139 Podcast Answer Man – What To Do When Your Podcast Becomes An Infomercial
December 9, 2009 by Cliff Ravenscraft
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Podcast Answer Man Episode 139
What To Do When Your Podcast Becomes An Infomercial
I recently received an email from a long time listener who suggested that he was contemplating unsubscribing from the Podcast Answer Man podcast and he provided his thoughts on why this was. In his email, he suggested that with the number of subscribers that I have to this podcast, that I might not even notice the loss of a single subscriber.
If you are interested in hearing what reasons he gave as to why he had considered dumping the show and moving on and/or my response to whether or not I am concerned about the loss of a single, long time subscriber of my podcast, then you need to listen to this episode.
This episode is an example of what I think should be done in the event your podcast ends up sounding like an ongoing infomercial for your brand, products, and/or services.
Of course, I also shared an “anonymous” comment left on a previous episode of Podcast Answer Man. It’s amazing how different my reaction is to “concerned listener” as it is to “Charley’s” email. I did an episode while back titled “Handling Critical Feedback” (Episode 106)
Finally, somewhere in this episode, I asked for your thoughts on what Leo Laporte announced on his blog recently. Basically, even though his network has generated 2.5 Million dollars in revenue, he’s suggesting that there is still a role for donations in his network and he plans to allow these donations to be what actually pays his personal income from the network. Click Here To Read His Blog Entry. Share your thoughts in the comment section below or by calling our voice mail feedback hotline at 859-795-4067
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Discuss podcasting with other listeners in the Podcast Answer Man section of the gspn.tv Community Forum.
EQUIPMENT SALES: Please consider purchasing from me when making your next purchase for audio gear to improve the sound of your podcast. Email me at Cliff@Ravenscraft.org or call me at 859-757-1399.
PODCAST CONSULTING: I’m also available for one on one podcast consulting. Whether you want someone to get everything set up for you or you just need a little help along the way, I’d love to work with you. I’m able to demonstrate using screen sharing technology during our call which makes it just like I was there sitting next to you at the computer. If you are interested, email me at Cliff@Ravenscraft.org or call me at 859-757-1399.
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138 Podcast Answer Man – Crushing It
December 7, 2009 by Cliff Ravenscraft
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Podcast Answer Man Episode 138
Crushing It
In this episode, I pretty much bounce all over the place. The main theme of this episode is how excited I am about the content found in Gary Vaynerchuk’s new book titled “Crush It.”
During the conversation, I mentioned these links:
http://gspn.tv/pablchallenge
http://gspn.tv/passion
http://podcastanswerman.com/criticalfeedback
I wrapped up the show with a few other topics such as competition among podcasters and why I decided to make a change to the release schedule for the shows that I record on Thursdays.
–
Discuss podcasting with other listeners in the Podcast Answer Man section of the gspn.tv Community Forum.
EQUIPMENT SALES: Please consider purchasing from me when making your next purchase for audio gear to improve the sound of your podcast. Email me at Cliff@Ravenscraft.org or call me at 859-757-1399.
PODCAST CONSULTING: I’m also available for one on one podcast consulting. Whether you want someone to get everything set up for you or you just need a little help along the way, I’d love to work with you. I’m able to demonstrate using screen sharing technology during our call which makes it just like I was there sitting next to you at the computer. If you are interested, email me at Cliff@Ravenscraft.org or call me at 859-757-1399.
Subscribe To The Podcast Answer Man Podcast:
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Making Great First Impressions! New Logo Coming Soon!
December 5, 2009 by Cliff Ravenscraft
I’ve been consulting for a few years now and I’ve helped several hundred podcasters improve the audio quality of their podcast by leaps and bounds. However, my podcast consulting has never been limited to audio equipment and production. I do a lot of consulting on personal branding and how to build community around what you do with all your new media efforts.
Here’s something that I share often with my clients. I think it’s extremely important to have a high level of audio quality. However, for 99% of your audience, the first impression of your show is not going to be the sound of your podcast, it’s going to be the LOOK of your podcast. Let me explain.
There are many places people may find your podcast. Looking at my client’s and my own Google Analytics, it is clear that the two main sources of traffic to a podcast are Google and iTunes. When people find your podcast in one of these two places, the first thing people are going to see is either your website or your iTunes listing page.
Just look at this sample from an iTunes search and notice how the image of the podcast, OR LACK THEREOF, jumps out at you when browsing the list of shows…
Out of the ten podcasts listed above, only four of them have, what I would consider to be, a decent podcast artwork graphic for their show (Podcast Answer Man, MBA Working Girl, NAPL Workflows, and Train For Top Dollar). Notice how CIO Talk Radio doesn’t even have a logo, they just have the default iTunes image. I hesitate to point it out, but the “Fire Your Tech Guy in 15 minutes” podcast should have let the tech guy work another 30 minutes longer to produce a decent graphic for his podcast.
The point is this. I believe that your content is King! Though I don’t think any King should go through live without a QUEEN for your podcast which is your AUDIO QUALITY! Extending your brand doesn’t stop with compelling content that sounds great. You really should consider the LOOK of your website as well as the look of your artwork that displays in iTunes.
