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podcast

653- Podcasters can become thought leaders in content creation

In this episode of The Podcast Reporter Show, we discuss and review the essence of being a THOUGHT LEADER in the area of podcasting, which is really a subset of being a content creator.

The communication that inspired this repurposed episode is from a listener to this podcast series that wanted to know more detail about being a THOUGHT LEADER (since I mentioned this in a brief summary recently in a prior episode). And so I wanted to oblige and repurpose the episode #513 of this show to answer his several questions about podcasting and being a thought leader in detail.

First, here is the chart that outlines the steps to becoming a thought leader:

Notice that this episode mentions Paul Colligan as my inspiration for becoming a thought leader in my past podcasting career. There is also honorable mention for several other resources along the same lines and topics of this repurposed episode:

THE REFERRAL ENGINE, book by John Jantsch

 

THE SPEED OF TRUST, book by Dr. Steven Covey

http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=the+speed+of+trust+by+covey&tag=googhydr-20&index=stripbooks&hvadid=49856365105&hvpos=1t1&hvexid=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=8732313814208953106&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=b&hvdev=c&ref=pd_sl_28xgmol8ct_b

– PAUL COLLIGAN, podcaster, author & blogger at www.thepodcastreport.com

– CHRIS BROGAN, author, trainer, blogger at www.chrisbrogan.com

– SCOTT JOHNSON, podcaster at www.computertutorflorida.com

– LON NAYLOR, screencaster and podcaster and blogger at  www.screencapturevideo.com


So we hope that you can get the details needed to plan a good path for yourself to becoming a good thought leader and well-known podcaster. And we wish you for your success in the podosphere.

Thank you for listening and for your attention.

Copyright (c) 2023, Matrix Solutions Corporation and michaelandmike.com and Paul Colligan and John Jantsch and Lon Naylor and Scott Johnson and Chris Brogan. All rights reserved.

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podcast

638- Creating New year resolutions and podcasting

In this episode of The Podcast Reporter show, we reflect on the fresh new year of 2023 and our own resolutions as podcasters for the coming year.

Many podcasters are giving their opinions and details about what they plan to do in looking forward to their success in the podosphere for 2023. Some of these are glimmers of hope for growing your audience and being successful in monetization of your podcast shows.

However, with the millions of podcast shows now in the podosphere (and still growing on a daily basis for the launch of new podcasts), the competition for both your eyes and ears in selecting content and consuming it becomes very acute.

So a key question would be: what would make your podcast show (especially if you are going to be launching a show or improving it in 2023) so desirable for a possible listener or viewer to consume your content? And how does the all-being problem of discoverability pervade the podosphere now as a challenge for you?

Perhaps you can answer this question by focusing on the first part of the problem and making it attractive to your audience — that is, if you have done the groundwork necessary to create, grow and nurture an audience (once you have proven to yourself that you know what your target audience is)? The results of surveys, background research for those who want to listen to your topics and just plain “gut feel” for this type of listener or viewer to consume your content could be the formula that you can use to address the topic.

For the second part of the question which we just introduced, we have to look into the podosphere for all the tools available to us in order to get the discoverability problem addressed. Not only do we have to put our podcast show in front of our targeted audience, our prospects, and even our suspects — but we have to ensure that our messages present a clear and dynamic statement to those who are looking for great content. Perhaps one way to do this is to go back to 2008 from the advice of podcaster, Paul Colligan, who labeled the acronymn ISYOT (i.e., “I see you out there”) and execute strategic inclusion of your show into the various networks for podcasting and today’s directories. For today’s environment is not merely the iTunes directory — there are a myriad of directories and sites where your podcast may have to exist, so that discoverability of your show can see some success, and thus your audience can grow — and not just in terms of downloads, but also on episodes completed by the listener and action taken by the listener due to your calls-to-action.

And finally, once you may have the attention of your intended audience, how clear will your call-to-action(s) be? Will they be appealing enough for the audience to take action and pursue the tasks which you outline? And these may be as simple as just signing up for your show and follow it (or “subscribe”), or it could reach all the way to being sold on a solution that you present and following through and ordering it (be it for money or for content)?

Of course, the ultimate goal may not be financial. While most entrepreneurs wish for monetary success with orders for your solution or content due to your podcast show, please remember that many of us still like to listen to “fun” podcasts from hobby-podcasters who engage in their craft of creating episodes as a labor-of-love, without regard to any financial results. If you fall into this category, you have to be serious and create final goals for your show (in terms of acceptance or downloads or following) that are beyond the dollars that many people consider “success” from a podcast show.

