Podcasting 101

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Podcasting 101

• Neville Hobson, ABC and
• Shel Holtz, ABC
• For Immediate Release
• www.forimmediaterelease.biz
• New Communications Forum 2006
• Palo Alto
• March 1, 2006

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Todays Agenda

• The elements of successful podcasting
• How to strategize a business podcast
• How to build a community of listeners
• The tools of podcasting, from recording to
  hosting
• How to promote a podcast
• Integrating your podcast with other online
  content
• Creating a podcast

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What is a Podcast?

• Digital audio file, typically MP3
• Radio show format
• Time-shifted listen when you want
• Delivered via RSS
• Optional
• Auto-sync with portable digital player
• Detach and go listen where you want
• Complemented by show notes

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Delivered by RSS

• Key technology tool
• A way to get net content when you want
• No spam
• No need to visit sites content comes to you
• Discoverability
• By podcast directories and other sites
• By people who want to listen

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Some Background

• Podcasting really began in August 2004
• Enabled by two elements
• RSS enclosures (Dave Winer)
• Podcatching software (Adam Curry)
• It started with one podcast Daily Source Code
  with Adam Curry
• Today At least 20,000 podcasts, 8-10 million
  regular listeners

• Businesses are podcasting
• Mainstream media is podcasting
• Newspapers, magazines, radio, television
• Wide appeal kicked off in June 2005 Apple adds
  podcast support to iTunes
• Going mainstream Yahoo! Podcasts in October 2005

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Continuing Growth
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The Hobson Holtz Report

• Started 3 January 2005
• First podcast in the communication profession
• Co-hosts Neville Hobson (Amsterdam) and Shel
  Holtz (California)
• 60-90 mins, twice weekly, Monday and Thursday,
  recorded via Skype
• Average per-show downloads 565
• Global audience
• Primary USA, Canada, UK, Netherlands, Australia
• Building community
• 3 on-the-ground correspondents

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For Immediate Release Series

• The Hobson Holtz Report twice-weekly show
• Interviews with newsmakers and influencers from
  the online technology and organizational
  communication worlds
• Book Reviews aligned with our theme of
  PR/communications and the online world
• Speakers and Speeches - podcasts of speeches,
  keynote addresses, breakout sessions, and other
  recordings from meetings and conferences of
  interest to PR and communication professionals

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Building Community

• Involve listeners
• Encourage listeners
• Address their needs
• Engage

Global distribution FIR listeners
14/2/06 http//www.frappr.com/fir
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Whos Podcasting?
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Why Podcast?

• Easy and complementary extension of existing
  communication, PR and marketing activities
• An appropriate channel to market
• Reach niche audiences otherwise (financially)
  unreachable
• Attract new, younger customers
• Create buzz, build viral marketing effect
• Be perceived to be at the leading edge
• Be seen as a leader with a cool new medium
• What else?

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Marketing Communication

• A new product announcement that accompanies
  traditional communication
• Includes informal conversations between, say, a
  customer and one of the employees from the
  factory who made the product

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Financial PR

• Investor relations produces a weekly review of
  activities and events of interest to investors
  and financial analysts
• Within the limits of regulatory requirements

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Employee Engagement

• A weekly 15-minute business update for employees
• Perhaps by the CEO or other senior executive
• Employees worldwide subscribe to the podcast via
  the company intranet
• Or from the CEOs blog

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Team Building

• The sales director records an occasional podcast
  for her geographically-dispersed sales team
• Tips and tricks on, say, how to close deals with
  certain types of customers
• Podcast available from the sales intranet as a
  complement to formal sales materials

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Growth Drivers

• Its easy
• Its inexpensive
• Its portable
• Its available

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10 Rules for Business Podcasting

• Be relevant
• Stick to the point
• Avoid fluff
• Practice infotainment
• Build and engage community

• Be mindful of your audiences time
• There are no competitors
• Dont advertise or sell
• Be authentic
• Integrate into the blogosphere

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Who Should?

