Alan's Eyes & Ears #028 - How We Podcast (pt 2 of 2)
Part 1 occurred in the prior episode.
In this episode 27 of Alan's Eyes & Ears, Alan is joined by a round table of podcasting veterans to discuss all about their experiences with the hobby. They discuss equipment, hosting, editing, scheduling, idea generation, the ups and downs of podcasting. Is it more than you EVER needed to know about podcasting?
Listen to this episode ... and find out!
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Promo: Mike's Comic Book Roadshow
Link #1: Bill's Bat-Pod
Link #2: Derek's Fanholes
Link #3: Tom's Pop Culture Affidavit
Link #4: Luke's Earth Destruction Directive
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I can't thank you all enough for this discussion. I have always said that I would be up for doing a podcast but it sounds like there is a lot of 'behind the scenes' work that needs to be done and ... alas ... this made it sound true.
ReplyDeleteI will say it is why I always try to be extra-prepared when I appear as a guest on a show. If I am not helping make the sausage, I at least should be a good guest.
One thing that stuck out was your 'you be you' and the later 'all are welcome' discussions. Whether on the blog or on social media, I have critiqued books I have not liked. When someone comes at me saying it was great, I always say 'I am glad it worked for you and you liked the book'. Positive and negative opinions are opinions. I'm not saying mine is right ... but it is mine.
Thanks for all this!
That is a great attitude to being a guest, and it shows. As they say, you are one of the good ones!
DeleteWell, you did discern our secret agenda -- to keep potential competition out of the game!
Hi Alan, Tom, Bill, Derek, and Luke,
ReplyDeleteI am woefully behind in my podcast listening, however, this week I had a chance to listen to the two-part, “How We Podcast” episodes from May. H-O-L-Y-C-R-A-P!! This discussion was one of my favorites I have heard in ages!! Clearly, I’m a biased target audience being a podcaster myself, but I absolutely LOVED this discussion. Every topic, every answer, every thought shared… I was completely invested. THANK YOU for sharing this with the world. It was exceptional.
As you might imagine, I was talking back to my podcast player throughout the episodes; desperate to be part of the discussion. So many fantastic strategic and tactical ideas shared! I jotted down some thoughts while listening…
First, like Luke suggested, when picking a topic, I typically only worry about recording for myself. I try not to worry about what other people want but instead find a topic I will enjoy discussing. Just feels healthier to chase my own joy, than worry about satisfying everyone else. In the end, if others enjoy listening, then that is just a bonus.
Regarding the technical side and how we distribute FIRE & WATER PODCAST NETWORK shows, we use the following:
WordPress blog posts, using the Blubrry plug-in, creates the RSS feed (I learned that from fellow podcaster Ben Avery). We then send it through Feedburner. We direct podcatchers like Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Amazon to grab the Feedburner feed. Like Alan indicated, it’s a shame that Feedburner has lost much of its previous functionality.
For promotional purposes, I personally use Buffer(dot)com to schedule my social media posts. You can schedule up to 10 social media messages in advance, and a free account will allow you access to 3 different social media platforms (like Facebook, X/Twitter, Bluesky, Instagram, Threads, and more). Works great and hear that... it is free!
Regarding with hindsight things I would do differently… be sure your show name is very descriptive for your content; the goal being to help search engine optimization. For example, if you are going to do a podcast about (oh, lets say) Aquaman and Firestorm, naming your show “The Fire & Water Podcast” is not exactly going to make it easy for people to find your show if they are Googling “Aquaman” or “Firestorm”. Thankfully 5 years into the show we rebranded as “Aquaman and Firestorm: The Fire & Water Podcast.”
Similar to what several people were saying on these episodes, I also used to be much more negative on my podcasts. I’ve definitely made a concerted effort to be more positive on the air. There is already so much negativity in our fandom. Nowadays, I prefer to find my joy in my fandom. Being happy is much less stressful than being negative.
Those were just some thoughts I scratched down while listening and desperately wanting to chime in on the discussion. And a bonus was hearing my own name (mostly taken in vain) throughout the episodes! LOL!
Again, wow. Just wow. THANK YOU for such an entertaining discussion. Would love to hear more on this topic, or similar roundtables!
The Irredeemable Shag
The Fire and Water Podcast Network