So for this new year, what would be your considerations for success in growing your audience (and move them from prospects or suspects to subscribed ‘followers’? And what can you plan in 2023 for monitoring your success in seeing positive results for your calls-to-action? These are the big questions you may have when creating and solidifying your planning for adapting new year’s resolutions for 2023.

Thank you for listening, and we’ll see you next time.

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

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podcast

614- BONUS- Preparing for PM Evolutions 2022 conference

In this episode of The Podcast Reporter show, we deliver our plans to check out Podcast Movement Evolutions 2022 conference in Los Angeles, California, in late March, 2022.

Now, I have been an advocate and supporter or the conference since its inception in 2014 by Hall-of-Fame podcaster, Gary Leland. In addition to contributing to the crowdfunding program, I was also a speaker at this Dallas event.

In addition, the last podcast conference in which I did present was in Las Vegas in 2015 at the New Media Expo. My session was about podcasting for service groups and non-profit organizations.


But for this event, I will be taking a page out of the book of Dave Jackson of The School of Podcasting. What he did in 2013 at the New Media Expo was NOT purchase a ticket to be an attendee or presenter; rather, he stood outside the exhibit hall and other areas where you needed a badge to enter. In those days, there were more events that were open to everyone — such as keynotes, speed-interviews, etc., where anyone could attend. So Dave told me in an interview during that show in Las Vegas that he got more out of being a non-presenter or a non-attendee in person. He said that having all this free time enabled him to meet people in the hall and outside the exhibit hall and renew older relationships or generate new relationships, as well as do interviews and get the “buzz” from the attendees that did want to meet him in person.

So I will do the same at this conference, to the extent that it is limited. I do plan to meet with Dave Jackson, as I had scheduled to be with him ahead of time — and we can do an interview in the lobby or the restaurant or coffee shop of the hotel. I hope to schedule the same with pundits such as Paul Colligan, Todd Cochrane, Rob Greenlee, Rob Walch, Gordon Firemark and others. We shall see.

But of all the interviews that I perform, we hope to deliver to you interesting trends and directions of podcasting, as well as new innovations that will be interesting for you, my audience.

Thus, stay tuned for upcoming bonus episodes that will deliver to you the information from the Podcast Movement Evolutions 2022 conference.

Thank you for your attention.

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

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podcast

562- Caveat Emptor — the case study in Podcasting platforms

In this episode of The Podcast Reporter, we discuss the theme of the podcaster and entrepreneur owning his own .com. We refer to a prior episode of a podcast show that gives us a case study in the podosphere about a third party platform, blab.im.

For your reference and background, we are including the earlier audio repurposed episode that gave the details about the brief love affair of the entrepreneur and podcast community with blab.im and its subsequent total unavailability, leaving them high and dry.


As you will hear in the previously recorded repurposed episode, the key lesson learned is to keep all the content that is produced for the podcast and the business, as well as not become locked into a specific platform — your content should be published on ALL the platforms, if we follow the saying by Paul Colligan called ISYOT (“I see you out there”).

Thus, the entrepreneur should be platform-agnostic and own his own .com. In this way, a quick change to another platform is possible, should the current platform-de jour become unavailable (and the fact that your customers or audience may be left high and dry, as well).

We hope that you can then put together strategies for supporting multiple platforms and having a quick exit plan to move from one to the other, depending upon the fickle tastes of platform owners. Remember those words:  caveat emptor for the podcaster.

Thank you for your attention.

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

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podcast

524- Podcasting show revives car-cast episode

In this episode of The Podcast Reporter, we honor the trail blazed by pundit Paul Colligan of ThePodcastReport show, as we deliver a car-cast podcast episode here.

I have delivered car-casts before, the last one in 2007, when my mother had surgery — and I had recorded my car cast while I was in the automobile in the parking lot waiting for the several hours to pass as her cancer operation finished. Unfortunately, she had passed away in 2018.

But for this episode, I used my old and trusty Zoom H2 portable recorder with a very inexpensive microphone and headset that I had used in 2006 and 2007 when I did a “roving reporter” review at the first Podcast and Portable Media Expo in Ontario, California. So, although the tech is inexpensive and old, it served its purpose well and delivered me some excellent recordings. And, yes, I did need to do some post-production on the resulting audio files.

And although this recording was a renewable experiment to go back to some of the beginnings of my podcasting career, I enjoyed the fact that a battery-operated Zoom H2 recorder stood up to the job once again. And this is in spite of not recording while driving, but just recording while I was waiting in the post office parking lot while I waited to mail my business taxes to the IRS.

