Podcasting and Video Blogging Best Practices

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An all star panel – Robert Scoble, Andru Edwards and Mary Hodder – promised to reveal Podcasting and Video Blogging Best Practices.

Robert Scoble: Start out by knowing the story that you want to tell. And edit it to tell the story from a distinctive perspective.

Expectations of production quality are going up. Rocketboom is using a $1,500 HD camera. While not everyone uses this quality of equipment, people expect better quality sound and images that don’t shake.

If you are using a cheap, on camera microphone, stay close to the subject to eliminate the ambient background noise.  A wireless microphone is a worthwhile investment.

Mary Hodder: People will engage more with quality video. So, if you want to reach your audience, it is important to improve the technical quality of the video you post.

Robert Scoble: It’s still early days for video on the web. So, you can experiment.

Andru: Edwards: You can even use a still camera to capture short web quality videos.

Mary Hodder: Freevlog offers good resources for people interested in video blogging.

Robert: It’s a fun community right now. Because people are experimenting and trying things out.

Video bloggers can obtain sponsorship revenues by hosting their video blogs on revver.

For casual video bloggers, Robert suggests they look at bliptv, YouTube, google video or similar services. However, when uploading video to a service like YouTube, read the EULA (licence agreement) closely. You may be giving up the rights to your content.

Libsyn is another affordable solution for hosting podcasts and videos.

Mary’s company, dabble, is a search and sharing site for video. (Robert asked, so it was OK for Mary to talk about it.)

Ragan Conference – Shel Holtz

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Shel Holtz took us into the world of podcasting. His presentation was titled, Mix Podcasting and PR: How the audio revolution can support clients’ objectives.

Podcasting is essentially online downloadable audio which can be received by subscription to an RSS feed.

Although podcasts can be transferred to MP3 players, 56% of people listen at their computer. Recognizing this, an increasing number of podcasts provide their signal on a streaming flash player to enable listening right off the site.

There are a diverse range of podcast directories that can be used to find content. Podcast Alley. Yahoo. Podshow. However, the cast majority of people who subscribe do so through … iTunes.

Who listens to podcasts? According to Arbitron, 11% of adults have downlaoded a podcast. 45% of the listenership is aged 35 to 44. They are educated, affluent and trend leders

Podcasts appeal to people who are hungry for niche content.

Podcasting has many advantages:

  • It’s time shifted. You can listen when you want. Podcasting is like Tivo for audio.
  • It is niche-focused. You can find content that is relevant to your interests. Content that would never be on broadcast radio.
  • It is detachable. You can separate it from your computer and listen to it on a portable device (MP3 player).
  • Audio can be listened to while you are dong something else. To read a blog, you must be focused on the screen. You shouldn’t do this while driving. But you can listen to a podcast on the train, the plane, in a car, while running, while doing the wash….
  • It has low barriers to entry. The easy to use software provides enables anyone to podcast without requiring that they have specialized technical knowledge.

Podcasting tools are freely available:

Through podcasting, a small company can attach its brand to compelling, interesting content in a way that only large companies could achieve previously through broadcast advertising.

Podcasts should be incorporated into a comprehensive PR program. As part of a program, they can:

  • Build brand identity;
  • Heighten awareness
  • Bolster your reputation
  • Build community.
  • Educate to build brand affinity.

Shel also offered some secrets for successfulpodcasting

  • Unscripted and natural. Podcasts should sound like your authentic, human voice.
  • Regular. People like to get into the habit of listening. Reliability counts. Be there when you say you’ll be there.
  • No overt selling. Most podcasts do not have advertising. Don’t stand out in a negative way.
  • Housed on a blog. A blog provides a place for show notes for every episode, including links mentioned in the show and time codes so that people can find the place they are interested in. Enable comments on the podcast blog and watch the community talk back to you.
  • Listener feedback encouraged and incorporated. Incorporate the listener feedback into the show. They will identify even more closely with it.

