Tag: Dave Jackson

Categories
Uncategorized

675- Renaissance man five times over into podcasting

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

In this episode, we bring to life yet another impromptu discussion and description of how Sgt. Fred has been a Renaissance Man four times over in life — and now five — and now is in his next Renaissance during his life — and all these are part of the story given in the accounts of his other podcast (which is still in the making) called the Real Academy of Life.

THE RENAISSANCE EXPERIENCES OF SGT. FRED

The stages of life which Sgt. Fred underwent a Renaissance experience were the following:

  • From a high school student worker and academic scholar to become an award-winning dramatic actor and public speaker;
  • From a University student to become a fraternity brother who improved the fraternity organization;
  • From a depressed and mixed-up student to become a military man that became an Airborne Paratrooper and combat infantryman in the jungles, rice paddies and mountains of Vietnam during the war;
  • From a veteran student joining the university world again to finish his degrees (both BA and MBA) to become a part-time faculty member of a university, as well as a dancer with a professional dance group (including a 10-year stint as a university dance instructor) — and then going out and becoming a serial entrepreneur in the area of the techno-industrial environment;
  • From the veteran retiree in corporate America as a corporate instructor and professional podcaster and new media content creator  (where he had 16 podcast shows in 2006 to 2020, including The Struggling  Entrepreneur, Podcast Reporter, the 2030 Podcast, Grumpy Old Bears, and 10 other podcasts) — and especially with those who influenced him, such as Adam Curry and Dave Jackson;
  • and the final Renaissance that is now in the beginning stages of being a retired podcaster and interviewer.

However, these experiences do NOT wipe away nor ignore the feelings of both shame and guilt from the memory of Sgt. Fred, as well as the feelings of regret in the area of personal relationships.

With a more mature outlook on life — both past and present and possible future — Sgt. Fred will continue in the podosphere for both his current podcast shows, as well as new episodes in his REAL ACADEMY OF LIFE.

Copyright (c) 2024, Matrix Solutions Corporation and michaelandmike.com.

Categories
podcast

658- Future of Podcasting– brand safety and suitability

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

In this episode of The Podcast Reporter Show, we discuss a theme related to perspectives on the future of podcasting which was published by 2 co-hosts in a show titled Future of Podcasting. The co-hosts are Daniel J Lewis from his show called The Audacity to Podcast, as well as Dave Jackson, podcaster of The School of Podcasting.

In a recent episode of the renamed podcast show now called The Future of Podcasting, the theme of podcast brand safety and brand suitability and relevance was discussed in a thoroughly professional manner from a factually-based platform, especially in the area of brand appropriateness.

What we have seen in the recent past is the radical left and democrats trying to assert that some podcasts (mainly conservative and Christian podcasts, as Daniel points out) attempt to censor and steer away both advertisers and supporters from podcasts that they don’t want to promote — and thus, they feel that no one else should even support them or listen to them. Daniel gave an excellent example with the expo center and the booths in the last Podcast Movement conference. This was a typical radical left activist experience that wanted to throw out a podcast show that had paid $20,000 dollars for a booth at the conference about a certain podcast by Mr. Shapiro.

Now, this recent episode discusses how the future of podcasting will have the radical left continue their blatant divisiveness by asserting that some podcasts and their content should not even be promoted, nor even listened to by others (the latter being blatant censorship).

So, while the radical left feels anger when they are triggered by the conservative viewpoints, instead of a conversation or dialogue, they seem to be wanting everyone in the world to follow their own snotty noses and desires when they do not agree with a differing point of view. In this case, where is the respect for diversity in thought and ideas? Where is the inclusiveness of everyone’s opinion and a fair conversation in a balanced forum?

As you can surmise, the radical left wants to quash any and all differing points of views with censorship while protecting its own views. A clear example of this was the behavior and attitude of Twitter before Mr. Musk obtained ownership and finally started promoting free speech.

However, we feel that both Dave and Daniel are exercising the right discussion of appropriate advertising and sponsorship with podcasts by sticking to the correct themes. As Daniel said “Tell me about your product (in this case a good hot dog or burger) by stuffing your food down my throat, but do not try to stuff your political agenda down my throat…”

“Recreational Outrage and appropriate sponsorship”

Now, I feel that the best part of the 43-minute episode was the section where they differentiated the popular triggered mechanism by the activity radicals (the recreational outrage) that is so easily available where one tries to censor the podcast and de-platform the actors, as well as the rational views of what is (and is not) appropriate sponsorship for a podcast.

