Podcasting Update
September 8th, 2005 by Steve Pavlina
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I won’t be doing a podcast this week, as I have relatives visiting from out of town for the next four days. Time for some fun in Vegas. 
I’d like to know which day of the week you feel is best for posting podcasts. Are you more likely to listen to them if they’re posted on Mondays, Fridays, weekends? I can record the podcasts in advance, so the posting day controls only when they appear. I’m leaning towards Tuesdays, since that’s typically the highest traffic day for this blog.
I’m going to aim for a weekly podcast roughly 15-20 minutes in length, with each one focusing on a single topic related to personal development. It may be a bit sporadic for the first couple months though as I get the hang of it and work it into my schedule. Doing a podcast is a lot more like giving a speech than writing a blog entry. As many people noticed, voice is more expressive than text, so I’ll need to get a feel for which topics are better addressed as blog entries and which as podcasts. I think they can both work synergistically together, but it may take some trial and error to find the right balance.
The first podcast has recevied about 1700 downloads so far, so I think that’s a decent start. I’ve heard that a very popular podcast might get around 10,000 listeners. Even though this technology is still in its infancy, I expect the popularity of podcasting will grow rapidly over the next few years. Then investors will rush in, and we’ll see the same boom-bust pattern we did with e-commerce a few years ago.
I intend to keep the podcasts free — no paid subscriptions. My purpose in doing the podcasts is to create a new channel for helping people who want to grow and improve themselves.
Thanks again for all the feedback on the first podcast. I will aim to incorporate your suggestions into future episodes.
If you haven’t listened to the first podcast yet, you can find it here:
Podcast #001 – Intro to Personal Development
September 8th, 2005 at 4:03 pm
Dear Steve
Friday or Saturday
I will be able to listen a few times over the weekend and ready to use the messages from Monday
Cheers, Kishore.
September 8th, 2005 at 4:24 pm
Steve,
Thank you for deciding to keep the podcasts free. I hope that would not have compromised your income, but your gesture is deeply appreciated!
(Now who says there are no free lunches in the world?)
I was also initially sceptical about podcasting as a medium, but since I went through your first podcast I realised podcasts can, for me, convey certain emotions better than text can. The spoken word also helps make certain points more vivid so they will stick in my mind much better.
As for the weekly release day of the podcasts, any day would be fine for me, personally. I would prefer to listen to the podcast over the weekends, but it won’t be a hassle for me to download it on a Tuesday (if it were to be released on Tuesday) and keep it till Saturday to listen to.
September 8th, 2005 at 7:04 pm
Thursday or Friday to get ready for the coming week.
September 8th, 2005 at 8:29 pm
Hi,
Great to hear the podcasts will continue to be free. But, one request though; may be you could also have a text version of the podcast on the site as well, it would come as a boon for readers like me who are on low-bandwidth.
thx
September 8th, 2005 at 8:36 pm
Any day is fine, really. One of the great things about your content is that I could listen to it next year, and still find it just as relevant and useful.
I just listened to your first podcast – it was an excellent introduction to what I hope the rest of your casts will be. Thanks, and all the best with your recording!
September 8th, 2005 at 9:27 pm
Day is really doesn’t matter to me. After I’ve downloaded first podcast, it took me few day, before I found time to listen to it.
September 8th, 2005 at 11:07 pm
I’d also like friday or thursday (in this order).
Friday cause is’s the last work day of the week, and in the evening I am usually more relaxed than the other working days.
September 8th, 2005 at 11:25 pm
That’s great, Steve!
I’m really eager to listen to your next podcast
September 8th, 2005 at 11:48 pm
Hi Steve,
Thursday or Friday would be good as we can listen to your podcasts many times and then plan over the weekend as to how we can implement your suggestions in the coming week.
-Anu
September 9th, 2005 at 12:28 am
Friday. It’s something nice to wait for. Have you noticed that your blog entries have become quite big hit in the del.icio.us popular list?
September 9th, 2005 at 6:59 am
Steve. Post your podcast anytime. Thats the whole point is that we can listen to it at our leisure. And i’m sure you will find that releasing it free will promote many of the other things that you have. Kinda like planting seeds. I really enjoyed the first Podcast, I know others will enjoy it as well. Once you get your podcast in iTunes i’m sure you will see an increase in your other website traffic as well.
September 10th, 2005 at 5:18 am
Even though there has only been one episode so far, I think that the quality, both sound and content were great! You might try listing youe show in a few podcast directories, like podcastalley.com, odeo.com, podcastpickle.com, and others. Then people looking for a specific catagory of content will find yours.
Overall, the length and pace were great, and I expect will only get better. Keep up th good work!
As far as what day to post new episodes, because of the nature of podcasting being portable and on demand, it may not matter. I subscribed your feed into my iTunes, and got the episode, but didn’t have the chance to listen to it until two days later. Some will just subscribe, while others will visit the site for them. Posting them on the day with the most site traffic makes sense, becuase then visitors will see the podcast immediately.
September 10th, 2005 at 7:44 am
The podcast is already listed on podcastalley.com (in the Health section) and in iTunes. I’ll be listing it on other sites soon.
September 11th, 2005 at 12:49 am
Thursday, since it translates to Friday here in India
The 1st podcast was great ! Thanks
September 13th, 2005 at 6:10 am
Friday or Saturday. Since these are leisure days for me.