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podcast

472- Podcasting opportunity lost — a case study

In this episode of The Podcast Reporter, we discuss a case study (in which I was involved) that was a good potential for creating a needed podcast show, but was lost in the “muck and mire” of the podosphere in its early stages.

This involves the idea of a potential startup podcast that could support a growing audience of entrepreneurs — and it was called Niche-Net (TM) (i.e., The National Internet Community of Hispanic Entrepreneurs Network).

This all started in the year 1994 — over a decade before the podosphere emerged. I was in the midst of starting my own entrepreneur venture, and it was called Niche-Net. This community was supposed to help the Hispanic community get into the entrepreneurial ventures for their own small businesses. At the time, the web site and the offers and offerings and products were varied, and a small outreach only included building web sites for that targeted community.

However, as with many startups, the venture only lasted a few years and then was gone. But what was interesting is that it did not rise up again when I got into the podosphere and started podcasts.

At that latest time, in 2005 and 2006, I could have easily started a podcast that probably would have been very successful in that market with that type of audience. But I did not. And I now know that I did blow the opportunity for a potential success of a show, as well as the successful promotion of offers, offerings, products and services for that community — even to the point of creating a meetup group and membership site based on the podcast show, which would have been called the Niche-Net podcast show.

So my case study encompasses the following aspects for discussion:

  • when do you know a good idea can develop into something later on for “the next big thing”?
  • what should you do to keep the idea captured until the right time?
  • what kind of mental ideas and plans and visions can you document, so that later on they can be brought into fruition with the proper new media environment or business environment?

My opinion and suggestions for these questions are the following:

When you have the idea for this new media or business idea, you should document every aspect of your vision — either in a business plan, or a feasibility plan, or an outline or detailed plan (to the extreme of a project management work-breakdown-schedule).

This documented plan should then be placed in a suspense file (either hardcopy or electronic), where you review the plan every quarter of the year and check to see if there are any new technologies or developments in which the plan can be resurrected and be incorporated into a road for a successful podcast or venture. In my case study, the original Niche-Net idea was for internet web pages (which were relatively new services for entrepreneurs in 1994) — but in 2005, the idea could have been resurrected for creating a podcast show with other means of monetization waiting to be discovered and implemented in membership sites, offers, offerings, products, services, etc., from the podcast show and its episodes and advertising.

And finally, the more detailed a feasibility plan is, the better off you may be to convert the plan into a more complete layout for a podcast show, with individual episodes that can address advertising, monetization, audience growth and opportunities for creating revenue streams of various types (e.g., from donations, tip-jars, advertising, book deals, audio sales of episodes, DVD sales of complete seasons or shows, etc.). In fact, the two resources that come to my mind are the books from Dave Jackson of The School of Podcasting that started in 2010 and even today — the books of More Podcast Money and Profit from Your Podcast.

And, of course, there are many more ideas and opportunities for success (in many ways of defining “success” in addition to financial results) — including notoriety in the old “New and Noteworthy,” as well as speaking engagements, book deals, bloggingn, television and video shows and appearances, etc.


And so what are my lessons learned?

Well, I would suggest to start early and document your dreams. The better your details would determine the better your descriptions for making your dream into a reality once the environment appears to mold your original dream into a viable opportunity solution — especially for fame, notoriety, audience growth, acceptance or monetization.

With the documented dream in a suspense file, a review in the form of envisioning if your dream can fit into the new environment would be a benefit that can spark a new idea — and that new idea of a fit into the new market could spawn a unique or different way of improving the opportunity for a solution or another way of serving a new audience.

And then, from the review of the documented dream in your suspense file, you can then put together a plan for implementing the dream in terms of time, money, effort and possible returns (even with great feedback from trusted advisors — who may end up being your financial backers, supporters, investors, etc.). And if you have the resources to finance the dream yourself as a startup or as a podcast that can grow for a minimal investment, then you have the start to what could be a “dream come true” that will provide VALUE for your customers and listeners, as well as REWARDS for yourself in more than just financial ways.

