Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 7:10 — 6.6MB)

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I failed miserably at completing the NaPodPoMo 30 episodes in 30 days this year.  OH well,  Such is life getting in the way.

The Good News and part of the “big” announcement I teased is this show is going 2 times weekly starting on Dec. 16, 2020.

As the unofficial companion show to Podcast Insider – Blubry’s Official Podcast and Blog, I will be putting out short 10-15 minute (most of the time) episodes of Podcast Help Desk on Wednesday and Friday, Every single week!  It’s my “Get Mike to take podcasting more seriously” project.  I’ve always preached that being constant is one key way to grow a show.  The only show I’ve ever been able to do that on was Podcast Insider.  Now I want to add Podcast Help Desk to that success schedule-keeping.  Call it my “Podcast Improvement Plan”.

Another thing I’ve been told (and believed) that 1 time a week is good, 2 times a week is better. I want to put that to the test.

Also, recently, I’ve been hearing that people prefer shorter episodes.  We will be testing that theory as well.

If you would like to have me cover a topic, have a general podcasting question or just want to make a comment, hit the “leave a voicemail” tab on PodcastHelpDesk.com or send me an email, podcasthelpdesk@gmail.com and I will put it in Queue.

Be sure to subscribe to Podcast Insider as well at PodcastInsider.com

This podcast is posted on PodcastHelpDesk.com.  Go there and subscribe!

***Note:  I had a slight noise issue on this recording.  Rather than re-record it, here it is in all it’s glory!  🙂

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 19:52 — 18.2MB)

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I’m not only a podcaster, but an avid podcast listener.  I have something like 30 shows that I subscribe to plus I listen to a lot of one-off shows that I don’t subscribe to.   Here is my top 8 (as of late November 2020) Also, not in Rank order.   Just that these 8 are listened to nearly as soon as they come in.

Lehto’s Law

Steve Lehto is a Lawyer in Michigan and an author. He specializes in Lemon Law cases.  He has been doing a YouTube channel for a 5 or 6 years and then takes the audio and puts it out as a podcast.  He does 2 Episodes a day, 7 days a week!   At the end of 2020 he will have posted 732 episodes in this year ALONE!   DANG!.

They are short episodes.  Normally between 9 and 15 minutes each.  He covers most any law stories.  Sometimes car related stories. But I have to say, almost all of his episodes are funny, well produced and to the point.  I never miss an episode.

Website – Podcast

Airline Pilot Guy

Airline Pilot Guy is an aviation podcast hosted by Capt. Jeff, Dr. Steph, Capt. Nick,  and Miami Rick (Also a Capt.) along with sometimes co-host Capt. Dana.  Produced by Liz Pyper. It’s a weekly 3 HOUR SHOW all about the Aviation Profession and Hobby. The hosts are current or former Airline Pilots (other than Dr. Steph who is commercial pilot rated but plays a Doctor in real life).

It’s broken it segments for News, “Getting to Know You” where the crew tells what they have been up to the week before, The Coffee Fund (which is Jeff begging for money 🙂 ) and the ever popular “Plane Tales” by “The Old Pilot (who is really Capt. Nick) and of course FEEDBACK.  It’s the show with the most feedback than any I’ve ever heard of. Jeff and the crew answer about 2 hours of questions every week and the audience participation is the best.  You might even hear me on there once in a while 🙂 .

Website – Podcast

ARRL Audio News

This is a weekly podcast from the American Radio Relay League (Amateur Radio or Ham Radio).  Gives the latest news around the world for Amateur Radio. Hosted by the league employees.

Website – Podcast

Podnews

This is a Daily (Monday-Friday) podcast of the Podnews.net newsletter by James Cridland.  Gives a daily round up of podcasting news and opinions from the editor (James).  Sometimes a bit snarky and James has a very cool aloof British Accent  🙂

You should really sign up for the newsletter AND listen to the podcast.  Very informative about the podcast industry.

Webiste – Podcast 

Podcasting 2.0

Podcasting 2.0 is Adam Curry and Dave Jones, the guys behind the Podcast Index.  Adam, of course, is the Podfather and former MTV VJ (One of the guys that invented podcasting) and Dave is a “dude named Ben” (developer and I.T. Guy).  They call this podcast the “Board Meeting” for Podcast Index LLC.  This one is a bit geeky, and fun because it’s more Adam.

