JD Sutter's posts: Recent Episodes
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I go over 4 options for legally using music in a podcast. Show notes are at jdsutter.me/ccm7. Email me at show@jdsutter.me.
You may have already heard that September 30th has been named as National Podcast Day. Steve Lee from netcaststudio.com and a team of other great folks are heading up this initiative. The goal behind this project is to bring more awareness to this medium. But you may be thinking, "What can I do for National Podcast Day?"
Before I answer this question let me clarify one thing. Just because this initiative was started by podcasters in the United States doesn't mean that it is ONLY for folks in the US. It was founded by a team in the US and they cannot speak for citizens in other countries. So if you live elsewhere in the world, whatever nation that is, make September 30th National Podcast Day a success there as well. Jump on the bandwagon and spread the word in your corner of the globe.
Now here are three things you can do for National Podcast Day.
Podcasters 1. Talk about it on your show 2. Promote it on your website 3. Share pictures of your studio #podcastday #shareyourstudio
Listeners 1. Review your favorite shows on iTunes or Stitcher 2. Send a piece of feedback directly to the shows you listen to 3. Tell a friend about the shows you like
If you fall in both categories; a podcaster and podcast listener, then choose a few of these ideas and do them to help spread the word. These are things we should probably be doing all year round, but NPD kind of gives us a kick in the pants to get them done. Visit nationalpodcastday.com for more ideas about how to celebrate. You can also learn about podcasting history and take the Podcast Pop Quiz.
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If you've been podcasting for very long, you've probably realized that you need several different variations of your cover art for different purposes. You need various sizes for your iTunes image, your .mp3 metadata, your website, social media accounts, etc. But have you ever considered podcast branded items for your show as a means of monetization? You know, coffee mugs, t-shirts and the like. If so, then carefully examine your artwork before just slapping it on any old product in Zazzle or CafePress. Not all podcast artwork looks great when used in this manner.
The reason this issue has come to my mind is because I have been considering the podcast merchandise revenue stream lately myself. And I came to the conclusion for the podcast in question, that while our artwork looks pretty good in iTunes, etc. it won't look that great printed on a t-shirt as-is. So that brings me to the question: Should a podcast cover art design be more like a logo? Or at the very least have certain elements that can be removed when you want to use the art for the purposes of printing on a physical product?
I see lots of podcast artwork in iTunes or other podcast directories which really do look great; when used for it's primary purpose, to act as an album cover. But that same artwork would really look terrible if it were printed on a t-shirt.
I know that most of us online content creators are not professional graphic designers ourselves and we're most likely going to hire a designer to create our podcast artwork for us. And if that is the case, then we want to get the artwork done right the first time so we don't have to keep going back to the designer to make changes since that costs us both time and money.
So what do you think? Should we be thinking about other uses of our podcast artwork? Or should we just approach it for what it is and have separate designs created for our branded merchandise? I haven't reached any concrete conclusions on this thought yet so I'd really like to hear what you think.
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Podcast Recommendation I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere - hosted by Scott Monty and Burt Wolder at ihearofsherlock.com. Full disclosure: I did some consulting for Scott, but I was a fan of the show long before he was a client.
Are you familiar with the term "market research"? It's a pretty common phrase in the business world. It refers to the practice of checking out the target demographic for your product or service. This is an over simplification of the concept, of course, but it'll do for now. There is another component of market research that I want to hone in on today and that is competitor analysis.
When planning and strategizing your approach for your blog or podcast I think it is extremely important to not only research your target consumer, but also to scope out the competition. I realize that many in the new media space would rather not think of fellow content creators as "competition", but prefer to look at it as more of a cooperative. Even if you take this approach, I think it is still vitally important to the success of your venture to do your due diligence. And not only is this market research important during the planning stages, it's my opinion that you must continually keep a finger on the pulse of what's going on in your niche. Remember that whether you like it or not, you're a salesperson for your brand. The more you understand your market and industry, the better you can serve your community.
