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

In this episode I talk about a couple of nightmares I've run across including:

My RSS feed in iTunes somehow got changed to http://s (podpress maybe? I'm not sure...). I had to change my RSS feed in iTunes

To change this you need to (accorsing to Apple's Forums):Podcasters occasionally need to move their feed from one location to another. In this case, you should not remove your feed. If possible, you should set your web server to return a 301 error and redirect when receiving a request for the old feed. Doing so will cause both the iTunes Music Store and the iTunes clients that have subscribed to your podcast to pick up the new feed URL. Be sure to maintain the redirect for at least two weeks to ensure that most subscribers have attempted to download your most recent episode and have thereby received the new URL.

If you don’t know how to return an HTTP 301, you can use the tag described in the iTunes RSS Tags section below. The tag will cause the iTunes music store to be updated with the new feed URL, but it will not inform iTunes clients of the new location. You may choose to include an audio note in your podcast, informing your subscribers that your podcast has changed locations. After adding the tag, be sure to keep your feed running at the old URL for at least 48 hours.

Then later I did a somewhat time sensitive announcement only to have feedburner fail to update my feed.

Lesson Learned: Never fail to occasionally go back and experience your podcast through the eyes (and mouse) of a new subscriber. Double check your feed(s).

LAST 5 IN 5 from Canis Lupus of http://bandtrax.podshow.com/

Ask a Ninja http://www.askaninja.com/Hope is Emo http://www.hopeisemo.com/Accident hash http://www.accidenthash.com Mac Break Video Podcast http://www.twit.tv/MBYuzzy's Weekend Dancefloor  http://ywdp.blogspot.com/

Other Sites Mentioned:

Podcast Secrets www.secretswithdave.com  Coupon PC916Big Break Podcast www.thebigbreakpodcast.com

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Promo:Quiet Study Area Knowledge for Your Brain - Music For Your Soulwww.quietstudyarea.com

Dave talks with Paul Colligan of www.paulcolligan.com about the upper level class starting MARCH 20th! about monetizing your podcast.  Here are some thing they will be teaching you:

* Exactly 8 reasons why Podcasting brings them, and can bring you, a critical business (and profit) advantage.

* 7 secrets to producing profitable Podcasting content in the fastest possible time.

* 9 marketing channels for the Podcasters ... and how to leverage each one.

* The 6-Step Podcast Monetization Roadmap

* How to part-the-curtain on the listening habits of your audience, and leverage that knowledge to produce profitable audience action.

* At least 5 things, you can implement today that will integrate your Podcast content into your business structure ... and how to see results almost instantly.

* 7 steps to getting your Podcast audience to take the very actions you want them to take.

For more information see www.secretswithdave.com and use the coupon code PC916 to get 79 OFF the price. If you can't attend, you will receive the call via podcast the next day.

BONUS QUESTION - DOWNLOAD IT HERE

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Pauls Other Podcastswww.podcasttools.com www.megapodcastlive.com www.affiliateguypodcast.comfor more see www.paulcolligan.com

WARNING - This show contains clips of Keith and the Girl (and are NOT worksafe).

Dave continues his talk that was started by people passing information about Podshow.com that was false. This week will be the final word from me on this.

Some people still don't understand the concept of specifics reasons by throwing out inuendo and hearsay. Here are some of the things we've learned:

When you are making a point, credability can be ruined with one wrong word.

Some people thing Podshow is elitest because of their bumper. While I do not personally find this an elitest action - some listeners brought this up. Comunication has always been very subjective.

One person was upset becuase he couldn't get a return phone call. Again, I can see where this person was upset.

