School of Podcasting: Expert Tips for Launching and Growing Your Podcast

Today I share some insights after talking with 

Jason Norris of Podcast Logical

Chris Holifield of I Am Salt Lake

Lee of This is Rammy

Ken Blannchard from Upper Marlboro (and black man with a gun)

We hear what it is like to start a local podcast including:

The struggles to interview local "Mom an Pop" businesses

Is it easier/harder to get a local sponsor?

How they developed their format

How they are promoting the show.

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Comments? Call them in 888-563-3228

Today we talk with Glenn Rubenstein who is the author of the book Podcast Advertising Works. Glenn worked at the TWIT podcast network in both ad sales and as the company’s Director of Marketing. He is also the founder of Adopter Media (https://adopter.media/)

World Radio Day Get Hindenburgh Journalist For $1.90

You can purchase Hindenburg Journalist for $1.90 (Not a typo, typically $95) and help fight hunger. You can upgrade to their pro version for $215 (usually over $300). Need help learning the software? Check out the School of Podcasting's  Hindenburgh Journalist for Podcasting Course

Because of My Podcast - I'm Going to Spring Training for Free

Corey Fineran hosts the Ivy Envy Podcast, and shares how his audience is paying for him, his co-host (and their families) to go to the Chicago Cubs spring training in Arizona (in addition to making some great keepsakes for their studio).

Podcast Advertising Works - Glenn Rubenstein Interview

Glenn has been working in Ad Sales in podcasting for many years and today he shares some insights into:

What mistakes podcasters are making

What a future of dynamic advertising could look like

How to overcome common objections when trying to sell advertising

The book Podcast Advertising Works is great for someone who is trying to sell advertisements on their show.

If you want more about advertising and monetizing your show. Check out the Episodes with Jessica Kupferman, and Glenn The Geek Hebert

What Do You Mean When You Say Edit Your Podcast?

Today I'm going to play some clips of a podcast (friend of mine, who has come and said he should've edited) to help demonstrate things you should consider editing out of your show.

Michael Butler knows his episode was going down a dark path (he has spoken about this on his show). Luckily for those who know Michael and the Rock and Roll Geek show, we found it funny.

Mentioned In This Episode

Podcast Advertising Works 

Rock and Roll Geek show

The Bitterest Pill  Check out Dan Klass' book Podcasting Solutions

Adopter Media

Hindenburg Journalist Radio Day Promotion

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Today we have a serious subject that isn't so much about getting more downloads, and new cool gear, but the fact that your podcast can make a difference. I've helped people save money on fear, and help them launch podcasts. I've helped them find ways to grow their audience, and give them insights into creating better content on the Podcast Review Show. I've helped a listener of my Logical Weight Loss podcast lose 100 lbs. None of those compare to the email I received from the producer of Kuldryn's Krypt podcast.

Honestly, in September of last year, 2016, I had resolved get my affairs in order and to end my life on Halloween night, the greatest day of the year. I was introduced by complete chance to you. I was on Spreaker, did a search for podcasting and you came up. I chose to listen to you because my birth name is Ryan Jackson and I have a brother name David. Keep in mind I had never heard a podcast prior to this and I have no idea how I or why I was even on Spreaker's website...but I was and there was you were. I am a Patron because you gave me the tools to start my own podcast but more importantly you, YES! YOU! "The Dave Jackson, provided me with something to live for. My podcast isn't great, it isn't even good, BUT IT IS MINE and it provides me with the outlet I need to help other's and once again have a purpose in this world. It is just a very simple fact-if I had not found YOUR podcast when I did, on October 31st, 2017 11:55p.m. a bullet from a Taurus .38 Special would be ending my life. Thank you for never giving up and fighting through...I'm sure through your divorce and the issues with your family it hasn't been easy but Dave, I am will continue to be literal living proof that it's been worth it. Thank you!

So today we are going to talk about setting expectations, and crushing it, etc.

Suicide Among Entrepreneurs is a Problem We Should Talk About

30% of all entrepreneurs experience depression, according to a study by Dr. Michael Freeman, a clinical professor at the University of California, San Francisco. Depression among entrepreneurs is way higher than depression among Americans in general, which is estimated at about 7% — although that number could be even higher because of the stigma associated with talking about it.

Of the 242 entrepreneurs surveyed, 49% reported having a mental-health condition. Depression was the No. 1 reported condition among them and was present in 30% of all entrepreneurs, followed by ADHD (29%) and anxiety problems (27%). That's a much higher percentage than the US population at large, where only about 7% identify as depressed.