Thus, I highly encourage you to consume this episode #16 of the podcast show called The Future of Podcasting (previously known as Leading the Bleeding). The balanced approach to AI, appropriate sponsorship, brand suitability and brand safety (with rational and logical thinking and conversation) is very well done. Kudos to Dave and Daniel for that.

Thank you for your attention.

Copyright (c) 2023, Matrix Solutions Corporation and michaelandmike.com and Daniel J Lewis and Dave Jackson of The Future of Podcasting podcast show. All rights reserved.

Categories
podcast

657- Future of Podcasting — perspective on trends and tips

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

In this episode of The Podcast Reporter show, we deliver some thoughts about the FUTURE OF PODCASTING. Now, we do this from both the perspective of myself as a podcaster, as well as include some thoughts from a post. We introduce that later we will reflect ideas from a podcast show with both co-hosts of Dave Jackson from The School of Podcasting show, along with Daniel J Lewis from The Audacity to Podcast show.

But here, in this episode, we look at the internet post from jupitrr.com dealing with the trend to the future of the podosphere and podcasting is called “What is the future of podcasting?”

This post presents and discusses both current trends and 5 tips for a podcaster to prepare for the second half of 2023 and beyond. And there is a bit of content to elaborate on each of these in the post. We recommend that you review each of these for their relevance in your world of podcast shows.

Here are the TRENDS:

  • Creators have more control over their audience;
  • Private podcasting with a subscription model;
  • Short-form audio;
  • Social media as a distribution or hosting channel;
  • Podcasting as a means of marketing.

By looking at the explanation given for each trend in the article, you may see if your show will be ready for the future and able to withstand any changes that may come forth to challenge you in podcasting. One of these is the FORMAT of the show, both in length and tone.

For myself as a podcaster, I firmly stand on the micro-cast model of having an episode be 10 minutes or less — and that is most of the time, for there are no absolutes in podcasting. The article states: “Future of Podcasting is about bite-sized content, and shareable video formats.”

The future growth of this medium will also skyrocket, especially as more people now understand podcasting and can easily begin their own shows to promote their content — whether as a hobby or in trying to monetize:  “Studies show that the number of active podcasts and available episodes are continuing to climb, with over 2 million podcasts and over 48 million episodes available as of 2021 (Podcast Insights, 2021).”

Podcasting has already earned a spot in both communication and distribution of content for companies, and now is highlighted as a medium for marketing. And they usually begin with producing what are called “intra-casts” — that is, producing podcasts for their employees and stakeholders:  “A recent survey found that 70% of companies are already using or plan to use podcasts for internal communication. With the rise of remote work, podcasts offer a convenient and engaging way for teams to stay connected and informed.”

In addition to the trends, these are the 5 tips that are given to you about podcasting’s future for you as a content creator:

  1. Always have an email list of your audience: a key to building strong relationships and promoting your content across different formats effectively. 
  2. Interact more with your power users or audience: Engage with your listeners regularly, know what they want more from you. Being interactive also makes your audience feel they have your attention.
  3. Try short-form video podcasts: Experiment with shorter, bite-sized audio content in both podcast and video formats. This format is well-suited for social media and can help you reach new audiences.
  4. Distribute on 5 social media channels: Don’t just pick one or two at first. Experiment. Experiment. Experiment. Then, narrow down to the ones that perform best for you.
  5. Build your audience as early as possible: Building an audience takes time, so start early and focus on consistently producing high-quality content. Growing your audience has a multiplier effect, remember also to take advantage of the organic reach of new platforms like Instagram Reels.

So, thus, we reflect on the trends and tips given by this article.

In a future podcast episode, we will explore the perspective of two of the pundits and podcasters from the podosphere since 2005 (Dave Jackson and Daniel J Lewis), since we will reflect on the content of their show as co-hosts when they discuss THE FUTURE O.F PODCASTING.

Thank you for your attention.

Copyright (c) 2023, Matrix Solutions Corporation and michaelandmike.com and jupitrr.com. All rights reserved.

Categories
podcast

655- Measuring real success of your podcast

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

In this episode, we examine the views of podcaster Ben Krueger in the area of measuring success in podcasting. He explains this in an article from his show, cashflowpodcasting.com. The article is titled “How to measure real podcast success.”

Ben Krueger

As is well known from other podcasters like Dave Jackson of schoolofpodcasting.com and Daniel J Lewis of theaudacitytopodcast.com, a real measure of success is not just by the measurement of downloads of an episode or a series of them. In the podosphere, the real measure of success depends on much more than the numbers of downloads. As Ben states: “While this is an important metric, it’s not the only one that matters when measuring the success of a podcast…While this is an important metric, it’s not the only one that matters when measuring the success of a podcast…In fact, comparing download numbers to other podcasters can be misleading and discouraging, especially for niche podcasts that serve a specific audience.“

Ben continues as he looks at specific types of podcast niches and genres: “It’s time to take a holistic approach to understand the unique needs and expectations of your audience and track metrics that align with your podcast goals.”