Keith And The Girl Had These Issues1. Adam Curry kept messing up their name. This was annoying to KATG. 2. Keith didn't accept Adam Curry's explanation of the Podshow's messing up the RSS feed. 3. Keith didn't understand the reoccrung advertisements that Adam was speaking of in his blog, and called it shady. I explained this is the new product placement marketing. 4. Dave explains that downloads are important, but there is a value to the niche podcast as well. 5. Keith said that Godaddy adds make no money. I know for a fact that this is not true. 6. Keith reads the terms of service and has a serious problem with the fact that Podshow can do anything with your show - forever - even if you leave the network. Dave admits that many people have a problem with this clause in the contract. He throws out some points such as the Mommy Cast, The Roadhouse, Tartan Podcast all have left the network and none of their content is being sold. Admittedly this has potential to be a horrible contract, but it also has cabaility to further promote your show. 7. Chemda brought up a good point that people are doing this with different perspecitves. For example people who are doing it for fun may have an extremely different persepctive on podcasting, and moentizing your podcast. Dave points out that if you are a contracted podshow producer your contract (like any contract on the planet) is up for negotiation.8. Keith points out that their show can be listened to on podshow.com and he feels that podshow is using their downloads as part of the total downloads they are reporting. Dave points out that Keith said that if Podshow hates Keith and the Girl so much, they should pull them off their network. Dave flips this and asks, "If Keith and the Girl hate podshow so much, why don't they ask to be pulled off of the network?" If they did, and podshow failed to do so that would be a story.

Some lessons learned:

Don't podcast angry as you may say things you regret later. If you are making a serious point, make some note cards and save your crediability.

Dave apologizes for slighting the other podcasting networks. It's true, I can admit when I'm wrong.

Dave explains whe he thinks happens when you use the podshow player. It does work, although it may be slow.

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I change format today because I have a serious point to make. If we are the NEW MEDIA, we have the RESPONSIBILITY to RECOGNIZE that the Microphone has POWER. Here are some key points from my rant.

BIG MEDIA wants us to fight amongst ourselves. Podcasting has enough competition from other meida sources, so why make one of our competitors "other podcasters."

You can say negative things about other people in the community, but you better be willing to explain why and prove it. As a reporter, as part of the NEW media, it is still YOUR responsibility to present the FACTS.

I use the example of recent accusations thrown at Podshow. As I have a show on in the Podshow network (this one is not by MY choice), I wanted to dispell some of the rumors about Podshow.

YOU THE MEDIA (from Paul Coligan's Book "the Business Podcasting Bible). If we are going to accept that role, we need to also accept that responsibility.

Shame on you Keith.

Dave follows up on last week's show with some tips from Don Lewis of http://www.thebigbreakpodcast.com/ and Sallie from www.author-izer.com as we try to remove hum from a non-skype call. Dave is using a Ground-Loop Isolator

 One of the resources I found in the above magazine is Traffic Swarm. While I'm not crazy about sites like these, I will say I have received a small bump in traffic to my site. So if I have to put up with an annoying start page, I can deal with that.

 Dave also talk about the closing of www.podcastcharts.com a podcast directory he started a while ago, but it had been hacked, and had multiple issues over the years. He now has www.podcastclicks.com as a cross promotion tool for podcasters only.

 OUR POLL:Should podcasters put their contact information at the begining of their show (and possible make their first minute of their podcast bland - while getting their contact information out), or put it at the end of their podcast (thinking that only fie hard lsiteners would make it this far, and its only die hard listeners who contact the podcaster anyway..)

VOICE YOUR OPINION: TAKE THE POLL

Dave talks about the $270 he spent on an Inline Patch from JK Audio a few years ago has not produced better results than the $25 a year he pays for SkypeOut .

Dave also has tried 2 FM transmitters for either the iPod or a portable player. The Griffin transmitter for the iPod had no volume control, and it was really quiet. This results in your cranking up your volume in your car. In the end, it was noisey, and not a great solution.

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Pod QuizIf you saw someone who would obviously enjoy your podcast, do you have a business card, a sample CD, etc available RIGHT NOW to hand this potential listener?

Dave continues on with a few other mistakes that Podcasters may be making:

1. SHOW ME THE MONEY- The person who doesn't even have a podcast topic, but knows he can sell it. Get your audience first, then monetize it. Paul Colligan has a great book  - The Business Podcasting Bible - about it.

