Tag: Evo Terra

Categories
podcast

548- Resurging interest in Podcast Networks and membership sites

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

This is a repurposed episode of The Podcast Reporter, where the original podcast episode was published on 4May2020. The reason we submit this for repurposing is that the subject is very heated now in conversation and action in the podosphere, with the Chinese virus-crisis now simmering down in the US — and with people now interested in both podcast networks and membership sites.

Repurposed episode 407:

In this episode of podcastreporter.com, we focus on the question of whether to join or even start your own Podcast Network. This theme came to me from a couple of recent episodes from Evo Terra in his Podcast Pontifications show, as well as Daniel J Lewis in his show, The Audacity to Podcast.

If your passion for podcasting has grown such that you want to join or even create your own podcast network, perhaps you should listen to the questions asked by Evo Terra, as well as listen to the experiences (the good, the bad and the ugly) from Daniel J Lewis (who did shut down his own podcast network that he started years ago).

My own experiences with podcast networks

Now, I have had experiences with the thought of joining a podcast network. In 2006 and 2007, I dipped my toes into the waters of joining what looked like a growing podcast network at Podango (this was the podcast company that had acquired Gigavox, the firm that created the Levelator in 2006). I wanted to be a part of what was called a “podcast station” (which was the category or genres of podcasts) called the Business Station. I wanted to include my flagship podcast at the time, Struggling Entrepreneur. And the sharing, the community and the financial benefits all seemed like a great beginning. However, I did have second thoughts about letting someone else run my show and own my RSS feed and content. So I decided NOT to join and just kept being on my own. And, by the way, I do not regret that decision, as Podango later went out of business in another year or two.

Then, in 2007, the podcast network bug bit me again. This time, I wanted to start a podcast network which I had temporarily called the “Content Creator and podcaster network.” This was going to be basically a membership site with 4 founders — one for the technical side of podcasting; another for the financial side of startups and podcasting; another for the marketing side of podcasting and its promotion; and my contribution, the personal productivity side of creating content and podcasts.

For this membership site, we even had a meeting which I had called. And I used the prior method of getting buy-in and commitment and dialog used by Tim Bourquin when he had founded the Podcast and Portable Media Expo in 2005. That is, I invited everyone to join me personally (at my expense for travel, lodging and meals) for a couple of days in Austin, Texas, so that we could discuss all day the creation of this membership site which would then create the network shortly after launch. In fact, we even had an attorney, who was himself a podcaster, join us via Skype to get the details of the contract which he would create for all of us to agree and sign as a commitment. Well, that meeting gave me an indication of how much CONTROL and OWNERSHIP and FINANCIAL EXPECTATION that podcasters desired. As a result, I saw that this arrangement would not suit all the parties involved — what seemed like an exciting discussion and proposal went down in flames when “the devil is in the details.” So we never gave the green light to create the contract (with legal fees of $1300 in those days), and we disbanded the idea. And the survivors were only two of us who started another podcast based on Finance for Startups (which has since podfaded).

What was obvious to me at that time, after some pre-investment expenses and time, was that podcasters were too much desirous of control and ownership of the direction. And this is only natural, since podcasting at that time was individually run, owned and managed by the solo podcaster. And these people were not used to SHARING any intellectual property or revenue with others, especially under contract.

So the notion of a podcast network or membership site was erased from my mind as a creator — and maybe one day I might join one already in session.

The 2 recent episodes about podcast networks

In a recent episode by Evo Terra in his show called Podcast Pontifications, the title of his script and audio episode was “Should you join or form a podcast network?”

In this audio episode, Evo asks the most important questions: (1) What is it that you want to get out of the network?; and (2) what is it that you will be willing to sacrifice to belong in it?

He not only goes over what his own backstory was in creating his own network back “in the day” of 2004 and following, but also how a loose confederation of podcasters can be just a social club rather than a really serious podcast network (and he describes what should be in a podcast network from his point of view).

So the benefits vs. the contributions is a matrix that you should put together to evaluate an existing podcast network that you may feel compelled to join. Also, if you wish to start one, you should examine deep in yourself what you really want to get out of managing this type of organization and see if you have the talent and skills to do so effectively, without having the passion of podcasting be lost due to frustrations because of your potential lack of skills.

