More than 400,000 people have used the PodServe platform since we launched more than a year ago. Today, around 2,000 power users actively use the service to host their podcasts. The truth is that we have done a lousy job supporting our unpaid users, primarily because the service was free. We have determined that our ‘unpaid’ model is unsustainable and as a result we are moving to a ‘paid’ model starting in May. PodServe has been a great marketing tool for Big in Japan resulting in a handful of lucrative private label projects including projects for Nip/Tuck, Dirt, The Shield and The Riches.
Starting May 1st we are asking that users pay an annual fee of $25 to use PodServe via PayPal. We certainly won’t make any money with this fee (if every active user paid we would generate $50,000 per year, hardly enough to pay someone to provide basic support), but it will help defray the costs of operating the service and allow us to continue to use PodServe as a marketing tool for Big in Japan. We have a plan to make PodServe better:
Our plan: a) add additional dedicated servers and a larger SAN, b) integrate updated code base to PodServe code for increased stability, c) add statistics, and d) provide basic support to users.
Interested? Go ahead and send $25 via PayPal to sales@biggu.com, providing your user name with the payment. Alternatively, you can wait until April and signup on the site. Remember, if you are not going ‘Pro’ you will need to move your podcast before May 1st.
Is this a good deal? If PodServe works for you it is a great deal. If you need additional features like a flash creator, http://www.hipcast.com might be a better fit. They have three plans ranging from $49.97 to $119.40 per year.
In a move that reflects the current direction of the Big in Japan business, we are launching our first true tool set ~ an API to allow web applications to build in robust voice features that are built, managed and hosted by Big in Japan. Big in Japan doesn’t want to build the applications you use, we want to make the applications your deliver better! Think BASF for web services.
We have been providing Voice 2.0 integrated applications as dedicated services for quite some time. Now we are offering a robust API (application programming interface) that allows any web developer or application developer to integrated custom phone features into their application. The first API provides hooks into our Podcall system. The API work regardless of the web technology (Ruby on Rails, PHP, Flash and of course simple HTML to name a few). Want to offer this sort of functionality found on Google:
Originally built to allow for quick and easy integration for Courtney Cox’s new television show Dirt, the Big in Japan team is opening the API for any developer who needs access to a telephone system. What can it do? The possibilities are endless. Start with simple functions like providing messages or wake-up calls to your users or clients. Then build interesting dating applications to connect people together. Or create robust identity verification system for your services for payment processing or demographic data collection. The system is robust and the applications are limitless.
Today is a big day at Big in Japan. Together with FX Network, we’ve launched the Nip/Tuck Fancast. Update: For clarification FX Network is a client of Big in Japan.
The Fancast is live on the Nip/Tuck site, or you can access it directly here. We’re really proud of this project, and would love to get your feedback. It’s running smoothly and we don’t expect any problems. If you have any feedback, please drop us a comment in this thread. We’d love to hear what you think!
The Big in Japan team is working with Rupert Murdoch’s FX Networks (owned by News Corporation) to build a customized version of Fancast based on the highly popular PodServe podcast system. Update: For clarification, FX Network is a client of Big in Japan. The system combines a highly scableable ruby on rails application with a VoIP based phone system capable of handling more than 30,000 telephone connections.
This summer we began working with the producers of Nip/Tuck, the Golden Globe winning drama, on their community interaction efforts. The program is cables’ top-rated series with adults 18-49 with more than 2.6 million viewers. The first program consists of two fan generated podcasts. The first is titled the Nip/Tuck Fan Question Podcast. Where viewers can interview each member of the cast or crew. Each week five of the best questions are answered by the appropriate cast or crew member and then the content is posted to the system. The second is titled the Nip/Tuck Fan Comments Podcast. Each week the IVR system will prompt viewers to comment on various topics about the show.
