Creating and Keeping Raving Fans

Podcast and Portable Media Expo 2006

Track 4: Podcasting as a Hobby
Instructor: Sallie Goetsch, Podcast Asylum
Friday, 29 September
Room: 200ABC

Preview: What's the best way to grow an audience that waits eagerly for every new episode of your podcast? Make your listeners a part of the show! Not-for-profit podcasts converted Sallie Goetsch (rhymes with "sketch") from total ignorance to avid listener and co-founder of the Podcast Asylum. In this session, you'll learn what makes people want to share your show with others. Sallie shows you how to motivate your listeners to get involved and all the ways they need to be able to get in touch with you. You'll see how making yours a listener-driven podcast establishes your reputation as an expert more firmly while connecting you to a global network of new friends who want to meet you and will think of you right away when they need speakers.

Background

There were two things I wanted to take into account in giving this presentation. One was that I didn't want to overlap too much with Chuck Tomasi's "Deeper and Wider" presentation on Saturday. I think I went too far in that direction and didn't provide enough detail about methods of getting fans involved and what podcasters can do to appeal to the self-interest of their listeners.

The other issue was the matter of taste. There are podcasts out there (just as there are radio and TV shows) which have thousands of dedicated fans bu which you couldn't pay me to listen to. I wanted to find out whether there were any elements popular podcasts had in common regardless of their different subjects, hosts, and listener demographics. I made reference to some of the stories in the presentation, and am publishing the complete list here.

Finally, despite the fact that the Expo organizers had hired a professional A/V company to record the presenters, four of the recordings were somehow deleted, and mine was one of them. As those of you who have seen me present know, my slides are there to provide background and enhancement, so there's a limit to how much you'll get from them without audio accompaniment. I've included my speaker notes, which should be of some help.

Collected Fan Stories

HTML Slide Show (requires Internet Explorer 4.0 or higher)

I have no idea how this works with IE 7, as I haven't tested it. I hope Microsoft has.

PowerPoint Slide Show

PDF Slides

My Favorite Podcasts (as of September 2006)

About the Author-izer

As co-founder of the Podcast Asylum, Author-izer Sallie Goetsch (rhymes with "sketch") writes and speaks about podcasting from the listener's perspective. She started "smoking the podcast dope" in April 2005 and immediately contracted a bad case of earbud isolationism, using podcasting to make connections and attract prospects from around the world without recording her own podcast. She works tirelessly to cure the epidemic of podcastus ignoramus among business owners.

A natural-born pedant, Sallie translated Greek and Roman drama for the stage and taught in the School of Theatre Studies at the University of Warwick in England before returning to the United States to start her own business turning busy professionals into authors at www.author-izer.com .

These two photos from the PME were taken by C.C. Chapman of Managing the Gray and crayon. Thanks, C.C.!