PR, as well as, act as an outlet for me to express the positives and negatives of my job search in the industry. I am currently working in Alumni Relations and Development, but as many jobs are these days, it is a contract position so and I'm slowly nearing the end date - so I've got to get my head in the game again.

Anyhow, I thought I'd start off with a topic that has kind of overtaken most of my free time in the past few weeks. I am beginning to realize how brilliant/effective Podcasting is for the PR world. Through my schooling there was much discussion of podcasting and I always thought 'they sounded fun' but never really got interested in them until recently. I was chatting with my better half a few weeks ago, and he had downloaded a few podcasts previously and I asked him to show me how it all works. Boy, does it make a difference to see the diversity and the sheer number of them in front of you. Somehow a instructor lecturing about how great they are didn't really get the picture across to me. Since then, I've subscribed to quite a few - i'm quite interested in health/fitness/nutrition, so a vast majority of them are related to that. I also added some language podcasts, because I am quite certain that it would be beneficial for me to brush up on my French when I apply for jobs. Lets face it - when you live in Canada - not speaking French practically rules out an entire province (Quebec) and the capital (Ottawa) as far as job searches. Lastly, I've added quite a few PR podcasts, a few of my faves are The Creative Career with Allie Osmar, Inside PR (I love it because its based out of Toronto - and its hard to find Canadian PR discussions), and the Nonprofit Jungle - which I find useful for the job I am in at the moment.

The more I listen to these podcasts I realize what a useful tool they can be for a PR practitioner. In virtually every health/fitness podcast I subscribe too - the host is generally a nutritionist or personal trainer, who generally uses the beginning or end of the podcast to push their products, books, etc. As much as this might be an annoyance to some listeners, it effectively gets the message across in likely the same way as a TV advertisement, likely at probably 1/100 of the cost. This would be a fabulous tool to use for start-ups and new businesses. Also, some of these podcasts are actually sponsored by major consumer brands... which could also be a useful tool for funding in a start-up business - assuming of course, that the major brand is not a competitor.

In addition to the financial benefits of having a podcast, they can certainly work to positively effect an individual's reputation in the industry. One of the podcasts I listen too is Tara Stiles Yoga, in which she demonstrates beginner yoga through 5-10 minute videos. Not only is the podcast effective to listeners because it saves them the money/time of having to pay for a yoga class - it also increases worldwide recognition of Tara Stiles... in fact, I recently saw her demonstrating similar moves in an an advertorial in Women's Health magazine.

Anyways, I guess the point of all this jibber-jabber is to express how unique and influentially I believe podcasts can in the PR marketplace. They are certainly a tool that all up and coming practitioners should be aware, and I am certainly going to enjoy expanding my knowledge through listening to them. I'll keep you posted on what I find. :)