Congratulations on your new project. I wish you and your colleague all the
best!
Below I will share my thoughts and knowledge, but this is still somewhat
uncharted territory. I am not an expert and your mileage may vary:
First, I agree with your assessment of securing an underwriter/sponsor. If
you can get one, it often means more money than a typical advertising rate
card will pay out and the opportunity to build a solid business relationship
with a company that has similar interests and target audiences as your own.
>My questions regarding this are mostly how does one present statistics
>and audience numbers to a potential underwriter when the potential
>podcast has not been produced and downloaded by anyone yet (I can
>probably dig up statistics and audience numbers from my one-time podcast
>that I had to put on hiatus due to the emergency of finding paid
>employment in Austin.
First and foremost, you should ask yourself, "What does the potential
sponsor want?" That simple question will keep the rest of your work focused.
Is it a local sponsor? National? What sort of demographics are they looking
for? At this point, without a show-specific track record, you aren't selling
a product, you're selling a concept. Which means a certain amount of
forecasting is acceptable, but back it up with whatever data you can get.
For instance, if there is a similar podcast, try to find out what numbers
they get. Get general information about podcasters. I recently posted a link
to a survey that showed people who read blogs tend to be younger and
wealthier than typical web surfers. Find out what you can about podcast
listeners.
The numbers you have from your previous show are great, especially if this
new show is similar. First of all, it is good that the numbers from your
last show (July 6, 2005) are recent. But the next question is what kind of
numbers do you have? Do they support the goals of the potential sponsor? If
you can track the location of downloaders, are your numbers from local
sources? Keep in mind that not all local users will appear to derive from a
local source. AOL users, I believe, generally show up coming from Virginia.
But if you have numbers from Malaysia and you have a local sponsor that may
not be seen as a benefit.
Find out if you can, your previous show's numbers of pageviews and unique
users. Keep in mind that if you are delivering your podcast in a feed,
people with podcatchers don't have to visit your site, which can, of course,
decrease pageviews and unique user numbers. And will make any of the
sponsor's banner ads and links on your site underperform.
What I'd suggest: certainly mention the sponsor in the podcast, but try to
drive traffic to the sponsor's site, your site, or both. Have something on
your website a listener will not get from just the podcast: pictures, a
blog, articles, links for more information, or a way to give feedback.
Create a contest: have your sponsor donate his/her product and give it away
on your website. Set up a contest entry form on your website and tell people
about it on your show. That makes it easy and more acceptable to mention the
sponsor, and it should drive traffic to your homepage.
Tell the sponsor What it is about your new podcast that is likely to
increase your numbers over the previous one. Do your numbers show a loyal
audience that will function as a foundation for your new show? Did your
numbers indicate a steady audience growth? Will you have more advertising
this time around? Will you be listed on iTunes (again, likely not a benefit
for a local sponsor)?
Also, you may not want to mention stopping your show to find emergency
employment. I do not Know the details surrounding the situation, but a
business wants to know that they are making an investment in a stable
project. last thing you want is a potential sponsor wondering if -- after
they invest in you -- you're going to go on another hiatus.
>And also, how does one determine
>an underwriting rate or fee for a new podcast or videoblog?
This is virtually uncharted territory bacause it is a new distribution
model. What impact do you suspect this sponsorship will have for you and for
the sponsor. Sometimes it is worth losing money to be affiliated with a
certain business. If that is not the case here, come up with a number that
will give your sponsor the perception of value and you a reason to keep them
around. Do Internet searches. Often
there is a lot of guidance than can be derived from Google searches.
>The same questions also apply for the websites themselves where the
>podcast is hosted or originated, but in relation to Banner ads
>Googleads, Adwords, Blogads, etc and what is the most effective out of
>the bunch for that and how much should be charged for the various types
>of the above whether they be Underwriters, Sponsors, etc.
I am not sure I understand this part. Adwords, for instance is a service
where you purchase advertising on other people's websites. AdSense is the
sytem whereby you are paid for click-throughs on ads you post on your
website or RSS feed -- The RSS ads are in beta. Read more here ( URL:
http://www.clickz.com/news/article.php/3505766 ). I am going to assume you
are asking about rates paid for posting ads on your website, and I am not
sure you have much control over that with those services. Certainly not with
AdSense. If you are interested in selling banner, tile, skyscraper ads to
advertisers, I would suggest checking out the Internet Advertising Bureau: (
URL: http://iab.net/standards/index.asp ) you can find information about
typical and broadband ads there, as far as standard sizes and uses go. Rates
vary from site to site.
If you have the choice, sell on impressions (the number of people who see an
ad) versus click-throughs (the number of people who see an ad and click on
it). CPM is a term that means Cost Per Thousand ("M" is the roman numeral
for 1,000) it refers to the amount of money an advertiser pays for each
1,000 people who view an ad: $15 CPM, for instance. The sorts of things that
should influence your CPM are: pageviews, unique visitors, and target
marketing potential. For instance (to steal an example from Clint Sharp) if
you have a website about guitars, you should be able to find guitar
manufacturers who are willing to pay more for the advertising space.
