Podcast Freq

A couple of days ago I wrote about what the POD means in podcasting. Today I want to put some thoughts put there about the “casting”

Casting has 12 definitions in my humble little dictionary and here is how I think some of them are relevant to the world of podcasting

1) Select to play a part. Well as a podcaster you are playing a part in your listeners lives. You need to convey emotion, you need to convey a story to keep them intrigued, in fact podcasting lets you be whoever you want to be!

2) Let fall, shed. I think podcasting has helped me shed many of many inhibitions - I am naturally quite shy and although podcasts go out to the world, I feel safe to express myself through the shield of the PC. I also think we need to “shed” our ideas of how business works, we are part of the new world of business and marketing, we need to understand that brave new world!

3) Shape in a mould. Podcasting has a freedom but over time you need to mould your show and evolve unique yet consistent content. Your podcast is a way of expressing you and your thoughts….it also can help mould your personal brand.

4) Throw. I love this idea. Podcasting has allowed me to cast my ideas far and wide. It has changed my business from local to global. It has allowed me to extend my business reach. I have no idea who may “bite” by listening but that is part of the wonder of podcasting and seeing who subscribes.

I understand the term is derived from broadcasting but actually I like the idea of linking it to the fisherman’s term….throwing some lines out there, when you want as an enjoyable activity and sit and see who bites!

I have used MyBlogLog for over a year, to build a sense of community to both Middle Age Shed and The Engaging Brand. It has worked really well and I love the fact that I can see the faces of people either reading the blog or listening to the podcasts. Over at the Sob Con it was announced that

1) There will be a rebranding of MyBlogLog. Timing and new brand to be announced but maybe a link with the parent yahoo?

2) The site is to be redesigned which is great news with also work on removing offensive photos which will be good, and the ability to turn on and off your presence on sites.

3) Also a new widget is being developed/

Mybloglog has been a success and ready for this next stage of its life - for podcasters it is a great tool for community feel.

Here are my thoughts on what the POD means to me

P= Public. It opens the world up to you, it allows you to “broadcast” to the world. Podcasting has given a huge power to the PUBLIC

0= Open to all. You can literally do it for free…I didn’t I spent a whopping $15 on a micrpohone as the internal microphone on my PC wasn’t very good. Podcasting is open to all, costs are not prohibitive…choose a topic that YOU are PASSIONATE about and crack on with it…

D= Dialogue. Another tool along with Twitter, Blogs etc that allows you to connect with people all over the world. Allows collaboration, allows you to network, opens further opportunities to expand your mind.

That is why I am passionate about the medium, not as an end in itself but as a tool to express myself and listen to ideas from all 4 corners of the world

A while ago I asked how do we get more female talent into podcasting or indeed how do we highlight the female podcasters out their as role models for others.
Interestingly enough, Janet Parkinson of Talking Voices has just published a podcast on Women in Podcasting and asks why aren’t there more women podcasters? She interviews myself, Anna Farmery from The Engaging Brand, Linda Mills from Podcast User Magazine and Suja from Podbazaar.

In the interview I talk about Women in Podcasting as a blog that Heather Gorringe and I set up, to build a community to explore how we can address these issues especially in Europe.

Interesting news that Amazon has launched its own podcasting network. The fact that the retailer can see the power of podcasting is fantastic news. The Amazon press release illustrates some interesting points.

1) “The company expects to offer several additional channels in the coming months to meet its customers’ increasing demand for rich content related to the products they shop for every day” My take is that is a great marketing tool to encourage purchase and also a way of increasing the downloaded audiobooks which I assume are at a higher margin.

2) “Each podcast is available via streaming and download from Amazon.com, and through RSS and iTunes. Amazon Wire is also available on TiVo” Amazon are not just putting this on their site but using it to draw people over to Amazon and making it easy for people to subscribe and use the content.

3)”Amazon Podcasts offers customers exclusive content and interviews they won’t find anywhere else” So using the podcast not just to look at existing products but to give the customer a value based experience.

4) The 4 channels at the moment are
* Amazon BookClips – A weekly podcast offering customers a free sneak peek at some of the most popular soon-to-be-released audiobooks.
* Music You Should Hear – A free, weekly MP3 podcast whereby customers receive an MP3 recording featuring complete songs from developing and indie artists, selected by Amazon’s music editors.
* Significant Seven – A monthly podcast in which book editors from Amazon.com talk about seven of the most exciting upcoming books before they are released.
* Amazon Wire – An exclusive, biweekly podcast featuring interviews with some of today’s hottest authors, actors, directors and musicians.

All content based on wetting the customers appetite. I love the idea and will be watching to see how they use the forthcoming channels. What I like is that as the big on line retailers promote podcasting as a marketing tool, my hope is that it will increase awareness in the wider audience and take up on podcasts in general.

I came across what is called a diagram called the Modern Mediashere at the MarCom Interactive site. On the right hand side of the diagram, choose to click on all for each sector and you can see how podcasting fits into the whole mediasphere. It is an interesting pictorial view of the space and illustrates that podcasting is part of the media, as a podcaster you are part of the media!

