Podcasting; It?s not Just for Ipods Anymore

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There are two ways of doing this Manually using, www.rss-specifications.com/, or Download the software from places like FeedForAll at www.feedforall.com. Although the later option is easier, be aware that the software from FeedForAll is not free.

 

 

Lastly you need to keep in mind the following:
Bandwidth costs money; this cost is dependant on such factors as audience and file size. Once your podcast takes off you may notice that the cost of bandwidth increases proportionally with audience size – like most Producers you will almost certainly have very little control over how many downloads your media receives.

Also, it is almost impossible to “know” your audience. Some hosting providers will give you a log of audience members, but they are far too complex for the average Joe to

understand. This makes it hard to direct your content to the audience, some more successful podcasters employ professionals to translate the information, but this of course increases costs.

 

 

These are just the basics. For those already familiar with digital recording you will digest this information much easier then to those who are starting from the beginning. Unfortunately because it is still a fairly new technology it doesn’t get any easier… yet.

 

 

Once you’ve played with the software, and have a basic idea of how to be creative in this medium, you can start thinking about crafting your own successful podcast.

 

 

 

 

Choose a topic that you know a lot about, it’s always better if your topic is 100% original because

there’s no competition. If your material is not unique than spend time now thinking about fresh angles, hooks and gimmicks to make it stand out in the crowd!

 

 

Who is your target market? What age demographic do you most want to reach? Is the show directed towards a particular ethnic group or sex? All of these questions need answers, because all of your content should be aimed at a specific market to ensure penetration.

 

 

When the first episode goes to air it needs to make an impact! Tom Green performed stupid gags on people he knew on a local cable TV station – and it exploded all over the world. He didn’t have fancy graphics or advanced equipment, he was himself, and it worked.

There is an evolving ‘Show Format’ which has grown from a standard radio template into

something sleeker and more dynamic. Where once a musical intro would fade to allow an announcer’s voice… Now it’s content, content, content, and the music often swells into composite synthesis that’s equally informative and way more entertaining.

Keep in mind that only 10% of the music content should be slow songs and or new artists, unless that’s central to the premise of the show.

 

 

Jump into it! Have your content organized and ready to go. Avoid wordy scripts that sound rehearsed. Write what you want to address in point form, in large type, either on paper or on your computer and ‘just do it’. Topics should be well researched; narrators must appear well informed or will lose audience interest.

 

 

If you plan to do interviews on your show, it’s important to

keep questions short and to the point. Sometime the question can get lost or bogged down by excess wording and the guest may become confused and not answer or answer incorrectly. The question should be straight forward and simply worded.

 

 

Start small, keep it short, and broadcast only once a week. If your audience grows you may increase content accordingly. But the schedule should remain fixed and easy for an audience to follow.

 

 

Marketing and promoting your podcasts

 

 

Affiliate Marketing is a great resource for beginners. Visit websites that have content that relates to the format of your show, or local business looking to increase traffic, i.e. Lets say you creating a program entitled “Cooking with Stacey,”

assume also there is a popular local butcher from whom you buy meat. If he (or she) has a website you may approach the butcher and offer to advertise your cooking show on his site. In turn you’ll be sure to mention the great cut of meat you found at Vinny’s for the show, etc.

 

 

When you’ve created your own podcast and made it available to the world, you need to tell everyone about it and drive an audience to listen.

 

 

Marketing maximizes audience potential. With podcasting there’s always the possibility of generating revenue, but only if people are aware of, and or interested in, your show. Successful podcasters understand the importance of creating awareness. If the work doesn’t shine in a crowded marketplace, the product is invisible in the

medium.

 

 

So now you’re a lone podcaster with what could be a popular show… Now you’re wondering how to make enough profit to cover the cost of production. On my travels I’ve found some information on the various ways to gain revenue from podshows.

 

 

Micropayement- this is equivalent to asking for a fee in return for each presentation. Although it’s straight forward enough, it’s not the most reliable method. Think about it, why would someone pay for something they can get for free somewhere else? There are two versions of Micropayment employed in the marketplace today.

 

 

 

 

Pay-per view: think of movies on demand on your television via cable

 

 

Monthly Subscription: like

your electric bill

 

 

 

 

Google Adsense Ads – their payment method is based on the amount of traffic your podcast generates.

 

 

Income Stream – often considered the most profitable, Producers sell a portion of their podcast to a recognized sponsor. Advertising is inside the show. The advertisers can pay a fee on monthly bases which is determined by your audience size. The problem with this is that most audiences perceive this as a shameful sell out.

 

 

Because the internet is open to piracy, in order to ensure that your show is not floating around free for anyone to access without a fee, providers need a form of security to protect their work. Systems such as ticket-master and online music stores have used verification images to

authenticate downloads – and these have proven quite effective.

 

 

Benefits of using Podcasting for your Marketing Campaign

 

 

Podcasting is an ideal medium for PR and advertising to young audiences. As yet it’s barely regulated and rules regarding its broadcast generally center on copyright issues – profanity and sexuality are ****.

 

 

This is why podcasting is the medium of choice for companies such as Durex condoms – they are able to reach their target market and not be censored. When Durex first used podcasting as an advertising medium they increased their website traffic three fold by advertising on the “Dawn and Drew Show,” alone.

 

 

Another benefit of podcasting is an

inherent ability to measure your investor’s return on investment (ROI). The ROI can be determined by analyzing sales performance in reference to the amount of the listeners visiting the website.

 

 

It has been proven that advertising on television or the radio has not had the same influence it has in the past. Not only are people becoming blind to the messages, but it is hard to motivate people from non-action to action. When people are vegging out on the couch watching the tube, the chances that they are going to jump up and go to your website because of a TV ad, is less likely than if they are already on the internet, then it is only a matter of click, click and the consumer is surfing your website.

 

 

The benefits of using Podcasting for your PR campaign are multi-dimensional. All available

content including newspaper and magazine articles, press releases, news stories, and existing marketing media can all be translated into podcasts and be organized and distributed to users all over the internet. Every client should have news resources online that embody all PR and stories in a search engine ready website. Remember that having a brand ‘personality’ is the secret of secrets to success in audio and video entertainment and podcasting is no different; people must want to listen. Successful podcasters fill a need for information and turn promotion vehicles into stories shaped to fascinate audiences with shorter attention spans.

 

 

No podcast is complete without a text blog detailing the subject. Attack both mediums so search engines will have more data to sift and generate more favorable

results.

 

 

There are many free flow information pathways for PR gurus. Innovative media pioneers take advantage of new technology when relaying their client messages – podcasting is just one of them. Remember, newswires, blog sites, chat rooms, discussion boards, viral / buzz promotions can now be easily converted to podcasts.

 

 

Sharing media lowers advertising costs and increases its effect. Peer to Peer distribution is a concept made familiar by Napster. Individuals share various files through the use of specific software. In the recent past it’s been p2p efforts pirating music. But this is still a valid process you may employ in your own effort to distribute your podcast. In order for it to work properly, both audience and producers need to embrace p2p sharing. Audience members need to have

p2p software and have bandwidth to contribute to increase the efficiency of the network.

 

 

Is there a downside to P2P networks? Firewalls, slow connections and audience members who turn off their computers reduce its efficiency. Also there needs to be an incentive to make subscribers want to participate. Because a regular network takes fewer steps, many users prefer other, more simple means…

 

 

But right now let’s say that podshow audience members embrace your new p2p network, all your affiliated podshow producers will need to ensure that they to are p2p compatible and have the software to support the upload. If producers make the transfer easy enough to understand, more audience members will use it. This leads to cheaper bandwidth costs.

 

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