2. Not reporting their music to the Podsage Music Network. I have a brand new show I'm testing. I've told one other person, and the musician that I played. I ended up with 5 listens. Keep in mind that a musician may alert their fan list that they are being played (and send their listeners to your podcast). However, if you don't report it they won't know to alert their fans.

3. Failure to Cross Promote. Sometimes we get nervous networking with people that are too much like our podcast. We fear that they may steal our audience. Keep in mind if you are putting out great content, their audience should like you. Also keep in mind there are seven days in a week. This leaves lots of time for the listener to listen to their podcast and yours.

4. Miss networking opportunites. I use www.technorati.com after reading the book by Jason Van Orden Promoting Your Podcast I put some code from technorati and now I can see who is linking or bloggin about me.

SponsorOnline Meetings Made Easy with www.gotomeeting.com Try it Free for 45 days use Promo Code PodcastPromo Played  "The Why and How of Podcasting"Go visit my new friend JD at http://www.thewhyandhowofpodcasting.com/

Other Sites Mentioned:

Open Stacks Promoting information access and literacy for all. http://openstacks.net/os/ 

Anna Farmery at www.podcastfreq.com 

Disciples with Microphoneshttp://www.discipleswithmicrophones.org/blog/ 

Who is linking to this blog? Find out Here

Dave talks about some common podcasting mistakes these include:

Making your first impression by apologizing for not putting out a show. Remember there are lots of new listeners on the way (so why not do this at the end if you need to).

People assume that people have heard Part 1 of an interview so they (literally) start the podcast with some opening music, and then (with no setup) go right back to the interview (so a new listener has no clue what they've walked in on).

Volume on conference calls seems to be an issue. I realzie that you have no control over this when you are on the call, but you do have some control over the volume of the podcast. Check out the Levelator at www.gigavox.com

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Keith and the Girl www.keithandthegirl.comTwisted Pickle www.thetwistedpickle.comUhh Yeah Dude http://uhhyeahdude.com/Public Nuisance Radio www.publicnuisanceradio.comTwit http://www.twit.tv/

In this podcast I answer one of the most frequently asked quesitons. "What is RSS, and why do I get jibberish when I click this orange thing?"

Dave also assigns some "homework."

LAST 5 IN 5 From John of The M Show (www.themshow.com )

Barack Obama Us Senator for Illinoishttp://obama.senate.gov/podcast/

Rumor Girlshttp://www.rumorgirls.com/

Accident Hashhttp://www.accidenthash.com

Radio Adventures of Dr Floydhttp://www.doctorfloyd.com/

Kamakaze Comic Book Podcast (Fanboy?)http://fanboyradio.libsyn.com

 Don't forget the Podcast Pickle contest starts February 1st!

Dave went back to colllege this week (but is still completely available to help new podcasters). He had a very difficult time getting bookmarks for his books. When he found one, he was amazed at how many times a day he viewed this bookmark. He did some research and found that you can have full color bookmarks create 500 bookmarks for 60.00 (see psprint.com ) or 1000 bookmarks for 94.00 (see brochures.com ) and if your target audience is college students - then I feel this is a decent form of promotion.

SponsorOnline Meetings Made Easy with www.gotomeeting.com Try it Free for 45 days use Promo Code Podcast

Last 5 in 5 From Steve at www.lifespringpodcast.com

Griddlecakes Radio www.griddlecakes.com The M Show www.themshow.com Happy Tree Friends http://podcast.happytreefriends.com Geekbrief TV www.geekbrief.tvYour Wedding Your Way http://yourwedding.lifespringonline.com/ 

Sites Mentioned:

School of Podcasting www.scholofpodcasting.com The Scene Zine www.thescenezine.com brochures.com (1000 bookmarks )psprint.com (500 bookmarks )Today in Podcasting www.todayinpodcasting.comPodcast Pickle www.podcastpickle.com All Things Dave www.thepodcastfreak.com