Today is the official launch of my breakfast seminar series. Over the next 6 months, I’m going to visit a city near you and teach you how to podcast for profit.
Want to know what you’ll be getting in addition to the 2 hour presentation? Play the video below to find out.
This came through the helpdesk about a month ago. Name withheld.
So I did a search on “podcast expert” and there you were. I’ve been teaching myself about RSS and podcasting over the last 2 weeks.
I have tons of information, it’s just not all fitting neatly in my brain. I consider myself a seasoned Internet marketer, and a fast learner, I’m only just getting into podcasting.
Here’s what I’m hoping to achieve, without knowing if it’s possible:
I want to record and upload a mp3 files to my wordpress blog, then link to it in a post. I would like that mp3 automatically submitted to podcast directories… or whatever it does. This is where I get lost.
All these podcasting services say “Post it, then we take it from there.” What does that mean?! Is it included in my RSS feed? Is it submitted somewhere? Once I publish a post, I know its also in my feed, but what happens after that? Am I supposed to submit it somewhere?
I am also curious as to if there are any “podcast blogs” that are designed specifically for podcasters. Upload an mp3 file, title, description, then BOOM… traffic. Is there anything like that?
And FeedBurner. Wow, it really looks like a great service, but to a beginning podcaster, not very clear on whats going on here. What benefit do I have with a feed generated by FeedBurner over the feed I already have with wordpress?
Thanks in advance,
[name withheld]
Wow! He had alot of time on his hands to type up this ticket. Too bad I don’t have as much time to type up a response.
I could easily point him to my freebie page that lists a whole bunch of plugins and resources to use. If it were that easy, I would’ve responded, but if you read his request, he wants to understand how everything works. That takes time.
Like him, I always want to dig around under the hood to see how things work. Once I “get it,” I can then delegate to someone else. Unfortunately, I don’t have time to answer questions on that minute level.
So, what was our reply?
Leesa no longer conducts one-on-one coaching sessions, but has a coaching club that will answer all of your questions and then some. To find out more about Six-Figure Podcasting, go to http://www.sixfigurepodcasting.com.
You might also be interested in Leesa’s book, Podcasting for Profit. If you go to http://www.leesabarnes.com you can download the first two chapters for free.
I stumbled upon a report by Edison stating that podcast listening is going up. Aside from the encouraging numbers, the Edison report did one thing right and one thing wrong.
What Edison did right in this report is that it called the people they surveyed for this report podcast consumers. This then incorporates both audio podcast listeners and video podcast viewers.
But what Edison did wrong was focus only on audio podcasting throughout its report. People who read the report will assume that podcasting is ONLY audio.
I hear this so often when I speak to people:
“Oh, I know about podcasting. And video is a great marketing vehicle too, isn’t it?”
When did podcasting become audio only? Podcasting is video too. Heck, I’ve even seen people podcast powerpoint slides and PDFs in iTunes.
So, podcasting is audio AND video. Now back to our regularly scheduled program.
Facebook has now attracted those smarmy, get rich quick folks. It’s getting quite gross, but whenever something is hot, there will be some who will jump on the bandwagon to make a quick buck.
As I look at all these tall claims of making thousands on Facebook in just 6 hours, it seems too good to be true. Typically it is, however, the claim isn’t untrue.
In the 5 years that I’ve been writing my own sales copy and reading others, I now understand what these “claims” really mean. Here are some examples to illustrate my point.
I love holidays. Canadians celebrated Victoria Day last week Monday. Americans are celebrating Memorial Day today, while the British are enjoying a Bank Holiday.
Whenever there’s a holiday, I just love to celebrate with a sale. So, I’m having another one of my infamous fire sales.
How does it work? I take a bunch of products from my vault and bundle them together in a package. Then, I offer the package at a steep discount. The only catch is that you have to act early since every day we inch closer to the end of the sale, the price goes up by a few dollars. Sort of like a Dutch auction.
Click here to check out the products in the Social Media Power Pack. Hopefully, you’ll be in the celebratory mood after you see what’s included in this package.
