Dear Lauren (and list), While I agree with Robin that setting up a YouTube channel is excellent, I would use it as an additional tool to spread the word about your podcasts. It's important to get the most bang for your buck out of your digital assets, so I recommend the following strategy:
If you are in fact launching a podcast series?that is, you will be making and publishing regular episodes?then I would begin by registering and using a podcast service like Podbean (free for starter accounts, you might at some point have to pay for storage, but the costs are extremely low). Once you set up your Podbean account and upload one episode, you can then link to iTunes and set up your iTunes account. iTunes has the broadest reach for podcasts. There are other (many) podcast directories and you want to list your podcast with them. Once you publish your episode, the RSS feed automatically brings your podcast to these other directories. So once you do the work for the first one, your podcast then goes out to multiple channels automatically and is out there forever. For example, I have a podcast series (about 3 years now), with subscribers, and even though I don't produce many episodes (about one every other month), the reach is amazing... If you are not really launching a series, but will just be posting videos as you are able to complete them, then the YouTube channel is the way to go. You also should create accounts on Flickr, YahooVideo, and Vimeo and upload the content there. They each have different restrictions on length and numbers of videos you can upload in the month. You should also embed these videos in your website and Facebook Page, and Tweet links to them. If you are creating videos of lectures, then you could also consider becoming part of iTunes U, where many universities and museums are publishing content. http://www.apple.com/education/mobile-learning/ For a long video (60 minutes) I'd recommend breaking it into 15-minute sections, both to reduce the size of the video and the download/ viewing time (many, many people still don't have great connection speed, and if something doesn't start immediately, they click away). And, make a short (1 minute) teaser sample which you can put out there to help people find them. All videos should be branded with titles and end titles, plus a copyright statement. Teasers should end with the URL to send them to the location they can view the full video. If you set up a YouTube channel, make sure you go through the process of applying for a nonprofit channel. You have to fill out an application (one long page) and they have to approve it, but there are many benefits to doing so, as they allow you to brand the page and you show up in the nonprofit directory (above the chaff), and you can tie it into fundraising/development directly from your page. I'd be happy to answer any more questions you might have off-list. Best, Stephanie Weaver Visitor experience consultant sweaver at experienceology.com experienceology?: Because happy visitors return. San Diego, CA For information on our book, blog, podcast, upcoming classes, and e- news, visit www.experienceology.com or follow me on twitter.com/ experienceology. See samples of my classes here: www.youtube.com/experienceology . Watch the free archived version of my class on the visitor experience here: http://bit.ly/NlunE Next presentations: UCLA Extension: January 26, 2010 Orange County Public Libraries: February 3, 2010 Ass'n of Partners for Public Lands: February 7 & 8, 2010 Tijuana Estuary docent training: March 24, 2010 American Association of Museums: May 26, 2010
