How To Start A Podcast (Authentic Advice From Someone Whos Done It)

How To Start A Podcast (Authentic Advice From Someone Whos Done It) So you want to start a podcast to apply educational content marketing theory to audio. That makes sense. Some 57 million Americans alone listen to podcasts, a 23% increase from 2015 to 2016. Thats one  in four  Americans who listen to at least one podcast per month,  while an average podcast listener hears  five podcasts a week. There is a ton of opportunity for you to connect with a growing and active audience through podcasts. But youre not here to see the stats. You already know the opportunity. So the real questions are how to start a podcast that will: Launch successfully (and continue to be successful)? Help you maximize the time you invest into producing each episode by sharing it on many channels to reach an even larger audience? Be manageable as a long-term investment while you complete tons of other work like usual? At least, those were some of my questions when I started researching how to start a podcast. And Ive figured out a lot of the answers on my journey to launching s brand new podcast, The Actionable Content Marketing Podcast. When you read this blog post, youll find the best advice that worked for   to launch a podcast, including: How to select a topic that will attract your audience How to structure your podcast How to find the right guests who your audience will love How to approach recording and producing your episodes How to publish and promote your podcast to reach your audience Lets get to it. How To Start A #Podcast (Authentic Advice From Someone Whos Done It) How To Choose Your Topic And Name Your Podcast There's a time-tested method that will help you find the perfect balance between what you want to say and what your audience wants to know. It's called the content core. You can find the perfect topic for your podcast by following this framework. Ask yourself: What is my business really good at? What does my audience really care about? The content core is the point at which your strengths intersect with your audience's interests. That's the best opportunity for you to choose an overarching topic for the entire podcast series, while also giving you a framework for choosing subtopics for individual episodes you'll record later. Action Items: You can begin this exercise by brainstorming  two lists: One list to answer, "What is my business really good at?" Another list to answer, "What does my audience really care about?" Find the ideas that are on both lists and create a final third list. This list is the gold; the nuggets that will propel your podcast into thought leadership your audience will love. In other words, this list is the overarching topic of your podcast as a whole. Now that you have a topic with clear direction knowing you'll publish successful episodes, it's time to determine a name for the podcast. There are a handful of ways to do this: Name it  something clever related to the topic (Example: The Call To Action Podcast) Name it the topic to give the perspective that it is the go-to podcast to listen to on that topic  (Example: The Startup Chat) Name it after a keyword  (Example: The Tim Ferriss Show) Name it some combination of all of these things  (Example: Actionable Content Marketing) If you've already checked out The Actionable Content Marketing Podcast, you'll note that we targeted a keyword (content marketing) combined with a standard of performance we demand in all content (actionable). You could try that approach, too, brainstorming lots of different ideas until you find the one that works best for your business. Action Items: Brainstorm common keywords, words, and phrases your audience uses when describing your topic.  You can use your customer survey data to understand common words and phrases they use. Translate the results from your brainstorm into potential names of your podcast. Simply create a list to get started, holding nothing back- rapid fire brainstorming can help you get tons of ideas out quickly. Narrow the list to five of your top picks, then ask your team for their advice. Select one name, preferably shorter and easy to remember. How To Structure Your Podcast For Ultimate Impact By structure, I mean asking yourself: Will the podcast feature only me talking? (Example: Grammar Girl) Could it have  another team member and me? (Example: This Is Your Life) Will we feature different guests as talent on each episode? (Example: Entrepreneur On Fire) There are success stories from all three types of podcast structures. However, in the world of business, I'm biased toward featuring guests. And in the rest of this blog post, you're going to learn how to start a podcast that features new guest talent on each episode. Action Items: Brainstorm the talent you will use to cover your topic on the  podcast. Here are a few questions to consider: Do you know  all of the wealth of information on your topic so much that you don't need anyone else's advice? If so, you could probably go solo. Could you and a teammate choose a subtopic within your content core and banter in an entertaining or educational way? If so, maybe having two people on the show is right for you. Three people can work well for discussion. Four or more people on an episode  often becomes too messy, judging from  convos I've had with Craig Hewitt from Podcast Motor. Could your friends or people you know in the industry- or influencers- help you share more robust stories and reach a larger audience? If so, you'll want to consider inviting guests for different episodes. The other element of podcast structure ties in to how you  plan conversations interesting enough that your audience will love to listen in. There are a few methods for you to consider: Banter: You have a subtopic within your content core, but that's about it. This structure is very loose and requires you to know a lot about the subtopic in advance to be able to direct the conversation to cover the most important parts of the subtopic. (Example: Stuff You Should Know) Segments: You have certain things you talk about in each episode, regardless of the subtopic. It's kind of like traditional news with local news, local weather, national news, national sports, etc. The information itself changes, but the segments of the newscast remain the same. (Example: This Old Marketing) Interview: You ask questions around a specific subtopic. For some guest-driven podcasts like Entrepreneur On Fire, the questions remain the same, only the guests share different expertise and hence different advice. For others like The Actionable Content Marketing Podcast, this means knowing the talent's expertise on a specific subtopic and tailoring questions specifically for each guest. (Example: Smart Passive Income) As you can guess, the talent you have on the show should influence the  structure behind the conversation. Internal talent may be more apt for banter and segments whereas  segments and