Tag: Podcastreporter.com

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522- Podcasting Resource Guide — many categories to help podcasters

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In this episode of The Podcast Reporter, we discuss an earlier blog post that is a no charge site which allows a podcaster to access many categories and listings of podcast resources — from hardware to services, etc.  The site is delivered and promoted by Chris Krimitsos at podcastingresourcesguide.com.

Now, being offered for free, this site seems to be a good idea for the new and aspiring podcasters. So what used to be an arduous task of searching for — and rarely finding — an ideal resource for any part of podcasting now can be more organized and can be presented in a more logical manner to the podcaster. The sub-title of this site is “Find the tools + guidance you need” and as of the date of this post, it is available free (at no charge) for anyone to come and peruse and search the site for any podcast resource, software, hardware, service — i.e., anything related to podcasting.

Adverstisements in newsletters and blogposts call this site “The FREE SUMMARIZED Resource Guide EVERY Podcaster/Vidcaster Needs.”

For the past 16 years, I have seen so many sites try to advertise themselves as the “one-stop-shop” or “one-all-and-be-all” of podcasting resources (very much like the wealth of podcast newsletters that have sprung up in the last 5 years, stating that they are the most comprehensive and necessary newsletter for the podcaster).

But, however, this site caught my eyes by the various categories that were delivered. Over 23 categories allow the podcaster to choose from the landing page what tools or resources would be of interest. And if you land on there without planning for your search, there is even a GUIDE ME button that can help a new podcaster, or an experienced podcaster, or perhaps take a question from you.

In my quick search and test of the site for hardware and software tools and devices and programs, I found a number of resources in the double-digits. But this can be a good start for creating a rich library of resources that can be used very efficiently by the podcaster.

However, like so many sites before them, the efficiency and durability of a site like this is the contribution of the podcasting audience who attends this site for searching, as well as the number of resources that can grow with the help of other podcasters in the podosphere — but without having to pay for it.

So while the resource listing is free, I heartily recommend that you go to this site and check out the podcasting resources that are available to you — perhaps not as many as you would like now, but maybe you can help out by recommending a resource or two to be included. Then the site can really help all the podcasters out there.

Thank you for your attention.

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

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podcast

488- Getting other podcasters to collaborate with you

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In this episode of The Podcast Reporter, we reflect on a recent brief episode from buzzsprout.com in the form of a six-minute video. The subject was how to collaborate with other podcasters — and what was covered was how to get on other podcasters’ shows and how to get other podcasters to come to your show(s).

You can watch this six-minute video at this link:

This video suggests the following ways for podcaster collaborations (that is, by bringing influential guests on your podcast show and being a guest on others’ podcast shows):

  • Make your dream list of those podcasters or guests with somewhat similar relation that would be a good fit for your audience;
  • Pitch each person on your dream list to collaborate with you (including suggestions for initially getting in contact with them);
  • Decide which of 3 main ways to collaborate:
    • Guest star appearance;
    • Podcast “takeover” — i.e., dropping one of your episodes into the guest’s podcast feed to share the episode;
    • Record a podcast segment for the other podcaster’s show.

 

Now, for this podcaster, I have had experience in podcaster collaboration in both getting interviewees for my podcast shows (especially both The Struggling Entrepreneur / The Struggling Biz, as well as Podcast Reporter). And I also used what I learned from these collaborations for my other podcast interviews, such as the ones for veterans’ service organizations and podcast meetups. And I have, indeed, used all these strategies from this video at one time or another — and in one way or another — in my collaborations.

And I had developed a type of structured approach and workflow for doing this — from the idea stage, the planning stage, the preparation stage, the communication stage with the other podcaster, as well as the timing and synchronizing stage, the recording stage, the post-production and editing stage, the other podcaster’s reviews-and-approval stage, the posting of the episode stage, the publication stage and the promotion stage (with follow-up).

While the video goes into just 6-minutes of an overview, there is a lot more work to doing the collaboration correctly. In fact, I would compare the 6-minute video to the tip of an iceberg — that is, what was suggested is merely 5 per cent of the work involved to do it right.