 

Here are just some examples In May 2015, 31 year old Austen Heinz, CEO of Cambrian Genomics took his own life. In July, 29 year old Faigy Mayer, CEO of Appton jumped off a New York rooftop. 26 year old Aaron Schwartz, a partner at Reddit, hung himself in 2013. 47 year old Jody Sherman, founder of Ecomom shot himself that year. One of his colleagues, 24 year old Ovik Banerjee, followed a year later. 22 year old Ilya Zhitomirskiy, CEO of Diaspora, took his life in 2011.

In Las Vegas one project had three suicides. In an article The Downtown Project Suicides: Can the Pursuit of Happiness Kill You?  they mention Jody Sherman (4/13), Ovik Banerjee (1/14), and Matt Berman (4/14) – all people involved in the Vegas Tech phenomenon.

Some people are smart enough to see the writing on the wall. Rand Fishkin stepped down as CEO of Moz in part because of his depression.Rand Fishkin

In 2010, suicide was the highest cause of death for people aged 15-49, in the developed world. That’s way above death from lung cancer and murder. In 2013 Newsweek pointed out that the suicide rate in America had been increasing since 1999.

Why Is This Happening?

We get caught up in the should philosophy. I should have more downloads, more sponsors, more whatever. The bad news is your comparing yourself to someone's numbers who are potentially altered. We look at all the people "Crushing It" on Facebook, Twitter, and nobody sees the struggle. Should is fraught with guilt and remorse. It implies that you can’t change things.

So when we feel we are "falling Behind" we start to put poison in our bodies in the form of fast food, and other items that have no nutrition. We then cut back on our sleep to prove we are committed. In this instance when you need to be at the top of your game, you are filling it with junk, and robbing it of sleep. This is like buying cheap gas and punching a hole in your gas tank. Eventually the car is going to come to a quick stop.

We are told to DREAM BIG, and if we just focus on our dreams they will become a reality. This puts us into an anxious state, and that is NOT the time to be making decisions. Then we all get INSANELY Focused on our launch, and how we are going to come out of the gate at this breakneck speed, but then we are supposed to KEEP this pace. Anything less than a sprint is a lack of dedication. Think of joining a marathon an hour after it started. There is no way to catch up, but if you run the marathon that is still an undeniable feat. It is still something amazing that takes months of preparation, dedication, and is something a small percentage of people could accomplish. Yet you feel bad, because you're comparing yourself to others.

 

How to Get Help

None of this is intended as medical advice. If you need help, there are people waiting for your call, both friends and professionals:1-800-SUICIDE (1-800-784-2433)1-800-273-TALK (1-800-273-8255)

A new Y Combinator-backed startup, 7 Cups of Tea, is trying to tackle one common problem: the affordability of help. When founders are running out of money for their company, that's rarely when they can shell out for a visit to a psychologist or other mental-health professionals.

Tim Ferris talks about this in his latest book and he's mentioned it on his podcast that he has struggled with depression. His advice is to adopt of attitude of gratitude.

Sources: http://feld.com/archives/2014/10/founder-suicides.html

http://www.businessinsider.com/austen-heinzs-suicide-and-depression-in-startups-2015-7

http://thehustle.co/depression-among-entrepreneurs-is-an-epidemic-nobody-is-talking-about

http://www.inc.com/magazine/201309/jessica-bruder/psychological-price-of-entrepreneurship.html

Ready To Start Podcasting? Don't Just Start a Podcast, Start a Podcast Right

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Once a month this year, I'm going ask you a question and use those answers for an episode. I want to get to under you more, and in general get a better understand of what you like and dislike. This month I asked, "What are those things that make your go "Uggh" when listening to a podcast. They might make your even unsubscribe. SPONSOR: Emerald City Productions Get your first four episodes edited for $15 each (and only $40 after that – for shows up to 30 minutes). Just go to www.emeraldcitypro.com/sop(other companies are charging $99 an episode)

What Makes You Unsubscribe From a Podcast? Failure to Get to the Point

4:10 Haley Redke (Adopteeson.com) is not a fan of not getting to the point, and people that interrupt their guests. 5:33 Tracie Bonnick also hates when the podcast hosts hates it when the host of the podcast doesn't let the guest talk 6:05 Glenn the Geek Hebert of Horse Radio Network was on Podcast Junkies and said he hates it when the podcast hosts just runs down a list of questions 6:39 Brian Weber (bartenderjourney.net) hates it when people don't get to the point 7:15 Ishamael Colderon - Hates long intro 7:43 John Wilkerson (www.strugglingforpurpose.com ) hates a super long intro 10:00 Daryl hates a ton of ads at the beginning (Joe Rogan?) as in three minutes of nothing but ads. 11:00 James Aaron of https://2middleageddudes.wordpress.com/ hates people talking to hear themselves talk. 11:53 From new Father Daniel J Lewis (YEAH NOODLE BABY) from the Audacity to Podcast said, "I go "ugh" when a conversation with a guest starts with "getting to know you" stuff. I don't care about the guest's background until after I care about their message."