I’m constantly trying to “IMPROVE” the look of my brands. This is why I’ve hired my great friend, and a former sponsor of Podcast Answer Man podcast, Evan Agee, of Agee Design, to create a more professional looking logo for my Podcast Answer Man brand.
I sent him some ideas of what I was looking for and here’s a few concepts that he sent my way.
I’ve already sent Evan some thoughts on how I’d like to combine elements of two of the above concepts to create a logo that I think will look great. I’m very excited about this because I have plenty of new things that I’m working on behind the scenes and I wanted to have this new logo for all these new products and branding initiatives that I’m working on.
Are you looking to extend your brand? Are you looking for ways to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of your podcasting efforts? I’m available for one on one consulting. Simply email me at Cliff@Ravenscraft.org or pick up the phone and call me at 859-757-1399.
137 Podcast Answer Man – Broadcast Host Vs Telos One
November 30, 2009 by Cliff Ravenscraft
Yet Another Video Episode
Podcast Answer Man Episode 137
Broadcast Host v/s Telos One
I break out my Kodak Zi8 once again to bring you this very brief episode with my thoughts of how the JK Audio Broadcast Host compares to the Telos One Digital Hybrid (Both of which are available for purchase through me).
Here’s the video: [Read more]
Is Talent Over Rated? Why You Just Need To Get Out There!
November 25, 2009 by Cliff Ravenscraft
This morning, I came across a video on YouTube that carries a message that I feel strongly about as a podcast consultant. Let me explain…
Many of my clients today ask me, “Cliff, did you always want to be on the radio?” or “Cliff, did you go to some sort of school for broadcasting?” Better yet are the folks who say “Cliff, you have a natural talent for podcasting.”
See, when my clients listen to any of my recent podcast episodes, they here a confident show host who seems to know what he’s doing and who has learned to communicate well. And when they learn that I actually don’t do a SINGLE BIT OF EDITING on my shows, they are simply blown away.
Now this post isn’t here for me to share with you about how great people say I am. Not at all! In fact, the point that I want to make here is that while I will admit there is a foundation that was laid by some core talents, what makes my podcasts what they are today is not based so much on talent, but more so on experience.
Let me give you an example. Click the play button here and listen to just the first two minutes of this recent episode of Podcast Answer Man.
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Now, click the play button here and listen to just the first two minutes of this very first podcast episode I ever recorded.
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I hope you noticed just a little bit of a difference there. I’m not going to go into great detail here in this post, because I really believe this video has a lot to say and I think you’ll pick up on it.
Here’s the video: [Read more]
136 Podcast Answer Man – Interview – Mignon Fogarty – Grammar Girl
November 20, 2009 by Cliff Ravenscraft
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Podcast Answer Man Episode 136
Interview With Mignon Fogarty
Last night, my wife and I had the opportunity to discuss podcasting as a career with Mignon Fogarty, also known as Grammar Girl. Mignon is the creator of Grammar Girl and the founder and managing director of Quick and Dirty Tips.
This opportunity came about due to the fact that Mignon was going to be in Cincinnati for a book signing related to her new book “The Grammar Devotional.” Her first book, “Grammar Girl’s Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing” achieved enough success that she made it on the New York Times Best Seller List.
We were very excited when the message came in from Mignon saying that she had remembered that we’re in the Cincinnati, Northern Kentucky area and that she’d love to meet us for dinner.
In this episode, we invite you to sit down at the restaurant with us as we discuss how podcasting was the catalyst for her published books, an appearance on the Oprah show (clip1 – clip2), and a life altering decision to go into podcasting as a full-time career.
Important highlights from the interview include:
Mignon started with an original podcast that took her as much as 20 hours a week to produce. She later made a decision to do something different, even though her original podcast had even won awards.
Mignon “fell into it (podcasting as a career).” It started out just as a hobby that she did in her free time.
There is a discussion that demonstrates the role of passion and enthusiasm about the topic(s) you podcast about. She mentions that she listens to a sports podcast because of their passion and enthusiasm, not because she loves sports.
It became a business when she got some publicity that led her to writing a book. However, the book would have never happened had it not been for the podcast.
Mignon says that she makes about as much money from podcasting as she did as a technical writer. She was a pretty successful technical writer. We both agree that we, as people who have found a way to turn podcasting into a career, are an anomaly and that there is no real formula for “being discovered” and making it work. Mignon shares about who invested in her podcast network and a little bit about how that is all managed.
We talked briefly about the ability to have a positive impact on the lives of others through your podcasting and the importance of picking the right format and being focused on consistency.
I hope that you enjoy the conversation with Mignon.
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Discuss podcasting with other listeners in the Podcast Answer Man section of the gspn.tv Community Forum.
EQUIPMENT SALES: Please consider purchasing from me when making your next purchase for audio gear to improve the sound of your podcast. Email me at Cliff@Ravenscraft.org or call me at 859-757-1399.
PODCAST CONSULTING: I’m also available for one on one podcast consulting. Whether you want someone to get everything set up for you or you just need a little help along the way, I’d love to work with you. I’m able to demonstrate using screen sharing technology during our call which makes it just like I was there sitting next to you at the computer. If you are interested, email me at Cliff@Ravenscraft.org or call me at 859-757-1399.
Subscribe To The Podcast Answer Man Podcast:
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