Can You Podcast Physical Things?

Can you podcast physical things?

Most people think of podcasting in a fairly limited sense. – for example, radio shows that you can download automatically.

We’ve always had a broader view, that podcasting was the publishing of downloadable files with an RSS 2.0 news feed. With that in mind, you can use podcasting to automatically stay current with all types of files, through audio podcasting, video podcasting and, more generically, document casting.

In each case, podcasting is being used to make it easy to get the latest version of something – whether it’s a radio show, a song download, a new video or some other file.

Why not podcast physical things, though?

We’re moving into an era where on demand manufacturing is becoming commonplace, and DIY’ers are buying 3D printers that can print actual physical objects on demand. The children’s toy, above, is an example of what a company called Ponoko does – on demand manufacturing.

This technology is very expensive now – but the 300 DPI Apple LaserWriter cost $6,995 when it came out, and now companies give high-resolution printers away to get you to buy ink cartridges. On-demand object printers are going to rapidly become affordable, too.

Is there any reason podcasting can’t be used to distribute the latest versions of files that create things, just as easily as podcasting is used to distribute the lastest versions of an audio show?

What do you think? Futuristic or just fantasy?

Updated List of Sites to Submit Podcast

We have updated the list of sites you can submit your podcasts and videos.

Internet Advertising Now Bigger Than TV Advertising In The UK

Good news for new media publishers – Internet media is rapidly becoming the biggest channel for advertising.

The Guardian reports that the UK has become the first major economy where advertisers spend more on internet advertising than on television advertising, with a record £1.75bn online spend in the first six months of the year.

This overturns nearly half a century of dominance by the television broadcast industry:

UK advertisers spent £1.75bn on internet advertising in the six months to the end of June, a 4.6% year-on-year increase, according to a report by the Internet Advertising Bureau and PricewaterhouseCoopers. To put this in perspective, in 1998, when the IAB first measured internet advertising, just £19.4m was spent online.The internet now accounts for 23.5% of all advertising money spent in the UK, while TV ad spend accounts for 21.9% of marketing budgets.

The IAB originally predicted that internet ad spend would overtake TV at the end of 2009; however, the crippling advertising recession accelerated this by six months. TV advertising fell about 17% year on year in the first half, to about £1.6bn, according to the report.

This is an inevitable trend, but this switch is a milestone for online advertising.

One possible threat to the growth of online advertising an online media is concern over tracking. The New York Times reports that 2 out of 3 object to online tracking. Any changes to regulations around online ad tracking could delay migration to online ads.

Image: sh1mmer

15 Podcasts That Will Make You Smarter

CollegeCrunch has put together a great list of 15 Podcasts That Will Make You Smarter:

One of the more underrated benefits of the internet era has been access to quality radio style programming at any time of the day or night. Just like DVRs have freed us from having to adhere to rigid television program schedules, podcasting has enabled us to carry excellent radio with us for listening at any time. I struggle with not having enough hours in the day to listen to it all, because there is truly so much quality out there.

Highlights of the list include The Naked Scientist, The Skeptics’ Guide to the Universe, Ted Talks & This American Life.

It’s a great reminder that podcasts offer a great alternative to the often mind-numbing programming of corporate radio.

Build Trust and Engagement with Show Format and Show Flow – Part 2

Susan Bratton, author of Talk Show Tips, host of the Dishymix podcast and CEO of a publishing company called Personal Life Media that produces 40 different podcasts, is sharing some of her expertise in podcasting with the Digital Podcast fans.

In the Susan’s first guest post, we talked about various show formats that are possible with a podcast. In this installment, we’ll dive more deeply into Show Format, giving you an actual structure you can customize for your needs. This include some good language for intros and outros and commercial breaks.

Your Show Format
Once you know how long you think your show should be for your audience and your style, you need to plan for the intro, breaks (if any) and the outro. I recommend starting your show off exactly the same way every time, and ending the same too.

Every episode of DishyMix starts this way:

Welcome to DishyMix, This is your host, Susan Bratton, and on today’s show you are going to meet Clark Kokich, global president and CEO of Razorfish…

Sometimes I do a little “tag cloud” of subjects we’re going to cover. Sometimes I top line a person’s bio (if I think my audience would benefit) and sometimes I just jump right in to bringing them on the show if they are well known. “Welcome to the show, Clark!”