In fact, Ben delivers to the reader a Podcast Success Tracker Spreadsheet, which is included in the article. This is a tool that can track the metrics that should really matter to the podcaster.

Now, the sections of content that Ben delivers in this article and which should be areas for podcasters to notice are the following:

 
Identify Your Podcast Goals

Which Metrics Should You Track?

Audience Growth
Become The Go-To Authority
Client Acquisition
Speaking Opportunities
Business Development Partnerships
Other Metrics To Track
How To Improve Each Metric
What Makes A Podcast Successful?

Ben also recommends that you be specific in these areas, especially in the most common goals of:

Audience growth;

Becoming the go-to authority in your niche;

Client/customer acquisition;

Speaking opportunities;

Business development partnerships.

Goal-setting and planning are key elements, rather than emotion and impulse:  “By defining clear and measurable goals, you’ll be able to stay on track and make informed decisions about the direction of your podcast.”

Ben also suggests which metrics should be tracked. He suggests on “Focusing on ONE PRIMARY goal, with 1 or 2 secondary goals (if you must) will help you prioritize and actually drive results toward your goal with focus and clarity….” such as:

  • Audience growth;
  • Downloads and email sign-ups;
  • Creating your podcast as an AUTHORITY;
  • Client acquisition;
  • Response to your calls-to-action;
  • Speaking opportunities: “This includes invitations to speak on other podcasts or at events, or inquiries that come through your podcast’s website or social media channels.”;
  • Opportunities for BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT partnerships;

Besides these, Ben recommends later in the article other metrics to track, such as listener behavior. And one of the most important metric to follow is the financial one: “Finally, track the return on investment (ROI) of your podcast.”

Ben also urges you to improve each metric, with some other tips, such as the “CTA templates” that he provides, in addition to your taking steps to own continuous growth toward your goals.

Copyright (c) 2023, Matrix Solutions Corporation and michaelandmike.com and Ben Krueger of Cashflowpodcasting.com. All rights reserved.

Categories
podcast

637- BONUS- Podcasting and entrepreneurs for 2023- a perspective

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

In this episode of The Podcast Reporter show, we look at the role of entrepreneurs for the coming year of 2023 from the perspective of a struggling entrepreneur — namely myself.

One of the reasons for this point of view is the probability of a new or an aspiring small business entrepreneur of reaching success in a certain direction or with the support of the current and near-future media to assist in helping to spread the word of his solutions for different clients, as well as the possible revenue that one should expect in reality and not in pure hope.

Well, one of the aspects of New Media today is the successful growth and expansion of the podosphere to include millions of podcast shows — and more importantly, the ability to monetize them. So for yourself as an entrepreneur, you may wish to examine how podcasting can create assets that will generate revenue streams for you.

In fact, there is a presentation that I gave at a Podcast conference that outlines how multiple revenue streams can add to the value of your business and generate success for you. The presentation link is given here, under the image of the title page of the presentation — and you can view the presentation with PowerPoint.

Revenue-streams-by-podcasting-and-New-Media-2020

Now, in addition to the revenue streams that I, myself, mentioned in my presentation, there is another authority that may be of greater value in creating plans for generating successful revenue streams. This authority comes from a book by Dave Jackson  (who is a podcaster with his show, School of Podcasting) with the book’s title being “Profit from Your Podcast”:

This book lists many ways for an entrepreneur to create methods of creating multiple revenue streams. And having been in podcasting since 2005, Dave has experience from his own career, as well as stories from successful startups and entrepreneurs and small business owners of how to add to their income — and some of them have even left their day-jobs and external careers to become full-time podcasters and make podcasting their sole living.

So, what does this mean in terms of success perspectives for 2023?

Perhaps you can ADD to your business by creating and incorporating podcasts as an asset that will bring multiple revenue streams for you within a few months (depending upon which ones you select and wish to plan for and execute and follow up).

In fact, you do not even have to KNOW how to podcast, for you can get tutorials, courses and learning assets that can step you through the process — or you can hire others to do the basic grunt work to get your podcast show created, get the episodes up and running and get the web site, the management system (like WordPress) and the marketing and show notes and promotion, as well as the follow up and planning to review and monitor the progress and success of your show.

