I released the fifth Playlist Mix podcast last night (listen | download), having spent the weekend digging around and doing some research. Research of course meant sitting in a coffee shop in Kilkenny with various podcasts playing through my ears, hosts discussing podcast promotion, tips, techniques, marketing strategies for podcasts – as well as playing out some great podsafe music.

While I fine-tune the delivery of the Playlist Mix and revamp the delivery of Sound System with Ross, here’s a notes I made over the weekend, some of which already apply to me, some need to apply to me, and some of which will hopefully be of benefit to others venturing into regular podcasting.

• Pre-production Is Key
  Until recently we had fallen into a routine of arriving for the podcast recording session, setting up Pro Tools and the mics, sitting down to record before asking “right, what are we talking about?”. While we have an idea, given the previous hosting nature of Sound System (up to four voices), it helps to have everyone on the same page before even thinking about taking out a microphone. That means content, hot points, music, backgrounds etc. Even taking a half hour to cement the content on paper before going into record can help. That said, we don’t use a “script” as such, but planning what is being played and what has to be discussed makes for a much smoother, more engaging podast.
• Be Consistent
  Consistency applies to quality (audio quality), format (podcast structure) and delivery (weekly, daily). This means being able to schedule your own time for recording and make a commitment to it. Again, this applies directly to me as I let Playlist Mix slide for 5 months after launch, while Sound System experienced a 2 month gap because of a hectic summer schedule between gigs, theatre and work. I feel we’ve got that audio quality element sorted, the format for Sound System has recently been revised but delivery remains key.

  The note might have been more in relation to attracting sponsors or advertisers who will need certain criteria met (such as a weekly ad spot) but whether you’re advertising or not, consistency (I feel, going forward) is a must.

• Engage The Audience Outside The Podcast
  To me this comes from cross promotion. Playlist Mix is a music heavy podcast, Sound System is more chat and informative banter than music (though we know there’ll be four tracks per show). The MySpace profile for Playlist Mix alls bands being contacted prior to and post podcast release. KKM members are alerted through blog posts and forum posts for questions, comments, contributions. Those not heavily active on the forum are contacted via MySpace bulletins, messages, comments.

They’re just three small points. Honest to God, it felt like being back in a college lecture again – lecturing away to myself anyway. I’m prepping a PDf on all the notes I’ve made over the weekend, happy to make it available once it’s tidied up as they’ll be acting as suggestive guidelines for myself and the KKM crew going forward in podcasting.

Sure while you’re here…

Playlist Mix Podcast, Show #5 (Download)
[audio:http://www.playlistmix.com/podpress_trac/web/11/0/podcast005.mp3]