12:40 Riding the Volume Knob

13:10 Kathe Kline from Rock Your Retirement goes nuts when she has to keep adjusting the volume 14:30 John Hilman hates it when the hosts and guest have WAY different volume levels. 15:50 Emily from The Story Behind Podcast - Four People Around One Microphone makes her turn off the show immediately. 17:20 Kuldrin Fire (kuldrinskrypt.com ) hates the word, "Right" and having to ride the volume knob, and he hates when hosts put down other hosts.

19:50 Inside Jokes

20:15 Emily from The Story Behind Podcast when they forget they have new listeners and talk about things from past episodes 20:53 Mark Des Cotes from the Resourceful Designer  (and http://solotalkmedia.com/)hates it when TV Show podcasts refer to the actress name only (and not the character) 22:23 Emily from The Story Behind Podcast hates people who are note authentic and giant commercials.

Experts Who Don't Know What They're Talking About

24:00 Connie From the Small Business 101 Podcast couldn't believe the advice she heard about starting a business 27:00 Hall of Fame Podcaster Danny Peña from Gamer Tag Radio hates it when Podcasts about Podcasting promote the importance of New and Noteworthy (see newandnoteworthy.info ) 27:30 Cedric Green hates it when people Curse.(cookingwithceddy.ws - coming soon). It unprofessional and you can't listen to it with kids in the car. 28:35 Emily from The Story Behind Podcast judges harshly when easy to remove ums are not removed. 30.17 Michael Blakston (Road Noises Podcast) hates mouth noises

 

32:00 Boomy Room Noise

33:14 Cheri Fields (Christian Science 4 Kids) had some show that were so boomy she couldn't understand the podcasters due to the room noise 35:07 Nivek Thompson of Real Democracy Now Podcast - hates when the host sounds like they are in a barn. 35:50 Chris Hache (chrishache.com) - If your podcast is not pleasing to my ears you are gone!

36:25 Things You Say That Drive Me Crazy

Try Price (Completely Comics) hates when a podcaster will "be right back." 37:12 Rob Kerns from Living the Vet Life - When a podcast is filled with complaints, but there are no solutions proposed. 38:55 Steve Stewart - hates it when people don't edit, and when people kinda, sort of, maybe, think about, taking action. 41:27 Cheri Fields (Christian Science 4 Kids) the ultimate pet peeve is when people can't listen to your show cause it doesn't work.

Start Your Podcast Today

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Today we go deep into running the business that is The Horse Radio Network. We talk with America's Horse Husband Glenn "the Geek" Hebert

SPONSOR: Emerald City Productions

Get your first four episodes edited for $15 each (and only $40 after that - for shows up to 30 minutes). Just go to www.emeraldcitypro.com/sop (other companies are charging $99 an episode)

Because of my Podcast: Ravi Jayagopal

Ravi is the man behind Digital Access Pass which is a great membership script if you're looking to turn your Wordpress Website into a Membership site.

Ravi shares how starting his Subscribe Me and Cut to the Chase Podcasts has boosted sales, introduced him to new friends and resources, got consulting clients, and created doors where none existed.

Check out Ravi's "Subscribe Me" Book, His Subscribe Me podcast, and his Wordpress Player "Cool Cast" Player

Glenn The Geek Takes Us Behind The Operations of The Horse Radio Podcast Network.

What a typical day looks like

The rules of setting up additional shows

What media group is RIPE to start their own podcast

What Glenn does with his advertisers to keep them engaged

Check out Glenn at www.horseradionetwork.com

Glenn was on the SOP talking about Sponsorships

Mentioned In This Show

Dealing With My Grief Podcast

Podfest.us February in Florida

Podcast Engineering School (Chris was on a previous show)

Digital Access Pass

My Podcast Reviews

Confessions of a Wannabe PodcaSTAR: The Biggest Podcasting Myths Busted

Honestly: My Life and Stryper Revealed

Divi Wordpress Theme

Not Sure Where To Start With Podcasting?

Free video course "Podcast baby steps" will show you in bite size chunks what to do.

 

Because of My Podcast Dana Gould

I was reading an article where West Word was interviewing Dana Gould (Who I find hilarious) and they asked him he still does his podcast (the Dana Gould Hour) while now running/writing the show Stan Against Evil. Here is what Dana said,

“I cite the podcast as the things that literally made everything else possible. It keeps my name out there and connects my audience. I think the reason that I’m still allowed to work in clubs is because my podcast has nurtured and cultivated my fan base to the point that people show up. Because if people don’t show up, you don’t get hired. And I think the podcast is very much responsible for that.

