Guerrilla PodcastingProducing a Great Show with

No Staff, No Time, and No Budget

Kevin CrossmanThe Frat Pack Tribute:

Saluting Hollywood’s Comedy Clique

www.fratpackpodcast.com

Audience for this Presentation

• Hobbyist Podcasters!• Don’t Particularly Care About Making

Money• Not “quitting my day job”• Podcasting instead of watching TV,

exercising, sleeping, et. al.

Session DemographicsPodcast Listeners only

Podcast Producers

Audience for this Presentation

• Niche Content Podcast Producers• Independently produced• Not a personal or general “audioblog”• Focus on music, TV shows, movies, hobbies,

social issues, travel, and more!• SCRAPcast• All Games Considered• Five Hundy By Midnight• Raider Nation• Inside the Magic

My History of Niche Content

• Lip Balm Anonymous (1995)• Appearance on Daily Show (1998)• Dozens of TV, Radio, Newspaper Interviews

• The Search for the Ultimate Mai Tai (1998)• “Top 5 Mai Tais on Oahu”• Web and print publications

Current Obsession Hobby

• The Frat Pack Tribute• Website (August 2004)

• 2000+ Unique Visitors Daily• Podcast (April 2005)

• 93 “weekly-ish” episodes• 300-500 1st week downloads• 1300-9000 total “long tail” downloads

• Podcast is extension of the website

What is Guerrilla Podcasting?

• Guerrilla Marketing by Jay Conrad Leinson (1982)

• An unconventional way of performing promotional activities on a very low budget

• Explore inexpensive or free publicity• Time, energy, imagination instead of money• Concentrate on making new relationships• Create an allied diversity of products and

services• Combination of marketing methods

Guerrilla Marketing Tactics

• Word of mouth campaign (“viral marketing”)• Connect to consumer through their daily

routine• Personal canvassing• Use small size and agility as an advantage to

become closer to one’s customers

Guerrilla Podcasting

• Nothing more than applying guerrilla marketing principles to podcasting

• Hobbyist podcaster’s best friend

How Can the Hobbyist PodcasterLeverage Guerrilla Podcasting?

Let’s find out!

Time Management

Time Management for Your Life

• Do a great show weekly or a bad one daily?• Budget your time• Give up something else

• But not your kids, spouse, or job• Leverage your existing hobbies and interests

• Podcast what you know• Engage family friends

• Help with conception and ideas• Record a test show and have them listen• Work them into the show(?)

Time Management for the Show

• Budget for preproduction• Content gathering, interviews, audio

preproduction• Website maintenance• Create show outline, line up clips

• Recording the show (more later)• Post-production: editing, encoding, uploading• Publishing RSS feed updates and show notes• Promoting your new episode on forums,

sending out promos, etc.

Estimates vary, but assume a30 minute podcast will take

2-3 hours to produce

Time Management Tips

• Look for tools that save you time• Good blog software

• Can it create iTunes-specific tags for your RSS feed?

• Consider Feedburner or other RSS-generators• Or handcode if you are able to

• Use iTunes for editing ID3 tags, adding album artwork

• Use GarageBand 3 for creating Enhanced Podcasts

Recording on a Budget

Recording Philosophy

• Live recording (“live to tape”) vs. multitrack mixing

• No Editing Heavy Editing?• How polished is your delivery?• Ahs and ums

• Consider a medium approach• “Practically Live”• Philosphy of live recording, mixed with

practical editing

Practically Live Approach

Recording Software

• Use the tool that makes sense for your style and budget• Hobbyist podcasters don’t need “pro audio”

features• You don’t need to spend $1000+ to build the

next Abbey Road studios• Live Recording

• CastBlaster (free - $50, Win)• Multi-track mixing

• Audacity (free, Win/Mac/Linux)• GarageBand 3 ($80 or free with new Mac)• Adobe Audition ($299, Win)

This is where to sped your money

• A good microphone (and mic stand)• Samson C01U USB Condenser ($80)

• Marshall MXL 990 ($60, incl. shock mount)

• Cheap Mixer• Useful for multiple mic setups, Skype

recording• Behringer UB802 EuroRack ($60)

The Five “Ds” of Domains

• Own your own domain• www.yourshow.com not yourshow.service.com• $6.95 / year

• Have “podcast friendly” URLs• Which is easier to say?

