Month: May 2022

593- Starting a Podcast or not — some questions

Post author By fcastaneda
Post date May 30, 2022

In this episode of The Podcast Reporter, we discuss the theme of starting a podcast — especially in 2022. This theme came to me from a post by Ben Krueger of cashflowpodcasting.com. Then the opposite viewpoint was proposed in a later post from another podcaster titled “Why you shouldn’t start a podcast.”

So, in this episode, we briefly discuss the main topics of both related themes to starting a podcast.

STARTING A PODCAST IN 2022 vs NOT DOING SO

Suggestions for starting a podcast in 2022

First, from Ben Krueger of cashflowpodcasting.com, we get the encouragement and details of starting a podcast show and episodes in his earlier post. Now, as I have mentioned before in earlier episodes on this show, I have great respect for Ben for the deliverables he creates and the recommendations that he gives to the new and aspiring podcasters.

And in this post, he gives to us his philosophy that determines the timing of podcast show creation: “Timing is critical to succeeding in anything. Podcasting is no different. The timing of launching your podcast can make a BIG difference in its initial success. ** So the question is, what’s the BEST time to launch a podcast? **”

And he gives the short answer to the aspiring business podcaster who is filled with emotion, passion and energy for starting a podcast: “It comes down to where you’re at in the development of your business.”

What Ben delivers are some key bullets that outline the timing of podcast show creation:

“You have an established service/offer that sells, and gets clients results
You already have some audience to start with (client list, email list, social following, personal network in the industry, etc)
You’re ready to start scaling.”

And then Ben gives an example of a client and stories of those who have gone through the process and have become successful. And, of course, Ben delivers his own call-to-action for his own program to help podcasters get started: “Learn more about how we help leaders launch podcasts and request a free consultation call here:
https://cashflowpodcasting.com/services/podcast-launch-program/ “

He continues to describe the program: “The Podcast Launch Program includes everything you need to develop your podcast idea, plan and outline it, design and record your first episodes, produce them and launch your show to the world.”

And Ben then goes on to describe the major components, tasks and milestones that an aspiring podcaster can go through:

Strategic planning;
Podcast coaching;
Branding creation;
Setup and submission;
Launch and promotion;
Production and marketing.

I would strongly encourage aspiring podcasters to review these types of programs, especially from Ben, to see if they can help you to achieve success in your business podcast while you may be in the planning stages. I think you will be pleased from what you can learn and what the results of your show will deliver.

DON’T START A PODCAST — IF THE SHOE DOESN’T FIT

The other side of the coin is the recommendation NOT to start a podcast, with the following topics that you also need to review before jumping into the podosphere with both feet:

Am I doing this for my ego or an audience?
How to set yourself up for podcasting success;
Do I really know what I am getting myself into?
Steps to release a podcast episode;
Am I doing this because I think this is a way to make money?
Am I doing this because I think I should?
Coming up with a great podcast idea.
When do you know if podcasting is right for you?

And each of these sections provide a few sentences on the thoughts espoused in each topic, especially in awareness of the “loneliness of the long-distance podcaster”:

“If the answer to “Why do you want to start a podcast?” is anything other than ‘Because I’ve got amazing content that will educate/inspire/entertain and I desperately want to get it into people’s ears” then think twice. Podcasting is a big commitment with absolutely no guarantee of success. The people who have been successful are those who consistently create valuable and engaging content that appeals directly to their ideal listener. If you’re passionate about every episode you’ll be happy to keep going even when no one is listening.”

As usual, I would recommend doing a cost-benefit analysis of the pros and the cons of launching your own podcast. And now you should include not only the labor and EFFORT and TIME that podcasting requires (and you can get that from other successful podcasters who can tell you the truth about the 3-to-1 or 4-to-1 ratio of time required per minute of finished audio) — but also of the FINANCIAL requirements that can only increase. Remember that many podcasters make a quick estimate of costs, which later turn out to be less than required, and the budgets may grow quickly and become sore points for the podcaster.

Whatever your decision — to start a podcast in 2022 or to avoid podcasting altogether — I hope that you will make the best decision for yourself, your business and your future success.

Thank you for your attention.

Tags Ben Krueger, cashflowpodcasting.com, Podcastreporter.com, rachelcorbett.com

podcast

618- Cancel culture now reaches Podcasting — a sad tale

Post author By fcastaneda
Post date May 26, 2022

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In this episode of The Podcast Reporter, we mention very briefly how the cancel culture has invaded the area of the podosphere and podcasting. We also see that this can be the start of censorship and the forcing of opinion by the radical left into the area where your own podcast may be found.

We talk briefly about the situation with one of the most dynamic, intelligent, fair-minded and helpful podcasters, Daniel J. Lewis, who had several podcasts such as the award-winning The Audacity to Podcast, as well as several tools which he created for the podcast community to help from email newsletters to improve your podcast content to SEO (search engine optimization).