– Full article

Dana Gould Hour on iTunes

Dana Gould Hour on Stitcher

Spreaker Unveils Beta Ad Revenue Share Program

Spreaker.com is a podcast media hosting company that has the added bonus of being ale to stream your podcast live. The recently rolled out an ad revenue program. The program right now is beta, and only for US users. It allows you to have a 30 second preroll ad (meaning it is the first thing that starts your show, it goes before the show - pre-roll). There is some new terminology

Requests - The number of times your episode is called (most of us would refer to this as a download, but in this case Spreaker is streaming the file) Impressions - This is how many times an ad was in your request

Currently impressions will only appear if you're using the spreaker player on your website (again, this is beta, more features coming)

You won't have ads through your RSS feed

Some advertisers have a geographic specification so that they only run ads in certain area. I had an ad for a college in Cleveland Ohio (I live on Akron)

Podcast Glossary "L"

Levelator

Levelator is a free program (mac and PC) and allows you to drag a file into the software and it will adjust the volume level to be consistent. For example if you have an interview and you are louder than the guest, the Levelator software will adjust the audio of your guest to match your volume. You can find it at http://www.conversationsnetwork.org/levelator

Libsyn

Liberated Syndication (libsyn) pioneered the system to host and publish podcasts in 2004. And since then has grown to the largest leading podcast network with over 2.6 billion downloads in 2014. Libsyn hosts over 25,000 shows with 44 million monthly audience member. Find it at www.libsyn.com (use the coupon code sopfree to get a free month)

My Podcast Launch Kit

I had someone said to me, I don't want to think about it, I trust you. Tell me what to do.

Well, there is no one size fits all, but here are some things that I recommend:

I say use a self hosted Wordpress Website. I do not like Blue host, or dreamhost, I am moving my things to Coolerwebsites.com which is my reseller account for Godaddy. I've also used Hostgator.

I use Libsyn for my media hosting and distribution. I used them 10 years before I started working for them in 2016.

For my Wordpress theme I use Appendipty themes which run on the Genesis platform, or if your situation is a website that has a podcast, I like the Elegant themes Divi (which I will be using on this website later this year)

The Actual "Launch"

I would record a few episodes. This lets me see how much it takes to get create an episode, and then it lets me decide what my publishing scheduling.

I would ask some people who are my target audience to listen, and get feedback. The goal is to ensure you are delivering value that makes people do one (or more ) of the following:

• Laugh
• Cry
• Think
• Groan
• Educate
• Entertain

I would have a few "in the can" (which means recorded but not released) if possible so that if life happens you can still publish without missing your schedule.

Publish an episode or two (I don't believe you need  3, 5, 8 episodes - unless you have content coming out of your ears) and then list them in the following directories

• iTunes
• Stitcher
• Google Play Music
• TuneIn

Most apps like pocketcasts and overcast pull from iTunes.

Then you tell everyone you know, use email, social media, etc. You might try creating a Thunderclap campaign, and then use social jukebox or Buffer.com to promote your episodes as they go out

Sponsored By Emerald City Productions

Get your first four episodes (up to 30 minutes per episode) edited for $15 each. From head to toe you will sound great. Go to www.emeraldcitpro.com/sop

Mentioned In This Show

Mark Neslon Show

Thunderclap campaign

Coolerwebsites.com

Dana Gould Hour on iTunes

Start Podcasting Today

School of Podcasting - Podcasting Courses

Because of My Podcast: My Family Was Fed A Giant Meal

Cale Nelson of Ham Radio 360 sent in a great story where a listener told him NOTt to make dinner the Thursday before Christmas. Then sent Cale a giant box of Barbecue. When you've got a houseful of kids, and your wife is happy because the food is excellent, and she didn't have to cook it - it's a big win.

Check out Cale's show at HamRadio360.com

Starting a Podcast Your Customer Wants To Hear

Should your business have a podcast? Probably. It's a great way to get in front of your target audience no matter where they are. I was asked to be on a new podcast coming out today (my episode is in the future) and its from Tim Sinclair. You may or may not know that name, but I'll reveal who his is in a second. I just checked out his site and then it hit me. This is a great example of using a podcast for your business.

Tim Sinclair is the CEO of Ringr . This is an app and service that allows you to record both sides of an interview. If you're worried about doing a "mix minus" then you may want to check out this service. Plans start at $7.99 a month for the basic, and $18.99 for the premium. For more information go to http://ringr.com/podcastcoach

The people that use Tim's technology interview people and want a good recording. There are two ways to learn things. You can be shown how to do it right, or your can bring in those two famous trainers that seem to help everyone. You may know them as Trial and Error. They are not very efficient, but their lessons cut deep. You want your podcast to do one of these things

• Laugh
• Cry
• Think
• Groan
• Educate
• Entertain

If you have your show do more than one of the above, you're headed in the right direction.

