Summary: Podcast Interview with Susan Bratton, CEO of Personal Life Media. As a podcaster, I have long been a fan of a handful of other podcasts that cover the topics that I cover, namely web marketing, new media, online marketing, and all related topics. One of my favorite podcasts is produced by Susan Bratton, called DishyMix, a podcast show where Susan interviews interesting and accomplished guests in and around marketing, advertising and new media. So, I invited Susan to be interviewed for my podcast and she graciously accepted…Boy was it fun! Susan has many attributes I enjoy and I will share them with you in this blog post. But, you should listen to the entire podcast to learn how Susan is making an impact in our economy and how you can too by following her tips. No matter your industry, Susan’s advice can be applied with measurable results. Susan is the co- founder and CEO of Personal Life Media, a media publishing company for people on the leading edge of culture. Susan is a Silicon Valley exec who knows everybody in new media, advertising and anything marketing. Susan is widely adored and recognized as a “super connector” among interesting and influential people in the web 2.0 and new media world. PLM is about helping people change their lives. Susan calls it edutainment. Each one of Susan’s DishyMix podcasts make me a little smarter. She interviews fabulously interesting people. In each of her interviews she seeks to bring her audience “brain science,” personal growth and leadership examples. She brings her guest’s deep expertise to her audience while also about allowing you to get to know each of them as a human being. This combination of professional expertise and human interest makes DishyMix a very engaging podcast show! From 16 to 40 and Counting Susan launched Personal Life Media with 16 shows. Now PLM is comprised of 40 shows and growing. Susan recognized that podcasting is a communication platform that allows anyone who views herself as a publisher of content (an individual or a business), to do just that. Publishers have always produced a profit through paid sponsors, paid advertisers and paid subscribers. That’s exactly how Personal Life Media exists in our eco system. Susan has transferred this economic model to the podcasting medium with success that isn’t slowing down. In addition to the 40 shows PLM is launching a new category called “online information products.” These will comprise ebooks that offer their target audience multiple benefits through a combination of audio lessons, video lessons and text based content. PLM has 15 information products in the hopper! Podcasting as a Business In December 2008 Lee Odden created a list of the top podcasts. DishyMix came in first in social media podcasts and my Find and Convert podcast came in third in the fan voting (Susan referred to it as a bake-off). Susan is quick to point out that podcasting is a medium for marketers to get their message out to a target audience. Susan’s advice to businesses is to consider podcasting when one or more people in their business are comfortable in front a microphone and/or camera and a commitment can be made to producing regular podcast shows. Most businesses have plenty of content which can be re-purposed into a podcast. Interviewing interesting guests is a common approach in any industry. While monetizing podcasts can be achieved through advertising, sponsorships and a subscription model, most often a business can monetize their podcasts by using it as an effective way to communicate to their customers and surrounding community. In short, podcasting is an effective medium to build relationships with your customers and differentiate your business. Susan’s advice on business podcasting includes the suggestion that a podcast can be better than a blog if the podcaster is one who doesn’t like to write but likes to speak. “You must love [...]