interviews may work better for guests. For the Actionable Content Marketing Podcast, we opted for  featuring guests in an interview style. This gives us a huge opportunity to connect with amazing marketers with  diverse backgrounds who can share tons of different ways to solve big marketing challenges with our audience. This way, we know The Actionable Content Marketing Podcast  won't grow stale because every episode features unique opinions and advice. Plus, we get the added bonus that our talent will help us share the podcast with their own audiences, which furthers the reach of every episode we ship. Action Items: Ask your team for a shortlist of the podcasts they love to listen to. What kind of structure seems to attract and retain their attention? Based on the talent you'd like on your podcast, brainstorm the best way to  have a conversation interesting enough to share with your audience. Will banter, segments, or interviews work best for your podcast? Share your conclusion with your team and ask your team for their advice. You're not in this alone. How To Find Amazing Guests For Your Podcast (And Make Their Experience Awesome, Too) At this point, you haven't shipped anything, so you might feel like it'd be hard to get guests for your podcast. In my experience, that's not true. You just need to look for the folks who already know, like, and trust you. At your disposal, you have: Existing customers who have solved big challenges others like them would love to learn from. Email subscribers who- like existing customers- have solved problems and could share how they did it. Industry friends from similar companies to yours who also have interesting stories to share. Companies you love or buy stuff from- do they have stories your audience would be interested in, too? Unlike asking for a guest blog post, being talent on a podcast is extremely easy for a guest. It requires just a little bit of time to understand the subtopic to cover, how to answer the questions, and the actual recording time. To top it off, your guests get access to your website traffic, email subscribers, social media followers, and the subscribers on all of your podcast outlets like iTunes, Stitcher, SoundCloud, and Google Play. That's a ton of exposure for a guest. ^ And that's the way to market this opportunity to them. Action Items: Ask your team for the names of customers, email subscribers, industry influencers, and your suppliers who would be an excellent fit for a podcast episode according to your content core. Find a  list of your existing customers. Sift through the ones who sound like they'd have interesting stories to share. Sift through your email list for prospects who would be a good fit for your podcast. If necessary, review their website for information from blog posts or news releases on problems they've recently solved to understand how you may be able to share that story in a podcast episode. Peruse the list of companies you  buy stuff from. Think of industry influencers  and friends who could help you out. Pull together a shortlist of all of those email addresses. If for some reason you don't have the email address and just the name, go to that person's website, highlight their name, and use Datanyze Insider to find their email address in a matter of seconds. Now you have a shortlist of people who would be awesome  talent for your podcast. It's time to make the process as painless as possible for them to go from introducing yourself to a recorded episode. I've found a simple process with 10 steps works best (and by the way, you can get the checklist I use for this process- along with all of my email templates- for free in the checklist/template resource that complements this blog post): Step #1:  Reach Out To Talent This is not a blasted message to your entire shortlist that blind copies each person. Tell your talent  how you selected them, why you'd value their contribution, and how they'll benefit from increased exposure from your audience. Provide a link to book an angle conversation with you before you record their  episode using a tool like Calendly. With Calendly, the talent can see your schedule and book a time that works best for them and you. Calendly helps your guests easily book podcast meetings with you. You can also ask them for their  Skype ID (and phone number in Calendly for backup purposes) to help you know how to get in contact with them easily. Step #2:  Follow Up On Outreach Pitch Email inboxes get busy. Give them some time to respond, but also let them know you're serious about featuring them as the top talent on your podcast. I've found about a week or so is a good amount of time to wait before following up. Step #3:  Confirm Angle Appointment If you opt to use Calendly, you will get an automatic email (and an automatic appointment  on your Google Calendar) when your talent books an appointment with you. I've found it's best to add them immediately on Skype right when you get that confirmation  rather than trying to find them via their Skype ID  moments before the angle call. You'll find that some of your talent may give you the wrong Skype ID at first, so the sooner you discover that, the sooner you can  ask for it to avoid unprofessional technical difficulties. At this point, I also send an email to the talent to let them know I received their invitation to chat and let them know to expect to be on an angle call so I can get the information I need to draft questions, and not actually recording their episode. Step #4: Host Angle Call Some podcasts avoid doing this step. I find it's important because you get the opportunity to ask, "What is a major {insert topic} challenge you've solved recently? How did you solve that challenge? What mindset made you successful at solving that challenge?" This gives you all of the information you'd need to know to draft questions for an interview style podcast episode. You also get the chance to hear your talent speak- are they short with their answers, are they long-winded, is their audio bad, etc.? All of that information helps you understand what to expect as the host to direct your talent to show their strengths. I've found one size does not fit all, and these calls are immensely helpful for breaking the ice before recording the actual episode. Step #5: Draft Questions Depending on the person (short or long-winded?), I'll draft 10 to 20 questions to help me reach an intended record-time podcast episode length of about 20 minutes. The average commute to work is 25.4 minutes, so once you add in an introduction, middle call to action, and conclusion, you'll ensure your audience can listen to an entire episode on their way to work. Generally speaking, it's best to error on the side of writing too many questions rather than not having enough to hit your ideal podcast episode length. These questions are based entirely on the conversation from the angle call, and I even leave guests  cues  as a reminder of our prior conversation to direct them