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536- Get into Podcasting — a case for a podcast consultant

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In this episode of The Podcast Reporter, we discuss the situation where an aspiring podcaster may want to start a podcast, but does not want to go through all the details about Apple and other providers to begin a podcast show and post episodes. They also don’t want to keep up with the rules and regulations, processes and procedures (which seem to be always changing frequently now) by Apple and other sites in order to create, test, post and publish episodes for your podcast show — they just want to create the content and publish it very easily.

So, one way of doing this (besides doing it by yourself and getting frustrated with the firms who do not call you back or take your technical support calls or answer questions in person but only by bots) is to go the route of using a podcast consultant until you understand the process and have a smooth running system that you can handle in the creation and posting and distribution of your content where you  want).

For this podcaster, I started podcasting 15 years ago. I used a free tutorial that was distributed online by Jason Van Orden (a podcaster at that time for the Podcasting Underground show). And soon, I realized that I needed a bit of education (which was not really available as it is today) by hiring a podcast consultant. In my case, I hired Dave Jackson of the School of Podcasting. Using remote conversations and communications via the internet, he set me on my way on the path to podcasting, and from there, I was on my own. I did hire him later on when I set up various other podcast shows, so that he could set them up, post them, publish them during the time which I wanted to focus on new content for my current shows. And this worked out very well.

And since then, other podcast consultants announced that they wanted to assist aspiring podcasters to launch their shows — one of them was the Podcast Repairman from Gary Leland, as an example.

And because of these reasons, I can see a favorable argument for hiring a good podcast consultant (like Dave Jackson or Daniel J Lewis) to assist me with MY OWN instructions, restrictions and limitations as agreed by a written contract or one saved by audio or video recording to assist in setting up a podcast show and episodes, and leaving you a well-oiled machine for you, as a podcaster, to create and publish your content in the podosphere.

Now, for this podcaster, I have also been a podcast consultant for several years, and it was enjoyable and I have had good customers that thanked me for getting them started in the podosphere and delivering VALUE in the editing of content and “productizing” the episodes which they published. However, with medical problems and family emergencies, I had to withdraw from this podcasting career specialty and only to keep a customer or two that wanted only screencasting services (e.g., creating video tutorials for software products and services). I only focus now into podcast content creation, but I am no longer a podcast consultant to assist others in setting up their shows.

But if I were now an aspiring podcaster that wants to start a show and focus strictly on the content creation and publication, I would seriously consider getting a quote from a respected podcast consultant (with a good and long favorable history of grateful customers) to assist me in getting my show created, launched and set up as a “publishing machine.” And if I wanted to monetize my show after creating and publishing it, I would then use the suggestions given to me by authors and podcasters who have published content on how to successfully make money from their podcasts — especially like Dave Jackson with his latest book, Profit from your Podcast.

I hope that you, as an aspiring podcaster, will find success in starting your show — whether or not you decide to use a podcast consultant, so that your show will deliver great VALUE to your audience and help to get you on the road to success (especially if you wish to monetize your show).

Thank you for your attention.

Copyright (c) 2021, Matrix Solutions Corporation and Dave Jackson and Daniel J Lewis and Gary Leland and michaelandmike.com . All rights reserved.

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BONUS- International Podcast Day 2021– and its future

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In this episode of The Podcast Reporter, we deliver to you a previous episode that is repurposed for remembering “the good old days” when we celebrated the International Podcast Day for podcasters.

This year, however, the Lees in California are NOT going to have a 30-hour live marathon of speakers to promote podcasting. Since they were doing this mainly from their own pocket, it was not sustainable. And so, in 2021, the movement has literally stopped and it has come to a hard stop.

So, in this brief summary, I am delivering to you a previous podcast episode, repurposed for remembering what the old International Podcast Day marathon and celebration was all about:

And so, here are also the show notes from that episode a year ago:

“… we briefly discuss the annual celebration of International Podcast Day, which has been held since 2015 on the 30th of September. It was started by founders Dave and Steve Lee, along with Daniel J Lewis — each podcasters in their own right.

The agenda for this 30-hour broadcast worldwide is at Internationalpodcastday.com.

