MediaJoltz

Hey so I apologize for not writing, thought I would have time during the Podcast and New Media Conference I went to, to put up posts, but turns out I had such good time hanging with people I’ve been talking to that I burned out by the night. But lets jump right into some meat for you guys to read:

One of the classes I went to helped me to realize something that I learned about myself and my blog. The class was “10 Secret Habits to Podcast Stardom” taught by Franklin McMahon of Franklin McMahon Studio.

What we need to remember is that habits need to be practiced over and over again-so APPLY THEM!! Its not going to be easy, and it is very repetitious, but that’s what makes the difference between succeeding and failing.

I really liked the fact that he brought up the fact that we need to get out of the bubble. I believe Chris Brogan put it: “get out of the fishbowl.” You can read his first posts about this topic here Extend the conversation and 5 ways to extend the conversation.

When you are talking about podcasting with those not familiar with the term, you can very easily scare them off by talking about podcasting and RSS and subscribtion and iTunes. To get someone easily connecting to your show, just tell them you have created a show, send them to your website and make sure you have an easy website that has a play button for them to watch/listen right away.

So for an example instead of saying-“Hey I’ve got a podcast on surfing that is really cool because you can subscribe to it and the code in the subscription will let your computer know when a new episode has been uploaded blah blah blah,” make it about the show.
Say “Hey I’ve got a show that’s about surfing. It gives tips and tricks on how to do some of the most awesome moves-AND some ideas on how to make sure you keep your board in the best shape it can be.”

And don’t just think about new media marketing for your show, you can do press releases, tv and radio interviews. We do need to keep in touch with each other, but we also need to be doing our part to help others understand this technology.

I wanted today to add some of my thoughts. The podcast and new media expo 2007 was my first “new media” conference you could say and I learned a lot. One of the main things I realized (and it was in this class) that those of you reading this blog, probably aren’t my target audience. I’ve been worried that I haven’t been posting good things and that’s why I haven’t hit 30K downloads a month. But, my target audience is probably not reading blogs-beacause they don’t know how.

Those who are my target audience need me to help them get set up online. They are businessmen and women who already have a website but want to do more because they understand the importance of online relationships-but don’t know how to start.

What am I going to do about it? Well I came up with a few ideas and one of those is to start having more seminars. I want to tell people about this technology, I want to make more friends online and I know of so many people who would benefit from making friends with some of the people I know-I want to share it with everyone. So seminars it is-and heck, maybe I’ll get into the speaker/presentation arena. I got a great friend named Laura who consults on presentations. Her company Pistachio Consulting is “helping lots of presentations suck less.” I think I’ll give her a call.

But I also wanted to throw out there a thank you to those of you who are reading my blog as my support group even if you aren’t learning something new everyday.

Disclaimer: I forgot to mention that iTunes is not the only place to find your favorite podcasts. There are lots of places on the web to find podcasts-just do a google search for “podcast directory” you will find that there are lots of places to look for podcasts. I just use iTunes because it is convenient for me to find the podcast and hit the subscribe button.

So now, what if you found a podcast but it isn’t in the itunes directory? All you need to do if find the RSS feed button.
The orange button is the universal symbol for an RSS feed-or the url you need to add to your podcatcher.
It could also be written out in text. Below is a picture of some of the things you could see to click on.

Now the add to iTunes will open up your iTunes. But it is possible, because it could be a podcast and blog mixed that you will be directed to a window that looks like this:

You can see the option to add to other web-based podcatchers, iTunes, as well as a url for the feed.

Take that URL and head on over to your podcatcher, mine being iTunes and add it:

And you can see that it is being added to my iTunes Podcast selection:

Happy listening!

What are your favorite podcasts??? comment in the field below so that we can all check out some awesome shows!

Sometimes we aren’t sure what to write or podcast about.  That isn’t a problem for Chris Brogan who gives us a list of things he hopes you talk about in your next post or episode.

Here is a short version of the list:

1 How I Use Facebook
2 Ways I Embrace My Audience
3 Should My Town Use Social Media?
4 A Community I Love
5 Technology That Empowers Me
6 How Flickr Did it Right
7 How Best to Comment on a Corporate Blog
8 Ways to Save a Bad Time at a Conference
9 How I Find Blogging Ideas
10 Somebody Has to Say It
11 My Children Will Do it Differently
12 How Schools Could Use Social Media
13 The Best Parts of Marketing
14 Presentation Skills for a New Conversation
15 How I Find Time to Make Media
16 Empower Your Best Customers
17 After the Event- Carrying the Conversation Forward
18 Just Jump Into Podcasting- Heres How
19 My Community and How You Can Engage It
20 Twitter Jaiku Pownce Facebook- And Then What
21 Making a Miniseries
22 If I Were an Advertiser Today
23 My Mother is On Facebook
24 Does a Big Brand Need You
25 Books I Want to Write

check out Brogan’s site for the rest of the topics!

