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639A- Podcast interviews — the same old song retold again

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In this episode of The Podcast Reporter show, we discuss the old tale of how to conduct an interview — since I feel that many today are especially boring and not well informed. I say this, as I have been interviewing in podcasting since 2006. And this is a skill that I learned and developed over the past 17 years.

Here, we review an article in the podosphere on conducting a “good” interview at this link: https://www.morningbrew.com/sidekick/stories/art-of-interviewing-work-life

and we summarize the steps that we have known about for the past 17 years (as if they were new). The subtitle is “Tips and tricks for asking good questions that get good answers.”

The steps are the following from duo interviewers and contributors of this article — namely “Sidekick spoke with legendary journalist, author, and contributor to the New Yorker, Ken Auletta; Spotify podcast host and storyteller, Lea Palmieri; and former CNN executive editor of international features and current editor of Spotify-owned channels, Neil Curry.”

Here are some more tips from these “experts”:

  • Listen carefully. You may have scripted questions, but be sure to let the conversation flow. “[When] you’re really listening to that person, at that point, you’re having a dialogue. And you’re taking them into areas maybe they hadn’t been. So you may get some surprising answers,” Auletta said. But also read the room, Palmieri advised. Evaluate whether the person is comfortable with sharing more, and then ask questions accordingly.
  • Don’t rush to fill the silence. Wait when there’s a moment of silence during your interview, Auletta advised. Often interviewees will speak more to fill the void themselves. “They’ll sense that you’re not happy with their answer…and they’re going to want to satisfy you with an answer,” he said.
  • Know your questions well. Connecting with your subject and maintaining an easygoing back-and-forth is important, but having a clear understanding of what answers you want to elicit helps keep the conversation on track, Palmieri said. If a subject steers off-topic because they connected with you, indulge for a moment and then bring it back.
  • Be agreeable. “When people are comfortable with someone in a conversation, they tend to be more open,” Auletta said. Palmieri and Curry agreed: Set the scene and make small talk or ask someone about their interests, but make yourself approachable. Let your body language and your demeanor reflect that you’re open-minded and willing to listen to their story without judgment.
  • Interview with confidence. “No matter who you’re interviewing, don’t be overawed,” said Curry. “You have a right to be in that room. They’re sitting down with you and they’re listening to your questions…and don’t be afraid of a cliché question [like] ‘How did you feel?’ That is the essential question of most interviews.”

Now, in the past, I have done literally hundreds (if not thousands) of creative podcast interviews. And I did listen to those who really knew the subject in the podosphere, some of which who had their own podcast shows and who really are “experts.” And here is a partial list, in my opinion:

  • Tom Schwab
  • Paul Colligan
  • Jason Van Orden
  • Dave Jackson
  • Rob Walch
  • Adam Curry
  • John C Dvorak
  • Daniel J Lewis
  • Ray Ortega
  • Jim Collison
  • Tee Morris
  • Bill O’Reilly
  • and many others since 2004…

However, the initial list in this article forgets to mention that you must know your subject very well by doing the right research ahead of time and knowing how to pursue the recording to make it sound natural, informative and interesting.

From my perspective, if you really want to be a good interviewer, then check out the value that the real “experts” (whom I have listed, above) can deliver to you, instead of the recent newbies that say they know how to conduct an interview.

And finally, if you wish to see the other side of being in the interview, there is an evergreen episode that describes how to be a great guest by Max Flight (see a prior episode in this podcast show with the title of the episode called “Being interviewed” — it is activated by the following audio player).

As a side note, you yourself may be called upon to be the GUEST and BE INTERVIEWED. And we have a past audio episode from this series that is delivered by Max Flight on the issues and the preparation of being interviewed:

And so we deliver the podcast content from episode #20 of this series, you will notice that Max had a very good ear for quality content, and he brings his suggestions and experiences from being interviewed on the previous show.

Thank you for your attention, and we shall see you next time.

Copyright (c) 2023, Matrix Solutions Corporation and michaelandmike.com. All rights reserved.

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638- Creating New year resolutions and podcasting

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In this episode of The Podcast Reporter show, we reflect on the fresh new year of 2023 and our own resolutions as podcasters for the coming year.

Many podcasters are giving their opinions and details about what they plan to do in looking forward to their success in the podosphere for 2023. Some of these are glimmers of hope for growing your audience and being successful in monetization of your podcast shows.

