Podonomics

I get emails from people who tell me about their brand spanking new, hot off the presses, better than sliced bread podcasting service. Sometimes these emails are personalized. The person will mention my blog, one of my products and one of my podcasts.

The majority of these solicitations are general, a template that doesn’t mention anything about me. The worst is when they spell my first name wrong and then ask me to point them to my podcast.

Whatever.

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My pal (he knows I call him this) and mentor (he doesn’t know I call him this), Scott Bourne has partnered with Podango as an executive strategic advisor, according to their press release.

Exciting news for podcasting since Scott, who hosts a couple of podcasts on Leo Laporte’s TWIT network, has a serious passion for this field. The guys behind Podango, Lee Gibbons and Doug Smith, both of whom I met at the Podcast & New Media Show have one of the coolest podcasting platforms out there.

What makes Podango so unique?

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I have followed a comic book theme this week on this blog (see here and here). Judging from the title of this post, it seems that the super hero theme continues.

Yet, instead of super heros, I want to draw your attention to Scott Bourne’s list of unsung heros in podcasting. Yours truly is one of them. Ah shucks, thanks for the nod, Scott.

Some of you may be wondering, “Great job Leesa, but who’s Scott Bourne?” Well, he’s just the author of a few dozen technology books, host of a few podcasts on Leo Laporte’s monster podcasting network called TWIT, has a few blogs on technology and podcasting (namely, this one, this one & this one) and is one of the coolest people I met at the Podcast & Portable Media Expo in September.

Who else can you nominate as an unsung hero in podcasting? Let’s contribute to this list.

What a great niche and what an awesome moniker. Jerry Franklin, the Audacity Guy, led a session at the International Podcasting Expo on basic editing techniques using Audacity.

While I know everything there is to know about Audacity, I did pick up these tips:

• Use the solo button in the track control panel to only listen to one track at a time when you have many tracks open. That way, you don’t have to move things around just to isolate the sound your really want to hear from one track.
• The Audacity Guy warned against editing out every um, ah or what he called “artifact.” It’d take too long, but more importantly, everyone will sound the same. Your goal is to make your guest sound authoritative and you want your podcast to move along, but don’t edit to the point where the personalities are removed.
• Don’t forget to save early and save often.
• The Audacity Guy took us through the envelope tool. Unfortunately, I was distracted by something my mother was saying to me, so I missed it. It appears the envelope tool can help you increase and decrease the volume of a chunk of your audio without having to use the selection tool.

As I sit here at my computer attending a few sessions at the International Podcasting Expo, I stumbled upon some interesting news bits in the podcasting world.

Here are just a few of my musings:

• Self-Proclaimed Podcasting Thought Leader? While I don’t want to remove the bulbs from anyone’s scoreboard on game day, I’m curious to know what makes Bruce Stasch, President of Apex Marketing Group, a podcasting thought leader? Again, I’m just curious as I’ve never heard of him and I’ve been engrossed in this field for close to 2-years now.

• iTunes Only Loves the Big Boys, Sorry. More and more I believe that unless you have a big corporate name in the title of your podcast, you will find yourself swimming in the sea of nothingness in iTunes. Check out who’s listed in the Top 25 in each category in iTunes. What is ratio between podcasts produced by those with recognizable corporate names vs. the small fries?

• Podcasts Are Made By Geeks, For Geeks Says Writer. Two years after I discovered podcasts, I’m still amazed at how many people still think podcasting are only for geeks. Rachel Cooke comes to this realization after listening to 1 podcast that had what she called “a Dallas theme song.” Actually, after reading her article a second time, I’m still not clear what she’s rambling about. However, I’m shocked that based on the production values of a few podcasts, Rachel makes this sweeping generalization that podcasts are only for geeks. Comments like this only help to keep mainstream audiences from embracing podcasting. Thanks Rachel.

• Podcasts Piss Prof. I feel like I’ve just written a headline for the Toronto Sun (check out Friday’s front cover to the left talking about the number of pedestrians killed by distracted drivers in Toronto - Fatal Distraction (**groan**). Looks like not all professors embrace podcasting. Robert Schneider, Associate Professor of Theater and Dance at Northern Illinois University, laments at length that podcasts are ruining the classroom learning experience. While podcasting may not be an appropriate alternative, it is an appropriate compliment, Rob.

• Great Podcasting Idea: Pre-Conference Podcasting Roadshow. There’s a conference coming up called IT@Cork and they plan on interviewing each speaker and releasing them as a podcast each week until the week of the conference. While this isn’t a new idea, it’s certainly something you can look at to promote your own event.

• Mr. Penguin Girl Signs Off. By way of Paul Colligan, I found out that Jon Watson said farewell to his BizPodcasting blog this week. I knew something was amiss when I didn’t see any new blog posts on his blog for about 2-days (Jon usually updates his blog 4-5 times per day). Jon’s voice was unique and independent. Because of his autonomy, he was able to freely talk about what he liked and didn’t like about podcasting. I’m sad to see Jon go as that means one less Canuck voicing their podcasting opinions, however, I’ve made an awesome friend because of his blog. Cheers dude.

