Is the Woodworking podcast idea dieing?

[dinkjs]

Meat and potato's every night for Robin

[mattvan]

I have a suggestion

You can fill the gaps with the little tiny things you take for granted. I know I know, it's hard to determine what you take for granted, so I have an example.

http://blog.woodwork...him+Tricks.aspx

This is a great point from earlier. It doesn't take a ton of planning to make a good show. They don't have to be 30-40 minutes long and they don't have to cover a number of topics in one episode.

If the podcaster can get the message across in a way the audience understands and can consume the information the show will do what it's suppose to. We're woodworkers...we get excited just looking at finish dry.

Chris is really good at this; 82 words and 68 seconds of video that will probably help countless people. To poke fun, Chris is kind of like a drug dealer, he gives you just enough to get you hooked.

[mattvan]

My last reply was suppose to be quoting Dan S, but it looks like I put some my comment in the middle of his lol!

[HavenTom]

Here's my take on this. Anyone who produces a blog or podcast or video podcast purely as a hobby or part of their hobby, WILL eventually burn out. It takes a special kind of person who will produce content regularly and get nothing but an audience in return. The flip side of that, is that anyone who comes at it trying to earn money out of blogs and new media will probably also fail. Marc explained that earlier. No one will pay or advertise with someone who is not established.

But does this mean that people, who have no intention of making money out of blogging and new media (is there a collective name for this?), should not bother? NO! We just have to accept that people will either be sporadic or short lived. It still adds to our online experience. As long as the person producing the content has something to say and can articulate it in a manner which is engaging, then it's all good. I think we'd be wrong to say that anyone who doesn't think they can produce a blog post or episode each week or even each month, should not bother at all. It's the internet. It's all about user content.

It's funny this should come up because I've only just 'found' audio podcasts. I've never previously been interested. Until recently I only listened to WTO regularly. Then Matt started Spoken Wood, which I think is GENIUS!!! The main reason for not being into podcasting is that there wasn't anything to interest me. But I've just got hooked on marketing and online business podcasts and I'm having loads of fun. It's made me realise that I much prefer to listen or watch content than I do reading. My blog reading is very sporadic. I go through stages of reading loads of blogs and then getting bored. It would be fantastic if more people would record audio versions of their written content. I WOULD LOVE THAT!!! and it takes nothing to record what you've written into a short podcast. It would be very cool to be able to listen to all the blogs that I like. It would make the daily commute MUCH more interesting.

Another issue I have is that the UK woodworking scene is so eeny weeny compare to over there. We have a total of ZERO podcasts and only a handful of blogs. I'm hoping to change that by producing a new(ish) style of content. But I have life issues getting in the way at the moment. Hopefully in the new year.

[Aggie83]

Way to be late, Matt.

[wilburpan]

it takes nothing to record what you've written into a short podcast.

To reiterate what has been mentioned before in terms of the amount of work it takes to produce content, there's a lot more to recording audio than what you might think. Matt was kind enough to ask me a while back to record some of my blog posts for Spoken Wood. That just shows how inclusive he is by even considering making the dreck that I've been writing part of his podcast. I haven't made an audio recording yet, primarily because it doesn't take "nothing" to record what I've written into a short podcast, and I don't want to send Matt something that is crappy.

There are many reasons for this. Often what works well in a written format may not work well as a spoken piece. Making a good sounding recording is harder than you might think. Making sure that you have good sound levels, a clear recording, an absence of background noise, no um's, pauses, stutters, or mispronunciations is all hard to do.

[mattvan]

Thanks for saying Spoken Wood was genius! I really appreciate. Because of the type of work I do audio podcasts are all I can enjoy at work, but...I do listen to video podcasts and find 95% of the time I get as much from listening to them as I do watching.

For example, I've recently been getting caught up with The Hand Tool School posts and even The Guild videos by listening bs watching. Even Popularwoodworking videos and Bois' videos make for good listening.

As woodworkers we're naturally good at the details. Adding them in our work, describing them in our blogs and whether we realize it or not, even when we're describing it to others via video podcasts. I've learned more by listening than I have watching.

I think something that would be cool is if rather than one person, who can get burned out after a while, we should have a show with many hosts. A show where people submit their videos, a regular host introduces them and they get played for the audience.

I've always offered this on my own show. You have content? You have a video you'd like to share? I have a feed I don't mind sharing also. It works with Spoken Wood!

