Mainebiz

V O L . X X V I N O. I V F E B R UA R Y 2 4 , 2 0 2 0 20 WO R K P L A C E T E C H N O L O G Y A year ago, Tanner Campbell had a desk at SoPoCo.Works cowork- ing space in South Portland and a full-time job in IT at a nonprofit. He was also looking to grow his side gig, offering podcast services to businesses. A year later, he's full-time, with two studios at SoPoCo.Works, a full-time employee and another on the way, and more than a dozen business clients. "It's 100% changed over the past year," he says as he and Laura "Lou" Lockwood, whom he recently hired as a contract audio engineer, relax in the larger of the two studios, a warm room with wooden walls and four comfortable armchairs. Businesses have started "getting it," he says. "ere's a whole space they could be potentially serving, or expect to serve, that they're not plugged in to." is is the year they'll plug in, he says. His is the only business like it in Maine. "But they're going to need more than just me," he says. "It's going to explode." So how does a business plug in? Mainebiz talked to some of Maine's business podcasters to find out. Why do a podcast? "It's not just some kind of market- ing initiative or pilot program," says Yury Nabokov, customer experience manager and marketing strategist at Machias Savings Bank. Nabokov co-hosts "Fast Forward Maine" with Rich Brooks, president of Flyte New Media in Portland. "It's part of the bank's business model," embracing its vision to move Maine forward and build relation- ships, Nabokov says. Podcasting goes beyond branding, says Nancy Marshall, of Augusta- based Marshall Communications, and host of "e PR Maven." "It's not just media creating content to serve an audience," Marshall says. "It's great for establishing a voice, it's great for building relationships with prospective clients and it cements rela- tionships with current clients." Marshall's podcast was named one of the top 10 personal branding podcasts by industry analyst Feedspot in December. "It has delivered a very good [return on investment] for us," says Marshall. "It's delivered us clients we never would have otherwise." A podcast reaches more people than other forms of marketing, she says. It also helps listeners, including potential clients, know her in a way that they wouldn't otherwise. Availability across platforms, includ- ing on websites, mobile devices, and vir- tual assistants, like Alexa, mean they're accessible almost anywhere, by anybody. What's involved? "What I like about podcasting is you can start for free and work your way up," says Brooks, of "Fast Forward Maine." "You use the tools and resources you have to get the job done." Machias Savings already had some of the pieces in place, including a full-time video producer who also does audio editing, when the podcast began in May. It started with Nabokov and Brooks sharing ear pods and a microphone, with guests dialing in remotely. Now they record in a studio in the lobby of the bank's Portland offices, equipped with three microphones and a sound board. Podcast primer Podcasting is taking off in Maine. What do businesses who want to jump on board need to know? B y M a u r e e n M i L L i k e n F O C U S P H O T O / T I M G R E E N WAY P H O T O / T I M G R E E N WAY Nancy Marshall Nancy Marshall, founder and CEO of , founder and CEO of Marshall Communications Marshall Communications, interviews , interviews Lee Goldberg Lee Goldberg, a reporter and anchor at , a reporter and anchor at NEWS CENTER NEWS CENTER Maine Maine, for the , for the 'PR Maven Podcast' PR Maven Podcast' in Studio A at the in Studio A at the Portland Pod Portland Pod in South Portland. in South Portland. Tanner Campbell Tanner Campbell, owner and podcast , owner and podcast engineer, and engineer, and Laura "Lou" Lockwood Laura "Lou" Lockwood, , studio manger and podcast engineer, studio manger and podcast engineer, in Studio B at the in Studio B at the Portland Pod Portland Pod.

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