Podonomics

One of the first women going to space as a tourist will be podcasting and blogging about her experience during her 10-day journey, according to this news release. Anousheh Ansari will blog and podcast from outer space.

While I applaud this news, the article fails to provide a link to the page where I can subscribe to her podcast. Now I have to go searching for this information and by then, I’ll probably just forget.

Note to everyone - if you announce something through a press release or article, do provide a link to your webpage so readers can follow up.

Technorati: podcasting

Whirlpool announced 4 innovative moms who invented something cool for their product line. Each mom got a slew of cash and a chance to attend a business bootcamp to meet with product developers at Whirlpool.

The quote from the grand prize winner really stood out. Mary Anne Amato will be awarded a $20,000 grant to put her idea into the hands of consumers across the country. She said:

“I am so grateful to Whirlpool for their commitment to moms, and for honoring inventions like [mine]. The grant is invaluable — and I am so grateful for the opportunity to turn my dream into reality and ultimately, make life easier for other moms.”

Do you see what stands out? Amato said that Whirlpool is committed to moms. Now, why does Amato believe this? Is it because Whirlpool’s podcast focuses on the issues that moms care about?

Hmmm…I wonder how many of you would like to have this type of brand loyalty? Well first, you need to define what your brand is and who it stands for. Then, you can develop all the tools necessary to connect your brand with your target market.

This is what Whirlpool does so well. And many laughed at Whirlpool last year when they launched a podcast that never once mentioned its products. Yet, look at the image they have built for themselves in the minds of their target market.

Powerful.

Technorati: podcasting

Today, I got 2 press releases in my Google Alerts from 2 companies doing the same thing. Voices.com and Voice123.com both announced major developments in helping to connect voice talent artists with podcasters.

Voices.com announced that people can use their services to not only find voice talent for their projects, but also to advertise their podcast production skills for hire. While Voice123.com used a press release to reinforce its #1 position in the market.

This is most interesting. Not only are people competing with each other to build the largest podcasting community so they can target advertisers, but so too are those who supply voice talent.

Technorati Tags: podcasting

In the world of podcasting, there are bound to be some hissyfits. One has been brewing over the last couple of weeks between Joseph Jaffe and the Podfather himself, Adam Curry.

Jaffe, a new media specialist, recently interviewed Curry and Podshow CEO, Ron Bloom. The interview went 1-1/2 hours, so Jaffe split the interview in two.

Jaffe aired Part 1, but seeing that Curry didn’t promote the interview on his own blog, website or even on his own podcast show called Daily Source Code, Jaffe withheld airing Part 2 until Curry “showed him some love.” Well, that sent Curry off his rocker and Jaffe summed up the whole thing on his blog.

This misunderstanding provides some valuable lessons on how not to treat your guest once the interview is over:

• You can’t demand that your guest publicize the interview they did with you. You can only politely ask.
• Just because your guest doesn’t promote the interview to their own list doesn’t mean you can hold the MP3 of that interview hostage or use it as leverage to not deliver what you said you would.
• At the end of the day, no one really cares about promoting your podcast except you, so get over it.

Here’s Jon’s take.

Technorati: podcasting, adam curry, joseph jaffe

I’m finding quite a number of holes in the podcasting process from a business perspective. For example, I’d prefer that when someone subscribes to my podcast feed, they start from Episode 001. Right now, anyone that subscribes to my feed gets the newest episode, then has to go back on their own to get previous episodes.

The way that autoresponders work is the way I’d like to see podcast feeds work. I set up 10 autoresponders and when someone signs up for that autoresponder, they get the first one, not the newest email I added.

If a podcast feed worked like an autoresponder, I could then create a series of audio messages for a course or for a specific information product. Then, when the person purchases the info product or signs up for the course, they would subscribe to the feed and get the very first one.

This would be beneficial to those who provide training. Perhaps a corporate trainer would like to send out pre-homework, so she records 7 audio messages, creates a feed and distributes that to her students. The students subscribe and they get the very first one, not the 8th one that the corporate trainer may have added a couple of hours ago.

If anyone can create this workaround, you’ll become a star in the podcasting world.

Technorati: podcasting, corporate podcasting

At Podcamp, one of the things that became clear is that this community desperately needs a lawyer. There’s way too many lay people trying to interprete the laws of the land when it comes to copyrights and they’re doing a poor job of it.

Yes, we have the Podcasting Legal Guide, but I haven’t seen the authors around too much. Well, Colette Vogele seems to be getting around online and she’s speaking at the Podcast & Portable Media Expo, so at least she’s doing her part. However, she can’t do it alone and we need a Canadian version, so there’s room for more lawyers to step up.

The pay will be, well, non-existant and you may not get alot of clients, but at least you’ll gain some sort of celebrity status. I promise.

Here are some ways a lawyer can increase his or her profile in the podcasting community:

• Launch a podcast called “5-Minute Podcasting Legal Tips.”
• Attend as many podcasting conference and lead a session called “How to Keep Lawyers Off Your Back.”
• Launch a blog writing about legal issues related to podcasting.
• Ensure that you write and speak in layman terms. In other words, dumb it down a bit.

If you can do all of the 4 things above, you’ll be a star. We need a few from Canada and a few from the United States, to start. If podcasting is too narrow, focus on social media, but whatever you do, do it quickly.

