Christie Goodman shares her Podcasting Strategy

Live from the Seminar!
Have you ever thought about who you might reach with podcast? A podcast is merely an audio program that listeners can download or save from and to a source. Many companies use podcasting for training, professional development, to humanize a company, reach out to fans or influencers AND can unite an organization that is challenged by distance. This is a real niche in social media. Christie is giving us a myriad of examples, from education to barbecue secrets. Her first piece of advice is to plan, preferably a written plan. Listening to a variety of podcasts can prepare you -- try what interests you and what is part of your industry. Some of the early podcasts Christie recalled were very rough and lacked polish. Goal setting is a critical step to success. Christie advocates asking yourselfsome questions: 'what do you want to accomplish?' 'Where do you want to be when you're done?'This community expects transparency and an informal style of conversation. They do NOT want someone to read to them.

The podcasts used by Christie's organization, have become a great resource for teachers. Some are still getting monthly downloads even after a year or more. These are obvious of topical interest, according to Christie.

The planning process for Christie include frequency of show, show length and format. She uses teachers and other professionals who are well-schooled in presenting to audiences, so they know their subject matter and minimizes the preparation she does as a PR professional.

Podcast content needs a predictable pattern, which includes music, interview introductions just like a radio show. One challenge for many organizations is the temptation to edit the interviews too neatly or an onerous approval process. The executives in Christie's organization have empowered her to manage the project and actually don't review the audio files until they are posted to the organization's Web site.

There are many ways to generate feedback on podcasts, which Christie also shared. What is interesting to note, is that this group lays down the audio on a digital audio recorder that is about the size of a deck of cards. She does engage professional editing to put music and ins and outs on the track.

Christie and IDRA are a great example of how to use new technology on a budget.

RUN, Don't Walk to the Chapter's Professional Development Seminar

If you're anything like me, every day I become aware of more tools and technology, many of which can help me in my professional life. BIG CAVEAT: there's very little playtime in each day's schedule to afford me the opportunity to learn about all these tools. So if you're reading this blog and looking for more, then RUN, don't walk to the San Antonio Chapter's Professional Development Seminar: New Media is Now! The details can be found here.

One thing I truly benefit from as a member of PRSA, is professional development. I know I can't afford those pricey seminars in exciting locations like San Francisco, Chicago and New York that frequent my mailbox, but the lineup of speakers for our San Antonio sessions, will guarantee that your investment will be worth it.

Start off the morning session with Geoff Livingston, author of "Now is gone: a primer on New Media for Executives and Entrepreneurs." The morning session will be filled with reasons why you need to go forth in this brave new media world.

At lunch, hear Monika Maeckle, Business Wire's vice president for new media development on launching the online conversation with web-friendly press releases. By early afternoon, you will be ready for some meaty "bytes" from an array of qualified speakers.

Kami Watson Huyse, APR, and the chapter's PR Professional of the Year and editor of Communications Overtones, will talk about building relationships with online stakeholders. She will be followed by Christie Goodman, APR, on starting on the podcasting technology. Our final speaker will be Bryan Person, who will get you started on blogging basics. (Once you have a handle on that, this chapter could use a few ambitious bloggers!).

At the end, we will share best practices and ask each other questions before wrapping up. Bring your laptop, an open mind and learn how to use del.icio.us to access course materials and background information. If you can't join us, watch this space for information on joining our Twitter group. I hope to see you there.

Meet National PRSA Chairman Jeff Julin

I’ve got another must-listen podcast for you. Eric Schwartzman hosts the On the Record Online podcast. He recently interviewed PRSA’s 2008 chair, Jeff Julin. In the short interview, Julin talks about the biggest challenges currently facing the PR industry and what he plans to do as PRSA chair.

The interview is the first opportunity for many of us as PRSA members to “meet” Julin who seems quite personable. And I always appreciate Eric’s interview style.

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Thanks Eric!

PS. When are you going to give us the behind the scene’s view of the writers’ strike? Are we going to miss out on the Academy Awards this year?

Lesson Five: Online Social Networks – A Review

Lesson Five Review: Next Installment of Learn About Social Media from Your Desk

Here’s a review of what we’ve covered to date about online social networks.