What I think is most important for my audience is for me to GET TO IT! I don’t dilly dally talking about the weather, we get right to our dialog. I respect them as busy people.

Dialogue versus Question and Answer Format
Speaking of dialog, one of the mp3 files you get with “72 Secret Master Talk Show Host Techniques,” is an audio lesson with Duncan Campbell, host of Living Dialogues, called “The Art of Dialogue.” Duncan has a very unique interview style he calls a “dialogue.” Where most talk show hosts ask questions, driving the discussion and expecting the guest to answer and be the expert, dialogues are a more integrated discussion between two parties.

You can hear this difference if you listen to an episode of DishyMix and then listen to an episode of Living Dialogues.

Living Dialogues Stream/RSS/Download
Living Dialogues in iTunes

Creating Your Unique Style
I like to take a few moves from Duncan’s playbook but still keep mostly to the question/answer format. Duncan’s approach gave me the courage to dialogue with my guests. Your audience consumes your content because of YOU, not the guests you have on. You are the central character in the lives of your fans. It’s your filtering, your curating, your questioning and what you get out of your guests they they come for. It’s ok to engage in a little “parry and thrust” with your guest. It’s actually predictably boring to settle too routinely into simple Q&A. I encourage you to mix it up. Get in there and get dirty. More about what happens inside the container of an interview is covered in Talk Show Tips.

Show Flow
Here’s an example of a typical single Host, single Guest Format, thirty minute show. You should create your own personalized version of your show flow using this as a guide and customizing it for your own preferences.

Start the Show with Your Personalized Opener
Welcome Guest Name
(hi, great to be here)

Give a quick overview of who your guest is.
Guest is known for:
Attribute 1
Attribute 2
Attribute 3

Establish the theme of the show.
I’m pleased to have you with us today – I think our listeners really care about xxx and want to know more about xxx.

Tell your listeners the “game plan” for the show today – format and theme.
Today I want to talk to you about:
Subject 1
Subject 2
Subject 3
Get right into the meat by starting the discussion.

Let’s start with a few questions about xxx.

Ask 12 minutes of questions here (see Do’s & Don’ts on questions, bridges and transitions in the main eBook)

Make sure you unfold a story and delve deeply into their particular expertise. What do they know that nobody else in the world knows? Unfold this revelation…

Go to Break if you want a mid-roll ad slot
We’re going to take a short break to support our sponsors. I’d like you to listen to these ads. These are ads created by my sponsors for my show and they help me bring my work to you. If you can support them, I’d really appreciate it.

This is Host Name and I’m with Guest Name and we’ll be right back to talk about “something intriguing.”

NOTE: To keep your listeners or viewers from abandoning your show at the break, tempt them just before the break with the most juicy content you are saving for the end of the show so they’ll be compelled to stay with you!

5 second bumper with show identity (I use only a music bed here)

Break (silence for the count of 5)

5 second intro bumper (again, a music bed)

Bring Yourselves Back Into the Show
We’re back and I’m your Host Name and we are talking to Guest Name about xxx.

House Keeping
This is where I let listeners know about the DishyMix Fan Club and any other actions, like listener surveys or requesting iTunes reviews.

Before the break we were talking about xxx. I want to ask you about xxx.

Another Cluster of Dialogue if your show is longer than 30 minutes.
Questions for 12 minutes
(Follow same format for break and return if you want more ad slots.)

Engage Your Audience
Ask listeners to send you email or call to leave you a message. (I recommend K7.net for a free voice mail box.)

Wrap Up
We are almost out of time but I would like to ask you one final question – ask something that is a benefit to the listener and leaves them with an inspirational thought or feeling. Or however you want to end your show each time.

Thank you Guest Name for joining us and sharing your wisdom/insight/etc.
(You are welcome.)

Sign Off
Address listeners: join us next week on Show Name when we talk to Guest Name or we’ll be covering theme.