However, with the millions of podcast shows now in the podosphere (and still growing on a daily basis for the launch of new podcasts), the competition for both your eyes and ears in selecting content and consuming it becomes very acute.

So a key question would be: what would make your podcast show (especially if you are going to be launching a show or improving it in 2023) so desirable for a possible listener or viewer to consume your content? And how does the all-being problem of discoverability pervade the podosphere now as a challenge for you?

Perhaps you can answer this question by focusing on the first part of the problem and making it attractive to your audience — that is, if you have done the groundwork necessary to create, grow and nurture an audience (once you have proven to yourself that you know what your target audience is)? The results of surveys, background research for those who want to listen to your topics and just plain “gut feel” for this type of listener or viewer to consume your content could be the formula that you can use to address the topic.

For the second part of the question which we just introduced, we have to look into the podosphere for all the tools available to us in order to get the discoverability problem addressed. Not only do we have to put our podcast show in front of our targeted audience, our prospects, and even our suspects — but we have to ensure that our messages present a clear and dynamic statement to those who are looking for great content. Perhaps one way to do this is to go back to 2008 from the advice of podcaster, Paul Colligan, who labeled the acronymn ISYOT (i.e., “I see you out there”) and execute strategic inclusion of your show into the various networks for podcasting and today’s directories. For today’s environment is not merely the iTunes directory — there are a myriad of directories and sites where your podcast may have to exist, so that discoverability of your show can see some success, and thus your audience can grow — and not just in terms of downloads, but also on episodes completed by the listener and action taken by the listener due to your calls-to-action.

And finally, once you may have the attention of your intended audience, how clear will your call-to-action(s) be? Will they be appealing enough for the audience to take action and pursue the tasks which you outline? And these may be as simple as just signing up for your show and follow it (or “subscribe”), or it could reach all the way to being sold on a solution that you present and following through and ordering it (be it for money or for content)?

Of course, the ultimate goal may not be financial. While most entrepreneurs wish for monetary success with orders for your solution or content due to your podcast show, please remember that many of us still like to listen to “fun” podcasts from hobby-podcasters who engage in their craft of creating episodes as a labor-of-love, without regard to any financial results. If you fall into this category, you have to be serious and create final goals for your show (in terms of acceptance or downloads or following) that are beyond the dollars that many people consider “success” from a podcast show.

So for this new year, what would be your considerations for success in growing your audience (and move them from prospects or suspects to subscribed ‘followers’? And what can you plan in 2023 for monitoring your success in seeing positive results for your calls-to-action? These are the big questions you may have when creating and solidifying your planning for adapting new year’s resolutions for 2023.

Thank you for listening, and we’ll see you next time.

Copyright (c) 2022, Matrix Solutions Corporation and michaelandmike.com. All rights reserved.

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637- BONUS- Podcasting and entrepreneurs for 2023- a perspective

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In this episode of The Podcast Reporter show, we look at the role of entrepreneurs for the coming year of 2023 from the perspective of a struggling entrepreneur — namely myself.

One of the reasons for this point of view is the probability of a new or an aspiring small business entrepreneur of reaching success in a certain direction or with the support of the current and near-future media to assist in helping to spread the word of his solutions for different clients, as well as the possible revenue that one should expect in reality and not in pure hope.

Well, one of the aspects of New Media today is the successful growth and expansion of the podosphere to include millions of podcast shows — and more importantly, the ability to monetize them. So for yourself as an entrepreneur, you may wish to examine how podcasting can create assets that will generate revenue streams for you.

In fact, there is a presentation that I gave at a Podcast conference that outlines how multiple revenue streams can add to the value of your business and generate success for you. The presentation link is given here, under the image of the title page of the presentation — and you can view the presentation with PowerPoint.

Revenue-streams-by-podcasting-and-New-Media-2020

Now, in addition to the revenue streams that I, myself, mentioned in my presentation, there is another authority that may be of greater value in creating plans for generating successful revenue streams. This authority comes from a book by Dave Jackson  (who is a podcaster with his show, School of Podcasting) with the book’s title being “Profit from Your Podcast”:

This book lists many ways for an entrepreneur to create methods of creating multiple revenue streams. And having been in podcasting since 2005, Dave has experience from his own career, as well as stories from successful startups and entrepreneurs and small business owners of how to add to their income — and some of them have even left their day-jobs and external careers to become full-time podcasters and make podcasting their sole living.