on how to answer specific questions. This isn't meant to alleviate their creativity, but rather, help prevent them from giving the same answers to multiple questions, especially with the subtopic of the episode is very narrowly focused. Step #6: Send Questions To Talent Send the questions to your talent, and ask them to book another appointment to record the actual episode. Again, Calendly works wonders for this. It's during this step that you can send a few tips  to help your talent record the best episode possible. For example: Find a quiet place to record without distractions. Use headphones and a microphone. Put phones on silent. Turn off notifications on your computer. Plan on about 45 minutes for recording. Step #7: Send A Reminder The Morning Of Your Recording Your talent is busy. People forget. A short email saying you're excited to chat later today at a specific time serves as a nice reminder so you don't have to rebook your appointment and risk delaying your publishing schedule. Step #8: Record The Episode Explain to your talent what to expect before you record. Will you stick to the questions? Will you pry deeper if you think an answer was too vague? Will you go completely off track and ask new questions entirely (ones your talent may not have prepped for)? Are you recording a separate introduction and conclusion after you have the conversation? If they have a difficult name to pronounce, ask them before you record. And once you hit that record button, let them do the talking. They are the talent, not you. I've found it helpful to write transition sentences to help me move  from one question to the next in a way that feels less jarring than asking straight questions- which also prevents me from bumbling from question to question. As you record more episodes, this process will feel more natural. Skill comes with practice. Step #9: Thank Your Talent After you record the episode, let your talent know you appreciate them! They just did you a solid, so I like to send them something special in the mail and let them know when to expect the episode to launch. Hooray for @swag! pic.twitter.com/gwEZ6eCJHJ Dustin W. Stout #SMMW19 (@DustinWStout) September 28, 2016 At this point, I also ask for anything else I might need to make  the episode completely awesome, like their bio, headshot, company logos, and mailing address (that last one is for a care package). That content goes into blog posts to complement each episode release, along with social media graphics to promote the episode. Step #10: Let Them Know When The Episode Is Live Your talent will listen to their episode, and since they took the time to record it with you, they have incentive to share it with their audience, too. Give them the link to the blog post and the social media graphics you've designed to make it easy for them to share. Action Items: Whether or not you want to follow this exact 10-step process for managing your podcast guests' experiences, take the time now to draft the process that will work best for you and your team. How To Record And Produce Your Podcast Episodes The first thing to do is to make sure you're using the right tools to record  professional quality podcast episodes: Skype is an amazing tool lots of podcasters use for hosting conversations. This is the actual calling software. Ecamm Movie Tools Call Recorder connects into Skype and gives you the  tool to record the conversation. It's good because it records your audio separate from the talent's, so you can easily mix out the person who is not talking and sweeten the audio for each person separately as needed. This technology works with Skype whether you're recording video podcasts or audio podcasts (which is yet another decision you  need to make). Your computer mic isn't good enough, especially if you're the host. Invest in a professional microphone. Over-the-ear or studio headphones help you hear your talent while ensuring your mic doesn't pick up their voice, thus producing an echo. Find  quiet room to record, even if that means ditching your noisy office to record at your home during the middle of the day. As you start to hear the conversations you're having, you can also think through the next steps for production, including music and sound effects, voiceovers, introductions, middle calls to action, and conclusions. Let's explore those areas of each episode a bit more. Choose Music And Sound Effects That Sound Like  Your Culture Would you like to brand each podcast episode with specific introductory and conclusion music or sound effects? AudioBlocks is a great source to  find music for your podcast. Some things to consider may be: The music you've used in the past for videos The culture of your company (i.e. fun and quirky or serious and strong?) Brand your podcast with music that *sounds* like your visual brand.Consider A Professional Voiceover For Your Introduction And Conclusion Would you like a professional voiceover to introduce your podcast name and company? Should it be a  male or female voice? For example, a majority of 's audience is female, so  for the Actionable Content Marketing Podcast, we decided a professional female voiceover would be best. The voiceover talent offers an introduction to each episode, saying, "You're listening to The Actionable Content Marketing Podcast, powered by : The #1 marketing calendar for everything you need organized."  The same voice also concludes each episode, saying, "You've been listening to  The Actionable Content Marketing Podcast, from your friends at . For more actionable content, visit .com." Freelancer.com  is a freelancing source that helps connect voiceover talent with folks like you. Record Episode-Specific Introductions To  Share Your Talent's Credibility On The Subtopic Of Each Episode Record an introduction to the episode immediately  after you record the conversation. This helps you connect the dots between  your talent's advice and the classic WIIFM (what's in it for me?) for your audience. For these introductions, I like this framework: Begin with something catchy to help your listener feel like the episode will help them solve a problem.  "What if you could...", "Image how you'd feel when...", and similar discovery verbiage helps set the tone for what listeners will learn throughout  the entire episode. Introduce the talent as the ultimate authority on the subtopic within the episode and why listeners should trust the guest's advice. Cover the WIIFM  in detail, focusing on the benefits your listeners will receive if they simply continue  listening to the episode. Introduce yourself so new listeners have a frame of reference for who you are as the host. If, for example, your professional voiceover introduces the podcast name by your company, you can introduce yourself as "Nathan from " to let your listeners know you represent  that business. Restate the name of the podcast to help listeners remember where they're learning this valuable information. Record Episode-Specific Middle Calls To Action To Give Away Exclusive Content Like traditional TV shows usually have  commercial breaks every eight minutes, so should your podcast episodes. The human brain can only pay attention for so long before it needs a distraction. Middle calls to action may act as ads for your product or service, a related piece of content you've just published, or even sponsorships (if that's how you're funding your podcast). For The Actionable Content Marketing Podcast, I try to connect the dots between the conversation at hand and how can help listeners put that advice into practice. There are a few elements of these calls to action  that help it feel appropriate in context: Begin with a sentence that clearly indicates the podcast episode is not ending. "There's a lot more advice from {talent name} to come." Keep the call to action short. "If you'd like to do {episode subtopic advice}  like {talent name}, {our product} is a great fit." Give them a specific link to visit. "Just sign up at {companyname.com/simple} to {experience  desired benefit in context to subtopic} now." Transition back to the episode. "Now let's learn more about {episode subtopic} with a little extra help from {talent name}." Record Episode-Specific Conclusions To Button Up The Episode And Remind Listeners Of The Exclusive Offer Conclusions give you the opportunity to thank your talent for sharing their wisdom and reiterate to your audience why that advice is gold. You can also use them to direct your audience to learn more from episode-specific blog posts on your website, and reiterate the special offer you provided in your middle call to action. You could share the following information in your episode conclusions: Thank your talent Share the URL where listeners can find more information on the episode like show notes, talent bios, and episode transcripts Share the URL you mentioned in your middle call to action  with an exclusive offer Ask for  ideas for future episodes or talent you should feature on the podcast A Note On Production: Learning audio editing tools can be time intensive. For the actual editing and production of The Actionable Content Marketing Podcast, we work with a partner, Podcast Motor. I'd recommend researching third parties like Podcast Motor for your own podcast because it's like adding a podcast professional as a marketing team member. You get the added benefits that this team member will publish episodes on time no matter what, and will never become distracted by "shiny object" projects that take them off podcast tasks. How To Publish And Promote Your Podcast Episodes (A Grab Bag Of Advice) Libsyn is well-known as one of the best podcast hosting services. From here, you can upload your episodes and enter  destinations  for where to share your podcast episodes. For example, all  Actionable Content Marketing Podcast episodes are hosted on Libsyn and are shared to iTunes, Stitcher, SoundCloud, and Google Play on a schedule for every week on Tuesday mornings. This step of the process is handled entirely by our partner, Podcast Motor, with the help of Libsyn, and is yet another reason why I'd recommend working with a podcast professional. Once you have your episodes queued in Libsyn, I have some advice for spreading the word as you plan your launch. Definitely Publish A Pre-Launch Podcast Announcement To Get Early Feedback You planned your podcast according to your content core, so  your audience really should love it. But. What if you could know they'll love it instead of just guessing? What if you could *know* your podcast will be successful before launching it?After you've recorded three episodes, I'd recommend publishing a blog post and sharing those  episodes with your existing audience. Share the three episodes- rough cuts with ums, ahs, and absolutely no audio sweetening or voiceovers. The point is to ask for their feedback before you invest any more time into your  podcast. They may have feedback for your structure, talent, guests, etc. that will help you produce even better episodes in the future- even before you launch. Here's an example of how we did exactly that with The Actionable Content Marketing Podcast. Consider Publishing An Episode Zero To Set Your Listeners' Expectations Some podcasts publish  an episode zero to explain the benefits their listeners will receive if they consistently listen to the podcast. It's a handy way to  act as a kind of what's-in-it-for-me? FAQ. Here are some items you could cover in your episode zero: Why the name? What's the goal? How will your audience learn? Who will be on the podcast? What is the structure? What is the content? Where will your audience  find the podcast episodes? When will you consistently publish? Episode zero is definitely a thing you could do, but not necessary for success. Plan Your Frequency And Consistency To Build A Loyal Listener Base Upon launch, our partner, Podcast Motor, recommends publishing at least two episodes (three in total, if you decide to go with episode zero). Still others recommend publishing three episodes (four if you opt for episode zero) to begin with. The main point is this: Publish more than one episode on your initial launch day so your early adopters have more content to consume if they want it. For example, The Actionable Content Marketing Podcast published two episodes on launch day, and will ship a third episode  a few days after that initial launch. A key insight here is to record several episodes before you launch to make sure you have enough content  to launch and keep you going. Before we launched The Actionable Content Marketing Podcast, we had 13 episodes recorded so we wouldn't have to rush our guests to publish a new podcast episode every week. This means after our initial launch week, we had content  prepared for 10  additional weeks. Record a bank of episodes before you launch your #podcast.As you thought through your episode zero, you  already asked yourself how often and when to publish. Knowing this information- will it be every Tuesday morning at 8 a.m. or once a month on the first Monday of the month?