Podcasting 101 Neville Hobson, ABC and Shel Holtz, ABC ‘For Immediate Release’ New Communications Forum 2006 Palo Alto March 1, 2006 Listen to my podcast X

2 Today’s Agenda ■ The elements of successful podcasting ■ How to strategize a business podcast ■ How to build a community of listeners ■ The tools of podcasting, from recording to hosting ■ How to promote a podcast ■ Integrating your podcast with other online content ■ Creating a podcast

3 What is a Podcast? 1.Digital audio file, typically MP3 2.“Radio show” format >Time-shifted – listen when you want 3.Delivered via RSS Optional: ■ Auto-sync with portable digital player >Detach and go – listen where you want ■ Complemented by show notes

4 Delivered by RSS ■ Key technology tool ■ A way to get net content when you want >No spam >No need to visit sites – content comes to you ■ Discoverability >By podcast directories and other sites >By people who want to listen

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7 Some Background ■ Podcasting really began in August 2004 ■ Enabled by two elements: 1.RSS enclosures (Dave Winer) 2.Podcatching software (Adam Curry) ■ It started with one podcast – “Daily Source Code” with Adam Curry ■ Today: At least 20,000 podcasts, 8-10 million regular listeners ■ Businesses are podcasting ■ Mainstream media is podcasting >Newspapers, magazines, radio, television ■ Wide appeal kicked off in June 2005 – Apple adds podcast support to iTunes ■ Going mainstream – Yahoo! Podcasts in October 2005

8 Continuing Growth

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10 The Hobson & Holtz Report ■ Started 3 January 2005 ■ First podcast in the communication profession ■ Co-hosts: Neville Hobson (Amsterdam) and Shel Holtz (California) ■ mins, twice weekly, Monday and Thursday, recorded via Skype ■ Average per-show downloads: 565 ■ Global audience >Primary: USA, Canada, UK, Netherlands, Australia ■ Building community >3 on-the-ground correspondents

11 ‘For Immediate Release’ Series ■ The Hobson & Holtz Report twice-weekly show ■ Interviews with newsmakers and influencers from the online technology and organizational communication worlds ■ Book Reviews aligned with our theme of PR/communications and the online world ■ Speakers and Speeches - podcasts of speeches, keynote addresses, breakout sessions, and other recordings from meetings and conferences of interest to PR and communication professionals

12 Building Community ■ Involve listeners ■ Encourage listeners ■ Address their needs ■ Engage Global distribution: FIR listeners 14/2/06

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14 Who’s Podcasting…?

15 Why Podcast? ■ Easy and complementary extension of existing communication, PR and marketing activities ■ An appropriate channel to market ■ Reach niche audiences otherwise (financially) unreachable ■ Attract new, younger customers ■ Create buzz, build viral marketing effect ■ Be perceived to be at the leading edge ■ Be seen as a leader with a cool new medium ■ … What else?

16 Marketing Communication ■ A new product announcement that accompanies traditional communication ■ Includes informal conversations between, say, a customer and one of the employees from the factory who made the product

17 Financial PR ■ Investor relations produces a weekly review of activities and events of interest to investors and financial analysts >Within the limits of regulatory requirements

18 Employee Engagement ■ A weekly 15-minute business update for employees >Perhaps by the CEO or other senior executive ■ Employees worldwide subscribe to the podcast via the company intranet >Or from the CEO’s blog

19 Team Building ■ The sales director records an occasional podcast for her geographically-dispersed sales team >Tips and tricks on, say, how to close deals with certain types of customers ■ Podcast available from the sales intranet as a complement to formal sales materials

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21 Growth Drivers 1.It’s easy 2.It’s inexpensive 3.It’s portable 4.It’s available

Rules for Business Podcasting 1.Be relevant 2.Stick to the point 3.Avoid fluff 4.Practice infotainment 5.Build and engage community 6.Be mindful of your audience’s time 7.There are no competitors 8.Don’t advertise or sell 9.Be authentic 10.Integrate into the blogosphere

23 Who Should? ■ Corporate communications, PR, marketing, HR, investor relations, sales, employee communication, customer service, public affairs, community relations… >Externally: engaging with customers >Internally: thought leadership, sharing thinking and knowledge; news, information ■ Who else? >What about the CEO?