And Evo relates what, in his opinion, is really needed for a good podcast network today.

Now, the other example with some lessons learned comes from Daniel J Lewis of The Audacity to Podcast show. He describes how he put together his network shortly after he joined podcasting in full force — and also the end of his network, along with the reasons why he ended it.

In his recent episode called “Why we retired our podcast network,” Daniel mentions that he had clear-cut goals when he created his podcast network: “My goal was to bring together like-minded podcasters with high-quality shows to grow together through synergy, community, support, cross-promotion, and sponsorship.”

However, what seemed to me to be more or less a society of like-minded individuals with different podcast shows from different genres and possibly some unrelated themes soon grew into a long list of participating shows in the network, like the following:

  • The Ramen Noodle
  • Are You Just Watching
  • The Audacity to Podcast
  • Beyond the To-Do List
  • The Productive Woman
  • Christian Meets World
  • The Sci-Phi Show
  • ONCE
  • Welcome to Level Seven
  • WONDERLAND
  • Under the Dome Radio
  • Resurrection Revealed
  • Podcasting Videos by The Audacity to Podcast
  • Inside the Podcasting Business
  • As you can see, this could appear to be a community of disjointed themes and topics, with possibly the intent to generate sponsorship, financial rewards from downloads and advertising, as well as cross-promotion. And Daniel then explains what things he did well in the network and what things that were done poorly:
  • Audience-relevant common theme
  • Cross-promotion
  • Cross-integration
  • Full and consistent community
  • and you can listen to his audio podcast episode to get the details. Then he states why he retired the network, including the ability for him to focus on fewer things, as well as giving each podcaster more room to expand.

So Daniel’s experiences deliver some lessons learned about starting a podcast network, and I would suggest that you take these into account if you get the passion to go beyond your own podcast shows and want to start your own network.

Considerations for the podcaster about Podcast Network

As a podcaster, what passion can be driving you toward wanting to start a great podcast network? Will you have the time? Will the additional workload and timetables and schedules and management of the network be something you will embrace, as well as have time for? Will you have the necessary skills to manage your network? Will you have the right temperment for being in the network? And will the podcasts in the network be the right ones, or will they be a hodge-podge collection of your favorite podcasters and additional genres and other topics that might not relate well to some audiences? Will the network be governed by contract or by word-of-mouth agreements?

So, whatever your decision may be concerning podcast networks may be (i.e., either joining one or starting one of your own), we hope that these two audio episodes can give you enough food for thought to know what to expect both from the contribution side and the giving side to the network.

So we hope that your podcast show will be successful, whether it be a part of a podcast network or not.

Thank you for your attention

Copyright (c) 2021, Matrix Solutions Corporation and Daniel J Lewis of Theaudacitytopodcast.com and Evo Terra of Podcastpontifications.com and michaelandmike.com. All rights reserved.

Categories
podcast

542- Podcasting changes for your audience podosphere experience

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

In this episode of The Podcast Reporter, we discuss the results of a study that influenced me and that I underwent a review after listening to a May, 2021, episode from Evo Terra in his Podcast Pontifications show.

In that episode from Evo,  the question pondered was: how is a podcaster supposed to embrace and live by consistency, since everything in the podosphere is changing so rapidly?

So, with this in mind, he explained how he went through a review of his own podcast show and wondered how he could improve and change it for the better, as a good experience for the listener and audience. And Evo listed nine things that he did with his show to improve it, as the theme of the episode was “The Process of Changing your Podcast.”

Thus, I let the study take place over some time. So I looked at most of these nine things which related to me and my shows, and I added a couple more (see, below, for my comments of my own review, as well) for me to examine in my review — although I did not wish to change anything just for the sake of changing. Evo Terra and I are different in that aspect, for he gets the urge to change often.

