“In today’s world, just about anybody can record their message, whether it’s educational, entertaining, or whatever, and get it disseminated to millions and millions of people at almost no cost,” said KFC Blanchette of Podchick.com and Skydivergirls.com.

Podcasting.  It seems easy enough, but WebProNews wanted to give you a few helpful tips of how to start a Podcast.  So how hard could it be, right?  Well there are some basic key elements to think about when looking into creating a Podcast.

We talked with SEO Expert from NEO1SEO.com, David Brown about what you should concentrate on first.

“You know there are a lot of times that you think you can talk about a subject forever and ever, yet when it comes times to put the episodes together, you start to run out of show ideas and people to interview and things of that nature. So definitely having a topic that you can talk on in great length helps,” said David Brown.

We also talked with Chief Technology Officer of ToolBarn.com, Brian Mark about some of the disadvantages of Podcasting.  The only thing he could think of that would be considered a downfall is the “bandwidth used for Podcasting.”  But he did mention that Podcasting could do wonders for branding and marketing. So if you are looking for ways to get your name out there in the World Wide Web, perhaps a Podcast is one of the best ways to do so.

President of Podfactory.net and Creator of the Podcast, YogAmazing, Chaz Rough told WebProNews that you should be creative and have great content.

He said, “You’ve got to be consistent and you have to be doing this for real. Now you can just do this for fun if you want, but remember don’t expect great things, if you’re not planning on being consistent.”

When you’re consistent with your product, the audience will respond, which takes us into another key element.  Before you start to think about a Podcast, you really need to know who your target audience is.  What is your niche audience and how can you reach them?  Aside from finding your targeted audience, you need to convince them that you are someone that’s valuable to listen too.  Are you an expert? If not, how do you become one?

Both are invaluable questions you should ask yourself.  And the answers are simple.  You need to be an expert in order for people to listen to you, and in order to do that you should start interacting with the current experts.

By associating your name with these familiar names, you gain credit and learn the information you need to become an expert yourself.

Rough also said this to us, “Podcasting is still in it’s infancy stage,” meaning that there are new things being developed for Podcasting and it still has a lot of room and time for growth.

So the good news is, it’s not too late to hop on the Podcasting train and start rolling!

For more details and more helpful tips on Podcasting, you can watch the video available right here on WebProNews.

Here is a recap of the SES Chicago posts in case you missed any:

• Meet the Web Analytics Players
• Igniting Viral Campaigns
• Keynote Speech – Rodney Dangerfield School of Search Marketing
• Keynote – Seth Godin & 14 Trends to Avoid a Meatball Sundae
• Big Site, Big Search
• Actionable Social Media
• Usability and SEO
• Are You Ignoring the Power of Images?
• Snowy & Festive at SES Chicago
• SEO and Development – Get It Together
• Personalization, User Data & Search
• Podcast and Audio Search
• Strolling the Exhibit Floor at SES Chicago
• Images and Search Engines
• Managing PPC For Multiple Clients
• So You Want to Be A Search Marketer?
• Landing Page Optimization Clinic
• Kevin Ryan Unplugged
• Do Your Keywords Account for Local Vernacular?

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I just completed the PRoactive Report on Monitoring the Online Conversation so it’s very timely.

Other sessions I plan to attend and blog baout

• Actionable Social Media:

• Podcast & Audio Search:
• Images & Search Engines:

With Google Universal pulling in images, news, audio and video these are the must attend sessions.  I will cover them this week, so keep reading.

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Download As A Podcast

These successful Dugg stories or videos, etc. are what I want to discuss with you today. Were it not for Liz Strauss, I would not have had the inspiration to write this (she’s a real expert on this topic), so thanks to Liz for spurring me on here.

Now, I’m not going to tell you how to trick Digg users into digging your crappy content. If your content is crappy you stand little chance of getting dugg, I mean unless you have some hot pics of a geek girl in various stages of undress, lying in front of an extreme network connection or other appropriately IT-geek-fantasy pics. It’s either quality content or nudy pics… There is no way to win at Digg without either.

