Yodio: Blending Audio and Visual Elements Online

There are a plethora of websites that offer audio, video and visual elements without crossing the line into other media. Yodio is one website that seeks to mix audio and visual tools to help Internet users create new media products. The company offers the Yodiocard (an audio greeting card), YodioTour (narrated photo albums) and YodioCast for free to registered users. Musicians, artists and multimedia mavens can earn royalties on YodioCasts and YodioTours sold through the website's marketplace.

I wanted to find out more about the internal workings of Yodio before I made up my mind about their products. Clay Loges is the CEO of Yodio and provided information on the personnel and management philosophies of his emerging startup. It isn't surprising that Yodio is a virtual company that relies on programmers from around the world to refine its core products considering Yodio's do-it-yourself mentality. Loges indicated that there were four full-time employees dedicated to Yodio along with an indeterminate number of onshore and offshore programmers.

Loges was sparing in his description of the management style used at Yodio. It is clear that a widespread network of programmers and consultants make the ability to start projects without much direction a necessity during the hiring process. The CEO indicated that employees are given "an outline of expectations" which must be filled in to finish each project within the confines of Yodio's vision. This focus on entrepreneurs and self-starters is unsurprising considering Loges' extensive experience in the startup game which forged a better sense of the future needs of Yodio.

It is clear that Yodio is bridging media creation and self-publishing worlds in a unique way. Clay Loges says that the company keeps its ear to the ground when it comes to determining where Yodio is heading in the future. I think that Loges' approach to developing Yodio is necessary considering the specialized services offered by other media websites. It would not be instructive to read a multitude of blogs, magazines and other press on Internet startups that don't fit into the revolutionary approach used by Yodio.

Clay Loges' desire to establish Yodio as a "recognized self-publishing platform for synchronized media/photo content" can be fulfilled in the short term. Other websites have cited a dearth of competition outside of Evoca for the potential success of Yodio. I think that Yodio is truly innovative in the way it approaches media publishing. Users call Yodio with their mobile phone to record a narration which can be attached to a specific set of images. The company has spent time developing its own publishing software instead of relying on an outsourced program. Yodio's patience in finding investors who understand YodioCasts and creating proprietary software make for a promising future in 2008.

I foresee a problem beyond 2008 for Yodio when it comes to attracting new consumers. The audio/visual elements promoted through YodioCasts and YodioTours may not attract the same attention as videos on YouTube, Live Video and other websites. I applaud the effort to attract artists and musicians to Yodio with a unique publishing format as well as the potential for royalties. I think that video websites are growing at a faster rate than audio and visual publishers. This trend means that Yodio may end up a good venue for amateur photographers taking pictures of weddings and vacations instead of rising artists or musicians with new multimedia projects. I like what Yodio offers but other media platforms attract greater attention for people who want to get their ideas and works out to a large audience.