So, what does this mean in terms of success perspectives for 2023?

Perhaps you can ADD to your business by creating and incorporating podcasts as an asset that will bring multiple revenue streams for you within a few months (depending upon which ones you select and wish to plan for and execute and follow up).

In fact, you do not even have to KNOW how to podcast, for you can get tutorials, courses and learning assets that can step you through the process — or you can hire others to do the basic grunt work to get your podcast show created, get the episodes up and running and get the web site, the management system (like WordPress) and the marketing and show notes and promotion, as well as the follow up and planning to review and monitor the progress and success of your show.

Here is where Dave Jackson’s book can assist you in creating and selling your own products via podcasting, as well as sponsorship (i.e., advertising ads within episodes), in addition to affiliate marketing and crowdfunding in addition to sales at live events, or   courses and webinars.

My perspective is that here is where the difference will be in adding more revenue and profit within your business with the sleeping giant of podcasting. However, not all revenue streams will be large and immediate. The PATIENCE factor  lies here for the podcaster to create, plan and monitor the growth of the revenue streams and their value for months and even years.

But 2023 could be the start of an addition to the entrepreneur for growing your revenues with assets that will definitely add value to your proposed audiences.

So I salute you in 2023 with my perspective of the “sleeping giant” for new revenue streams for your business with the addition of podcasting to add to your success of your business.

Thank you for your attention, and thanks for listening.

Copyright (c) 2022, Matrix Solutions Corporation and michaelandmike.com.  All rights reserved.

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636- Podcasting and the bucket list

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In this episode of The Podcast Reporter Podcast Show, we deliver a repurposed episode from The Struggling Biz podcast show that deals with entrepreneurship and the decisions that one makes when he reaches his twilight years — including that of creating and trying to accomplish the tasks on a bucket list.

But from our point of view, we can expand this to the elements of creating and publishing podcasts, as well as the quest for successful monetization as an entrepreneur.

We then look at several themes when we come to a crossroads of deciding what to pursue after we have a reflection on the value of future life considerations for ourselves, especially when we get signs to warn us of possible tiredness.

And some of these signs may be:

  • feelings of medical situations that come with older age;
  • tiredness from the “routine” of getting projects completed or getting them set up;
  • the feelings of frustration and anger that result from dealing with impossible clients or partners — especially from the younger “whipper-snappers” that keep telling you that they know more than yourself and even make fun of you as the older generation that is outdated;
  • the desire to expand your experiences and include time in your life to investigate and live your “bucket list”; and
  • the reflections of accomplishments in your life and their importance vs. looking forward and seeing what is really important when you reach a specific point in your twilight years…
  • and other factors.

Now, for podcasters, it has been a roller-coaster ride of excitement and joy and thrills and even of financial success for the last 18 years of the podosphere. However, we need to stop and reflect on where we are, and if we happen to be in what we call our “twilight years,” then the reflection may be a great value that can help us produce podcasts shows that provide more value to our audience — and perhaps more to ourselves.

For myself, I have taken a road (not necessarily a “pivot” as mentioned in the book by Eric Reis called The Lean Startup) that has made me create the start of my life memoirs — but NOT as a book, but rather as a podcast show or episodes called The Real Academy of Life. And here, I can create chapters in audio for those who wish to follow me or consume my content on the areas of my life that I have deemed of value to myself and the listener. In fact, I have even delayed in creating a separate podcast show up to this point and just repurposed the episodes within PodcastReporter.com with the prefix RAL-.

So please use the embedded audio player to consume the content from my other podcast that dealt with “The struggling entrepreneur and the bucket list.”:

I am sure that this topic may have you consider putting together a bucket list for your own actions which you feel you need to experience in a plan that will improve the satisfaction of your life.

In fact, you may want to create some episodes in your podcast shows that will describe your decisions, your list of items in the bucket list, and the reflections in creating and accomplishing them, as well as the final value that they provided for you.

Thank you for your attention.

Copyright (c) 2022, Matrix Solutions Corporation and michaelandmike.com and Eric Reis and The Lean Startup and bucket list. All rights reserved.