Must Have Great Content

This goes along with the ‘don’t have crappy content’ point, but it’s even more important. Don’t market ANYTHING EVER that isn’t absolutely fabulous. First, it’s a waste of time. Second, and more important, it can ruin your name. And, I don’t just mean your brand, which is extremely important, but even worse it can ruin the chances that anyone is ever again willing to look at your site, even after your content improves. What I mean by this is that if I see a link to your site and click it, if it’s bad, I note this fact. Now, if I later see your link, no matter what others are saying about how awesome it is, I remember that I’ve already seen it and it is not worthy of my time, so I’m not going to click through. Don’t ruin your chances of world domination by marketing unworthy content.

Now, what do I mean by ‘Great Content’? Well, here are some examples.

• The Web Entrepreneur’s Customer Service Toolbox: 100 Hacks and Resources
• The Top Ten Free Website Tools and Services
• 20/20 Stupid In America
• Flesh Mob At Abercrombie And Fitch

Note with each of these examples, you have something that is must see. In the case of the articles (not the video), you have something that’s so long and so useful that it’s too much to take in at one sitting. You are compelled to bookmark it, because it’s that good (and that long). Just reading some of these is a chore, because they take so much scholarly attention, but the content is so valuable to Digg readers, that they’ll bookmark it and Digg it. In the case of the video, it’s so good you want to pass it along to others. Viral marketing at it’s finest, for 20/20 at least…

Who Are You Looking To Impress?

Note that I specifically said ‘valuable to Digg readers’. Knowing your audience is vital here. Now’s the time to do some research. Not only are you specifically studying Digg readers overall, but you need to take time to study the Top Diggers. This used to be easier when there was a leaderboard, but a quick/easy way to find theme now is to study the homepage for a few days. Click on each homepage submitter’s name and check out their percentage of successful digs that made it Home.

Take a look at this guy’s stats. He was a random click for me on the homepage. However, note how high his submit percentage is (45%). That’s sizeable. That means that roughly out of every 2 stories he submits, almost 1 makes it to the homepage.

Do your research. Make impressing these guys your aim. If these guys submit you, then you have a great chance of success. Your goal should be to get these guys to find your article, and it should be specifically to tailor it to what they are already submitting.

A Little Friendly Stalking Never Hurt Anybody

There are a few ways to go about this, but the easiest is to stalk these guys. Yes, I know that sounds horrible, but if it didn’t work, Netscape wouldn’t have offered to pay them to do what they do so well (which is, of course, the reason there is no longer a Top 100 list, but that’s another story altogether).

I’ve been on Digg for a relatively long time in web years (since early 2005) so I have built up relationships with some people that are helpful in this way. Please note that this is an example of how organic community involvement is vital to your success online, and by doing it the way I have done it (ie by actually taking part in the community) you gain validity. Doing it this way is better, as you will garner more success and still be able to sleep at night.

Off my soapbox and back to stalking school… For the stalking though, I’m not talking about creepy ‘I’m a crazy person’ stalking, but really just attempting to form a relationship with them.

First, it’s research time. Take a look at their last 20 Diggs. What are they submitting? Who are they normally reading? Do you see any patterns you can exploit?

Now, for the next action: Take part in those communities (blogs, forums, etc.) and identify who they are and make an honest attempt to gain credibility in that community. Later, take a second to reach out to them asking for nothing. That relationship just may turn into their becoming a reader of your site.

Shoot for making relationships with at least 10 or so top Diggers. I don’t consider this gaming the system, because you are just trying to get them to notice you, you aren’t at all spamming them or annoying them.

Again, you get one shot here, so don’t overstep and NEVER ask for them to Digg you. If your stuff is good enough, they’ll notice you. If not, then go back to the content-creating drawing board.

If it didn’t work ask yourself, “Is your content relevant to Digg readers”? Remember, they tend to like extreme science breakthroughs (medical, astronomy, physics, etc.), technology related content, Digg related content and sexy stuff. If your blog is not related to those topics at all, I wouldn’t waste my time and energy with Digg. It’s not worth the effort. Try broader sites like Netscape, or niche oriented ones like Lipstick. A quick Google Yahoo! search will garner you more social bookmarking sites than you can shake a stick at.

Monetize – What have you done for me lately?