- will help you understand how big of a content bank to build before you launch. Plan Consistent Podcast Episode Names To Emphasize Your Talent's Credibility An awesome thing about podcasts- at least something we're trying for The Actionable Content Marketing Podcast- is to not focus so much on keywords. That frees us up to focus on stories that no one else in our industry is talking about with the folks who've solved major marketing challenges. That reflects deeply in the headlines we create for podcast names, and I'd suggest you follow a similar approach. Here are several examples from our initial podcast episodes- and also a sneak peek at what you're going to learn from The Actionable Content Marketing Podcast ;) How To Create A Bank Of Content (And Plan Ahead) With Janna Maron From Smart Passive Income How To Hack Your Marketing Like A Startup With Garrett Moon From How To Boost Facebook Engagement With Kelly Fitzgerald From Anytime Fitness How To Build Influence In Any Industry With Chris Dessi From Silverback Social How To Market A Brand New Feature Or Product With Kathryn Nyhus From How To Improve Your Editorial Strategy With Tara Clapper From SEMrush How To Optimize Your Social Media Messages With Dustin Stout From Warfare Plugins How To Solve Marketing Fire Drills With Kyle DeWeerdt From Apprenda How To Double Your Facebook Reach With Rebekah Radice From Post Planner How To Prioritize Your Marketing Projects With Josh Pigford From Baremetrics How To Organize  Content Creation Like A Publisher With Matt Ankeny From Gear Patrol How To Generate And Nurture Leads With Brittany Berger From Mention How To Implement  A Guest Blogging Process With Jess Ostroff From Don't Panic Management The main lesson here is to share what your listeners will learn, backed by your guest's name and company to emphasize  their credibility on the subtopic. That whole credibility thing  should also tie nicely into your episode-specific introduction to share with your audience why you chose to chat with a specific guest about that subtopic, connecting the dots from headline to the context of the conversation. Distinguish  Your Podcast With Graphic Design Your podcast needs  a specific branding  style to distinguish itself among all the other podcasts in iTunes and beyond. If you don't have a designer in-house, it will make sense to either work with a third-party like Podcast Motor to help you with per-episode feature graphics, or create a long-term contract with a designer through a credible source like Dribbble. Our graphic designer, Ashton Hauff,  created a podcast branding PDF to help us brand The Actionable Content Marketing Podcast. In addition, she is designing every blog post feature graphic to show off the talent, and brand the blog posts specifically for the podcast. For example, here are a couple examples of blog post feature graphics Ashton has  worked through for episodes #1 and #2: Introduce Your Blog Audience To Your Podcast With Episode-Specific Blog Posts I've alluded to this a few times- but it just makes sense to share each podcast episode in a specially-published post on your blog. This helps your existing blog audience and email subscribers see that you're offering  them an entirely new way to experience your already-amazing content. There are a few elements of these blog posts that will ensure  an excellent experience for your blog audience while keeping your workload simple: Create a feature blog graphic. This helps distinguish each episode and can really show off the talent you're bringing to your audience. Embed the podcast episode inline in the blog post. The Actionable Content Marketing Podcast uses a player custom-built by Podcast Motor, and  there are many others including the Smart Podcast Player from Smart Passive Income. These players give your blog post readers the opportunity to listen to your episode while they peruse  the blog post. Include show notes. These are simply the big takeaways listeners will hear in detail as they listen to the episode. Include quotes from your guests. These are instantly shareable and immediately reiterate your guest's credibility on the subtopic of the episode. Create quote graphics. Once you know the quotes, it's easy to grab that text and turn them into sharable graphics.  Now that you have a feature graphic and several quote graphics, you can  easily provide those to your guest for when their episode launches so they can help you spread the word with beautifully branded and eye-catching social messages. These work really well for you to share your own blog posts on social media. Include a bio for your guest. Again, bios are great for showing your audience why your guest has the authority to provide  actionable advice on the subtopic. Include a full-episode transcript.  Have you ever listened to podcasts on the go, then wanted to find a specific piece of advice later? I know I have. And full episode transcripts make it easy for your audience to find the information they need quickly. Include a call to action to subscribe on iTunes. If your visitors are liking what they're hearing, it's nice for them to have the opportunity to subscribe on iTunes (preferably) or to a specific email list you've created just for your podcast listeners. Easily Direct Traffic To A Custom Podcast Landing Page In your episodes themselves, it's nice to  have an easy way to direct your listeners to where they can find more information. I've found a specially-designed landing page with a simple-to-say URL is handy. Your landing page can serve the purpose of: Showing your latest episodes with links to the specific blog posts. Optimizing the experience to convert visitors into iTunes subscribers (or a specific podcast subscriber email list). Here's how we did it for The Actionable Content Marketing Podcast with help from our front-end designer and developer, Megan Beck, and Ashton's branding guidelines. Give Away  Exclusive Content With A Custom Podcast Signup Page For The Actionable Content Marketing Podcast, we also wanted to give our podcast listeners a special, exclusive offer of .  Like the custom podcast landing page, I needed a URL that was easy to say in each episode, and a custom signup page especially built for podcast listeners. The main point here is this: If you have one call to action per episode, what would it be for your podcast? And how will you optimize that experience for your listeners? If you have one call to action per episode, what would it be for your podcast?Oh... if you want to know what that exclusive offer is, the only way to find out is by listening to The Actionable Content Marketing Podcast. We are planning to not hand that URL out anywhere else to really know that the podcast is driving those conversions. ^ I'd suggest you experiment with something similar. Build Excitement Like any piece of content you publish, promotion is critical to success. Here are a few bonus ideas/tactics that may work for promoting your episodes: Tag companies mentioned in each episode in social media messages (or find their email addresses with a tool like Datanyze Insider or ContentMarketer.io and email them) Ask your guests to share their episodes and provide them the custom graphics you've created Email your general subscriber list Email your podcast-specific subscriber list Ask your company, friends, and family to  share Include calls to action  to your podcast landing page from your new and most popular blog posts Install Hello Bar or the equivalent to share your podcast with all website visitors Tease episode releases a day before you publish them ... And That's How To Start A Podcast Good luck as you start your own podcast! I'd love to hear your additional advice and lessons learned along the way. And if you have subtopics or people you'd love to hear us feature on The  Actionable Content Marketing Podcast, let me know!