[Editor’s note: since this was originally planned to be a 24-hour broadcast of presentations and panel discussions, etc., it has grown to a 30-hour time span due to the international date line and the ability for some Asian countries to start earlier on the 30th of September, allowing the close to be in the Eastern time zone of the USA at midnight]

Since the very first celebration in 2015, I myself have participated in this event and have either listened to the presentations, as well as have delivered welcome announcements from my good buddy, Adam Curry,  of the No Agenda show for the initial event.

I would suggest that you can either listen live to some events during the broadcast online, or you can also get to consume them later online from the recorded archive. The growth of podcasting in the world has seen more sessions and presentations being delivered in national languages (not just USA English or British Commonwealth English), as well. This was true last year for the Latin American countries that delivered their content in Spanish. Thus, this has grown to a worldwide event with participation from all podcasters of various topics.

We hope that you find International Podcast Day a worthwhile event for you, as a podcaster, and that it can indeed bring VALUE to your show and help you become a more successful podcaster.

Thank you for your attention and hoped participation for International Podcast Day.”

 

So, does this mean that the podcast industry has now lost a key component of podcasting? Does it signify the loss of key participants that had the labor of love for podcasting are now bowing out due to the high cost of sponsoring a show that allows all podcasters to share in the movement of podcasting, no matter where in the world you may be?

In my opinion, I don’t see those who have made a ton of money from podcasting rising to the occasion to support the International Podcast Day movement again — they will only be interested in joining the movement if someone else spends their own money to get the program going, for they will only be interested in the growth of their own revenues.

Sad to say, but since 2014, this idea was a good one, and it is now being put to bed due to the selfishness of others who should have risen up to the occasion — especially those who made thousands and even millions from their podcast. How about sharing a bit of the wealth for the good of the movement and the labor of love? Well, not this time.

Thank you for your attention.

Copyright (c) 2021, Matrix Solutions Corporation and Internationalpodcastday.com and michaelandmike.com. All rights reserved.

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533- The threat of censorship in podcasting

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In this episode of The Podcast Reporter, we discuss a theme that is being mentioned more and more in the podosphere and its news in the various news-casts and newsletters — and that is the possibility of censorship coming from the lame-stream media and the democrats of the USA, as they want to control a narrative, even in podcasting.

Up to the second quarter months of 2021 (i.e., the time of this writing), podcasting was still an open forum, where most of the media hosts still did not have total control of the content, but instead, let the podcasters deliver their messages in the manner that they wanted. Oh, sure, there were censorship situations (like Alex Jones and some episodes of the Joe Rogan Show) where the podcasters and the content were censored by the employees who worked in the firms that hosted the podcasts. And that means that those employed by the media firms are so into woke that they are making their own determination of what should be posted and what should be censored, without the permission of the business owners or the logic in doing what they do only because of their own selfish minority leanings and political ideologies.

Well, what this means is that perhaps bit by bit and one by one, the employees of media hosts may sneak their political bias and ideologies into their work (without being stopped by their employers)  into the hosting services of the business and thus, influence the messages that are being out there.

What does this mean for the podcaster?

It means that he has to seek media hosts or partners to publish their content and distribute the messages outside of the political ideologies of those whom they hire. That means taking more of a hands-on approach to oversee the processes and tasks of their possible woke employees.

In this way, podcasters can still be assured that their messages will not censored or their content will not be restricted by the left-wing radicals that dominate lame-stream media today — especially by the democrats.

And there do exist certain media hosts — some very well known for their lack of content censorship and others very privately owned by those who advocate free speech (as espoused by the likes of Adam Curry and others like him) who will provide the posting and publishing of content that is free speech (but not radically too wild, such as providing a panel for hate speech, etc., which can violate the terms of service).

It seems that it is up to the podcaster to hunt out the media hosts that will provide a clear distribution of the content on the web in the podosphere without forcing their political ideologies and bias for the podcaster and others who wish to consume their content.

So, what can you, as a podcaster, do to prevent the 2020-type of censorship of content from engulfing your own content?

And the answer is to look deeply into the owners of the business who are the media hosts and see if they do swing to the far left of the political spectrum and are avid censors of the truth to de-platform others and keep the messages away from the distribution platform.

If you can find this sort of information from listening to other podcasts who oppose such censorship (like No Agenda or That Larry Show or Grumpy Old Bens or Randumb Thoughts, just to name a few), then you should pay attention and put a plan into place to confirm that your content will not be subjected to the same woke environment of the censors, and that you can still enjoy the sense of free speech without the Nazi-type intervention from the democrats or the radical left who censor anything they don’t approve of.

