NewCommForum: Podcasting 101 with Shel Holtz
These are my real-time notes and reaction for this 3 hour seminar on podcasting as part of the pre-conference agenda for the New Communications Forum. Shel Holtz of For Immediate Release (FIR) presented. His partner in that podcast, Neville Hobson, had been scheduled to attend but was unable to do so.
- Podcasts most successful when there is engagement with listeners. A two-way street not a one-way street.
- There are lots of choices for subscribing to podcasts. It depends on whether you are on a PC or Mac and whether you want more or less control over managing your subscriptions. iTunes remains the most popular solution. As subscription gets easier, listenership is likely to increase.
- Digital Flotsam is one of Shel's favorite podcasts even though it doesn't come out on a regular schedule.
- Podcasting began in August 2004 when RSS enclosures were made possible, in part by Dave Winer. At the same time, Adam Curry came up with podcatcher software.
- There are more podcasts than radio stations in the world (45,000 - 60,000)
- 1.6 million podcast subscribers at FeedBurner. Average is about 36 subscribers per show.
- 10 million total current listeners (estimated by eMarketing).
- Major directories include Yahoo Podcasts, iTunes, and PodcastAlley
- Podcasting News is a good info site
- Shel's FIR averages 1200 downloads per show, most are Director/VP level or above with budgets of $1M or more that they manage
- FIR also distributed by TalentZoo
- Very few complaints about the FIR show at an hour in length; there were complaints when it went over an hour.
- Quality niche audience is key to FIR success
- Shel and Neville use libsyn.com to host their podcast files.
- Grape Radio is a good wine podcast.
- Podcasts create buzz, reach niche audiences that might otherwise be too difficult to reach, creates an aura of thought leadership, and is an easy extension to what many people already do in their jobs.
- Podcasts don't need to be permanent, plenty of good 5-10 episode podcasts are created around product launches, movie releases, road shows, event promotion, etc.
- Internal communications podcasts can be very useful in engaging employees
- Charlene Li has an excellent template for calculating the ROI of blogging and it can be used to help calculate same for podcasting
- very low barriers to entry
- Shel referenced his 10 Rules for Business Podcasting
- #1 downloaded podcast (This Week in Tech) averages 1 hour, 15 minutes, so length doesn't dictate popularity
- FIR web site lists about 12 related podcasts they like
- Don't sell on a podcast
- Shel has to be a good guy because he likes single malt Scotch
- Gear need not be expensive
- Shel has expensive-ish gear because it is now an official hobby for him
- Some of Shel's gear includes: Adobe Audition, Levelator from Gigavox, Marantz PMD 660, M Audio MicroTrac 2496, a mixer, a compression mic, a pop filter
- Shel has a tutorial on how to use "mix minus" to record Skype calls cleanly (available here)
- Shel says he is going to put together a blooper track from FIR someday and it will be all Neville
- Post-production need not be extensive, but Shel believes in cleaning up some of the errors and such; others believe it should be completely as recorded
- ID3 tags are critical to ensure proper display of information in your iPod or MP3 player (title, album, etc.)
- Get listed in podcast directories. "You're nuts if you don't get listed in iTunes!"
- Podcasts fit in as part of the "new media ecosystem" which includes RSS, blogs, wikis, vlogs/vidcasts, tagging/social bookmarking, Second Life, SMS, etc.
- It is very important to follow legal guidelines for podcast music if you use any. Make sure it is podsafe music not RIAA-protected music
- At the end of the presentation, a quick podcast was created by interviewing audience members about how they use their cell phones. Shel then quickly edited and uploaded it. It will be available online later tonight.
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