This story was briefly mentioned in an episode of the show called Ask the Podcast Coach on 14 May 2022 by Dave Jackson of the School of Podcasting podcast.

My experience with Daniel J Lewis has been a great one. Not only have I interviewed him several times in this podcast show, along with a previous show called The Struggling Entrepreneur, but I had subscribed to his shows and I had also purchased some of his intellectual property and items, as well as had been one of the key subscribers when he started his online membership of Podcasters Society.

He has been an excellent resource, very technically competent and one of the very highly regarded podcasters who won an award at one of the New Media Expo for his podcast show from the People’s Choice award for his flagship show. He has been one of the very trustworthy, honest and fair-minded people whom I have known in the podosphere.

In fact, when The Podcast Academy was introduced, he encouraged us to sign up and be part of that organization. Thus, with the trust I had in him, I did sign up. And when he was nominated to be on the Board of Governors for this organization, I wholeheartedly voted for him, and he won a seat in that group.

Now, in 2022, there was a controversy in which he tweeted his views on a matter on twitter. He did voice his opinion, and I believe (from knowing him personally) that he would engage in healthy and open and honest debate with others on the opposing view. However, the radical left charged at him and savagely tore him down by demanding his removal from the board. Well, he was “beat up” and “bullied” for his beliefs (in what should be an open and free-speech environment) and the Board succumbed to the woke ideology and asked him to leave. So he left the Board.

Well, I immediately canceled my subscription to the Podcast Academy and had enough of their radical left ideology in canceling someone with the great honesty and fair play that Daniel has.

What was Daniel’s remarks after this bullying?

On 8May2022, he wrote an email to his trusted distribution list, and I received this email from him:

“I am deeply saddened and hurt by the campaign of harassment, false accusations, and bullying against The Podcast Academy and me. I tried to slow the abuse by removing some of my comments, but to little avail. Regardless, I apologize to those I failed to extend equal grace while I was defending a baby’s right to life. I also apologize for using a common label I did not know offended some of the same people I was fighting for.

TPA members voted me in for who I am and how I promised to advocate for them, but a disinformation campaign disrupted TPA’a operations and compelled the board of governors to vote me out. I regret that I will not be able to keep my promise to the diverse podcasters I was eager to serve. I hope that TPA’s efforts to be inclusive will not further exclude people for expressing conservative, pro-life, or Christian values.

Sadly, after years of supporting The Podcast Academy, I’m now compelled to believe they are unable—at least at this time—to truly serve or represent the large diversity that the rest of the podcasting industry has welcomed since its grass roots. I cannot, in good faith, endorse an organization that let disinformation bully itself into kicking out one of its most passionate supporters.

In respect for the short-lived opportunity TPA and its members allowed me, I will not publicly discuss this further. I do not wish TPA to fail; I only wish The Podcast Academy to be truly inclusive and supportive of all podcasters, so that—together—we can help podcasts, podcastING, and podcastERS improve.

I will continue taking some time away from podcasts and social media to heal, reflect with thought and prayer, and refocus (but you’ll still receive my email series). No matter what, I continue to believe that podcasting is the most powerful way for anyone to share a message to change the world.”

So, in my opinion, Daniel still is a strong advocate for podcasters and is still a great resource for the podosphere. I will continue to look forward to his contributions in Askthepodcastcoach.com and his email newsletters.

For now, I have been left with a sour taste in my mouth for The Podcast Academy and I will not say anything positive about it, but only have the memory of an evil-minded organization that falls into the clutches of the radical left, where debate is prohibited, and the only thing that applies is the saying “my way only or the highway for you.” So damn the Podcast Academy, and I will NOT support them in any way.

Daniel, as one of the biggest contributors to the positive elements of the podosphere and your care to help podcasters, I salute you and say “Long Live DJL and down with TPA.”

Thank you for your attention.

Tags Daniel J Lewis, Podcastreporter.com, theaudacitytopodcast.com

podcast

590- Ideas for setting up your Podcast studio

Post author By fcastaneda
Post date May 17, 2022

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

In this episode of The Podcast Reporter, we discuss an earlier post by Ben Krueger, a podcaster at cashflowpodcasting.com, in which he posts the text by Adam Crookes in which the latter addresses the age-old topic of podcast studios. He gives some recommendations on how to set up a podcast studio as potential ideas.

Now, as I have stated many times before in this show, I do respect and admire the value that is delivered by Ben Krueger, as I have known him and interviewed him since the time I personally shared a booth with him the exhibit hall of the very first Podcast Movement conference in Dallas in 2014. So I thought that this would be a great topic to explore once more and get his perspective. However, I got some words from a guest post from Adam Crookes. And my perspective of the post follows after a brief summary of the article.