You are probably thinking, ‘this is a lot of work’. Yes, it is a lot of work, but for some things it is worth the effort. You’ll need to calculate the ROI of each marketing campaign you run, and yes, this is just another marketing campaign. Your results, whether your aim is immediate money or long-term branding, are definitely measurable. If they are branding, it’s a bit harder, but just capturing the mentions, the comments, etc. in a spreadsheet will help you understand quickly if it was worth the effort.

Monetization tracking is even easier. I’ve never depended on Adsense on my sites for monetization, my money-maker has always been through direct consulting jobs. For my clients, however, the large majority have not been about ad clicks nor sales, but branding. They’d want a particular product to gain attention, a contest to gain traction or a specific area of their site to gain memberships and authoritative backlinks. Because we were careful to define exactly what we wanted, tracking the campaign was easy via tracking traffic, WOM buzz, sign-ups, sales, etc.

I promise not to bore you further with all this marketing talk, but I wanted to point out that the most important thing to remember when determining if all this is worth the effort is in defining exactly what you want to do from the beginning. With clear cut goals (ie I want to gain 5K views, 50 subscribers and earn $25 in advertising sales and I am willing to spend 4 hours on this effort), you can easily track your efforts and determine if this should get another try next month.

The Bottom Line

• Determine your goals
• Write or build to your audience
• Make it damn good
• Schmooze with the best

Odds are, you will not make hundreds of dollars on a Digg story, unless you know some hoodoo-voodoo that I don’t know (and some of you probably do). PPC monetization is rarely effective on Dugg stories. Digg is much more effective at making sure your content, product, video, etc. get attention, at Digg and around the blogosphere.

Good luck, and as always, I’m Duzins on Digg. Let’s be friends

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Carr says the site has a “fairly modest, if rabid, audience.” Does this really come as news to anyone?

I would have thought that by now we would be past the whole addiction to raw pageviews and hits and eyeballs, but apparently not. To me — and to others like Frederic at The Last Podcast — the benefit of being on Techmeme.com is the kinds of readers I reach, and in most cases they are the ones who are passionate about the Web and technology, the ones who are thinking about things that others haven’t yet — the bleeding edge.

I’ve had Digg-storms and Reddit pile-ons and the traffic that they bring is usually fleeting. I’ll take a few thousand Techmeme readers over that any day (no offence intended to my many close friends on Digg and Reddit — you know I love you guys).

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Yahoo To Axe Podcast Search

Well, "kill" is a strong word. You might use "stamped down and crowded back onto its own turf," forever in the shadow of its burgeoning video brother. Like with radio, there will always be people you’d rather hear than see, and vice versa, and always a place where listening is more appropriate than ogling.

In the year 2005, podcasting was all the buzz; anybody with a mic and some software could make their own show, upload it to iTunes and someone, somewhere could download it to their iPod — still a relatively new phenomenon.

But in that same year another phenomenon was budding, a whisper of a site called YouTube that rapidly began stealing thunder. And that October, the video iPod was released, just the right size for YouTubers.

Audio podcasting then, sort of went the way of ham radio – an outlet for hobbyists and those who’d rather not be lens-to-snout with a camera.

That’s not to say there’s not a place for audio. After all, radio’s still alive and kicking after all these years. It’s just to say that podcasting sort of missed its hour in the spotlight. Just as the mainstream was starting to understand what it even was, in walk YouTube and iPod’s younger brother to steal the show.

Chalk up the impending death of Yahoo’s podcast search site to whatever cause you like, but the site is scheduled for demolition on Halloween. This is Yahoo’s least traversed property, says PCPro, which means either a lack of interest or a lack of promotion, for there are, presumably, enough enthusiasts out there to keep a niche site like that afloat.

These are the takeaways from the video interview with Roxanne (her words) …

"The following strategies are for companies looking into getting into podcasting. It was really meant to be the big picture view.

1. Start by watching other shows, do your research.

2. Understand the technology. It’s amazing how many companies don’t understand the basics of RSS. It’s not that simple but it’s doable.

3. Understand your strategy. Figure out if you are going to be doing other shows or doing shows yourself. There are pros and cons to both of those strategies.