Technorati: podcasting

I got this by way of Penny Haynes. Apparently, the United Nations is planning to pass a treaty that would give broadcaster’s blanket rights to works created by others.

Hmmm…let me see if I understand this. If we use a mechanism to publish our podcasts, the company or organization that provides that distribution method now owns our content. That’s absurd.
This brings to mind something that Prince said when he started using his own name again. He changed his name to “The Artist Formerly Known As Prince” when his contract ended with the record company who owned the masters to his music. It wasn’t until he got ownership over his masters that he became Prince again. In a newspaper interview about that experience, Prince explained how silly it is for record companies to take ownership over an artist’s work. He said:

“It’s like FedEx saying they own the contents of my package just because I used their distribution service.”

I believe that this is what this treaty will do. And if you’re a podcaster, you have to take action. To do so, go here and get your name on the list to protest this treaty being considered by the U.N. (why isn’t this on a wiki?)

Technorati: podcasting

Here are some of my lessons learned from PodCamp:

• It’s all about the content. This is the general theme that came from just about every session I attended. No matter what you want to podcast about, it’s about the content. On top of that, be authentic. Don’t read from a script, don’t try to be what you’re not. Most memorable quote? It came from Mitch Joel: “Be you because someone else is already taken.”

• Always take a road map with you. Never rely solely on Google Maps, Yahoo Maps or handwritten notes. Otherwise, a 10-hour drive becomes a 14-hour trip through 7 states (New York, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Mass, New Hampshire, Maine, Vermont), and 2 provinces (Quebec & Ontario). Thankfully, Jay, Char & Tera kept me entertained with quotes from the Simpsons. They even put my name to song - I just wish I had my recorder turned on.

• Unconferences are great because you get to learn from those in the trenches - the actual people who are coding and making things happen. Most conferences invite people to speak who don’t even touch a lick of code and instead, give you their 5000-ft viewpoint. On the flip side, some of these very people at these unconferences are the ones that will never be invited to speak at conferences because they haven’t learned how to present in front of crowds. My suggestion? Join Toastmasters.

• Make a list of everyone you want to connect with before you get there. Check out the registrants’ list (if available), google their name, visit their website and make it a point to meet them. I listed all the people I wanted to meet and I can happily say that I did it.

• Find your country folk and make some noise. I immediately found Bob, Mark, Julien and Mitch, who staked their claim in 1 area of the conference room. It was nice to go to the same area and find them to complain about the lack of Tim Horton’s and end everything with “eh” without someone laughing and saying, “You ended your sentence with ‘eh’.” We ended up handing out honourary citizenships to C.C., Bryan and Chris.

• Focus less on the technology of podcasting and more on creating your platform. Suzanne Falter-Barns really drove this part home in her session on Sunday morning. Too many of us focus on the intricate details of our craft, instead of marketing our expertise to a wide audience. The Knitting Guy is a great example of someone who is using podcasting as a tool to market his expertise.

Here’s a summary by Beth of my session on Saturday and here’s a slide show of some pictures I took on Day 1. And here’s a picture of Julien, me and The Knitting Guy that Mark Blevis took.

Technorati Tags: podcasting, podcamp

Suzanne Falter-Barns opened Day 2 with a session on how to build a platform to attract the media & publishers to your blog or podcast. Here are some points she made:

• We still need the media a big publishers even though YouTube and other sites generate millions of page views a day.
• In order to attract media attention or interest from a publisher about our book proposal, we need to develop our platform.
• A survey by Columbia University found that 79% of media get their experts for interviews from blogs. Most journalists have only 20-minutes to find an expert from a sea of strangers, so they just use google, read a few blogs, then interview the one who’s the most opiniated. So launch a blog, take a position and update often.
• Pinpoint about 40 media outlets that target your market. Research past issues, then start a quarterly postcard campaign that provides tips.

Technorati Tags: podcamp, suzanne falter barns, podcasting

I was going to sum up every session I attended in separate posts, but instead, I’ll provide a Day One summary. Here’s a summary of the sessions I attended:

• Podcast Format - I sat on this panel discussion along with Chris Brogan, Christopher Penn and a few others, with Bryan Person moderating. I spoke at length about the results of the Canadian Podcast Listeners Survey and all the panelists agreed that content is the most important factor that one should consider when thinking about podcast formats.

• Knowing Your Audience - Andrew Baron led this session looking at how to determine what your audience is looking for. He said that there are 3 things your audience is looking for in your podcast - information, entertainment and belonging (actually, the last was offered by someone in the audience).

• Podcast Consulting - Jason Van Orden led a panel which also had John C. Havens and another gentleman on it. They focused on how to build a business offering podcast consulting. The general consensus is that consultants shouldn’t price themselves too low since thye’re offering a very specialized service.

• Plan A Killer Podcast - Led by me, I focused on the 3 things to consider before you start recording your podcast - Content (what people hear or see), Image (how people perceive your podcast) & Promotion (methods you use to prompt people to subscribe to and dialogue with your podcast).

• Pricing Your Podcasting Services - John Havens led this session looking at how to price the podcasting services you may offer to others. One thing that stuck out is that if you make money off of podcasting, don’t forget to charge clients for the project management of the podcasting project by adding 15% to 20% on top of the fees quoted.