Although, it is not cool to get caught charging wildly different prices to
diffent advertisers.
Ad placement is another factor. You'll get more money for ads that end up
above the fold (an old newspaper term referring to what is seen on the front
page before it is unfolded and opened -- basically the top half of the front
page. This now also refers to the area on any page of website that is
visible without having to scroll down after it loads.). You can often get
more for a smaller ad above the fold
than a larger one below it. This will, of course, vary.
>And the more specific questions from my colleague who is a lot more
>versed in these things than I am:
>
>What are the rates you charge for underwriting or sponsoring your
>podcasts or videoblogs?
I cannot answer that as I do not yet blog, vlog or podcast, and therefore do
not charge anything. Nor is that a current part of any plans I have. But
once I get popular... mwahahahaha *ahem* moving on...
>If you accept underwriting or sponsorships, what length of time and for
>what dollar amount do you charge?
This a variable amount set by you. As a new entity it might be wise to lock
in a sponsor now for a long period of time in order to have the guaranteed
income. However, if your show takes off, you'll be stuck getting paid a
lower amount from that sponsor until your contract ends. With a shorter
period, you have the flexibility of adjusting your rates more frequently
based on your popularity, but you don't have a guaranteed income. Also with
a shorter term you will have to prove yourself more regularly to get
contract extensions instead of locking a sponsor in and not having to worry
about re-selling yourself every month. My advice: go for longer (3-12
months) rather than a shorter arrangement if you can help it. After your
contract ends reassess what you want to do.
Also, depending on your sponsor, perhaps you can get some stuff out of it.
For example you're doing a podcast. Maybe you get Shure Microphones to be
your sponsor and part of the deal is for equipment. They obviously make a
profit when they sell stuff, so a microphone that costs them $30 to
manufacture they might sell for $75. If they trade out in equipment, you
receive $75 worth of value and it only costs them $30. Businesses sometimes
prefer these transactions.
>What do you promise, in return, in your contracts?
Find out what your sponsor wants, then figure out how much of that you can
offer. Don't break your back promising something they aren't interested in,
first of all it shows you don't understand their needs, but secondly, once
something is out on the table it can sometimes be hard to take back and then
you're likely stuck delivering that plus what they want. I wish I could say
there was a simple math equation for all this, but it is what it is. Figure
out the value of what you have and match it with the value of what they are
willing to spend. Don't be afraaid to offer multiple packages: i.e, a silver
sponsor gets X, a gold sponsor gets XX, and a platinum sponsor gets XXX.
>Do you sell spot advertising? What rates do you charge? Will you please
>share your rate sheet with us? How are sales charges tied to frequency
>rates?
Again, I do not sell ads. I would encourage you to do Internet searches. A
quick Google search for "spot ad rates" (with the quotation marks) should be
a good place to start. Find what you need, then do searches for "advertising
rate card," "advertising rates," etc.
>How frequently do you deliver "click" results to your advertising or
>underwriting clients?
If you mean pageviews, downloads, unique users, etc. I would say whenever
the client wants. Definitely do a monthly report. If your contract is for a
month you might consider doing one at the half-way point, so that the client
can prepare for renewal and it gives you a chance to ask them to increase
their commitment for the following month.
Remember, you want to build a relationship with these people. If you contact
them by email every 30 days with an update, you aren't building much of a
relationship.
If the "click" results you mean are for click-throughs, I'd advise you to
sell on impressions, instead. Unless the terms are very favorable. Stress
that you are selling branding, not direct marketing. It's much like a
billboard for Burger King on the highway: the intent isn't that when people
see it they immediately go to Burger King, it is that next time they are
hungry they remember the billboard.
>When you do podcasts with subjects, such as business executives, do you
>charge them for the podcasts? What do you charge?
I suppose it is possible to charge a subscription fee. Rush Limbaugh, for
one, is apparently doing this. If you are charging it had better be worth
the money or people won't sign up. Also, requiring a paid subscription is
going to reduce your user base, which means fewer visitors which can mean
less money from advertisers (though some might say those who do pay are very
interested in the topic, willing to spend money on the topic, and probably
have a decent amount of disposable income -- which makes them very desired
by advertisers. Though generally, people don't want to pay a subscription
fee and see ads, it is possible to make it work. Probably for some topics
more than others).
>What feedback are you getting in response to your ad rates or
>sponsorship solicitations?
I do not have any.
>I think there might be answers to these questions in previous threads,
>so if you all can help and point me in the right direction either
>through the old threads or responding directly, we will be eternally
>grateful.
>
>Take care,
>
>Mike Perazzetti
>http://www.thefeveredbrainofradiomike.com
>http://www.austinpodcasting.com
I hope this helps. Good luck and let us know how it goes!
-David
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