I was in conversation with Todd Cochrane today from Blubrry who also runs the annual Podcast Awards and he shared with me some interesting research which was undertaken across the podcasts that were nominated for an award. You can access the research results from the Podcast Awards where over 2300 sites were reviewed HERE.

The outcome of the research that was undertaken when reviewing the podcasts that were contenders for the awards gives us some insights on best practice tips for publishing and promoting your podcast.

Using RSS Feeds: Make sure that you check your own RSS feeds are valid and have an independent feed for your podcast as people may only want to subscribe to your podcast – be that an audio podcast or a video podcast. The research indicated that of the podcasts entered for the awards:

• 59% Had Feeds with errors but where valid
• 51% Had an RSS Icon on their default landing page that was a Blog Feed only
• 44% Of sites had a Podcast RSS feed you can subscribe to
• 23% Had a Podcast RSS Feeds Buried on a sub page in their Website
• 21% Had an RSS Icon on their default landing page that was Podcast Ready
• 21% Had invalid Podcast RSS Feeds.

Brand your channel and your podcast: Ensure that your visual identity is carried through for your brand on your podcast channel and in your podcast artwork. The research indicated that:

• 88% of the sites had good unique website branding.

Have Google help you be found: When updating your ID3 tags your audio file for a podcast remember that you still need to create effective show notes not only to help your listener understand the benefit of listening to your podcast episode, but also so that it will help your show be found in the search engines. The research indicated that:

• 59% Had less than one paragraph of show notes for their past 5 podcast.

Integrate your marketing communications: Encourage listeners and viewers to take the next step in getting to know you and become part of your community – or even look to contact you direct. The research found that:

• 53% Had a Facebook link on their website
• 43% Had a visible e-mail contact address on their website
• 41% Had a Twitter Link on their website
• 14% Had a Newsletter sign-up page
• 11% Had a call in number for listeners to comment on their shows.

Provide your content in  variety of formats: Provide a choice in the ways that you provide your content – I created two video podcasts today but at the same time made sure that I have the MP3 files available for those people who prefer to listen versus watch content. The nominations for the podcasts awards were creating for following types of content:

• 71% Were creating audio only
• 20% Were creating audio and video
• 9% Were creating video only.

Don’t forget the mobile web: Many people now are listening to podcasts when on the move and with the increase of the iPhone and other mobile platforms we need to make sure that we are ‘mobile ready’. The research found that:

• 3% of Sites where mobile phone ready (iPhone, Android, Palm Pre).

Provide a variety of ways for people to consume your content: Not everyone listens or watches podcasts on an iPod – many people listen to streaming audio or watch videos online. But to increase your podcast community you need to make sure that your podcast can be accessed easily – from being able to be downloaded from your website to being found in the main podcast directories. The research found that:

• 93% Had a Visible iTunes Subscription icon someplace in their website
• 81% Had a Visible iTunes Subscription icon on their default landing Page
• 51% Had a physical download link on their websites
• 51% Did not have their show listed on PodcastAlley.com
• 37% Did not have their show listed on Blubrry.com
• 14% Did not have their show listed on Podcast.com
• 6% Had a Visible Zune Marketplace icon on their websites

I know this research has given me some food for thought and actions to take for my new podcast series I am planning for 2010.

What other suggestions do you have for how best to market your audio or video podcast?

And if you are publishing a podcast in Ireland and would like to be part of a white paper that we are developing as the IIA Social Media Working Group, do get in touch as I am currently interviewing case studies in relation to the business benefits of podcasting – from audio to online video.

Did you find this article helpful? Then please share it!

