Barack Obama didn't get there first

I'd had enough of playing Robbie Williams and George Benson. The time for a change had come. I'd been thinking it long before Barack Obama said it out loud. Yes, there'd been some compensations in being a radio presenter; the interviews it had allowed me to do. Sir Ian McKellen, Sharleen Spiteri, The Beautiful South etc etc. I could go on. Some of them did. Along the way, I'd met my now business partner and erstwhile Australian, Colin McGinness. As someone steeped in broadcasting production ( and with a Sony under his belt ), Colin's creative muse is almost always on the go. After an arduous day of podcast and radio ad production, he spends many an evening hunched over his home studio, producing music and writing sketches for our "hobby" comedy podcast Waiting for Death.

I remember clearly the point at which Wonkana Productions went from being a smorgasbord of "what if's" to a living, breathing start up. Just over 18 months ago, we were viewing the BBCs use of podcasting with great intrigue. Then came the phenomenal success of The Guardian's Ricky Gervais podcast. Download statistics read like Australian telephone numbers. Surely it was possible to take this medium and fashion it into a new and powerful marketing tool for both external and internal communications in all kinds of business. We had no shortage of professional voice overs and presenters in our midst, we could write scripts and music and I had the interview skills to get the best from a company's CEO or newest recruit. Like an HGV driver using satnav, our first order took us in a completely unexpected direction., With a respected sports journalist acting as go between, Littlewoodspoker.com signed up for the first professionally produced poker podcast "The Pokercast". Now available on their website, itunes and other podcast directories, he says, deploying the obligatory plug. As we close out our first year, we've been working with a number of PR agencies to service their clients. One of them is the Bristol Enterprise Network, whose event Entrepreneur's Question Time has now drawn 35,000 downloads as an audio podcast. Greater awareness, more new business and more repeat business - that's what this medium can bring. We even make broadcast standard video.

Networking has of course been one of our priorities as a new business and whilst the BNIs, BRXs and every other acronym under the sun have their place, I can honestly say Enterprise Club is invaluable. Well run events and no costly membership make it a great way for business to spread its wings. I've now been able to put into practice some of the techniques and devices demonstrated at Enterprise Club seminars. It's surely no coincidence that we're just in the process of picking up a handful of new clients.
As many other businesses, Wonkana Productions laughs in the face of the credit crunch, thanks in part to the knowledgeable and supportive work of the University. And just in case you're wondering, it means "happy hunting ground" in Aboriginal. Wonkana, not the credit crunch.

10 Good Reasons X Thousand

I'm almost ashamed to admit it was Jason Donovan who said " you give me one good reason to leave me - I'll give you ten good reasons to stay ". Yes, his powers of persuasion may have been up there with Kofi Annan for sheer fluidity, but it didn't stop the accompanying album "10 Good Reasons" being shit-on-a-stick. What Jase lacked back in the innocent, heady days of the '80s was a podcast. Had he employed the considerable powers of this instrument of new media, his paramour would not only have stayed, but she'd have been loyal, continued to buy and recommended the said Antipodean vocalist to all and sundry. We may not have the boyish good looks of Mr Donovan in his pomp ( we do have more on top than he presently enjoys ) but we have 10,000 reasons to use our podcasting services.
The intuitive and pioneering fellows over at the Bristol Enterprise Network were one of our first audio podcasts and they could see the inherent value in the "stickiness" it creates to a website, the authority it lends to your area of business expertise and why having professionals produce it is the only way you get maximum effect. So where do I get this glorious figure of from? I'm sure you know me well enough by now to realise I'm not some marketing johnny come lately who dashes the internet and exhibitions with some ludicrously unjustifiable claim like "Increase your sales by 2,000 per cent". And yes, I do have a flyer for someone asserting just that. What I can say however is that the Entrepreneurs Question Time Event put on by the Bristol Enterprise Network has been downloaded 10,000 times.
Just think how many of those listeners weren't previously aware of B.E.Ns work and how many will join and attend events as a result. For podcasts that work, engage people and yield results come see us.
http://www.wonkanaproductions.com/

Copy and Paste? Don't mind if I do!

We always like to think big at Wonkana. It began with a nomination at the World Podcast Awards for our continuing comedy series
" Waiting for Death ". Now the production crosshairs are trained on our European brethrens. Those learned fellows at the
European Podcast Awards have given us a nod in the Professional category. It's like being called "Sir" by the concierge in some ostentatious hotel; you savour the moment to the full. Unless you're a woman. Then you sue.
And here's you thinking Europe was synonymous with red tape, the clanking anachronism of excessive health and safety and Peter Mandelson's snout in the unfathomed depths of an EC trough. From Eurosceptic to Europhile quicker than you can say
" You're listening to 6 Music and the winner of the ipod is James in Hammersmith, who isn't really my producer "
Have a gander at our entry here :

http://www.european-podcast-award.eu/uk/start/vote-and-win/professional/type/player/uid/748/podid/748.html

I should warn you there is some language. Mainly English.

Almost time to exit podcast left and of course we hope your business is in a strong position during these testing times; clients nicely ringfenced and an efficient website strong on retention. Get in touch with Wonkana and we will make it even more robust with an audio or video podcast as endorsed by those scholarly chaps at the Bristol Enterprise Network

" We used Wonkana Productions to produce audio podcasts for some of our Bristol Enterprise Network Events. They were of excellent quality and have enabled us to reach a far wider audience than we would otherwise get to the venue on a particular evening. The team at Wonkana were very professional, friendly and easy to work with. " - the words of Enterprise Manager Paul Harrod.

How about joining the ranks of Matt ( Montage Communications ), Dev ( The PR People ) and numerous others by signing up to our Facebook page:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Northampton-United-Kingdom/Podcast-Production/18000074766?ref=ts

Pardon my buzzphrase

Retention. It's the word du jour. Well Aussie Col used it. Twice. In my book, that brackets it as a "of the day" in French. Naturelement.
To what kind of retention do I refer? Website retention, my inquisitive friend.
Is it not your one of your key aims to encourage people to come back to your site?
And why has this blog suddenly developed Shakespearean overtones?
Nine changes of the wat'ry star hath been the Shepherd's note since we have left our throne without a burden.
At the risk of creating a superfluous strap line - Wonkana does retention.
The Bristol Enterprise Network, the Littlewoods Pokercast - all these high end, top drawer podcasts are the reason visitors to your website will come back to you. Have a peek at the people we're retaining for :

http://www.wonkanaproductions.com/community.php

It's always uplifting to hear a would be client sold on your product before you've even concluded your pitch and that's exactly what happened this morning. One sage individual who couldn't have been any more receptive told me " The podcast will keep people coming back to the site ".
It's like the words were plucked from my own mouth.