Would you like to make a full time income from your blog? Download the free 30 day blogging course and start making money in just 30 days.I listen to around ten podcasts regularly. I would like to listen to more but I simply do not have the time. Unlike blogs, podcasts are not easy to scan and require a specific chunk of time to digest. Keeping track of hundreds of blogs is easy using tools like RSS but keeping on top of podcasts is much harder, if not impossible.
Time is, without a doubt, the most valuable asset anyone can have. Most things, if not everything, is a factor of time. Money, success, education, happiness, all of these can be achieved if you have enough time.
And thats the problem with podcasts. Most are simply too long. If your podcast is two hours long I am unlikely to find the time to listen to it. If it is ten minutes long then I can easily make room for it, up to a point, in my schedule.
With my first podcast, the Big Arena Records Podcast, I decided to make each episode around five minutes long. Currently the podcast features singer songwriter Davy Lawrence promoting a forthcoming release. The idea behind the Big Arena Records Podcast is simple. Each week an artist will perform an acoustic version of a track from a forthcoming album. Click here to have a listen and let me know what you think. The Big Arena Records blog is still being designed so please bear that in mind when navigating around it. I’m working towards bringing it inline with Upstart Blogger, trying to get a unified look for all of my blogs so that they form a hive of content that can be accessed from any point and from any site. It will make more sense, hopefully, once it’s all in place.
If you are launching a podcast then make it short. Make it easy to listen to. Then people will listen to it. If you find you are recording multi hour episodes then split them into more manageable chunks. People will still listen to everything you you record as long as you make it easy for them.
Don’t make the mistake of thinking people have enough time to listen to a multi hour work of art. If you do, your podcast could sink without a trace.
Interesting. I’ve recently just got into listening podcasts, and may consider dabbling further one day.
Keeping podcasts short makes sense also because it makes for smaller downloads: I have noticed certain podcasts getting cut off at the end due to the large file size.
Interesting points. I’m currently subscribed to 15 podcasts that vary in length from 3 minute bite-size chunks to 2 hour shows.
I’m more likely to subscribe to longer audio podcasts, as I listen to these while driving or at the gym, or just in the background while I’m working. I tend to also subscribe to 30 minute to an hour video podcasts, as these make for great entertainment shows rather than watching TV — which I tend not to do.
Each to their own, I say. Variety is the spice of life.
I’d be interested in getting into podcasting and me and a few roommates considered it on and off for a few months… but it came to nothing! I guess we don’t have the dedication to be consistent performers.