Hide Sites

IIA Congress 2009: Colm Lyon, Managing Director, Realex Payments – Duration 51 mins
Devising a Strategy for accelerating growth in an internet business

IIA Congress 2009: Trey Harvin, CEO, dotMobi – Duration 45 mins
Mobile Web – Building for the Future

IIA Congress 2009: Ronan Harris, Online Sales & Operations Director, Google – Duration 47 mins
The End of Estimation – Certainty through Analytic

IIA Congress 2009: Colm Long, Director of Online Operations, Facebook – Duration 50 mins
Creating engagement and dialogue with users and customers on the social web

IIA Congress 2009: Tips from exhibitors, speakers and delegates – Duration 48 mins
Interviews with exhibitors, speakers and delegates at IIA Congress 2009 about how they are doing ‘Better Business Online in a Tough Economy’

(Disclosure: yes you will hear my voice on the podcast with the exhibitors and delegates as the interviewer as my company were appointed to record and edit the podcasts for the IIA Congress 2009.)

Did you find this article helpful? Then please share it!

Hide Sites

Today in fact you will find that Karlin Lillington, technology journalist with the Irish Times has written a feature article about the event and provides a great summary of the key issues covered. You can access the article titled ‘Podcast to keep an ear to the ground’ HERE.

The workshop was about 2 hours in duration and you can now access the podcast of the event on iTunes under the IIA account HERE or you can listen to it streaming from the web or download it to your computer.

BUSINESS PODCASTING WORKSHOP SHOW NOTES

PART 1 – access it HERE




Why do businesses podcast?

Examples of business podcasts in Ireland

Other examples of business podcasts

Repurposing your podcast to create new streams of revenue

Beyond audio – the development of online video podcasts

PART 2 – access it HERE




Audio and video recording equipment

How technical do you need to be to create a podcast?

Building a community around your podcast

Tips on editing your podcast

PART 3 – access it HERE




The business case for podcasting

The benefits of podcasting

Tips about RSS feeds, royalty free music and permission to use audio and video you record

Some of the biggest mistakes people make when creating and publishing their business podcast

Tips on how to get started with your business podcast

You can continue to add to the conversation and assist the IIA Social Media Working Group with the podcast white paper by commenting on it at the wiki HERE – and in addition if you host a business podcast in Ireland (either video or audio) and would like to be featured as a case study make sure you add that to the comments on the business podcasting wiki.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

The IIA also announced the finalists of the Net Visionary Awards 2009 this week and voting is open until the 1 May. The finalists are:

• Gina McCrudden: RaboDirect
• Krishna De: BizGrowthNews.com (yes that’s me!)
• Mike Kelly: Blog4business.com
• Peadar O Flatharta: TG4
• Ralph Averbuch: ElectricNews.Net for Enterprise Ireland

I hope these businesses provide you some inspiration of you are looking to start a business podcast.

And don’t forget it’s not to late to join the 2009 Podcast Secrets Course being facilitated by Paul Colligan and Alex Mandossian – it starts next week

Did you find this article helpful? Then please share it!

Hide Sites

One of the subgroups has been working on a podcasting white paper and this week the Social Media Working Group are hosting a workshop to access feedback from people interested and also those using podcasts – be those audio podcasts or online video podcasts.

Here are the details of the event:

Date: 9 Apr 2009
Time: 6pm – 8pm
Location: The Presentation Room, Digital Depot, Roe Lane, The Digital Hub, Dublin 8
Cost: €20.00 (free for IIA members)
Book Your Place: Online booking details are here

While the workshop is intend to review the contents of the whitepaper it will also give participants an opportunity to share their own experience and learn from others. I know at the Business Blogging workshop we had newbies to veterans of business blogging attend and the mix of people resulted in a healthy and productive debate. You can listen to the audio recordings or download them for the business blogging event HERE.

The draft paper is available for review, comment and download on the Working Group’s Socialtext Wiki. I hope you will be able to make it and if you have questions about business podcasting with audio or online video, why not leave a comment here and I’ll make sure that we cover it in the workshop or i will cover it in a forthcoming podcast.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Taking place on the 9 April is also the preview to the virtual learning programme by Alex Mandossian and Paul Colligan about podcasting – the preview is delivered by teleseminar and only costs US$20 to attend – and if you can not make it the recording will be made available. So if you are looking for additional resources about business podcasting why not join the programme – I attended back in 2007 and it is really content rich.

