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podcast

640- Stages of your podcast and resources for specific help

In this episode, we refer to a post by Ben Krueger (creator of site and podcast at cashflowpodcasting.com) that presents links to resources that can help newer and starting podcasters in several stages of making your podcast shows successful.

Ben Krueger

These stages do have help and support from offerings by Ben from is site of CashFlowPodcasting.com:

So, depending on where you are in the stages of podcasting, perhaps the tools and support offered by Ben Krueger can be a life-saver by saving you time and giving you the education for that specific element.


Now, I have known Ben since 2014, when he and I shared a booth in the expo hall at the first Podcast Movement conference in Dallas, Texas. I have also received and downloaded some of his tips and help from pdf files which he distributed to all at no cost.

Note that these links in his post at the link given to the recipients of his email list in an email note take the user to the site where he lists elements needed for success, along with offers and offerings which he can deliver to the starting of newer podcasters.

I would strongly suggest that you check out his site for the topics that he has listed and see if there can be information of value for you the specific stage of your podcasting. I would think that you may find gems of help and some value for you at any of the stages.

Thank you for your attention, and thanks for listening.

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

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podcast

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

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.

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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

573- Reviews on mastering your Podcasting CRAFT

In this episode of The Podcast Reporter, we discuss the theme of “mastering your craft” of podcasting, as expressed by both podcast episodes and presentations at a podcast conference. Evo Terra of Podcast Pontifications gives us a whole week of episodes that explain his ideas and suggestions of mastering the craft of podcasting.

And Evo also refers to Tom Webster’s keynote presentation at the Podcast Movement 2021 conference that emphasizes the key points.


For this podcaster, I have known Evo Terra of Podcast Pontifications  in the podosphere from 2005, and I had met him in person in 2007 at the third PodCamp in Arizona, when he attended the session that I was delivering on podcasting for success in monetization. And I do respect and many times follow the suggestions from Evo to help make podcasting better for podcasters.

Evo Terra had several episodes in his show that all centered around the theme of how podcasters can MASTER THEIR CRAFT OF PODCASTING.

This theme was also quoted by Evo from the keynote presentation at Podcast Movement 2021 about “mastering your craft.” Yes, the summary of this is contained in the PM newsletter that states the following:

Mastering your craft…
What does it mean to “master your craft” in podcasting? Edison Research SVP Tom Webster recently offered this advice as a starting point: “Get a transcript of your recent episode. Read it and experience the horror.” Before sitting down to edit, consider these four steps from a sound designer at Pacific Content.”

After consuming all four of Evo’s episodes during the week in which they were published, I found myself contemplating how a podcaster like myself can be better at trying to master the craft of podcasting. As Evo summarizes in his podcast episodes, being a masterful podcaster of this craft entails more than just recording, editing, posting and publishing episodes in your podcast shows — of course, there may be some marketing, promotion and other tactics that engage with this.

Mastering the craft entails, for myself, becoming a better interviewer, a better deliverer of VALUE to the targeted audience. And the little helper hints that are given can all add up to a better experience for your targeted audience — and that will add up to VALUE for your listeners.

We wish that you can also contemplate how you can improve your podcast shows by “mastering the craft” of podcasting for your audience and listeners — and thus, your show can reach (and exceed) the success for which you may be striving in podcasting and your business, as well.

Thank you for your attention.

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

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podcast

605- Podcasting tools possibly overlooked by newer podcasters

In this episode of The Podcast Reporter show, we refer to an earlier post about podcasting tools that are often overlooked, especially by the new and aspiring podcasters. And this seems to be a further list, after which the wavve.co site had already listed some “dynamic tools.” This post titled “Seven Overlooked podcasting tools for new podcasters to consider” is located at wavve.co at the following URL:  wavve.co/overlooked-podcasting-tools-for-new-podcasters-to-consider/

So, for this brief episode, we give you the list of the seven major tools that are mentioned in the post in which newer podcasters may not have considered them necessary in order to create or improve their podcast shows, along with some suggestions:

  • Branding — including the visual aspects of your show, such as
    • Episode cover art
    • Show cover art
    • Logo
    • Font choices
    • Brand color palette
    • Image choices
  • File sharing
  • Collaborative Note-taking
  • Scheduling
  • Virtual Meeting (for hosting interviews or meetings)
  • Podcasting Analytics Tracking; and
  • Transcription

This article by Jeff Dolan, the CEO of wavve.co does provide a good moment of thought before launching with enthusiasm into the euphoric world of creating and publishing your first podcast show. So I would recommend that the beginners do review this and perform a bit more research to see which tools do provide the best solution for their own show and their environment.


Now, in my own experience as a podcaster, I had started in 2006 when there were virtually no tools at all in existence. And so I had to depend upon podcasting conferences to see what the latest announcements, demonstrations, exhibits and news were available about podcasting tools.

