Podcast Freq

As we come towards the end of our series on promoting your podcast we look at X today.

X= X - promote. Why not offer to do a podcast for an association that you are a member of? It may be a trade association, a church, a society or even a sports team. In exchange for recording a podcast for them, ask for them to promote your work. This can be a win win situation for both parties.

As much as anything it is about accessing all the people that you have contact with, that have similar interest and values to your own. Think of your networks and ask is there some value that I can add to their work, which I can exchange for promotion of my podcast.

podcast, podcasting, promotion, marketing, church, producing + podcast

We have been looking at different ways of promoting your podcast, when you have a restricted budget or indeed no budget at all. Today we look at V

V= Voicemail. Depending on your topic why not play snippets from your podcast on your voicemail. Especially for small companies it gives an insight into your work, or can entertain people while they are waiting for their call to be taken. Clearly you would need to change the snippets or give a variety to ensure that people do not get bored with the message. I would also suggest that you don’t use long snippets…even the intro to your show with a link to where they can hear more…

It is about using every piece of communication to reach out to people.

[tags] podcast, podcasting, promoting + podcast, increasing listeners [ /tags]

Over at John Furrier’s blog there is the following press release announcing the first meeting for the ADM.

“….The recently formed Association for Downloadable Media (ADM) will hold its first in-person meeting at the Podcasting & New Media Expo in Ontario, CA. The meeting will be held at 7:30 a.m. PDT on Friday, September 28, 2007 in Ballroom A. Anyone can attend who is registered as an expo attendee. Free and paid options are available at http://www.NewMediaExpo.com/register.php.

Agenda items to be discussed include the goals of the organization, the continued membership drive, committee formation action plans, first priority deliverables as an organization, potential membership benefits for podcasters, and the process for the nominations for board seats and committees. After the initial member conference call August 22nd, this is the first in-person meeting of ADM paid and prospective members and is shaping up to be a productive gathering. ADM has been successful at attracting members and has a roster of more than 50 publishers, agencies, vendors and metrics companies. The current membership list is posted on the site at http://www.downloadablemedia.org.

This meeting will be an opportunity for new members to bring forth action items for the ADM to address. It is open to all interested parties, but members will have priority for their contributions because of the limited meeting time. Since the meeting is open, it is an excellent venue to consider membership for those prospective members interested in seeking additional information about the organization and its goals. All industry professionals interested in monetizing their content are encouraged to attend.

Nominations for the 4 Executive Committees (Chairman, Vice Chairman, Secretary and Treasurer), 11 Advisory Board seats and 5 Committee Chair positions are now open. Any current ADM members may nominate themselves or other members for office positions on the executive and advisory board slots or as committee chairs. Details on the nomination and voting process can be found at http://downloadablemedia.org/membership.html.

The Association for Downloadable Media is focused on providing standards for advertising and audience measurement for episodic and downloadable media.”

As I am UK based it is not possible to attend but I think this association is a wonderful way of shaping the future of podcasting.

podcasting, adm, podcast, association of downloadable media

A year ago you could build an audience just by being in iTunes. That is now getting more difficult as more corporations are podcasting and pushing the Independents down the charts. iTunes remains the most important global directory and it remains important to submit it to the directory. However, if you are wanting to grow your audience you now need to do more. Here are some ideas that you need to do to get your message out about your podcast.

1) Comment on blogs…..add value to conversations at blogs that your potential listeners are reading.

2) Find ways of promoting your podcast to non podcast listeners - give out CD’s as a sample of your work to friends, family, customers, suppliers.

3) Find other niche directories for your local audience.

4) Write a press release

5) Put aside 30 minutes each fortnight to promote your podcast away from iTunes.

podcast promotion, itunes, promoting your podcast, podcast directory

I love facebook, but I wasn’t sure whether forming a facebook group would help The Engaging Brand podcast. But is has and here’s how

1) It is a way of interacting with listeners - putting faces to the listeners helps my motivation.

2) It allows me to add value to the show by posting further information on the wall or in the discussion threads.

3) The listeners have put forward ideas for future shows.

4) I have found people to interview through the friendships at Facebook.

5) It helps to market your podcast, it reminds people about the show via messaging and also provides a communication tool to your “consumers” of other news around your podcast.

