Spanglish – the case study of a profitable podcast in Ireland

Posted by: Krishna De | Posted on: April 26th, 2007 | 0 Comments | Posted in: Branding, Business blogging, Business strategy, Customer service, Ezines and newletters, Ireland, More clients, Network, Networking offline, Networking online, New media, Podcasting for profit, Recommended resources, Social media

Many, many years ago I used to travel to Spain to support one of the European based businesses that I was accountable for. At that time I preferred to holiday to far away places – but that was before three little girls entered our life!

However with three babies under the age of 15 months back in 2002 we ventured for the first time to Spain for our vacation and have travelled back many times since.

So I was delighted to see a new site lauched recently – Spanglish – a social networking community all about learning Spanish - right here in our very own city of Dublin.

Spanglish are also offering workshops – unfortunately I was a little too late to book the girls in for the Children’s Saturday Club taking place tomorrow.

Spanglish have done what many professional services firms have not yet done – they have identified a very clear target market and niche so it is absolutely clear what their offering is.

What’s interesting about the Spanglish business model is that it is integrating many traditional and new media solutions including online networking with a membership community, offline networking with meetings and events, and for it’s premium members, podcasts in Spanish so you can learn or develop your Spanish language skills and blogs.

So if you have been wondering how you could create a model for a profitable podcast, Spanglish are a great business case.

It is a great site and has significant potential I am sure, but if they are reading this blog, I have three recommendations for Spanglish to further enhance their online business model and strengthen their brand:

1. That Spanglish add a registration for a newsletter – I personally would prefer to receive a newsletter with updates than have to join a membership community as I know I’ll find little time to actively participate, but an email each month telling me about new events or podcasts I am more likely to pay attention to. Ezine’s are a great way to remind your clients that you exist. A membership community is a great idea but it relies on your members coming back to you. You ezine on the other hand means that you have permission to connect with your community and make timely reminders.
2. That Spanglish offer some of the podcasts at no cost – at the moment you have to pay to become a premium member to access the podcasts. Yes I know that the investment is not much, but remember the old adage about letting people “try before they buy”. It’s a bit like going into Superquinn on a Saturday and having the opportunity to taste the special cheese offers of the day at the deli. A sample for free then can turn into a fee! Offering a sample lesson or two or making the first couple of minutes of a Spanish lesson available to anyone with a promise of what will be covered in the full lesson will I am sure increase their registrations.
3. That Spanglish change their blogging policy so that anyone can comment – at the moment, you have to be a member of the Spanglish community to leave a comment. I know this because I wanted to leave a comment to congratulate them on their site but couldn’t unless I became a member. Leaving comments open means they will be able to engage in conversations, build a community, build credibility, build buzz about your brand, build webtraffic and all of that will over time will result in more clients and increased financial success.

So good luck the Spanglish team – I am sure you onto something big here and wish you every success.

And if you have plans to visit Spain in the not too distant future, head on over to Spanglish to brush up on learning Spanish.