So what Tim did is launch a podcast filled with fun, entertaining stories that can be educational as well. The podcast is called My Worst Interview Ever.  He has interviewed people like Cliff Ravenscraft, The Mobile Pro Shawn Smith, The App Guy Paul Kemp, XM Radio’s Doug Hannah, Blubrry’s Todd Cochrane, Libsyn’s Rob Walch, syndicated radio host Brant Hansen, Dave Jackson, Dan Franks, Jeff Brown, Daniel J. Lewis. The stories I understand are hilarious. The first episode is John Lee Dumas talking about his worst interview ( a rock icon famous for selling coffins).

So when creating a podcast, one strategy is to create a podcast that your target audience wants to hear. Tim identified his audience and has come up with a fun and entertaining way to produce good content without making his show a giant infomercial. Remember, nobody tunes into an infomercial on purpose.

The next thing I like is Tim is already in iTunes and Stitcher. He doesn't seem too worried about the magical happy place of New and Noteworthy and his first eight weeks. With content like this, I bet he'll get listed because he didn't name his show wtf this week in cold cases on fire.

He also made sure  NOT to make it giant Ringr commercial. He does a quick mention in the middle. He understands the idea is to build an audience first.

Check out his show at worstinterviews.com and check out his service at ringr.com

A Not Great Example

The Penzu podcast is meant to help promote their company (penzu.com which I love and use)

Nobody is looking for "Penzu" that doesn't know then) so how is this supposed to bring in new people?

They are using Soundcloud as their platform (who are leaking money). Switch to Libsyn.com and your back catalog comes for free during the first quarter of 2017, and get a free month using the coupon code sopfree 

Their titles look awful. 

There is no description. 

They only have seven episodes (which is fine), but they have the podcast in their software (so their customers have had "episode 7 in their platform all year)

Back to the Basics Of Your Website

I recently did the "Favorite Podcast Ever" show where you sent in your favorite podcasts and explained why they were your favorite. I always then go to the website of those show and share that someone thinks you're the best. I am amazed at some of the things I find. Before we get into those, you do need to decide what your website is for. By this mean I mean if your podcast is to drive leads to your business, then you might have a giant sign up form. If you're trying to grow your community, you might really be sending people to your Facebook group. So in the end, there is no one size fits all. However, there are two things I hear over and over and over. I hear, "I want more downloads, and I want more interaction." When I go to the websites of these people, there are no links to subscribe to their show. There is no easy way to contact you. One person I had to tweet at (and their twitter account was waaaay at the bottom of their screen). 

I had someone who was going to hire me to help him get more subscribers. I went to their website, and said you don't need to pay me for this, but there isn't a single subscriber button on your website. 

Ready To Start Podcasting?

Join the School of Podcasting or Schedule some One on One Consulting

Here it is 2017. Congratulations you made it through another year. Some of you were going to start podcasting last year, some of you go back to 2015. Some of you, are going back even further. Today I want to give you some ideas and strategies to launching your first podcast.

What Do You Need To Start Your Podcast

1. An idea
2. A microphone
3. A media host
4. A website (optional, but STRONGLY encouraged)
5. Some artwork for iTunes
6. A description
7. To get into itunes you need one live episode.

Take A Mulligan

So here is a strategy that some people on accident, and you can do on purpose. I call it "The Mulligan." This comes from golf. When you hit a bad shot, you call that shot your mulligan, and you throw down your new ball and swing again. It is basically a do over. Some very popular podcasters like Hall of Fame Podcaster Mignon Fogherty, Lauria Petruci, even Adam Curry (who helped invent podcasting) didn't hit pay dirt till he was on his THIRD podcast. So start a podcast about anything, it doesn't. You could do a podcast about the weather in your city, just to go through the motions and learn the tech. Once you've got it down, cancel everything, delete all the files, and go back and do one for real. Take a mulligan on purpose.

When I played in bands, often the best recordings were the one where the engineer told us he wasn't recording. There was no pressure we were just doing a sound check. With no pressure we often would come up with a great "take" and end the song and say "I wish we would've recorded that" (and luckily in some cases they did). If you start out with a show you don't care about you can get a show up and see it really doesn't take that much to record and publish a show. (Getting people to listen is really the hard part).

What About The Expense?

I graduated from the University of Akron with a Bachelor's Degree in Education specializing in Technical Education. Just the books for a semester are an estimated $450. The actual classes are $5473 semester (typically three months) if you're going full time (Source). When you sink $100-$300 into a podcast (FOR A LIFETIME), that is a small investment. Moving forward your will be spending $30 a month (typically). Cut out a few sodas and snicker's bars and you've got your money. Keep in mind, The money you are spending is an investment in you.

