Ben is the brains behind the Instigator Blog.

what is podcasting? Definition from Wikipedia (dull definition but the graphics are cool :p)

Doesn’t really care for this definition, he really thinks of it as radio – pushing content out to people. But there is a conversational component … so marrying these two things (and this is exactly what social media is about, getting feedback) is a podcast.

Why podcast? It’s really all about people… you can build a bigger and newer audience through podcasting. There are people who are audio learners as opposed to readers. You can catch and morph people’s attention… they can engage when they are cleaning, commuting, etc.

It’s all about the personal brand… he feels that podcasting has taken his brand one step further than the blogging.

Business opportunities: example: Living La Vida Low-Carb Show – he is really building more authority for himself. he monetizes with sponsorships.

example: Twist Image, Mitch Joel – 6 pixels of separation. His podcasts are from 40 min’s to an hour. “it’s all about eating his own dogfood” or, using the technology he promotes and sells as examples, etc. It’s a soft sale, “this is what works” …

example: The Financial Aid podcast, by Chris Penn. He is in a hugely competitive market – no one is podcasting in his market but they are doing all kinds of other expensive advertising (others pay $70 per click in google !!)

Chris Brogan – “has changed his entire life”

NOW WHAT – how to get started? Podcasting is easy but it’s more time consuming than blogging (partly because of the technology, getting comfortable with your voice).

The key is to start simple – he has a $60/headset, use Skype for interviews, start simple with the format, keep your podcast short to start.

Audio editing: Audacity, garageBand, podsafe music network (this is the free music you can access to put on your site)

where does it live? WordPress has podpress plugin, there are tons of places to host… and give you widgets to integrate on your blog post.

Ben Y’s best practices:

• length doesn’t really matter. He first thought 5 – 10 minutes… but later found that long ones are fine
• quality needs to be high
• incorporate music!
• wite a script but not word-for-word
• make it conversational
• link to others, use blogging best practices
• draw in your existing community (it’s not about taking people away from your blog!) It’s about taking one of your subjects and going deeper into it…

What’s the future of podcasting?

• we’re all media channels
• there is strength in numbers, with the podcasting networks (and this is really where podcasting will become successful) – there are city-based, or other non-geography
• ultimately the niche will rule. Focus on a super-hyper targeted market. He had 3 example: health hecks podcast (not sure what the first one was, something like Just One More Book), The LD Podast – for parents with children with learning disabilities.
• It’s not just about a weekly or monthly podcast, but what about Audio Books? THIS IS AN EXCELLENT IDEA – take your best posts and turn them into a book. We’re all familiarwith the eBook, but what about the Audio Book??

Doesn’t think it will be as popular as blogging just because ofthe techno barriers. Is putting all of this online, with links, etc.

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Q: Sheila about family travel, doesn’t listen to podcasts because she has no time and likes to skim. Podcasting forces you into the rhythm of a podcast on your time (!!). She wants to be sold on why she should do this… and thinks that she has no time to do this! A: ben: a lot of people are downloading this and listening to this on their own schedule (like in commutes). (and she responds, she needs to think about heraudience and perhaps this is the service for them that fits better for them). Ben also says just integrate this into your blog… don’t start something totally new!

Comment: Ashley Cecil doesn’t have time to DO it but would love to listen because as she paints she listens to stuff.

Q: how do you make a section sound like a section? You can’t use subtitles. A: use music to transition…