Wednesday, June 28, 2006

Podcasts Gone Bad

I'm hearing quite a number of podcasting horror stories. Companies, entrepreneurs and individuals who have created their own podcasts and are now abandoning it due to poor quality, unmet expectations and generally just a bad experience.

The problem that I see is that these companies did not bring in a podcasting expert, consultant, strategist to advise them on how to develop a strong podcasting strategy. Instead, through unbridled enthusiasm, these companies and individuals think that all you need to do is record your voice, slap in some music and voila! A podcast.

I'll keep the names of the unfortunate a secret, but here's what I'm hearing:

  • A conference who had another "podcasting" company record all their panels and sessions, only to get such poor quality with their podcasts that they're practically un-usable.

  • An entrepreneur who thought that having a voice talent read articles in their podcasts only to have no one subscribe after 3-months (that's unheard of).

  • A big name company who had such negative feedback from their customers about the poor quality of their podcasts that the company is now scrambling trying to protect its brand.

  • A coaching podcast that have seen their subscribers decrease steadily over the past few weeks due to poor sound because they're using a phone recording service to record their podcasts.


If you're thinking about podcasting, please, please, please, contact me first. I've been engrossed in this podcasting thing for close to 2-years now and I get it. I study, breathe, research and network in the podcasting space and I know what you don't.

I'll give you a 20-point assessment to determine if podcasting is right for you. Then, we'll go through a 10-page document to help you determine how to craft a podcast that will tie in with your marketing strategy. Lastly, I'll give you the tools to start recording your podcast. Then, you let my company do the rest.

I beg you, don't do this alone. I can help you out with a no-fee session and I can shave so much time off your podcasting schedule. I'd rather you consult with me first than for you to embark on this podcasting journey all by your lonesome, then totally abandon the tool because of a bad experience.

Let me be your first. Email me at leesa [dot] barnes [at] gmail [dot] com.

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