Facebook has added to the conversation, it has added a sense of community around the show…..it does need your time and attention as you need to facilitate the discussion but it is worth it!

facebook, podcasting, marketing + social networks, podcast promotion

I want to bring together a monthly carnival of podcasting tips and thoughts on how to evolve your podcast or your podcasting income. Here is the first carnival but would love your articles to share with others.

Albert Einstein said “The important thing is not to stop questioning” and I think this is wonderful advice for podcasters.

Do you

1) Keep asking whether your podcast is achieving your personal goals?

2) Keep asking whether your show is creating value for your listeners?

3) Keep asking how can I get new listeners to the show?

4) Keep asking how can I create more value for listeners through other social networking tools?

5) Keep asking am I putting the same effort into the show?

It is this line of self-questioning that keeps you motivated, keeps you inspired to produce a great show.

albert einstein, podcasting, podcast, social networking tools, listeners, personal goals

If you are a member of Blubrry then you have access to their new statistics package which is a fab new tool. What I have liked about the launch was the help it gave podcasters - here for example is an audio tutorial to the blubrry package. Many podcasters are not RSS savvy and it is great to see a community making it easy for podcasters to use the new tools, no matter there technical knowledge. They also have further information in the Blubrry forum.

So what does the package show, well most areas you would expect - number of downloads, unique downloads, top platforms, top clients, countries and referers. It allows you to print the stats and also download them. The information is a great mix of tabular for the number of downloads and pie chart for the further breakdowns into country, referer etc…..again for people who don’t like numbers, easy to use.

So what is my overall impression - professional, easy to use, comprehensive, clarity of presentation and it is quick in terms of providing the information. What I really like is that they WANT feedback for improvements…they haven’t just launched and that’s it. I have already put forward the following

1) Would like a widget to take the Top 10 shows of all time over to my blog.
2) Would like the name of the show rather than the date.
3) Would like to be able to sort the information by clicking on the titles.

But in reality these are nice to have’s…as the package stands, it is a great tool for me to understand the growth of my podcast audience and also attract further advertisers.

Well done Blubrry…..and check it out if you need to understand your podcasting numbers.

blubrry, podcasting, podcast, statistics, downloads, podcast metrics, podcasting tutorials

Whenever you get back from any kind of gathering you seem to burst with ideas, or at least I do! Here are some more thoughts, not all on podcasting…

1) Don’t be scared of having a go at video, it is easier than you think!
2) Producing your podcast is not the goal, the podcast is a vehicle by which you achieve a goal.
3) Keep finding new podcasters…there are great new talents out there waiting to be found. When you do link to them, let’s help the independents!
4) Facebook is the new business card…
5) These events are as much about the discussion than the content of the sessions.

I was bowled over at the passion, at the sense of community, at the talent that is around us….great content is out there, we must do all we can to bring these independents to the top of the mind of new listeners.

podcast, podcasting, podcast uk, vlogs, facebook, indie podcasts

There is a free service - Podlinez, which allows you to listen to podcasts via a phone. It is a US number. But remember even if you are outside the US, your podcasts have a global audience and this is another way of encouraging people not used to podcasts, to listen. It might be a good service for shorter podcasts or a way some people could listen at work!!

A summary from the website
“Podlinez is a free service that lets you listen to podcasts on your phone.

Enter the RSS feed URL for a podcast in the box above to get a phone number you can call to hear it, or browse our directory for a number to try. If your favorite podcast isn’t already in our directory, you can add it immediately and it’ll be available to call within minutes.

Use the * and # keys on your phone to skip forward and back in one minute increments through the recording. Podlinez always keeps the latest version of the podcast on hand.”

podlinez, podcasting, listening to podcasts, downloading podcasts, promoting your podcast

It has been great to meet up with fellow podcasters from around Europe at Podcamp UK. Here are some random thoughts that are running through my head…

1) We need to think about how we can partner with old media to increase listenership. Gone are the days that we get early adoption growth..now we need to start working at generating the interest, the promotion, the value of the medium.
2) Why are so many people so fixated with metrics? There is no other media spend that can give definitive results….so why does podcasting have to?
3) How do we maintain visibility of some wonderful independent podcasts?
4) How great social networking is…but how face to face still remains king for me!
5) How few women podcaster’s are at Podcast UK!

Looking forward to tomorrow and fuelling my body with even more podcasting inspiration.

[tags podcasting, new media, podcamp uk, social networking [/tags]