And we hope that your plan will provide your podcast the freedom to speak freely and to be published in the podosphere without restriction due to political bias or ideologies.

Thank you for your attention.

Copyright (c) 2021, Matrix Solutions Corporation and michaelandmike.com . All rights reserved.

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581- Starting podcast shows with stories of personal experiences

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In this episode of The Podcast Reporter, it is just myself in this episode talking to you (I am delivering this episode as a single host) to  discuss the creation of podcast shows based on our own experiences from the past — some may be positive and others so negative that they cause PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder). These can include idiotic debacles due to the poor leadership and disasters that took place in military situations.

For this theme, we examine some situations in the past (in which I was involved and did participate as a small cog in the big wheel of the Armed Forces of the US under the circumstance of what did occur 50 years ago — that is, conscription (i.e., the military “draft”).

My own situation was that of a college student who ran out of money in order to keep my education going. Instead, my draft number for the “lottery” of conscription was # 29, and thus we all knew that I was going to be inducted into the Army with a future in the infantry.

And so I did go into the Army and was a paratrooper in the Airborne Infantry. The photo, below, in these show notes was taken 50 years ago, while I was crossing a river, on the lookout for snipers in the opposite wood line — since I was a grenadier and had the rifle/grenade-launcher weapon with me to support us in case of any enemy contact. In fact, I ran across this photo in a printed magazine sponsored by the Vietnam Veterans of America, page 25 of the edition of July/August of 2021, in the section titled “50 Years Ago.”

Licensed from getty images, August 2021

US troops of the 23rd (Americal) Infantry Division ford a river about 11 miles west of Chu Lai in South Vietnam (then the Republic of Vietnam, or RVN), 15th August 1971. (Image licensed from getty images)

After completing my service in Vietnam, in spite of injuries that I sustained in the military, I did return to my college education — only this time, my financing came from the G.I. Bill for education and training, along with other scholarships for which I happened to apply and win.

And some 16 years ago, I myself became a professional podcaster. I also started a couple of  podcasts that were dedicated to honor the Military Service organizations that supported the veterans of the Armed Forces. One was for the 82nd Airborne Division veterans Association, and the other was for the Combat Infantrymen’s Association (both of which I was a member). I did produce episodes for these podcast shows for over 6 years, with interviews from veterans who were sharing their experiences and finding some closure of their experiences while in  the military and the Vietnam War).

In fact, this photo shows the camaraderie of the paratroopers as they honored a WWII veteran who made 3 combat jumps in Europe, D.G. Harris. This was published with an episode from the 82nd Airborne Division local Alamo Association Chapter.

Award to WWII paratrooper D.G. Harris (RIP) with General Caldwell in 2013

And the audio episodes from both podcast shows of the associations accompanied the brotherhood of both paratroopers and combat infantrymen.

The following describes the camaraderie of the combat infantrymen:

In addition, the podcast show of The Combat Infantrymen’s Badge which I had started for my local chapter also gave me the ability to interview some celebrities and honored guests of those who saw combat — even though they may not have been an infantryman in a combat regiment. This occurred in 2009 when I was able to get the story from Joe Galloway, a past correspondent during the Battle of Ia Drang in the Vietnam War of 1965. His story was told almost accurately in the book and movie which he co-authored with General Hal Moore (played by actor Mel Gibson), which was called “We were Soldiers.” In fact, at the 2009 dedication of the permanent replica of the Vietnam Monument in Mineral Wells, Texas, I did interview Joe Galloway and discovered what it was like for him to be a civilian who also experienced combat and received the Bronze Star for his own valor. The following was this 8-minute podcast episode of the Combat Infantrymen’s Association where he stated his story and what the CIB would mean to him:

These past podcast shows delivered a positive impact on my post-war life and post-military experiences. They were very positive for me.

However, I was totally disenheartened and sad and also angry when I saw what had happened in 1975 — that is, the debacle of the withdrawl of the USA from Vietnam and the helicopters leaving Saigon with people trying to hang on. This did remind me of the debacle just witnessed from Afghanistan by the idiotic withdrawl from Kabul by the idiot Bo-Jiden, suffering from dementia (who tried to insist that this was “successful” after the unnecessary death of 13 marines and sailors).