For instance, I used Noble Transcription Services (which are still available today) for my transcription requirements, since I did meet with the owners at the show and saw the results of their service during the early days of the Podcast and Portable Media Expo in Ontario, California. And from there, I did rely on podcamps, podcast conferences (like the Podcast and Portable Media Expo, New Media Expo), Podcast Movement and other shows where I could find out about the new products and possibly meet the owners and developers, as well as see live demos.

And there are other tools that you can explore in different podcast shows themselves about podcasting. One that I would highly recommend today is Ask the Podcast Coach with Dave Jackson and Jim Collison (recorded live every Saturday morning at 10:30 a.m. Eastern time). Here, they show the latest tools, gadgets and solutions from different vendors — and they usually get some demo models or some results from using software tools in the video portion of their program. And for newer podcasters, this is a great resource outside of the conference programs.

So the development and promotion of podcast tools has definitely come a long way since the days of 2005, where pundit and podcaster and author, Paul Colligan, published his show called Weekly Podcast Tools Update (in which he would present micro-casts every week to highlight a podcast tool and thus save the podcaster time — so that the podcaster can get back to his workflow in podcasting).


So we hope that you can research easily which tools for podcasting would be the best for your show, and then you can improve your podcasts and be on the road to success in growing your show or increasing your revenue and meeting your objectives in podcasting.

Thank you for your attention.

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

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podcast

550- Barriers that face new podcasters

In this episode of The Podcast Reporter, we discuss an earlier post this year by thepodcasthost.com with the theme of: “12 Podcast Barriers facing New Creators.”

Unfortunately, that theme is still prominent in the activities for podcasters — especially new podcasters and aspiring podcasters. And this post by author Jared Easley does try to address these situations.

In summary, these Barriers are listed as:

  • [Lacking] Self-confidence — “self-doubt can lead to procrastination”;
  • Who[m] to trust;
  • Getting Started;
  • Coming up with a name for my show;
  • Pressing RECORD;
  • Staying motivated;
  • Equipment;
  • Editing;
  • Marketing;
  • Guest hunting;
  • Engagement (i.e., “getting listeners to engage”);
  • Monetization

At the end of this post by Jared Easley, he asks the reader “So what has been holding you back?”

As a podcaster, perhaps you can use these as a checklist with which to review your own podcast shows and see if you appear to be weak in any one of these or some of these. And if so, you can then put a plan in place to strengthen them. And, of course, Jared has his experience as a podcaster from which to draw in order to try and assist the podcaster in getting over the barrier. And he does provide some detail for each of the barriers listed, with some of his suggestions.


I have known the author, Jared Easley, since his founding days in 2014 in the creation of Podcast Movement.

And I would suggest that these suggestions are eternal ones and evergreen ones for new and aspiring podcasters. Perhaps you may see if any of these barriers apply to yourself — or, as Jared asks at the end of the post, ask yourself what OTHER barriers may apply. And then you can put a plan in place to improve your skills in the areas that need work, so that they will no longer be a barrier to you at any time in your podcasting career.

Thank you for your attention.

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

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podcast

574- Response to most-asked question by podcasters

In this episode of The Podcast Reporter, we review some content that answers the issue of the most asked question by podcasters in podcasting. So in a keynote at the 2021 Podcast Movement conference, we have the speaker tell all:  “The existential question for so many of us is not how do I grow my audience, but why did my audience stop growing?

For this, we look to the web site by Tom Webster, who gave a presentation at the conference.

However, in the article from his website, Tom gives the very simple explanation that is above and beyond any SEO or promotion programs or social media referrals, etc.: “There are many answers to the question ‘how can I grow my audience,’ but there is one simple answer to the question, “why did my audience stop growing?” You might not like it, but here it is: because people stopped recommending your podcast.”

So this leads me to believe that WOMMA (“word-of-mouth-marketing-advertising”) may be the best way and the really old way in proven circles to help grow your audience. For myself, as a podcaster, I have seen this work and I am a case study of this with a podcast show that has seen its audience grow for the past year without a single SEO tactic, without a single promotion on the web or on social media, and without any paid advertising of any kind. It was strictly on referrals made by word of mouth by those podcasters who had a stream of shows listened to by the world audiences. They had mentioned that it was a great show, with value — and the audiences grew in their participation very quickly and very largely.


And although I did not plant any questions to my listeners, I feel that those who listened to the show had the following issues addressed, as Tom Webster mentions in his article:

“In my keynote at Podcast Movement I focused on the concept of recommendability, and gave three things every podcaster could do to improve theirs:

  1. Know who you are for, and why they are there
  2. Make your show easy to recommend
  3. Master your craft”

Then Tom goes into detail and explains each one of those three bullets in his presentation. He also has some charts in which he goes into detail about discoverability of podcast shows, and why you should think more about other areas beyond being discovered — especially recommendability.

