Crock-Pot Podcasting – PCN Show 023

PCN iTunes artworkShawn and Jen are back with another round up of all the podcast related news that didn’t get an official write-up on the Podcaster News blog.

This week, we have news about: invisible listeners, crock-pot podcasting, and an ethical warning about the sandbox we all play in.

Links mentioned in this episode:

* The Podcasting Weekly
By James Martell at Paper.li

* How to Aircheck Your Podcast
By Seth Resler at Rivet Radio

* Invisible Audience: What Your Podcast Stats Won’t Tell You
By Sil at MMO Gypsy

* Quit Peeing in the Sandbox – Buy Your Way to the Top at Soundcloud
By Dave Jackson at his blog

* Patreon members getting blackmailed: Ignore that email…
By Anne Sewell at The Media Waves

* Podcasters’ Roundtable 61: Audience Engagement

Podomatic’s Year-End Deal Targets SoundCloud Users

Podomatic logoMedia hosting and podcasting services company Podomatic announced a year-end promotional deal as well as some new features in its November newsletter. And while the newsletter doesn’t specifically state that the company is trying to court SoundCloud users, it kinda looks that way.

First off, Podomatic has developed an inline Facebook player for its users. This allows clickable players to automatically spawn inside of users’ Facebook feeds. From the newsletter:

…we’ve released a brand new Facebook timeline player with a slick new design and improved sharing capabilities. While other companies are removing Facebook players entirely, we realize how important it is for our podcasters to have their content shared with the world, from anywhere in the world.

Earlier this year, SoundCloud disabled its own Facebook player, which caused a lot of consternation among users. This is probably what Podomatic’s referring to with that “other companies” line.

Second up, Podomatic has created a tool to import media directly from SoundCloud accounts:

Providing our podcasters with a centralized and secure location for their audio files is a commitment we take very seriously. We know how important it is to have your content readily available for your listeners 24/7 without the worry of your work being removed. With our new import tool, you can now transfer all of your episodes and mixes from any hosting site to Podomatic effortlessly, all with just a click of a button.

While the newsletter says Podomatic will import media from any service, its import page sarcastically asks, “Had enough of SoundCloud?”

Finally, Podomatic is having a Fall Sale, with an offer of three months free media hosting with the promo code FALL2015. The Fall Sale offer is good thru December 7, 2015.

Anyone who’s followed podcasting trends in 2015 has seen plenty of negative news when it comes to SoundCloud. So, it’s no surprise that Podomatic is trying to target SoundCloud users. If things continue on as they have for SoundCloud, this tactic might just pay off for Podomatic.

TWiT is Hiring

TWiT logoThis Week In Tech (TWiT), the podcasting network founded by Leo Laporte, is advertising a job opening in New York. Until now, nearly all of TWiT’s shows have been produced at the company’s Petaluma, CA studios. The position has been posted on the City University of New York’s Graduate School of Journalism website:

The CUNY Graduate School of Journalism is planning to launch a live, weekly webcast about New York’s technology industry as part of the TWiT — This Week in Technology — network.
The show will feature discussion of New York’s technology scene with a regular host, Jeff Jarvis (CUNY J-School professor and a cohost of the network’s This Week in Google), a rotating cast of co-hosts, and guests from New York startups, venture-capital firms, incubators, media companies, universities, government, and elsewhere.

The listing goes on to say that the job will officially start in January of 2016. It will be full-time for the first six months, with a planned launch of the New York-based shows in May of 2016. After the footwork has been completed to get the show off the ground, the job will become a part-time 20 hours-per-week commitment. Initial training will begin in Petaluma. Then, it’s back to New York to help design and set up a New York studio. From there, the new show’s producer will receive help from, “students and alumni from the Journalism School (that) will assist the producer by researching topics for each show and identifying and booking guests.”

To learn more about this job opening and apply, click here.

Podcast Movement 2016 Announces First Speaker

Podcast Movement 2016 logoPodcast Movement 2016 is the third annual Podcast Movement event. It is for anyone who is interested in or involved with Podcasting. Selected keynote speakers will take center stage to kick off and close out each day. Podcast Movement 2016 has just announced who their first speaker will be.

Anna Sale has been announced as the first Podcast Movement 2016 speaker. She is the host and managing editor of Death, Sex & Money, WYNC’s interview show about the big questions and hard choices that are often left out of polite conversation.

Before developing Death, Sex & Money, Anna Sale covered politics, including the New York City mayoral race, the 2012 presidential campaign, and the statehouse beat in both Connecticut and West Virginia. Anna Sale has contributed to This American Life, All Things Considered, Morning Edition, Marketplace, Studio 360, PBS Newshour and Slate.

More speakers will be announced as the calendar gets closer to July 6, 2016 (when Podcast Movement 2016 will take place). It will be held at the Hyatt Regency in downtown Chicago for two days and nights. In other words, it runs from July 6, 2016, through July 8, 2016.