[bgrella]

Mine (GarageWoodworks) is nearing its 1-year anniversary (although the website is more than 4-years old). My schedule for adding new content is sporadic. When ever I have a (what I think) is a neat idea, I'll shoot a podcast. It is definitely more work than I thought it would be but it is a lot of fun. My viewership started out low but is growing exponentially.

To answer your question, no, I don't think it's dyeing. But, I do think unless you produce them it is difficult to appreciate how much work is involved.

Cheers,

Brian

[HavenTom]

Hi Wilbur. As someone who has worked as an engineer for the largest media company in the world for the past 12yrs. I know what it takes to produce media content. Whilst I understand what you are saying about quality, do we really care if the quality of a 3 minute audio podcast is less than perfect? Most of us have a microphone of some sort, even if it's using an old pair of headphones. I do enjoy well polished productions, but that should never get in the way of someone producing content.

[HavenTom]

Matt brings up an interesting idea there actually. He says that he is willing to share his feed to give exposure to people producing content. Could this be something that could be done on a wider scale? What about a central YouTube type place (could be here?) for woodworkers. Something that independent of LumberJocks or FWW, etc. Something that gets a lot of exposure because of it's combined content stream.

[HavenTom]

Mine (GarageWoodworks) is nearing its 1-year anniversary (although the website is more than 4-years old). My schedule for adding new content is sporadic. When ever I have a (what I think) is a neat idea, I'll shoot a podcast. It is definitely more work than I thought it would be but it is a lot of fun. My viewership started out low but is growing exponentially.

To answer your question, no, I don't think it's dyeing. But, I do think unless you produce them it is difficult to appreciate how much work is involved.

Cheers,

Brian

Hi Brian, I just spent some time on your site. You have some great content on there. Could I make a suggestion? The design is ok, but it doesn't work the same in all browsers. The issue is FrontPage. It's such a terrible way to make websites. I'm sure Marc and Matt (at least) would back me up on this. Try Wordpress. It's simple to setup, fully customisable and incredibly powerful at all levels. Give it a go. I'm certain you'll enjoy the process and find your workflow improves just by converting over to it.

[jmk89]

There is no doubt that to make a high quality podcast (especially video) like the stuff that Bob,Marc and Shannon (and even Matt!!) do requires some dedication of time that most of us don't have to spare. But more than the time, I think that all podcasters and bloggers find that there are times when they can't think of anything to say.

As one who has sent a blog post to Matt which he kindly included in SWP and who has given an audio comment to the three woodsketeers for WTOR, I do think that we can help by giving our feedback and suggestions. To do a quick MP3 using Audacity and a cr@ppy microphone doesn't take long to do once or twice a year. Think of it - if 50 people do two per year that gives WTOR enough audio content to do a weekly show, pretty much just answering our questions or responding to our comments. And in a way that is what makes net-based content so different. You really can make this into a community, but to do that all of us should do a bit more than just watch/listen.

Cheers

Jeremy

[bgrella]

Hi Brian, I just spent some time on your site. You have some great content on there. Could I make a suggestion? The design is ok, but it doesn't work the same in all browsers. The issue is FrontPage. It's such a terrible way to make websites. I'm sure Marc and Matt (at least) would back me up on this. Try Wordpress. It's simple to setup, fully customisable and incredibly powerful at all levels. Give it a go. I'm certain you'll enjoy the process and find your workflow improves just by converting over to it.

Thanks for the comment. I don't use Frontpage, but rather DreamWeaver. I use to use Frontpage which is why you see the tag in some of my html. I like wordpress, but it really ties your hands with customization. I couldn't do a lot of the stuff I do on my site in WordPress and would never 100% convert to it. I do use WordPress on my ShopTalk page and like it.

[leitefrog]

I am just discovering the woodworking podcasts, and would hate to see them go away. I did an audio podcast for years, and even won a few awards. But even with some success, it was a time drain. I really feel for the guys and gals doing video podcasts. And as Shannon mentioned, workworking videos aren't just a talking head in front of a green screen.

To you podcasters, thank you! I am just learning woodworking. Owning a house, I do plenty of carpentry, but woodworking is a whole new world for me. I can watch Norm create a rolltop desk in two shows, and as much as I love it, not learn as much as I do watching a podcast where you guys take a single step and work through it. I have to start simple, I don't even have a table saw yet, so the fancy technices aren't going to be much help to me at this point.