Here is where Dave Jackson’s book can assist you in creating and selling your own products via podcasting, as well as sponsorship (i.e., advertising ads within episodes), in addition to affiliate marketing and crowdfunding in addition to sales at live events, or   courses and webinars.

My perspective is that here is where the difference will be in adding more revenue and profit within your business with the sleeping giant of podcasting. However, not all revenue streams will be large and immediate. The PATIENCE factor  lies here for the podcaster to create, plan and monitor the growth of the revenue streams and their value for months and even years.

But 2023 could be the start of an addition to the entrepreneur for growing your revenues with assets that will definitely add value to your proposed audiences.

So I salute you in 2023 with my perspective of the “sleeping giant” for new revenue streams for your business with the addition of podcasting to add to your success of your business.

Thank you for your attention, and thanks for listening.

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

Categories
podcast

626- Using POC tactic for podcast consulting success

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

In this episode of The Podcast Reporter Show, we deliver to you a real-life example of a strategy and tactic that may bring success to you in your role as a podcast consultant — and that includes other business areas such as editing, billing, promotion, sales and a lead to other parts of your consulting business (e.g., video). This strategy and tactic is from my own experiences, and it is called the PROOF OF CONCEPT method and strategy.

This comes from the age-old tactic from a vendor who wanted to prove that he could successfully create a deliverable and successfully have it approved and satisfy a potential customer or prospect.

The age-old formula probably started initially as servitude. In other words, a craftsman or a skilled prospect would make a deal (or contract) with a master or principal. He would offer to work for a specific time period (e.g., a week or month) — or his offer would be to deliver a specific piece of work in a specific time span. If the principal (in this case, his potential customer) was completely satisfied, the agreement was that the prospect would then be upgraded to a formal laborer of the principal — or that the specific piece of work or deliverable that met the requirements would be the proof that the concept of his employment would be honored for continuing such deliverables to the customer (or master or principal — call the end receiver of the VALUE what you will) and be recognized as a true craftsman or valued employee for a period of time. And in some cases, the free time worked by the prospect would be recognized as time worked for pay, and he would receive the back wages, as well. In the case of deliverables, the agreed upon price for creating and finishing the said deliverables would also be paid, in addition to the terms of another agreement. For the deliverables, this would be a contract for creating and delivering some more final pieces — and  usually they would include back-pay for the proof of concept, as well (only this was flexible in the terms of the “contract” for the proof of concept.

So what was my experience in the world of podcasting with this tactic known as “proof of concept”?

Well, a prospect approached me after receiving my business card that mentioned my skills in podcasting. He wanted to know more about what I could offer him.

Instead of spouting a litany of sales-oriented offers, I wanted to know what he wanted and what he felt he needed in his business.

I saw that he wanted a full soup-to-nuts service of creating the podcast show and infrastructure, as well as the editing and production of episodes for professional polish. He called it “productizing” the episodes. Well, I declined on the large scale project and referred him to the consultant who had helped me to jump-start my podcast shows. The reference were the podcast shows I had done.

So he contacted the reference that I gave to him, but then he wanted to see what I could do with the several interviews which he had done and recorded — although some of them had very, very poor audio quality.

Now, he said that he wanted to start off with an interview show and he had recorded on his own these several audio interviews.

I told him to send me the audio files of a couple of interviews. I also looked at his web site, and I gave him a timetable for its completion and that he would receive the finished or “golden” mp3 files.

However, I gave him an amount that seemed reasonable and competitive for creating each final or golden mp3 audio interview, so that he could determine if his needs were met.

And I decided to exceed his expectations.

I took the mp3 files and listened to the poor quality of the interviews. I then cleaned up the audio, and then I added intro and outro music from quality musicians (for which I had obtained licenses to use in podcast episodes). I also added the voiceover intro with the intent of getting the listener interested enough to want to listen to the content of the interview. And I finally did the research of the interviewee and the program or situation being discussed. I also got a photo head shot of the interviewee from the public info center libraries. And then I created the SHOW NOTES, with the content and images included that would have the professional qualities that I would expect in that podcast episode.

And finally, I delivered both edited and “productized” episodes before the deadline.

The prospect was delighted, and I produced a written contract for him to sign. The contract, however, was not for the work done, but included the provision that I would receive a future minimum of episodes as content for future work to be “productized.”

Thus, the basic amount was for 10 additional episodes, as well as payment for the 2 episodes that I had delivered to him with his satisfaction and approval.

The deal was done by using the tactic of the proof of concept.

