Pop17

July 18th, 2008 Mobile Lifecasters And Their Platforms

TechCrunch wrote an interesting article comparing different life-casting services and interviewed me as a subject on camera in order to review the quality of Qik, Flixwagon and Kyte. I find it very interesting to see how I have been criticized for working closely with Flixwagon to help them develop a better service. I consult for many companies who are looking to improve their service, platform and business strategy and I am not alone. Believe it or not, video bloggers often consult!

At the Intel Insiders luncheon a couple weeks ago, Justine Ezarik said she makes money through consulting for companies and helping them with their marketing strategies, but she didn’t say whom she works for or how much she makes. Often times consulting involves using a product to figure out where it needs improvement.

If I hire a consultant for pop17 I’d want to use a tech blogger like Cali Lewis or Robert Scoble because tech bloggers are early adopters and can see a curve ball before it curves. They know how to anticipate what’s coming next and add a great amount of brand recognition to any website. I’d imagine they get a bunch of offers from companies looking for consulting work, but they don’t have the time or energy to take all offers that come in.

Someone is writing me insisting that I blog about who is getting paid what to lifecast. Honestly, I don’t know, but I do know I am not the only one who gets paid. There are many successful lifecasters who make a living off of their efforts assisting startups to work out a business strategy in this space. Qik has many top personalities such as Kevin Rose and Veronica Belmont who stream to the site. My advice to the person emailing in is this- go ask around. Please don’t expect me to do your research for you.

Robert says, “I am NOT paid by Qik or Kyte or any other company other than those that sponsor my show. I choose what I use based on what I think is the best out there at the time. I don’t mind that people do such deals (making money with online media is very difficult) but I am troubled by the lack of disclosure. That’s a sponsorship and should be disclosed openly to your viewers/readers.”

These three bloggers are using live video streaming sites that may or may not pay them for consulting services they provide to the site in addition to streaming on the site. Flixwagon and I are working closely to make their site stronger than the others, but Flixwagon is NOT sponsoring pop17. According to the TechCrunch article, Flixwagon comes in last at the moment so I don’t see how me being in the videos are endorsing their product.