As you will hear in this audio episode, several short topics were discussed — including the upcoming possible Podcast Movement conference in Nashville, Tennessee. I also included a bit about the Podfest Global Summit that started today online.

As an experienced podcaster, I do encourage you to use your portable recorder to plan for — and to record and publish — a car-cast.

As I mentioned at the start of this episode, I listened faithfully to one of my early mentors, Paul Colligan, as he made use of his time while in the car and recorded to his hands-free recorder the episode in which he delivered some great content on his thoughts. Not only did he record on ThePodcastReport.com, but he also recorded car-casts to his secondary show, Thinking Out Loud. And I always enjoyed them — as he described the tech that he was using at the beginning of each car-cast episode. And, as you can hear, I am emulating him, as well, by describing the tech at the beginning of this episode.

Thus, I hope you do get a chance to provide some variety to your listeners by delivering a car-cast and show your audience that you can be flexible and in the words of Ricky Nelson from his song, you, too, can be a “travelin’ man.”

Thank you for your attention.

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

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513- Successful podcast path — content creator to thought leader

In this episode of The Podcast Reporter, we repurpose a prior episode — and we do this once every year at mid-year. The topic is a review of the steps needed to become a thought leader.

In this episode, we examine the four steps in the journey to becoming a successful content creator, especially for the podcaster. Does “success” mean making lots of money? Some of the “newbies” in the podosphere are making 7 figures, and there are a few who proudly proclaim their revenues and share them online.

But, no, that may not be the measure of success.

Does “success mean having enormous stats? Some of the “newbies” have gazillions of downloads, subscribers, sponsors, listens, views, audience numbers, etc.

But, no that may not be the measure of success.

According to a couple of key podcasters, the true meaning of success lies elsewhere in “thought leadership” — but also with the positive results both in stats and revenue streams.

This content for this episode was inspired by two podcasters, both who have had over 10 years of experience:

(1) Paul Colligan, podcaster of THE PODCAST REPORT; and

(2) Chris Brogan — podcaster, blogger, author and trainer, among many other things.

It was Paul Colligan who called myself a “luminary” several years ago in his podcast episode, when he described me.

It was also Chris Brogan who described the real measure of success monetarily, but also emphasized the importance of “thought leadership.”

Together, they inspired the description of the 4-step journey from podcaster to thought-leader (the latter being the real measure of success, in my humble opinion, as the other mentioned victories in the journey have either been preludes or learning-steps).

As you will hear in this audio episode, the four steps to becoming a “successful” CONTENT CREATOR are detailed and described as:

(1) Subject matter expert that develops into a true “luminary”;

(2) Solution-provider or problem-solver;

(3) Trusted advisor; and then,

(4) THOUGHT LEADER.

After listening to this episode, the rhetorical question for you is “where are you in this journey today, and what is your personal and business target in steps for your future?”

Here are some of the links from the cases-in-point and the resources mentioned in this audio episode:

– THE REFERRAL ENGINE, book by John Jantsch

 

– THE SPEED OF TRUST, book by Dr. Steven Covey

http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=the+speed+of+trust+by+covey&tag=googhydr-20&index=stripbooks&hvadid=49856365105&hvpos=1t1&hvexid=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=8732313814208953106&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=b&hvdev=c&ref=pd_sl_28xgmol8ct_b

– PAUL COLLIGAN, podcaster, author & blogger at www.thepodcastreport.com

– CHRIS BROGAN, author, trainer, blogger at www.chrisbrogan.com

– SCOTT JOHNSON, podcaster at www.computertutorflorida.com

– LON NAYLOR, screencaster and podcaster and blogger at  www.screencapturevideo.com

Copyright (c) 2015, Matrix Solutions Corporation. All rights reserved.

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podcast

474- Argument about “just start” a Podcast — just DO NOT do it

In this episode of The Podcast Reporter, we present the argument from Ben Krueger that the common advice given to “just start” may be the wrong advice for having a successful podcast show. After we see why he says what he does, we bring in my own personal opinion from my own history when I “just got started” into podcasting. And we end up with a thought leader in the Podosphere, Paul Colligan of The Podcast Report show who is a mentor himself and helps aspiring podcasters to be prepared to monetize their shows and business podcasts.


First, let us see what Ben Krueger had stated in his email:

“Just get started!”

That’s the advice I hear all the time given to budding podcasters.


Yes, it’s true that taking action is better than getting stuck in the planning process. But I still think it gets more credit than it deserves.

