Archive for the 'Book' Category

• Author : Ted Demopoulos
• Publisher : Kaplan Business
• ISBN Number : 1419584359
• Cost : $18.95
• Buy Book : Amazon
• Pages : 224
• Star Rating : 8.5 out of 10

The length of this books title, belies it’s relatively short page length. However at just a tad over 200 pages, you’d be hard pushed to cram in any more information than the author Ted Demopoulos already has.

The sub title of the book, “Read-Life Advice from 101 People Who Successfully Leverage the Power of the Blogosphere”, probably gives a better idea of what you can expect. I’m a particular fan of this style of book. Authors can research all they want, but if you really need to find out about a given subject, who better to talk to than the people directly involved. The subject in this case being Blogging and podcasting.

Most how to/advice books are pretty dry affairs, with page after page of tips and advice, usually from someone who is a legend in their own lunchtime. Whilst Ted Demopoulos’ credentials are not in doubt, this book takes a different tack, by providing 101 tips, not from Ted himself, but from out in the field, bloggers and podcasters who impart some of their hard earned lessons. There are many names in this book, with whom you may already be familiar with, including Seth Godin, C.C. Chapman, Todd Satterston and Guy Kawasaki, high profile bloggers, podcasters and people working in supporting areas.

The books 200+ pages are broken down into the following 8 sections :

1. The Basics
2. Some Business Uses of Blogs and Podcasts
3. Planning Your Blog
4. Making Money
5. Promoting Your Blog and Tracking Statistics
6. Podcast Specific Topics
7. Other Blog and Podcast Considerations
8. The Future

There is much to enjoy in this book and also tons of information to glean, for use in your own podcasts and blogs. There’s also a great resources section at the end of the book, that collects all of the websites mentioned throughout the book and lists them again by section, for easy reference.

Conclusion : A throughly entertaining book, filled with useful advice to assist you in your own endeavors. Highly recommended.

Issue #17 of Podcast User Magazine is now available and the biggest issue yet at 60 pages. Don’t forget it’s free to download, or you can subscribe for free and have it electronically delivered to you each month, as soon as it is published.

Get it here.

Issue #16 of Podcast User Magazine is now available. Don’t forget it’s free to download, or you can subscribe for free and have it electronically delivered to you each month, as soon as it is published.

Get it here.

• Author : Michael Geoghegan and Dan Klass
• Publisher : friends of ED
• ISBN Number : 1590595548
• Cost : $24.99
• Buy Book : Amazon
• Pages : 240
• Star Rating : 8.5 out of 10

There’s many podcasting books on the shelf, with new ones being added all the time. Podcast Solutions was probably one of the first ones, coming out in 2005. There’s a few thing however that set this apart from the rest.

The first thing you’ll notice is the foreword, penned by none other than the “Podfather” himself, Adam Curry. Whilst he didn’t invent podcasting, a common misconception, he is instrumental in it’s inception, along with Dave Winer and many programmers and early adopters who believed in his vision. The second thing you may notice is the names of the authors. Michael Geoghegan is a pioneer podcaster with Reel Reviews Radio a film review podcast and Grape Radio, yes you guessed it a podcast all about wine. He was also the first podcaster approached by a fortune 100 company, in this case Walt Disney, to host and produce the Disneyland podcast. Dan Klass the other author is the man behind the New 80’s Music podcast and The Bitterest Pill podcast, a comedy/talk show all about the trials and tribulations of being a stay-at-home dad. As you can see, quite the ensemble cast.

Throughout this book are interviews with other popular podcasters, like Brian Ibbot (Coverville), Dave Slusher (Evil Genius Chronicles) and Michael Butler (Rock and Roll Geek Show). There’s also interviews with programmers and the people behind various web services, like IpodderX (now Transistr, eventually anyway) and AudioBlog. So as you can see you get to see what other podcasters do and how they do it.

The book is broken down into the following chapters :

1. Podcasting 101
2. Listening to Podcasts
3. Podcasting How-To
4. Planning Your Podcast
5. Podcasting Tools
6. Recording Your Podcast
7. Putting it All Together
8. Preparing Your File
9. Serving it Up
10. Getting Heard
11. Making Money with Podcasting

The chapters cover everything you need to know about podcasting, from listening to creating and monetising.

The first two chapters cover the history of podcasting and how to listen to podcasts. Chapter 3 through 10 get into the specifics of creating a podcast, from deciding on the format of your podcast, to getting your podcast out to the masses. It’s interesting how far podcasting has come since this book came out. For anyone using a Mac, the natural audio software to use is probably GarageBand, which includes specific podcasting features in version 3.0, but only gets a cursory mention in the book with regard to multitracking software. There is however lots of other audio software covered for both the Apple Mac and PC computers.