I sincerely hope that you have all the right pieces in your project plan and project workflow to do podcaster collaboration correctly, so that you can have a successful interview, collaboration and episode — and thus, make your podcast successful.

Thank you for your attention.

Copyright (c) 2020, Matrix Solutions Corporation and buzzsprout.com. All rights reserved.

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podcast

BONUS — How to be a podcast guest — a guide

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In this BONUS episode of The Podcast Reporter, we deliver the news of a free pdf document called “Podcast Guest Guide.”

This came as a promotion in an email note from podcastguests.com. And the summary of this very short pdf document (just seven pages) is as described:

“In this completely free guide from PodcastGuests.com, you’ll learn:

1. The value of being a guest expert on podcasts
2. How to put your best foot forward to get booked as a guest
3. How to find and pitch podcasters
4. What you need to do to prepare as a guest
5. How to leverage your podcast guest appearances for maximum impact

No email address is required to download this guide — just click here to view the guide in PDF format! (Or right click and select “save as” to download it.)”

Now, after downloading and reviewing this guide, I feel that this could be of value to new or aspiring podcasters. As you step through this pdf document, the words of wisdom for preparation and to present the best of yourself are key.

For example, the ONE SHEET concept is a great one — it almost resembles the one-page resume that was so popular in the early 2000s for those who wanted to seek new employment. Yes, the podcastguests.com site offers a resource to create a one-sheet document. And they suggest that you can send a prospective podcaster your own one-sheet resource for that individual to consider you and your qualifications to be a guest on a specific show.

In fact, the podcastguests.com site also has not only a newsletter that has a listing of podcasts seeking guest for which you can enroll, but they also have a directory (where you can list yourself as a potential guest) in which you can have the podcasters seeking guests come to you.

Then the document gives some suggestions for preparation — both technically and for substantive subject matter content for an interview as a guest. By the way, for the right preparation for recording or joining a recording as a guest, you can refer to the checklist that is provided for free from The Audacity to Podcast from Daniel J Lewis. You can get a free copy of this “Pre-flight checklist” for recording in podcasting. The  better prepared you are, then the better your chances of having a great interview as a guest.

And, of course, one of the most important steps in being a guest or “being interviewed” is the follow-up — something that is covered and emphasized toward the end of the pdf document.

And speaking of follow-up, this is a good lead-in to bring to your attention what is said as a key step in a past podcast episode that discusses how to get the most out of “being interviewed.” In fact, you should be aware of some advice given in an evergreen podcast by Max Flight that deals with another side of a podcast guest — that of “Being Interviewed.” It describes the other aspects of being an interviewee that you should also consider:

In addition to these two resources, I also recommend an episode from the back-catalogue and archives of Daniel J Lewis from his show, The Audacity to Podcast, where he discusses being an interviewee, as well. These go farther and deeper into the action steps needed to be both a good interviewer and an excellent interviewee.

With these resources that we present, we hope that your skills as a podcaster can improve and that they will help you to succeed as a professional podcaster and a great guest for other shows in which you can be interviewed.

Thank you for your attention.

Copyright (c) 2021, Matrix Solutions Corporation and podcastguests.com and Max Flight and Daniel J Lewis and michaelandmike.com. All rights reserved.

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podcast

487- Some suggestions about surveys in Podcasting

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In this episode of the Podcast Reporter, we discuss aspects of listener surveys for those who listen to podcasts, as well as others. We refer you to a post and article to discuss this for podcasters in order to get the value you need to grow your audience and deliver value to your listeners. The article is at https://tomwebster.substack.com/p/what-do-listeners-wantpart-one

Many feel that surveys may not be useful or that they are a waste of time and resources from your podcast and business. However, as stated in the article, there is a disagreement to this meme: “ I’ll say this—I don’t think there is such a thing as a useless survey. All surveys have value. Where they fall flat is often in how they are characterized or reported.”

