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Audacity Updated
5/09/2008
The very popular among podcasters audio recording application, Audacity has received an update. Podcasting News has a full rundown of the changes, including many bug fixes. It is nice to see some interface fixes, too, as I’ve felt Audacity has always suffered on the UI side.
Got a Podcaster Birthday Coming Up?
2/14/2008
Don’t forget that I’ve put together the finest collection of gifts for your favorite podcasting friend, family member, neighbor, or stranger! This isn’t just a list for holiday gifts, but great to find something to buy for a birthday gift or something for yourself, too. Filled with books, hardware and more, the store is broken out into … Continue reading »
Greg Cangialosi on B2B Podcasting
2/13/2008
While on business and conference-going on the west coast, my co-author of The Business Podcasting Book Greg Cangialosi was interviewed today for the City Biz List about B2B podcasting. After a short introduction Greg gets right to the point about why podcasting matters to business:
Simply put, podcasting presents yet another opportunity for an … Continue reading »
Hardware Recommendations
- Kustom KM4 Mic with Cable
- Behringer XM8500 Microphone
- Shure SM58 Mic
- MXL MXL V63MBP Computer Desktop Recording Kit
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Ryan Irelan, Editor - listen@podcastfreeamerica.com
K - ABC of Podcasting
K is for THOUSANDS. How do I get thousands of listeners?
Yeah, so I’m stretching this alphabet motif a bit on this one. Thinking of something helpful to write about that started with “k” was proving difficult, so I settled on this.
A lot of new podcasters enter the arena with high hopes and aspirations. Great! There is nothing better than enthusiasm to help drive you toward your goal. Whether that be the goal of having 50 listeners, 500 listeners, 5 listeners or just the ability to publish a podcast on a regular basis.
So, really, how do you get thousands of listeners to your podcast? Well, if that’s really your goal - and it doesn’t have to be - then you’ll want to be sure to follow these guidelines:
1. Be consistent. Publish reguarly - weekly, daily, monthly. Just like your favorite TV show, your listeners will expect a new podcast at a regular interval. Decide ahead of time how you want this to work and then stick to it. I would err on the side of caution and commit to fewer podcasts than you think you actually want to do. Life will intervene and before you know it you’ll be days or weeks behind.
2. Tie your podcast to an existing website. If you have a website that already has hundreds or thousands of readers, then you can expect that your podcast will immediately get a fraction of those. Brand your podcast to match your website and leverage the website traffic to your advantage. Post about your podcast on your website and make subscribing to it simple and clear.
If you don’t have a website, well there’s a lot of fun to be had making something of nothing.
3. Be unique. Original and one-of-a-kind podcasts have a greater potential to accumulate a large audience than do, say, the ten thousandth podcast about “podsafe” music. Go to the podcasting directories and search around. Is your idea there in large numbers? You might want to come up with something else.
4. Work hard. This one will contradict number three just slightly. If you don’t have an original idea, one that’s never been done before, then just work harder and do it better than anyone else. Podcasting takes a lot time and getting it to sound good and flow takes even longer. Expect to spend 4x you show’s length preparing, recording and completing each podcast.
5. Make your presence known. No one is going to know about your podcast if you don’t tell anyone. List yourself in all of the directories, write about it on your website or blog, selectively send people emails letting them know about it (be careful not to spam people, please). Get the word out!
So, those are some tips to getting thousands of listeners. You know, a lot of it is probably luck, but podcasting requires a good deal of hard work too. These are basic principles, just starting points. Leave any other feedback or suggestions you have in the comments area.
This is part of the series ABC of Podcasting from Podcast Free America.
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