Authors: Paul Colligan and Alex Mandossian
Published: 2006 Morgan James Publishing
ISBN: 1933596376 Chapters.ca Amazon.com

While some may argue that Podcasting is still too young to merit a “business bible”, the ambitious early adopters have been known to help explain and define the marketplace so the timing of their books will always be in question. Of greater concern is the accuracy of the facts and the nature of the vision.

Paul and Alex definitely have a good view of the Podcast marketplace and they open The Business Podcasting Bible with a solid discussion on what defines Podcasting. From page one they challenge the reader to think holistically about any Podcasting strategy, business or otherwise. In fact, I feel that this book has the strongest philosophical discussion on Podcast production and consumption to date — almost to the point that I questioned if the book’s title was accurate.

The Bible is a great introduction to Podcast-based business and marketing strategies, and definitely inspires exploration and innovation. There is discussion on both direct and indirect models of monetization, and the authors set the stage for further analysis of the use of Podcasts to market organizations and thought leadership. I believe that the “Podosphere” is just too oversaturated to seduce the kinds of sponsorship and advertising dollars that the early adopters had envisioned.

The authors encourage the reader to question the various elements of the decision to Podcast. The most important of these questions is ‘why?’ and ‘when?’, and the book guides you through the thought process.

If I could change one thing about the book it would be to turn the sidepanel discussions (some of which carry on for several pages thus forcing the reader to backtrack) into full-page panels.

Paul and Alex are clearly knowledgeable and excited about the power and flexibility of Podcasting. More importantly, they are very honest about its shortcomings. It is this combination that makes the book a great resource for anyone considering using a Podcast as a business or marketing (business OR personal) tool.

Tricks of the Podcasting Masters (TotPM) is the latest book about Podcasting. This offering by Rob Walch (Podcast 411) and Mur Lafferty (Geek Fu Action Grip) was released at the beginning of June.

In the interest of full disclosure, I haven’t read any of the previous books (in their entirety) - probably because I didn’t think they had anything to offer that I didn’t already know. However, I have read sections of those books while hanging out at Chapters/Indigo.

TotPM offers information that I haven’t seen in any of the books I have skimmed through. Rob and Mur have done a great job summarizing genres and identifying their standouts from these genres in a case-study style. They offer great insight into the challenges of Podcasting and make strong suggestions on surviving the hobby. The authors also offer ideas for various types of organizations (e.g. mainstream media, NGOs, government agencies, educational institutions, etc..) that may be considering Podcasting as a tool. What they do especially well is present ways to promote your Podcast and they provide a very realistic view of revenue opportunities and how to evaluate them.

Discussions in the book that I have concerns about include the chapter “The Art of the Interview”, and some of the technical areas such as editing and production. Specifically, some of my ideas on conducting and editing interviews are very different than the authors’, and there is a noticeable absence of any worthwhile technical details, a fact that the authors acknowledge in the text. I also feel that the comparison of a newspaper being able to cheaply adopt Podcasting versus a radio station having to invest millions to get into printing was weak; a more accurate and level comparison would have the radio station launching an informative, text-based website.

Podcasting books have been serving up great introductions to the craft. This is the first book that takes Podcasting information to the next level and introduces solid suggestions, creative ideas and realistic data.

If it were up to me, the next book to be published for Podcasters would offer more specific details on editing and production techniques without a slant towards music production.