I think podcasters working together sharing ideas helps too. I see that here. I was part of a podcasting community that is still going on strong. Instead of putting everything on one show, this "network" of podcasts always had something new coming out, and when someone (like me) podfaded, there were plenty of shows to keep people involved.

Well, back to making sawdust. I'm getting pretty good at that.

[TonyV]

The beauty of a podcast to me wasn't that I had to be something or someone I'm not, but to instead let the real me out and let the audience decide if they wanted to participate. Unlike broadcast television that HAS TO appeal to the masses, podcast let weirdos like myself be myself and hopefully the audience enjoys the content.

You mean that goofy persona in your podcasts isn't an act? That's really YOU? :D

I've had a woodworking blog since 2007. When I was building constantly, it was easy to find things to write about. Then I got laid off work for 21 months; no income, no money for wood. No wood, no projects. No projects, nothing to write about.

Posting to a blog on a regular schedule is hard with you have a job & a wife & 2 kids that you can't ignore. So my posts weren't terribly regular. But I got through 3 or 4 projects in the blog before the bottom fell out.

While I was out of work, I built a web site for my church. I also took on the task of editing the video of the church services. This was fun at first, but the novelty quickly faded. Mind you, all I had to do was remove some flubs & things the pastor may have intended to be heard only by the person she was talking to. But that was still more work than I thought it would be. I have to admit I don't know how you guys do it all the time as you do.

Anyway, thanks for all the content. I like the audio feeds, BTW, so I can listen to them in the car as I drive home from work.

Tony

[billboard]

When I first started my hobby of woodworking a few years ago, You Tube videos were my main source of information. This led me to the wonderful podcast produced by guys like Marc, Shannon, Matt, Bois and recently Steve Ramsey. (and many others) I do not have an iphone, ipod, ipad ot ianything so I don't use itunes. Like many others I check these guys out while I'm at work. The internet nazi's here frown on streaming but I can download all day and then play them back while working. It is amazing the high quality of video these guys produce. I like to download a whole series of a project and then burn them to DVD. Playback on my HDTV is truly amazing. That is my preferred viewing format. Keep up the good work guys. I really appreciate all the effort you put into your videos, not to mention the editing that goes into it.

[harmsdph]

Here's my take on this. Anyone who produces a blog or podcast or video podcast purely as a hobby or part of their hobby, WILL eventually burn out. It takes a special kind of person who will produce content regularly and get nothing but an audience in return. The flip side of that, is that anyone who comes at it trying to earn money out of blogs and new media will probably also fail. Marc explained that earlier. No one will pay or advertise with someone who is not established.

But does this mean that people, who have no intention of making money out of blogging and new media (is there a collective name for this?), should not bother? NO! We just have to accept that people will either be sporadic or short lived. It still adds to our online experience. As long as the person producing the content has something to say and can articulate it in a manner which is engaging, then it's all good. I think we'd be wrong to say that anyone who doesn't think they can produce a blog post or episode each week or even each month, should not bother at all. It's the internet. It's all about user content.

It's funny this should come up because I've only just 'found' audio podcasts. I've never previously been interested. Until recently I only listened to WTO regularly. Then Matt started Spoken Wood, which I think is GENIUS!!! The main reason for not being into podcasting is that there wasn't anything to interest me. But I've just got hooked on marketing and online business podcasts and I'm having loads of fun. It's made me realise that I much prefer to listen or watch content than I do reading. My blog reading is very sporadic. I go through stages of reading loads of blogs and then getting bored. It would be fantastic if more people would record audio versions of their written content. I WOULD LOVE THAT!!! and it takes nothing to record what you've written into a short podcast. It would be very cool to be able to listen to all the blogs that I like. It would make the daily commute MUCH more interesting.

Another issue I have is that the UK woodworking scene is so eeny weeny compare to over there. We have a total of ZERO podcasts and only a handful of blogs. I'm hoping to change that by producing a new(ish) style of content. But I have life issues getting in the way at the moment. Hopefully in the new year.

Some how I missed an entire page of posts in this thread that I am just reading. Tom, I found your comment interesting and had never considered doing an audio "rendition" of my posts. I'm not sure its something I would do for every post but I'm still scratching my head if an audio post that is only a few minutes long would add value .. it is an interesting idea though, I'm curious what others are thinking about this?

