Do you have something to say? I bet you do. All you need is the courage to podcast and once I show you how easy it is, you will be ready go. I found a cool piece of gear for people using the Audio Technica 2100 microphone (a shockmount / pop filter). We get you over the recording skype on a PC issue, and a great podcast success story.

Because of My Podcast People Are Buying My ebooks [2:55]

Steve Ferris shares how his podcast The Rad Daddy Podcast has helped him get connect with people who are now purchasing his books for children. He had made some great connections, has been listed in new and notable in iTunes. He is being heard in 122 countries and he has his podcast to thank for it. Check him out at www.raddaddybooks.com

Podcast Gear: Shockmount for Audio Technica ATR2100usb [5:00]

 I love the Audio Technica 2100 microphone for podcasting, but it’s not as big in diameter as microphone like the Electrovoice RE320. I have ordered the “OKEBA Studio Condenser Mic Microphone Shock Mount With Metal Wind Screen Pop Filter Mask Shield For Recording” (what a mouthful) from Amazon. I’ts a whopping $12. This will help cut down on noise if I move the microphone as well as “popping P’s”.

OKEBA Studio Condenser Mic Microphone Shock Mount With Metal Wind Screen Pop Filter Mask Shield For Recording
Read Reviews

Last Five in Five from John Overall [8:30]

John Overall from www.wordpressmedia.ca and wppluginsatoz.com listened to these five podcasts last:

No Agenda Show: Great show on politics

Manfried in the Kitchen (still looking for link)

DH Unplugged. – finance

Podcast Review Show  - Podcast Reviews

Weekly Web Tools  - Tips for the DIY webmaster

The Courage To Podcast [10:10]

I had asked you to nominate this podcast for a podcast award. Sunday night I sat down to see if I was nominated and when I look at the technical category the School of Podcasting was not listed. My hear sunk. I was going to look very stupid. I had put my neck out, and I got it cut off. I looked in the Religion and Inspiration category and there was my Feeding My Faith podcast and I WAS Nominated. COOL! I was really surprised as the School of Podcasting audience is much bigger than the Feeding My Faith audience. So it was a mixed bag of emotions.

This made me go back and ask why I podcast? Did I start this to win an award (no). I do this to help people. I had a great phone call this week where the caller said I was helping them achieve their dreams. That was cool. I could heat their smile over the phone. 

Starting a podcast can be intimidating and like anything else in life that requires time, commitment, and skill it can be a bit scary. If you think about driving, starting a job, having a child, those are all things that you get nervous (or scared to death) when you start these activities. If you talk to any parent they will tell you that children require a ton of time, but they also say there is nothing that touches the experience of having and raising your child. Podcasting delivers a great experience. I’m not saying its the same as having a child, but it does help you grow as a person.

Yet, we wait because we might be afraid to look stupid. Don’t be afraid to look stupid. 

When I finally scrolled back up the page I saw where the School of Podcasting HAD been nominated by you in the general category. 

PLEASE VOTE FOR ME:

I thank every single person who voted. Now for the next two weeks I need you to take a few minutes every day and vote for the School of Podcasting in the General Category, and Feeding My Faith in the Religion category. If you want to see who I’m voting for, go to www.schoolofpodcasting.com/podcastawards. If you want to vote now, go to www.podcastawards.com and I thank you (so much) in advance. 

Lessons From the 9th Annual Podcast Awards [26:26]

There are a on of things that Todd Cochran from Blubrry.com came down and delivered the state of Podcasting (blubrry.com provides media hosting and statistics for podcasters). 

All of the stats are listed below. Here are some things you can do to help grow your audience:

82% have less than a paragraph – WRITE MORE

• 
  
• MichaelHyatt.com - 862 words per post
  
• CopyBlogger.com - 1124 words per post
  
• SethGodin.com - 193 words per post
  
• GoinsWriter.com - 667 words per post
  
• ProBlogger.com - 712 words per post
  

Income diary says you should shot for two thousand words. 

Make Your Podcast Easy to Find

37% make you dig to find their podcast!

I am using the YNAB budgeting software. I heard about it on a podcast, and bought it after listening to THEIR podcast. However, I had to search for it in iTunes (I couldn’t find a link on their website). The sad news is after I heard about their customer service and philosophy (on their podcast) I INSTANTLY bought the software. Jason Hartman attributes 10 million in sales to his podcast.

Your RSS Feed is Broken

23% have invalid podcast RSS feeds (SoundCloud is not a good podcast option.)

Don’t type your show notes in Microsoft Word, do them directly into WordPress and save them as a draft (so they won’t be public until you hit publish). 

Stats That Caught My Attention:

83% have a findable iTunes link

Shows releasing video, audio, and blog content grow 42% faster than shows that do just audio or just video

Shows publishing less frequency than once per week grow 69% slower than weekly shows.

95% have their own .com

Only 7% have nonbranded sites like libsyn.com, wordpress.com, or similar generic pages

92% are using WordPress

71% publish only audio

15% publish only video

32% are blogging as well as podcasting

29% are creating audio, video, and blog posts

26% are mobile-friendly

68% have a Twitter link

77% have a link to facebook.

56% have a Google+ page

Only 31% are still using FeedBurner, this is down from last year’s 71% 

23% have a Stitcher logo/link

51% publish episodes weekly

44% publish more than once per week

Things Podcasters Need to Improve

44% do not have way to play or download the episode on the home page (see player.podtrac.com)

21% have an RSS icon on their default landing page that was podcast-ready

7% have a visible email address

23% have a podcast RSS feed buried on a subpage of their website

12% have a newsletter sign-up page

15% have a call-in number or widget

56% do not have an findable RSS feed on their site

Mentioned In This Show

Matthew West

YNAB Software - $6 off.

Platform Book by Michael Hyatt

Free Audio Books from Audible

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