And so, the prospect then became my CUSTOMER and I would receive his interview files, which then I delivered to him in return as golden mp3 files, along with the added value of the show notes, the intro voiceover, the musical intros and outros, and any photo or images in the show notes content.

Well, he delivered to me over 25 episodes in the year. And they were ALL done with the same quality and delivered to him on time.

But then, after the 25th episode, he went silent and I did not hear from him for a month or so.

Why?

I never asked why, but only saw that after the brief absence, he contacted me in a email note and began to send me more interviews again. My suspicion was that another “podcast consultant” came to him with a lower price. However, the VALUE received of the services and deliverables probably did not meet his expectations. And so he returned to me for an additional 20 episodes. In fact, he asked me to create a video that promoted his offerings and his programs to his targeted audience. And I did deliver 2 videos — one as a proof of concept that was for no charge, and the other to meet his deadline. And when he wanted me to continue with the videos, I did decline, because I did not want to go into that business, as the return for my business was not really worth the time, effort, money, work and costly equipment and requirements. So I removed myself from the video world for him.

So that is the story of the tactic known as the proof-of-concept which was used in a real-life scenario in the podosphere by yours truly.

Perhaps this tactic may be one that you could use, or that you could take and improve on the method with your own style and delivery for potential customers.

But you have to be careful. You have to KNOW that your skills are very high, and that your pricing is competitive, and that your financial planning has proven that you can work within the structure of your proof-of-concept to make your tactic profitable for your business. And you can see what others are doing who use a variation of this tactic — and the name of Ben Krueger from cashflowpodcasting.com comes to mind. I have seen his offers and I have taken him up on purchasing a deliverable when he used the POC method. And I was pleasantly surprised with the quality, value and final deliverable from him within the time frame specified. And Ben would be a good example to see some of his offers using the poc tactic. In addition, Dave Jackson from The School of Podcasting also had offered several deliverables using a variation of this tactic.

So if you do decide to use the proof-of-concept for your podcast consulting business, we wish you the best in generating a great revenue stream for your business by having a successful podcast business.

Thank you for your attention.

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

Categories
podcast

623- Step by step guide to editing and producing Podcasts

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

In this episode of The Podcast Reporter show, we disclose information about a post by Ben Krueger that describes “a step by step guide to podcast editing and production.”

As you may know, Ben is the podcaster with his site called Cashflowpodcasting.com. He has delivered many resources (many of them free as pdfs) to those who are mainly new or aspiring podcasters. I have valued his deliveries of advice and resources since I met him personally in 2014 where I shared a booth with him in the expo hall during the very first Podcast Movement conference.

Ben Krueger

Ben first goes into the do-it-yourself approach to creating a podcast show and recording and editing its episodes. He refers to free software, such as audacity and others like auphonic to help podcasters in the editing of audio for podcasting. In fact, I, myself, have used various versions of the free software, Audacity, since my beginning in the podosphere. And with the help of good microphones, other devices and good software, I still continue using it today to record and edit my podcast episodes.

He then explores the idea of hiring a team to do your podcast editing, thus freeing you up to pursue content creation and marketing and sales and other talents. As we said in our last episode, you could hire a studio or an agency or get a podcast consultant to which you can “farm this out.”

But he ends this summary of the article with the suggestions for the do-it-yourself podcast editing — and he emphasizes why you should not be afraid of learning the tools and getting a good workflow down for editing the audio files yourself.

When I started my trip into the podosphere in 2005, there were no tools or training for being a podcaster and creating a workflow to do editing. It was not until I had read the book by Evo Terra and Tee Morris called Podcasting for Dummies that I learned the elements of a podcast and its creation. And it was not until 2006 that I was able to view and follow the audio and video training by Jason Van Orden to learn how to podcast. And in a little over one day, I had my first podcast episode created, edited and published on a public platform. And after that, I started discovering the podcasters who were podcast  consultants that offered to help you create and publish your podcast shows and episodes — and I chose Dave Jackson from The School of Podcasting as my podcast consultant. With his advice and his tutoring, I quickly learned a good workflow about podcasting, and I started creating more shows and publishing more episodes in the podosphere.

And I have never looked back after some 16 years.

Now, although today, you have a myriad of choices from agencies to consultants from which to choose,  you can select the best source and alternatives for you (in terms of quality, offerings, cost and results) to begin your career (be it part-time or full-time) into podcasting. And then you can also progress to the next step of setting up your podcasting as a tactic for your business — or you may even set up your own entrepreneurship as a podcasting business, as the tools and education and training for this are also available in many places and from many sources. As stated by Adam Schaeuble of the podcast show called the Podcasting Business School, you can treat your podcasting endeavor like a business, but enjoy it like a hobby.

