Express Your Personal Brand Through the Power of Podcasting

Neville Hobson, ABC www.forimmediaterelease.biz www.nevillehobson.com November 8, 2007

The elements of successful podcasting
Who is podcasting
How to build a community of listeners
How to promote your podcast
hence, your brand
How to get started with your own podcast
This teleseminar is about personal brand-building and how podcasting can help you. We’ll look at:

Building your personal brand is something you can do whether you’re an individual in business or an employee of an organization
Indeed, personal brand-building can be even more important if you’re an employee
You need to do it the right way
And the right way is to provide something of value to others where there is no apparent direct reward to you

Digital audio file, typically MP3
“ Radio show” format
Time-shifted: listen when you want
Delivered via RSS
Optional:
Auto-sync with portable digital player
Detach and go: listen where you want
Complemented by show notes
(By the way, you don’t need an iPod, or any other portable player, to listen to a podcast)

Blogs
Wikis
RSS
Podcasts
Videocasts / Vlogs
Moblogs
MMS
Internet telephony
Social networks
Virtual communities
Tools that facilitate:
Communication
Engagement
Transparency
Trust
Tools that are:
Complementary to traditional communication activities
Used by people who recognize the social characteristics of effective communication

Relevance
Keep to the point
Avoid fluff
Info-tain
Build and engage community
Don’t sell
Be authentic
Respect listeners’ time
Integrate into blogosphere

The barriers to entry are incredibly low
All you need is a computer, a microphone, some free software and imagination
Your audience can number in the single digits
Unlike radio, you don’t need big numbers to be successful
Whatever you do, it’s all about content and your passion
Actually, it’s all about your listeners

Audience can listen while they do something else
Deliver specialized content to a niche audience they can’t get anywhere else
Convey information that’s best conveyed through audio
Build a loyal community of listeners
Use the podcast as a means of soliciting feedback
Use a podcast as an alternate channel to reinforce communication via other channels

Your message does not lend itself to audio (or video)
Your audience is not inclined to listen
Your message requires focus
Your boss/client says “Hey, let’s do a podcast!”
there must be a measurable (strategic) business reason

Anna Farmery – UK (The Engaging Brand)
Donna Papacosta – Canada (Trafcom News)
CC Chapman – US (Accident Hash)
Terry Fallis & David Jones – Canada (Inside PR)
Bryan Person – US (New Comm Road)
Heidi Miller – US (Diary of a Shameless Self Promoter)
Mitch Joel – Canada (Six Pixels of Separation)
Jonathan Hoel – Australia (PR Junction)

It’s easy
It’s inexpensive
It’s portable
It’s available

Easy and complementary extension of your existing communication, PR and marketing activities
Reach niche audiences otherwise (financially) unreachable
Create buzz, build viral marketing effect
Be perceived to be at the leading edge
Be seen as a thought leader
…

A new product announcement that complements traditional communication
Includes informal conversations between, say, a customer and you

A weekly review of activities and events of interest to investors and financial analysts
Within the limits of regulatory requirements

A weekly 15-minute business update for employees
Employees worldwide subscribe to the podcast via the company intranet
Or from your blog

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

Members of a community share a common bond that increases a sense of loyalty to a show
Building community increases listener loyalty, is a catalyst for content and helps spread the word to increase your audience
Tap into the social networking potential presented by a podcast
Host your podcast on a blog

Started January 3, 2005
First podcast in the communication profession
Co-hosts: Neville Hobson (UK) and Shel Holtz (USA)
60 mins, twice weekly, Monday and Thursday, recorded via Skype
Average per-show downloads: 1,600
Global audience
Primary: USA, Canada, UK, continental Europe, China, Australia
Building community
3 on-the-ground correspondents
Two sponsors: Ragan Communications and CustomScoop

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

Involve listeners
Encourage listeners
Address their needs
Engage

#1: Get listed in iTunes
Get listed in key directories
Make sure no directory manipulates your content, notably the RSS feed
Get some media coverage
Network in the podcasting community
Create podcast badges
Record podcast promos
Pimp for votes

iTunes Store
Podcast Alley
Podcast Pickle
… and many more

Basic gear:
USB microphone/headset
Free recording/editing software
Audacity for Windows/Mac/Linux
Intermediate gear:
Cartioid or condenser microphone
Headphones
Mixer
Portable audio recorder
Higher-end software, eg, Adobe Audition (Windows), GarageBand (Macintosh)
High-end gear:
+ digital mixers, compressors, pre-amps…
About £30 / $60 £500 / $1,000 – £2,500 / $5,000 £3,000 / $6,000 and up

On sale now
Published by McGraw-Hill
£13.49 at Amazon.co.uk
$16.49 at Amazon.com
Companion website at everythingwith podcasting.com

Engage and Participate vs. Transmit Advocate vs. Preach Influence and Persuade vs. Command and Control Informal and Conversational vs. Formal and Instructive Build Community vs. Tell Your Audience

Neville Hobson, ABC
www.forimmediaterelease.biz
www.nevillehobson.com
[email_address]
+44 7824 33 7000
For Immediate Release podcasts
[email_address]
Comment Lines:
Europe: +44 20 8133 9844
US: +1 206 222 2803
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.

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Express Your Personal Brand Through the Power of Podcasting

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Express Your Personal Brand Through the Power of Podcasting — Presentation Transcript