Shel practises what he preaches. For an example of a successful communications podcast, look at For Immediate Release: The Hobson and Holtz Report, which Shel co-hosts with Neville Hobson.

Toronto and Ottawa PR meetups to discuss social media

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Public relations practitioners in Toronto and Ottawa have a new monthly forum to discuss social media from a PR perspective.

Ottawa meetup The Ottawa meetup is called Third Monday. The Toronto group is called Third Tuesday. And, you guessed it, they’ll generally be held on Mondays or Tuesdays.

A great group of bloggers and social media enthusiasts have come together to get these meetups going. Joining me in organizing the groups are David Jones, Terry Fallis, Ed Lee and Chris Clarke in Toronto and Colin McKay, Brendan Hodgson and Ian Ketcheson in Ottawa.

Toronto MeetupWe believe that public relations practitioners have a unique perspective on social media.  We look at social media as an extension of the conversations we have always had with journalists and stakeholders to now include a much larger group of citizen journalists and interested people whose online conversations lead to the formation of communities of interest.

Others groups have different starting points and different perspectives on social media. Advertisers, for example, start from the perspective of disaggregating mass media and the need to find new advertising vehicles and strategies that will replace failing mass media campaigns.

Because we have this unique perspective, public relations folks have different conversations than do those people who are grounded in other disciplines. First Monday and First Tuesday will provide us with the opportunity to talk about social media framed as a public relations challenge. We will be able to focus on its potential for and impact on our profession. How we can extend our capablities by embracing social media. How we can enhance our careers. How we can better serve our clients. And how we can then take our best thoughts forward into the broader discussion with others. Ensuring that public relations is well represented. Ensuring that public relations is in a leadership position in exploring and applying social media.

Shel IsraelWe have a great first speaker to launch our meetups. Shel Israel, co-author of Naked Conversations, will kick off the gatherings with back to back sessions on September 25 in Ottawa and September 26 in Toronto. I can’t think of a better way to kick off the discussion than with a man who hails from PR and who wrote THE book on blogging.

So, if you are a public relations practitioner who wants to meet other PR folks to talk about practical applications of social media, join the conversation. Sign up for Third Monday (Ottawa) or Third Tuesday (Toronto).

And, for those who’ve spotted a similarity to the SF Bay Area Third Thursday group organized by Mike Manuel, Jeremy Pepper, Giovanni Rodriguez, and Phil Gomes, you’re right. In looking for a model, we thought that Third Thursday was exactly what we wanted to replicate in Canada. Mike gave us the go ahead to borrow from the Third Thursday and that’s what we’ve done. Thank you Mike!

 

Canada's Prime Minister podcasts – kind of

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Canada’s federal government is making some tentative moves into social media.

Prime Minister Stephen HarperLast night, the Prime Minister of Canada’s Podcast popped up on iTunes’ Canadian podcast page. The files can also be accessed through a streaming player on the Prime Minister’s website, as can video files. However, the files on the PM’s site cannot be downloaded.

Without doubt, this is a medium that will enable the Prime Minister and his government to reach past the Parliamentary Press Gallery and speak directly to the citizens of Canada. However, the current presentation is nothing more than the raw audio files of the PM’s speech. This is likely to appeal only to the committed partisan or policy wonk.

To attract a larger audience, the Prime Minister’s Office should enhance the production. Definite must dos: a musical intro;  an introduction by a host to estabish the context and provide a summary of the content and maybe even a brief interview with the Prime Minister after the sound clip to provide some content that is unique to the podcast.

Bottom line: a first step by Canada’s new Prime Minister. Hopefully, there will be more.

 

Rick Spence asks for input on readers' podcast preferences

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Rick SpenceBusiness writer Rick Spence has been asked by a friend (wonder who?) to start a podcast. Before doing so, Rick wants to learn more about his readers’ interest in podcasting.

He asks:

Do you listen to podcasts? Where, and when? Do you listen live, or download to an iPod? Do you have favorites you listen to regularly? Why do you listen to them? What have you gotten out of them?