And take it from someone like myself that has been a podcast consultant for over 10 years, there is a lot of room in the podosphere for those who want to use their creativity to improve the way podcast editing is done and the workflow for podcast production today.

One final note — Ben also has a call-to-action at the end of the post for you to download his free book, as well as know about his roadmap. I would suggest that you scan the article in the post by Ben to see if your world of podcasting can improve with the help of others — either as consultants, agencies or professionals — or with books or tutorials that can help you learn new materials, new ways, new tools and become more successful in publishing your podcast episodes.

Thank you for your attention.

Copyright (c) 2022, Matrix Solutions Corporation and michaelandmike.com and Ben Krueger of cashflowpodcasting.com and audacity and auphonic and Dave Jackson of schoolofpodcasting.com, and Tee Morris and Evo Terra. All rights reserved.

Categories
podcast

629- Podcasting under fire with controversy of censorship and harassment and cancel culture

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

In this episode of The Podcast Reporter Show, we discuss the events from Podcast Movement 2022 where the controversy sprang from the appearance of management of the conference displaying harassment due to demands from some of the attendees to execute censorship and cancel culture and blatant bigotry.

One example of a team in the podosphere who attended the conference and paid $30,000 US dollars for a booth can be stated by the firm that felt harassed and damaged by the hateful tweets from the PM Conference management that can be interpreted as censorship and bigotry:

 

Now, my opinion is that the first 20 minutes or so of this discussion tries to identify the event situation from one side, and the resulting harm from the Podcast Movement management.

Feedback from those who were there

For myself, I tried to get some feedback from some of the people that were actual attendees or sponsors of the conference.

In one instance, I listened to a podcaster who spoke at the event, as well as was an exhibitor in the exhibit area with Libsyn. This was, of course, Dave Jackson from The School of Podcasting. And you can hear his response of his perspective from episode 843 in the last 20 minutes of the episode. Enough said from just one podcaster that has been around since the beginning of the podosphere and who not only podcasts, but also attends these conferences.

From other reliable sources, I had conversations with other attendees  that made these multiple points about the incident at the conference:

  • No physical violence or threats resulted;
  • The tweet from conference management with the alleged hate and bigotry was later taken down;
  • the next 3 conferences were posted for 2023 to 2024;
  • many people — including some of the management of the conference itself — were guilty of overreacting and permitted this type of triggered controversy to develop and even grow;
  • some damage has been done to the name of PM and to podcasting itself, unless this controversy dies down and podcasting can resume to content creation and value delivery to audiences.

As for myself, I have been in the podosphere for over 17 years, and as a podcaster, I have had over 18 shows. I was also one of the first contributors to podcast movement with my initial kickstarter contribution. I also attended the first Podcast Movement conference in 2014 in Dallas, Texas, and I shared a booth with Ben Krueger of cashflowpodcasting.com. I was grateful to Gary Leland for starting the idea of this conference, so that the excitement and thrill of podcasting could once again be felt in an atmosphere of podcasters sharing information in an open community.

I had also attended the recent Podcast Movement Evolutions 2020 conference, as well.

In addition to PM, I also have attended and spoken at various podcast conferences and podcamps, etc. in the past 16 years. So I have supported the podcast conferences since their inception.

But my perspective of this whole situation from a podcaster point of view is that “demands” should not be made and that the conference should not be politicized just to get your narrow or personal “message” to all audiences. For me, the open nature of podcasting and the meaningful dialog of what it can provide to the audiences is still tremendous. And very much like what Dave Jackson said, my feeling is that if you feel that you want to demand the conference to be the way you desire to meet your own political goals, then you can go out and start your own conference — as with the example of ShePodcasts.

So will I attend the PM conference any more?

Perhaps — I will make my decision by March of 2023, when PM Evolutions 2023 will be in Las Vegas, and with the web site, I can see who will be speaking and what the topics will be to see if it will truly deliver VALUE to the audience of podcasters, and not be targeted to just the few agitators and those who make demands. By that time, hopefully this type of controversy and demand for cancel culture, bigotry and censorship will have gone away (perhaps the “demanders” will have started their own event, where they can be satisified, and I can avoid it). If this situation increases, then the event of Podcast Movement will turn into nothing more than a Bowel Movement.

My feeling is that I support OPEN PODCASTING with DIALOG — not demands — and that there is always room for anyone starting another conference to meet their own narrow objectives and leave open conferences for all podcasters alone.

Thank you for your attention.

Copyright (c) 2022, Matrix Solutions Corporation and michaelandmike.com and schoolofpodcasting.com and Podcast Movement. All rights reserved.

