Funding Blogging / Podcasting
Ben has an interesting post about some dialog he had regarding the commerical viability of blogging and/or podcasting to some of the association folks during the ASAE Technology Conference.
Here's a choice little segment:
The first thing I want to blog about is: Can associations make a profit by blogging or podcasting. A gentleman who attended my panel discussion on Web 2.0 Social Media and the Long Tail seemed resigned that there was very little possibility to make money from blogs and podcasts. I replied to his question, stating that I felt that the finances would work themselves out in the end through better member engagement. Better engagement = better renewals. Our moderator chimed in to say that blogs and podcasts aren't expensive to set up, in terms of hardware and software costs. That's true, but as any blogger will tell you, blogging takes a lot of time, and that's where your expenses will be greatest.
Ben does a fine job explaining some of the key benefits. I'll wrap them up in my own words here. There are three primary, softer, returns that should be considered when looking at these mediums.
Expanded Reach
Making use of blogging and podcasts will put you in reach with a much broader audience than one might imagine. Blogs tends to perform wonderfully in terms of search engine indexing. Beyond the search impact, these two audiences (though often overlapping) represent a very diverse group, including the Gen-X and Gen-Y audiences we're all being sensitised to.
Extended Conversation
With a broader reach comes a greater opportunity to engage real conversation. Conversation is a hot topic these days and often, it is simply lumped in as a buzzword disguised as a regular word. In truth, once you've created the channel you not only can put in, you can take out. You have the freedom to talk to people, not at them. Use your new conversational powers to make a difference in the way you see things.
Enhanced Opportunity
Ultimately, having a broader reach and greater depth to the relationships you have established will increase your opportunity many fold. For example, your new relationships could enable you to gather data that would otherwise be obtrusive. Your new relationships also could lead to better retention for existing members and potentially new prospects. And last, but certainly not least, a better relationship with a tight-knit community will attract new types of suitors, not to mention many of the old ones ;)
Indeed there is a great deal of potential in blogging and podcasting. Like most things worth pursuing, however, they take time and patience to master.