And the nine things that Evo examined do follow my 2 additional items. They are:

  • Repurposing older episodes from all my podcast shows and re-relate them to the current environment — this is one of the extra items that I added, for I did comment about this earlier in this podcast show. And this has worked extremely well for me, for content can be fresh and new (even though the theme is from before), but with a different spin that relates to the current time;
  • contemplating whether to add a co-host or to add additional current interviews with key people who can add to the value of the show for the listener — this is the other extra item that I added. And this means that you should always be asking how to improve the show from the audience’s perspective. For example, do they want to hear another voice or another viewpoint or even some rants or banter or polite arguments or discussion?
  • And here are the nine changes that were experienced by Evo in his podcast show this year:
    • How to do your podcast prep — mainly the OUTLINE and the steps, the process, the resources and the habits;  [for me, I have tightened my podcast prep for all my 3 shows]
    • Change your sites and phone resources for all new branding; [for me, this was not a key issue and needed no update]
    • Update and re-implement a brand new web site; [for me, this was not applicable]
    • Incorporate CORRECTED transcripts with different collaboration and processes for speedy transcripts; [I do use show notes as a means of transcripts for my audience]
    • Any change to your electronic in-box deliveries of your newsletters and email correspondence to your mailing list with the third party vendor or company you may choose (remember that Adam Curry had a problem with Mail Chimp recently); [This was not applicable for me]
    • Evo switched to an herbal tea from coffee, due to vocal coach suggestions; [I drink both tea and coffee quite sparingly]
    • Evo has been seeing a vocal coach, so that he can take care of his resource (his voice) for the future as a podcaster; [I have not employed a vocal coach]
    • Evo has engaged a sound engineer to improve the sound of his episodes and great quality with a brand new way to do post-production; [I have improved my own post-production processes, tools and quality]
    • Evo has changed his processes for creating in-app episode details, thanks to Apple; [this, for me, did not apply]

If you are on a show that has a seasonal publishing schedule, then you may want to do your improvements from this list (or also from those of your own lists) for your next season — that is, after you leave a hint to your audience about changes at the end of your current season.

As Evo said: “Changing is never finished.”

And so we may see Evo changing and improving on a faster track than you may be on, it is still a good idea to review some of the ideas of change that Evo has done after a good study, and then see if your podcast may be able to benefit from one or more of these to improve your show. If you do, we hope that the results will be increasing your audience, getting your listeners to agree that you did provide value to them and having better success in all ways for your show.

Thank you for your attention.

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

Categories
podcast

544- Different monetization strategy with premium content in Podcasting

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

In this episode of The Podcast Reporter, we discuss a relatively different strategy for monetization via a membership, with additional feedback and additional content where the chief objective seems to be more than just money or financial success.

The podcast from Evo Terra called Podcast Pontifications announced that they would have a membership of those who signed up for donating to the show via the buymeacoffee.com/evoterra .

 

How is this slightly different to the usual donation by other podcasters requesting money from buymeacoffee.com?

In this case, Evo will still continue to deliver FREE content on his main show of PodcastPontifications.com. However, instead of donating a one-time delivery of $5 for a cup of coffee, he is now welcoming his listeners to become a MEMBER of his coffee-club. In this way, he has set aside a premium podcast aspect of his show for those who will purchase a yearly donation to his membership system. And then, he will offer additional content to those who sign up for this membership.

Well, for this podcaster, since I have always followed Evo (even though I may not agree with him on various topics he brings up — but I still respect his right to pontificate his thoughts on his show, and I listen to him with an open mind on all things — even though I understand his point of view but reserve my right to disagree due to my own critical thinking). Thus, I signed up for this membership and waited to see what type of additional content and additional deliverables would be coming to the “members.”

The answer started to come in almost immediately. I received an email from Evo  not only with his gratitude for signing up, but also with his brainstorming ideas as what type of content would be great for the membership, based on their feedback. So I looked at what he had conceived and I quickly sent an email reply back with MY OWN VALUE-BASED ideas of additional content or follow-up actions for members that Evo could deliver.

The reply from Evo was almost immediate. And I saw that he was offering different ideas, based on feedback from myself and others who joined the membership.  And I responded with an email that thanked him for his planning, and I said that his ideas seemed good enough for me. And to this day, I am waiting to see what the results will be, for I know that Evo does deliver to his audience — especially when he is able to monetize the podcast and its infrastructure for his audience to provide more VALUE.

Now, will this be a trend for other podcasters to do so?