Like the present-day 2021 soldiers who had served in Afghanistan with possible multiple tours of duty and deployments, I, myself kept asking the question in 1975: “then what did that tour of duty in Vietnam mean and what was accomplished by myself or others that served there?” One example of the present-day soldier was “So what did it mean for me to have spent 5 years of my life there in Afghanistan? what was accomplished?”

For this podcaster, I saw that creating and producing various podcast shows and their episodes was a small means of closure for myself, and for others in the veterans’ service organizations.

Thus, I found that podcasts relating to personal experiences can be helpful not only to the podcaster himself, but to others who shared his experiences — especially in combat and in other military situations (like being an airborne infantry paratrooper).

Thus, I would suggest that you, as a podcaster, can share some of your own personal experiences to create and deliver episodes using a STORY-TELLING method to provide value to your listeners. Remember that the personal accounts that are true do ring a bell of empathy for the podcast listener, and these can be a great way to generate content for your shows. I am sure that your audience would not only approve the episodes, but thank you for them.

Thank you for your attention.

Copyright (c) 2021, Matrix Solutions Corporation and michaelandmike.com and Joe Galloway and Hal Moore and “We were Soldiers” book and movie. Image licensed from gettyimages.com

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532- Podcasting production partners and how to look for one

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In this episode of The Podcast Reporter, we discuss the topic of podcasting production partners — and how to find one, with some tips that are delivered by Ben Krueger in his recent podcast blog and series of cashflowpodcasting.com.

To find a podcast production partner, there are several key tips from Ben in his post, which can give you, the podcaster, an idea of what to look for and some key elements besides the relationship you may have with some other candidates (be it personal or business) and looking forward to the ultimate results for your business podcast.

The key ideas in this post are the following:

  • Make sure all parties are working toward a clear objective that can be articulated by yourself;
  • The challenges in both in-person collaboration and separation of duties vs. the remote work assignments and coordination;
  • Of course, Ben emphasizes the need for streamlined processes in order to be successful (and, of course, he spares no content in reminding you that his firm will have them and support you with them in finding a partner);
  • Do your candidates have the expertise and knowledge to develop content for your target market?
  • Also consider the quality of the marketing materials used to promote the audio content;
  • Inspect the track record of a candidate who has proven that he will have a sharp eye on details;
  • Research how much a podcast production partner should be compensated, as well as the cost of production of a podcast;
  • Determine if a solo podcast show in episodes is the format for you to follow, or if more need to be involved in the production;
  • Determine the source of production equipment (or you may have to accept that you will purchase these yourself);
  • What will be the repurposing strategy for your content — perhaps into other forms of media?
  • What kind of guest “pipeline” will be needed to have a continuous influx of guests for your show, if you will have guests?
  • What kind of scripting strategy will you have to create content around your show and be relevant to your audience?

These are the key items that Ben discusses in his post. And for many aspiring podcasters, these may make a great deal of the topics that need to be asked before launching a show with just a faint idea of who should be the podcast production team.

Ben Krueger

Now, Ben Krueger is someone that I have known since we first met at the initial Podcast Movement conference in Dallas in 2014. Ben is the founder of Cashflow Podcasting and he specializes in helping thought leaders entrepreneurs amplify their impact through podcasting.  He’s a world traveler, outdoor sports junkie and future enthusiast! He also has shared with us (within this podcast series and others) not only ideas on podcasting, but some key gems for free in the form of pdf files and topics that can be key as help to future podcasters and current podcasters. We thank Ben for his contributions to the podosphere.

Thank you for your attention.

Copyright (c) 2021, Matrix Solutions Corporation and Ben Krueger and michaelandmike.com . All rights reserved.

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583- Podcasting education free to podcasters shortly

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In this episode of The Podcast Reporter, we discuss an announcement from Daniel J Lewis, podcaster of The Audacity to Podcast show, along with being an author of various training programs (such as My Podcast Reviews), as well as his Podcasters Society membership program.

Daniel J Lewis, award-winning podcaster

This is an announcement for FREE training and education modules that Daniel will be distributing with his email notices shortly. And here are the content modules from Daniel J Lewis’s new free training:

  • “How to make your podcast stand out
  • How to improve your audio quality
  • Quick fixes to improve your podcast
  • How to get more podcast reviews
  • Law-related answers podcasters need
  • Podcasting with cohosts
  • And much more I’m still writing!”