Categories
podcast

610- Companion Podcast shows — possible resources for success

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

In this episode of The Podcast Reporter, we discuss an age-old manner of supporting your podcast business, as well as promoting your podcast show. And this is by incorporating a resource known as THE  COMPANION PODCAST. And we have two cases-in-point of success stories about companion podcasts that highlight and promote books written by podcasters who are also authors:

and I will also briefly mention my own experiences with companion podcast shows for my programs of Finance for Startups and Gain Control of Your Day in the earlier years of the podosphere.

In this book, Dave has had an update to his earlier book titled More Podcast Money. This is really just the latest information that Dave has delivered on how to monetize your podcast, should you wish to get money from your podcast. This is a current example of a companion podcast to help promote and sell the book. And it has resulted in a success story, but not one of titanic proportions of revenue success.

In this original book published in 2005-2006, a companion audio podcast show started by Tee Morris actually had resounding success for the promotion and sale of the book. Now in its third printing, and with a sequel that followed the original book titled Expert Podcasting Practices for Dummies, this was the original case-in-point about how a companion podcast can grow your show and provide success for monetization of your podcast show. I myself first learned of this book in 2007, and I did promote it at the first Podcamp in Phoenix, Arizona, when Evo Terra sat in my session when I presented monetization strategies for serialized podcast shows. Of course, that is when I first met and spoke with Evo Terra.

My own experience with COMPANION PODCASTS

In my experience as a professional podcaster, I have had  several shows in which I implemented the concept and practice of creating and publishing a companion podcast:

  • One show was Gain Control of Your Day — this now podfaded show was a training course delivered by audio podcast episodes that used a technology developed by Paul Colligan, (who was a thought leader, a pundit in New Media and podcasting and an author of podcasting books) that mainly dealt with monetization of podcasts. His Technology of “dripping” episodes in his resource called Premiumcast, along with a one-to-one podcast feed for every paying member was key in the initial years of the podosphere. And this method of supporting the course and delivering training by having a smaller companion podcast that introduced the show and delivered content during the marketing and promotion of the show did have some limited success — although the problems that put the nail in the coffin of my success in this endeavor were both a delay in announcing and delivering the show, as well as the introduction of the competition by Apple (which was the 2010 promotional marketing and introduction of the original iPhone 1).
  • The other case-in-point was my show that was originally called Finance for Startups. Also now podfaded, this show had more success in launching and promoting as marketing tools the course by the same name. Originally delivered as a companion podcast, a late entry also hampered its  success, but the audio book that served as a nine-episode companion podcast did see some limited success — as I had a partner that created content and helped me to prepare the podcast episodes. But again, the novelty of the day in 2010 was the latest toy in the podosphere, the iPhone 1. Thus, although you may have the right tactics, the right marketing and sales promotion and the right delivery, the competition in the podosphere may be an obstacle to success in your original plans. So this course was removed from the podosphere in the USA, but my partner had seen limited success in the Australian and other foreign markets for podcasting and online courses.

So, my view of these experiences are that planning and executing a companion podcast is a great competitive tool that can bring success in monetization — but you have to be early enough in the announcement and delivery of the course or the companion podcast that describes your book or course before the competition arrives. And you should be certain that new announcements will not hinder the success of your show.

As Dave Jackson stated, with over a million new podcasts being announced and published in just the one year of 2021, you will have to promote your offering and deliver a companion podcast (mainly for no charge, until you have a purchase-base or subscription-based success for your book or course, thanks to your companion podcast.

Thus, we do wish you well if you wish to create, publish and deliver a companion podcast that will promote your education courses or books or other assets or podcasts that you wish to monetize. You just have to be aware of the vast amount of time that will be used to create your companion podcast and figure in the return on investment (ROI) factors that will be needed to judge its success.

Thank you for your attention.

Copyright (c) 2022, Matrix Solutions Corporation and michaelandmike.com and Dave Jackson of profitfromyourpodcasting.com and Evo Terra of Podcastingfordummies.com. All rights reserved.

Categories
podcast

607- Pre-launch feedback can be critical for Podcasting success

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

In this episode of The Podcast Reporter, we discuss some experiences that I have had when trying to sell my own products from my podcast shows — and the good, bad and the ugly about their results.

The inspiration for this show came from a podcast show of various episodes from Dave Jackson, podcaster and author of the book, Profit from Your Podcast. Yes, I had ordered the book and have read it — in fact, Dave will even send you a personally autographed copy if you order it from him.

Latest book from Dave Jackson about monetizing your Podcasts.