At the time I am writing this blog, Podcast movement 2016 is having a Black Friday Special Registration that began at midnight, Eastern Time, on Friday, November 27, 2015. Their Black Friday Special Registration will be available through the Black Friday weekend. There is a countdown clock on their special registration page that shows exactly how much time you have to take advantage of deal.

Podcast Blastoff Offers Easy Podcast Hosting

Podcast Blastoff logoPodcast Blastoff is an all-in-one solution for busy podcasters. It is called BlastPod. It is for people who are just getting started in podcasting, and it is also for podcasters who are busy and don’t have the time to spend on creating a website and doing social media.

BlastPod offers Easy Podcast Hosting. This includes lifetime storage and unmetered bandwidth. The Podcast Blastoff website states that your listeners will have access to your podcast whenever they want it.

It also says that no matter how popular your podcast gets, your subscription price will stay the same. You select how much you want to upload each month and will never get charged for extra bandwidth usage. Podcast Blastoff will store your podcast episodes for the lifetime of your account, and will guarantee that the episodes will be available, no matter how many people are downloading them.

At the moment, they are only allowing 20 users to Pioneer their service before the full launch. Pioneers will be grandfathered in at the Pioneer Price for the life of their account. At full launch, Podcast Blastoff will open to the public, will be able to add more users, and will charge them the full subscription price.

The subscription price is based on monthly uploads. There are three options:
* 250mb – $20 per month for Pioneer users / $30 per month for others
* 500mb – $30 per month for Pioneer users / $45 per month for others
* 800mb – $40 per month for Pioneer users / $60 per month for others

Each subscription comes with the following:
* Website Creator
* RSS Creation
* Basic Statistics
* Blastoff Podcast Player
* Blastoff Widgets

With BlastPod, you get hosting for your podcast files, a customizable website to display your podcast on, and access to exclusive tools for getting your podcast to the ears of your listeners. You can create, manage, and schedule posts with the ease of a status update. You get access to built-in RSS feed generators, so you can be featured on iTunes and Stitcher.

Podcast Together is a Podcasting Co-Op

Podcast Together LogoPodcast Together is a modern day podcasting co-op. It is about podcasters helping other podcasters to grow their audiences and revenue. The main goal is to expose more listeners to each of the podcasts that is in the network, to offer support and services that make podcasting easier, and to have fun.

Podcast Together has an Indiegogo running right now. The funds from it appear to be going to support the Podcast Together website, and to make their mobile apps and database the best it can be. At the time I am writing this blog, the Indiegogo has 12 days left.

Those who become members will be expected to pay monthly dues. At the moment, a limited number of members will be accepted. Members who sign up before December 1, 2015, get a lifetime discount on their membership dues. In other words, those who sign up before that date will pay $39 a month for membership dues, while those who sign up later will pay $54 a month for membership dues.

Here is what the monthly dues get you:
* Unlimited podcast hosting with RSS feed generation
* SEO enhanced podcast page on PodcastTogether.com
* Podcast featured in Podcast Together Android and iOS app
* Full access to Podcast Guest Database
* Receive leads, introductions and connections to potential podcast advertisers
* Participation in professional online marketing
* Technical support
* Exclusive member support, tips, and cross promotion
* Additional services as determined by members

Podcast Together is member driven. The group will discuss, brainstorm, and vote on policies and ideas that can make the co-op even better. There will be a private Facebook group created for members only. Cross promotion is required. Every member is expected to help promote other member shows as well as the co-op website and app.

Here is what the Podcast Together website says about connecting advertisers to shows: “By creating this co-op network and growing large audiences we become very attractive to advertisers. We’ll be able to connect advertisers with member podcasts to create relationships that are mutually beneficial.”

Each podcast will have its own SEO enhanced page on the Podcast Together website. You can have that page be your show’s home, or you can use it in addition to your current website. Podcasters will have full control over their page. Your membership fees are for one podcast, so if you have more than one that you want to include in Podcast Together, you have to pay a separate membership fee for each of your shows.

Libsyn has a #ThanksPodcasting Contest

Libsyn Thanks Podasting ContestWant to win a free year of podcast hosting? Libsyn is holding a contest called the “Thanks, Podcasting Project”. Submit an entry before November 29, 2015, and make sure you use the hashtag #ThanksPodcasting when you share your entry on Twitter. This contest is for new and current Libsyn customers.

To enter the contest, you must create a clean piece of audio that is between 2 and 10 minutes long. Tell Libsyn a story about the impact of podcasting in your life. There is a specific script that they would like you to open with.

“Welcome to Thanks, Podcasting where you’ll get to hear stories of inspiration, transformation and impact because of podcasting. My name is (your name) from (your podcast) over at (website).”

From there, it is up to you. You can make your submission entirely about you, or about your audience, or about a specific incident, piece of feedback, or experience that was inspired by podcasting. You can make your submission about your general experience of podcasting. You are allowed to add audio to your submission, but you cannot use any kind of material that might be infringing on anyone’s copyright.