The system consists of a white label version of PodServe using multiple load balanced DELL Poweredge servers to consume and organize recordings generated from Podcall using one or more Dell Poweredge servers running in series to generate dialtone, outbound calls, covert .wav and compress into .mp3 ready for iTunes. The tightly integrated system is known as the Fancast system. The servers are located in our state-of-the-art data center and network operations center. During programming our technicians watch the program on one screen, server and call statistics on another and errors on a thrid. Starting this week FX will begin to promote the launch of the system using television advertising.
Will it work? According to Arbitron/Edison Media Research more than 27 million Americans have listened to a podcast, half of whom are under 35 years old. Using the Fancast system, Nip/Tuck’s producers can empower their own community of 2.6 million viewers to deliver content via iTunes to more than 30 million iPod listeners. Converting just 2% of those iTunes users might deilver 600,000 viewers to the program. Additionally, FX has the option of inserting advertising into the consumer generated content as they moderate and process it allowing for additional marketing channels for their advertisers.
The Fancast system, launched in June 2006 and presented that same month at Under the Radar, combines PodServe and Podcall into a single platform allows users to easily create recordings for inclusion within hosted podcasts. Podcall is a multiprotocol PBX on Linux that provides all of the features you would expect from a high-end PBX and more. Podcall supports voice over IP in many protocols, and interoperates with all standards-based telephone equipment. Podcall can serve as a gateway to PodServe for inbound, outbound telephone lins (POTs or IAX) as well as conference bridges. Features include: Automated Attendant, Blacklists, Call Detail Records, Call Forward on Busy, Call Forward on No Answer, Call Forward Variable, Call Monitoring, Call Recording, Call Retrieval, Conference Bridging, Fax Transmit and Receive, Interactive Voice Response, Predictive Dialer, Route by Caller ID, SMS Messaging, Spell / Say, Talk Detection, Text-to-Speech, Graphical Call Manager, Outbound Call Spooling, and TCP/IP Management Interface.
Weblogs Work is now part of Big in Japan! It took us a year to determined that weblogs do in fact work, but they are simply one social media tool a business or agency should consider. As a result we have decided to consolidate the Big in Japan and Weblogs Work brand into one with a renewed focus on helping businesses and agencies build turnkey social media programs by providing a broad spectrum of social tools including weblogs, wikis, podcasts, forums and feeds. Don’t worry, the Weblogs Work weblog won’t go away, it will continue to provide a place for the Big in Japan team to blog about social media. Can you believe it has been a year?
On April 12, 2005 I wrote the first Weblogs Work post titled, “Business Blogs the next big thing (that is already here)!” In July we began offering ‘blog consulting’ services to small companies. We also started having our programmers build various tools for our consultancy to effectively host shared and dedicated, single and multi-user blogs. Soon our clients got larger and our projects more complicated. Our programmers started building even more customized tools like elfURL, PodServe, FrankenFeed, InstantFeed and SocialMail. We even created a brand for our social tool effort called Big in Japan.
Almost ninety days ago it became obvious we had a choice to make. We could build an agency and expand our social media consulting practice or we could change our focus to exploit what we were already uniquely positioned to provide. Weblogs Work and Big in Japan are both brands owned by Spur (the holding company I manage). Spur also owns an IT support brand called Architel. Weblogs Work and Big in Japan had been stealing resources (data center space, servers, programmers and engineers) from the very start and it became clear we were very good at building, customizing, managing and supporting various social tools. Very few companies had the experience and resources to do what we were doing on a daily basis.
Just before the 4th of July we bit the bullet and decided to refocus our offering to provide agencies and brand managers enterprise class social tools complete with hosting, management and day-to-day support. Here is an example of our most popular offerings:
Want to learn more? You can reach me directly at 1+214.550.2003 or just send me an email. We look forward to hearing from you!
Brian is going to do a full post on SocialMail, but I thought I would mention that it was turned on last week. For those of you who use various Big in Japan tools, you will note that SocialMail is the first example of our new login and footer design (no more sidebar). All of the tools will adopt these two SocialMail features. Otherwise check it out…
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