Daniel reassured his audience that the emails will be “short enough that you can read them in only a couple minutes, but still informative and actionable.”

He also wanted each module to stand on its own, without any dependence on earlier modules: “And each of the above are separate miniseries, so if you’re not interested in a particular miniseries, you can easily cancel that one miniseries and be moved on to the next one.”

Now, I have known Daniel personally since 2010. I have interviewed him that year, and I also had met him in person in 2013 at the New Media Expo conference in Las Vegas. Also, I have been interviewed on his show, and he has been my interviewee several times — not only as a struggling entrepreneur, but also for more details on his membership program, Podcasters Society.

I have always regarded Daniel as a very technically competent podcaster and content creator. His attention to detail and his specific deconstruction of technical facts is second to none. And so, I have  trusted his comments, counsel and recommendations. So, would I expect great value from something FREE from him?

Absolutely.

By the way, in an earlier episode last week of the Ask the Podcast Coach show, I asked Daniel when he would have a future episode of his flagship podcast, The Audacity to Podcast. And he replied that he was going to announce something soon to announce to us.

So, thus, I am passing this announcement to my audience so that everyone may be prepared to receive the free email content. I do predict that there will be great VALUE in them for both older podcasters, as well as the new and aspiring podcasters.

Thank you for your attention.

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

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577- Determining which people can be good podcast guests

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In this episode, we discuss podcast interview guesting — but more from the angle of which people can be good guests as opposed to the folks for whom guesting will probably not work.

For this theme, we turn to a post from Tom Schwab, a podcast interviewer with a site called Interview Valet, as well as author of the book Podcast Guest Profits: Grow Your Business with a Targeted Interview Strategy

Now, I have known Tom Schwab since 2015, and I have interviewed him in several podcast shows, including this one, in the past. I have a copy of his book, and I find it very helpful for those who want to focus on becoming guests on other podcasts, in addition to interviewing guests. I would strongly encourage aspiring or new podcasters to read this book and find out about the art of guesting on other podcasts from podcasters, in order to get discovered and increase your reach in the podosphere.

So in this article, Tom explains how podcast guesting may not work for certain people within these five suggestions and tips:

1. “Your Clients Are Geographically Constrained

It’s not about reaching more people, it’s about reaching more ideal customers.

2. Transactional Sales with low Life Time Value

I’m not going to hire a lawyer, accountant, or surgeon from a Facebook Ad.  Conversely, if the purchase is a low-cost, low-risk, transactional purchase I don’t need to spend 30 to 45 minutes to get to know the company or founder.

3. One Time or Perishable Product

While podcasts may not be evergreen, they are like a can of soup – good for 3 to 5 years.

 

4. Your Digital Presence is Weak

When I hear you on a podcast before I engage I will check out your website and social media.  Here is an online assessment to find if podcast interview marketing will work for you.

5. Not Committed To Delivering Value

This means everyone must win: Audience, Host, Guest, and us. Guests won’t get the desired results if they don’t take an active part in making a great interview:

Show up on time                                 Use a professional mic

Add massive value                              Promote the show

Prepare (here’s our checklist)  

With these types of hints, tips and practices, you can understand how much work it will take for you to land the great podcast guest for an interview or discussion or dialog in your episode. Since Tom has made a business (and he was one of the first in 2015) of the art of guesting in podcast episodes in order to better your business, his success speaks for itself.

I would strongly encourage you to speak to Tom in perhaps an exhibit hall if your attend a podcast conference in which Tom Schwab or the Interview Valet is present. I think you will find the material and the tips  of value to you as a podcaster.

Thank you for your attention.

Copyright (c) 2021, Matrix Solutions Corporation and Tom Schwab and michaelandmike.com. All rights reserved.

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561- Daily Podcast shows — their possible returns with community

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In this episode of The Podcast Reporter, we discuss the announcement of a podcast show that will be more than just episodes — it will have dialog, a community for conversations and interactions, as well as feedback and creativity. This new podcast is a re-incarnation of the prior podcast show from earlier years by Todd Henry (the podcaster from The Accidental Creative since 2005) and it is called The Daily Creative.