This is a case study which I use now as a lesson learned — and it has created for me a BEST PRACTICES method of using creativity and matching it with opportunity and planning to have a possibility of going for success in podcasting and business. And who knows? If I had used my own practices stated here, then possibly the Niche-Net membership site and podcast environment might have been a very successful venture for myself at this time.

Thank you for your attention.

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

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podcast

454- Quantifying money to be made by podcasting

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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podcast

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

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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podcast

448- Why anyone would listen to your Podcast

In this episode of the Podcast Reporter, we discuss an article in medium.com by Denis Murphy called “Why would anyone listen to your podcast?”

Obviously, the main focus of the article is the value that your podcast episode can deliver to your listeners. For myself, the word “value” has such diverse meanings:

  • it can mean any emotional VALUE to the listener — e.g., happiness, joy, elation or sadness, tragedy, concern;
  • it can deliver entertainment VALUE to the listener — such as fictional or crime stories that are now popular;
  • it can deliver educational VALUE to the listener in the area of “how to” information or training (e.g., I myself delivered a six-month course of personal productivity in a premium audio podcast back in 2007-2008 that delivered skills in being able to do more in less time with better results while reducing stress);
  • it can deliver relaxation VALUE to the listener by just publishing either music or non-stressful content that can help one relax;
  • and many other types of VALUE.

Now, this article by Denis Murphy has the subtitle that states that it took him 115 episodes to realize why an audience member would listen to his show.

He starts off by stating the obvious — that the beginning of your show will be the toughest and the slowest for growing an audience of loyal listeners. As a matter of fact, he uses the term “slog” which can signify inertia in the development of your show to a set of growing fans. As he says: “You want an audience of dedicated listeners. You want to see messages of appreciation from some of them. You want to feel like you’re helping them come unstuck in the same way you came unstuck in your life.”

But then Denis reassures you that the “slog” won’t be forever, and that consistency in the production and publication of episodes that provide value to your audience will be the key to eventual decrease of the “slog” and the uptick of popularity, acceptance and finally subscription from fans to become loyal listeners.

In summary, he has these sections that highlight his thoughts:

  • Accept that you will suck;
  • Your job is to make listeners think;
  • Why do you, yourself, listen to your favorite podcasts?
  • As he states, your job is to make your audience FEEL and think:  Focus on making your audience think and feel.
    • Share your most helpful, raw and honest thoughts and opinions.
    • Genuinely take an interest in having a conversation with your guest.
    • Allow your personality to evolve with the podcast organically.

Do these things, and you will get to one hundred episodes and beyond. Do these things, and your podcast will become a vehicle for your personal growth.”


For this podcaster, consistency is one of the greatest skills and characteristics that your podcast can show. It gives you the symbol of being a prolific podcaster that is in it for the long term (i.e., not just a fly-by-night hobbyist that can get disappointed if you are not making six figures in monetization with thousands of downloads each episode within a few months).

But this also means that you have to create good content and deliver exceptional VALUE to your targeted audience (i.e., NOT everyone, but your niche audience that is waiting for your content that is directed to them and not the masses in general). It is this value that Adam Curry from the No Agenda show calls “an outstanding product” (in this case, PRODUCT is the content of your show) — and Adam has had success in both growing a loyal fan base, delighting producers (for he does not have “listeners” — everyone is a producer) and successfully monetizing his show for over a decade, and still growing.

And for myself, this means giving thoughtful attention to the VALUE of your content to your listeners. You can monitor this by surveys, opinions, reviews and feedback. You can also put together some strategies for monetization to see what VALUE will be in the minds of your listeners. And you can now refer to the updated book by Dave Jackson called Profit from your Podcast to see which strategy may work best for you to create revenue streams. One such strategy that has been successful for Adam Curry is the “value for value” model (which is also being used by the Grumpy Old Bens show). You may wish to listen to the episodes of No Agenda to find out more in detail about this.

So, whichever method you use to review your content and assure that REAL VALUE is there for your targeted audience, we hope that you can then plan your strategies for longevity and become the prolific podcaster that Denis Murphy describes. And we hope that you can grow your audience — and that perhaps it will not take over 115 episodes to finally understand this.

We wish you all the success to have the audience you desire in the shortest time with the value you provide from your great podcast show.

