Podcast Freq

I had been hosting my own internet radio show for about a year when I read a blog post about ‘podcasting’. I wish I could remember who it was that wrote that post as I surely owe him or her a box of chocolates!

I ran (in a virtual sense) over to my techie friend Lynette Chandler of Tech Based Marketing to ask her how to get an RSS feed set up for my show. She had an RSS feed generated for me within a few hours.

I publicized the RSS feed on my site which meant I needed to educate my listeners on how to use it. I submitted it to iTunes soon after and that brought an immediate gush of new downloads, doubling my numbers within a few weeks, tripling it within months.

I often wonder, if podcasting had never been heard of, how different would my business be right now? If I were still relying on drawing visitors to my website to listen to the show each week, would I have been able to grow the respectable niche audience that I have today? I really don’t think so.

Don’t get me wrong, I’d be somewhere on the path to where I wanted to be - just farther back.

What if I hadn’t had a techilicious friend to turn to for help with learning about RSS? I may have been super intimidated by the whole thing and failed to act.

I’m certainly glad that wasn’t the case

Today I help others get started in their own podcast, giving them a boost in conquring their intimidation.

So let me ask you - what if anything is keeping you from giving podcasting a go?

So the podcast expo is here and I am so looking forward to meeting the people behind the voices. I am also looking at learning more about podcasting. Like many, I have learned on the job….and by making mistakes! But these next few days I want to develop my skills and my thinking

1) I want to learn more about creating dialogue
2) I want to learn more about doubling your audience
3) I want to learn more about creating great audio
4) I want to learn more about how people keep their format fresh

Well will let you know how my learning goes….

podcasting, how to podcast, pme, podcast expo, audio

The wonderful Donna Papacosta at Trafcom News has just posted a Podcaster Checklist which is well worth checking out. It is extremely comprehensive and as usual with Donna’s work, enourages you to ask the right questions and ensure that you have a clear vision for your work.

The Blubrry blog highlights a new service called Mahola which is Hawaiin for Thank you. Mahola describes itself as
” Mahalo is the world’s first human-powered search engine powered by an enthusiastic and energetic group of Guides. Our Guides spend their days searching, filtering out spam, and hand-crafting the best search results possible. If they haven’t yet built a search result, you can request that search result. You can also suggest links for any of our search results.”

They have search results for podcast and I have to say I am impressed with the depth of resource despite the beta status. Well worth checking out.

As I have mentioned before, a few of us female bloggers and podcasters have got together to start recording a new show - The Podcast Sisters. It is a show aimed at women who want to learn more about Web 2.0 but in reality it is for anyone who wants to know and even more importantly how to use the technology to promote your business/personal brand.

The topics coming up include:- blogging, podcasting, second life, twitter, social networks, personal branding and loads more. The “sisters” will be a rotating mix of people - on the first show was Krishna De, Heather Gorringe and Anna Farmery but we are hoping to invite many of our friends on to talk about how they have used podcasting etc to grow or promote their business.

If you either want to come on the show or want us to cover a topic then email the podcast.sisters@googlemail.com

Here are some books that I have read and that I would recommend to any podcaster to help you understand the power of conversations and Web 2.0.

The Cluetrain Manifesto
Promoting Your Podcast: The Ultimate Guide to Building an Audience of Raving Fans
The World Is Flat: The Globalized World in the Twenty-first Century
The Wisdom of Crowds
Corporate Conversations: A Guide to Crafting Effective and Appropriate Internal Communications

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.

I gave 2 presentations this weekend at the wonderful on line conference which was organised by Coop World and Penny Haynes.

There were some wonderful presentations by people like Jason Van Orden on how to promote your podcast, Leesa Barnes on Podcasting for Profit, Heather Gorringe on how to use your podcast for successful viral marketing, Elisabeth Lewin on Podcasting in 2006: What We Learned and an intriguing study by Dr. Dennis Mocigemba on International Podcasting.