Now, this announcement proclaimed the arrival of the published book by Todd in September of 2022. Why, then, is he launching this podcast and this project for more than a year ahead?

Well, he wants to give his audience a chance to consume the book one episode at a time in the podcast space as the book is being “written.” And for a mere $50 per year, the audience member can join and receive the nuggets one episode at a time. And this offer to his audience members has been available since July of 2021. What a new way to monetize content for a podcaster!

Is this a new trend?

Not really.

I had commented about his earlier podcast show of The Daily Creative from an earlier episode in this series (episode 102) that was titled “Daily Podcast Show — will it survive?” 

And this episode was first published in November of 2018, with the growing trend of a daily episode in a podcast show. And the content of this 6-minute episode tended to focus on the resurrection of the daily episode of a daily podcast show — yes, THE DAILY CREATIVE by Todd Henry. And I did subscribe to this podcast show in 2018, until the podcaster went on a long break after just over 100 episodes that were published and promoted daily (Monday-Friday). And here was the discussion of the content of this episode:

And I did mention some other daily episode podcast shows in the brief history of the podosphere in that prior episode.

Now, when I received the episodes of the 2018 The Daily Creative, I saw that they were 5-to-10-minute episodes from Todd Henry. But they were very similar to a prior project in the 2006-2009 time frame, in which Todd had a premium content podcast with episodes. The project was called “AC Engage” — especially since the topics were so very similar and possibly with more details. And there were close to 150 episodes to this program. So now this seemed to be yet another opportunity for monetization with repurposed content.

Thus, for me, this new 2022 project of THE DAILY CREATIVE podcast is really the 3rd generation of Daily thoughts from Todd Henry, which indeed, he is monetizing for a suggested further audience. First, there was AC-Engage, then The Daily Creative podcast show of 2018, and now, The Daily Creative book, community and podcast of 2022.

As for this podcaster, I find the thoughts motivating and insightful and they do deliver value to both the podcaster and the entrepreneur who struggles with creativity (e.g., new media, podcasting, screencasting, video, blogging, etc.).

I would probably recommend the daily thoughts given in this newly announced series to both the podcaster and entrepreneur — for the value could be great, especially if they have been updated and enriched with the environmental challenges for the last 3 years.

So, I hope that you do find value in either written chapters of the book, or the blog or emails, or the audio podcast episodes of the 2022 The Daily Creative podcast — and that you can improve yourself to become more brilliant, more prolific and more healthy as an entrepreneur and podcaster.

Thank you for your attention.

Copyright (c) 2021, Matrix Solutions Corporation and Todd Henry and michaelandmike.com. All rights reserved.

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528- Podcast quality from your interview guests

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In this episode of The Podcast Reporter, we discuss a recent post in the podcastbusinessjournal.com from Dave Jackson, podcaster of the School of Podcasting, where the topic centered on the audio quality from your interviewee and to whom the blame should be leveled. The title of this post was also mentioned in the podnews.net newsletter, and it was: “Stop blaming your guest for bad audio.”

In this post, Dave mentions that you, the interviewer, is really to be held responsible for any episode interview where your guest has bad audio. Dave says that you are to blame for letting bad audio be recorded and published in your podcast show interviews.

And Dave delivers to us several options so that you would not have to deal with sloppy or bad audio in your published interview — for example:

  •  Dave says: “You control what guests make it to your listener’s ears.”
  • Just as a potential prospect may ask you for examples from your portfolio of either art, podcasts, videos, etc., so, too, you can do the same to qualify (and later vet) a potential interviewee:  “When I have people pitch me to be on my show, if they’ve done their homework and connected their expertise to my audience (which 98% of them don’t) one of the first things I’m going to ask is, “Do you have a link to a previous interview so I can hear your audience quality?”
  • As far as equipment goes, Dave suggests several low-cost options for interviewees to deliver quality audio when they record (especially if you are doing a double-ender) — e.g., the Samson Q2U is an ideal mic (which used to be the AT202x series of mics), as well as the Blue Yeti (as long as it is configured properly and placed in the correct positions for quality audio capture). Now, for myself, there is no mention of the Samson go-mic (which is what I recommended for my co-host to use, and which he has used for 50 podcast episodes as an interviewee or co-host) or other quality mics that are affordable;
  • And finally, Dave suggests what to do for a proper job of planning for audio quality for interviews (and this is merely a way to get the interviewee to obtain the proper equipment for quality, and not a total rejection): “When you say to them, “I’d love to have you on my show, but your audio isn’t currently cutting it. If you want you can order a cheap headset or some earbuds, and we can try again later.” You’re not saying “No.” You’re saying “Not now.” 
  • And then you have the proof of the pudding when you find out why your podcast show may be suffering:  “The bottom line is if you’re wondering why your podcast isn’t growing, it may be that it’s leaving a bad taste in people’s mouth…”