Thank you for your attention.

Copyright (c) 2020, Matrix Solutions Corporation and medium.com and Denis Murphy. All rights reserved.

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podcast

447- Strategies to help you when podcasting is no longer fun

In this episode of The Podcast Reporter, we revisit the topic of helping the podcaster get over any negative feelings that may creep up for podcasting when the passion and thrill is gone for you.

In this repurposed episode, we hope to give you tips and ideas to create strategies and help you to avoid the negative feelings that can result from the following:

  • Boredom,
  • burnout,
  • overwork,
  • lack of socialization with other podcasters,
  • lack of content (because you may have exhausted your content and cannot spawn new episodes from newer ideas), etc.
  • competition that has overtaken your show;
  • too much repetition in your workflow;
  • inability to participate in podcast meetups or podcamps or podcast conferences;
  • you feel attracted more to social media instead of podcasting;
  • you may feel that you have “grown out” of podcasting;
  • health problems that make you lose energy or ability to engage in podcasting in the way you did when you first started;
  • and other reasons that are mentioned in this episode.

I, myself, have felt down in certain times. And I give you a number of strategies that can help you get out of your slump of negativity. These did work for me.

In fact, there are GROWTH strategies that may work for you — for example, starting a podcast membership site (such as the one Daniel J Lewis of The Audacity to Podcast show created called Podcasters Society), or even starting or participating in a podcast network.

And, of course, there is always the direction of monetizing your podcast. You can refer to Dave Jackson of the School of Podcasting show in his free and earlier book, More Podcast Money (or the updated book called Profit from your Podcast).

I hope that some of these strategies that have worked for me as a podcaster can also help you during the times when you may begin to feel that “the thrill is gone” from podcasting.

Thank you for your attention.

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

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podcast

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

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.

 

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podcast

473- First look at the Dave Jackson book on monetizing podcasts

In this episode of The Podcast Reporter, we discuss in the form of an overview the contents of the recent book from Dave Jackson of The School of Podcasting called “Profit from your Podcast: Proven Strategies  to Turn Listeners into a Livelihood.” (from Allworth Press, New York)

Thus, this episode was my impromptu review of the contents of the book and the perceived value at first glance from myself, a podcaster of  15 years. Thus, it is a form of “stream-of-consciousness” description, with a few editorial comments. And I do apologize for the extraneous noise from my flipping the pages next to my condenser microphone.

One big bonus is the bonus course from Dave for those who have bought the book. I really look forward to getting the content and resources from this course — and I do plan to report on this later on in an episode.

Thank you for your attention.

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

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podcast

439- Planning for uncertainty due to media hype and scams

In this episode of The Podcast Reporter, we focus on the themes from Todd Henry in a recent episode of his podcast show, The Accidental Creative. The episode title is “How to Plan for Uncertainty.”

Now, I have known personally Todd Henry since 2013 when I did interview him for a podcast show. In addition, I have also puchased some of his books (e.g., Die Empty) and some of his audio premium podcast episodes from AC-Engage. This is because I have found great value from Todd. And I myself have used some of his suggested strategies, which had turned out to be the right formula for temporary success for me as a podcaster and entrepreneur.


Todd delivers some key issues and themes for us to do better planning and be ready to PIVOT if and when another crisis arrives — either from events that impact our economy or from the media hype and exaggeration of a plan-demic.

You have to wonder if you are going to be forced to PIVOT in your podcast and business as an entrepreneur and podcaster. If so, then you can apply these suggestions to your plight today.

The three issues that are addressed to be a better planner and be better prepared for uncertainties — especially when the lame-stream media presents us with scams due to censorship, scams and misinformation by not telling the truth (and Todd gives examples and more details to explain each of these points):

  1. You should ask better questions;
  2. You have to “build your runway” when times are good so you can have it available when they are not;
  3. What is your main thing that you will have and rely on for your success that revolves around your mission.

We recommend that you consume the episode — either in audio from the podcast, or from his email newsletter where Todd delivers the transcript summary of the episode. In this way, a small amount of time up front can help us to plan for the uncertainty of either the podosphere or small business for the entrepreneur.