• Corporate communications, PR, marketing, HR,
  investor relations, sales, employee
  communication, customer service, public affairs,
  community relations
• Externally engaging with customers
• Internally thought leadership, sharing thinking
  and knowledge news, information
• Who else?
• What about the CEO?

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20 Creative Ideas

• Airlines Travel and destination guides
• Apparel/Retail Behind the scenes at fashion
  shows, interviews with models and designers,
  guide to the season
• Automotive Test drives of new models with team
  drivers, interviews with designers, race reports
  from behind the scenes
• Beverage Stores Festive reviews of selected
  wines, spirits and beers
• Books/Music Retail Guides to summer or Christmas
  releases, interviews with bands and authors,
  sample readings from authors to promote an
  in-store appearance
• Financial Services Retirement guides, investing
  tips, planning for college education
• Golf Equipment Guides to courses, interviews
  with sponsored athletes
• Grocery Stores Interviews and recipes from
  well-known chefs
• Health Insurers Wellness tips, meditation
  guides, nutrition guides
• Home Improvement Stores Step-by-step guides to
  home improvement

• Hotels Destination guides, jogging routes, music
  to jog to, walking tours of cities
• Micro-Brews Interviews with the brew master
• Movie Studios Interviews with actors or
  directors, movie making production diaries
• Sportswear Interviews with sponsored athletes,
  event diaries (Olympics, World Cup), and
  interviews with designers, fitness and training
  tips
• Travel and Tourism Guides to destinations,
  travel tips
• Vineyards Interviews with wine-makers
• Whisky Makers Interviews with the makers, tours
  of the distilleries
• Video Games- Interviews with game designers,
  production diaries
• Higher Education communicate with incoming
  students and provide them with lectures.
• Investor Relations earnings announcements.

(from ideas by Kevin Dugan, Strategic Public
Relations - http//prblog.typepad.com/)
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Integrating

• With blogs and other social media
• Within traditional communication
• Strategic / tactical

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Producing

• Recording
• Editing
• Uploading
• Promoting

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Record your show

• Basic gear
• USB microphone
• Free recording/editing software
• Audacity
• Intermediate gear
• Mixer
• Higher-end software or software dedicated to
  podcasting (e.g., Mixcast Live)
• High-end gear
• Digital mixers, compressors, pre-amps

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Shels rig
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Portable Rigs

• Small handhelds

• Professional decks

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Edit

• Optional
• Live to the hard drive
• Eliminate glitches
• Add effects

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Adobe Audition for Windows
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Edit ID3 tags

• A tagging format for MP3 files
• Metadata includes
• Title
• Artist
• Album
• Track
• View them in players
• PC (iTunes, etc.)
• Digital devices (iPod, etc.)

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Upload the file

• FTP
• Automated processes
• LibSyn (Liberated Syndication)

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Update your feed

• Automatic if you use a blog
• Simple software to use if you dont

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Link to your feed

• Just a hyperlink
• Text
• Orange box

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Market your podcast

• Get listed
• Drive traffic to the podcast site
• Produce promos

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The New Media Ecosystem

• RSS
• Blogs
• Wikis
• Podcasts
• Videocasts / Vlogs
• Moblogs
• MMS
• Internet telephony

• Tools that facilitate
• Communication
• Engagement
• Transparency
• Trust
• Tool that are
• Complementary to traditional communication
  activities
• Used by organizations who recognize the social
  characteristics of effective communication

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Communication Choices
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Lets do a podcast
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Conversation

• Neville Hobson, ABC, and Shel Holtz, ABC
• For Immediate Release podcasts
• www.forimmediaterelease.biz
• Comment Line 1 206 222 2803
• Email fircomments_at_gmail.com

This document is protected under a Creative
Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs
license. No commercial use, no changes. But feel
free to share it, post it, print it, or copy
it. Original cartoons by Hugh MacLeod
(gapingvoid.com). Used with permission.