Podcasting for Busy Professionals

By Tina Dietz, guest columnist

A Pew Research Center poll found that almost one-third of Americans believe they are overloaded with technology. As a result, some of us are trying to mitigate the impact that screen time can have on us: mentally, physically, emotionally and socially. “Screen-Free Week” is just one example of efforts to rediscover the joys of life beyond tech.

At the same time, our interest in listening to podcasts has been steadily rising over the past several years. According to Edison Research’s Infinite Dial report, The Podcast Consumer, an estimated 144 million people has listened to at least one podcast—twice as many as in 2010.

Why podcasts?

There are several reasons why many find podcasts more appealing than video. First, there’s the portability aspect. Audio is available when you can’t read or watch anything, which increases the likelihood that the message is actually being heard.

Second, many listeners appreciate being able to enjoy podcasts while doing other tasks, such as commuting to and from work, doing household chores, or working out. Podcasts can also be highly engaging, with 52 percent of people listening to entire episodes and 41 percent listening to most of them, according to that same report by Edison Research. At a time when our attention spans are shrinking, this is impressive for long-form media content.

Podcasts can help you build relationships with your audiences and explore topics on a deeper level. They’re also easier to distribute than video and quicker to produce. In the two or three hours it might take to shoot a high-quality video, between three and five podcast episodes could be recorded.

Producing a professional, high-quality video requires a special skill set that not everyone has. This is why some find it much easier to feel relaxed, comfortable and authentic when there isn’t the pressure of having a camera almost directly in your face. When recording a podcast, you don’t have to be concerned with how you look or whether the lighting, background or angle is just right; you just have to show up and deliver great content.

Three approaches to starting your own podcasts

There are several low-risk ways to make use of this medium:

1. Encourage senior leaders at your firm to share their knowledge as guests on podcasts. Many podcast hosts are actively seeking powerful stories and advice to share with their audiences. I’ve also found that the experience that leaders receive in preparing and learning to be expert guests elevates their communication skills. This transfers back to the boardroom, and to team leadership.

2. Start an internal podcast. This can help enhance communication, build culture and showcase the talents and accomplishments of your team and clients. Companies like Trader Joe’s, American Airlines and JP Morgan have all taken this approach.

3. Consider producing a shorter podcast series. These short series can consist of eight to ten episodes around a central theme. In the end, you’ll have a complete set of content your marketing team can share and repurpose in a myriad of ways.

Overcoming early obstacles to podcasting success

That said, there are some challenges you should consider before entering the world of podcasting. For example, I’ve found some leaders don’t like the sound of their own voice, so they’re reluctant to record anything. Leaders are also very busy, and podcasting can add to your already-packed daily schedule, which leads to a third common challenge: the return on investment (ROI). If you don’t see the expected ROI right away, you might become discouraged. Don’t. I’m not suggesting it takes 10,000 hours to master podcasting, but it does take a little practice. The great thing is that it’s really easy to gather metrics and measure your success. And you can hear for yourself as you get better with each episode behind the mic.

In the meantime, consider which of the three options above is the best fit for you and your company to start making the most of this powerful medium. Consider for yourself: What are the stories your company or brand has to share with the world?

The opportunity is clear

With nearly 30 million podcast episodes and 90 million monthly listeners at last count, there is a show for everyone. By taking action on one of the areas listed above (and keeping some of the challenges you might face in mind), you can begin your own podcast journey and connect with potential clients, your team, and current customers.

What’s your take on podcasting? We’d like to know.


Tina Dietz is an internationally acclaimed speaker, audio publisher and podcast advisor to HB Publishing & Marketing Company. Visit her at Twin Flames Studios

#Podcasting #practicemanagement #thoughtleadership

Colleges: Adjust Tuition or Kiss Alumni Donations Good-Bye

Chances are you have clients with college-age kids or grandkids who are wondering if they’re still getting their money’s worth. Perhaps you have your own. You may also have generous clients contemplating large gifts to their alma mater. Either way, it’s a stressful decision and many feel they’re getting ripped off.

Most colleges aren’t budging on tuition, even during these difficult times. As The New York Times reported last week, a few universities have offered tuition discounts, but most are holding firm, arguing that remote learning and other virus measures are making their operations more, not less, costly at a time when higher education is already struggling

While universities generally give themselves high marks for how the handled the swift transition to remote learning last spring, our unscientific poll of current students gives colleges a 2 or 3 on a scale of 10 when it comes to their remote learning experience.