4. Dive into the PR sales and marketing. That’s where you win or lose the game.

5. Be transparent about your message. Let other people know what your problems are so they can help you solve them. It’s a new way of doing business but that is really what new media is all about. With video you have the ability to be so personal and intimate so it’s much harder for people to hate you! Video is more amenable to having an authentic conversation.

Pros & Cons of Video vs. Audio …

The pros are what I just mentioned. It is a much more powerful communication tool… bar none. Would you rather read someones blog in a computer or watch a movie or video?

The cons are that it is more difficult to produce. It takes more time and more equipment. There is much more of a learning curve. The good news is that we are still early into it so it doesn’t have to be TV quality. It can be homemade and fast. That works for people because it is authentic.

Should you video blog (or your CEO) …

The other thing to consider is where is your natural voice? If you suggested this to your CEO he is probably not going to type a blog. He or she may or may not do an audio podcast. However, he may love talking to the camera if someone will just come in and set him up once a week."

… visit Bare Feet Studios

>>> Watch the entire video interview …

Revision3 delivers podcasts like Diggnation and The GigaOM Show, both popular within the techie niches that follow the entertaining, informative hosts of those shows. Their popularity puts emphasis on the point Louderback made during his keynote, in response to a questions.

When asked if shows without hosts can be successful, Louderback cited the importance of the host in the podcast:

If you are doing the long format, you want to give them someone that can be their friend; they need to connect. The relationship through the videoscreen with the host really drives the viewers.

Louderback touted Revision3 as a television network for the Internet. That old media reference may look odd, but the site’s operation mirrors his view. “No new media makes the old media obsolete,” he said. “What it does is (new) changes (old).”

Whatever the new media does, let’s hope it does so without pre-roll advertising, which Louderback does not like. He’d like to see more ad formats, with content that people find interesting.

He expressed a take on ad networks and their suitability for podcasts. There are great ones that can help a smaller operation. When it grows, the podcast can bring on its own network instead.

WebProNews anchor Kara Ratliff contributed to this report.

WebProNews has been covering the Podcast and New Media Expo taking place in Ontario, California. You can catch our conference interviews at the WebProNews Video Blog right now.

McMahon emphasized a number of approaches that can help the modern podcaster emerge from the shadows and become a star. There isn’t a magic elixir one can take, unless one considers lots of work a tasty beverage.

A podcaster can’t stay inside the bubble of the podcast, according to McMahon. One’s target market should be the world, and not just those who own an iPod or other type of media player.

Podcasters who want more attention have to work for it. As they build their networks, it’s important to take advantage of what’s out there, without being consumed by spending too much time inside the Facebooks and MySpaces of the world.

McMahon said a targeted promo trade with a podcast show on a similar topic could have more impact. That impact will be needed for the podcaster with dollar signs in his eyes, along with stars.

Money making has to be a mission, but it can’t detract from the content creation side. McMahon suggested delegating the accounting and sales, so one can stay focused on the podcast.

That focus needs to include showing what separates the podcast from others. Middle ground is a harmful place to occupy; McMahon thinks the fans should love or hate the podcast.

(We’ll suggest this is the "Rush Limbaugh theory" in effect. Like or dislike him, he still makes a ton of money every year, but it’s the passion that makes even his detractors listen. – David)

Podcasters need to be driven, tenacious, and unafraid to promote themselves. McMahon said having a visual identity is crucial, as it provides recognition. It’s worth having a professional photographer do a shoot to get that image.

McMahon’s website demonstrated this, with a few images present in the content area and the sidebar of his blog. That recognition will help with community building for the podcast. Bigger audiences let the podcaster take more chances.

Even so, content has to come before marketing. People tune in for content. If their numbers rise or fall, the podcaster should never take that personally; metrics are best observed in a detached, professional manner.

Whatever their numbers, the audience should see one’s work emerge as a brand, and not just a show. That show can focus on a niche, or go very wide with its appeal. Be passionate, work hard at being a go-to expert, and gameplan for success.

Without a plan, one’s podcast endeavor will probably come to a stop. Just like this article.

WebProNews anchor Kara Ratliff contributed to this report.