That brings us the end of the show, thank you for listening. For text and transcripts of this show, and other shows on the Personal Life Media Network, please visit our website at www.personallifemedia.com.
This is your host, Host Name
Your signature close here

Show ID – Closer
Personal Life Media Bumper

You can reformat this show flow to work for your show. It’s a great help when you’re first getting started. I always follow the same format so my guests can just listen, rather than wondering what is going to happen with format.

Now you know about the myriad options for formatting a show and how to move through your show flow with ease. If you haven’t listened to my interview with Susan about Commercial Podcasting, click here now.

Don’t forget to sign up for Susan’s free Mini-Course called “Easy Question Generators” where she gives you ten tips for coming up with killer questions for every interview. And, if you’re impressed with this bit of detail excerpted from her training system, maybe you should just go ahead and treat yourself to Talk Show Tips right now.

Happy podcasting!

Audio Recording Education Center

Educational articles and videos for improving audio recordings.

Build Trust and Engagement with Show Format and Show Flow – Part 1

Susan Bratton, author of Talk Show Tips, host of the Dishymix podcast and CEO of a publishing company called Personal Life Media that produces 40 different podcasts, is sharing some of her expertise in podcasting with the Digital Podcast fans.

In this guest post, Susan writes about Show Format and how to use it to build trust and engagement with your audience.

Here’s part one of advice from Susan Bratton, author of Talk Show Tips:

Show Format
In order to create trust with your audience, you have to consistently deliver both in frequency and format. Once you pick a schedule, keep to it. (I work ahead 3-5 episodes so I always have a significant buffer to weather guest cancellations and my own busy life.) The same with a format – keeping it consistent pays off by generating a level of credibility, professionalism and certainty. Sure, you can morph the format over time. I’ve tried show highlights and removed them because of audience feedback that they were confusing. Choosing and sticking with a show format allows your audience relax into the content, rather than wondering what the game plan is for every episode.

The 5 Divas: Sharon, Suzanne, Carrie, Julie and Amy

Carrie Runnals, Words to Mouth

Ryan Oelke and Vince Horn, The Buddhist Geeks

On our network, we have many formats and lengths:

• The DivaCast and Business Success Tips are a group of hosts who convene to discuss salient issues. The DivaCast is five “forty-something” women discussing life. Business Success Tips is as many as six male hosts talking shop.
• Family History and Tantra and Kama Sutra are single host/guest format.
• Joy of Living Creatively, Inside Out Weight Loss and Your Purpose-Centered Life are single host spoken word shows with huge followings.
• Camera Dojo, Buddhist Geeks and Digital Photography Life are dual-host and single guest format.
• Music for Midnight is very lightly hosted and mostly ambient and lounge music.

Some of our shows are 8-12 minutes long, some go over an hour! Some are loosely formatted discussions and others follow very organized question/answer formats. There are hundreds of formats and styles successfully employed. Don’t just choose one of the styles we use on our network, choose the one that supports your content, personality and Persona. (more about Personas in the main eBook.)

There’s a style for everyone. Some people love the conversational nature of our multi-host shows. That drives others crazy and they vehemently reject it. You must develop your style and find your audience. Your future fans are out there, as long as you keep your show tight, the content valuable and you don’t waste your viewer’s time.

Your Show Length
First, select your show length and format. My weekly show is about a half hour. I’d like to do a twenty minute show, but I can’t get as deep as I want in that amount of time. A hallmark of my show is depth, so I need that extra ten minutes to fully develop the character of my guests. My audience gives me that time because they like that character development too.

I also need to have pre-roll, mid-roll and post-roll ad slots because a big part of my income is advertising revenue. Sometimes I run six or eight ads in a single show. (My audience is marketers and they understand the sponsorship model. I never get any negative feedback on this number of ads because my audience “gets it.”) To generate the revenue for my show, I need thirty minutes of content with a break fifteen minutes in. I don’t believe my listeners, who are busy professionals, have more than a half hour, but there are a LOT of popular shows that go longer. Some of the shows on our network are always over an hour. If you are working in video, your duration is significantly abbreviated — typically :30 seconds to 4 minutes… You have the luxury of overlay ads on your video, whereas audio is more linear.