Register online HERE – and be sure to enter the code PC916 if you want to join at the discounted price of US$20 rather than the full price of US$99.

Flickr Photo attribution: TheUnaBonger

Did you find this article helpful? Then please share it!

Hide Sites

If you are using Wordpress to host your blog, the Wordpress team have now created Wordpress.tv with how to video’s for those of us who like  to see what to do not just read about it. Some of the video’s already available are:

• Creating pages on your blog
• Publishing your post at a future date
• Making your blog, posts or pages private or password protected.

The second is relevant to all of us who have created a business blog or podcast feed using Feedburner. I might have missed this in some of the tech blogs I skim, but today when I was on the Feedburner site creating a new blog feed, I noticed a little link saying:

Hey! We are moving FeedBurner accounts to Google.

It would be easy to miss the link at the top of the page.

Google acquired FeedBurner, Inc. in June 2007 and they are now merging Feedburner with Googles product. They are planning this transition by February 28, 2009. Find all the details HERE.

So head on over to Feedburner and read all the details – you will find a link (see my arrows in red) to more information and to make the change to your feed at the top of the page.

Did you find this article helpful? Then please share it!

Hide Sites

I also came across some feedback about one of the recent workshops I facilitated for the Irish Internet Association recently and the attendee put into action the things we covered in the workshop almost immediately – what music to my ears.

Here is an extract of the review by Derek McGarry, a board member of the Institute of Designers in Ireland and a lecturer in the National College of Art and Design:

Although I would not like to be tested on the full extent of my workshop comprehension, the great outcome for me was to leave the workshop with a conceptual toolbox and a new confidence to give it a go.

I quickly purchased the software and equipment I needed to start a series of design podcasts.  Within days I had recorded the first part of my new podcast series.  With some more work I will soon be ready to launch myself as an official podcaster.

From this first endeavour, I plan to gradually develop my skills through practice using tips and advice provided in the class.  My first efforts may well prove real amateur hour but I don’t mind because I know that this time next year I’ll be much better.

Congratulations Derek and do lt us know where we can liten to your podcasts – and perhaps you’d like to set yourself a goal of being nominated for the IIA Netvisionary awards Best Business Podcaster in 2009!

Did you find this article helpful? Then please share it!

Hide Sites

In fact one programme where I was a member of the teaching faculty made the decision to scale back their programme from being a webinar to being a teleseminar as so many people had problems not just with the technology platform being used but with broadband access.

It was interesting therefore to hear Martha Rotter who spoke about the ‘Academy Mobile’ programme within Microsoft at Saturday’s PodCamp Ireland conference comment that the platform that they have enabled allows Microsoft employees to produce a podcast with just a phone call – just as we do for the ‘Talking HR’ new programme I am collaborating on with HR consultant Jon Ingham and my masterclasses for ‘Biz Growth Live’ both of which are recorded using a phone line and then.

Viviane Reding, EU Telecoms Commissioner responsible for Information Society and Media Social Networking in Europe comments that:

It is this Commission’s policy objective to achieve broadband Internet for all Europeans by 2010.

From 2003-2007 broadband use in the EU tripled to 36% of households.

However, 7% of the EU’s population are still not connected (increasing to 30% in rural areas). And there are significant differences between diferent countries from 100% of the population being able to access broadband in Denmark, Luxembourg and Belgium, yet only 40% of the population in Romania (25% in rural areas) can access broadband.

Under the EU Telecoms rules, the view is that broadband access is critical for social inclusiveness and they wish to ensure that ‘basic communication services of good quality are always available at an affordable price, even if the market does not provide them under normal commercial conditions.’

Use of the internet across the EU is reported to be at 4 per cent of EU households using the Iinternet, 36 per cent of which are on broadband (corresponding to 20% of the total EU population).

A report in the Spring of 2008 commented that almost 40 per cent of European citizens still do not send emails or know how to use search enginges such as Google. They reported that the percentage of what they termed ‘Internet illiterates’ ranges from 69 per cent in Romania to 13 per cent in Denmark and the Netherlands.

