Summit of Awesome... the last day: *sniffle*
This post was guest written by Christiane Knight of Three Ravens and The World of Xiane.
Before I recap the final events I attended at Summit of Awesome, I need to share an observation with you: if you are ever in Baltimore for any reason, don’t trust the MTA to actually follow the posted schedule. Every single day of the Summit, I arrived early. Incredibly early, I might add. But the great thing about this is that it gave me time to have some breakfast and hang out in the Make Something Awesome area, where I met and befriended some fantastic people. This was one of the really lovely parts of the conference: that Hello Craft was smart enough to provide an area that encouraged us to meet, chat, and bond over making things. And isn’t that what it’s all about, this being a maker thing?
After catching a light breakfast of fruit and coffee while watching my new pal Alanna finish up the most adorable owl plush that she’d been working on over the weekend, I marched upstairs to my first session of the day, Podcasting 101 with Tina Seamonster and FozzieBare. Fozzie, aka Jason Nelson, hosts The Podcast Podcast - which, as you might guess, is a podcast about podcasts. Clever! Tina hosts several podcasts, including the one she does for Hello Craft as well as a couple about TV shows, and one that she’ll be co-hosting with Fozzie, coming soon.
Given such experience, they were the perfect folks to teach us about how to create a podcast: from choosing the name and subject, to purchasing equipment and finding hosting for the recordings. They were great at making a potentially confusing subject very clear! Some of the suggestions offered were to use Skype and Callgraph or Call Recorder to record calls between cast members, as that’s an easy way to capture the discussion. Editing can be achieved using Audacity [free] or Sound Forge [$60]; in fact, there seems to be a nice range of prices for all aspects of podcasting, which means that someone with less money can just as easily get into the practice as someone who can afford the fancy programs. One can purchase a really nice microphone or just use the onboard mic on their laptop, if that’s all they have. Headphones can be high end or just any crappy ones you’ve got lying around, as long as they do the job. I love the inherent equality in this medium - what counts the most is your content itself!
As for that aspect, Tina and Fozzie recommend working with a partner if possible, because not only does that take some of the speaking pressure off of you, but it creates a more dynamic program, as you can play off of each other. Another key piece of advice? Be consistent. It doesn’t matter if you post every week or every month - as long as you deliver consistently, when you promise it. If you disappoint your listeners too often, you’ll lose them.
Most importantly, be genuine. And don’t over-edit! Both Fozzie and Tina observe that your listeners will know if you edit too heavily, because things will sound unnatural to their ears.
They urge you to have fun: get talking and recording! Podcasting can add real depth to your craft, blog, and online presence. There are many great crafty podcasts out there right now, but there is so much room for more. Your voice is unique!
My final session of the day went along with the theme of media for one’s blog: Leveling Up Your Site With Video, presented by Willo O’Brien.
Willo recently launched a new project, WilloToons Connect, which is a series of videos that feature conversations with creative professionals. This series, and her love of creating smaller videos that offer tips for blog readers, makes her quite qualified to explain why adding video to your own site will really enhance your online presence.
Video is a great way to offer things to your reader in a visual way: education about your product or your processes, knowledge about you and your craft, and tips and tricks that you have to share are just a few examples. And video is easier than ever to generate - you can use an iPhone camera, the video on your point and shoot camera, a “real” video camera, a Flip... there are many options available! Once you have your video, there are several places where you can post it - blip.tv and Vimeo are two popular choices.
A clever idea for using video to pump up your site is to create a video course for your followers, which you can even monetize and password protect for your paid subscribers. This is a great way to create another stream of income from your crafty knowledge!
The most important thing to keep in mind is this: why do you want people to come to your site? Do you want to offer knowledge, or give them a glimpse into your crafty life? These reasons will dictate to you how to create your keywords and SEO for searches - and don’t forget to include local tags in there! You never know when a local news outlet may be looking on You Tube or Vimeo for local bits to feature on the air! You could even use your videos to pitch a segment about what you do to a show; local segments are often looking for something different and this is a great way to show them what you’ve got.
The most important thing that I took away from today’s discussions: media on your blog can be as simple or as complicated as you like; either way, you can create content that really adds to your site and draws interest that you might not have had without it.
And this was a great note to end Summit of Awesome on for me - I am now filled with ideas and inspiration, and I hope I was able to share some of that with you, and get you interested in attending this fantastic conference when it happens next year!
I leave the Summit today with new friends, concepts, and skills. That’s definitely Awesome.