August 19, 2010 17 Comments

Get Smart About Podcasting

Marketing Over Coffee I just clicked through a link from Christopher S. Penn to the show notes for his most recent episode of Marketing Over Coffee and, as usual, I was impressed with what Chris and John Wall are doing over there. First, I’m not talking about the show itself. The show is tight. Chris and John are veteran podcasters with years of experience and know how to deliver quality content. What I’m excited about are their show notes.

Look at the graphic I’ve put in this post. Look at all the links. There are links to Chris’s projects, to several other networks where Chris and John want you to participate, to affiliate products, and links to even more useful information.

If you’re going to do a podcast, make sure you load up the show notes with really good links and liner information. And reference that in the podcast over and over. Make sure that people know to get in deep and that there’s lots to do on the site that relates to your podcast.

Oh podcasting isn’t dead. It’s just a crazy divide between big media companies using the technology as a distribution channel, and people doing it right like Chris and John. If you’re still interested in the podcasting game, I think that you’d learn tons from paying attention to how they do it at Marketing Over Coffee.

Related posts:

  1. Interview at The Best Podcasting Guide I Know
  2. Podcasting for Business-Are Your Customers Worth It
  3. Guest Post – Podcasting Isn’t Dead at All
  4. Podcasting: What, Why, How to Listen
  5. Podcasting Break

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  • http://www.jeffrutherford.com jeffrutherford

    Chris, you’re right on re: Marketing Over Coffee. It’s at the top of my podcast list, and yes the show notes are a great resource.

    Podcasting seems to have leveled off in terms of people discussing the medium, etc.. I think people rushed in initially thinking they were going to make lots of money from podcasting. However, podcasting still remains a great medium for marketers – or people who are just passionate about a specific topic or subject.

  • http://twitter.com/webby2001 Tom Webster

    This is a topic near and dear to my heart – podcasting has changed, but most certainly is not dead. If you’ll permit a shameless plug, there is going to be an in-depth discussion of that very topic at this year’s Blogworld, and I hope interested folks will find their way to this session, which will feature some brand new research as well as insights gained from our five years of tracking this data. Much more here: http://www.edisonresearch.com/home/archives/2010/08/the_calm_surface_obscures_the_roiling_depths.php

  • http://twitter.com/webby2001 Tom Webster

    This is a topic near and dear to my heart – podcasting has changed, but most certainly is not dead. If you’ll permit a shameless plug, there is going to be an in-depth discussion of that very topic at this year’s Blogworld, and I hope interested folks will find their way to this session, which will feature some brand new research as well as insights gained from our five years of tracking this data. Much more here: http://www.edisonresearch.com/home/archives/2010/08/the_calm_surface_obscures_the_roiling_depths.php

  • http://rogersfinewoodworking.com/blog Shannon

    Great call Chris, I can’t tell you how many times I have been disappointed by poor show notes. I especially like the time stamps they provide that allow me to quickly get to a section. Excuse me while I go clean up my own show notes now

  • http://www.adsdevshop.com/ Robert Dempsey

    Thanks for the heads up on this podcast Chris. I have one of my own that I’m doing (video interviews with self-employed folks) and am looking to improve my interview technique. Are there any podcasts you can recommend that I can listen to to help improve how I interview? Thanks.

  • http://twitter.com/webby2001 Tom Webster

    Robert – these are a little hard to track down, but the greatest interviewer I have *ever* heard was Larry King during his radio years (70′s-80′s) when he had his late night talk show. The man put on a clinic, each and every night, and is the greatest broadcast interviewer I’ve ever heard. He became an easy target in his TV years, but don’t let that fool you. The best.

  • http://chrisbrogan.com Chris Brogan

    Larry King’s book has great advice on how to do this.

  • http://lifeofthefreelancer.com/ Robert Dempsey

    Great I’ll pick it up, thanks Tom and Chris.

  • http://www.RoninMarketeer.com John Wall

    Thanks for the kind words and the plug, next time we catch up drinks are on me!

