October 25, 2006 – Podcasting and videocasting are new and exciting media tools, and offer a uniquely versatile platform for informing an audience. When done correctly, the medium delivers your message exactly as you choose, as if you were there to deliver it personally. This level of control makes podcasting and videocasting the latest disruptive technology on the Internet, and holds great promise for the insurance market.

Due to widening interest in IdeaStar’s podcasting services, IdeaStar President Jim Fisher recently attended the annual Podcast & New Media Expo in Ontario, California. The conference focused on content creation techniques, business objectives, and future trends in podcasting, featuring speeches and workshops with influential podcasters, video bloggers, and digital media creators.

Jim returned with new ideas and the firm conviction that podcasting and videocasting are essential to online marketing. “The key thing is that podcasting and videocasting are not as complicated as you think,” he said. “While producing the podcast or videocast requires a certain level of sophistication and skill, the workflow is simple, and hardware is inexpensive.” He also noted that “the audience of a podcast or videocast does not expect a ‘corporate’ presentation. They expect plain talk, stories, and anecdotes. They expect to get good information to make good decisions, and in the long run, that is what the podcaster wants to deliver.”

Delivering good information with skillful production is a key service IdeaStar can provide. Podcast and videocast will be a major part of IdeaStar’s new online marketing group, SpinfieldTM, which focuses on Creative Services and Online Marketing and Promotion. Spinfield will provide customers with production staff, resources, and access to IdeaStar’s new production studio, where both podcasts and videocasts can be recorded in an acoustically clean atmosphere. Here, IdeaStar customers can produce content for later distribution, or even broadcast them live over the Internet.

It is no surprise that IdeaStar should be in the vanguard of podcast technology. For 15 years, IdeaStar’s predecessor company ProShows, Inc. produced audiovisual presentations for a wide variety of Fortune 500 companies. Podcasting and videocasting are familiar territory for IdeaStar, and especially for Jim, who obtained his FCC 3rd Class radio license when he was 16 years old, and worked at two radio stations while in high school and college.

Recording and mixing technology has been around for decades, but podcasting and videocasting take the recording and production of content into the digital realm, where your message can be transmitted through a wide variety of distribution channels including your Web site, iTunes, YouTube, and many other media hosts. “The filters are gone,” Jim says. “Now, everyone can be their own radio or TV network.”

The most powerful element of this new medium is subscription. RSS feeds allow you to collect subscribers to your content. With consistent updates, you can collect an audience. 2000 to 3000 subscribers are enough to generate substantial buzz about your product or service, and get great feedback from a loyal audience.

Whether you use them for broadcasting or narrowcasting, podcasts and videocasts are an exciting new tool for enhancing user experiences on Web sites, building relationships with viewers, and getting your message across without interference.

For more information, contact Mike Wise, IdeaStar Vice President of Insurance Technologies, 216-674-1600 ext. 116.