Project Management Concepts Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Project Management Concepts - Coursework Example The present study has been conducted in lieu to analyze the critical factor related to the successful execution of a project. The present study consists of two divisions; the first part consists of various stages of a project life cycle while the second part of the study deals with the preparation of a project plan for KFC Hale (Kousholt, 2007, p. 121) Task-1 Project life cycle brief Before getting in to explaining the case of project life cycle through practical example it is important to provide a brief overview of a project life cycle. A project life consists of four different stages namely initiation, planning, execution and evaluation. The initiation phase begins with defining the scope and purpose of the project. The first step of the planning phase is creation of the detailed project plan. The execution phase of the project includes the explanation of the deliverables by the project manager. It also includes the monitoring and control of the project delivery. The project evalu ation or implementation phase is carried out in order to determine the overall success of the project (Biswas, 2011, p. 105). Example The XYZ manufacturing company LTD is a small and medium scale computer manufactures. The company is looking to achieve process efficiency by reducing product delivery time and inventory costs. The company has hired a project consultant to provide guidance for the project throughout the life cycle of the project. Initiation This phase involves defining the purpose and the scope of the project. In this particular case the main goals of the project is to provide improved system and controlling the inventory as well as reduce the product delivery systems. The project would look to provide a modularized, flexible bill of material system to reduce the support cost. The objectives of the project would be to achieve inventory cost reduction of 25% of the display, improve average days to deliver the displays from eight to three days and server delivery to ten to five days (Kloppenborg, 2011, p.345) Planning The planning phase would involve the creation of a set of planning documents. The main objective of the phase is to create a project plan to identify the work breakdown structure or WBS of the key activities needed to complete the project. Project ID Deliverable Due Date Display Division goes live Complete inventory module Complete Bill of material module Complete order entry module Finalize testing and training 05/01/13 08/04/13 11/09/13 05/01/14 Server Division Live Complete inventory module Complete Bill of material module Complete order entry module Finalize testing and training 01/06/13 02/07/13 03/09/13 05/01/13 The planning phase would also require human resource planning as well as financial planning. The brief overview has been given blow: Execution Phase During the execution phase the project deliverables are physically built and presented for the acceptance of the client Activity Description Ownership Identification In the beginning of the project the major risks would be documented for the purpose of tracking. Specific management team is responsible for developing key project management strategies to establish the possible risks.  

The Economic Dominance of the United States Essay

The Economic Dominance of the United States - Essay Example On the other hand, however, people who worked in the Soviet economy were given very little incentive to be more productive. Everybody was given a quota to meet and once that was done, then no more was required of them. The economic dominance of the United States was because its economy was basically in private hands with very little interference from the government. The encouragement of private enterprise in the United States is the reason why its economy prospered and why the most dominant multinationals in the world at that time came from this country. When compared with other economic powers such as that of the Soviet Union, the latter’s did not have enough opportunity to ensure that it was diversified enough to stay competitive on the global scene. While the United States economy remained dominant for a period of some thirty years and benefitted many of its citizens, it was also detrimental to many people, not only in the United States itself but also in the developing countries where its companies conducted their activities. The capitalist economic system of the United States created a situation where there developed an unprecedented level of unemployment not only within the country but also in developing countries (Keohane 5). Because of the vicious and predatory nature of the capitalist system, one of the main causes of unemployment was when companies went out of business. In many instances, this came as a surprise and people were hardly ever prepared in case they were suddenly unemployed. Gerschenkron is of the opinion that the United States’ economy was maintained through its exploitation of the developing countries, the latter being the source of cheap raw materials for the American industries (102).

Convenience and Future of ATMs in my Community Essay Example for Free

Convenience and Future of ATMs in my Community Essay Automatic Teller Machines (ATM) have made our life easy and convenient in many ways. With more and more ATMs being installed from street corners to local retails, from outside the bank to shopping malls, they are hard to miss. Gone are they days when we need to stand in line inside banks waiting to be served by tellers? Transaction now processed with just the click of a few buttons. History and Development Luther George Simjian, in 1939, had the first idea to place an ATM in banks (Bellis, n. d. ). He was to place them in holes so that bank clients can make their transaction through the window. This was first tested in New Yorks First National City Bank now Citicorp but was later rejected due to the lack of demand of customers (Bellis, n. d. ). The first truly cash-dispensing machine was created by John Shepherd-Barron from De La Rue Instruments called De La Rue Automatic Cash System, or DACS (International Merchant Services, n. d. ). They were checks bought in advance from tellers and was impregnated with Carbon 14 in order for the machines to detect them (Bellis, n. d. ). It was installed and placed in Barclays bank in London (International Merchant Services, n. d. ). In 1969, the first magnetic card was introduced. It was created by Don Wetzel who was working with Docutel. He had the patent along with Tom Barnes and George Chastain. It was installed in a New York based Chemical Bank (Bellis, n. d. ). Later, Docutel developed the first truly ATM machine that we are familiar today. It was placed in the wall and outside the bank. However, the first ATMs did not directly accessed your personal account when withdrawing money from it. Instead, they were initially offered to the banks credit card holders with good credit standings (Bellis, n. d. ). They were only cash advancements from the clients credit card rather than debiting them directly from the account. It was far from what we know of today where ATMs can do almost everything an ordinary teller can do such as deposits, transfers money from checking to savings, cash advances to your credit card and takes payments. How ATMs Work ATM works by providing users and clients with a remote access with their bank accounts. These machines are connected to the bank accounts through internet connection to the banks database where it has information on the amount of money in the account (Bowen, 2000). The magnetic part of the card stores information of the user such as account number and the pass code. Once the user has entered the correct code it will verify it to the users bank and will send out verification on the transaction that has to be made. The card then dispenses the money using an electronic eye and detector to determine the bills that are sent out. The sensor detects if there are stuck or worn out bills and places them in the discard tray and issues the user the required transactions (Bowen, 2000). Once the transactions are made, they are logged in the machines journal in case the client has disputes on the transactions. Growth of the ATM The popularity of the ATM is undisputed today. The number of ATMs installed today shows its success and effectiveness on both the banks and their clients. Banks have embraced this technology because of three reasons (Islam, Sheel, Biswas, n. d. ). First, banks improve their financial, marketing and competitive positions by attracting clients and increasing their revenue by increasing their services such as loans