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635- Podcasts in 2023 — Look Homeward Angel

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In this episode of The Podcast Reporter podcast show, we discuss how podcasts may become an inward-looking vehicle for the communicators who want to publish and express their content with their audience without having to fear the monster of cancel-culture or suppression or censorship or any other woke-mongering threat that tends to prevent freedom of speech.

This platform and the podosphere are good for the last bastion of free speech in the USA. And it seems that there is a good probability that the change in attitude of twitter (with Mr. Musk at the helm) may have a positive reaction to more fairness and the ability to publish your message without the censorship of the old twitter of Jack Dorsey who created massive censorship and evil de-platforming with cancel culture.

However, for those who want to attend or demonstrate or speak at different podcast conferences, there is an ominous evil direction that the woke movement has taken. Because of the discriminatory attitude of the last Podcast Movement conference in which a few of the radical left gained the ear of the promoters of the event, there was an indication that censorship and other evils were lurking to prevent a free distribution of messages and ideas.

For myself, I see that the recent twitter messaging may be a warm relief of the freedom of speech returning to the conferences — although the woke agenda of Podcast Movement may still be stubborn enough to stick to the losing proposition of censorship of messages and content and ideas.

For this reason, I do NOT plan to attend or participate in any future Podcast Movement conferences or activities until this tune is changed, and until the promotion of free speech and content and ideas resumes by wresting away the shouting and controls of the radical left. However, I do not anticipate that the radical left will promote any free speech, but that they will stick to their agenda of censorship and cancel culture. Thus, I can only hope that the freedom to publish your messages — however controversial they may be to the radical left — will prevail.

Now, if you are a beginning podcaster who is thinking of participating in the Podcast Movement conference, I hope that you check out the speaker list (which is also being censored by speaker and topic, because those will be subject to the whim of the conference managers) and ensure that fairness of topics are also included. You see, while the radical left prides itself on inclusivity, it is doing the exact opposite of what they promote by not allowing anyone who differs in their opinions to be chosen for panels, topics, sessions or any kind of messaging of content.

Instead, I will promote and agree with the Podfest Expo people who do promise to be all inclusive and fair in its selection of topics for the agenda, as well as the speakers and the sessions. I see this as a much more worthwhile conference in January to replace my interest that I previously had with Podcast Movement (in fact, I do have some history with the PodcastMovement.com conference, as I was a speaker at the very first PM conference in 2014 in Dallas — so I am aware and participated in the old conference that included all podcasters and topics and content).

So, again I say, hail to Podfest Expo! and Down with Podcast Movement — that is, until PM learns the lessons and does not promote “do as I  I say.”

Thus, very much like the novel with the same title as this post, I welcome a return to the “home” of free speech to publish messages and to the conference that will support ANY AND ALL PODCASTERS AND PODCASTS — i.e., podfestexpo.com.

Thank you for your attention.

Copyright (c) 2022, Matrix Solutions Corporation and michaelandmike.com and podfestexpo.com. All rights reserved.

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632- Podcasting show notes — creating them for engaging content

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In this episode of The Podcast Reporter show, we discuss some suggestions from podcaster Ben Krueger on how to write show notes. This is taken from his website called cashflowpodcasting.com in a post recently.

Ben Krueger

So, although many posts have been published from different podcast consultants, you may want to review this brief set of ideas from Ben. And as you know, I have known Ben from 2014 at the first Podcast Movement conference in Dallas, where he and I shared a table in the expo hall for that event.

The title of this post was “Podcast Shownotes: How to write engaging content — EP: 22.”

In addition to the topic at hand, Ben starts off with the theme of “What’s the point of show notes?” and then continues into the main theme of the post of how to create the engaging content. In fact, he summarizes the content like this:

“It all starts with having a compelling episode title.

Something that showcases what the episode is about and has a keyword that potential new listeners may be searching for.

Next, you will need one or two paragraphs summarizing what is discussed in the episode.

After this, we like to add bullet points that elude to what your listeners will learn.

Finally, you will have the resources that will link to everything you spoke about in the show such as books, people, or websites.

If you want something more substantial to go along with your episode, you can write a full blog post instead.

This will increase SEO even more and potentially provide your listeners with an in-depth look at the topic you’ll be discussing.”

And then he summarizes the theme of using the show notes for marketing content.