So pick a length. Then stay within that by 20% every episode. Internet shows have the luxury of being approximate, rather that exact in length. But don’t take advantage of that and go off format. It’s sloppy and erodes audience trust. Ninety five percent of my shows are thirty-ish minutes long. A really long show I did with Tim Ash about landing page conversions recently was a show with a lot of listener questions. I got great feedback on that show from many people. But I like those “bonus material” shows to be the exceptions, not the rule.

On the next guest post, Susan will show you exactly how she handles her show flow and give you a cheat sheet for customizing it to your needs.

************************

Susan has launched Talk Show Tips: 72 Secret ‘Master Host’ Techniques as a training system for anyone who hosts a podcast, vidcast, radio or talk show or for experts who create information products that include interviews as material.

Do RSS Clouds Matter For Podcasting?

Dave Winer, the author of the RSS 2.0 specification on which podcast feeds are based, is working on a new project, to bootstrap real-time podcast feeds:

We’re trying to bootstrap a network of realtime feeds, and it’s going pretty well so far. Podcasts are implemented with RSS too, and while we have excellent examples of realtime photo feeds, we don’t yet have a realtime feed with audio.

So a week or so ago I started exploring options, and thought I’d use the Grateful Dead again, until JY suggested using a fast-updating audio feed from the Internet Archive. I took one look and realized this was it. It took a bit of a coding to check it periodically to see if it has updated, add a cloud element and notify one of my cloud servers. Now it’s done.

http://static.newsriver.org/archiveOrg/podcastRss.xml

So if you’re working on podcatching software give it a try.

Winer summarizes how how RSS Clouds work like this:

1. The authoring tool. I edit and update a feed. It contains a <cloud> element that says how a subscriber should request to notification of updates.
2. The cloud. It is notified of an update, and then in turn notifies all subscribers.
3. The subscriber. A feed reader, aggregator, whatever — that subscribes to feeds that may or may not be part of a cloud.

In other words:

• You update your podcast and your content management software notifies a cloud.
• The cloud notifies subscribers that your podcast has been updated.
• Subscribers then connect to your site and download your updated.

One of the key ideas of RSS Clouds is to faciliate real-time notifications. It’s easy to understand how this would be useful for news updates.

It’s not clear, though, if this will offer compelling benefits for podcast listeners, since many people sync once a day at most.

What do you think? Do RSS Clouds matter for podcasting?

Image: kevindooley

Interesting Model for Profiting from Podcasts

Give away every other episode. Make them pay for the rest. McAllister has built a business model for ScreenCastsOnline where he gives away every other episode for free. If you would like to get all the episodes, then you have to become a subscriber.

read the complete article

Podcasts May Not Make You Rich, But They May Make You Skinny

Podcasts may not make you rich, but they may make you skinny.

In a recent study, researchers found that people that listened to a diet podcast based on social cognitive science lost 9 times as much weight as people listened to a regular diet podcast.

The study, Pounds Off Digitally (POD) Study: A Randomized Podcasting Weight Loss Intervention, was published online on Sept. 15 in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

The study involved a 12-week randomized controlled trial of 78 overweight men and women (body mass index, or BMI, of 25 points to 40 points) in the Raleigh-Durham area. Participants in a control group listened to 24 episodes of a currently available weight-loss podcast, while another group listened to an enhanced podcast, designed using behavior change theories. The enhanced podcast used tenets of social cognitive theory – including that behavior change is based upon an individual’s expectancy (how much they would value an end result) and expectation (whether they believe they will succeed or fail).

Study participants who used the enhanced podcast experienced a significantly greater decrease in both weight and BMI than the control group. The enhanced group lost 6.4 pounds in 12 weeks, compared to 0.7 pounds in the control group, and dropped one point in BMI, compared to a 0.1 point drop in the control group.

Researchers hope to do additional studies to determine if podcasts can be used long-term to help people keep off weight, and whether podcasts targeted directly to people’s habits and needs are more effective.

This is fascinating research: it shows how useful podcasts can be as dieting tool, but also suggests that current weight-loss podcasts may not be nearly as effective as they could be.

via physorg.com

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