[HavenTom]

David, I think text will always be king. I certainly would never recommend just releasing an audio version of the blog without the text. Blogging evangelists will tell you that if you do a podcast, it's sensible to have a transcription of that podcast in the show notes. This is mainly for SEO reasons, but it will also serve a percentage of your traffic who don't want to listen.

Personally I'm the other way. If I'm at my computer, it's not to read. Not long articles any way. I'd much rather do that sitting in a comfy chair, or not-so comfy train\plane seat. Now with the birth of the iPad (not that Apple invented tablet PC's!), you can do that stuff. But it's still going to be a while before tablet pc's and kindle type devices are the norm. I know you can do at least read blog posts on an iPhone, but it's still not as good as having a full size page, with full size pics. Even when these devices become the standard, you can't read whilst driving or walking or running.

I know it's much easier to write an article than it is to read it and I know most people will shy away from it. Hopefully text to speech will improve soon, as that would be a suitable 2nd best (for me).

To be honest. If you're not going to do an audio version of every post, then perhaps just send the odd one over to Matt for SWP. On the other hand, if you feel like trying a recorded version of all your posts for, say, a month. I'd be interested in what response you get.

[thewoodwhisperer]

Interesting idea Tom. Give it a shot and let me know how it works out, lol.

Seriously though, I agree that an audio version of a blog post wouldn't take too long, at least when compared to a video production. But I would guess that it will at least double your time investment when compared to a blog post alone. So I can see how it would still be time-prohibitive for most folks. But I love the idea of sending Matt a file once in a while.

[HavenTom]

Touche.

I'm still trying to find my voice. But if I ever get things off the ground then I will give audio recordings a go. If I get everything set up so it's easy to just read the article, add bumpers and post. That way it's not a chore.

But I'll say it again. Spoken Wood is a genius idea and I wish more people would read their own articles, rather than Matt having to do it. After all, he's promoting them more than himself.

[mattvan]

Touche.

I'm still trying to find my voice. But if I ever get things off the ground then I will give audio recordings a go. If I get everything set up so it's easy to just read the article, add bumpers and post. That way it's not a chore.

But I'll say it again. Spoken Wood is a genius idea and I wish more people would read their own articles, rather than Matt having to do it. After all, he's promoting them more than himself.

I really appreciate all the promotion for Spoken Wood Podcast. The last time anyone referred to something I did as genius...I can't remember LOL! There is still an awful lot of skeptics out there about woodworking audio shows even though I think it's already proven itself (at least in my humble opinion).

Really the same argument could be made about audio books, after all if you're not reading the words yourself, how can you take in all that knowledge or enjoy the imagery? I LISTEN to a lot more video podcasts than I usually end up watching and I have yet to NOT understand or learn something afterwards.

As for submitting posts to Spoken Wood Podcast, my email box is always open and if someone would rather have me record it that's fine, I'd love too. I know a lot of people would maybe like to dip their toes in the podcast pool but think you need to have a lot of equipment setup, but the fact is you don't need all of it. A computer microphone and Audacity or Garageband and you can have your voice heard by your fellow woodworkers.

It shouldn't be so much about QUALITY of sound or removing all the "ahhhs" and "ummms", read your posts as you wrote them or imagine you're having a conversation with your best friend...because in the end you pretty much are.

Viva la woodworking podcast LOL!!!

[HavenTom]

Right on Matt.

[kep1019]

It seems to me (not having any idea on how a podcast or a website is created) it would take a blend of those 2 talents, woodworking and computers to get it off the ground then add in editing and so on to get to a quality level of the content that is already there. Then throw in how to solict sponsers and such as well as the dedication to document the processes.

I know for myself after working on the sawdust chronicles build challenge that trying to simply document and post the build process was taxing and very time consuming just pictures added almost a quarter of additional time.

To all the podcasters on this site and elsewhere, thank you for you dedication and commitment to the tremedous content that is out there.

Keith

[dinkjs]

My topic has gone on for awhile now.....surprises me

Anyways.....from further reviewing.....I really hope someone new starts up a podcast because unfortunatly....EVERYTHING comes to a end eventually...meaning eventually Marc, Shannon, Matt, Bois, Bob....and all the others will eventually get away from podcasting for whatever reason in the future and if someone doesn't step up and fill that void then my thread topic will come to fruition.

[HavenTom]

So what do people want from a podcast? Be it video or audio, but specifically audio. What content would you like to see more of? More 'talk' like WTO? Or more 'HowTo' like MBW? Or something else?