 

What the author of the article mentions is the purpose of decision support and the possibility of bias in the way that surveys are created. The article then discusses THE THREE BIASES, followed by some suggestions to fix the problem that is mentioned in detail:

” Who wouldn’t take that survey?

– Question: those who would and those who would not take this survey?”

“In the case of a podcast, it is less about who couldn’t take a survey, and more about who can take it easily. If you put a link to an online survey in your show notes, you will get a differentially larger response from people who read your show notes.”

The author then talks about what he calls “The Virtuous Circle.”

“For a podcast, that might be access to some content of value, but you do have to be careful here—if it’s just an exclusive episode of your show, you will get a response from the people for whom more of you is desirable—in other words, you biggest fans. … And regardless of the size of your audience, if you are going to make an audio solicitation in the show itself for listeners to fill out a survey—make it host-read and engaging. It makes a HUGE difference.

So many marketers have this received wisdom about online surveys being a great alternative because they are fast and cheap. But there is an enormous benefit to doing online surveys the right way, making an investment in all segments of your customer base, and creating a virtuous circle between the desire to share information with your brand, and the desire to spread information about your brand with others.”

So if you are an aspiring or new podcaster that has been contemplating creating and executing surveys for your listeners for your podcast, we recommend that you peruse this post. Also, you may get some feedback from one of the podcast veterans about surveys — i.e., Daniel J Lewis of The Audacity to Podcast show (you can search the backlog archives to listen to he episode about surveys).

Thank you for your attention.

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

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podcast

486- Podcasting ideas to be tapped or renewed

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In this episode of the Podcast Reporter, we discuss a recent post in the buzzsprout.com blog titled “15 Untapped Podcast Ideas.” In this article, there is a presentation of different themes and possible topics to cover not only for episodes, but also for podcast shows.

This post seems to be a good resource so that you, as a podcaster, can use this to spawn different ideas for shows and episodes and topics. Obviously, this can be a good resource for planning and preparing the future (especially at the end of the year or your period of publishing) to ensure that your topics can be resilient, fresh, new and interesting — so that you can provide VALUE to your listeners.

So, in this post, the following is discussed, with some detail for each heading:

  • How to choose a good podcast topic — and here, there is a chart that is presented with 16 different podcast genres, so that you can decide if your podcast should fall into one of those categories;

    • #1 Pick a subject you want to talk about

      #2 Play to your strength 

      • Appeal to a specific demographic or target audience 
      • Speak to a subset of people with unique opinions or experiences
      • Focus on specific topics within your primary genre (ex: The podcast Help Me Be Me is “self-help for people who hate self-help.”)
    • #3 Make it niche;
      And the article then presents a few ways to make a podcast topic niche, with several tables expressing different podcast FORMATS.
  • And then the article talks about 15 different untapped podcast ideas, among which are some of them:
    •  The outdoors
    • Sailing
    • Welding, metalworking, woodworking;
    • Animals;
    • Crafting and do-it-yourself;
    • Musical instruments;
    • House flipping;
    • Podcasting;
    • Wedding and event planning;  and here, the article asks you questions about your WHY, your purpose, your targeted audience, your skillset — so you can see what sets you apart;
    • 3D printing;
    • Storm chasing;
    • Caving, rock climbing, rappelling;
    • Tiny Homes
    • Urban farming;
    • Book summaries and reviews.

Now, for this podcaster, I have listed many different podcast topics that can serve as genres for ideas and for the creation of new and different podcast shows. I would highly recommend that you hold a planning session with YOURSELF, so that you can record your ideas separately. And then, at a later time, you can determine the viability and the possibility of creating a new podcast. In this way, you can generate more and new enthusiasm and passion in creating a newer podcast show — even though you do not have to delete or remove your current or past podcast shows.

From my own experience, I have had at one time in 2011 (five years after I started podcasting) over 16 podcast shows. And one by one, I had to podfade them. Why? Because I feel that all podcast shows need to be retired once the amount of passion diminishes and the amount of content is reduced to a point where it makes sense to terminate  a show.