This ticket was opened in April. Again, I will withhold the name, but will publish the ticket in its entirety:
Leesa:
Please send me a copy of your various podcasting info products so I can determine the potential for me being an affiliate to promote your work to the nearly 2000 practitioners I’ve trained worldwide. Most want to increase their business using the internet and I believe podcasting may be one important aspect of their efforts.
God speed
[name withheld]
(**sigh**) There are many problems with this request:
Our reply?
Our affiliate program is open only to current customers. You will receive an invitation to join our affiliate program after you’ve made a purchase. We recently made this change because we find that the best people to refer our products and services to others are those who have used them personally.
BTW, Leesa’s book, Podcasting for Profit, is an inexpensive way to discover what podcasting can do for your business and those who you trained. You can download 2 free chapters at http://www.podcastingforprofitbook.com to get a taste of all the great content that is waiting for you in her book.
Folks, I’m going to keep this short and sweet. Some people join Facebook and add every widget possible to their profile. Then, they invite others to do so.
Not a good idea. I ignore most of them, but I shall comment on one in particular. There’s one where you can buy people. Then, they send you a message saying:
“I just bought you. Guess how much?”
Okay, if you haven’t noticed, I’m Black. And if you know anything about Black history, then you know that “buying” me is so not a cool idea. Even in fun.
My heart goes into my throat every time I see the “I just bought you. Guess how much?” widget. I’m sure my ancestors didn’t think it was cute when they were bought and sold hundreds of years ago. So, anyone who sends me that widget is quietly removed from my friends list.
This widget is just not fun to me. Not one bit. It insults me, my culture, my ancestors and everything that’s not cool about that dark part of our collective history. If you’re that careless and thoughtless, then what else are you going to be careless and thoughtless about if we do business together?
Yes, I’m making an assumption. Perception is everything online. That’s why you have to be very aware of the widgets you’re adding to your profile, especially if you’re using Facebook for business.
Today is the launch of my Podcasting for Profit Breakfast Seminar tour. Over the next 6 months, I’ll be visiting a variety of cities throughout North America to teach you how to boost sales, make money and get known fast using a podcast.
The first breakfast seminar takes place in Toronto on Wednesday June 25 July 23, 2008 from 7am to 9am. The Podcasting for Profit Breakfast Seminar is your roadmap to success. I will show you how you can use a podcast to shake up your sales and marketing strategy.
In just 2-hours, you’ll learn:
To register for this event, click here. I’m planning stops in Phoenix, Las Vegas, Baltimore and Knoxville. I’m currently working on 4 more cities, so be sure to check the page often.
I’ll be a guest on City-TVs Homepage at 5pm today on Wednesday May 21st. If you’re in the Toronto area, turn your TV to Channel 24. If you’re not in the Toronto area, you can stream the live broadcast over the Internet. Follow these tips:
This will be the third time in 6 months that I’ll be on the show talking about podcasting. I typically appear at the top of the hour, so tune in as close to 5pm as possible.
So, Amanda Congdon returns to independent video podcasting after her stint on ABCnews.com ended/failed/combusted.
Earlier this year, Amber MacArthur, who was recruited by City-TV, said goodbye to the network after her one year contract ended.
Is there no room for independent podcasters in mainstream television? To say yes based on just 2 examples wouldn’t be fair. However, it appears that the culture of the independent tends not to mesh well in the mainstream world.
For example, in an article in the New York Times today, it appears that ABC producers stopped responding to Amanda’s creative ideas after she was hired by the network in 2006. She was quoted as saying that it was a “slow and messy process.”
In a blog post following her departure from City-TV, the network that hired her in 2006, Amber said:
Rogers (the parent company of City-TV) decided they no longer want to do the show (Webnation), but the offer to stay and do news stories was still on the table. I walked. OK, I ran, and maybe I jumped a little in excitement. I’m just saying. Freedom is a good thing, right? There are more boring details to the departure, but just imagine a bad TV newsroom drama set in Toronto.
I profiled both women in my book, Podcasting for Profit and while their adventure from podcasting to mainstream television has ended, I still believe that using a video podcast to attract the attention of those in mainstream television is a good strategy.
Just be aware that what you’re used to as an independent may be stifled by a culture that’s used to waiting and seeing.
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