Guest: Ben Thompkins, National Sales Manager- Pro Sales, Blue Microphones

Topics:

Ben runs professional sales for Blue in North and South America, has been with Blue ten years
He handles B2B business, distribution, and educational sales
How does Blue differentiate in the microphone industry?
Blue’s unique history (very music focused, podcasting has been recent)
Started as a high end microphone company (many of their mics are still $6,000-$10,000)
Took premium sound and made it affordable (see their podcasting mics)
Blue’s marketing stands out - fun names like Yeti and Snowball <— please use my link if you want to buy a snowball, this helps support the show!
4:34 Story: Snowball was originally called Softball - founder story
Softball (Snowball) was built for GarageBand, per Apple’s request- a simple USB mic
Founder Skipper turned them down
Emily used Snowball on her first podcast (throwback: The Digital Dive Podcast)

Blue Microphones are the #1 SKU on Amazon for Music / Musical Instruments (these mics are not in the electronics department) - if you want to purchase a Blue Yeti, please click here to use my link to support the podcast!

Hear about podfading (half of podcasts fade after 6 episodes) in Emily’s episode with Phoebe Mroczek
8:10 Emily asks: are people ready for a more passive media experience (e.g. podcasting and voice - audio content) due to social media overload?
"Half the picture is sound" - George Lucas on the importance of audio in film
High quality audio is paramount for communication and marketing
Bad audio on YouTube is worse than bad visuals
Blue was acquired by Logitech for $117 million
Ben is seeing a trend of XLR mics, not just USB mics (XLR is used at major music recording studios)
If you’re paying for an expensive computer and Alienware, it makes sense to upgrade your audio too
Video games are part of his market - gamers are buying nicer mics
Joe Rogan uses a broadcast mic
People are spending more money on higher quality mics
Ben is seeing a consumer purchasing trend with XLR mics, not just USB mics (XLR is used at major music recording studios)
If you’re paying for an expensive computer and Alienware, it makes sense to upgrade your audio too (gaming)
Video games are part of his market - gamers are buying nicer mics and willing to pay
Example- Joe Rogan uses a broadcast mic