Or, will the podcasting community go along more with Adam Curry’s “value-for-value” model in his show No Agenda with John C Dvorak  (which is also being used by Ryan Bemrose and Darren O’Neill of the Grumpy Old Bens podcast (as well as other podcasts on the noagendastream.com)?

The answer is that time will tell to see which strategy will be adopted by other podcasters (or perhaps there will be NEWER strategies that will be implemented — and how successful they will be). I will be anticipating for that. And I also plan to report on the strategy from Evo and my opinion of the deliverables that will be sent to myself and others in this new “coffee-premium” audience.

So, if you wish to join a “coffee-premium” program, then you may want to listen to the podcast show PodcastPontifications.com with Evo Terra and decide if you want to join. Or you may listen to other shows on the noagendastream that are implementing a “value-for-value” strategy to see if you may want to go that route — or you may want to plan out, contemplate about, and START YOUR OWN VALUE-BASED premium program.

We hope that you will become successful in whichever way you decide to monetize your show and deliver even more VALUE to your audience for your own show’s success.

Thank you for your attention.

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

Categories
podcast

539- How podfaded show episodes can help your podcasts

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

In this episode of The Podcast Reporter, we discuss the theme posted by Evo Terra recently in his podcast show, Podcast Pontifications. It dealt with the suggestions of podfaded shows — and the benefits you can derive by re-posting content to see what automatic activity occurs when you monitor the results.

In addition to this, he also mentioned that you can revitalize your podcast or give the podfaded show new life to continue — or even to give you, the podcaster, the new energy and excitement and passion to start a new show and continue in the podosphere with the same or more enthusiasm you had when you first entered podcasting. As Evo states in his written transcript posted in his email newsletter about the episode:  “maybe you could use that podfaded show as a power source to drive traffic to another podcast….”

So I immediately thought about some of my podfaded shows. And, yes, I have re-posted some episodes from my previously podfaded shows in my current podcast shows. And although they may have needed a bit of editing to “touch up” the content and make it more relevant for the present, they did provide a great platform for generating great content.

One such example concerns another podcast show that I have called 2030Podcast.com. Yes, this is a show that I tried to start in 2014 and 2015, right after my initial interview with the “Podfather” himself,  Adam Curry of the No Agenda Show, in which we discussed how I was launching this new show to deal with the prognostications for the year 2030. Unfortunately, the show was delayed and was not published until later — until 2018. At that time, I continued the show, and later I added a co-host (Matt Cox, podcaster of Brunch with the Brits) to include in the ideas and discussion of the content for 2030 ideas. And so far, the show has been great to meet our own criteria for what we consider “success.”

And so I used that interview as the initial episode for the 2030 Podcast show, even though it was several years old:

 

Thus, I do consider myself to be a case-in-point of how podfaded episodes can be used to give new life and breathe a new set of passion to strengthen your podcast shows.

But I have also other examples of including podfaded episodes from podfaded shows to build and revitalize other podcast shows. For example, I had a podfaded show several years ago called The Struggling Entrepreneur. Well, I used some episodes from this podfaded show when I created another show called The Struggling Biz. And this has helped tremendously in gaining popularity and growing my audience to this day.

So we hope that you, too, as a podcaster, can find ways to use podfaded content to help boost your enthusiasm, passion and success in your podcasting. We wish you the best of luck, for whatever purpose you have, and we hope that your results exceed your expectations.

Thank you for your attention.

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

Categories
Uncategorized

504- Podcasting future for me is NOT clubhouse

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

In this episode of The Podcast Reporter, we discuss a recent episode from Evo Terra of his PodcastPontifications.com show, in which he talks about his answers to five key questions that he is receiving about the new social audio enviroment, Clubhouse, for which the title of the post and episode is “Is Clubhouse the future of podcasting?”

Now, after knowing Evo Terra since I personally met him in 2007 at the 4th Podcamp session in Phoenix (in which he did attend my session on monetization of podcasts at that conference), I have tremendous respect for him, his businesses, his love of podcasting and his “disruptiveness.” And I have interviewed him several times in the past in a prior podcast show called The Struggling Entrepreneur (which has podfaded). So he has been a lighthouse for me in the podosphere since then.

