I have to admit, that by instict I understood Cluetrain from the moment I read it, but I would say that since some months I do have the feeling, I really can grasp what it is about.

Which also shows the difference (again) to podcating, and I do feel that voice / writing is like heart and brain in many ways. :)

In my fields – education and ICT – *everyone* thinks they have the right answer (as if one answer ever existed). While podcasting what I think – or others’ think – the blog gives a regular reality check. I know I’m right most of the time because people agree with me on certain topics. And when i get it wrong on my podcast people know me well enough from reading my blog to be constructive. Blogging is quicker than podcasting and so makes that relationship quicker to build. Podcasting is my voice, though, and brings people closer to me as a person, a human being with feelings, and not some policy-crunching animal!

Make any sense?

That said, I would also suggest that ALL podcasts should use blogs as their homes as a means of encouraging feedback and the building of community. In that sense, most podcasters are bloggers anyway.

Neither a podcast nor a blog is enough on it’s own to ensure “success”. Both are great arrows to have in your quiver, but you’ll need to to both and more. I’m not sure if I have a “blogger” mindset, though I’ve been blogging since 2000. Likewise, I don’t know that I have a “podcaster” mindset, even thought that’s been going on since Oct of 2004. I consider my self both… and yet neither at the same time.

If anything, podcast-only thoughts might have the advantage, as many folks who skipped the blogging flood have tapped into podcasting as of late. Perhaps there is more energy and enthusiasme in the ‘cast world? Of course I’m horribly generalizing. But it is worth pondering…

However, podcasts which are large and have a following might not need a blog presence. If there is momentum behind the podcast before it begins than static web pages might be all that’s needed. But I’m with blogging. I recently changed my company’s static site to a blog and have increase web-traffic to the same information ten-fold; so much so that I don’t even bother with SEO anymore. And the search hits are far more relevant than they ever were.

I think time will tell. Once the initial rush of corporate, mainstream media podcasting is over and people begin to hunt down the original, small producer podcasts again and the audience expands it will be easier to see where people listen–blogger podcasts or not.

Dave: That is a great question – and no, that is not me imitating the amercian way of sugar coating something! When I think about it, I would define success in metrics as of how much of an audience you have in comparison to the total amount of possible audience.

If you just go for numbers, this could be 200 listeners – but if they make up 60% of the whole audience in this market, that is a big success.

As for your example of the low listenership but sales are up by 80%: How about increasing your listenership and increase your sales even more? Perhaps someone only wants 80% up because they can’t handle more than that.

I thought about if I meant subscriber numbers in your market / niche or ROI on it, but Marc’s remark about media awareness brings it pretty good: more successful in presenting your podcast to your audience so they can discover it better and are more compelled to subscribe. Loyal listeners even.

But: success is defined by the way the creator sees it – and happiness can be decreased if you gain more audience as this brings more responsibilities and work.

Thank you both very much!

As the blog space gets increasingly crowded, noisy, and fills with echoes, the nice thing about podcasts is that they are a place I find myself more likely to find original opinions and ideas instead of circular link-fests.

I’m looking forward to your article.