And I believed that the case study of the show mentioned from my team addressed all of these in several ways. So, sometimes you can reach a level of success in growing our audience without your even planning for it or paying for it — all due to the word-of-mouth marketing and advertising given by others through recommendability.

So, thus, I would recommend that you consume the article from Tom (if you did not have a chance to consume the audio of his presentation from a virtual ticket of the conference or you did not have a presence in person at the conference). You may want to see how you may define and plan for recommendability in addition to discoverability — and beyond — for the success of your show in growing your audience.

Thank you for your attention.

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

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podcast

572- Take-aways from podcast conferences — then and now

In this episode of the Podcast Reporter, we discuss some “After-Action-Reports” (as they were called if you were in the military) and a promotion to describe benefits of the conference from some podcasters who did attend in person the Podcast Movement conference — in particular, the latest conference in 2021 and the very first initial conference in 2014.


The first Podcast Movement conference in 2014:

In this same podcast show, we presented an older episode of this podcast show that stated the benefits that you would miss if you would not attend Podcast Movement (initial conference in 2014):

And the slides that promoted this theme are in this PowerPoint slide presentation:

https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/fgcastgain/PDF_of_NineThings-PodcastMovement-presentation-slides_1.pdf


The recent Podcast Movement conference after-action report:

In a recent edition of the Podcast Business Journal, Matty Staudt delivered his perspectives by publishing his “Five Things I Learned at Podcast Movement.”

The summary of these benefits received by Matty are stated in the following, as Matt states: “…it was still a an amazing time with some excellent speakers. Here are my top five takeaways.”

  1. Our industry continues to be one where everyone supports each other.
  2. Podcasting for brands is becoming big business.
  3. Monetization is all the talk…. We are still a young industry and a lot needs to shake out, but I’ve never seen so many tools available to monetize shows without relying on CPM. It’s still a tough road to hoe for most, but it’s getting better.
  4. Everyone wants to be Clubhouse.
  5. Radio is getting serious and being taken more seriously.

And you may ask “who is Matty Staudt?” For your benefit, we answer that question with the information in this article:

Matty Staudt is the EVP of Podcasting for Amaze Media Labs producers of podcasts for brands and events, Founder of Jam Street Media, and former VP of Podcast Programming at iHeart. You can find him on all socials @mattystaudt or email at matty@amazemedialabs.com 


It was interesting to compare the notable benefits of attending this same conference as it has morphed into an inbound event within the podosphere. We hope that you, too, can find benefits in attending.

For this podcaster, I did attend the initial Podcast Movement conference in 2014 (in which I did share a booth and meet another podcaster, Mr. Ben Krueger of cashflowpodcasting.com); I also did attend the Podcast Movement 2020-Evolutions in February —  but I did not attend the most recent conference in Nashville in 2021.

However, I do plan to attend the 2022 Podcast Movement conference in the first quarter of the year. I have received benefits both in education and training and knowledge and in-person connections and improvement of relationships with other podcasters — as well as getting interviews from the attendees and the exhibitors at the conference.

Thus, we shall see how the situation for attending live events will evolve and what the nature of the podosphere will be at that time.

We hope that you, too, can attend a conference in person (or online in the virtual conference) and get the benefits to help your podcast show for your podcasts to grow and be successful. For this, we recommend that you do create a cost-benefit analysis to justify participating in an upcoming conference.

Thank you for your attention.

Copyright (c) 2021, Matrix Solutions Corporation and Podcast Business Journal and Paul Colligan and Matty Staudt and michaelandmike.com. All rights reserved.

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517- BONUS — Networking events and Podcaster attendance

In this episode of The Podcast Reporter, we discuss the topic of networking events and whether or not entrepreneurs and startups should attend — either in person or online for a virtual event.

With the lockdown situations easing a bit more and more, it could be possible for us to attend in person the inbound conferences. In this episode, we give an example of my own attendance of the Podcast Movement 2020-Evolutions conference in person prior to the lockdowns and the upcoming Podcast Movement 2021 in Nashville, Tennessee. In this latter event, a ticket will allow you to “attend” in person or virtually (as they will be holding an inbound event and simultaneously online, as well).

As a clear discussion of criteria for determining a good ROI for attending such an event, we include a repurposed episode from a prior podcast called The Struggling Entrepreneur. This repurposed episode is a narration of a prior blog post from Lisa Wells, who maintains focus for getting good results from such an event — and she gives her own personal examples.

Note: after the blog post narration, I deliver some of my own caveats for attending too many networking events — and these are from my own experience earlier in my days as a novice entrepreneur and focusing on podcast conferences and meetings.

