Keri Hoffman, chief operating officer at Public Radio Exchange recently published an article on the business aspects of podcasting. It’s an interesting read and will surely provide some new insights to both new and veteran podcasters alike. The article is broken down into a series of major points, covering everything from media hosting to monetization.
Hoffman notes how, when PRX first ventured into podcasting, the state of media hosting was abysmal. Fortunately, that’s changed for the better over the years. Regardless, she has some good advice to create, “…a podcast feed that points to a stable place.” And when looking for a hosting provider, “Basic metrics like number of downloads and subscribers are how you will measure your success. If your host doesn’t offer these, walk away.” And perhaps most importantly:
If your podcast feed is not a domain you control you may have trouble upgrading or moving to a new publishing platform in the future. If your show URL is something like – www.mycoolpodcast.podcastcompany.com, you may have a tough time extracting your feed since it is tied up with the domain of your host. Potentially, you could lose listeners in the transition. The best way to avoid this problem is to purchase a domain name and then use that for your feed.
A revitalized interest in podcasting has been seen among the general public over the last few years. And that’s great as it means more people will be exposed to the medium for the first time. Most of these newcomers will likely listen to a few shows by subscribing thru an aggregator like iTunes or Stitcher. And some will go farther than that and decide to take on podcasting themselves. We should embrace those coming into the world of creating podcasts, offering help and advice when needed.