Podcast Freq

Over at Podcasting News they highlight a new service saying
“freeiPodsoftware.com has a free MP3 to iPod Audio Book Converter that turns any number of MP3 files into one iPod Audio Book File. The advantage of doing this is that you can make use of the advanced audio book functionality of your iPod.”

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.

Edison has statistics on who is listening to podcasts. The gender split is very close female - 49%, male 51%. But the age groups are interesting

35-44 22%

25-34 21%

12-17 18%

45-54 16%

Over 55 12%

18-24 11%

The one that stuck out to me was the 12-17 year olds - podcasting is a medium that is hitting all age groups but just look at the youth. When you combine that with a 26% take up on having a MySpace account across the groups it may help you with the promotion of your podcast. Are you using the new social media to promote your show? Or are you using traditional means. You cannot ignore traditional but I would combine promotion with where your potential audience is spending time on the internet….as another way of bringing people to your site.

I have been looking into some of the history of podcasting, and thought I would share some facts that I didn’t know about

1) The MP3 file was developed by Dieter Sietzer and Karlheinz Brandenburg at a company called Fraunhofer- Gesellscaft and the University of Erlangen.
2) The MP part refers to MPEG which stands for Moving Picture Experts Group which was established in 1988 for standards of digital encoding.
3) The first iPod was released in Oct 2001 but the first viable MP3 player was launched in 1998.
4) Dannie Gregoire from Louisville, Kentucky is widely credited with term podcast.
5) RSS was originally designed by Netscape back in 1999, with David Winer adding features and in 2002 RSS 2.0 was proposed.

To talk about history is strange as it is such a new medium, but that made me think. Each time we create a podcast we are creating a little piece of podcasting history and also a piece of our own history. Can you imagine looking back in years to come on your work, and how your ideas have changed/developed?

Today sums up for me what podcasting is all about

1) It is about giving something of personal value to someone else.
2) It is about sharing, and sharing without any limitations or cost.
3) It is about community, and the feeling of belonging.
4) It is about enjoying yourself with others.

Each religion has a special time and are built around these principles in some way, so no matter your faith I hope you can see how podasting can help change the world for the better.

The wonderful Leesa Barnes has a post about what to get a podcaster for Christmas - well worth a look, especially if you are looking for a last minute gift.

Many of the podcasting experts have posted thier predictions for 2007 Leesa Barnes, Paul Colligan reviewed his 2006 predictions, Bourne Media so I thought I would give you my thoughts on what we should be thinking about to stay ahead of the pack.

1) Mobile pod listening. The great aspect of podcasting is the ability to listen to what you want, when you want to…and mobile phones are a great tool. The mobile phone companies are now entering the podcasting world, and I think this will grow your audience even more…..and could be the most important technology for 2007.

2) There needs to be a way of finding the smaller podcasts easier…at the moment the directories tend to highlight the bigger podcasts and this becomes self-filfulling prophecy that they continue to grow. There is a need to support the lesser well known podcasts so that people don’t become “bored” with the popular ones. I think there may well be a move from some of the more popular as people search for new stimulation/entertainment….but is there a directory that helps you to do this now?

3) Tailored podcasts. The podcasts are still for general consumption - albeit often for niche audiences. The power could lie in individualised, tailored podcasts…the ultimate personalised listening.

4) Learning and development lends itself to podcasting…but is there a brand leaders out there?

5) Interactive technology. Podcasting still struggles to get true interaction with the audience. Would be great if when you are listening you could text, phone in etc while listening…

So what trends do you believe will emerge in 2007?

I enjoy Podcast Alley, I find it a really good place to find new podcasts, and they have just launched a new forum for podcasters which I will be joining.

Talking to other podcasters on line is a great way to get tips, and also feel part of a community for the days when you lose that creative flow!

Here is a link to the Pew Internet Report on podcasting, well worth a read. Here are some main points that struck me as important or surpising…

12% of internet users say they have downloaded a podcast so that they can listen to it or hear at a later time (Up from 7%)

Men or more likely to download than women (15% vs 8%)

In November 2004 Podcast Alley had 1,000 listings they now have more than 26,000!

The most likely to download had over 6 years on line experience

In terms of household income it was very close but the highest downloaders were $30k - $50k

The 3 popular directories were iTunes, Podcast Alley, and Podcast.net

The fabulous podcaster Neville Hobson has an interesting story about using a FM transmitter with your iPod in the car. It would seem it is now legal which is great news and will help me substantially.

Radio is on the decline with 12-24 year olds showing a 24% decline in time listening to radio and about 11% of teenage boys not listening to radio at all.

So what is replacing radio, well MP3 players, podcasting, internet audio.

The world is changing, people want individualised content. Being at the forefront will help you in the long run. The time to get on board is now, and help shape the future.

I love podcasting, as you all know. The one area that I dislike is the difficulty in getting real listener feedback on your show. Many of us have the same listeners who provide valuable feedback, but it is important that you keep track on any comments that people make about your show.

I have set up on Technorati a watchlist for both my name and my podcast title. Remember to put both in quotation marks so that it knows that you are looking for the exact phrase.

This way if anyone talks about you, especially reviews of your show you will know….

Podcasting is now establised as a communication tool - and the feeds to phones are starting to establish themselves. I have been impressed with how Nokia are looking at this area. The ability to take podcasting to a truly mobile audience is well worth understanding and getting close to…Nokia have a podcasting option that can be downloaded from the website. It uses RSS or Atom syndication formats to distribute files. This is available on the N Series, and is downloaded via WLAN or 3G/EDGE.

The package allows you to search for areas of interest, discover directories or manually input URL’s.

This package allows you to share with friends, and make comments directly to podcasters. You can preview a show, download multiple shows at the same time and also you can perform background downloading.

Nokia seem to be leading the way in bringing podcasting to the truly mobile world. Will be great to see the next developments

I am not the most techincal of people, to say the least! I have been looking for some help with websites, audio files etc and every time I received quotes I had to draw a huge breath. Then I came across elance which is a site that you can post a project that you want help with, and people can quote for the job. Wonderful, it opens up a whole world of resource. If you need help with podcasting or your blog which promotes it…worth checking it out.