And the five questions he answers are the ones which he has been receiving since January 1, 2021, when he installed and ran Clubhouse. And he makes sure that you understand that this is NOT video, but rather ONLY AUDIO in the environment of new and modern media.

Now, my opinion of this new entrant into the audio-sphere that is pure live-conversations with a “moderator” is purely from others’ descriptions and opinions of it (like Evo). Social audio, yes. But for myself, NO. I have seen the deterioration of social media to the point where “moderators” can deplatform those who do not share their ideologies (e.g., the face-bag or facebook deplatforming and shadow-banning any conservative voices, as well as twitter and google, etc.).

The five questions answered in this 10-minute episode by Evo are:

  • Is the future of podcasting Clubhouse? (Evo says “no”  — but the real question is that Clubhouse will be a part of podcasting’s future;
  • Is it a distribution channel for audio? (reply: it is not designed for that, as it is real-time)
  • Will Clubhouse kill Podcasting?  (reply: no — and Evo gives several examples in the past about other media introductions)
  • Should podcasters invest time in this new environment? (reply: probably not, as history proves that the new ideas may not be as successful as you may imagine)
  • How should podcasters use Clubhouse?

Now, with the details about this new environment are contained with his answers in this almost 10-minute episode. I do suggest that you listen to it, as he has impressed me with straight answers and not going for the “shiny new object” that catches everyone’s attention, even to go forward (remember “blab”?).

Thus, if you wish to try it, you can go to the site for this tool and you can get an invitation to it and try it out yourself.

As a podcaster, I do NOT wish to spend all my time in a real-time “party line” of podcasters who may end up being moderators to promote their social justice warrior themes and begin to ban and deplatform and prevent any discussion or promotion of ideas or themes for which you, the podcaster, may have a passion. To tell you the truth, I am sick and tired of the “karens” and the SJW themes that only will shout-you-down with their rhetoric and inability to carry on a conversation, because they are only promoting their agendas and cannot tolerate any logical thinking or discussion that does not agree with their own ideologies.

For myself, I will keep podcasting, and I will NOT be clubhous-ing, because I feel that this, too, may have a short life (like blab and others).

However, your opinion and your experiences may determine if you want to try it and possibly keep it going. Remember, your mileage may differ, especially if it does go the way of blab.

Thank you for your attention.

Copyright (c) 2021, Matrix Solutions Corporation and Evo Terra at podcastpontifications. All rights reserved.

Categories
podcast

475- Strategies for purposely taking very long breaks from Podcasting — but not emergencies

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

In this episode of The Podcast Reporter, we discuss some strategies that are in place by other podcasters to take some extensively long breaks from podcasting — but not for emergencies.

As you will hear in this podcast episode, we refer to a case in point from Evo Terra’s podcast show, PodcastPontifcations.com. In the last episode for 2020 (i.e., released October 29), Evo mentions that he will take a break until January of the next year.

However, he does give a strategy for keeping the listeners and subscribers to his show engaged. We recommend that you listen to this episode by Evo Terra of nearly 9 minutes for his description of his strategy and how it has worked for him.

This is different than just reacting to an emergency family or medical situation (such as I had to do in 2016 — and I mention this in the audio of this episode). This is a PLANNED absence, with part of the plan containing the strategy for keeping the audience engaged and having related or like-minded content being delivered from other podcasters (so that the audience still receives the VALUE from the podcast show).

We recommend that you listen to this podcast episode from Evo Terra and also from PodcastReporter.com in entirety and hope that you get some good gems from it. You may possibly get some ideas on how something like this can help you in your business or in getting to re-energize your batteries.

In the meantime, we thank you for your attention.

Copyright (c) 2020, Matrix Solutions Corporation and Evo Terra with PodcastPontifications.com. All rights reserved.

Categories
podcast

457- Less important parts in Podcasting can be important — Evo Terra

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

In this episode of The Podcast Reporter, we discuss the recent post and podcast episode from Evo Terra of the Podcast Pontifications show that dealt with the topic of “The importance of the Unimportant Parts of podcasting.”