Creative Ideas 1.Airlines: Travel and destination guides 2.Apparel/Retail: Behind the scenes at fashion shows, interviews with models and designers, guide to the season 3.Automotive: Test drives of new models with team drivers, interviews with designers, race reports from behind the scenes 4.Beverage Stores: Festive reviews of selected wines, spirits and beers 5.Books/Music Retail: Guides to summer or Christmas releases, interviews with bands and authors, sample readings from authors to promote an in-store appearance 6.Financial Services: Retirement guides, investing tips, planning for college education 7.Golf Equipment: Guides to courses, interviews with sponsored athletes 8.Grocery Stores: Interviews and recipes from well-known chefs 9.Health Insurers: Wellness tips, meditation guides, nutrition guides 10.Home Improvement Stores: Step-by-step guides to home improvement 11.Hotels: Destination guides, jogging routes, music to jog to, walking tours of cities 12.Micro-Brews: Interviews with the brew master 13.Movie Studios: Interviews with actors or directors, movie making production diaries 14.Sportswear: Interviews with sponsored athletes, event diaries (Olympics, World Cup), and interviews with designers, fitness and training tips 15.Travel and Tourism: Guides to destinations, travel tips 16.Vineyards: Interviews with wine-makers 17.Whisky Makers: Interviews with the makers, tours of the distilleries 18.Video Games- Interviews with game designers, production diaries 19.Higher Education: communicate with incoming students and provide them with lectures. 20.Investor Relations: earnings announcements. (from ideas by Kevin Dugan, Strategic Public Relations -

25 Integrating ■ With blogs and other social media ■ Within ‘traditional’ communication ■ Strategic / tactical

26 Producing ■ Recording ■ Editing ■ Uploading ■ Promoting

27 Record your show ■ Basic gear >USB microphone >Free recording/editing software  Audacity ■ Intermediate gear >Mixer >Higher-end software or software dedicated to podcasting (e.g., “Mixcast Live”) ■ High-end gear >Digital mixers, compressors, pre-amps…

28 Shel’s rig

29 Portable Rigs ■ Small handhelds ■ Professional decks

30 Edit ■ Optional >“Live to the hard drive” ■ Eliminate glitches ■ Add effects

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32 Adobe Audition for Windows

33 Edit ID3 tags ■ A tagging format for MP3 files ■ Metadata includes: >Title >Artist >Album >Track ■ View them in players >PC (iTunes, etc.) >Digital devices (iPod, etc.)

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36 Upload the file ■ FTP ■ Automated processes >LibSyn (Liberated Syndication)

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38 Update your feed ■ Automatic if you use a blog ■ Simple software to use if you don’t

39 Link to your feed ■ Just a hyperlink >Text >Orange box

40 Market your podcast ■ Get listed ■ Drive traffic to the podcast site ■ Produce promos

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42 The New Media Ecosystem ■ RSS ■ Blogs ■ Wikis ■ Podcasts ■ Videocasts / Vlogs ■ Moblogs ■ MMS ■ Internet telephony Tools that facilitate: ■ Communication ■ Engagement ■ Transparency ■ Trust Tool that are: ■ Complementary to traditional communication activities ■ Used by organizations who recognize the social characteristics of effective communication

43 Communication Choices Engage and Participatevs.Transmit Advocatevs.Preach Influence and Persuadevs.Command and Control Informal and Conversational vs.Formal and Instructive Build Communityvs.Tell Your Audience

44 Let’s do a podcast…

45 Conversation… ■ Neville Hobson, ABC, and Shel Holtz, ABC ■ ‘For Immediate Release’ podcasts ■ ■ Comment Line: ■ …listen to my podcast… …and watch my videocast This document is protected under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs license. No commercial use, no changes. But feel free to share it, post it, print it, or copy it. Original cartoons by Hugh MacLeod (gapingvoid.com). Used with permission.