With that being said, I want to share with you my approach to ongoing market research in one of the niches that I'm active in. There are three main components that I focus on; websites and blogs, other podcasts, and general goings on around the web in my niche of the audio drama world. I follow all of the major websites, blogs and wikis, and a few of the small ones too. Many of these sites have RSS feeds that I can subscribe to which makes it pretty easy to follow their content. I also subscribe to the podcasts in this industry as well. And lastly, I use Google Alerts to keep an eye on what is being said online about my brand, target keywords, and the industry in general. I use feedly for blogs, Pocket Casts for podcasts, and as I said before, Google Alerts for keeping an ear to the ground.
Why do I do this? Because I want to super serve my community. I want to be able to offer the best value to my podcast listeners and blog readers that I possibly can. By consuming content from others in the niche, I can see what they are doing that is working and what is not. Not that I'm going to turn around and copy what is heard on another show because I felt like it was working for them; I have my own approach and voice to how I present content, but when I'm more aware of what is happening in the industry I feel that I'm better able to address the wants and needs of my community.
I think that idea of competitor analysis is something that is often overlooked in the new media space. And as a result, there are many mediocre podcasts and blogs out there that cannot gain traction simply because they haven't done enough research into how to approach their target demographic, and more importantly how to retain the ones that they attracted initially by staying tuned in to what other folks in the niche are doing. There is a lot more that could be said on this topic, but the bottom line for today is: check out the competition. Be aware of what is going on in your niche. Sure there may be opportunities to collaborate, but don't just scout out the landscape at those times. Keep abreast of what others are creating at all times. It'll make you better at what you do.
What are your thoughts on this topic?
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Podcast Recommendation The Classic Tales - hosted by B.J. Harrison at thebestaudiobooks.com
Featured Resources Feedly - http://feedly.com/ Pocket Casts - http://www.shiftyjelly.com/pocketcasts Google Alerts - www.google.com/alerts
I was recently privileged to have a coaching session with Erik K. Johnson, the Podcast Talent Coach, regarding my audio drama fan podcast, Audio Theatre Central. During the course of our discussion the topic of an email list came up. Now as an online content creator, you may know that a mailing list can be an essential part of your marketing efforts and a good source of revenue. You can market your own products or affiliate products via your mailing list while at the same time providing high quality, valuable content to your subscribers.
Erik was asking me about the size of our email list. At the time it was pretty small in comparison to other's. When I let him know that, he asked me, "what are you calling it and how are you presenting it to your listeners?" I told him we were just asking listeners to subscribe to our newsletter or email list. And that is when Erik told me that the terminology used can greatly affect the outcome of having a listener subscribe to your list. The word subscription carries the connotation of having to pay for it. And the words "newsletter" or "email list" can come across as just being a bothersome thing or a nuisance; things are just clogging up your Inbox. He said that coming up with a creative name for your list can entice people to sign up.
Since Audio Theatre Central is all about going behind the scenes with audio dramas I gave it careful thought and decided to call our mailing list ATC Insiders. Since making that change our subscriptions have increased about 20%. So what do you think? Is it worth it to think about how you're branding your mailing list? I'd love to hear your thoughts on this.
Podcast Recommendation Erik K. Johnson - Podcast Talent Coach http://www.podcasttalentcoach.com
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In each episode I will dive into one single topic regarding podcasting, blogging, new media, and online content creation. It could be about an article he's read, a piece of gear he's recently acquired or just anything that's on his mind at the time, but each episode will be under 10 minutes; quick and to the point.
This show is also an experiment for me. I'm using this show as a test of the audioBoo platform also it is a test of the short form podcast as well as I'm going to be attempting to produce as much as possible of this show from my mobile devices. It will be unedited.
I'm also a bit of a contrarian. I like to try things that are out of the norm. So I won't be talking about WordPress or MacOS. I might mention the Blogger platform, Android apps, and maybe even Linux. You can expect some outside the box thoughts on this show.
On occasion, I may also give a recommendation for a podcast that I am currently enjoying.
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