Posted by wcw on June 13, 2009 at 11:35:54:
In Reply to: Re: Mike North fired from cswebio.com posted by Wondering on June 12, 2009 at 23:16:43:
: Is it possible that Hernandez let Mike North and his crew handle the finances and things got out of hand, hence the firings? A possibility..
Being familiar with webcasting I always had my doubts about csw's business model.
When I saw the talent line up I thought it was talent heavy and impressive but unless folks were working for free or for peanuts I wondered how they would make payroll.
When I saw the advertising campaign, with a hot possibly expensive model, on taxicabs, at the White Sox game, even heard spots featuring Jeff Schwartz on WLS-AM I wondered how they were paying for it.
When I saw the Sherman piece on how many folks csw was sending to Detroit to cover the Hawks I thought all those guys must have underwritten their own travels. The reason the other outlets were not in Detroit was because of budget constraints, I couldn't figure out how an internet start-up, which at most is making $7.50 per 1,000 listeners, could afford to send talent/staff up there after paying them, paying for its marketing campaign and covering other costs.
I am not being a naysayer or hater, the csw concept is briliant, but it seems like no one ever considered how it was going to be paid for.
Schwartz and North are not to blame, but then again they have been in the business long enough to know that this venture had outrageous overhead costs and needed to be paid for.
The same concept with folks working for free, maybe in some form of sweat equity arrangement, no advertsing (its the internet be creative with viral/social marketing) and no travel (unless absorbed by those doing the travel) works.