Help Rick make up his mind about whether to podcast. Tell him about your podcast habits.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel launches podcast

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Angela Merkel podcastSebastian Keil picked up two reports that Angela Merkel today will launch a podcast.

Podcasting is an ideal communications vehicle for government leaders. It closely follows the broadcast model that politicians use every day. Political leaders generate a regular stream of speeches and voice clips, ideal content for podcasts.

Merkel Keil is the second major government leader that I know of who is taking advantage of social media. She joins David Miliband, Secretary of State for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs in Tony Blair’s UK government, who started blogging on January 2, 2006.

It is inevitable that others soon will follow them in their use of social media.

If you know of other examples of government leaders or senior government officials who are podcasting or blogging, please tell me about it by leaving a comment on this post. 

Social Marketing: Toronto AIMS Seminar with Shel Israel

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AIMS (Association of Internet Marketing and Sales) took advantage of Shel Israel’s presence in Toronto to organize a session on social marketing.

In addition to Shel Israel, the other featured speakers were:

  • Mark Evans, a senior technology reporter with the National Post. His principal blogs are Mark Evans,a Canadian take on telecom and technology and All Nortel, All the Time, a blog about all things Nortel.
  • Amber MacArthur, co-producer and co-host of Call for Help,a daily one-hour TV show on G4TechTV. She also produces commandN, a weekly web/tech news video show online and Inside the Net, a weekly podcast ; and
  • Jon Husband, visionary and evangelist for Vancouver blogging software company Qumana Inc.. He contributes to Qumana’s blog as well as his personal blog, Wirearchy.

    • Some takeaways:

    Mark Evans:

  • Why do I blog? First and foremost, it’s a branding exercise for me and what I do. I have bigger plans beyond the National Post. Unfortunately, the National Post has a backward approach to blogging. They are just getting into it now. And I’ve felt the need to lead them. … Networking. I’m a small fish in a big pond. Blogging allows me to get my thoughts out there, maybe get some credibility and maybe the New York Times will hire me sometime.
  • Revenue: I’m not in it for the money. Although I have Adsense, I make about a dollar a day.
  • Newspapers and blogging: Canadian papers are way behind the U.S. The Toronto Star is most advanced in blogging. The Globe and Mail is a close second and the National Post is way behind.
  • Advice for PR/Marketing practitioners: Jump into Blogging. You don’t have to write one, but read them every day. Engage them. Talk to them. Ask them to talk to you.
  • Corporate Blogs: I have an issue with CEO blogs. In the era of Sarbanes Oxley, most CEO’s cannot say what they feel. Legal and IR filter them and they seem stale.

    • Evans also reminded the audience of the Web 2.0 conference May 8/9 in Toronto. Check out Mark’s blog for more info on this.

    Amber MacArthur

  • Podcasting has expanded my audience internationally whereas previously on television it was only national.
  • Why would I waste time making a podcast if I can’t make money from it? Eventually, there will be opportunities to make money from advertising. I have an advertiser. It doesn’t give me much money, maybe enough to go out to dinner once in a while.
  • 12 to 20 minutes is a good time to get into a topic without going too long. I tune out of the hour long podcast.

    • Jon Husband

  • Pleasantville is the best movie about the effects of the internet and it doesn’t have a single computer in it.
  • First they will ignore you (was done). Then they will ridicule you (was done). Then they will fight you (in process). Then they will lose.

    • Shel Israel

  • Most C-level people just can’t do it. Their primary obligation is to shareholders. They may be constrained in what they can do.
  • The best bloggers are the people, like Robert Scoble, who are able to express themselves, have knowledge and have a lot of heart.
  • We trust people who are like we are.
  • Human nature is to want to have a conversation. Now for the first time, we can have conversations on a global level with people who care about what we want to talk about.
  • Perhaps we can call this “Mass micro-marketing.”
  • Web 2.0 companies in their early stages don’t need PR. They should blog. The blogosphere can capture the imagination of people; word of mouth will get the message out.

    • Thanks to AIMS Toronto for organizing this session.