Now, this theme seems to be standard from Evo Terra, who considers himself to be a DISRUPTER in the world of tech and in podcasting and new media. And since I have been a fan of his topics — be they controversial or not — since 2007 when I first met him in a Podcamp event, I decided to explore what he meant and see if perhaps my own podcast shows are considering some aspects as unimportant or irrelevant when they perhaps could bear some importance.

So, as I explored this post and podcast episode, I found that he delivers some key issues to the question of podcasting success — especially if the extremes can be possible burnout from critical tactics and tasks in crisis mode versus the other extreme of lots of time off and having too much down-time. As Evo states, many podcasters have been in “crisis mode” in podcasting — including current podcasters who want to grow and become more efficient in the workflow and results of podcasting.

The sections of the post and podcast episode that Evo presents are:

  • Evo describes his idea of “…Podcast/Life Balance like an actual thing” when he disputes that idea;
  • Evo then describes what he considers “The Middle life of a Happy Podcaster and …The trick is finding that healthy middle ground for us”
  • And Evo states a great problem for most podcasters who have podcast ambitions:  “Finding the middle ground is probably hard for you as well, because you’re getting slammed on all sides with ideas on increasing the productivity of your podcasting efforts, ways to grow your podcast even bigger, and dozens of articles on ways to podcast better that you simply don’t have the time to read past the title.”
  • Evo finally uses the example of a lamp and his like or dislike of it to find someplace in the middle ground as a DISTRACTION, which then can be healthy:  “The perspective I gain by having this “focused distraction” is far too valuable to be without.”

Now, for this podcaster, I agree with Evo in that you have to find a “middle ground” area of either workaholic burnout or inactivity to keep yourself creative and active and successful in the podosphere. As stated by Todd Henry in the podcast series The Accidental Creative, you have to find ways to become a producer who can be “excellent in content results, as well as prolific and healthy.” I can say this as a past workaholic who ran into burnout on two occasions — especially when the business of entrepreneurship and podcasting were in conflict with both family and medical critical conditions that demanded time off.

As Evo uses the example of a lamp in his quest for the middle ground, I hope that you, as a podcaster, will be able to identify your own middle ground and then temper your ambitions and creativity in podcasting with the things that may seem unimportant in your life now, but could become important on second thought of your introspection. And if you do, I wish for you the best to deliver the best work in podcasting, while you keep on being prolific and healthy while executing your podcasting in the “middle ground” for yourself.

Thank you for your attention.

Copyright (c) 2020, Matrix Solutions Corporation and Evo Terra of PodcastPontifications.com. All rights reserved.

Categories
podcast

446- Case study review — how Evo Terra creates his podcast

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

In this episode of The Podcast Reporter, we discuss the recent article in the podnews.net newsletter that reviews how Evo Terra creates and produces his podcast show of PodcastPontifications.com.

For any podcaster that has known Evo, this would seem like a very interesting story. As I have known Evo since 2007 when I met him in person at a Podcamp conference in Arizona, I considered this of great value. For he has been a master podcaster, as well as an author who wrote several of the first books on podcasting in 2005 and 2007 (i.e., Podcasting for Dummies and Expert podcasting practices for Dummies).

Why this article in the podnews.net newsletter? Well, I guess that Evo got tired of people asking him why he spends 3.5 hours per episode and 4 episodes per week for almost 350 episodes to do his show — and that begs the question of the description of his workflow. So I guess he decided to publish the answer and point people to the article as a reply.

Very much like the situation with Dave Jackson of the School of Podcasting show, Dave constantly had to explain and answer the question of how someone can make money from podcasting. And so what did Dave do? He wrote a book, More Podcast Money (which is being updated with a new book, Profit from Your Podcast). And now, Dave can point to the book as a detailed reply once and for all.

Now, for aspiring or new podcasters who may ask Evo the same question (possibly in a webinar or a conference or a presentation), this article from Evo presents itself as a CASE STUDY.