So, we hope that you, as a podcaster, can plan for your own planning session to examine not only these mentioned 15 topics for podcasting, but for YOUR OWN themes that need to be contemplated. Who knows? You may resurrect the passion for podcasting with great ideas that will spawn new shows and great content to provide VALUE for your audience in the near future. We hope that this passion continues for you and that your podcast shows grow and become successful.

Thank you for your attention.

Copyright (c) 2020, Matrix Solutions Corporation . All rights reserved.

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podcast

483- BONUS – Podcast workflow and planning vs spontaneity recording

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In this episode of The Podcast Reporter, we discuss a couple of styles of podcasting for those who have already launched their shows — and sometimes, these may appear to be extreme opposites. This type of debate has been active since 2004 when the podosphere took shape.

One style is that of a planned workflow, with planned topics or interviews. The key elements for the podcaster here are:

  • selecting a topic that will provide VALUE to the listener;
  • planning the sub-topics or elements of the discussion;
  • planning for quality show notes for each episode;
  • planning for good SEO aspects of the episode for the show;
  • ensuring that the recording will result with the best audio possible;
  • if interviewing, ensuring that a release is provided and agreed to;
  • if with a co-host, ensuring that they are both on board with the topic, style, format, flow and questions to impact the episode;
  • planning for good transitions (either in spoken audio or music);
  • after recording, doing the best editing possible for quality episodes;
  • planning for workflow steps to ensure quality mp3 is finished;
  • uploading the episode to your media host provider;
  • planning for quality announcement to your media channels or social media platforms that you have published an episode;
  • preparing follow-up tasks or surveys or feedback conversations for your audience;
  • receiving, responding and following up on your own replies to any feedback from your audience;
  • planning how this episode will impact your brand and your show and your business;
  • preparing for the next episode with VALUE to listeners in mind.

Another style is the age-old “spontaneous” type, where the podcaster usually will:

  • have very little or no planning (not even with a co-host or interviewee);
  • just hitting the “record” button and begin talking;
  • being able to change topics or go to a spontaneous discussion other than what was started;
  • having no planning for music or audio intros or outros;
  • having no plan for timing or length of the episode;
  • finally, stopping the recording when completed;
  • doing very little or NO EDITING, because the podcaster wants to deliver “reality” content that has not been altered in any way;
  • uploading to the media host and
  • publishing the episode with a title that is conceived just prior to publishing, usually not planned;
  • having no plan for follow up or feedback from any possible audience.
  • going on to the next episode in the “stream-of-consciousness” method for more “reality” podcasting.

So, if you are a hobby podcaster and are just starting, you may be deciding which type of podcaster you can be.

With all the courses and videos that instruct you how to prepare for a podcast episode, and then how to launch your podcast show, you may be confused about which is the best way to start and proceed.

For this podcaster, I have had a background in events and communications marketing. Thus, I have seen the value in planning and preparation — the essence of strategy and discipline to launch a show with an objective of audience growth and monetization.

So, in this relaxed atmosphere of communications due to the mandates of the phony virus crisis, we would like to ask you to reflect for yourself which type of podcasting you will like to do in the near future.

Thank you for your attention.

Copyright (c) 2020, Matrix Solutions Corporation . All rights reserved.

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482- What it means to RETIRE from Professional Podcasting

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In this episode of The Podcast Reporter, we discuss the situation of retiring from professional podcasting, but yet not leaving the podosphere either as a podcaster that creates and publishes content, and still enjoying the arena of creating and distributing your messages.

I was listening to an earlier podcast from Adam Schaeuble’s show called Podcasting Business School, and in one episode, I realized the idea of being a successful podcaster and reaching your objectives both in audience growth and monetization — but now what? How does this fare for me for the future? And what’s next for me, both as entrepreneur and podcaster or screencaster?

For this podcaster, I had a maximum of 18 podcast shows — and 16 of them at the same time in 2011. However, as the themes and topics for content dwindled because of the nature of the shows, I had to podfade them until I only had one left before I added two more.