I started podcasting by accident, intrigued by the technology, I just wanted to try it out. Once I had tried it I was hooked! At the beginning, I never saw what it would do for my business. SInce that time I have found

1) Free marketing - it is a great way of getting your company profile out into the world with next to no cost. Great for someone leaving the safe corporate world and starting out on their own.
2) Personal branding - I have never been that great at networking however, podcasting has introduced me to customers, friends, support networks, and has increased my speaking engagements.
3) Podcasting has now opened up a new stream of income both directly and indirectly. The indirect includes coaching on podcasting, podcasting assignments, corporate podcasting.
4) Moved my business from a local service to a global service. Now I have clients in places as diverse as Singapore, US, Italy.
5) Increased my knowledge of technology and indeed my interest. A non geek before, now I love finding new technologies that can really help people engage people at work.

There is a new report on US internet usage here
1) 8% of Americans are deep users of the participatory Web and mobile applications
2)Another 23% are heavy, pragmatic tech adopters – they use gadgets to keep up with social networks or be productive at work
3) 10% rely on mobile devices for voice, texting, or entertainment
4)10% use information gadgets, but find it a hassle
5) 49% of Americans only occasionally use modern gadgetry and many others bristle at electronic connectivity

The report shows that we have a lot of work to do in bringing more podcast listeners to our shows. As a heavy internet user you can forget there is still obstacles in growing your podcast audience.

If you want to learn about podcasting or keep up to date with the latest thinking then these are the top shows that I listen to - if you have others let me know.

School of Podcasting Dave Jackson gives quick and easy tips that can really help with your production and marketing.
The Podcast Brothers. Tim and Emile Bourquin, host a weekly show on the business side of podcasting and portable audio and video. Also bring together the Podcast expo, a must event for any podcaster.
Geek News Central Great show by Todd Cochrane who also runs the Blubrry network - a podcast directory for podcasters!
Podcast 411 Rob Walch interviews podcasters who tell their stories, their mistakes and their best tips.

Great shows as they combine tech news with a great deal of entertainment.

One of the big challenges that faces all podcasters is to increase the amount of subscribers. People who listen to one of your shows are great, but subscribers are even better. Dave Jackson the wonderful presenter of School of Podcasting has just developed a learn to subscribe website that can help you explain to non geeks how easy the process can be. Great idea!

The more we explain, the more we develop easier ways of subscribing…the more we will expand podcasting.

Each of us at some time or other struggle with the time commitment. So what do you do to recharge those batteries, here is how I cope with producing 4 shows per week.

1) Take a rest. Sounds obvious but if you are tired, you will not produce your best work. Just have an unplugged day when you do something you love, something away from the computer. Recharge those batteries.

2) If you need longer, then tell listeners you are taking a break - they will understand. Just say that your schedule will not be normal as you are having a holiday to recharge.

3) Ask someone else to host the show - maybe ask the listeners.

4) Change your routine slightly so if feels fresh. Yesterday, I took the laptop outside and edited the show while the sun shone and it was great!

5) Change the format of the show…if you don’t normally have a co-host, find one….if you don’t normally interview…do one. They always say a change is as good as a rest!

Podcasting is hard work and you need to make sure that you stay fresh, that way your content stays fresh. I find just unplugging really helps, I don’t check e-mail, I don’t start up the computer…I just chill with family and friends. Find what works for you and make sure you build it into your routine before the tiredness hits….preventing tiredness is a much better strategy.

I am hoping to run a blog carnival each month on how podcasting can help your business. If you have any articles that will help other people then please submit them to this blog carnival. Here are some to kick the process off



I now don’t listen to the TV for news or even read newspapers. I subscribe to news podcasts that keep me up to date, and find it much more time efficient. In Red Herring magazine there were some interesting statistics in how people are reading their news

8% of MP3 owners listened to news podcasts on their players in 2006

6% of cell phone owners got news on their cell phones in 2006

18.5% of PDA owners got news on their PDA’s IN 2006

It surprised me that the podcast one was so low however the above shows the continued trend to receiving news on the run. Time is such a scarce resource that any way that we can find to use time more efficiently the better. Again I feel that it is important that we sell the benefit of podcasting more than the tool itself. For instance we should ask more about “Is time management an issue for you? What if you could receive information on the move or while you are exercising, traveling etc? ” We can then point our colleagues, friends etc to podcasting. The benefit is time shifting not the podcast in itself.

As a new podcaster or an established one it is so important to keep evolving, to keep surprising the listeners. I know that consistency is an important aspect, however you shouldn’t mistake consistency with sameness. One tool that could help you is by reviewing your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.

Strengths. Think about the positive feedback you have received and how you can do more of that. Think of questions like why has my listener ship grown, what skills do I have and could use more of, what have I learned that I could incorporate?

Weakness. Think about the negative feedback and what people have suggested. Think of questions like what skills do I need to develop, what are other people doing that I am not doing, what gaps are there in my podcast content, what are my competitors doing that I could learn from?

Opportunities. Think about how podcasting is evolving, and what your podcast could become. Questions like what do I want to acheive, what niche areas could I exploit, what could I outsource, what are others doing that I need to think about, what skills could I add to my podcasting toolkit, how could you promote your podcast more?

Threats. Think about the threats to both podcasting and also the threats to your listener ship. Questions like what will my listeners want over time, what are my competitors doing, what are the restrictions from a personal point of view, what new technologies are emerging that could affect my work?

Much depends on why you podcast but if you want to keep building your audience you need to keep thinking about evolving and taking your show forward.