As for this podcaster, I have been writing show notes for 17 years, and I find his suggestions very obvious. However, not every new podcaster plans to write outlines or gives a thought to show notes (if he even would have a written set). And even some podcasters use a transcript and publish them as show notes.

I myself have done both ways, and I even get to the point of including images and photos when relevant. I do not favor one way or the other, as it depends on the topic and the planning that I have done to give relevance to the topic at hand and to make my show notes as a “gift” to those who go to consume them.

However, you can determine which style you give to your show notes in creating them and making them engaging for your audience. We wish you the best and hope that your readers will appreciate them.

Thank you for your attention.

Copyright (c) 2022, Matrix Solutions Corporation and michaelandmike.com and Ben Krueger and cashflowpodcasting.com. All rights reserved.

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634- Podcasting pundit retires as podcaster — for now

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In this episode of The Podcast Reporter podcast show, we discuss how one of the first podcasters in the podosphere (in fact, he was one of the two authors — the other being Tee Morris) who “wrote the book on podcasting”, PODCASTING FOR DUMMIES) had recently announced that he was no longer going to be a pundit about all things podcasting.

In fact, he mentioned in a November, 2022, episode of his recently finished podcast show, Podcast Pontifications, that he had wrapped up his show. He had exhausted all the topics for himself that dealt with podcasting as a pundit. He was now going into the area of audio fiction / drama as a type of curator, among other things. His new site is theend.fyi.

We are describing Evo Terra, who was also known as “the disrupter.” He had published over 600 episodes for this last podcast show. He was also flattered to be called “a contrarian.”

Now, I myself know Evo since 2007, when I met him in person at the 4th podcast event called Podcamp (very much executed like a barcamp-style event) in Arizona. And since then, I have had several interviews with him for some of my podcasts, as well as having met with him at other podcast conferences, such as the initial podcast movement conference in Dallas in 2014. And Evo proudly proclaimed that he was a professional “contrarian” or “disrupter,” as he had new ideas that went outiside-of-the-box in thinking and creativity for podcasting and new media.

So, what were his reasons for content-exhaustion? And where does he plan on spending his time in the podosphere for the near future? You can go to his last episode of PodcastPontifications.com to get all the details, but I feel that he wanted to slow down on the tech and the fast-moving changes in the podosphere — especially in advertising and the way that this was changing podcasting. He wanted to move more into the area of creativity and curation for crime and drama podcasts with multiple media.

Now, what does this earth-shattering news mean to podcasters — from the professional podcasters to the hobby and new podcasters?

For this podcaster, it means that both advertising and political themes have dominated the podosphere to the point of making me sick of them. Perhaps other listeners share the same idea, for I do refuse to listen to them. Case in point:  even Evo had become subject to political pontifications, which he did for his last several podcast episodes (and this controversial view may have offended many of the listeners to his show).

However, I do wish the best for Evo in his new venture as he pivoted in the podosphere to his new site of The End newsletter and website for his future work in drama, fiction and live audio podcasting. My best to the disrupter and contrarian of New Media — I feel he may get to a winning strategy with this pivot.

Thank you for your attention.

Copyright (c) 2022, Matrix Solutions Corporation and michaelandmike.com and Evo Terra. All rights reserved.

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631- Microcasts and long-play episodes in podcasting of memoirs

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In this episode of The Podcast Reporter show, we discuss the concept of creating your memoirs as episodes in a podcast show, instead of written content in the form of a book or collection of stories in some written format.

The memoirs in which I am creating (since I am in my twilight years at this time) are going to be put into a podcast show (which is yet to be published — for I am hoping it will be in the next few years) which is called The Real Academy of Life (or RAL). And since it is not yet launched, I do have the domain for the URL and will have the host media site which will be the tools needed for this. And also, I have the first 4 episodes already recorded and ready to include in this podcast show.

Now, in the latest episode in which I greatly test the comparison and contrast of a short episode in length (i.e., a micro-cast) and a longer-length podcast show, the topic is my military experience in the military when I was in the Army as a combat veteran and served in the Vietnam War.

The format I had for this longer-length podcast episode was the following:

  • Title and name and number and podcast show (audio);
  • Intro music;
  • Intro content — usually 3 minutes or shorter;
  • The segue of music to introduce the first complete and unabridged 24-minute repurposed podcast episode from the Combat Infantrymen’s podcast show called Combat and Camaraderie
  • The segue music to bring on the final other repurposed podcast episode which had Mack Payne, podcaster of the VietnamVeteranNews.com show interview me to discuss multiple ways in which I coped with PTSD after my return to the USA from the war;
  • Exit music.

