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Is It Too Late For Microsoft?

By Alex Mandossian

Podcasting is so much more than just listening to Internet radio in front of the computer.

It′s about people gathering a wealth of knowledge from the Internet, putting it on a portable player and taking it with them wherever they go.

It′s about people pursing their interests and having something at the tips of their fingers â€“ whenever they want it.

People spend hundreds of dollars on their players (and accessories) â€“ whether it be an Apple iPod or another brand of MP3 player â€“ not to mention all the information they put on it, whether it′s songs, podcasts or information products. [Read more…]

Search the Internet Like a Techie, Part 2

By Alex Mandossian

Phase #3: Subscriptions

In my last blog, I talked about the first 2 phases of information distribution via the Internet.

The first 2 were surfing and searching. The third is subscribing.

When I talk about subscribing, I′m talking about opting in to information from a specific source that we know, like, trust and respect.

Enter the world of RSS, or “real simple syndication.”

RSS is a file that provides new content at a website. RSS aggregators grab different feeds and combine them in one place. [Read more…]

Create Profits You Can Be Proud Of

By Alex Mandossian

As an information marketer, how do you capitalize on subscriptions?

Give away the player and charge for information. That′s the future.

Charge for iPods pre-loaded with valuable information and, of course, for the subscriptions to automatically receive new updates.

Just look at how well this concept worked for Amazon as well as Internet Explorer.

They didn′t charge for access to their products and subscriptions.

Why? Because companies like Amazon knew that once you ordered the first book online, had it shipped to your house and never had to step foot outside your door, you′d be hooked for life. [Read more…]

A Server Built For Podcasters

By Alex Mandossian

Microsoft has a web server called IIS, or Internet Information Server. Their main competitor is the web server from Linux.

It has always been difficult to get people to switch from a Linux server to a Windows server.

This is because Microsoft is more expensive, there are always technical and support issues and, quite frankly, there is really no compelling reason to do so.

But I′ve got a compelling offer for Microsoft that would make their server sales soar. [Read more…]

The Convenience of Listening

By Alex Mandossian

Imagine if you could sell all of your seminars, CDs and books on one little iPod for, say, $4997. Then you charge a subscription fee for people to receive new material as you create it. Think about it.Who wouldn’t want all that shelf space back?Who wouldn’t want the ease and simplicity of one little unit you can carry anywhere to get the information you want anytime?Who wouldn’t love to walk the dog, work out, or go for a drive an have instant access rather than being tied to a computer or bulky CD or cassette player?It’s genius! Imagine if you had the Tony Robbins iPod, the Robert Allen iPod, the Mark Victor Hansen iPod….And it doesn’t stop there. You could have spiritual books, classics, language tutorials and more. You could have “Men are From Mars Women are From Venus” by John Gray on an iPod, works by Deepak Chopra, Henry David Thoreau, and just about anyone you can think of. You could then categorize your iPods according to topic, “Classics”, “Spiritual”, “Business”, “Leadership”, and so on.

Face it, music is fleeting. For most people, they’re fed up with the same song after hearing it just a few times. But how many times do you reread classics like, “Think and Grow Rich” by Napoleon Hill or “How to Win Friends and Influence People” by Dale Carnegie? Over and over again. Podcasting is here to stay.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

By Alex Mandossian

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Better Communication

By Alex Mandossian

Because of technology, the world is at a turning point in the way people communicate and in the way people monetize their content. With the advent of podcasting and small, affordable media player, communicating content to other people has never been easier, faster, or more convenient.

A song can be downloaded almost instantly over the internet to go with you wherever you go. Instead of carrying a CD player that holds one CD with about a dozen songs, we can carry one small media player in a shirt pocket that holds hundreds of songs or hours of instructional audio.

We don’t have to drive to the store to buy the music or wait for it to arrive at our house in the mail. It doesn’t get any more convenient than that.

Take Portable Media Expo for example – I see this expo growing as fast as Comdex has.

Will You Use it if You Don’t Understand It?

By Alex Mandossian

Consumer Usability

When going to http://podcasts.yahoo.com/ I see something that I’m very familiar with; audio button, listen, subscribe.