I hope that you will find value in this post for your planned “attendance” at scheduled networking events — whether virtual on in person.

Thank you for your attention.

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

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501- Strategies for being a speaker in a podcast event

In this episode of The Podcast Reporter, we deliver an updated version of an earlier episode that has been mostly repurposed. It deals with listing some strategies for you to become a speaker or presenter or demonstrator in the exhibit hall or “virtual exhibit area” at a podcasting event or conference.

If you have attended New Media conferences or other podcast events (such as those mentioned, above), and if you have never been a speaker at such an event, perhaps you are wondering if you should throw your name in the ring and be a speaker or panelist at one of these events.

If you are relatively new into podcasting — or if you have been a podcaster for a time, but have been reluctant to apply as a speaker to an event — you may want to consider the strategies dealing with the commitment of being a speaker and participate in these events.

In this episode, we will quickly try to examine in an overview format both the benefits, as well as the detriments, of being part of a key event as a podcaster.

So what is my own background as a speaker in Podcasting (2006 to 2021)?

This Podcast Reporter has been involved as a speaker and presenter in podcasting events since 2006. In San Francisco, I began as a speaker at the 3rd Podcamp. After that, I had been a speaker at multiple Podcamps in San Antonio, Texas, and other locations nationwide. Also, I had spoken at the New Media Expo (in 2011), as well as The New Media Expo podcasting tract until 2015 (the last NMX show). I also shared the stage with Jay Ehret of the Marketing Spot podcast show at a ProductCamp, as well.  I was also a session speaker since the very first  Podcast Movement conference, etc. And then my product line advanced into not only podcasting, but screencasting and video content creation and marketing.

In addition, I had been an instructor in multiple locations and taught the course of Podcasting 101 to various audiences (both public sector and private sector). And I have been a podcasting consultant and video training screencaster for the last 9 years.


Thus, I would like to review the attractive benefits — as well as some possible detriments — for you as a podcaster in becoming a new speaker at these events.

A Key Strategy: Review Events and pick the one(s) best for you

Since conferences are money-making events for those who plan and stage and produce and hold them, there is usually a lot of confusion and hype in reviewing a show or conference. You have to go through the exaggeration and hype to get to the real matter and content of the conference to see what audiences can benefit and what you can get out of it for your business or podcast.

BENEFITS: Why be a speaker or panelist participant

  • Recognition as a subject matter expert–
  • Opportunity to grow your audiences and subscriptions–
  • Obtain skills to improve your public speaking and training —
  • Enjoyment of educating and training others —
  • Benefit of conference costs: the admittance to the event and a possible virtual ticket —
  • Face-to-face meeting with key podcasters and others (for live in-person events) —
  • Possible education and training in podcasting —
  • Striking up joint ventures or other business relationships —

Launch or Pre-launch activities or venue for your offerings —

  • Promotion of your podcast, products, offerings or services —
  • Possible success in sales of your offerings or services —
  • Leads for future profitable ventures or sales —
  • The enjoyment of educating and helping others —
  • Enjoy the in-person or virtual community with other podcasters —
  • Possible “Sneak-peek” at offerings in an exhibit area or demonstration arena, either in-person or virtual —
  • Create content in a “podcast” booth or “pavilion” booth or setting
  • Gain credibility in getting interviews as a speaker or bumpers

Possible Detriments: Just be content as an attendee

  •  Commitment of costs i.e., funding travel, lodging and other expenses (for in-person events)–
  • Time away from your business (a hidden cost, but one that could be very critical in both virtual and in-person settings)–
  • The internal fear of not living up to your expectations — “fear”–
  • Perception of the reception of your presentation from your audiences–
  • Perhaps the inability to promote or sell your offerings —
  • Bad timing prior to your launch or pre-launch —
  • Family life or personal life or business commitments are not right —

Get content from interviews with podcasters or bumpers

Alternative: Do not attend in person — Only get the Virtual Ticket

  • The Virtual Ticket (if offered) – benefits
  • The Virtual Ticket — missing the Q/A, in-person buzz and exhibits —
  • Perhaps the best value for your budget, time and business —

What is your strategy for you and your business in Podcasting?

As you can see, there are several conferences available, and they seem to grow in number (even the virtual events) every year.

You have to determine if you want to have the notoriety of being a speaker, the ability to place this on your resume or CV, and enjoy the benefits of presenting or participating as a panelist in an event or not.

For myself, if my health would allow me, I would still both attend the in-person sessions and/or  speak at a podcast show or event. As a podcaster, I would still embrace all the benefits — because it would be right for me and my business.

However, YOUR business strategy and podcasting strategy will help you to review your options and determine which is best for you.

Thank you for your attention.

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