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458- Serendipity in Podcasting can help in growing your show

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In this episode of The Podcast Reporter, we discuss a case study in which a podcast show can gain discovery and popularity within a podcast network — and how serendipity can occur to help grow the podcast show to possible success. And this is with a current podcast show called 2030podcast.com . This is a show that has two co-hosts — and I am one of them, along with Matt Cox, a podcaster of his own show, Brunch with the Brits.

First, we review a bit of the background of this show.

In 2014, I myself had a meeting with Adam Curry (aka The Podfather) in Austin, Texas. The meeting saw us actually do 3 interviews and have a lunch while discussed various topics in motion pictures (e.g., For Greater Glory and We Were Soldiers, etc.) and podcasting. And one of the interviews that I was able to record with him was concerning the theme of a podcast show that I had recently created and announced — the 2030podcast.com show. While Adam Curry initially gave me the idea for this show on his No Agenda podcast show, he was glad that I was able to take action to produce this show — and our interview served as the first episode of this show. called 2030podcast.com.

While I tried to get the podcast show off the ground, family and personal medical problems (along with the dementia and death of my mother) kept me out of podcasting. But later on, I resurrected the podcast show, and then I included a co-host named Matt Cox (a podcaster from his own podcast show of Brunch with the Brits) to share the mic with me in creating our thoughts on what would be our vision of the world of 2030 — including many of the ideas discussed by Adam Curry and myself in the 2014 interview.

The Current status of 2030podcast.com

As Matt Cox and myself created and published our episodes starting in October of 2018, our teamwork, dialog, banter and reciprocal respect increased — and, in my opinion, so did the value of our content for the intended audience (which were the producers of the No Agenda podcast show, along with the listeners of the Grumpy Old Bens show and the Randumb Thoughts podcast).

And so it was around episode # 14 in 2020 that I was able to hear that particular episode of 2030Podcast.com being broadcast on the NoAgendaStream.com.  Now, neither myself nor Matt Cox had been actively seeking promotion for our show. But someone who valued our content was able to promote our show and have it actually be published and broadcast on the stream. In fact, in one episode of the No Agenda show (# 1276) during the live broadcast, the ending of the episode has Adam Curry state that what would follow next on the stream would be the 2030 Podcast episode. And it did, in entirety.

Now, what could I have thought about this?

Serendipity? Yes, insofar as how Charlton Heston described it as a random act of positive activity that delivers fortunate results. Or, as the wikipedia definition states:  “…a happy accident…Serendipity is an unplanned fortunate discovery.”

And so what can serendipity mean for the podcaster?

Well, if you encounter serendipity in your podcasting career or show or business, you may end up with a happy accident — one that you were NOT pursuing, but that landed “in your lap” to cause a fortunate result for you and your show.

For myself and Matt, this means that we can grow our listeners, our audience and our show by being on a network (a stream) of engaged listeners that can only help us to increase the VALUE of our show to them.

For you, as a podcaster, we recommend that you, too, can be available for events and activities that can deliver serendipity to you by creating the best content that you have and being the best, consistent and value-based podcaster that you can be.

How can this be a preparation for serendipity?

Well, the final example cited here is from an introduction to the movie Day of the Jackal by the late Robert Osborne from his TCM channel. This situation had Fred Zinnemann (the director of the film) see a play (which he said was not very good) with an actor named Edward Fox, who delivered a performance which really impresssed Zinnemann. And thus, Fox was cast as the lead role. And the reason:  a performer should always deliver his best, “because you never know who is watching.”

And, thus, a podcaster can never know who is listening — and which results may occur from the “performance” of delivering great value in the podcast show. So we hope that you can receive serendipity in your environment to have your show succeed.

Thank you for your attention.

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

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podcast

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

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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.

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456- Refreshing your Podcast Brand

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In this episode of The Podcast Reporter, we discuss a recent post by author, content creator and thought leader, Chris Brogan titled “Thoughts on refreshing a brand.” This post was sent to the distribution list for Chris Brogan’s followers, and it takes into account the nearly 20 years of experience that Chris has had in the space for content creators and authors — and for 15 years in the podosphere.

Thoughts on Refreshing a Brand

Over time, we’ve narrowed the concept down to 3-4 products total, and 3 total ways to buy.