As well as computer software and services, you are also going to need some audio equipment to get the sound into your computer. Chapter 5 covers this in some detail and ensure you don’t forget anything such as microphones, pop filters, headphones, mixers, cables and connectors, and phone patches and digital hybrids, as they’re all covered. Yes you can start with just a $2.00 microphone, but you will soon strive to deliver a better final sound for your listeners.

There’s a lot of detail in this book, that I haven’t seen elsewhere and it can be a bit overwhelming for the new podcaster. However as you get more proficient, you will no doubt continue to refer to this book for reference.

Conclusion : A great book with a host of information, for both the first time and experienced podcaster. Some areas could be brought up to date, which I’m sure will happen in the next edition, but even so a valuable addition to your book collection.

Better late than never. Everyone’s excellent work has produced yet another great issue.

Grab yourself a copy by visiting http://www.podcastusermagazine.com or subscribe to the feed http://feeds.feedburner.com/podusermag to have the magazine automatically download to your computer when it is available.

Issue #5 should be out in the first week of June. If anyone has anything they would like to see covered, send me an email to colin@podcastlaunchpad.com or colin@podcastusermagazine.com.

With such an incredible amount of existing podcasts and more being created every day, it’s very easy to find yourself at a crossroads, wondering where do you go from here. Yes you love the Richard Vobes Show and that Tartan Podcast is great, but where does one find that elusive podcast on “knitting with Tibetan wool for the beginner”. OK, so maybe I’ve stretched the point further than necessary, but you get my drift.

For me, the first thing I do, when I want to find a podcast about a specific subject, is go to my old friend Google. I’ve actually done this a few times, the last being when I wanted to find out if there was a podcast about my beloved, Ottawa Senators NHL team. For those of you that don’t know your NHL from your P45, it’s the “National Hockey League”, yeah baby, I’m talking ice hockey. Anyway I was sitting at work, with a podcatcher with no content (hard to believe with 68 subscriptions) and just pondered on the possibility of there being one for the Senators. I quickly fired up Google, typed “ottawa senators podcast” in the box, click on [Google Search] button and bam, the number two answer returned, lead me to where I wanted, The Sens Underground podcast. So within minutes, I’d found exactly what I wanted, subscribed and was listening to an episode (which is really rather good). I tried the same for my old favorite West Ham United, but alas nothing was returned that was of any use. You can take the man out of the Cockney, but you can’t take the Cockney out of the man.

So Google is great if you want to try to find something specific, but what if you are just looking for something non specific. Well apart from Podcast Launchpad, which is more a review site and resource for all things podcast related and I’m sure your first port of call when seeking new podcasts, there are quite a few directories to choose from, the most popular being Podcast Pickle, Podcast Alley, Odeo, Yahoo and last, but by no means least iTunes. Personally I tend to steer clear of directories, as they don’t tell me enough about the podcasts and I don’t want to invest hours pouring over downloads to determine whether I’m going to like something, based on a line or two of description, which is usually totally over the top and totally unrepresentative. I find that probably the best way to find the best in podcasts, is through word of mouth. Check out the websites for your favorite podcasts and see what they are listening to. Many podcasters have a list of podcasts they listen to on the left or right hand sides of their home page (a PodRoll) and chances are, if you like their podcasts, you are probably going to like at least some of the podcasts they listen to.

Finally the missing puzzle in the hunt of podcast crack is you. That’s right, you! By now you’ve probably got a stack of podcasts you listen to and enjoy regularly. Do your bit, by helping other people find the podcasts you love. Mention to your family and friends, the wonders of podcasting and give them some help in setting them up, if they haven’t yet discovered podcasting. Then help them subscribe to some podcasts you think they will enjoy and within a short period of time, they will then be sending you some ideas of podcasts they think you will enjoy. There you go, everyone’s a winner.

Another fantastic job by all at Podcast User Magazine, sees issue #3 launched slightly behind schedule, but sporting a much improved, evolving design .

Grab yourself a copy by visiting http://www.podcastusermagazine.com or subscribe to the feed http://feeds.feedburner.com/podusermag to have the magazine automatically download to your computer when it is available.

Suppose I’d better think of something for Issue #4 available on the 1st May.

If anyone has any suggestions for articles they would like to see me cover, please send me an email to colin@podcastlaunchpad.com or colin@podcastusermagazine.com.

I’d wanted to start my own podcast for a few months, as an extension of the Indie Launchpad website (http://www.indielaunchpad.com), where I feature reviews of bands and artists. I thought it would be a good idea to feature the same bands and artists in a podcast, allowing them to gain increased exposure. So one day I sat down at the computer with my crappy little mic, and off I went. After toying around for a few hours, I was ready to start my new mega production. Suffice to say, it’s a lot easier to listen to podcasts than it is to record them, especially when you’ve never done it before.