Summary of the Post

Now, for those interested in creating your own studio, the article gives you thoughts about what is required as food for thought:

Estimating the costs of setting up a studio;
What is required for the studio?
How do you set up a studio in your home? And the post then gives you a list of items and tasks required for your in-home studio:
- Here’s a list of equipment you should consider for your podcast studio:
  - “Computer
  - USB or XLR microphone
  - Audio interface
  - Mixer
  - Windscreen or pop filter
  - Microphone stand
  - Headphones
  - Acoustic treatments”
Then the post delves into the question about whether or not you can start your podcast shows with just your phone;
And finally, what is addressed is the age-old question about whether a podcast show is worth it to both you and your audience;
Then the article suddenly jumps into the subject of the necessity of headphones when starting a podcast;
And then a key question ends the post by asking if it is free to start a podcast on Spotify.

For these questions, I feel that this article, written by Adam Crookes, leaves out a lot of other key questions and statements that a new or aspiring podcaster needs to investigate before setting up a studio. One of these would be testimonials from those who have successfully set one up and are currently podcasting and reaching their success in their objectives at the time. Another would be the time it takes for a podcast studio to be written off or get a good ROI for your business, should you be creating a business podcast.

All in all, I find that this post does little in awakening a coherent target of your mind to investigate fully what is involved in setting up your podcast studio (other than the equipment and physical preparation of your home studio). I know that Ben Krueger would have addressed this topic with more research, more details, and with some personal and third-person experiences of successful podcasters who have set up their own studios and are showing great results from it — or experiences that did not see the studio succeed in the business.

One item you may want to explore is the Podcasting Business School site, where the main theme is to treat your podcast like a habit, but to grow it like a business. Within the 200 episodes so far, the podcaster did cite a few minutes on building a home studio for podcasting.

For myself, I have been a podcaster who has done remote reporting with adequate tools for the past 16 years, as well as have had a “podcast studio” (or a place where I record my podcasts with guests or by going solo) in several sites, from California to Texas in inbetween (including hotel rooms when I have been traveling and in transit). I will address the key areas that I propose for a studio in a later episode, as I will share with you my experiences for doing so.

Thank you for your attention.

Tags Adam Crookes, Ben Krueger, cashflowpodcasting.com, podcast studio, Podcastreporter.com

podcast

588- Words do matter — especially PODCAST

Post author By fcastaneda
Post date May 11, 2022

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

In this episode of The Podcast Reporter, we deliver to you the information that was espoused in Podnews.net newsletters that concerned the etymology of the word “Podcast.” And, of course, since this is not an absolute authority, and I, myself, have also some thoughts and concerns from my own experience within the podosphere since 2005.

In an earlier article delivered in the Podnews.net newsletter, James Cridland gives his views on the history of the world PODCAST. And in this post, there are links and audio players that prove the point of origin of both the eclosure and the word podcast in his experience.

“As Eric Nuzum discusses elsewhere here, the first audio referenced by an enclosure tag in an RSS feed was published on Jan 20, 2001; with Dave Winer placing one song by the Grateful Dead into a post, as a test.

Christopher Lydon is generally held to have the published the first ever original piece of audio referenced by an enclosure tag in an RSS feed on Jul 9, 2003…The first program to automatically grab an audio show like this, originally called RSS2iPod, was launched by Adam Curry on Oct 12, 2003…But these audio shows did not have a name. Yet.”

Next, there is a viewpoint of the word “Podcasting” that takes place, with examples and sound bytes, as well. And it all boiled down to Dave Winer, credited with creating the podcast episode (along with our Podfather, Adam Curry):

The term “is credited by Dave Winer, speaking in Guy Kawasaki’s podcast Remarkable People:

Adam had the initial idea for why this made sense at that particular point in time. This was the first meeting that we had, and this goes back to 2000.

He saw me do it, and then he started doing it. And then, I don’t know, by September of 2004, there were twenty or thirty people doing [it], and we needed a name. And so we had a mail list and I asked people, “What should we call this?” And a guy named Dannie Gregoire said, just call it “podcasting.”

And Adam and I were doing a podcast called Trade Secrets, and on that we discussed it. So let’s just go with podcasting, and that’s it.

Guy Kawasaki: That’s how podcasting got named?!

Dave Winer: What did you think? We hired some kind of a market research firm and they did a focus groups and shit? Come on! That wasn’t how it worked!”

And then Cridland also records the words by Adam Curry about the naming of the word. And a section of the post ends with the first mention of the term “podcast.” And so, the term caught on, as is stated: “The term was quickly taken up. Adam Curry mentioned podcasting on his blog for the first time on Sep 21 2004; Dave Winer blogged ‘what is podcasting?’ on Sep 24 2004, by Doc Searls, who blogged about podcasts on Sep 28 2004, and Dan Gillmor on Sep 28 2004.”