You will be able to buy CD’s of the event from the website, for anyone looking into podcasting or interested in developing the podcast the investment would be worth it. Or you can get some insight by listening to a series of podcasts with some of the speakers at the blog - International Podcast Expo.

I came across a 3 part series about podcasting. For anyone who enjoys an in-depth look at all aspects of why and how to create a podcast you will enjoy the podcast series by Christopher Simmons at Music Industry Newswire.

Today we will look at thought around U and V.

U= Understanding. Your understanding and the consumer’s understanding is important.
1.Understanding from the podcaster on:_
What is the purpose of your show
How you will measure success
Who is your target audience
What kind of tool is it for you - a marketing, selling, personal branding, hobby tool?
2.From the consumer’s point of view, understanding of
How can I subscribe?
How will this show add value to me?
The level of expertise of the host
How can I interact with the show, if I want to…?

V=Video. Now I know this one will probably cause debate. Video to me is fantastic IF it adds the value of the show. If it is a video of an interview then I don’t see what real value it adds. In fact from my point of view I often listen to it as an audio. The video indeed can cause me pain - longer download times, more space, often they don’t delete off your hard drive and you need to go in and delete again eg The Scoble Show. However, I love the video element of the Scoble Show when it is showing you how to, or a product demo. Video, for me should only be used if it adds to the consumer experience. So for example it could be a way of monetarising your show….audio to discuss a topic, video with a demo or hot element could be the premium for example in learning?

Coming to the end of the series but I have had a great deal of feedback on some of the elements, so I will address these in further posts after the series has finished. Thanks for all the e-mails (anna@theengagingbrand.com), debate and comments you have brought up some great points, as I knew you would….

At the Corporate Podcasting Summit I got to meet Jason van Orden which was great. I honestly believe his book, Promoting Your Podcast is a must for podcasters and that his work is one that you should follow closely. It is a strange part of being part of the podcasting community that when you meet people that you respect, and whose work you love you still get a buzz!

Jason has also covered the conference and it is worth looking at his take on Collecting Audience Data

I love traveling especially by train as I find it relaxing and also gives me some space, some quiet to think about my podcast. My bag always carries the following

* A moleskine journal. I wouldn’t be without this, so that I can capture my ideas. I doodle, I watch people, I look around thinking how the different landscapes, conversations can help me learn and develop. I make so many notes from watching and also listening to podcasts.
* My iPod - it is jam packed full of shows that inspire me. Not necessarily shows in my area of leadership development but shows that are energetic, inspirational, people that think about how the world is changing…..It is a great time to listen to other shows and find techniques that you can try on your own show.
* My laptop. I love my Sony Vaio, and love to explore the blogosphere and internet - searching for ideas, learnings, concepts that I could use in helping others on the podcast. I also use Google Reader to check out podcasting topics and get up to date with the latest software, news and tips!
* A mirror - figuratively! I find this time so useful for self reflection - how can you develop your podcasting skills, what do you NEED to improve, what content do your listeners want?

Travelling can be a bind but it can also be valuable time for a podcaster - ensure you use the time wisely!

There is a great article on Promotion World on Podcasting. I have listed the sub headings but check out the full article for the detail, it is a good summary and also a reminder for us all.

DO
1. Make it Professional
2.Transcribe
3. iTunes Support
4. Content
5. Subscribe To Your Podcast Feed

DON’T
1. Stray
Do not stray too far from the topic.
2. Ramble
3. Forget Meta Data
It is critical that you include appropriate and relevant keywords in your podcast feed title and description, this will help listeners locate your podcast.
4. Skimp on Bandwidth
5. Listen to Your Audience
Create a venue for listeners to communicate with you, whether it be through email, a forum or a blog. Listen to what your audience is saying, and even more importantly listen to what they are not saying.

I need your help! I am presenting to the online podcasting conference in April and want to share with the listeners “What I know now that I wish I had known at the start!”

What were your mistakes, key learnings…..? What advice would you give to people who are just starting out in the podcast world? What was the best tip that you ever received?

It would be great to share with the online community. Please post on the blog or e-mail me at anna@theengagingbrand.com