School of Podcasting - Learn To Podcast » School of Podcasting

Who, What, Why, When, Where, and How of Podcasting

Dave Jackson — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 05:00:35 +0000

Who

Who am I? I’m Dave Jackson and I’ve been podcasting since 2005. I have a bachelor’s degree in Education specializing in techncial education, and I feel I can explain anything in terms that make it easy to digest.

Who should Podcast? Anybody with passion for a subject and wants to reach the world

What?
What is a podcast? It’s an audio, video, or PDF file delivered via RSS
What is RSS? It stands for real simple syndication. In the same way that every radio station has its own frequency, a blog running WordPress (which is a free software program that allows you to update your website and pdocast at the time) has its own RSS feed automatically.

When?
Podcasting started in 2004, and the numbers have grown every year. When should you start one?

Where?
Where do I find podcasts? Podcastalley.com podcast pickle.com itunes.

Where you should learn how to podcast? My site the school of podcasting. We have step by step tutorials and resources to get you going in the right direction.

Where can I get my podcasting questions answered? Webinar?

Why?
To be seen as an expert. To get the word out. To build a community. To boost sales. To reach a global audience. To keep your team up to date. To keep your brand in front of your customers.

When you have a topic you are passionate about and want to reach the world.

How?
How much does it cost to start a podcast? Around $200 if you’re going to do it right (one time fee). About $20 a month after that. Keep in mind this is to reach a global audience.

How techy do I need to be ? If you have ever sent a picture or an attachment via email, you can be a podcaster. You know how to type, and you know how to manage files 9via attachment).

There is free software to use.

Summer of Podcast Promotion

Your code is “learn”.

Bitrates for Podcasts.

Dave Jackson — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 01:39:37 +0000

As a podcast consultant, I recently had someone send me a file that was exported at 190 kbps. What is a kbps (kilobit per second)? We don’t care (and not its bit, not bytes). Think of it like this: The more paint (bits) you use, the more accurate a picture you can paint. With this in mind think of these settings as

64 kbps = AM Radio

Not bad for shows that are primarily talking.

96 Kbps = FM Radio
Not bad for shows who want decent sound quality, but don’t need CD quality (this show is done at 96 kbps).

128 Kbps = CD Quality

When I changed the bitrate to 96, it cut the file size in half, and (in their case being mainly talk) it made almost no noticeable change the audio quality. Keep in mind the higher the number the longer it takes to download (and the 190 kbps took forever).

For those podcasters who do a show that primarily features music. Anything about this (in my opinion) is overkill.

One Way to Make Money With Podcasting

My Friend Mark from the A1Blues.com podcast (great podcast if you love “rockin’ blues) features music from great musicians. He often pointed people to Amazon.com and I noticed he was not using affiliate links. I pointed out that you can become an “associate” (amazon’s term for affilaite) and make some cash (a little cash) sending people to buy these artist’s albums.

The easiest way is when you sign up to become an amazon affiliate, install the “associate bar” (I believe was the name of it). Then when you login to your affilaite area you can then browse to ANY page on amazon and make a link to the page (I typically use the “text link” settings).

If you are wanting to promote items on iTunes, their affiliate program is through linkshare.com

This show originates from www.schoolofpodcasting.com

I Will Sponsor Your Podcast

Dave Jackson — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 03:12:11 +0000

In today’s episode I talk about how I’ve been earning three figure incomes using affiliate marketing. You can find products that fit your audience at places such as Share a Sale and Commission Junction. You are assigned a specific URL so that when people click your link and then purchasr that product, you earn a commission.

Well it just so happens that the School of Podcasting has an affiliate program that currently is paying 30% of the sale when anyone signs up, and 10% for every month they stay signed up. I also have an affiliate program for another membership site I have is at Marketing Musician where you earn 20% for every person that signs up.

So many people want to try to sell advertising on their podcast like radio does. PODCASTING IS NOT RADIO. Let’s talk about advertising. You can get help, or you can do it yourself. Let’s take a peak.