and financial packages (Islam, et. al. , n. d. ). ATMs provided human resources with more time to process request that ATMs cannot process, thus, it increased the efficiency of tellers providing better services to their clients increasing the income of banks. Further, customers are now looking for banks with more access to ATMs for their convenience and accessibility. Second, ATMs can perform many of the tasks than tellers do and in the long run they are easier to maintain and cost considerably less than their human counterparts (Islam, et. al. , n. d. ). Installing ATMs reduces the work load of tellers. The increase in number of clients for a bank means that they would need more resources to cater to their customers. ATM machines are more efficient for they need no training and less maintenance (Islam, et. al. , n. d. ). Banks realize this cost effective way of providing service and provided more and more machines for their clients (Ferrari, Verboven, Degryse, 2007). Last, ATM machines serve as factors for marketing decisions for financial institutions (Islam, et. al. , n. d. ). Banks would first place ATMs in potential locations for establishing bank branches. They would first see if there are enough clients for them in the area before finally establishing a bank in the area. ATMs today can also provide cash advances from credit cards depending on the allowable limit of the card. Another convenience provided for the users is the added feature of ATM cards. They can now be used as a debit card similar to that of the credit card. However, users must make sure that they have enough cash in their accounts to make similar purchases with that of the credit card. Problems Facing ATMs ATMs, though beneficial for most of its users, has their flaws and problems. They are most of the times reliable but sometimes they do break down and need some maintenance. It is sometimes out of service and needs overhaul and it needs to replenish its cash contents. These are the common problems of ATM machines. First time users of the machine may also find it difficult to use them and may be complex for them. However, this can be learned easily with a few tries at the machine. Others, on the other hand, points out those ATMs dispense only a certain denomination of money. Customers are either to transact lower or higher than what they really need but seldom exactly the cash they wanted. Finally, clients are sometimes frustrated when the machine captures their cards especially if they badly need the cash and they do not have any other ATMs available to them. Personal Application In Scottsbluff, Nebraska, ATM machines are normally situated in local shops within the community. There is also one located inside my local bank that has my account. Locations where there are many people passing by also have ATM machines installed within the area. This provides convenience and accessibility for users who need cash. Further, people who have no private cars can easily access these machines and do their transactions without the going to the bank. Further, they are easier to install than constructing new bank branches. Personally, ATMs have its own advantages and disadvantages. The most beneficial would be convenience and accessibility. People do not need to do their transaction within the bank or during banking hours. They can even do it during the night or even in another state. ATMs in the shopping mall have a business value for the mall other than having people to just withdraw cash from the machine. If users withdraw money in the mall, they are likely to spend some of it in the same mall. Citizens of Scottsbluff are also most likely to spend a portion of their money in the Newsagents, chip shop, hairdressers and the two public houses. These places have ATM machines located near them. However, there are some disadvantages. Some ATMs have surcharges if you are using a machine from a different bank other than yours. People using these machines 2-3 times per week, can have surcharges that may have a sizable amount. But this is still very minimal compared to the benefits that these machines provide us. Another disadvantage of ATMs in some areas of the community is those that are located inside shops that close early. These machines would have limited access to potential users and are only available only during store hours. Finally, news of scams connected to ATM machines are becoming more common where in criminals can have access to your personal account by using a machine attached to ATMs that records your personal information as well as your account number and pin code. Conclusion The disadvantage of ATMs outweighs the advantages that it gives to its users as well as the banks that provide them. ATMs have come a long way from its beginnings. Today, it is no longer just used for simple cash dispersing but also includes a wide variety of uses including payment of bill, ATM debiting and cash advances from credit cards. Without these machines, banks would have not been as efficient as they are today and people would have not ripped the benefits of this technology. References Bellis, M. (n.d.). The history of automatic teller machines or ATM. Retrieved January 29, 2009, from http://Inventors.about.com/od/astartinventions/a/atm.htm Bowen, J. (2000, April 1). Howstuffworks How ATMs work. Retrieved January 29, 2009, from http://money.howstuffworks.com/personal-finance/banking/atm3.htm Ferrari, Stijn. Verboven, Frank. Degryse, Hans. (2007, November). Investment and usage of new technologies: Evidence from a shared ATM network. Retrieved January 30, 2009, from http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1075042 Timeline The ATM history. (n.d.). Retrieved February 6, 2009, from http://www.atm24.com/NewsSection/Industry%20News/Timeline%20-%20The%20ATM%20History.aspx. Islam, Rafiqul. Sheel, Samir Kumar. Biswas, Pallab Kumar. (n.d.). Customer satisfaction of ATM service: A case study of HSBC ATM. Retrieved January 30, 2009, from http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=990242

Jesus of Nazareth Essay -- Christianity

One of the most controversial figures of history, Jesus of Nazareth is also one of the most influential. His short life and ministry sparked the beginning of a new religion that has grown to be one of the biggest in the world today, and has been the subject of intense debate among scholars and the population in general for centuries now. Some groups, such as the Jesus Seminar, assert that the historical Jesus did not say or do most of the things attested to Him in the New Testament, while more conservative scholars believe that most, if not all of the statements and actions in the New Testament were factual. Still others, such as Rudolf Bultmann, believe that it does not matter if Jesus were historical or not – one can still have faith apart from history. Some people believe that Jesus was a real person, but He was not the Messiah for which the Jewish people were waiting. Rather, He was simply a good person and a good teacher who was killed unjustly. Many others have based the ir faith and even their life on Jesus’ teachings and call Him Lord, among them C.S. Lewis, who went on to further suggest that you cannot call Jesus a good teacher and be done with it. According to Lewis’ trilemma, because Jesus claimed to be God, then He must either be God, be crazy, or be a liar (Lewis 51). Before forming an opinion on the person of Jesus, however, it is essential to examine the documents related to His life and what they say about Him, as well as His teachings and mission. There is too much debate surrounding the person of Jesus to find a consesus among scholars with which one can agree – it is an opinion that must be formed on one’s own. Our primary source for learning about the person of Jesus is the Bible, which includes both the Old ... ...gh Jesus’ divinity is widely debated, one cannot deny the fact that Jesus of Nazareth existed. Many sources, biblical and extra-biblical, mention this historical figure and discuss His life and His teaching. Every person who hears about Jesus must ultimately make a decision about who He actually was, and that decision could be a life changing one. Regardless of what one thinks about Jesus, He was certainly a high influential individual who changed the course of history, and His ideas are still relevant today. Carver, Stephen. â€Å"Sources for Studying Jesus.† BI 250. Warner Pacific College, Portland. 7 Oct. 2010. Lecture. —. â€Å"The Historical Background of Jesus’ Life.† BI 250. Warner Pacific College, Portland. 16 Sept. 2010. Lecture. The ESV Study Bible. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2008. Print. Lewis, C. S. Mere Christianity. New York: Macmillan, 1952. Print.