Why?

First, “just get started” puts you at a huge disadvantage.

These days, everyone can launch their own show. Sometimes with a budget as low as $200.

So if you start a podcast without a clear attack plan…

And you’re just doing it for the sake of “getting your feet wet”…

You end up producing a messy, low-quality show that won’t stand out in the crowded podcasting world.

Second, every episode is important.

“Just get started” may get you published quickly…but it won’t get you recommended.

If your podcast doesn’t leave a good impression, it’ll probably end up in a prospect’s “do not listen” list.

Now, I’m not saying this to discourage you from producing your show.

But the reality is, podcasting isn’t for everyone!

And by doing the upfront work of planning, you’ll save time and potential heartaches in the future.

That’s why I want to invite you to a free consultation call, so we can see if podcasting is the right strategy for your business.”

As you will hear in this brief episode, I myself had “just started” my own podcast show in 2006, but I had the help of tools and courses that were available to me:

  • The School of Podcasting was a program from Dave Jackson that helped me to learn how to prepare a good show and episodes;
  • I took the course from Jason Van Orden about Learn How to Podcast (no longer available) online and understood the rudimentary steps of producing a podcast episode — especially since there were almost no tools available at the time in the podosphere;
  • I leaned from the books available — from Podcasting for Dummies to the book by Todd Cochrane and another from Mr. Geohegen and others.

But thought leaders like Paul Colligan of The Podcast Report now mentors others and consults with them to prepare a podcast that will have business success for monetization.

And I think that the 2 groups of podcasters — one that podcasts as a hobby or for passion, and the other that podcasts for business with monetization in mind — are what podcasters have to determine when they are sprayed with the words “just get started” by many of the podcasting instructors today.

For you, as a podcaster, which is the path you will follow? And which is the mentorship program that you will pursue and follow if you are serious about becoming a professional podcaster who will successfully monetize the podcast within your business?

And this email letter gives food for thought to the aspiring podcaster for a decision that should be made today.

Thank you for your attention.

Copyright (c) 2020, Matrix Solutions Corporation and Ben Krueger. 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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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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430- Podcasting lessons learned after 100 episodes

In this episode of The Podcast Reporter, we focus on an article published recently and authored by Denis Murphy called “11 Lessons from 100 Podcast Episodes.”

The link given in the published article is from medium.com.

Now, as I have been podcasting for 15 years, this article interested me, for I have had over 18 podcast shows, and I have had nearly 2 million downloads. And I wanted to compare my lessons learned after some shows that have had nearly 500 episodes (both The Struggling Entrepreneur, as well as my current podcast show of The Podcast Reporter with over 430 episodes).

From this article, the 11 lessons learned are:

  1. Solo episodes;
  2. Reach out to potential guests more than once;
  3. Most podcasts don’t even get past 7 episodes;
  4. Most days you feel like an idiot;
  5. You reconnect with your real voice;
  6. Discover your why;
  7. Other people’s assumptions and experiences;
  8. Treat social media as an ongoing experiment;
  9. You don’t need to earn money;
  10. You don’t need a huge audience;
  11. A personal development vehicle.

And each section contains a couple of paragraphs to explain just what the learned lessons provided as value to Denis Murphy as the podcaster.


However, for this podcaster, I have learned many lessons since 2006 — and I keep on learning lessons from my involvement and participation in the podosphere still today, as well as the future.

In addition, I do take issue from my own experience with several of Murphy’s lessons — in particular, numbers 4, 9 and 10. That is,

  • I have NEVER felt like an idiot when I participated as a podcaster in the podosphere;
  • I have tried to earn money, and I have been successful as a profitable podcaster; and
  • I have grown a large audience in the podosphere, with nearly 2 million downloads.

Thus, if you, as a new or aspiring podcaster, want to get some best practices, I would go to another source to see what some of them are, in spite of Mr. Murphy’s personal lessons learned. One such podcast show that gives a lot of best practices is The Audacity to Podcast from Daniel J Lewis; another is The School of Podcasting from Dave Jackson; and one last show is The New Media Show from Todd Cochrane.

As a matter of fact, this episode is giving me some impetus to prepare and publish an episode in this show for the future that will deliver to my audience MY OWN lessons learned after over 1500 podcast episodes from all my shows. Keep watching this space for any news of this upcoming episode later this year.

We do suggest that you read this article from Mr.  Muphy, but then we recommend that you put together YOUR OWN list of lessons which you yourself have learned in any number of key podcast episodes which can mean value and importance to you.

Thank you for your attention.

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