I’d started off with some brief notes, listing the things I wanted to cover and all other relevant information, like web addresses and email, etc. However I just couldn’t string several words together without pausing with an “errr”, or “ahhhhh” or numerous other devices for pausing while I thought of what I wanted to say. So I put down my pad and left the podcast for a few days. This happened every time I tried to get the podcast recorded.

So, I thought, why not script each segment, then that way I can get rid of all the pausing and vocal gaffes and have a nice clean show. And that is what I did. I got to the end of the show feeling very satisfied with my self. Here was 18 minutes of great music and some nice clear, succinct words from me. Well, that’s what I thought until I listened to the podcast. The music, of course, was fine, but my voice was horrible. It sounded like some awful kind of Apple/Mac, speech-synthesised voice, only not as friendly. Again I walked away and pondered my podcast future.

After a couple of days it dawned on me that no matter how hard I tried, my podcast was never going to be perfect. You can’t set the bar too high when you start, or you’ll always find a reason not to do it. I decided to send out my sample podcast to a few select people, just to make sure it wasn’t painful listening, and I received some very positive feedback. Yes, my voice needed some work, but I got some great advice and decided to release the podcast as is.

The following week I did another podcast. This time I decided to do it all off the cuff, with my brief notes, and wow, what a difference. Yes, the pauses and stuff are there, but the show, on the whole, feels a lot more natural. I recently released the third episode, and I’m getting there. It’s going to take work and lots of practice, but I’m on my way and already have quite a respectable audience, so I must be doing something right.

I suppose the point I’m trying to make is that it’s better to have something out there to build on, as opposed to holding back all the time until you have something you consider perfect. I’m not saying you just release the first thing you record; you have to have something that people want to listen to. Audiences can be quite forgiving if they can see what you are trying to achieve. Here’s some of the advice I received; hopefully, it can be of use:

• Slow down, it’s not a race. This also gives you the opportunity to think a bit longer about what you want to say
• If are passionate about your subject matter, don’t be afraid to let it show
• Don’t think of yourself talking to an audience, think of yourself talking to a friend; intimacy is the key

I’m still trying to apply these pieces of advice, but I think I am slowly getting there. My last piece of advice is to have fun and enjoy doing your podcast. If you don’t, it will soon show.

This article is republished from Podcast User Magazine #1. For more details, please visit http://www.podcastusermagazine.com

Another fantastic job by all at Podcast User Magazine, sees issue #2 launched on schedule and bristling full of excellent content. The first issue was downloaded over 3,000 times in the first week. Let’s see if we can beat that this month.

Go grab yourself a copy by visiting http://www.podcastusermagazine.com or subscribe to the feed http://feeds.feedburner.com/podusermag to have the magazine automatically download to your computer when it is available.

Time to pull my socks up and get some more articles and content ready as the next issue should be available on the 1st April.

If anyone has any suggestions for articles they would like to see me cover, please send me an email.

• Author : Jack D. Herrington
• Publisher : Oreilly
• ISBN Number : 0-596-10066-3
• Cost : $24.95
• Buy Book : Buy Amazon
• Pages : 453
• Star Rating : 9.5 out of 10

I want to start this review by simply stating this book is phoneomenal. For anyone intersted in, or already podcasting, this is a book that you will be thankful to have by your side.

Podcasting does indeed follow the tried and tested waters of taking you though the necessary steps for listening and creating podcasts, but where most books require you to read them in their entirity, or complete chapters, Podcasting Hacks splits everything up into individual hacks. It’s a sort of cookbook for podcasting. Of the 75 hacks available, there are some that are relatively simple, like #13 Pick The Right Microphone and #12 Set Up a Basic Home Studio, which is extremely extensive covering 12 pages. For anyone not afraid of dabbling with software programming, there are some more advanced hacks that deal with subjects like #3 Build Your Own Podcatcher (using Perl) and #65 Speech Sythesize Your Podcast Introduction (using Applescript on the Mac and the speech SDK in Windows). One of my particular favorite chapters, that I actually made use of recently is Chapter 5, Interviewing, which has hacks #33 Record Great Interviews, #34 Record Telephone Interviews and #35 Record Interviews on Skype, which didn’t actually give me the solution I used, but gave me a lot of useful information.

Chapter 4 is also an excellet breakdown of the various podcast formats and what to consider when deciding the format you wish to adopt. The formats covered are Story Show; Personal Show; Political Show; Mystery Science Theatre; Music; Review Podcast; Sports Podcast; Technology Podcast; Beercast; a MP3zine and Audio Theatre.

Chapter 7 is also essential reading, Publicity, beause what’s the use of having a podcast if no one listens to it. This chapter deals with getting your podcast listed, markeing and monetizing.

Conclusion : For anyone that has an interest in creating their own podcast, this book is a must have. For anyone mainly interested in listening to podcasts, there are other books that are more suitable.