Social Networks: Lesson 5 in Learning About Social Media from Your Desk (Sunday, August 05, 2007)

Data on Social Networks (Wednesday, August 08, 2007)

ABCs of Facebook (Sunday, August 26, 2007)

Business Use of Online Social Networks (Wednesday, September 05, 2007)

Some Social Networks Are Bad for Your Reputation (Tuesday, September 11, 2007)

A Social Network Just for Communicators: MyRagan.com (Monday, September 17, 2007)

If you’re fairly new to this blog, let me explain that I started this series of “lessons” about tools of social media in January. I had planned on doing a different subject each month. But most subjects simply required more time. Below are links to the summarizing posts for each topic:

• January: Exploring Newsfeeds and Webfeeds (RSS)
• February-March: Getting Acquainted with the Blogs
• April-May: The World of Podcasting
• June-July: Using Delicious (I forgot to do a summary post for this topic)
• August-September: Online Social Networks (this post)

Mommy Podcasts do Nichecasting with a Capital N

I decided to take my own advice and look for some podcasts that are related to my hobbies rather than just those about my profession. For over a year, I’ve pretty much only been listening to PR/communications-related podcasts – really good ones that I’ve recommended here before (see posts on April 12, April 30 and May 28, 2007).

But a couple of weeks ago, I started exploring other topics. Here’s how it went: Let’s see. What are my hobbies? No time for scrapbooking or music or exercise or… Hmmm. So what then? Well, I can stock a child’s backpack in 120 seconds. I can cook a 30-minute meal in 20. And I can kiss an owie and make the hurt go away. Yep. That’s it. Mommyville.

So I started looking for “mommy” podcasts. I happened to hear Shel and Neville talking about Manic Mommies on For Immediate Release. And soon after, I heard Eric Schwartzman of On the Record Online talk about MommyCast – which he listens to as a dad. So I tried out both and am hooked. TOTALLY.

These are not little podcasts that reach a few hundred people. Manic Mommies was recently awarded Best Parenting Podcast in the Winter '07 Podcast Peer Awards. MommyCast is a Webby honoree and has sponsors like Huggies, Oral B and Nesquik. Their deal with Dixie is reported to have been for $100,000.

And these women are savvy. Both podcasts have other online features, like branded merchandise for sale. Manic Mommies is planning an “Escape” conference for moms this fall in Newport. MommyCast has an excellent online media kit. And – are you sitting down? – it states that according to Nielson NetMetrics, more than 2 million people listen to MommyCast.

Personally, thanks to these two podcasts, I’ve so far learned that either I’m not as crazy as I think I am, or I am that crazy but at least I’m not alone.

Six Lessons from Starting a New Podcast

Next installment of "Learning about Social Media from Your Desk."

As I’ve mentioned before, I’ve coordinated a new podcast series for my organization. We launched in September and are still very much in the early stages, but it’s coming along quite well. We’ve received positive responses, growth in listenership and even an award.

Naturally, I’ve learned a few things along the way. Since there’s tons more to learn, I’m going to share a list about getting started. And these are coming from the perspective of an organizational podcast.

1. Do your homework. Listening to a variety of other podcasts can help you decide which format and style is best for you. Plus, listening to podcasts about podcasting will help you learn about trends, what to expect, setting realistic goals and new technologies. You don’t have to know all the technical details, but it helps to know what to ask for.

2. Start with a plan. It doesn’t have to be 100 pages long. But the basics are important – purpose, prospective audience, etc. Plus, having the plan on paper can help you get support from higher up and the resources you need. I posted the outline of my plan a few months ago.

3. Getting outside expertise to get you started is priceless. This may sound contradictory to my first point, but do not – I repeat – do not wait until you know everything there is to know. If you wait for that, you’ll never get started. It’s ok to learn as you go. Our first episode doesn’t even have the intro music.

4. “Low barrier to entry” refers to money not time. It’s taking us about 10 hours to produce a 20-25 minute podcast every two weeks. This includes the time for planning and conducting the interview, editing, creating shownotes, writing corresponding web text and posting in online. And I haven’t even started spending real time on promotion.

5. Podcasting requires easy approval processes. It’s one thing to have several levels of supervisors word-smith a printed piece, but you can’t produce a podcast that way. My directors don’t hear our podcast until it’s online.

6. Integrate the podcast into some facet of the organization’s work. Don’t let it be your hobby at work. If you want it to last, it has to relate to the organization’s goals.

Several of these learnings have been advised by other podcasters, but now I can say I’ve experienced them firsthand.