By way of Paul, I discovered that I’m one of the featured faces on the October 3rd episode of Rocketboom. They recapped the Podcast & Portable Media Expo by interviewing a few people, yours truly included.

So, I’ve been boomed. It’s an honour.

Technorati: podcasting, rocketboom, paul colligan, pme, Podcast Expo 2006

Scott Bourne called me “smart as a whip” on his blog and I wear that honour with lots of pride. Plus, he has a soft spot for Canadians and anyone who loves us Crazy Canucks gets mucho points in my book.

If you don’t know who Scott is, he works closely with Leo Laporte - hailed as the Podcaster of the Year by the Podcast & Portable Media Expo - on a few podcasts in the TWIT network. According to respondents of the Canadian Podcast survey, TWIT was slated as the top viewed podcast in Canada, so you get an idea where TWIT stack up in the podcasting world. I mean, people were clamouring for Scott’s autograph at the Expo, so he packs alot of star power in podcasting.

I ended up chatting with Scott for about 2-hours on Saturday morning over really bad coffee in the speaker’s room (no Tim Horton’s in Ontario, CA). Our conversation was so engaging, I missed Andrew Baron’s keynote (Paul provides a nice summary). Sorry Drew.

Scott gave me some great advice on how to raise your profile and funny enough, it has nothing to do with podcasting. His tips:

• Network like crazy.
• Attend industry events.
• Ask for favours.
• Write a book.
• Be authentic.

You may be reading the tips above and saying to yourself, “Leesa, that’s obvious.” However, these no-brainer tips from an industry heavyweight such as Scott are easily forgotten.

He gave me very specific ideas that I can use for my own situation. I’m not in the habit of spilling the beans on private conversations on a public forum, however, I will announce some of my plans very soon.

In the meantime, take a look at your own situation and ask yourself if you can use Scott’s advice to raise your own profile. If so, put a plan in place and make it happen. Don’t just say it, write it down, committ your intention to dates, then follow through.

Now, where’s my pen & paper?

Technorati: scott bourne, podcasting, personal brand, perception, networking, Business

Jason Lee Miller over at WebProNews.com attended my session at the Podcast & Portable Media Expo and provided a very nice summary of the seven deadly sins of business podcasting.

He’s asking for more sins. Can you think of any?

Technorati: Podcast Expo 2006, podcasting, pme, portable media expo, Leesa Barnes, webpronews

I finally had a chance to sit in on the corporate podcasting track here at the Podcast Expo. I sat in on Peter Levitan’s presentation called Podcasting: Marketing’s New Change-Agent. Peter, who’s President of Ralston360, gave tips on how to integrate podcasting into a corporation’s current marketing strategy.

Peter talked about his Big 4.

1. Create a creative brief. Define the target market, the intended action item, the key message.
2. Determine a budget. How much are you willing to spend on a podcasting strategy.
3. Hire a pro. Listeners are now demanding that it sounds professional.
4. Integrate. Mention your podcast in your brochures, on your website and in other communication tools.

Peter also mentioned that if you’re trying to convince your peers or your CEO to podcast, don’t send them on a goose chase to download podcasts in iTunes. Instead:

1. Hand him or her a few podcasts on a CD.
2. Tell him or her to listen to it on the drive home.
3. Then, tell him or her that your company needs to offer this type of content for free online.

Some great points.

Technorati: pme, podcast expo 2006, podcasting, peter levitan

Sitting here listening to Paul Colligan, co-author of The Business Podcasting Bible and overall a pretty savvy marketing guy. Here are some points:

• Podcasts don’t make money, clicks on websites do. Use your podcast to lead people to your website (this is what I preach).
• CPMs on podcasts will go away very soon as soon as people figure out how to really make money from podcasts.
• The seven monetization strategies:

1. Benefactor - Sponsorships, tip jars, donations.
2. Newsletters - Give people a reason to subscribe, then send out your ezine weekly.
3. Merchandising - Sell items on your website or through cafepress.com. Mention these products in your podcast.
4. Premium Podcast Content - Have people pay to hear your podcast. Use audible.com.
5. Commissioned Sales - Otherwise known as affiliate marketing, mention products in your podcast, list the affiliate links in your show notes. When your listeners buy, you get a portion of the sales.
6. Web Clicks - Use adsense to drive people to your website, then offer a community complete with transcripts, boards and comments that listeners can participate in.
7. Sell Your Own Products - Digital is better as you keep more of the profits. Use PayPal.com or AutomateSales.com to do this. Mention your products in your podcast, then lead people to your website to purchase the download.

Technorati: pme, podcast expo 2006, podcasting, paul colligan