For podcasts, it could be that you have already created another domain to which you will switch and generate new content — and maybe use some marketing tactics to generate different revenue streams in a premium show. And if you have the domain and a brief outline and business plan which you have created in the form of a plan, you can be ready to launch and execute the action items to publish premium content or other tactics to make money when the other podcasts have stymied due to the uncertain event. For more information on how to make money from your podcast, you may want to refer to the book previously known as More Podcast Money from Dave Jackson. And later next month, the plan is to for him to update this book with another work, the title of which is called Profit from Your Podcast (which is available now as pre-order at amazon.com).

So now, you can have a blueprint on how to plan some strategies to deal with podcasting uncertainties.

For other entrepreneurial themes, you may want to develop alternate business plans to either go into another business with a separate business model or to create a small (but new) revenue stream for your business and focus on that until the uncertainty has become more clear or until it is gone.

Either way, we hope that you can plan for your success by planning for uncertainty, as Todd Henry simplifies the process in his episode. In this way, we hope that you can avoid being spun around in confusion, frustration and loss of business and loss of podcasting by the uncertainty of the times.

Thank you for your attention.

Copyright (c) 2020, Matrix Solutions Corporation and Todd Henry of TheAccidentalCreative.com. All rights reserved.

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podcast

434A- Podcasting vs Social Media on smart phone

In this repurposed episode of The Podcast Reporter, we focus on the theme delivered originally by Dave Jackson in his School of Podcasting show earlier which compares the effective communication and better business results between Podcasting vs. the Social Media on a smart phone.

This topic came up previously by Dave Jackson in episode # 640, in which he interviewed Paul Colligan of The Podcast Report show.

As you will hear in this repurposed audio episode, there are main differences that define the environment of each platform — podcasts vs. social media. These include the “quick hit” of social media vs. the “listening and consumption of media with intimacy” to the listener. What is interesting for me is that Paul actually compared the landing-and-staying time of the user for each platform, and what this meant to him in the world of new media.

Another theme is the “hype” from social media vs. the full consumption of media in podcasting. In addition, there is a brief description of the “OTG” topic for those of you who may have been contemplating to get “off the grid” in order to improve your mental health — with a key example of the podcaster who has done this (namely, Adam Curry in his show, No Agenda podcast).


We hope that you find this topic relevant and interesting for you, as a podcaster — and especially if you are a profitable podcaster. If so, we hope that the value you find in this discussion will help you select the better platform for your own communication and decide to invest your time in generating content, discussion and other areas of communication.

Thank you for your attention.

Copyright (c) 2020, Matrix Solutions Corporation and Paul Colligan and Dave Jackson. All rights reserved.

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podcast

431- Podcasting book teaches monetization — an update

In this episode of The Podcast Reporter, we repurpose an episode from another podcast (episode #68) called The Struggling Biz, in which we announce the upcoming arrival of an update to a book by Dave Jackson of The School of Podcasting.

As you will hear in this brief episode, this is a completely updated revision of the prior book called More Podcast Money. In fact, Dave is giving away for FREE the episodes of the podcast called More Podcast Money until the update on Amazon arrives in September.

I myself have been listening to it, and getting a good review of monetization strategies — for there are numerous ways in which you can create revenue streams in podcasting.


The name of the updated version of the book is:

Profit from Your Podcast: Proven Strategies to Turn Listeners into a Livelihood

Thus, although the content of this brief episode serves only as an announcement mainly for entrepreneurs of the release date of the book. I myself will highly recommend that podcasters should read this and consume the content, for it may help you in your podcasting and moneetization efforts. It certainly did for me.

And, by the way, I am NOT getting compensated in any way, shape or form for my recommendation of this content. For Dave has been my mentor in the past, and I have been a member of his podcast membership site, and I have also been a client of his podcasting consulting services. But I believe greatly in what he does and the benefits which he has delivered to me and to his listeners in his podcasts.

I will re-announce the availability of the book when it does become a reality, and if you wish to pre-order the book, you may do so. I hope you can get the benefit of the experience from Dave’s 15 years as a podcaster and podcast consultant, and I wish you the best in becoming a successful profitable podcaster.

Thank you for your attention.

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