Well the problem is many people think Podcasting as if it is Radio where you might get $10-$15 per 1000 listeners. The key point is, you have to have the radio on at the time, and be listening. If not you miss it - you miss it. With podcasting that advertisement will be there tomorrow, and it will be there a year from now. People find a podcast and go back and download all the old episodes (with the advertisement). So if they think a podcast is the same as radio, they are HORRIBLY mistaken.

There are other things to consider. Will you put a link to their website on your website? Is there an image, banner, etc. You can use these to negotiate price with the potential advertiser.

YOU need to prove that you are sending the advertiser traffic. I recommend getting some sort of click tracking software ( I’m a big fan of the pretty links plugin ) so I can say “I’ve delivered 152 visitors to your site). An alternative is to have the advertiser set up a landing page (www.theirwebsites.com/podcast) so they can see the traffic and KNOW it came from you. You might also see if the advertiser has a way to produce a coupon or a special deal (again so they know that when this coupon was used, that customer came from your podcast). You have to provide the proof.

I am actually making more money with affiliate marketing instead of selling CPM (cost per thousand). When the visitor buys using a unique link from me, I get a commission. This works when you find the right product that matches your audience. You can find affiliate program at places like Share a Sale, and Commission Junction. You also need to make it easy to get to your affiliate link. So you can set up a subdomain on your website that redirects to your affiliate link. You can also set up an entire store if you are using Amazon.com’s affiliate tools. To see this in action go to http://shop.growyourchurchshow.com (however Amazon requires a TON of traffic to make any significant money).

As for how much to charge, if you’re going the CPM route, somewhere around $15 – $20 CPM is unfortunately very low, but typical (well actually a pipe dream). I feel this is because people don’t understand that the advertisement is permanent (unless you go back and edit it out). This model pays the bills when you have 10,000 listeners per episode. That works for a chosen few podcasters.

Doing a quick google search on CPM pricing for radio. I found the following:

according to an August study from the IAB and Bain Capital, the average CPMs on ad networks ranged from 60 cents to $1.10

$9 CPM for a radio spot

$1-$2 per CPM
So you can see where when I say “$10-$15″ per CPM, I’m already getting more than radio. The bad news is I don’t have the audience of radio.

On the other side, I got a $200 affiliate check last week. If I was selling CPM at $20 (again, some would call that a fantasy) I would have had to have 10,000 downloads. As most of my podcasts have about 500 listeners that would’ve taken me about 5 months or $10 a show. The good news is I’ve been promoting this program for about two months (not five). I’ve done 8 shows in two months, so that means I’m getting paid $25 a show (or $50 per cpm 25/500 X 1000 – I think my math is correct)). I won’t retire on this, but with affiliate marketing I make just as much (if not more) than CPM, and its ever green. I get paid whenever a visitor acts (not if the advertiser decides to renew their agreement).

Just remember if you have advertising, you are going to have to prove that you sent them traffic (if you want them to renew their advertising when it runs out).

This podcast originates at http://www.schoolofpodcasting.com

Health Insurance For Podcasters?

Dave Jackson — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 04:30:58 +0000

This show originates at www.schoolofpodcasting.com This is show 164
Today we talk with Larry Genkin of www.blogandpodcaster.ne t who is building the Blogger and Podcaster Media Network. This new network that combines four social media sites into one network that hopes to offer services for podcasters looking to make money podcasting.

Don’t forget you can start your successful podcast to day by going to start.schoolofpodcasting.com Use the coupon SANTA and save 25% off now through the end of 2008

e-mail larry “at” bloggerandpodcaster “dot” net

Sites Mentioned
Blogger and Podcaster Media Network www.bloggerandpodcaster.net
Blogger and Podcaster Magazine www.bloggerandpodcaster.com
The Dolai Lama from Brooklyn show www.brooklynguru.com