But What If You Want To Actually Take a Real Swing?

You've probably heard about S.M.A.R.T. Goals. This stands for

Specific Measurable Actionable Realistic Time Bound

So instead of "I want to start a podcast." You need to get more specific.

I want to start a podcast about Raising Llamas . This is more specific, but I'd like a little more specifics and some time.

I will Google other Llama podcasts to see what names might be available by January 15th.

Michael Hyatt (one of my favorite Authors - I read Platform every January) has a "Best Year Ever" course and he throws in two more items.

Exciting - You wouldn't set a goal that bores you.

Relevant - I'm going to do a daily show, even though I have two jobs, a wife, and a set of twins.

By adding these two, you are creating smarter goals.

Why Should I Podcast?

You have something to say: You're yelling at the dashboard in the car, or swearing outloud in the super market as you think, "ugh I could do this better.." Here are some more.

• You want to be seen as an expert
• You want to reach a global audience
• You want to build a community
• You want to sharpen your presentation skills
• You want to build your brand
• You want to promote your products
• You want to boost your speaking career
• You want to have fun with like minded people
• You want to make some additional income.

But, But, But, But......

I'm not sure exactly what format. - - Your Podcast is a recipe - not a statue

I hate my voice - This is normal as your are hearing your voice for the first time through your ears (only) with no vibrations from your skull.

I'm not a nerd - Yet you attach files to emails, turn down the volume in the car, press record on the DVR (so you know file management, audio mixing, and recording)

I might look stupid - It's not radio. It's not live. The only way you will sound stupid is if you release something that sounds stupid.

People might say negative things - Every day people say negative things about your driving, etc. Yet you still drive. Don't let your fear stop you from doing the thing you love.

Did you give out presents this year at Christmas? We are not always 100% sure they were going to be loved? Yet, we give them anyway.

Here is a little truth, when you first start, nobody is listening anyway.

Don't think about the thousands of people listening (cause it's not ) think about talking to ONE person. While helping one person may not change the world, it could change the world for that one person.

Some of My Favorite Quotes on Starting

You don't have to be great to start, but you do have to start to be great. -Zig Ziglar

When you want something you've never had, you have to do something you've never done. -Thomas Jefferson

The distance between dreams and reality is called action -Anonymous

Don't wait until you are ready to take action. Instead take action to be ready. -Jensen Siaw

Don't talk, just act. Don't Say, just show. Don't promise just prove. -Unknown

Winners are not people who never fail, but people who never quit. -Edwin Louis Cole

An inch of movement will bring you closer to your goals than a mile of intention. - Dr. Steve Marraboli

The best way to get started is to quit talking & begin doing - Walt Disney

Take Some Action

Notice something about the following words

Attraction Satisfaction Interaction Reaction Traction

If want to get a reaction, that is satisfying, and gets some traction towards your goals, you have to TAKE ACTION.

The start is what stops most people. Week after week I get people who are telling stories of things they couldn't have done if they hadn't started podcasting. So today I urge you to start something right now that your future self will thank you for. Stop worrying about what could go wrong, and start focusing on what could go right. Don't let your fear decide your future.

What you do is not who you are. If you say, "But I'm just a (insert your job)." That's WHAT you do, but WHO YOU ARE is a MESSENGER with something to say because you know there are people who could benefit from it.

Sometimes the worst place you can be is in your own head. Life begins at the end of your comfort zone.

Because of My Podcast: Edward O'Donnell

Ed is the host of In The Past Lane http://apple.co/1UBr3yD which is a podcast about history.

Because of my podcast - 1. I've been able to interview Pulitzer Prize winning historians about their latest work. History Nerdapaloosa. 2. my college (the real job) just built me a new state of the art podcast studio! It's not just for me, of course, but because I was up and running as a podcaster it spurred them to do it. 3. I've been invited by Chris K to be part of PodFest 2017 (day 1). 4. I snared an audition for a new program on The History Channel - in part because they checked out my podcast and seemed convinced that I'd be funny and free spirited and not just knowledgeable about history. If anything comes of this, it will certainly be my big time "because of my podcast" story!