  • And here is the long-play content with 2 episodes:

So this episode in this show lasted one hour and 21 minutes total — a complete change from my micro-cast episode format for the past 2 years or more. However, that does not mean that I did not include any longer in time content in my episodes. I did include both links and URLs and other reference resources. By pointing to these content sections in the links and other references, I allowed my listeners to link over to the details and longer-length episodes of some of my other podcasts, as well as other podcast shows from other podcasters (e.g., Dave Jackson and Daniel J Lewis and Adam Curry, etc.).

So when I finally get ready to publish and launch my new podcast show titled The Real Academy of Life and its URL to the domain, I will announce this and give it the needed quality of a good podcast show, with the details and shownotes it deserves.

So, we hope that you may find my life experiences interesting in this newer podcast show of my memoirs that will contain both micro-cast format episodes as well as longer episodes (of an hour or more in time), and that you will find it of value in your podcasting career.

Thank you for your attention.

Copyright (c) 2022, Matrix Solutions Corporation and michaelandmike.com and Mack Payne of vietnamveterannews.com and David Jackson and Daniel J Lewis. All rights reserved.

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627- Podcasters — the next generation of entrepreneurs

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In this episode of The Podcast Reporter show, we deliver a REPURPOSED episode of an article that I had written, and which did appear both in a podcast episode in 2007 of The Struggling Entrepreneur podcast show, as well as earlier in 2020 within this show.

I feel that we can learn a lot from the past about how the podosphere started and how content creators used podcasting to become struggling entrepreneurs. Thus, we look back in our history about podcasting.

So, in this repurposed episode of PodcastReporter.com, we narrate a published article from the older Podcast User magazine (now podfaded) with evergreen content about the stage of new podcasters entering the podosphere.

Cover page of article from PODCAST USER Magazine

The name of the article is “Are podcasters the next generation of struggling entrepreneurs?” and it was created by myself, Fred Castaneda.

This was originally published in the older Podcast User magazine as hardcopy in issue 21, pages 39-40. Then it was narrated in the podcast show The Struggling Entrepreneur, and more recently in the small business podcast show called The Struggling Biz.  And so it is now repurposed from this latter podcast show, as it was published as the prior episode number 56 in 2020.

As you will hear in this podcast audio episode, the key questions concerning monetization of podcasts within the podosphere for those solo-preneurs and other small business owners.

I hope that this episode will deliver value of asking you to contemplate some key thoughts in your possible quest to monetization.

Thank you for your attention.

Copyright (c) 2020-2022, Matrix Solutions Corporation and michaelandmike.com and Podcast User Magazine. All rights reserved.

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626- Using POC tactic for podcast consulting success

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In this episode of The Podcast Reporter Show, we deliver to you a real-life example of a strategy and tactic that may bring success to you in your role as a podcast consultant — and that includes other business areas such as editing, billing, promotion, sales and a lead to other parts of your consulting business (e.g., video). This strategy and tactic is from my own experiences, and it is called the PROOF OF CONCEPT method and strategy.

This comes from the age-old tactic from a vendor who wanted to prove that he could successfully create a deliverable and successfully have it approved and satisfy a potential customer or prospect.

The age-old formula probably started initially as servitude. In other words, a craftsman or a skilled prospect would make a deal (or contract) with a master or principal. He would offer to work for a specific time period (e.g., a week or month) — or his offer would be to deliver a specific piece of work in a specific time span. If the principal (in this case, his potential customer) was completely satisfied, the agreement was that the prospect would then be upgraded to a formal laborer of the principal — or that the specific piece of work or deliverable that met the requirements would be the proof that the concept of his employment would be honored for continuing such deliverables to the customer (or master or principal — call the end receiver of the VALUE what you will) and be recognized as a true craftsman or valued employee for a period of time. And in some cases, the free time worked by the prospect would be recognized as time worked for pay, and he would receive the back wages, as well. In the case of deliverables, the agreed upon price for creating and finishing the said deliverables would also be paid, in addition to the terms of another agreement. For the deliverables, this would be a contract for creating and delivering some more final pieces — and  usually they would include back-pay for the proof of concept, as well (only this was flexible in the terms of the “contract” for the proof of concept.