For the past month I’ve been traveling and giving some seminars on podcasting. To help my audience and you guys, Cammon from CopperRain put together a Step by Step guide to podcasting to help make sure the podcasting experience was as much fun and successful as possible.

Just like we went and explored other blogs, we need to also explore other podcasts to decide what things we like including:

-the length

-the format

-the intro music

And so here is part one of the Step by Step on how to find and listen to podcasts.

When you subscribe to a podcast you are actually subscribing to what is called the RSS feed. RSS stands for “really simple syndication.” What RSS does is attatch a piece of code to your podcast to let the computers belonging to those people who are subscribed to your podcast know that there is a new episode.
Having all the RSS do all the download work for you is great when you have nine or ten or more podcasts that you like to listen to on a regular basis.

The last thing you need in order to listen to a podcast is something that I have
just barely touched on, it’s called a podcatcher. In other words, some kind of program that will read the RSS feed and then allow you to watch or listen to a show after it is downloaded. A favorite seems to be iTunes and it is available on both Mac and PC. One nice feature about iTunes is that it has a built in Podcast directory.
You can go to www.apple.com and downloading iTunes if you don’t already have
it and taking a look at all the podcasts that are ready to be consumed.
Download itunes.

Once you have downloaded iTunes go ahead and open it up. It will ask you a
few questions like “do you want to make this program your media player?” Get past all those options we just want to get to the podcasts.

When the program opens up click on the “iTunes Store” it’s to the left of the
screen.

Next, find the Podcast section just to the right.

You are now ready to start browsing the thousands of podcasts from all over.

You can also browse to find podcasts that interest you:

Or you can search for specific podcasts

So now you can start listening to some of your favorite podcasts and see what you like about them. Write that down. Keep track of how often they produce an episode. Pay attention to the topic and if they stick to it or wonder on the show. How about the quality, is it good, bad, does it bother you if it isn’t radio quality? Start formulating what you like and don’t like and try to implement that into what you want for your own podcast.

Today we are going to start thinking about podcasting. The reason why I say start “thinking” is because there is a lot to decide before you podcast in order to make sure your shows are as tight and seamless as possible for your success.
I have been reading a book called Podcast Solutions by Michael Geoghegan and Dan Klass.

Here are some questions that the authors pose about podcasting to help you begin formulating the proper podcast that you’ll enjoy producing:

Who are you and why should we listen?
You want to talk on a topic that people can connect too. More than no commercials or the quality of the podcast, people say the number one thing they like about the podcasts they listen to is that they can connect with them.

Be straight up with who you are, the intentions of the podcast-don’t try to sell anything on your podcast episode after episode.

While its easy enough to listen to podcasts, it does take some effort-and they are listening to YOU not someone else, so give them some honest information-get to the meat of the matter on your podcast.

What is your podcast about?
You need to decided exactly what your podcast is about. The more niche the better. What are you trying to accomplish with your podcast and make sure each episode stays on that track.
When your listeners download or subscribe to your podcast, its because the liked what they heard in the first few episodes. They expect each episode to be new and fresh but familiar to the previous shows…
Narrowcasting-or making programs that only appeal to a very tight group of people is something that is talked about today. If your show is too general people might subscribe, but are they really loyal. If you have a show on unicycling, you are going to reach a small percentage of the audience, but the impact and appeal of the show to that group is immeasurable

How consistent do you want to be?
When your listeners subscribe, its almost like entering into an agreement-they will download your podcast on a regular basis, in belief that you will be podcasting on a regular basis.
Set a consistent time and stick with it. Inconsistency is one of the points that can kill a podcast listener loyalty quickly. But also keep in mind the law of diminishing returns…everyday might be way too much. I know some that are once a week, others are once every two weeks

How long should your show be?
I like to listen to shows that are 10-20 min long while Cammon listens to some that are an hour and a half… you know the audience you are trying to reach better than I, what are they like, are they busy or do they sit at the computer for long lengths of time able to listen to an hour or so?

Start strong and finish big-no one has to be perfect, but make sure you jump out of the gate with energy and enthusiasm. A floundering presenter has the luxury of being able to bring the audience back, but a podcaster loses his audience for good with a click of a button. Make them feel like they are in good hands right from the beginning. Lead with your strength. Make sure the opening of the show reflects the tone and pace of the rest of the show. Choose an appropriate theme song…Relax and have fun with it, don’t be nervous!