Nalts of YouTube & Cali Lewis of GeekBrief.tv

So you want to be a video podcaster eh?

Good News, I’m on the same path. Let me show you what I know so far. Its quite simple really…

First off, same starting steps (Name, content, etc.) apply here whether starting out on YouTube or your own website.

Second, you do not need to have the best HD camcorder on the planet to start recording. I’m using a Creative Vado that I won at an expo. Starting out, investing in a ~$100 camcorder will suffice. For editing your video, Windows Movie Maker does a decent job. I use Sony Vegas Movie Studio Platinum 9 for my editing. (If you need good how to videos on how to do something in Movie Maker or Vegas, try a search for it on YouTube. Just add the word “tutorial” on the end of the search term and videos will pop up showing you exactly how.)

And Finally, have several role models/people you admire in this area. My role models are the two shown in the picture shown above. Kevin Nalts has been on YouTube creating short funny videos since 2006. Cali Lewis is the host of the shiny happy tech news, “GeekBrief.tv” video podcast. She has also been producing video podcasts since 2006. Why are they my role models? They understood the heart of their audience and creatively captured it from the start.

Now comes your turn, what do you want to see below this? What question’s do you have that you want seen added to this post? Post your comments below.

Did you know that Insiders get this blog post in audio format? Become an Insider and reap the benefit!

You have setup your podcast. You have a twitter account. You’re generating content on your site and on twitter. Your next question is, “How do I get more followers?”

One of the nice things about twitter is lots of eyeballs see what you write, and if you write it at just the right time, many people will become curious and click on the link (to your podcast episode of course).

I stumbled upon this secret quite by accident. I have not read any books, nor read any posts about this. I started doing this one day, and started noticing a nice influx of followers. Within a week, I gained more than 100 followers, and it is still growing. And this is purely natural traffic, no gimmicks or get-more-twitter-followers program. There is another benefit that comes out of this as well…

That secret is publicly welcoming new twitter followers.

I used to be one of those auto-DM people, and occasionally I welcomed new followers that way. I learned very quick that it was a bad option, as it started very quickly becoming another type of spam. Desiring more interaction, one day I got into a conversation with a couple friends on twitter. I started noticing new followers, and a thought occured to me. “Why don’t I publicly welcome new followers. Can’t hurt to try…”

So I did that. I welcomed a new follower, as well as viewed and commented on his website, who happened to have quite a good number of people following him. He noticed my tweet and thanked me for welcoming him. Two things happened in that moment.

1. I created a connection with that follower. He appreciated what I said and checked out my website as well.

2. I generated curiosity between both my followers and his followers. My followers were interested in what I said and wanted to see for themselves, and his followers were interested in what I said about him, thus following me in the process.

Adding up the followers of both of these guys comes to 65k followers. That is alot of people!! Alot of eyeballs saw this as well. Now when you publish a new episode and it is published to twitter, many more people will see that link.

Can you see how powerful this is?

Your homework is in your premium feed, as well as the audio version of this post. Feel free to pick it up and test it out. Tell me what you think.

J.C. Hutchins and Scott Sigler, both of whom I know, were recently interviewed for Time Magazine. What were they interviewed about? Why a podcast of course! But not just any podcast, a novel podcast. Similar to an audiobook where you can listen to an audio version of a book, but entirely different. Both of them decided to release their novels in podcast format, meaning every new episode is another chapter of the novel.This is an awesome example on monetizing and promoting your podcast, or at least an outstanding way to garner enough attention (press included) to ink a six figure deal with a well known publisher.

It seems a ripe time for novel podcasting to grow. Traditional book publishers are struggling. Book sales are down; MacMillan has laid off employees, as have Random House and Simon & Schuster; and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt has suspended the purchase of most new manuscripts. With advance money drying up as well as contracts, Evo Terra says that aspiring writers now feel that “maybe I should try something on my own” and build an audience online.

Here is the link to the full article. Enjoy and tell me what you think: http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1872381,00.html

Ran across an interesting article from ComputerWorld that is worth a read: http://blogs.computerworld.com/dont_listen_to_podcasts_heres_what_youre_missing

Mike, you hit the nail on the head when you said, “Podcasting is the most underappreciated, underutilized media ever. Some people never try it. And many who do wind up giving it up unimpressed. Too bad. A new study found that students who listen to lectures on podcasts test better than those who listen in class. Podcasting is a powerful educational medium, second only to books, in my opinion. But unlike reading books, you can listen to podcasts while doing the dishes.”

Listening to podcasts is as easy as looking for a book. Find one you like, there are plenty out there. Sure, there are “junk podcasts” out there just as there are “junk books”. You just need to sift though those to find ones you like. If you do happen to find one you like, let that podcaster know you enjoy listening. Not only will it give them a boost, but you will continue to receive great content though that podcast.

If you haven’t already read this post, please do: Where can I find podcasts to listen to?

Here are several good websites that I recommend you visit if you want to find interesting podcasts to listen to.

http://www.podcastpickle.com/

http://blubrry.com/

There are plenty of podcast directories available, but these two are the best out there.

If you have a Zune or an IPod, visit the Marketplace, on the Zune, and ITunes, on the IPod, and click on the “Podcast” link. It will list genre’s as well as some podcasts you can listen to. Then all you need to do is click on the “Subscribe” button to subscribe to that podcast. The latest episode of that podcast will be downloaded to your computer for you to sync with your mp3 player to listen to. From that point on, any new episodes to that podcast will automatically be downloaded to your computer, you no longer have to check the podcasts’ website.

Wikipedia defines it best, “A podcast is a series of audio or video digital media files which are distributed over the Internet by syndicated download, through Web feeds, to portable media players and personal computers.”

Lets break this down. Remember radio? You have to be in a certain place at a certain time to listen to your show. Think of “podcasting” as radio with a twist. That twist is you can listen to your show, whenever you want, wherever you are, on whatever device you want to listen with. No longer do you have to sit in your house, you could be walking the Great Wall of China at 4pm their time listening to the show you want. You also have total control of what you are listening to. If you don’t like something, like ads, you can fast forward it.

Also, you never need to tune in to see if there is a new show. If you are able to subscribe to that shows feed in a feed reader (Google Reader, Zune Marketplace, ITunes, etc.) you will get the newest episode automatically. The program will check for new shows automatically, and if it finds something, it will download it for you to listen.

This is just the start of something big, stay tuned for more…