Mentioned in this Podcast

Start podcasting at the School of Podcasting

Speakermatch (service to help speakers find events to speak at )

Gleason Documentary on Amazon

Podfest Podcast Podcasting Event in Orlando Florida (coupon code Dave)

Podcast Movement podcasting event (use coupon code sop10)

Podcast Baby Steps Free Video Podcasting Course

This Year SOP Listeners said the following list was "Their Favorite Podcast"

This means if they could only listen to ONE, this would be the show. Here they are in alphabetical order

4:00 Adam Carolla Show - http://adamcarolla.com/

4:42 Bloodround - http://www.bloodround.com

6:58  Freakonomincs - http://www.freakonomics.com

9:18 Hollywood Bable On - http://www.smodcast.com/channel/hollywoodbabbleon

11:35 Kate’s Take - http://www.eofire.com/audio-blog/

12:34 Medication Oasis - http://www.meditationoasis.com/podcast/

13:25 Mighty Blue on the Appalachian Trail - http://mightyblueontheat.com/

14:23 Mike Row’s The Way I Heard It - http://mikerowe.com/podcast/

15:54 Mixergy - https://mixergy.com

17:00   Mysterious Universe - mysteriousuniverse.org

17:54 Mystery Show - https://gimletmedia.com/mystery-show/

20:11 Old Pre-Meds - http://www.oldpremeds.org/

22:10 Radio Labyrinth - https://audioboom.com/channel/radio-labyrinth

23:12 RED Podcast - http://www.redpodcast.com

24:25 Retired Exited - http://www.retiredexcited.com

25:30 Rock Your Retirement - http://www.rockyourretirement.com

27:25 She Podcasts - http://www.shepdocasts.com

29:20 Spawn On Me - http://spawnon.me/

30:47 Stacking Benjamins - http://www.stackingbenjamins.com

35:42 Stuff You Missed in History - http://www.missedinhistory.com/

39:05 Ted Radio Hour - http://www.npr.org/programs/ted-radio-hour/

40:17 The Audacity to Podcast - http://www.theaudacitytopodcast.com

41:25 The School of Podcasting - http://www.schoolofpodcasting.com

42:50 Trecks in Sci -Fi - http://treksinscifi.com/podcast_notes/

46:55 Tumble - http://www.sciencepodcastforkids.com/

 

Contribtuors

Amanda from the Great Beer Adventure greatbeeradventure.com

Brian Entzminger, host of the Engaging Missions Shows at http://www.engagingmissions.com

Bryan Goodwin with http://www.goodwinsocialmedia.com

Cale Nelson from www.hamradio360.com

Chris Hache of the Noshing Nova Scotians podcast http://www.chrishache.com

Glenn “The Geek” Hebert of the Horse Radio Network http:/www.horseradionetwork.com

Hall of Fame Podcaster Danny Pena, founder and co-host of Gamertag Radio (http://www.gamertagradio.com

Henry Shapiro of the Retired Excited podcast http://www.retiredexcited.com

Jason Bryant from Mat Talk Online http://www.MatTalkOnline.com

Jason Norris of Podcast Local from On the Go FM. http://www.podcastlocal.com

Jayson Sacco of the Outdoor Adventures with Jason http://www.oawjs.com

Jen is one of the founding co-hosts of the Anomaly Podcast, anomalypodcast.com

Jonathan Christopher, host of the Career Eden Podcast http://careereden.libsyn.com/podcast

Jonathan Messenger of The Alien Adventure of Finn Caspian show FinnCaspian.com

Kathe Kline of the “Rock Your Retirement" podcast. rockyourretirement.com

Katie Krimitsos of Biz Women Rock http://www.bizwomenrock.com

Kim Krajci of Toast Masters 101, http://www.toastmasters101.net

Lee Silverstein of the Colon Cancer Podcast http://thecoloncancerpodcast.com/)

Randy Cantrell who is the host of the Grow Great podcast http://www.GrowGreat.com

Rob Kerns of Living the Vet Life podcast http://www.livingthevetlife.com

Stargate Pioneer of the Gonna Geek Network gonnageek.com

Steve Stewart at You can find Steve at SteveStewart.me.

Tyler Sheff of the Cash Flow Guys podcast http://www.cashflowguys.com

Zen Runner of www.slowrunnersclub.com

HOMEWORK

What are you top podcasting pet peeves? Go to www.schoolofpodcasting.com/contact and let me know

READY TO START PODCASTING

Go to www.theschoolofpodcasting.com

Because of My Podcast I Got Media Passes - Cheri Field

Cheri Fields has at least 7 children, and produces the Creation Science for Kids Podcast http://creationscience4kids.com/

What Podcaster's Can Learn From Amazon.com

Amazon is an amazing company. Recently I purchased an Amazon Echo, and Later and Amazon Dot. These devices allow me to do things through voice activation system known as Alexa. You can control Alexa with an Amazon Echo, an Amazon Dot, and Amazon Tap, and now you can control your Amazon Fire TV.  If you're interested, check out my Buyer's Guide.

The item that made me purchase the Echo? The ability to say “Alexa, add eggs to the grocery list.” The more I examine the Amazon company, the more I believe there are tips we podcasters can learn from them.