Colonial Latin America

1. Chasteen states that by the late nineteenth century Latin American countries aimed to imitate England, France or the US, countries that equated Progress. What material or technological transformations did Latin Americans seem to have associated to the idea of â€Å"progress†? Latin America decided to associate with the idea of progress the idea of being able to export their home grown goods.While England, France and the US, exported industrial machinery (because it was made in those countries) Latin America decided they could not compete with those countries in selling machinery so they made their economies of selling livestock and agricultural goods. 2. How does the idea of Progress relate to what we have learned about neocolonialism? Explain. Neocolonialism and progress can relate because the new countries that were made up of what once was Latin America began to grow economically once this period of â€Å"new colonies† took place.All these new countries started pr ogressing because they built their own economies and politics. 3. According to Altamirano, what were the main causes of the decadence and backwardness of towns like Texcoco? Altamirano, explains that the main causes of the towns Texcoco were due various changes like the construction and customs of the civilians. In addition, he also blames the conquest of the Spaniards. 4. Based on Ignacio Manuel Altamirano’s chronicle about the railroad of Texcoco, what transformations did railroads appear to have brought to some regions of Latin America?The railroads appeared to have brought to some regions of Latin America transformations in the fact that they instilled spirit and vigor. In Texcoco it restored a land that had been suffering for a long time. It was redemption for the Mexicans. 5. According to Altamirano, the first arrival of the Spanish in Texcoco brought missionaries. What does he say that the second Spanish Mission to Texcoco has brought and how do the locals feel about i t? The second Spanish mission to Texcoco brought gospel of Science and nineteenth-century civilization. 6. According to Burns, what was the importance of land for Latin America’s economy and society?The land was of grave importance to Latin America’s society because their economy thrived on the land to produce money. Latin America’s main import was all things agricultural and homegrown. 7. The slogan of Mexican revolutionary Emiliano Zapata was ‘Land and Liberty’. Explain what did Zapata mean by these terms? Zapata is advocating the transfer of land to the landless. He believes everyone should have the privilege of owning land. 8. What did Zapata’s Plan of Ayala intend to accomplish`? Zapata's Plan of Ayala was to recover land owned by hacendados or the oppressors at the time and return it to the citizens of Mexico. 9.Focusing on Ramon Beteta’s comments on agrarian reform, explain briefly what was the condition of the Mexican peasants during the early twentieth century? Mexican peasants were treated just as bad as slaves. Mexicans were exploited in the haciendas that were previously owned by them. 10. What changes did the Agrarian Reform aim to introduce? The Agrarian Reform was to change the old system of land holding. They believed in land distribution to be in: restitution, donation, and ampliation. 11. How is agrarian reform related to agricultural production? The land is being returned now more crops will be harvested and agriculture will grow.

Message and Values in Riders to the Sea by J.M Synge Essay

We have seen in the series a musical, a fantasy and a comedy. Something peculiar in scene and tone and more realistic is effective in being the last play in the series. J. M. Synge’s Riders to the Sea is the finest example of one-act play. With limited characters, pointed place, unified action, simple plot, colloquial language and universal tune Synge achieves remarkable success. The play is worth producing and watching because of its artistic values and a strong message that it brings: poverty and destruction of nature cannot conquer the dignity of the people. Riders to the Sea by J.M Synge is a tragic play regarding the sacrifice one family has made over their years on an island West of Ireland. When Synge wrote Riders to the Sea in 1904†¦show more content†¦M. Synge, uncovers the heroic values and the awareness of universal myth with which the islanders enrich their lives. Skelton states that Synge symbolizes the islanders for the making of images and values ... which point towards the importance of reviving, and maintaining, a particular sensibility in order to make sense of the predicament of humanity. (Skelton, 124) The power of the sea is the main theme of the play: it is both a provider and a destroyer; it provides life, connection with the mainland, it, however, takes life. People’s sense of time and direction is determined by the sea. The fishermen keep struggling to get a living out of the sea in tiny boats, even though lots of family members’ lives have been lost in the sea. The dramatic structure of the play moves around the sea. In the beginning there is suspense as to whether the sea has given back the dead body of the young man it has taken. At the end there is suspense as to whether the last remaining son will survive the storm. The life of the people is presented as being archaic in many perspectives. The beliefs of ancient times are seen to be alive: black hags and spirits haunt the seas; Maurya sees the ghost of her dead son, and all interpret this as a sign that the last son is doomed. The main epic speech describes the destruction of the men of the family. As the old