There are details on the Libsyn website about the specific intro and outro you must use in your submission. (Each is downloadable). There is also information about the encoding and ID3 tags they want you to use.

After that, upload your audio to your cloud service/store of choice, and then share it on Twitter using the #ThanksPodcasting hashtag. You must share it on Twitter in order to enter the contest, but are free to share your entry on other forms of social media if you would like to. Each person can have only one entry – so make it a good one!

Three winners will be randomly chosen. New Libsyn customers who win the contest will get a $40 level account for free for a full year. Existing Libsyn customers who win the contest, and that already have a $40 or greater account, will be awarded a free year at their current account level. Existing Libsyn customers who win the contest and have account levels below $40 can choose to upgrade to the $40 level for a full year for free.

Podcasting and Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving balloon by Jen Thorpe 2015It has been said that podcasters should give their fans a very special episode to listen to over the Thanksgiving holiday. No, not “very special episode” as in the After School Specials from back in the day. Instead, the idea seems to be to make sure that you put your best effort into the episode that will be released shortly before Thanksgiving.

Going along with this idea seems to be one commonly heard in the podcast-o-sphere. There is talk that releasing a fantastic episode for Thanksgiving could not only make your loyal listeners that much more interested in your podcast, but might also draw in new listeners.

Following that line of thought is the hope that at least some of the people who heard your extra-awesome episode will contribute to your Patreon. You do basically have a captive audience of commuters, right? Some of them might appreciate a well done podcast to listen to while they travel.

In general, I think the idea that: “Great Episode + Thanksgiving = You Win The Internet” is overly optimistic. It doesn’t take into account some of the realities surrounding Thanksgiving. Americans celebrate Thanksgiving in November. Canadians celebrate it in October. People in other countries might not celebrate it at all and have their big holiday meal with the family over Christmas.

While it is true that many Americans will have at least a few hours off during what has become “Black Friday Weekend”, your international listeners will be having a typical work week. As such, your extra special episode might have more impact if you post it for a milestone episode (like episode 100, for example) than if you release it during Thanksgiving. People from all across the world can take time to tune in to a milestone episode of a show they are interested in. It’s a bigger audience than you might get during the hectic Thanksgiving holiday.

Another thing to consider is what might seem natural, but can turn out very awkward. The first year I did NaPodPoMo almost all of the American podcasters did an episode about Thanksgiving on or after Thanksgiving day. This resulted in some interesting takes on the Thanksgiving holiday, and some fun soundscapes, but it was difficult to differentiate them from each other. Nothing stood out because they were all on the same topic at the same time.

Your listeners might find it strange if you spend an episode talking about an American holiday that takes place in November if it isn’t something that fits the general topic of your podcast. Historical podcasts could delve into the pages of history to talk about the holiday’s origins. That topic might be a nice fit. Podcasts about travel might make that work, and so could family history or genealogy focused podcasts. However, podcasts about other subjects might not be an appropriate place for an episode about Thanksgiving.

Clammr Support Added to PowerPress Plugin

CLammr logoSometimes billed as the “Twitter for audio,” Clammr is a social-sharing app that focuses on short audio clips. These clips can be either new recordings or they can be taken from existing audio files. Many podcasters have embraced Clammr as a way to share clips from their own shows, as well as other shows they follow. Clammr users have been able to access the service thru either a web or mobile app, where they could create or curate their audio clips to be shared on the social web. Now the Clammr service is also supported by the popular PowerPress podcasting plugin for WordPress:

Clammr Audio Sharing is embedded within the Blubrry player and allows podcasters and listeners to share a segment of their audio on social networks. Web-based users now have the same features as those that are using the Clammr mobile application. The share button posts an audio highlight that is playable natively in Facebook and/or Twitter with a link back to the full podcast.

In order to use the Clammr feature with PowerPress, users will need to be running both the current versions of PowerPress (6.2) as well as the Audio Player by Clammr (1.1.0) WordPress plugins.

Disclosure: I work part-time with the Blubrry support team. Podcaster News Executive Editor Todd Cochrane is CEO of Rawvoice, Blubrry’s parent company.

Meta Explosion – PCN Show 022

PCN iTunes artworkWe’ve decided to take things in a new direction with the Podcaster News Show, starting with this episode. Hosts Shawn Thorpe and Jen Thorpe will bring you a run-down of the podcasting related articles that we found interesting, but that didn’t get a write-up on the Podcaster News website.

Links Mentioned in this episode:

* Confessions of a Podcast Addict
By Rebecca Ladd at The Odyssey Online

* So You Wanna Make a Podcast/You Have a Review Request
By Captnq on Reddit

* NPR Editorial Training
A comprehensive guide to NPR’s editorial methods for content

* These 3D Printing Designers Used Podcasting To Create a Massive Audience Fast
By Cheryl Conner at Forbes

* 37 Podcasts So Meta, They All Cover the Topic of Podcasting Itself
By Harry Duran on Medium