Now, for this podcaster, I have had multiple interviews with many podcasters, celebrities, professionals, etc., during the past 15 years of podcasting. And the worst audio occurred when a guest refused to use a quality mic and agreed to the interview when I had to call him on Skype (remember that old application) and he did the interview from the mic on his smart phone while he was outside. Needless to say, the quality was not good and it would not stand in today’s circles of acceptability. This was an exception, for his partner (also a podcaster and a tech-guy, had wonderful audio when I had interviewed him the year before).

So, unless I know what type of equipment is being used, I would now prefer NOT to conduct an interview over the telephone. I have always preferred to do interviews in person (if possible) with my handy Zoom H2 or H4n or Q3 or even my Zoom H1 that I would hold in my hand, because I could then control the quality of the audio — and I could clean up any wrinkes in post.

But for the newer podcasters or the aspiring interviewers, I would suggest that they should take Dave’s post to heart. Some podcasters have even got to the point of having an extra quality microphone and recorder — and then sending it to the guest, so that quality would not be impaired and all glitches could be corrected in post.

So, we hope that you, as a podcaster, would be very conscientious about the required audio quality in today’s environment and insist that the right mic and the right positions of equipment and settings would be the environment for any future podcast interview recordings with your guests.

Thank you for your attention.

Copyright (c) 2021, Matrix Solutions Corporation and Dave Jackson and podcastbusinessjournal.com and michaelandmike.com. All rights reserved.

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527- Podcasting and repurposing podcast episodes

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In this episode of The Podcast Reporter, we discuss the topic of repurposing podcast episodes within the area of improving your podcast show and helping it to grow. This theme was conceived by a recent publication of a post in the podreacher.com site, with the address of:  https://podreacher.com/podcast-repurposing-to-grow/?utm_source=podnews.net&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=podnews.net:2021-03-03

And in this mentioned article, the following are sub-topics that are discussed:

  1. why you should repurpose podcast episodes — especially helping search possibilities to your show;
  2. is repurposing worth your time as a podcaster? And to answer that question, there are several reasons given:
    • “Repurposed podcast content will help you grow if:
      • You think more people could benefit from your content.
      • Your content is mostly evergreen (meaning it won’t go out of date).
      • You have an established production process.
      • You’re open to being discovered on multiple channels.”

       

Then there is a 4-step process for repurposing podcast content;

  • Start with the end in mind;
  • Listen for tips and strategies;
  • Start writing for repurposing:
      • Use direct quotes sparingly.
      • Discard parts of the interview.
      • Ignore chronology.
      • Tighten your introduction.
      • Brainstorm multiple headlines.
      • Spot the gems.
  • Editing: refine the position;
  • Then gain practice and become a professional repurposer.

Now, I myself have repurposed content from other podcasts, as well as the current one, when it seemed appropriate. Whether the passage of time requires a refresh of the theme to grow the impact of the podcast show, or whether the theme once again crops up in the news from the podosphere — the time must be appropriate for a repurposed post.

And your downloads and other stats will prove whether it was well received — especially with the feedback.

We hope that you consider repurposing content, when appropriate. And it all does not have to be from a prior episode of your current show. You can repurpose content from other podcast shows, especially if the themes are related. I have done so with repurposed episodes from some of my prior 16 podcast shows from the past — but they must all have had a key relationship to the discussion at hand.

We hope that you, yourself, will consider the idea of repurposed content for your show, if appropriate. And if you find that this becomes a successful strategy, then we hope that your show will benefit by improving the quality and getting more subscribers and downloads which will have your listeners enjoy your content (especially for the newer listeners that were not around for the original episode of content that you repurpose now).

Thank you for your attention.

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