These are going to be icons â€“ a meme. This is the beginning of a meme, very exciting! I go there right now. I’m looking at it. There’s a podcast that says â€˜Unicef′. I click listen and what happens? There’s a little box that pops up. There’s fast forward, fast rewind, play, speed, and volume. This is brilliant. Why is it brilliant? Usability.

I can do this from anywhere in the world.Consumption usability. We talked about the power of directories. iTunes owns that. Now the power of usability; Yahoo owns it. All I have to do is click the “Listen” button and boom, we′re there.

If I subscribe to it, how easy is that? All of a sudden, I go into Yahoo ID and password and boom, they have me that way. I think Yahoo has a different intention behind what they′re doing here than Apple. It may not be about monetization. It may be about building their Yahoo database, whereas Apple′s intention is appeasing entertainment.

The fact is I don′t think that I’m alone when it comes to understanding new technology. I didn′t realize in the beginning that iTunes was on-line. Well http://Podcast.Yahoo.com is online and it has a subdirectory. Usability.

Paul Colligan recently had his biggest day of podcast downloads ever after sending out an e-mail letting people know they could go to a Web site and click to listen. Is this a coincidence? No, I don′t think so. It all has to do with usability.

Is Yahoo Killing Apple with Podcasting?

By Alex Mandossian

Is Yahoo Podcasting killing iTunes? What I’m going to talk about is what′s going to put Yahoo ahead. That is usability. Usability is everything.

Before Outlook looked like Outlook, there must have been hundreds of thousands of dollars that went into developing its usability. A lot of companies spend a lot of money on usability â€“ it′s extremely important because for a guy like me who doesn′t know technology very well, usability is the thing.

If I don′t consume it, it′s not going to be utilized. If it′s not utilized, I don′t pay for it.

Yahoo′s Launch

Let′s take a look at a couple things. The first thing is Yahoo made a big announcement when they launched a Beta; www.Podcast.Yahoo.com. The link is www.Podcast.Yahoo.com, the sub-domain of Yahoo. Talk about a firm commitment, Yahoo has made a commitment to podcast just by the nature of the name.On the other hand, when I type in Podcast.Apple.com I get an MSN search. It goes from Apple to MSN! Bill Gates is getting the last laugh.As an Internet marketer, it is a big mystery to me as to why no one at Apple has made Podcast.Apple.com or just http://Podcast.Apple.com. Why don′t they have that go to the podcasting page at Apple? It′s inexpensive and takes a minimal amount of time.

As beautiful as Apple is, what Yahoo announced just might win.

What is DRM?

By Alex Mandossian

Digital Rights Management, or DRM, is an umbrella term that refers to several technical methods used to control or restrict the use of digital media content of electronic devices.

Basically, this is a way to keep consumers from copying content by making it inconvenient.

It′s what Steve Jobs had to employ to ensure the success of the iTunes store. DRM is the very technology that launched the iPod revolution. People wanted a safe way to broadcast their content without fear of theft.

The question is, “Is this the future of all online audio and video content?” Specifically, “Is DRM a must for premium podcasts?” Almost all download music media sites use DRM.

We don′t know where the future of premium podcast is going to go because it hasn′t gone there yet. Some groups like Audible say that spoken work content – premium podcasting – absolutely must use DRM. Others, like Rush Limbaugh, don′t use it at all. Nightingale-Conant and the Chautauqua Institution provide their websites′ MP3s without DRM. MyAffiliateGuy podcasts do so as well.

DRM is tightly integrated into some players like the Apple iPod. Others, like the Arcos line, have absolutely no DRM at all, and those from Creative, the MuVo line, and all the PlaysForSure products have some DRM, some unlocking.

Is It Too Late For Microsoft?

Search the Internet Like a Techie, Part 2

Create Profits You Can Be Proud Of

A Server Built For Podcasters

The Convenience of Listening

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Better Communication

Will You Use it if You Don’t Understand It?

Is Yahoo Killing Apple with Podcasting?

What is DRM?

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