Since September 2010, I regularly create Another DAM podcast and release it weekly. Most of these podcasts are interviews of Digital Asset Management (DAM) Professionals from anywhere in the world. Sometimes I will create an audio version of some of my most popular blog posts.
Equipment
If I am interviewing someone in person, I find a quiet room and use my smart phone to record the conversation. I find this to be the easiest method to record audio. Testing the audio with myself with the person I am interviewing, I can position the smart phone/microphone for the best results. Several podcasts have been recorded at conferences, hotels and offices very successfully using this method.
If I am doing an interview over the phone, I use Skype to make the call. As a courtesy, I call the person I am interviewing directly whether they have a Skype account or they just use their phone. Using Callburner (PC) or WireTap Studio (Apple) allows me to record both sides of the conversation directly from Skype. Of course, I tell the person I am interviewing when I am recording the audio conversation (many areas require this by law).
Using Audacity (PC/Apple) or Garageband (Apple), editing and formatting the audio file is relatively easy to learn and accomplish.
Who do I interview
I interview men and women involved in Digital Asset Management from all over the world. Yes, I look for new people to interview all the time.
Scheduling an interview
Most often, I find the people to interview in the field based on my contacts and their contacts. Yes, networking helps a lot. I often send the person an email with the following information:
- The intent of the podcast interview
- A listing the questions I plan to ask them during the interview so they can ponder the questions ahead of time
- A link to my prior podcasts for them to review if they want to
- My contact information
Since some of the people I interview work for an organization which may require a PR/media relations/communication person to give prior approval, I leave them time to do so. Once I find a person online or in person who agrees to be interviewed (and gets approval, if needed), it is a matter of finding a good time for both their schedule and mine. This often means dealing with different time zones (which can be an advantage sometimes). Most people prefer to schedule an interview during their weekday working hours. I often try to schedule the interview early in the morning or in the late afternoon to not conflict with my own schedule.
Time
Aside from finding the scheduled time to do the interview and the edit the audio, it takes me (after the initial learning curve) about one hour to record and edit a 5 to 15 minute podcast.
Approval after the interview
After the interview has occurred and audio has been edited (by myself) to the desired content, volume and format, I apply metadata to it. After editing, I send the person I interviewed a link to download and review the audio. I give them the choice of either accepting the audio as I first edited it or tell me specifically what needs to be edits. Many approve of the audio as-is. Some go through several rounds of audio edits with me. Some re-record the podcast again. Occasionally, they edit the audio themselves and send me back another audio file with approval.
Release of the podcast
Once the podcast is approved in writing, I add it to a queue of podcasts to be released. I release a new podcast every Thursday. When the podcast is released, it is aggregated to multiple channels. The release is also publicized on Linkedin and Twitter among other locations.
Measure what you manage
In order to see what content works best, what are the most popular topics and measure what means of publicizing brings the most traffic, I monitor analytics weekly and adjust accordingly.
Why I do not record video (yet)
I do not record video podcasts because I do not see the value of talking heads (including mine). Editing video takes significantly more time than audio alone. A finalized video is often a larger file size and in turn takes longer to download. If I ever needed to record video (from Skype or even as a screencast), Vodburner is available among other tools.
Listening
Every Thursday, you can find, stream, download and even subscribe to this podcast which can be heard on your computer or MP3 player.
The podcast is available here:
Why it is free
Earlier, I covered why I do this. Free of charge.
Enjoy.
