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OC Talk Radio will be broadcasting LIVE at this weekend’s Taste of Ladera, May 1 and 2 from noon to 5pm each day. We’ll be somewhere near the front gate, so stop by and say “hi!”. We might even put you “on the air!”
For more information on the event, visit http://www.tasteofladera.com or see their “show page” on our site http://www.octalkradio.net.
Hachette is using Associated to supply some content for its Woman’s Day site. Thomson Reuters experimented with Associated for a limited period of time last year but plans to ink similar deals in the future, whether with Associated or another content provider. And Cox’s Atlanta Journal-Constitution published a handful of articles from Associated last summer; it is now running regular articles supplied by Demand Media.
Such partnerships further the ongoing shift among established news operations to capitalize on the availability of cheap content, such as USA Today’s recent deal with Demand Media, which is using its network of freelancers to supply pieces for a new Travel Tips section on USA Today’s website.
Associated’s contributions to professional publishers, however, sometimes look more like "serious" journalism. Reuters.com, for example, has published Associated stories on the economy .
"This is part of a series of personal accounts about small business and the recession," a label on the Associated stories for Reuters said, suggesting that the pieces within or near the domain of citizen reporting. "The writers are contributors to Associated Content." But some pieces in this section make a clear attempt at traditional journalism, including one that interviews the president of a local GM dealership in Idaho and tries to parse sales figures for other dealerships that GM shut down.
"This was not a business decision, but entirely an editorial one," said Keith McAllister, global online editor for Thomson Reuters. "We want to fill out the online offering as much as possible. We’re building Thomson Reuters to be a content candy store."
"In the case where we’re going more niche content, it makes sense to do these kinds of partnerships," he added.
‘Interesting shift’
Niche or not, there is now a move toward outsourcing stories traditionally done by professional reporters — or at least freelancers directed and edited by in-house editors. "It’s an interesting shift and a good one," Mr. McAllister said of the overall trend toward buying third-party news.
Associated Content boasts more than 350,000 freelance contributors who have supplied, at current count, more than 2 million articles. By contrast, Thomson Reuters employs 2,800 journalists worldwide.
Associated pays its contributors anywhere from $5 to $30 per article, sometimes upfront — and in some cases pays a performance fee of up to $2 for every 1,000 impressions the story generates within Associated Content’s site. Though Mr. Keane and his media partners declined to provide details, an executive with knowledge of these deals indicates the media partners have paid anywhere from $75 to $120 per article as well as a share of any related ad revenue. Full-time staffers or even traditional freelancers working directly with publishers cost considerably more.
Patrick Keane
"The evolution of the content cycle has cheapened," said Associated’s CEO Patrick Keane.
That kind of economy of content may be part of Associated’s appeal to editors managing decimated newsrooms. Cox’s Atlanta Journal-Constitution, which cut its newsroom staff by 30% in March 2009, ran a handful of articles supplied by Associated last year and is currently running one article a week from Demand Media. A spokeswoman confirmed that the paper did a "trial test" with Associated last year but declined to elaborate.
Exploring the option
At Hachette, Woman’s Day magazine is using and experimenting with outside contributions from Associated but also CafeMom.com and Savings.com, said Woman’s Day online editor Heidi Cho. It is currently evaluating its deal with Associated.
"The vast majority of the content on the site is written by in-house editors," Ms. Cho said. "But for about the other 10%, we have room to explore other options. We’re constantly evaluating, and the beauty of digital is we’re able to track the numbers."
In its agreement with Associated, Ms. Cho sends assignments to the company, which in turn culls submissions from its members. Ms. Cho decides which ones to publish. Examples include one titled, "Interesting Animal Facts: All About Insects" and another on retirement planning.
Though some in journalism may see the trend toward using outsiders’ content as disheartening, at least one media observer said the industry bristles less over quality concerns than their own diminished importance. "These companies present a challenge to a certain arrogance in the profession that says we know best," New York University professor Jay Rosen said. "So now the work of interpreting these signals from the ‘live web’ are going to these other companies that don’t have the same editorial standards, frankly."
I note that as an OCTR HOST, you have the opportunity to AUTOMATICALLY ADD YOUR SHOWS TO ASSOCIATED CONTENT TOO! Who knows? Maybe some other media outet will pick up on your story and use it as well!
Will Crist, The Pilgrim on the 405, had the chance to interview Fred Fourcher, Chairman of Orange County’s Bitcentral, a recognized innovator of news content production, distribution and aggregation solutions. For over 20 years, Bitcentral has demonstrated a unique ability to develop and deploy revolutionary technologies for leading content producers.