In addition, Dave has also produced a podcast show called Profit from Your Podcast, with the same content.

In these episodes of this podcast show, Dave talks about how both feedback in the form of survey results — as well as perhaps focus groups — can be critical for getting audience buy-in for your own products that you may want to sell to monetize your show. And, yes, there are many other strategies in which he goes into within his book, but these are the 2 in which I personally can deliver some experiences when I started off in podcasting and had courses to sell about my podcasts since 2006 (which, in those days, was the very beginning of the podosphere with very few rules — in fact, they called it the “wild, wild west” of New Media).

ABOUT FOCUS GROUPS

Focus groups can give you immediate reaction of your audience from selected members (besides your family and friends) who may be part of your intended and targeted audience. They can help you see if you do, indeed, have a solution or product which they not only want, but also need — and if they would be willing to spend money for it. And in the book and podcast from Dave, he spends time talking about what a focus group is, how to conduct one and what to do with the results for you to analyze the landscape into making a decision to proceed with the strategy and solution you wish to sell.

For this podcaster, I did NOT perform any focus groups. I had only brainstormed this idea with a current podcaster in 2006 when I had the podcast premium course that I had been creating almost done. And it seemed like a good idea at the time, for there were hardly any solutions like mine. And I had been teaching this course in a stand-up inbound class in person for many years — and so the content was second nature to me, and I saw the reviews of my classes and felt very confident that this would sell in the market of that day.

So I went on to finish the course using some technology that came about to make distribution, security and monetization easier for this podcast premium product that I wanted to market. However, I did NOT consider the market landscape of ALL of New Media. And this is the snake that bit me in the back.

Why?

Because Apple had announced, launched and marketed their iPhone product to the world — and that included the majority of my target market. And so the Apple announcement and the audience’s desire for “apps” destroyed my marketing efforts and killed off 99 per cent of my sales, regardless of my strategies and investment in my solution.

And because I had not done any focus groups to wet the appetite of my audience and get good feedback and positive reinforcement that I was on the right track, I was faced with an albatross for several years until I had written off my project and finally withdrew it.

SURVEY RESULTS

I had also committed another grievous sin — I did not have solid pre-launch survey results from my target audience about the utility of my product and their desire to obtain it to solve their problems. The desire for “apps” overcame their senses, and they dropped my product and podcast like a hot potato, as they circled around a solution in an app for their problem.

And, truthfully, up to this day, there has NOT been a solution in app format on the smartphone that has delivered the same solutions as my premium podcast course. But the lure for an all-encompassing app led my target market astray, and I suffered the results.

Why did I not have pre-launch surveys?

At the time, I, as a podcaster and trainer of a successful in-person course, felt overconfident that my solution was the best and that it would sell to my audience.

How wrong I was. In fact, the only surveys came AFTER the product was launched and after seeing the results that lacked success.

For if I had done surveys, I know that the responses would show that the only format that would have been suitable to my target audience would have been an iPhone app — and, again, that day not only did NOT arrive then in 2010, but it has still not arrived even today. And, yes, one or two scattered customers recently saw the value of my course and have purchased it now — but the marketing and sales plans that I had so carefully prepared did not show up, because I was flattened by the competition in the marketplace by mere illusory dreams of a solution that has never been delivered.

Now, the lessons I have learned have been to create a marketing plan for any monetization that I wish to follow with pre-launch activities that include:

  • surveys; and
  • focus groups

and to rely on their feedback to create milestones in which to make a hard decision that is fact-based on whether to continue or change course — or even to scrap the project solution due to audience feedback.

And since that time, I did create another podcast course with another podcaster — and we achieved more of a success, but it was still not enough to get us over the hurdle into great profitability.

Thus, my lessons learned included the inclusion of feedback from many sources (here we only touch upon 2) in pre-launch activities that can provide great information before sinking any more time and money into continuing on something that may not provide a good ROI as we desired.

These are lessons that I could have used if Dave’s book had been available to me at that time. For in his book, Dave speaks about both, but he also gives some scenarios and recommendations on how to conduct both surveys and focus groups — and these may be well worth consuming if you are a newer or aspiring podcaster that wants to monetize your show with online courses you wish to sell or with other products of your own

So, I hope that you can get more information from Dave’s book and free podcast, as mentioned. And I wish that you can avoid the mistakes that I had made and then get your show to have successful launches of your products that will make your podcasts more successful and profitable.

Thank you for your attention.

Copyright (c) 2022, Matrix Solutions Corporation and michaelandmike.com and Dave Jackson and profitfromyourpodcast.com. All rights reserved.