Sorry, but this doesn’t reflect our core business of downloads of audio and video programming.

AC

Adam,

Would love to have you and/or Ron on ProfitablePodcasting.com to talk about what your model is, etc. I’d love to give some equal time.

Paul

Podshow has raised $24 million. The first round was $8.9, the second round was $15.

Of course it’s Alexa data…

Thanks Paul, you said what I have been saying for a while now.

We are doing great for a bunch of guys in the back room of a sporting goods store.

Podshows $24 million investment is great, but we would be happy to find a $2.4 million Investor. Like you said, look at what we have done with no investors at all.

Thanks again for the kind words.

P. Dilly, are you actively looking for investment?
If so, we should talk.

There’s a big reason why the Pickle continues to grow, and it is the relationship Gary and his staff have built with the podcasters.

Where others are more distant and service-oriented “pretenders”, the Podcast Pickle has always over-served and over-delivered to the members. Gary is accessible and his members respect him for that. He inspects what he expects and as a leadership coach I admire that in Gary.

It’s great to see a business that grows because of it’s relationship with the customer rather than it’s relationship with the VC banker.

PodcastPickle vs. PodShow…

Earlier, Paul Colligan posted about how PodcastPickle recently passed Podshow in terms of reach according to Alexa stats (which have some problems but stay with me for now).  The key difference between the companies as Paul points out is that……

I agree completely with what Bill Grady said. What made the Pickle become a community was Gary’s early and continuing emphasis on customer service”. He and his team have, as Bill says, “overserved” those who spend time there. Since Gary sells ads on the Pickle, his goal is to generate as much traffic as possible, and that means attracting all sorts of people who are interested in podcasts. But the Pickle’s being perceived as a “friendly place” to the regulars encourages them to keep coming back. It encourages the podcasters among them to put Pickle badges on their show pages, and to ask listeners to add them as a Pickle favorite. More traffic accrues, and maybe Gary gets to up his ad rates. Goodwill appears on many balance sheets, and Gary has earned his share of it.

It is likely that Podshow, and other podcast directory sites, have different strategies for attracting people who trust those sites as the source for podcast programming, and perhaps they are after different folks entirely. So be it. I think Gary’s approach, and the enthusiasm with which he and his techs build out the site, provide a point of differentiation. As someone who has always leaned toward the eclectic, the slightly off-the beaten path, the people-powered, I fit into Gary’s demo. Hey wait, that’s why I got into podcasting in the first place.

Adam Curry said:
“Sorry, but this doesn’t reflect our core business of downloads of audio and video programming.”

Do you guys make any money at that? I’m assuming that you are spending all that VC money on infrastructure because you certainly aren’t spending it on growing podcast listenership. I’d say a Time Magazine Coolest Website trumps anything Podshow did to spread the word. Of course I’m biased because Gary hung out with me at the Expo and bought me a few drinks from his own wallet while Podshow spent it’s VC money renting expensive gas guzzling Hummer limos to try and lure people away from the community.
-miss peter

I think it’s no secret how I feel about Adam so this is going to sound biased no matter how I put it. Like it was said above it’s the coming together of podcasters and Gary and his team that make this a success. New options and abilities are added at an amazing pace and everyone has a say in how it goes down.

Others with deeper pockets (not just podshow) repackage a lot of what the pickle does better and usually months in advance.

Having Adam involved in the Pickle would be detrimental to the Pickle’s continued growth. That’s just my opinion. I’d have to write a book here to explain why I feel that way. Hopefully those that read this blog are informed on the history of podcasting. If not google is a wonderful thing.

The Pickle is an example of online community-minded altruism at it’s best. Hopefully it will avoid the pitfalls that others disappear into.

Chad

http://curry.podshow.com/?p=534

yall are talking about 2006.
What about the coolest websites for 2007?

Did some one say Live IPTV?

Andrew
www.mn1.com

Shall we have a Springeresque show? Let me know we can do it live our studios in the Infomart in Dallas. Adam drive that piece of crap car down and P-Dilly bring the pickles.

[…] More Fun (And Truth) With StatsPosted on 7:14 am by Paul Colligan When I wrote the post on Wednesday about Podcast Pickle, I really was just setting out to write a piece about how their impact and positioning has really surprised me. In a world where Odeo (check my archives - I’ve been a huge fan) is up for sale, everything just seems fascinating right now. […]

MissPeter, I appreciate your comment about the need to grow podcast listenership.

Sure, PodShow has a lot of VC dollars, but it is not just their responsibility to grow this listenership base. It is the job of every content provider, directory and distributor that has an interest in seeing the podcasting space grow. I think the Pickle is growing because they have been very positive and innovative in marketing online and offline. I think the industry is on the verge of a move to mobile and Microsoft is on the verge of doing something with RSS media enclosures.

I also think it is easy to think podcasting has flat lined with Odeo going up for sale on the cheap, but like streaming media was 5 or 6 years ago we are going through change. We are coming into a time of consolidation, as we will see players in this space merge with each other this year. I believe that we cannot bank on the iPod for our long-term growth and major media is really beginning to drive our listener growth.

We need to start thinking about listener ease of access and use. How are we going to reach the most listeners as possible and grow the list of quality content being made available?

I have been working at Melodeo Mobilcast for over a year now and have been a webcaster and podcaster for a long-time with my own WebTalk Radio podcast. I think mobile phone access to all of our now called audio and video podcasts through applications like Mobilcast is the growing future for our content distribution and listenership. I think this is the bigger message is that it will make less sense over time to call mobile phone listening Podcasting.

I know that I am biased in my view on this as I work for Mobilcast, but I also have an inside view on what is developing around the globe as we roll out Mobilcast. I just got back from 3GSM in Barcelona, Spain and I saw first hand high interest from mobile carrier operators around the world for mobile podcast distribution and growing adoption numbers. Mobile distribution for our content is happening now and is not just a dream. It will only grow over the next 5 years and I do believe the devices like the iPhone will play a large roll in us reaching the mass market with frequently updated short form audio and video content delivered by RSS enclosures.

Rob Greenlee

[…] This is true even as we bash each other about “who’s most important.” […]

As I read this I think of one thing. Thanks for all the positive remarks everyone. I am happy to even be mentioned in the same conversation as Odeo, Podshow, and Melodeo. All of them with all their VC money, then us. A bunch of guys working in the back room of a sporting goods store.

[…] p.s., I should be getting some more information about Podshow soon and helping make some real sense of these numbers. A panel I’m moderating at Corporate Podcasting Summit Europe (entitled “Podcast sponsorship and how you make it work” has Daniel Winner, General Manager of PodShow UK on the slate. Curry also promised to do my Profitable Podcasting show after the bru-hah-hah around the Alexa question a few weeks back. […]

[…] Pickle’s Review For Riches ContestPosted on 12:24 pm by Paul Colligan I’ve written in the past of Podcast Pickle. Despite the name, they are, every day, becoming more and more of a powerhouse in this space. […]