Episode #118

Today I talk about some of the lovely podcasts I've run across that I feel are awful. It seems people are falling into certain areas:

The person who thinks they are going to make thousands of dollars next week.

The person who gets into podcast becuase they hear its cool, but have nothing to say. Ask them what their podcast is going to be about and they will say, "I don't know."

I've heard no less than four podcasts stating "how to make money in podcasting" and it turns out to be nothing but 40 minutes of talkshoe.com spewing. (nothing against talkshoe.com, but I've heard that podcast enough).

If you have a recording from a buinses meeting back in 1992 and think it would be a great podcast (that is if you can hear the speaker over the air conditioning) - you don't need to podcast that. You CAN, but the question is should you.

If you got into podcasting because you heard you can do it for free - you don't need to podcast. There are singers who sing for free. You can hear them at karaokee bars offending ears every Thursday. Spend a few bucks and take your podcast to the next level.

Thinking of starting a podcast in 2008? Remember that not only do you need the time to record the podcast, but you need the time to promote the podcast. Currently I have seven podcasts (www.podcastcoach.com ) and I don't spend enough time promoting my podcasts as I did when I had 2. Consequently, my numbers are growing slower than when I had a few podcasts.

If you are looking to start a Podcast, if you are looking to learn how to podcast, then please let me be your personal podcast coach by joining me at www.schoolofpodcasting.com

Today I talk about some of the items I see that confuse new podcasters.

1. The Podcast and Episode Delemna.
There is a "Podcast" name (Think "Friends"), and there is an "Episode" name (think "Monica and Chandler's Wedding). So while you may put in all sorts of iTunes information into your Wordpress settings (either via Podpress, or Feedburner) those apply to the "Show/Podcast." So if you have a show come into your aggregator (like iTunes) and there is no album art its because each EPISODE has "tags" for each mp3 file (or video file). In the example I was working with, the mp3 didn't have any album art. (Even though the SHOW did, so again the EPISODE didn't have album art).

2. RSS Feeds.
Most podcasters use Wordpress.com to maintain a blog (typically on their server like www.coolerwebsites.com ) that has a "side effect" of outputting an RSS feed. So when you update your blog, you update your RSS feed. So how do I update my RSS? I update my blog. Its that easy.

However! You may be using Feedburner (www.feedburner.com) which will look at Wordpress (to watch the RSS feed). This is what people call "Your Feedburner Feed." Then to list your podcast in iTunes you ay submit your "Feedburner feed." So now when iTunes starts it checks for new episodes. It woudl sound like this:

iTunes: Hey are there any new episodes? (Its asks Feedburner)
Feedburner: Hey Wordpress any new episodes?
Wordpress: Yeah, there have been two episodes put out since the last time you checked. The mp3 files are right over there...
Feedburner: Thanks. Hey iTunes the mp3 files are right over there..
iTunes: Got it. I'm downloading them now.

So when you update your Wordpress, you (through some handshaking) update iTunes.

Don't forget that you can get 25% off your membership fee at the School of Podcasting using th coupon code " santa " when you subscribe now through December 25, 2007.

Sites Mentioned:

www.wordpress.org
www.feedburner.com
www.itunes.com
www.schoolofpodcasting.com
www.coolerwebsites.com

Podcast #116 of the School of Podcasting Morning Announcements originating from www.schoolofpodcasting.net

Today I talk about a tool that will take the power of Wordpress and turn it into a Giant GOOGLE MAGNET. You can find it at www.wordpresstool.com  It is a boosted version of wordpress (it installs OVER your current wordpress install that you could purchase from www.coolerwebsites.com ) it has all sorts of meta, tags, site maps and more to drive traffic to your wordpress install. It is $297 but you can use it on ALL of your blogs/podcasts.

I've used it in the past, and wasn't sold on it. However, with the new version they have added LOTS of documentation, and the ability to drag and drop almost EVERY aspect of your blog layout (very, very cool).

The down side? You need to know a bit of CSS to get the colors and look of your site the way you want it. While Denis (the owner) is a great guy and very supportive, if he gets hit by a bus.......

The great news? You can change the layout with the drag and drop interface and the colors and style of your website stay the same (very cool). If Wordpress updates - your website will look the same. All the plugins have been tested to work together.

For more information about semiologic, go to www.wordpresstool.com

Question for the group? Do you feel that producers who have been around for a while can drop to a "not so regular" schedule without losing listeners?

CHRISTMAS SALE
Get 25% off your membership fee by using the coupon code " santa " when you check out at www.schoolofpodcasting.com Try it risk free for 30 days. If you don't like the great information, cancel your subscription for a complete refund. (Now through December 25th, 2007).

SHOWS / SITES MENTIONED
www.newmediamettersshow.com
www.thebitterestpill.com
www.digitalflotsam.org
www.internetbusinessmastery.com
www.coolerwebsites.com

Get 25% off your membership fee using the coupon code santa now through December 25, 2007.

Today I show how you can find out who is linking to your competitors using google. Then you can see if these same people might want to link to you. When a whole bunch of sites link to you Google may give you a higher ranking (and thus place you higher on a search).

To see who is linking to you simply type link:http://www.yourcompetitors.com 

So to see who is linking to the schoolofpodcasting.com it would be
link:http://www.schoolofpodcasting.com

Your listeners may want to link to your website. So you go into whatever program you're using (wordpress, front page, dream weaver) and you make a link to your website (either graphic aor text). You view the source code and when you past that into your website, it may  not display. Instead it will simply show the graphic/link and NOT the text that you want people to copy and paste.

(Now here I was able to simple coy and paste the code, this won't work with all systems, it WILL work for most people using Wordpress).

so to fix this, you need to replace the "<" and ">" so substitute the following:

&lt; = < (lt for less than)
&quot; = " (quot for quotes)
&gt; = > (gt for greater than)

 so

&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.schoolofpodcasting&quot;&gt;School of Podcasting &lt;/a&gt;  will show up like this

<a href="http://www.schoolofpodcasting">School of Podcasting </a>

If you're not sure how to make a link, I have a detailed answer in the Frequently Asked Question section of the school of podcasting