The offerings:

  • Courses
  • Webinars
  • Group coaching
  • Private coaching

The way to buy:

  • Insider – subscription service everything (but the private coaching)
  • Unlimited – subscription service to the webinars only
  • Purchase – ownership of specific content, non subscription

And the pricing is “insanely affordable” (and he gives some examples of each).

But Chris felt the need to refresh the brand. In looking at his firm, Owner Media Group and its offerings, he realized that he had to polish up the offerings and look better for 2020 and beyond.

Thoughts on Refreshing a Brand

Chris then elaborates on the elements required to refresh a BRAND. They include:

  • Simplify
  • Clarify
  • Visuals
  • A Show – Not only does he discuss the Backpack Show , but he hints at the Modern Business Show as a media portion of what he will do at Owner.
  • More Touch (including the aspect of making the offerings easy to consume);
  • Better Outreach.
  • Anchoring

What is required for Chris is something “so that the brand feels new again, useful, pertinent, and valuable to you.” In this way, he feels that a business — or a podcast — can be REFRESHED.

Thank you for your attention.

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

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476- BONUS- Noise removal suggestions in Podcasting

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In this episode of the Podcast Reporter, we discuss a post from the recent buzzsrpout.com blog that delivers suggestions, tips and also screen capture images on how to reduce noise using the Audacity application. This is mainly done using the Noise Removal feature in the program — and this article probably has value for new and aspiring podcasters (as the older veterans of podcasting have already used this feature and have either standardized on it or have chosen other means to include in their workflow).

Now, for this podcaster, I was first alerted to this feature of Audacity in 2005-2006 by Paul Colligan in his earlier podcast show, Podcast Tools (now podfaded). And I have used this feature for reducing the noise level in my episodes — as it seems good enough for me. And even with the help of tutorials from Steve Stewart about Audacity, the removal or diminishing of noise can be done even better, the neophyte podcaster can find value in reducing the amount of noise in the raw capture of a wav file before exporting it to mp3 format for the final episode. In fact, I myself found great value in the tutorial by Steve to sharpen the skills delivered to me over the internet from someone who is a professional audio editor.

 

Now, this recent blog post in buzzsprout.com/blog gives a summary of the tips for removing background noise in your recording, along with a 4 minute-20-second video:

  • First, the items covered are the standard “preventions” in creating unnecessary background noise;
    • optimize your recording space;
    • turn down the gain on your mic;
    • use a dynamic mic;
    • minimize computer fan noise.
  • Then once the “preventative” measures are taken, then the three steps are promoted to remove the noise in the Audacity feature called “Noise Removal”:
    • Get a noise sample
    • Apply noise reduction; and
    • Tweak the settings by adjusting certain levels; then
    • Use the PREVIEW button to test the noise quality resulting from the tweaks.
  • You are also given some further thoughts and resources to give you more information and suggestions about noise quality and improvement of your audio.

We hope that these suggestions can be of value to the new and aspiring podcaster, so that the quality of the audio can be greatly improved — thus allowing your listeners to enjoy a good level of sound as they listen to your message and hear the VALUE of your episode and message of your podcast show.

Thank you for your attention.

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

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454- Quantifying money to be made by podcasting

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In this episode of The Podcast Reporter, we discuss the topic of how much money you can make by podcasting.

As you will hear in this audio episode, the theme was taken from a recent episode and post from buzzsprout.com/blog.

Ideas for adding additional streams for generating revenue are delivered. In addition, this specific podcast series, PodcastReporter.com, has also described (in earlier episodes) different methods of creating revenue streams from your podcasting within your business.

One aspect that demands attention in this audio episode is that downloads are not the only indication of success for generating revenue. In fact, there are many ways to make money — and they are given in the recently published book from Dave Jackson of The School of Podcasting called “Profit from your Podcast.”

We hope that you can be successful in monetizing podcasts and go toward delivering value to your listeners, so that you can also join the club of 6-figure professional podcasters.

Thank you for your attention.

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

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453- Growing podcast show by narrowing podcast niche

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In this episode of The Podcast Reporter, we discuss the ideas that are presented in a recent episode of Ben Krueger’s podcast show called CashFlowPodcasting.com. The title of the episode and post is called “Narrow your niche to grow your audience.”