From building America’s first IP-based satellite distribution network to deploying the country’s most popular news production system in scores of newsrooms, Bitcentral has been trusted with engagements at major content-creation companies like CNN, CBS, NBC, Fox, Raycom Media, Belo, Media General and many more. Led by industry veteran and technology evangelist, Fred Fourcher, and an experienced management team with decades of experience in news and technology, Bitcentral continues to transform the way news content is produced, delivered and consumed.
Recognizing the opportunity to provide worldwide voice and data services by satellite and fiber, in 1992 Mr. Fourcher also founded DirectNet Telecommunications, an international common carrier. He served as DirectNet’s President from 1992 through 1994, during which time he implemented the Company’s global network strategy. DirectNet’s 1999 revenues were close to $90 million.
One more example of the outstanding guests on Orange County’s only community radio station, www.OCTalkRadio.net.
These factors help the advertisers with more precise targeting opportunities and get exact numbers of impressions delivered. Advertising on internet radio is multi-faceted. There are scopes to combine audio ads with synchronized banners and buttons to maximize visibility and retain attention. It is also more actionable as the listeners pay attention and the business site is just a click away. All these functionalities, together as a package, cannot be found in any other advertising media.
Catering to the tech-savvy, educated, affluent professionals from their 20s to 50s with large disposable income who are comfortable spending online, the internet talk radio is fast becoming a very powerful advertising media.
This article is written by Ronn Jones, a marketing expert with years of experience in branding and internet marketing. Check out more information on internet radio.
Found a fascinating article by Paul Gillin in this month’s isssue of BtoB Magazine which really puts the whole "social media" problem in perspective. Too many people still see all "social mediums" (like our Internet Talk Radio shows) as a giant billboard on the Internet Super Highway which will drive sales instead of seeing social media for what it truly is: the most powerful form of customer communication ever invented. It fits into the BEGINNING of the sales cycle as a "conversation starter" and not at the end as a "closer". And that’s the confusion. Here’s the article for you to consider:
"I recently surveyed 55 marketers, including many at b-to-b companies, about their satisfaction with social media tools. While the results aren’t statistically valid, they yield some interesting insight on how the media landscape has changed.
Respondents said that in 2006 their companies were using an average of less than one social media platform each. By last year, the average had swelled to more than eight. Equally interesting were the satisfaction ratings. Just two of the 55 respondents said they perceived the ROI on their social media investments to be negative, while 46 rated it somewhat or very positive.
There’s both good and bad news in these trends. Businesses have clearly turned the corner in their adoption of social platforms, but the rush to join the party indicates that they may be reverting to the mass-market mentality that social marketing explicitly rejects.
The mindset of mass has been ingrained in the marketing conscience for a century. In a world in which the only efficient way to relay a message to a small number of people who cared was to bother a large number of others who didn’t, big media was the only game in town.
Online media have flipped this equation. Success is now defined by the ability to establish meaningful conversations about very specific topics. Quality displaces quantity, and relationships replace messages.
A lot of marketers are having a hard time grasping this because they spent so many years doing the opposite. They see new channels as a way to build another mass audience for the same old messages. They wear their Twitter follower count as a badge of honor. They miss the point.
Social media are called social for a reason. They are a means to create relationships between individuals. Human resources professionals at Sodexo Worldwide have learned this. The big food service and facilities management company has all but discarded job boards in favor of Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and a variety of conversational tools. The reason: They found that initiating conversations with applicants before moving them into the recruitment funnel improved both recruiter efficiency and candidate enthusiasm. Along the way, the volume of applications jumped 25% in two years, while recruitment ad spending dropped $300,000.
The new challenge for b-to-b marketers will be to exploit the potential of social media to create connections between all their employees and all their constituents. This will present enormous governance issues as we begin to “media-train” entire companies instead of just a few individuals. That’s a topic for future columns. For now, the challenge is to discard the old economics of mass and embrace the value of one-to-one."
Courtesy of BtoBOnline.
The OC Band LIT was interviewed by Michelle Patterson (Orange County’s unofficial hostess) in advance of their headline appearance at Taste of Ladera May 1 (at Founder’s Park) and the response was overwhelming. As station manager Paul Roberts reported, “LIT’s appearance on the show OC SPOTLIGHT litereally lit up our phone and chat lines”. You can hear the interview in its entirety on the OC SPOTLIGHT Show Page.
OC TALK RADIO 