Now, did ask myself if I had accomplished what I set out to do. I also noticed that there were more than a million podcast shows published in the podosphere (1.3 million to date, I think). So did I figure that I would continue on the road to audience growth and monetization?

Not really. And why?

Because of my health problems that hit me 3 years ago with a vengeance, and because I no longer wanted to compete with others for monetization, I realized that I had learned a lot with my experience to help others, as well as relax any stress of working harder and podcasting more — but enjoying it less.

So I thought that I could still publish my content and distribute my messages to deliver VALUE to my audience, while really feeling as if I had RETIRED from being a professional podcaster that had to make a certain amount of money from podcasting or generate more listeners. This feeling of being RETIRED came from a presentation in 1978 from Lem Jones, an instructor in the IBM Systems Science Center, in which he stated that “if you enjoy what you are doing, you are basically RETIRED for your own good, or retired from your job which you can define.”

This feeling of being FREE from the stresses of publishing content to compete with others and to compete with the environment of the podosphere led me to create even two more podcast shows (after podfading 15 of them previously due to my taking care of my own health and that of my poor mother who was suffering from dementia and Alzheimer’s). And they are still going strong, without any marketing or advertising on them. In fact, one of the shows was republished on the No Agenda Stream and the speaker referred to this show as a “quality podcast.” And I did nothing to promote or market my podcast show.

So, as the very old TV sales commercial in the 1950s and 1960s said in their advertising hook “Are you smoking more but enjoying it less?”  And this tag line struck a chord with me to know that I was competing in podcasting more, but enjoying it less.

Therefore, I retired from the stress and tension of the business of podcasting — but I did not retire from the enjoyment of podcasting.

Even though I am screencasting and creating training videos for other clients, I still keep podcasting almost daily, because for me, “PODCASTING is a labor of love” in which I can get my message into content that will bring value to other podcasters and to my audiences.

So even though I still do research and create and publish content that can be of VALUE to my audience (especially lessons learned from my past and present experiences in business and podcasting), I do so on MY TERMS that result from my passion.

So, I hope that you perhaps will be thinking of your future in podcasting. What is your strategy for “retiring”? And does it contain the ability to retire, yet still continue podcasting because of your Passion for it? Remember — in the beginning of the podosphere, most of the podcasters in 2005 were passionate enough that they wanted to enter this arena and share with others their message only because they enjoyed it and many did not have any desire to monetize it.

So I will keep my passion of podcasting alive and well with this show, as well as my other two shows, even though I am basically “retired” from the podosphere as a professional podcaster.

I hope your future also includes “retiring” from the stress that may be caused by podcasting, yet enjoying the freedom to podcast in your “retirement.”

Thank you for your attention.

Copyright (c) 2020, Matrix Solutions Corporation . All rights reserved.

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505- Third try for Podcast University — hoping to get it right

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In this episode of The Podcast Reporter, we present to you the invitation that was sent by the folks at Podcast Movement for PMU (Podcast Movement University).

Now, this program is now on its third try for entering the podosphere with some success — since the dark days of 2007, when Jason Van Orden first published the Podcast University program when his book was on sale in the first Podcast and Portable Media conference in Ontario, California.

The promotion was sent out via email to members who had attended or registered for the Podcast Movement Conference in the past. And here is the pdf document that described this new program:

https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/fgcastgain/505-_Invitation_for_PMU_-_a_third_time.pdf

If you want to sign up for this, you have to choose between two plans. Since this is a paid offering, you may choose for the monthly or annual offering. Yes, although the first month is free, you still have to give the site your credit or debit card information and then begin to be charged after the first month.

I, myself, did not want to sign up for this program for a third time (the first 2 were failures), and so I chose not to enroll nor give my financial information.

However, as you will hear in this audio episode, the benefits for pro podcasters may not seem to be as rich as in prior offerings. At least, they were not for me when I did my cost-benefit analysis (which I also based on past experiences from the last “University” offering).

I hope that you can also compare and contrast the benefits and the return-on-investment for this offering of the program so that you can see the possible benefit of this program for your own podcast show. And if you do sign up for it, I wish you the best of luck in achieving your goals as a participant of this program.

