I have to admit I'm a little puzzled about the lack of feedback on the changes to the SBS Show. I realize people are busy but since we crossed the 10,000 download mark I feel obligated to ask:
How do you like it?
How do you like the web site?
I've only received one you sold out note from Amy Luby about the sudden commercialization of the SBS Show but honestly it was neccessary. No, I don't like the disclaimer either but truth of the matter is that most people do not download the SBS Show from us or through us - very small part of the population goes to www.sbsshow.com. Most downloads are coming via Odeo, Podzinger, iTunes, Yahoo Music, Tivo and a number of other syndication services. I have no way of telling these people that what they are listening to is not hardcore business IT consulting. Unfortunately, its really just for the stupid ones that we have to put up the disclaimer to begin with… but stupid people hang out in groups and the most eloquent of idiots become lawyers so then we have to put up with liability for something that we gave away for free? Disclaimer stays.
On the ad thing. I thought about that for the long time and here is the deal. If the SBS Show was mostly listened to by the SBS Community this wouldn't be a big deal, we could serve this out of the simple web account. However, Vladville now has 10,000+ daily visitors, tens of thousands of SBS Show downloads and the premium bandwidth costs a lot of money. I've paid up front for the SBS Show to grow but I sink 5+ hours an episode into organizing, producing, editing and publishing the best so it's not like another mindless blog post that you're reading right now. You guys are awesome, many of you have offered to contribute to the show in terms of donations, buying tshirts, etc and most of you said to just make people pay for it. There are three problems with this:
- SBS Show gets the enormous distribution because its free and easy to obtain.
- Guests are willing to come on for free because they can get great exposure.
- It would be against the spirit of why I started the show in the first place.
I'll level with you, I'm doing alright. I do not want the SBS Show to become a business or yet another job - it is a service to the community, the channel for people who have a story to tell it to the others that are in the same role. I don't want to flip it upside down, sell advertising spots, kiss babies, shake hands and have demographics discussions to justify doing this. I'm just a geek. Really, everything else is just a success based on applying the strict work ethic and hardheadness towards what I'm involved in. The SBS Show is an extension of that but if you've listened to the show you know I don't have a bright career as a commercial DJ 
Furthermore, if you've met me you can testify that I've got the face for radio so there goes that TechTV show some of you think I ought to be on.
Point is, this is a free show and I want to keep it available for anybody that is willing to learn and make something of themselves in the SMB world. It also has to cover the costs of at least distribution, so I outright do ask you to support my business which has financed every penny and kb spent on getting every SBS Show episode to the day. If you're getting anything out of the SBS Show I don't think its too much to ask you to consider that when you line up OWN's solutions against the competitors. As always, thank you for your support of the SBS Show and please let me know what we can do to make it better.
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