• www.the-frat-pack.com• www.thefratpack.com

• Consider alternate URLs• The Frat Pack Tribute = the-frat-pack.com

• thefratpacktribute.com• thefratpack.com• fratpackpodcast.com

Hosting on a Budget

• Website hosting vs. media hosting• Web host supports your website or blog, show

notes, forum, and your custom domain• Media hosting is where your mp3 or video files

are served from.• RSS feed may be on web host, media host, or

3rd party• Okay to use Feedburner or Libsyn but have

your own website (or redirected URL)• Bandwidth: don’t spend more than

$10 / month for 1000 GB to unlimited

Free may not be worth more than you pay for it

Make a ConnectionYour Audience

Your CommunityYour Peers

Engaging Listeners

• Contests and bribery aren’t recommended unless you have a source of free prizes

• Instead, provide perks to key listeners• Input on show direction• Suggest show content• Moderators on your show forum• Special perks

• Earmuff Awards Voting

Value the Connection with Listeners

• Feedback to improve the show• Help spread the word• Help with show production

• Cultivate your own “wack pack”• Create recurring segments

• Cohosts and guest hosts

Spencer “Champ Kind” GlikoKyle “The Godfather” Potter

Obtaining Feedback

• Voicemail• K7.net (free!)• 206-666-GEEK, 206-666-HELP, 206-666-FRAT• +1 201-625-6357

• Web Voicemail• Odeo, MyChingo, Skype

• Blog comments and show message board• Email

• Text and other attachments, Email Lists• Audio (mp3, wav)

• Snail Mail• P.O. Box or other mailing address

• Online Surveys• Podtrac, Survey Monkey, et. al.

Record a Promo

• Short 30-60 sec. commercials for your show• Have a promo available on your website and

first entry in feed• Send promos to podcasts

• General promos (for any podcast)• Custom promos (for “big dogs”)

• Produce promos yourself• Don’t send them out until you’ve done a few

shows

Frat Pack Tribute Promo

Connecting with other Podcasters

• Podcast forums:• Podcast Pickle • Podcast Alley • Podcast411• Yahoo! Podcasters Group

• Forums of your favorite podcast• Provide listener feedback or segments for

their shows - and mention yours• Always include your show name and URL• Conferences and Meet-ups

• Bring business cards that include your name, show, and website

Subject Matter Communities

• Focus on forums or communities dedicated to the topic of your show

• Participate and promote yourself• Add value to the discussion• Pimp your show, judiciously

• Brand your show• Brand yourself as an expert• Leverage online relationships

Forum Avatars and Signatures

Resources that Won’t Break the Bank

Resources: Podcasts and Blogs

• Podcasts about Podcasting• Podcast 411• Podcaster Confessions• Podcasting Underground• Digital Mediacast Experiment• School of Podcasting• Today in Podcasting• Podcast Brothers

• Podcasting Blogs• Podcasting News• Podcast Pickle News• Paul Colligan (paulcolligan.com)• Michael Goeghegan (mwgblog.com)• Podcheck Review (also a podcast)

Resources: Books

• Tricks of the Podcasting Masters by Rob Walch and Mur Lafferty

• Promoting Your Podcast by Jason Van Orden

• Podcast Solutions by Michael Geoghegan and Dan Klass

• Podcasting for Dummies by Tee Morris and Evo Terra

Pop Quiz!

Pop Quiz: Show Feedback

What was the voicemail number for the Daily Source Code?

What is the voicemail number forthe Frat Pack Tribute?

(+1 201-625-6357)

(206-666-FRAT)

Pop Quiz #2: Promote Your Podcast

206-666-FRATkevin@kevdo.com

What’s Your Favorite Frat Pack Movie?(Anchorman, Dodgeball, 40 Year-Old Virgin, Meet the Parents, Meet the Fockers,

Old School, Starsky & Hutch, Talladega Nights, Wedding Crashers, Zoolander)

Who’s Your Favorite Frat Pack Star?(Jack Black, Steve Carell, Will Ferrell, Ben Stiller, Vince Vaughn, Luke Wilson, Owen Wilson)

Summary

In Conclusion...

• Podcast what you know• Budget your time - including pre and post-

production. • Invest in time-saving tools.• “Practically Live” approach to recording• Spend money on a mic before anything else• Engage and cultivate your audience• Leverage forums to spread the word• Network with other podcasters - always

mention your show

Have Fun!Podcasting is a blast but it isn’t worth

losing your job, family, or sanity

Contact Info and Presentation

Kevin Crossman

kevin@kevdo.comwww.kevdo.com/pme2006

206-666-FRAT

www.fratpackpodcast.com

Questions?

Thank You