Something I want to bring to the forefront of your mind for your blog.

I made my first blog back in early 2006, but had no idea what I was doing. I had a couple thoughts on what I should and shouldn’t do, but that was about it. When confronted with making my first couple of posts, there was the “category” box and the “tags” box. I thought to myself, “Eh, both are the same thing, why do I need to post the same word twice? I’ll just throw everything in “Category” and try not to overlap on words too much.”

Big mistake.

Want to know what that most likely cost me? Search Engine traffic, targeting choice words when I “tagged” posts, interlinking between other sites, and possibly some of my audience.

I did not have this concept really nailed down until I launched this blog. I wanted to be sure and do this the “right way” and not screw up and pass over advice taught to me by my mentors.

The concept is this: Categories categorize your posts, Tags describe what your post is about.

Your blog should have a set amount of categories from the very start, while tags can be virtually unlimited. Now that doesn’t mean go all crazy on tags, but it does mean that you should choose some targeted keywords to describe your post. Imagine someone searching on Google for your post. Have it described just right, and they will hit your site every time. Have a whole bunch of words thrown in there and they won’t click on it at all, as a matter of fact, it might be buried at the last page of results.

Don’t make the mistake I did and ignore tags entirely, or you will pay for it by an entire evening of corrections made to existing content on your blog.

What are your thoughts on this? Do you use tags and categories in your posts?

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.

Woke up this morning to find this in my inbox:

Dear PPA Member,

I’ve decided to retire the Podcast Peer Awards.

I had envisioned this becoming a big splashy award with excitement in
the air and goodie bags full of swag from sponsors.  I figured that as
the public became more enamored of podcasts interest in the PPA would
build too.  But podcasts haven’t caught on the way I expected –
they’re a popular niche, but still a niche.  Sponsors weren’t
interested, and the enthusiasm for the Awards has dwindled instead of
building.  Requests for new membership dropped from a deluge to a
trickle.  At the award ceremony at DragonCon in ‘08 the room was
fairly full and everyone hung around afterward and partied.  For
DragonCon ‘09 attendance was sparse, and the room cleared immediately
afterward.

I’m not complaining.  I tried something, it worked for a while, and
then kind of petered out.  I had a lot of fun with it, learned a lot,
helped increase the audience for some great shows and made a lot of
new friends.  It was a blast.

I’ll leave the site up for at least a few years.  It should still send
some traffic to the winners and runner-ups, and will serve as a bit of
history in the podcasting world.  I’ll take the forum down in a month
or so, but will leave it up for now for anyone who wants to stop by
for a final word or three.

I’d like to thank everyone who participated for being part of the
awards.  A big thanks to everyone who contributed to the Trophy Fund –
because of your generosity there are about a hundred trophies sitting
in various offices and studios all over the world.  And I’d like to
especially thank Clinton Alvord of Comedy4Cast, who went out of his
way many times to lighten my work load.

Someday, perhaps, we’ll get together in the 3-d world, clink our
glasses together and say “Hey, remember the Podcast Peer Awards?  That
was fun, wasn’t it?”  Until then, thanks so much for being a part of
it.

Regards and Thanks,

Dave Hitt

The Podcast Peer Awards shall be truly missed by us in the community. I loved the competition and the voting that went on. Prizes were neat, and I always looked forward to the winners. New winners meant new podcasts to listen to, and I am always in the market for good podcasts.

Dave, good luck to whatever venture you undertake, but know this. It was an awesome ride while it lasted.

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?