And then some of the earlier podcasters stated the term, as well, in the media: “As an example that the term was already well-embedded, Todd Cochrane posted the first “Geek News Central Podcast” on Oct 9 2004; and, on the same day, Rob Greenlee posted a comment announcing the new name on the Web Talk Radio Show website. Evo Terra followed on Oct 13, 2004.”

The post finally ends with the question of “who invented the term podcast?” And so, the final reply to this inquiry is delivered from the viewpoint of Mr. James Cridland: ”

“Ben Hammersley was the first to use the term in print, in a widely-read publication.

Dannie J Gregoire was the person to make the term popular in the community: and it’s very possible that without Gregoire’s use of the term in Sep 2004 – and its enthusiastic use by Adam Curry and Dave Winer – we’d be calling audio referenced by an enclosure tag in an RSS feed something quite different.”

In my own viewpoint, the term podcasting has meaning for us early podcasters as requiring an RSS feed and adhering to certain criteria — which, today, is being “bastardized” by the younger set that want to define it in their own way, just because they wish to do so.

But for myself, the older meaning and etymology will stand as the true types for the terms. Why? Well, for me, you can pry the term “podcast” from my cold, dead fingers (reciting a pun from an old saying by Charlton Heston of the NRA).

Thank you for your attention.

Tags Adam Curry, Dave Winer, James Cridland, podcast, Podcastreporter.com, podnews.net, Todd Cochrane

podcast

587- Disruption technology in Podcasting

Post author By fcastaneda
Post date May 4, 2022

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

In this episode of The Podcast Reporter, we discuss the theme of “disruption” activities and promotions and projects. In particular, we deliver a repurposed podcast episode from Tom Schwab of the program Interview Valet, where we look at the “disruption technology.”

Also, we owe some credit to Evo Terra (podcaster of today’s show called podcastpontifications.com) when he discussed with us what it is like to be a “podcaster disrupter.” And we plan to include that earlier repurposed interview in a later episode of this show. Evo felt that the “next big thing” in podcasting would come from a supportive “disruption” of the podosphere.

Now, as I mentioned before in this podcast series, I have known Evo when I met him in person in 2007, and also when I had strengthened my relationship with him, both in person and when I had interviewed him on my podcast shows since 2007.

In one interview episode, I had Evo tell us how and why he described himself as a disrupter. This was both for being an entrepreneur and a podcaster.

Then, later, I had interviewed Tom Schwab of the Interview Valet program, where he was also noted as a “disrupter” in podcasting, as he was one of the first to publicly announce that he was NOT going to do a podcast, but rather, he would pursue his success in being a podcast GUEST. He announced this at the second Podcast Movement conference in 2015 at Fort Worth, Texas. And he later provided others with a business model that would help podcasters gain success in their shows by being a guest on other podcasters’ podcast shows.

As a matter of fact, we have the original interview from 2015 where Tom describes his business and his “disruption” of the podcast interview processes:

As you can hear from this repurposed episode, Tom describes his “disruption” in business and podcasting from the entrepreneurial side in the following summarized manner:

“Disrupted technology” that supports the pursuit of being a podcast guest (e.g., being and interviewee) as opposed to being the interviewer to lead the conversation on a podcaster’s own show;
Repeating someone else’s success may not be the best model to follow for success — in other words, do NOT be a “me-too” product;
Being a disrupter incorporates new models of how to do business as an entrepreneur, as well as a podcaster — but not by total imitation of someone else’s successful results (in particular, to avoid naming your show with the “on fire” suffix);
How to go about getting YOU as one of your prospects from being listener to being visitor and have you be welcomed to a tailored, individual welcome site for just YOU;
His “disruption” includes renaming some of the terms used in sites (e.g., a “welcome” page instead of a “landing page” or “squeeze page”) to make it more personal.
His disruption will be in the form of creating VISITORS and not to provide them with podcast audio episodes — but rather have them listen to yourself as a guest and then get them interested in your programs;
Monetization can also be incorporated in your business, as you can refer to his book, “Podcast Guest Profits: Grow your business with a targeted interview strategy.”
He currently has moved to interactive webinars (mostly free) to promote his program and the successes of podcast-guesting.

So, as one of the very first programs to emphasize being a podcast guest instead of a podcast interviewer, Tom has been flexible to adapt new methods for his success and his business.

We hope that this model of disruption may be of benefit to you as you shape your podcasting model for your show, or adapting parts of this to make your business more profitable and more successful.

So, later, we will deliver the repurposed episode from Evo Terra where he speaks to us earlier about plotting his way and pivoting to become a “disrupter” in the podosphere.

Thank you for your attention.

Tags disrupter, disruption, Evo Terra, interviewvalet.com, PodcastPontifications.com, Podcastreporter.com, Tom Schwab