It’s easy for those of us who have access to the Internet and especialy broadband to forget that not everyone has equality of access.

This data is also great reminder that we need to understand our audience if we are making content, products and services available using the web and that we need to provide our content in a variety of forms, repackaging it not just to meet the preferred learning style of our audience but also taking into account thier ability to easily connect with your information.

I’ll be interested to see if the subject of broadband access is discussed in the ‘Organise, Activate and Influence Conference’ talking place on Saturday and facilitated by the European Commission in Ireland.

Traditional literacy challenges are now being replaced by digital illieracy challenges and surely it’s the responsibility of all our governments to ensure that the ‘digital divide’ brought about be lack of access to the Internet does not create disadvantage or even discrimination for the citizens of their nations?

Did you find this article helpful? Then please share it!

Hide Sites

This live ‘in person’ workshop is FREE to attend and the details are as follows:

Date: Tuesday 7th October 2008
Venue: Castletroy Park Hotel, Limerick
Time: 10am-4pm (the social media workshop that I am leading is 10am-1pm)
Investment: Free event but registration is essential to secure your place

PROGRAMME OVERVIEW

Are you ready to be ‘Googled?’

Did you know that the rules of marketing have changed?

While word of mouth marketing is one of the most powerful ways to attract more clients and profits to your business, the Internet has enabled ‘word of mouse marketing’ and has changed the way businesses can communicate and engage with current and potential customers.

Today you don’t have to be a technical whizz or have a huge marketing budget to successfully grow your share of market and recession proof your business by using social media marketing strategies.

Learn about the different social media platforms from blogging to podcasting, viral marketing, video and social networking sites so that you can choose the right strategy for your business.

PROGRAMME OUTLINE

• Discover what social media marketing is and why it’s a critical element to your marketing plan
• Learn about the different social media platforms from blogging to podcasting, viral videos and social networks so that you can choose the right strategy for your business
• Find out how to monitor and manage the reputation of your business online
• Create your personal social media marketing plan including the 5 actions all businesses must take in today’s digitally connected world.

AFTERNOON SESSION

In the afternoon, the Irish Internet Association is supporting the event with the following speakers:

1.45pm: Drive Customers To Your Site Using Search Engine Marketing – Ed Field, Digino Marketing

2.15pm: Leveraging Email Marketing to Target Your Customers – Chris Byrne, Newsletter.ie

2.45pm: Build a Successful Business Online – Case Study Presentation by Fred Karlsson, DoneDeal.ie

Remember the event is FREE to attend but you must book your place HERE.

Did you find this article helpful? Then please share it!

Hide Sites

That was a great accolade. I do know however that social media is not the solution to every business issue and challenge and nor is every business ready to adopt social media.

However for those organisations who are visionary and want to embrace social media platforms as part of their communications and marketing plans – be that for internal communications or external communications – I can definitely point you in the right direction of best practice case studies and provide you with a frame work of how to get started.

On a recent Podcast Sisters podcast we specifically looked at how social media strategies and tools can help companies ride the recession. You can download the podcast about social media to ride the recession or listen to it here.

What thoughts do you have or experiences you can share of using social media as a low cost way of building your brand, attracting more clients, delivering services to your clients or reducing your overheads? You can leave your comments here or you can post your thoughts to our Friend Feed Room.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Read a recent article about the importance of employee engagement through a period of recession as a critical element of your talent management strategy

Did you find this article helpful? Then please share it!

Hide Sites

You can download or listen to this episode about podcasting within your community here – you will hear Anna and I cover the basic equipment we suggest for podcasting and ideas of construct the podcast.

What thoughts do you have or experiences you can share of developing a podcast in your local community? You can leave your comments here or you can post your thoughts in our Podcast Sisters Friend Feed Room.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

In two recent Podcast Sisters podcasts, we covered the subjects of building community around your brand:

• In Show 41 we covered the reasons to consider building a community around your brand – access the show here
• In Show 42 we covered actions we can take to create a thriving community of brand ambassadors – access the show here.

Did you find this article helpful? Then please share it!

Hide Sites