  • http://matthewebel.com Matthew Ebel

    I’m a one-man operation that doesn’t really have time or experience for real marketing stuff… and their podcast is one of my favorite. It’s approachable and always full of good advice. The fact that the show notes are chock full of links is good, but the fact that I can digest and USE their content is what makes them the most valuable to me. :)

  • http://twitter.com/WeeklyLeader Weekly Leader

    Marketing Over Coffee is always loaded on my iPhone; it’s a must listen for all business people, not just marketers.

    While good shownotes are a great resource, they’re actually much more important than that. Google may be smart but they haven’t yet figured out how to index the content of an audio file so shownotes are essential if you want your content to be “searchable” within your blog or to the outside world.

    Vidcasts present some really interesting opportunities because in addition to good shownotes using a video sitemap will make your content even more findable. Depending on the topic and keywords, you could end up ranking very high and standout on search engine results pages with video thumbnails. This is a huge underutilized SEO practice.

    If anyone reading this is a real bigger and wants to learn more, I did a screencast of my presentation at Podcamp USCG last year. http://bit.ly/podstar

    As always, thanks for sharing great stuff!

  • http://www.perrydigital.com Richard

    Excellent post on show notes, Chris. I think I’m getting the hang of it at http://bit.ly/a5Jd6D

    Richard Perry
    http://www.perrydigital.com
    Twitter @richargperry
    Halifax, Nova Scotia Canada

  • http://www.perrydigital.com Richard

    Excellent post on show notes, Chris. I think I’m getting the hang of it at http://bit.ly/a5Jd6D

    Richard Perry
    http://www.perrydigital.com
    Twitter @richargperry
    Halifax, Nova Scotia Canada

  • Anonymous

    Chris,

    As somebody who has a weekly podcast where I interview 3 bloggers a week, each in a 45 minute interview, I felt compelled to comment on this. I run a site called BlogcastFM. I just want to make a few notes about podcasting in general.

    1) It’s a phenomenal Relationship Builder: Podcasting can take relationships you have with people online to the next level. I cant’ tell you how many people I’ve interviewed that have allowed me access to their product launches, given me opportunities for affiliate commissions, and much more. But above all that, taking the relationship to a more spontaneous interactive medium allows for building a deeper relationship than twitter and blog posts in my opinion.

    2) Speaking Skills: One of the other things that podcasting enables you to do is hone your speaking skills. For me interviewing people has enabled me to improve my listening skills, which is something I openly admit I suck at. Getting on the phone and talking to somebody who is a complete stranger other than your online interactions is a great way to improve communication.

    3) Traffic: I actually don’t concern myself with how interviews bring traffic to a site as much as I do a relationship. But through a podcast that’s done well you can bring a ton of traffic to your blog.

    So, yeah podcasting isn’t even close to dead. Gonna check out marketing over coffee.

  • David Siteman Garland

    I do wonder though if the term “podcasting” is here to stay or as online shows become more mainstream they will be called just that: Online shows.

    Another recommendation (from doing 100+ online shows and 36 traditional TV episodes…geez I need a life) is this:

    Make sure you are mentioning in the show AND the show notes. If you do one or the other it is a bit half pregnant. Whether it is a sponsor, your own stuff, whatever. Remember (and this will definitely hold true in the future) that people watch/listen often away from your website be it a phone, iTunes, whatever syndication you have.

  • http://www.social-media-business.net James Daily

    Podcasts now exist in so many formats, from your local newspaper, to internationally known columnists and humorists to businesses trying to reach out to potential and existing customers. They’re definitely here to stay, but as you and some of the other comments have stated, keep the show or brand name prominent. So many people are listening to podcasts on their iPods, or what have you, so be aware that many listeners aren’t computer-bound when you’re reaching them.

  • http://twitter.com/randycantrell Randy Cantrell

    MOC has few rivals in my opinion. Both guys are knowledgeable, articulate and easy to listen to. The content never disappoints. There are valid reasons why it’s got a solid crowd of followers/listeners. I think the “live” recording from the donut/coffee shop helps, too. The podcast just “feels” nice to me.

    Randy