In today's show I talk about “back in the day” when people use to create promos (a short 30, or 60 second spot) that helped spread the word about their show. You often would “swap” promos with other similar podcasts. I'm not sure why (fear maybe that people would leave your show) this kind of went by the wayside. As word of mouth is the BEST form of promotion, I still like the idea of a podcast promo. This was inspired by a recent episode of the Podcaster's Roundtable where we talked about the Podcast Promotion Police.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed
Subscribe: TuneIn | RSS | More
iHeart Radio Stats
DJ City from the Japan Experience podcast asks if it's worth putting a show on Spreaker to get into iHeart Radio.
I looked at last week's episode of the “Ask the Podcast Coach” show and found this:
Libsyn 72%
Spreaker 19%
Stitcher 7%
iHeart Radio 2%
In general I'm getting about 4% from iHeart radio. I recommend that everyone be on Stitcher, I'm not sure I'm “All in” in spreaker. I am looking forward to their future plans.
While I have over three thousand followers on spreaker only .4 (not four, .4) actually listen to the show. This reminds me of the early days of myspace when everyone followed everyone for the sake of following them.
You don't see how long people listen on iHeart radio, and I have to login to Spreaker to see my stats (where Stitcher stats are now seen in my Libsyn or Blubrry stats).
If you get accepted by iHeart radio, you lose the RSS feed on the spreaker website (not such a bad thing). Also, if you import your show Spreaker still messes up your ID3 tags and branding (something they are aware of) and you then have to check your stats in two places. The only reason I listed the Logical Weight Loss podcast is this show now has a membership area and I'm trying to get my show in front of as many people (and I turn off the ability to download on the site – which may disable that file from being on iHeart radio. It's complicated, and Spreaker has lots of things coming down the road. Right now they still need some tweaking.
Remember, when you first start out live you are adding LOTs of complexity and you don't have an audience yet. It might make sense to podcast for a few months and then decide later to possibly go live. Remember when you are live you have to have a schedule. You can't sleep in. You can't get caught in traffic. You have to start your show at the same time for every show if you want people to find you.
Streaming Stats
J. Mason Mitchell asked about the streaming system I use for schoolofpodcasting.fm
I have schoolofpodcasting.fm which is a streaming version of my podcasting tips. It features past shows, and a mix of the “More Podcast Money” show, the “Power of Podcasting” show and more. James asked what kind of numbers I get.
Over the last 2 days I've had 32 listeners from 18 different countries. (not huge numbers, but it's only $12 a month). My second top country is Thailand. My peak listeners are 8 listeners on Sunday night.
I use a company called Listen2myradio.com
If you're interested in stats check out simplymeasured.com to check out how you're doing on social media
Dave on the Start Talking and Recording Podcast
One of the things that I love about the Start talking and Recording Today show is Nick talks podcasting, but also digs a little deeper into the podcaster's likes and dislikes so you get information that you probably won't get on other podcasts. Check it out at Startpodcastingnow.com
Podcast Promo Tips
1. Get a domain name. Don't try to get people to myshow.somewebsite.com You can get a domain name at Name Cheap for less than $15 a year.
2. Put on Your Marketing Hat – Think about your target audience and what will inspire them to come to your site.
3. What is it? – Don't forget to cover what your podcast is about.
4. Don't Get To Cute – Trust me, everyone did the deep voice “In a World….” intro.
5. Make the First Sentence Count –
You can only make one first impression. Get their attention! There are many ways to do this such as
A) Ask a question – Did you know that you have to burn 3500 calories to lose a lb.?
B) State a fact – One of the Side Effects of the new Weight Loss Drug Ali is Fecal Urgency
C) Be Witty – Fructose Corn Syrup, or as I call it “The Sweat of the Devil” is in all our food, and making us fat.
6. Repeat Your Podcast Name to help embed it in the minds of the listener – to a point.
7. Make it sound as good as you can. You may consider someone like Music Radio Creative to help you create a great sounding promo
8. Let someone else hear it (that's not named MOM). An unbiased opinion is what you are looking to find.
9. Include a call to action. – ONE call to action. My call to action is go to my website. Make it specific. Don't make it vague like “Find us in iTunes.”
10. The Last Impression Counts Too. – For me I make my last impression be my website. You want to start off good, and end good.
11. Save it in the Best Audio Quality. Save it as a stereo WAV/AIFF file, and then make a 128 kbps stereo file (and be sure to add your ID3 Tags. You can always scale down your file. You can't scale up.
12. Name the file so people know what it is. – Don't name it promo1.mp3 Avoid spaces in the file name.
13. Put it on your website so people can find it, and test the link. Make a post, switch to the text view, and copy and paste that into a text widget.
Different Style of Promos and Techniques
You can use clips from your shows to make a quick “best of reel.”
You can spotlight how your podcast solves the problem of your listener
You can use sound effects to help build the “Theater of the mind.”
Remember to use visual words, and help tie into the listener's emotions. That's the best place to connect. Facts are fine, but if you can tug at the hearts and mind of the listener you'll have a better chance inspire them to come check out your show.
The number one mistakes of promos is people try to pack too much information into the spot. This causes people to speak to fast, and you're expecting people to remember too much. Figure out the ONE thing, or TOPIC you want to cover. In today's show I play a new promo I made, and I may have added too much to the promo.
Where to Find Promos
Check out www.podcastpromoswap.com
Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed
Subscribe: TuneIn | RSS | More
Dave, I liked the “Jump in the pool and I will catch you” promo.
It played well in the theater of my mind! I didn’t think it was too busy at all.
BTW, March 15th is known as “fateful date” from the Shakespeare’s play “Julius Caesar” (Beware the ides of March) and Tax day is April 15th. Yet another fateful date for Americans!
Good Show kicking it LIVE & old school.
Joe H.
Yeah. There was something else I said that was somewhat wrong. A quick slip of the tongue.