The guest which is interviewed by Ben is Dan Faggella. And some of the key points made in this interview for the podcaster seem to be the following:

  • Starting your podcast show with the focus you originally had is the right way to go;
  • However, at a later time, you may need to NARROW YOUR NICHE of the focus and subject matter of your show;
  • You can hone in on a more specific and TARGETED AUDIENCE by steering your show toward the focus of a more NARROW NICHE;
  • Surveys can be used to connect with your new audience members in a narrower niche, and that communication should be frequent;
  • Redoing the name of the show and the artwork may be required to make the transition and focus of the newly targeted show;
  • This rebranding may result in positive benefits for the podcaster.

And then Dan Faggella reiterates the results of narrowing the niche. As he states: “Getting more specific after building an audience has grown Dan’s reach rather than restricted it. By honing his attention on there topics that his most consistent listeners were interested in, he’s grown a dedicated and interactive group of listeners. Dan’s strategy might be just what you need to boost the value you’re providing to your audience!”

Ben Krueger

For this podcaster, the issue of rebranding is a very serious topic and theme that can tie up many resources of your business — including capital, time, effort, money and your current audience (especially if your audience consists of loyal fans). I, myself, have thought about sacrificing in the past my flagship podcast (at the time, it was The Struggling Entrepreneur, which is now podfaded), but I gave up this concept of making such a change to steering the focus of the podcast. Instead, I myself started another podcast show to take care of what would be a narrower niche for my listeners. A key example of this was my starting a podcast show within the last 10 years called Boomers for Startups (which, as you can imagine, has also podfaded before it reached its 70th episode).

Now, for myself, this was the best move. Why? Because the narrower niche audience of targeting baby-boomers as potential entrepreneurs did not last long. It would have been a negative impact and disastrous result for my flagship podcast called The Struggling Entrepreneur (which did have another 150 episodes for the next several years, with great audience growth until the subject matter had been exhausted).

So, if you are tempted to rebrand your current podcast show that is growing successfully at a slower pace than you would like, I would suggest that one other strategy you should look at and plan for is that of STARTING ANOTHER PODCAST SHOW with the focus on the targeted new audience in a much narrower niche. This can be a litmus test for you to see what results you would have — and the work for either would be almost the same (that is, the creation and publication and monitoring of a new podcast show versus the rebranding to a narrower focus of your flagship podcast show).

Now, at the end of this podcast episode by Ben Krueger, he offers a free 27-step checklist for planning, creating and launching a “highly effective podcast.”

Whichever method you may desire to implement if you want to focus on a narrower niche, I wish for you the best results in growing your show with the impact being positive for you and your business and your podcast show.

Thank you for your attention.

Copyright (c) 2020, Matrix Solutions Corporation and Ben Krueger of cashflowpodcasting.com. All rights reserved.

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podcast

451A- BONUS – First look at the bonus resource from Dave Jackson

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In this episode of the Podcast Reporter, we take a first look into the bonus deliverable that was sent to those who purchased a book from Dave Jackson called Profit from Your Podcast.

 As you may well know, I did purchase the book from Dave Jackson, and I recently received an email from him which thanked me for my purchase of his book, along with a link and instructions for reaching the bonus content which he specified in his book.

I decided to sign up for the bonus content and I went to the link and became a member of his bonus area. After logging on, I did a quick recon of the site and what Dave had deliveed.

It seemed to me that he was using a template for a mastermind group. It was also called “More podcast money” in some spots later in the site. Now, this More Podcast Money was the name of his previous book (which this one obviously updated), and he had a free podcast with the same name that originally dealt with monetizing your podcast.

So I went through and gave my own opinion of the site and what it could propose to podcasters (and I did this in a very informal “stream of consciousness” method — right, nothing sophisticated or professionally planned).

So, in this audio episode, after my walk-through, I do give a final perspective from only my viewpoint of the book and the value it could provide to new podcasters, aspiring podcasters, or veteran podcasters.