Thank you for your attention.

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

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podcast

481- Four years to Profitable Podcasting — a case study

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In this episode of The Podcast Reporter, we refer you to a recent podcast episode in the Podcasting Business School show, namely episode 113 that is about five necessary steps that a podcaster must take toward monetization success (as well as the pillars, etc.).

The host of this episode, Adam Schaeuble, tells the story of how he was able to become a profitable podcaster after four years. There are a lot of best practices, as well as land mines that he found along the way. And he recounts them to you, the podcaster and listener, in his episode #113 of his show.

As you will hear in his audio episode, Adam addresses the desire for monetization by a podcaster who sold his current business and went in full-time as a professional podcaster with a desire to do the correct steps toward monetizing his shows. He stresses the long-term creation of a show that will provide VALUE to audiences, as well as giving you the monetization categories. These are very important in the planning stage of going full-time into podcasting with the idea of creating your shows as a business — after all, you will become an entrepreneur.

But what is important is the series of roadblocks that needed to be overcome during the 4 years of his podcasting experience that we use as a case study for this episode.

Adam gives the good, the bad and ugly of creating a good podcast to deliver VALUE that results in monetization for full-time podcasters. And we hope that this can answer some questions for the new and aspiring podcasters — such as, “how long until I can get money from my episodes and show?” and “how long until I can quit my day-job and go full-time into podcasting with a profitable podcast?”

Thank you for your attention.

Copyright (c) 2020, Matrix Solutions Corporation and Adam Schae . All rights reserved.

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480- The real value of Podcast downloads and reviews and subscriptions

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In this episode of the Podcast Reporter show, we discuss a recent interview with Rob Walch, VP of Podcaster relations for libsyn. This was done by the audio podcast show called Podcasting Business School.

The main theme throughout this 48-minute audio interview by Adam Schaeuble was the REAL value to a podcaster of downloads, reviews and subscriptions of a podcast show and its episodes.

Now, I have known Rob Walch since 2006 when I met him at the very first Podcast and Portable Media Expo in Ontario, California and had a great conversation with him. I have read his book, and I have also interviewed him on this podcast show in the past, especially at conferences where he was representing libsyn.com. And because I respect so much his talent and his leadership and his contributions to the podosphere, I treat him like the “EF Hutton” in podcasting — that is, when he talks, everyone stops to listen. He has also had an early podcast show in 2004 and following called Podcast411.com. This was the audio podcaster’s version of “Inside the Podcaster’s studio” that mimicked the similar version of the television show for actors and directors.

As you will hear in that audio episode from the Podcasting Business School show, Adam inquires mainly about dowloads and their value to the aspiring and new podcaster mainly. However, Rob takes it a notch higher and explains the REAL VALUE to the podcaster of:

  • podcast episode downloads
  • podcast episode and show reviews, and
  • podcast show subscriptions.

For myself, I had never really got caught up in the mental fantasy of having zillions of downloads, as I chose NOT to advertise on any of my 18 podcast shows that I have had in the past 15 years. Instead, I chose to follow the path of monetization and discover value in feedback from other podcasters and listeners. And I chose to be involved in the value of live events and podcasting conferences.

I would very much suggest that you listen to the interview with Rob to see where you would land on the spectrum of reality in podcasting — whether you are drinking your own Kool-Aid in podcasting by believing some of the myths that Rob points out, or whether you are really chasing the value-based targets that can help to grow your podcast audience and lead you to make a success of your podcast show.

The answers have been delivered by Rob Walch and other very early podcasters in the podosphere for the past 15 years, but many of the new and aspiring podcasters still want to defy logic and reality and follow their passion as they try to convert their dreams into what seems the road to success.

We hope that you, as a podcaster, can get value from what Rob explains — for he has the credentials, the logic, the experience and the reality of what it does take to grow your show.

Thank you for your attention.

Copyright (c) 2020, Matrix Solutions Corporation . All rights reserved.