So what was my experience in the world of podcasting with this tactic known as “proof of concept”?

Well, a prospect approached me after receiving my business card that mentioned my skills in podcasting. He wanted to know more about what I could offer him.

Instead of spouting a litany of sales-oriented offers, I wanted to know what he wanted and what he felt he needed in his business.

I saw that he wanted a full soup-to-nuts service of creating the podcast show and infrastructure, as well as the editing and production of episodes for professional polish. He called it “productizing” the episodes. Well, I declined on the large scale project and referred him to the consultant who had helped me to jump-start my podcast shows. The reference were the podcast shows I had done.

So he contacted the reference that I gave to him, but then he wanted to see what I could do with the several interviews which he had done and recorded — although some of them had very, very poor audio quality.

Now, he said that he wanted to start off with an interview show and he had recorded on his own these several audio interviews.

I told him to send me the audio files of a couple of interviews. I also looked at his web site, and I gave him a timetable for its completion and that he would receive the finished or “golden” mp3 files.

However, I gave him an amount that seemed reasonable and competitive for creating each final or golden mp3 audio interview, so that he could determine if his needs were met.

And I decided to exceed his expectations.

I took the mp3 files and listened to the poor quality of the interviews. I then cleaned up the audio, and then I added intro and outro music from quality musicians (for which I had obtained licenses to use in podcast episodes). I also added the voiceover intro with the intent of getting the listener interested enough to want to listen to the content of the interview. And I finally did the research of the interviewee and the program or situation being discussed. I also got a photo head shot of the interviewee from the public info center libraries. And then I created the SHOW NOTES, with the content and images included that would have the professional qualities that I would expect in that podcast episode.

And finally, I delivered both edited and “productized” episodes before the deadline.

The prospect was delighted, and I produced a written contract for him to sign. The contract, however, was not for the work done, but included the provision that I would receive a future minimum of episodes as content for future work to be “productized.”

Thus, the basic amount was for 10 additional episodes, as well as payment for the 2 episodes that I had delivered to him with his satisfaction and approval.

The deal was done by using the tactic of the proof of concept.

And so, the prospect then became my CUSTOMER and I would receive his interview files, which then I delivered to him in return as golden mp3 files, along with the added value of the show notes, the intro voiceover, the musical intros and outros, and any photo or images in the show notes content.

Well, he delivered to me over 25 episodes in the year. And they were ALL done with the same quality and delivered to him on time.

But then, after the 25th episode, he went silent and I did not hear from him for a month or so.

Why?

I never asked why, but only saw that after the brief absence, he contacted me in a email note and began to send me more interviews again. My suspicion was that another “podcast consultant” came to him with a lower price. However, the VALUE received of the services and deliverables probably did not meet his expectations. And so he returned to me for an additional 20 episodes. In fact, he asked me to create a video that promoted his offerings and his programs to his targeted audience. And I did deliver 2 videos — one as a proof of concept that was for no charge, and the other to meet his deadline. And when he wanted me to continue with the videos, I did decline, because I did not want to go into that business, as the return for my business was not really worth the time, effort, money, work and costly equipment and requirements. So I removed myself from the video world for him.

So that is the story of the tactic known as the proof-of-concept which was used in a real-life scenario in the podosphere by yours truly.

Perhaps this tactic may be one that you could use, or that you could take and improve on the method with your own style and delivery for potential customers.

But you have to be careful. You have to KNOW that your skills are very high, and that your pricing is competitive, and that your financial planning has proven that you can work within the structure of your proof-of-concept to make your tactic profitable for your business. And you can see what others are doing who use a variation of this tactic — and the name of Ben Krueger from cashflowpodcasting.com comes to mind. I have seen his offers and I have taken him up on purchasing a deliverable when he used the POC method. And I was pleasantly surprised with the quality, value and final deliverable from him within the time frame specified. And Ben would be a good example to see some of his offers using the poc tactic. In addition, Dave Jackson from The School of Podcasting also had offered several deliverables using a variation of this tactic.

So if you do decide to use the proof-of-concept for your podcast consulting business, we wish you the best in generating a great revenue stream for your business by having a successful podcast business.

Thank you for your attention.

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