Podcasting Tips from Dallas podcast experts
When using the internet as a medium to grow your business or personal brand a good medium to use to establish yourself as an expert is to use podcasts. Podcasts can either be audio only, or video and audio and are generally aired live and archived for later access and download. Podcasts can be distributed online on iTunes, Google play, and many other solutions that allow you to host your own podcast and share it. When combined with social media and a blog, podcasting can help position you as an industry expert. The following are a few tips on podcasting from local Dallas podcasters who have experience with it and shared their expertise at this years Podcamp Dallas 2012 event . The following tips came from AJ Wood, Kyle Kondas, Pelpina Trip, Gary Leland, and Mark Ramsey.
Tips on reaching and researching who your audience is
It is highly recommended that before you start a podcast, your should start planning out everything and ask yourself “ Why do you want to build an audience?” Is your main goal to promote a certain product, build a community, connect with people, or are you using it as a marketing tool? Before you start a podcast it is very important to know WHY you are doing it and who you are looking to reach. Knowing your target market is key to being able to relate with them and have them interact with your content. In order to build a relationship you need to provide useful content that is informative, entertaining, or both. It is recommended to ask yourself these questions to get to know your audience better.
Ask yourself the following questions about your audience:
WHO are they?
What is their typical day like?
Who are you trying to reach?
What does that audience want?
Where are they?
How will they find you?
What do you want them to do?
How are they going to connect with you?
The last one is a very important question because you want to know where they are and how they will connect. Are they working out on their iPhone ? Watching you live at their computer, downloading your podcast to watch in an airplane trip? A good way to deal with this is by creating multiple personas or imaginary characters similar to people who may listen to you or watch your show. You can also start out with a small audience and use surveys to get feedback and ask questions. Also make sure that you allow your audience to feel free to contact you or send questions your way. If multiple people ask you the same questions, that could be a good topic for your next podcast.
Why having a plan is an important part of your content strategy
Having a content strategy for your podcast as well as other marketing channels is very important. Researching your audience is crucial, but having a content strategy is also very important in order to help build your audience. Plan out if your podcast will be daily, weekly, or monthly. And make sure to stay consistent. Consistency and relevance to the topic are very important to maintaining and growing your audience. Making sure that they align is a good way to stay in focus, and not distract your audience. For example if your podcast for this week is about branding, try to make your social media and your blog posts revolve around that same topic. Do your research and ask them what kind of topics they are interested and try to always stay relevant and touch on topics that they want to know about. Another great tip is to get your audience involved and have them hang out on a Google+ hang out, or live twitter feed, so that they can interact with you live on the podcast. Being a part of the podcast will be something that can get them excited and they are more likely to share it. Including a call to action and telling your
Other tips and tricks for podcasting:
Use a good microphone even if you have to record audio and video separately
Zenheizer , blue microphones and lavalier microphones are good ones to use
Sony Vegas is a good video editing software that was recommended
Pelpina uses Final Cut Pro for her video editing
Final Cut pro is another good video editing software
Try to not have dead time on video podcasts
Use short 5 second introductions and get to the content ASAP
When doing a screencast, switch between your face and the screen to keep their attention
Check out Calisto.fm for real time analytics for live media
Use squared5.com an MPEG video converter and player for Mac and Windows
Use Evernote to keep track of interesting stories and articles you read to come up with new content
Partner with other people, it helps you when you don’t have time, and helps to promote them
Use guests and interviews with people in that related industry
Hold your podcast on your website for example at : yoursite.com/live
Check out schoolofpodcasting.com for more podcasting resources : )
Don’t forget to check out the Dallas Tech Tards podcast on Tuesdays at 8 PM
Also check out Pelpina Trip’s Web Beat. TV netcast