My own final perspective was that this book could be a good resource for both aspiring podcasters and new podcasters. But myself, as a veteran podcaster, would be reluctant to see the value of the site until more participation and sharing occurs. As was stated in the audio episode, Paul Colligan (at  paulcolligan.com ) once tried to start Podcaster Space (on the heels of the 2006 MySpace.com craze), but it also required group participation — and so, I found myself to be the only one for a while in the site. And because of the lack of participation from others, the site failed.

And so, I, a veteran podcaster, will come back and see if the participation does exist, and then I can see if there is value in the content or not.

In the meantime, I thank Dave for going the extra mile to create this site (like a mastermind group site) and encourage those podcasters who want to become profitable in monetization to use it and participate.

With my gratitude to Dave Jackson, my old consultant from 2006, I thank him.

And so, for this podcaster, I would like to thank you for your attention.

Copyright (c), Matrix Solutions Corporation and Dave Jackson and Profit from your Podcast. All rights reserved.

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451- Podcast Media Kit — what it should have

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In this episode of The Podcast Reporter, we review a recent post from thepodcasthost.com titled “How to make a Podcast Media Kit:  Make a media kit to engage listeners, reviewers and sponsors, using some basic journalism concepts!”

Now, for this podcaster, I have been involved with the creation of my own podcast media kit since 2006. I created a very simple one and brought it to the Podcast and Portable Media Expo in Ontario, California, for the conference where media kits were very new to the Podosphere and very few podcasters had them. In fact, the only podcaster who recognized my package as a media kit was Jason Van Orden of Impact podcast (in those days, his podcast was The Podcasting Underground).

I also created various press kits (as they were also called) and media kits in 2007, 2008, 2013, 2014 and 2015. The last one had a CD and fact sheets and press releases and album art and also some written pages for the New Media Expo (when I was announcing a product and another podcast show).

As you will hear in this audio episode, I step you through the sections of the media kit, as explained in the article:

  • the WHO
  • the What,
  • the Where,
  • the Why,
  • the When, and
  • the How

of your podcast.

I also give my own experience in having PRESS RELEASES created and included in the media kit — this critical so that the news outlets also know when you are launching your show or when it was available and some words of positive review. Included would be both hardcopy and softcopy of any positive podcast reviews of your episodes — as this would be a favorable mention that would catch your individual’s eyes.

So, we strongly encourage you to consume the article and check to see if your strategy incudes a media kit. I would strongly suggest both a hardcopy folder with all the hardcopy contents and CD and USB thumb drive with the softcopy elements. And remember, if the individual does not wish to accept the hardcopy folder, then the USB drive with the contents is a great alternative.

And most importantly, you should plan and schedule to follow up with the key individual so that you can get feedback on the content of your media kit — this should then deliver to you an honest review of your kit and the effect that it could have on the intended audience. We hope that this is great and positive, and that it can be one tactic that can help to make your podcast a success.

Thank you for your attention.

Copyright (c) 2020, Matrix Solutions Corporation and thepodcasthost.com and Lindsay Harris Friel. All rights reserved.

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450- Podcasting criteria for conferences — still valid for 2021

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In this episode of The Podcast Reporter, we repost and repurpose an episode (which was #104 of this series) that deals with the criteria that a podcaster would contemplate for attending or participating in a mega-conference for podcasters (e.g., Podcast Movement in 2021 in Nashville, etc.). And for this, I have some background information on other mega conferences in the past — namely, CES (Consumer Electronics Show), NMX (New Media Expo) and NAB (National Association of Broadcasters) from the years of 2015 to 2020.

I feel that this can be a good review and re-energization stimulus for those podcasters who have grown weary of the “cabin fever” syndrome of the plan-demic of 2020 with the mandatory stay-at-home orders from the governors of states and cities, etc. In other words, the podcasters may be ready to travel to a mega conference so that they can:

  • Socialize with other podcasters absent in the year 2020 in person;
  • Education and training from different tracks in the mega conferences;
  • Receive value from “how-to” sessions and speakers and panelists from the mega conferences for the subjects that can provide value to the podcaster;
  • See any type of podcast awards ceremonies (e.g., Podcast Peoples’ Awards ceremony, or the Hall of Fame awards, etc.);
  • Meeting and mingling with key podcast celebrities (e.g., possibly meeting Adam Curry, Dave Jackson, Daniel J Lewis, Ray Ortega, Gary Leland, Rob Walch, Rob Greenlee, Todd Cochrane, etc.); and
  • Select which presentations, panels, pitches, speakers, etc., would provide value to your objectives for attending the conference;
  • Prepare either a presentation or panel or demonstration at the exhibit hall; or
  • Prepare a live podcast episode recording at the “Podcast Pavilion” that would be available at the mega conference with a key podcaster with whom you have agreement to create recorded content; and
  • Demonstrate at the exhibit hall or the Podcast Pavilion your subject matter expertise, or your offer, offering, product or consulting services or other services;
  • Promote and sell your services, offers, offerings, products, etc., at the show to prospects that are attendees; and
  • Attend live sessions that will be recorded for the virtual ticket — but attend and be able to ASK QUESTIONS of the speakers, developers, presenters and panelists;
  • Note the sessions which you could not attend in person, but be ready to consume that same session in the following virtual ticket after the mega-conference. and finally
  • Many other activities which you can perform in person at such a mega-conference.

So, although this episode may be dated for some older podcasters, it still has plenty of evergreen content for the newer or aspiring podcasters that will resume the podcasting mega-conference possible attendance. For here, you have several key ROI criteria, as well as the value you can receive from these examples in this episode.

So, we hope that in 2021, the resumption of in-person mega conferences (like Podcast Movement in Nashville in 2021) will provide the opportunity for podcasters to once again get value from an inbound business shows and conferences — especially since most of the podosphere has been “zoomed out” and “virtual-meetinged-out” with poor quality live streaming or recordings that they can consume from home during lockdowns.

So, we hope you enjoy this repurposed episode that still can provide a lot of evergreen content and examples for you, the podcaster, once the economy recovers from lockdown during this plan-demic of 2020. And if you do decide to attend one of these conferences, we wish you the best in preparing your objectives, attending the presentations or speaking as a presenter, attending the exhibit hall and seeing the latest products, offerings and offers from the demonstrators — and getting the VALUE and ROI from the live event.

Thank you for your attention.

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

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podcast

449- Advice on testing out a Podcast idea for success

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In this episode of The Podcast Reporter, we again discuss a post from Ben Krueger of cashflowpodcasting.com titled “HOW TO TEST YOUR PODCAST IDEA (BEFORE YOU INVEST IN IT).”

In this post, Ben delivers some ideas to consider if you wish to start a podcast that will have business success for you BEFORE you invest all the time, effort, trouble, money and “blood, sweat and tears” to create and publish it, and finally monitor it. And you can get the content of the post from Ben’s web site.

Now, in reading this post, you may see that there is a lot of planning, evaluating and testing that has to be done before you finalize your decision to begin the processes of starting and publishing a podcast show with an idea that you may have.

First, Ben discusses his perspective on which types of businesses will have a better chance of success with podcasts than others — and he gives you the reasons why and why not. He terms this with “best results” themes for success. He lists the different types of businesses that will have a better fit; and he even lists the types of businesses where podcasting may not be the best tool for success.

Next, Ben then gives strategies for testing out your idea before you podcast. For example, the overview of the steps are:

  • Record a sample episode;
  • Be a guest on someone else’s podcast;
  • Four detailed steps in pursuing this test; and
  • Moving forward with your podcast once you see that you passed the “test.”

And Ben even delivers sample scripts and templates that you, as a podcaster, can use to test out your idea with these steps. And these details do provide some good value for you.

Of course, Ben also promotes his book “How to create the perfect business podcast” at the end of the post. In this way, he delivers the overview of the test, and his  book from his web site is the offer that can assist you from his membership funnel.

As a podcaster that can see the value for new or aspiring podcasters to have such details and templates to help in the testing out of ideas, I would suggest that these deliverables will be very helpful in the process of PLANNING your podcast show. I would recommend viewing the content and using some of the template-based ideas in preparing the validation for your idea of the podcast show.

So, for whichever method you may choose to test out your idea in planning your podcast with the idea that you have, I sincerely hope that short-cuts like this suggested test may assist you in creating a show that will pass the litmus test and have the best results for making your show a success.

Thank you for your attention.

Copyright (c) 2020, Matrix Solutions Corporation and Ben Krueger of cashflowpodcasting.com. All rights reserved.