In it, Evo describes the following details of his planning, his equipment, his recording, his production, his publishing — and then he goes into the details of WHY he takes so long (21 times the length of each episode) for final production:

  • Sound Conditioning:  these details describe how his environment for recording is prepared for recording;
  • Microphone: Shure SM7B mounted on a VIVO swingarm-mount. 
  • Audio Interface: Zoom H6, a portable recorder that has a lot of features and functions for recording either in a studio setting or the outdoors;
  • Computer: Mac Mini, which is my dedicated studio computer. 
  • Digital Audio Workstation or DAW:
  • Camera:  None, as his show of Podcast Pontifications is not a video podcast. But yes, there is a video version. 
  • Media Hosting Company: Captivate.fm, of which I sit on the Advisory Board. (Disclosure – so does Podnews’s Editor).
  • Website: PodcastPontifications.com is managed via and hosted by Webfow, 
  • Other Software: as described.
  • Pre-production:  And he delivers a bulleted list in this case study of what a typical schedule is like for him in the preparation and production tasks.
  • Creating a title and finalizing imagery;
  • Creating the “script” for the show
  • Production and live streaming: recording and creating the mp3 file;
  • Exporting the mp3 file to Descript for a full transcription.
  • The Writing and written editing: post-production
  • Publishing & Distribution: this can include scheduling and publishing the video and posting it to appropriate sites and web pages, as well as finalizing the ID3 tags.
  • Final syndication.

Now, all the details are not given here in the show notes or podcast episode — they are in the podnews.net article. I strongly recommend that ALL podcasters consume this article, so that they can see how a real  pro podcaster (i.e., one who wrote the book on podcasting) actually describes his workflow and tasks in the planning, production and publishing of his episodes.

I feel that we can ALL learn something from the old masters (of which I consider Evo one). And some of us may want to compare our own workflow and tasks to see if we need to improve our show with either additional plug-ins, software, or other tasks.

In any case, I feel that any podcaster worth his salt will get enjoyment out of Evo’s article — especially since his sense of humor and his element of “disruption” come out loud and clear in his writing. Please enjoy.

Thank you for your attention.

Copyright (c) 2020, Matrix Solutions Corporation and Evo Terra of PodcastPontifications.com and podnews.com. All rights reserved.

 

Categories
podcast

441- Podcast Entrepreneur value and work — bad money or good money

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

In this episode of The Podcast Reporter, we focus on the theme from a recent podcast episode from Evo Terra in Podcast Pontifications show. This theme dealt with the “value equation” vs. opportunity investment in deciding whether to go after and/or accept the business from a client for podcasting services or consultation, etc. In fact, you could even extend that to offering from your web site or business some type of product, service, offering, offer or other type of deliverable to a client for money or other type of value (i.e., barter, quid pro quo, exchange, joint venture, etc.).

Evo goes on to examine the value of “good money” vs. “bad money.” The latter is considered to be compensation from a client that is NOT desirable for you as an entrepreneur or podcaster, because of either moral or ethical views — or perhaps you just don’t like the individual or people or the job itself (that is, you may not enjoy or you may hate doing this type of work and wish it to be over). In fact, the bad money may make your life miserable and may leave a sour taste in your mouth — but because of the financial situation that you have (especially during the plan-demic virus crisis), you may have to accept this type of job or work out of financial necessity.

Now, I myself have had a great deal of “good money.” But I have also had myself a share of “bad money.” And it was not until I got “smart” and decided to place a VALUE into the equation of entrepreneur and podcasting work that I finally realized the difference between that type of work that I DID NOT LIKE TO DO vs. the type of work that I DID NOT WANT TO DO, and thus, REFUSED TO DO.

When you, as a podcast consultant or solutions provider, begin to loathe what you are creating and what you are doing, you can easily fall into the “monkey’s trap” of being stuck doing something you either do not enjoy or cannot see a good future for yourself (in spite of the financial returns). This is a sign that you are chasing after — and accepting — deals that bring with them “bad money.”

Now, in the podcast episode from Evo Terra, not only is this “value equation” described, but he also gives you food for thought about providing your skills to those clients (or potential clients from your online services, products, offerings or offers), but also whether you are in a position to DECLINE the “bad money” and thus set your course for your future to accept less in remuneration, but receive the “good money” that can make your work more valuable to others and your life to have more value to yourself, as well.

