What does one do when they think about starting a podcast? They get all excited, buy some gear, record some stuff and then pause… and think …….
“Holy Shit! What do I do now?”
Over a year ago, my spouse turned me onto podcasts. Extra Life Radio (ELR) might have been the first. It fit right in with the amazing amount of WOW we were playing, our geeky lifestyle & the driving I seemed to be doing more & more often. The Instance, 1 Up Yours, The Malestorm Podcast and others soon followed. They provided tips on the games we were playing and a chance to hear fellow gamers talk about some thing we loved. Our friends were listening too, so we had more to share. That helped the entertainment aspect of the games. It was no longer about the just gaming.
Times changed so the casts changed. Web comics were becoming more popular. This led to me searching for similarly entertaining outlets. Soon Webcomic Beacon & Blazing Prattles, among others, were nice additions. Pseudopod a horror story cast was straight entertainment. I not only wanted info & entertainment, there was a need for better quality & sound! For that the likes of ELR & Pseudopod lasted on the playlist for quite some time. Community was an added bonus. Forums and call-ins help listeners connect with each others & the hosts, & create loyalty.
Loyalty begat downloads, and participation, which begat more loyalty. The urges to loyally listen and post every week became every day. The solid community relationships and reliable content even urged me to support some of these (crazy) non-profiteers, with my meager donations. I feel support & feedback motivates quality. Improved quality leads to more downloads, & so the cycle continues. You might say that from that point things can get better, or worse.
If the podcast gets worse, the participation slows or even stops. It’s easy to fall out of love with a podcast that drops quality of show or treatment of its fans. If the podcast gets better it gets a “following”, a devoted fan base that just gets bigger throughout the life of the show. Cinema Diabolica is who I follow these days, among others. With any good show comes community. (Think www. popsyndicate.com!)These community relationships build within the feedback discussions, the forums and places like Twitter & Facebook. Fans start to feel more like insiders and those who affect content.
Next thing you know a listener thinks they might need to be the talker. This can be disastrous or miraculous. For miraculous think Gentleman’s Guide to Midnight Cinema. For disastrous you may not even need to leave this blog.
Time will surely tell…
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