Amazon Makes It Easy To Find Stuff

Their search is at the top of their page. You don’t have to search for the search. Amazon understands their customer may want a number of things, so they make it easy to find.

Podcasters you need a search button that is easy to find, if you provide topics that are more of a reference. Podcasters you could use categories to create filter to only show those episodes that are categorized a certain way.

Customer First Mentality

Any research into amazon and you will read how they make all decisions based on serving the customer. They are spending money on items that will better serve the customer. So when you are thinking about purchasing some equipment for your podcast you need to ask yourself who the purchase is serving, you or your audience?

Amazon project lead Ian McAllister has described a sort of reverse engineering that happens frequently at company HQ. “We try to work backwards from the customer, rather than starting with an idea for a product and trying to bolt customers onto it,” he wrote on Quora.com.

When someone approaches you to to be a guest on your show, you need think, “Will my audience want to hear this content?”

Personalized Recommendations

There are plugins that can add related links to other episodes on your site. So when someone listens to an episode about Topic A there could be links to more Topic A shows at the bottom of the post. There are plugins such as Yet Another Related Wordpress Post Plugin (which has lots of features, but can be a bit of a resource hog), and Related Wordpress Posts is a lighter weight plugin with an easy setup. If you’re using Appendipity themes, this is a built in feature

They Don’t Always Win, but They Try

I completely forgot that Amazon launched a “Fire Phone.” That tells you how much of an impact it had on the phone space. They’ve done quite a few things that didn’t land well.

It wants to infiltrate people’s lives to such an extent that they can’t imagine living without it — that they don’t even try to imagine living without it.

We always joke that "No one will punch you in the face," here at the School of Podcasting. Your podcast is a recipe, not a statue.

One of the cool things about being cloud based, is they are constantly adding new features to the Alexa system

Keep Your Pages Loading Fast

After analyzing the ratio of sales to website performance, Amazon discovered that for every 100ms of page load time there was a 1% decrease in sales. So how fast does your website need to be? Many usability experts propose that the ideal page load time is 2 seconds or less. You can easily test the page load time of your own website by using free tools such as WebPageTest.org

So podcasters be careful loading tons of plugins if you're using WordPress. Some of those may slow down your site.

Make it Fun

Google the phrase "Alexa Easter Eggs" and you will find a giant list of goof things you can get Alexa to say. There are

Make it Easy

The one thing the Amazon Echo and Dot do is they make it super easy to ORDER STUFF. With a few phrases, "Alexa order Angel Soft Toilet paper" it is pretty much on the way. She will state what size the package is and the price and ask me if I want to order it. There are safeguard can put in so your kids do order every thing under the sun.

Podcasters who are saying thins like, "Find me in iTunes" are missing a golden opportunity to lead their customers by the hand and show them exactly how to subscribe to their show. One of the things I did as a young grocery clerk was if someone asked where something was, I would take them to it, and make sure they could reach it. I wanted to see that product go into their cart. I would also ask if there was anything else they were looking for before I returned to whatever I was doing before. Make it easy.

You can do this by finding your show in iTunes, and right clicking on your art work and copying the link then add a button to your site and attach that link to the button (there is a tutorial for this at the School of Podcasting

Amazon's Ultimate Goal - Routine

Amazon wants to be your right arm. They want to be integrated into your life. When I recently traveled without my Amazon Dot, it was weird not to wake up, check my to do list, get the weather, and hear my custom news.

If you can podcast on a regular schedule, you become part of your audience's routine.

Podcast Glossary "K"

I couldn't think of any "I's, or J's" so we are moving o the the K's.

kbps - This is stands for kilo bits per second. This is a measurement that you use when you are exporting your files. Typical settings are

128 kbps - Stereo (if your primarily music) 96 kbps - mono (for those doing speech, and want a slightly better sound than 64 ) 64 - kbps mono (same as 128 stereo, but mono)

When exporting you do not want to use VBR (variable bit rate) as you mp3 file may not play on all players.

Podcast Rewind - I Was On the SoloPreneur Hour with Michael O'Neal

I appeared on episode 509 of the Solopreneur Hour with Michael O'Neil. We talked a little music, we talk about my early days of training people on office equipment, getting fired after busting your butt, and how I ended up in Podcasting. Check it out HERE

You can hear Michael on this show sharing how he stands out from other podcast when I interviewed him on episode 542

Podcast Launch the Mark Nelson Show

Mark is going to help you with your negotiating skills. Check out his show at http://www.marknelsonshow.com/ or Subscribe in iTunes

Mentioned in This Show

Computer Tutor Podcast

Solopreneur Hour

Podfest.Us (use the code Dave to save)

Alexa Cast

Amazon Alexa Buyers Guide

Building a Better Dave

Quora.com (questions website)

Horse Radio Network

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