We recommend that you consume this episode (either in audio or from the transcript that he provides from his newsletter email), especially the sections that are titled:

  • “The wrong clients eventually bring bad money; and
  • The right clients may never have good money.; and
  • Unexpected clients with unexpected money come from unexpected directions.”

Since this decision is your own judgment call as an entrepreneur and podcaster, it is critical from your self-examination that you can differentiate very clearly the “things you won’t ever want to do vs. the things you don’t want to do forever.”

The latter presents us with a case study of Douglas E. Welch of the podcast show Career Opportunities, who was one of the first podcasters (and whose story we have discussed in prior episodes of this show). He was a computer and local area network consultant, as well as a podcaster and author and writer and blogger. As he stated to me several times, he realized that he should quit wiring cables on his knees and underneath desks for a living and go into the soft skills of New Media content creation, writing, podcasting, blogging, screencasting and video (and gardening) instead. His bodily pain from years of putting “his knees in the breeze” (so to speak) forced him to take a different approach to his livelihood (although perhaps at a lower income level) and reach out for his own “good money.”

So, we recommend that you consume this episode from Evo Terra and then do some self-reflection in your periodic planning to see if your entrepreneurship and podcasting is delivering “good money” now and future “good money” — or if it will imprison you in the jail of “bad money” and dissatisfaction, with the end of the road being a miserable livelihood. As Evo explains in his post and episode, the old quadrant expressed by Steven Covey in The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People can be a good analytical tool to ensure that you can be in the quadrant of “Important but not urgent” instead of letting the tyranny of the urgent drive your actions and run your life. You may want to check out the description and benefits resulting from a view of the quadrant.

So we hope that you can benefit from the discussion of the bad vs. good moneys, and that you can plan your satisfying livelihood as an entrepreneur and podcaster by placing yourself in the quadrant of the “important, but not urgent” status as you steer your business toward being successful.

Thank you for your attention.

Copyright (c) 2020, Matrix Solutions Corporation and Evo Terra and Steven Covey. All rights reserved.

Categories
podcast

432- Getting sponsors for Podcasting

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

In this episode of The Podcast Reporter, we review some suggestions delivered by several well-known podcasters on the theme of acquiring sponsors for your podcast. These suggestions were delivered in a July, 2020, post specified in email delivered to a distributiion list that was titled “4 Industry Experts On How to Get Podcast Sponsors.” And it was published by Captivate.com. From M. Asquith, “Captivate is a Rebel Base Media platform, made with  in the U.K.”

The four experts cited are:

This article was quite long in its explanation. But for me, hearing from both Evo Terra and Daniel J Lewis interested me. Not only are they long-time associates of mine and podcasters whom I have interviewed over the past 15 years, but their sincerity and their expertise is always acclaimed by myself in promoting them forward.

In fact, sponsorship is a theme for monetization for which they have been dealing and in which they have much experience. But I feel that they left out a key expert in this field from the Blubrry network, namely Todd Cochrane of the New Media Show podcast.

So this article answers the key question of  “How do you get Podcast Sponsors for your show?” as presented to these four individuals.

And so here is a brief list of their responses (and there are a few paragraphs to explain each response):

1. Do… Think About If Podcast Sponsorship Is Right For You
2. Don’t… Forget About Your Listeners
3. Do… Use Social Proof
4. Don’t… Be Afraid To Ask!
5. Do… Prepare Your Podcast Sponsorship Pitch
[Note:  according to the author, this may sound easy, and he says it actually is — with the following items being addressed in his “sponsor kit” — and his final message:
6. Putting It All Together: How to Find
Podcast Sponsors:
“Getting there is simple: keep it relevant, keep it entertaining, and most of all:
be confident that your podcast and audience is valuable.”

Now, Mark Asquith has been a relevant speaker at the Podcast Movement conferences and different events — and I myself saw his presentation at the last inbound Podcast Movement 2020 Evolutions conference. He has had success in gaining notoriety.

And so, from some of the top experts with experience in the field of sponsorship, I would suggest that you consume the content of this post. And if your marketing and sales plans for your business contain the element of sponsorship for monetizing your podcasts, then this may be a gem waiting for your to create elements in your checklist for marketing tactics. And we hope that this will help your podcast become more successful.

Thank you for your attention.

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