They talk about what is going on in the Podcast Index and the new “Podcast” namespace for RSS.

Website – Podcast

A few more I don’t miss.

Dave Rubin’s “The Rubin Report“
Adam Curry and John C. Dvorak’s “No Agenda“
Todd Cochrane and Rob Greenlee’s “New Media Show“

AND of course there are my other shows.

Podcast Insider and Mike Dell’s World

There are quite a few more that I like.  But these 8 are my must listen (or watch) podcasts.

This podcast is posted on PodcastHelpDesk.com.  Go there and subscribe!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 10:57 — 10.0MB)

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There are many things about a podcast that a podcaster needs to know even if you don’t do everything for your show.  A lot of indie podcasters do everything.  Prep, Talent, Recording, Editing, Producing, Publishing, Booking guests and ALL of it.  Some only do the parts of it.  Sometimes it’s a whole team.  BUT, YOU as the owner of your show, need to know some things no matter if you do them or not.

Here is my checklist of things I suggest you Know or Learn about your show so that you are able to take care of what needs to be taken care of if something goes wrong.

1. RSS feed address. The WHOLE address.
2. The Title of your show as it appears in the directories.  This may seem silly, but sometimes people call a show by a shortened name or a ‘nickname’ of sorts. It’s always good to KNOW the title.
3. The email address for the feed.
4. Apple Podcasts listing URL (mainly the ID# at the end)
5. Where is the website hosted.  (and address)
6. Where is the Podcast Media hosted.
7. Logins to Website, Media Host, Web Host, Apple Podcasts and any other logins to manage listings on directories and apps,
8. Media Encoding (This is a little geeky but it will help if you need to hire an editor)

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 10:35 — 9.7MB)

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From Wikipedia;  RSS (RDF Site Summary or Really Simple Syndication) is a web feed that allows users and applications to access updates to websites in a standardized, computer-readable format. These feeds can, for example, allow a user to keep track of many different websites in a single news aggregator. The news aggregator will automatically check the RSS feed for new content, allowing the list to be automatically passed from website to website or from website to user. This passing of content is called web syndication. Websites usually use RSS feeds to publish frequently updated information, such as blog entries, news headlines, or episodes of audio and video series. RSS is also used to distribute podcasts. An RSS document (called “feed”, “web feed”, or “channel”) includes full or summarized text, and metadata, like publishing date and author’s name.

What it really is, is your connection to the world for your podcast.  The transmitter for your “Radio Station”.  Your RSS feed address is just like a “Frequency” Like “101.9 FM”.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 19:23 — 17.7MB)

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We talked yesterday about why you need a website.  Here are my top 6 web hosting platforms and why (Plus a few I don’t recommend).

1. A2 hosting – EASY importing into their platform. Great support and so far (knock on wood) NO Issues with downtime or page speed. Price is great
2. Blubrry PowerPress Sites – Easy, no updates to deal with.  Rocket ship fast.  (use Promo code HELPDESK at checkout for a free month)
3. WP-Engine – Same as A2 (in fact A2 is owned by WP-engine).  Their prices are a bit higher but they are VERY good.
4. SiteGround – Also, very easy setup and good support. Price is good.
5. Godaddy – Not my favorite anymore, but they are OK.  Their support is “good” but they do try to upsell the heck out of you. but if you already know what you are doing, it’s an OK choice.
6. Bluehost – Also not my favorite anymore, but they have improved at LOT in recent years and their prices are very good.

A few to stay away from:

1. Squarespace – The pages look great and are “easy” to setup.  The downside is their podcast support is very minimal.  They barely have a feed that is useable and their support for the podcasting part is very limited.
2. HostGator – This is a WordPress host but they charge you for “visits”.  This can be bad if you are successful and get a lot of subscribers to your podcast.
3. Godaddy – Yes, I know it’s on my other list, but here is some reasons you might NOT want to use them.

This podcast is posted on PodcastHelpDesk.com.  Go there and subscribe!