Top Hat’s nationwide survey of over 3,000 students found remote learning left a lot to be desired.

• Seven out of eight students (85%) said they “miss the social experience with other students.” 
• Over two-thirds of student responses selected lack of “regular access to classmates” as having an impact on them. 
• On a scale of one (low) to four (high), students rated their “ability to stay connected with classmates” as pretty low.
• 84% said that they “miss face-to-face interaction with faculty.” 
• Over half of the students selected lack of “regular access to faculty” as having an impact as well.

At Rutgers University, more than 30,000 people signed a petition  calling for an elimination of fees and a 20 percent tuition cut. More than 40,000 have signed a plea for the University of North Carolina system to refund housing charges to students in the event of another Covid-19-related campus shutdown. The California State University system’s early decision to go online-only this fall has incited calls for price cuts at campuses from Fullerton to San Jose.

At the University of New Mexico, students face a tuition increase even though the school is offering a mix of online and remote classes. One senior, who helped lead a protest against the increase, told The Washington Post: “it's unethical to charge more when students are getting less.”

“The question is why are we paying the same amount — if not more — for way, way less?” she asked. “I know this is what’s best for public safety, but there’s no doubt the level of learning is lower online."

Alumni giving and enrollment were down before the pandemic

Kyle Walters (#thepersonalcfo), a partner at L&H CPAs and Advisors in Dallas, told me the other day that the academic community will have no choice but to compress 5 to 10 years’ worth of innovation into 18 months if they want to survive. I know the conversion to online learning wasn’t easy last spring. But if you’re in a competitive marketplace and you’re still charging the same price for a product that is not nearly as good as it used to be, you’re asking for more competition (state schools, community colleges, online colleges) or possibly disruption (Google University).

Also, don’t try to convince students that Remote College Is Still More Valuable Than a Gap Year as Theresa Ghilarducci a Professor of Economics at the New School for Social Research, wrote in Bloomberg recently. She argued that taking a year off can cost more than $49,000 over a 20- to 40-year career. You can read for yourself how Ghilarducci arrived at the math, but her assumption seems based on students being up to their ears in debt and on not being able to earn any money at all while taking their gap year. Those are dangerous assumptions. There’s a bigger opportunity cost for colleges when they intimidate students and their families into paying full tuition for a watered-down experience—alumni donations will continue dwindling.

Even before the pandemic, there were signs that the growth of alumni giving was down. Moody’s Investors Service, which in March downgraded the higher education sector to negative from stable, wrote that even before the pandemic, roughly 30 percent of universities “were already running operating deficits.” That’s not surprising when alumni can account for one-third of a school’s operating budget.

Pissed off students today = stingy alums down the road

A few years from now, when universities start sending annual pleas for alumni giving, how do you think those young adults and their families will react when they think back to how they were treated in 2020? Not great.

One undergrad who responded to the aforementioned Bloomberg Op-Ed said: “If many of these students experience college virtually, they will have little to no allegiance to their alma mater once they graduate. That means when their college calls/emails them asking for donations, it will be A LOT easier for them to say NO since they have no emotional ties to their college aside from online experiences which for the most part are 100 percent forgettable. Less donations means less budget for faculty and academic programs down the line.”

Conclusion

When you have fewer and fewer customers willing to keep paying more for an inferior product, how sustainable is that business model? Maybe it’s time college administrators and their high-priced consultants dusted off their Econ 101 notes. The laws of supply and demand are not in your favor long-term.

What’s your take? I’d love to hear from you.

#gapyear  #collegetuition #remotelearning #tuitionripoff

Congress: Take Off the Flip Flops and Get Back to Work

Out of sight, out of mind.

That seems to be the attitude of our vacationing lawmakers toward the 30 million Americans who could be in danger of losing their homes—their primary residences, not their vacation homes. Think that’s an overstatement? Well, we’re talking about a potential 93-percent cut in aid for some.

“If the speaker of the House and the minority leader of the Senate decide to finally let another rescue package move forward for workers and for families, it would take bipartisan consent to meet for legislative business sooner than scheduled,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said last week.

I guess this doesn’t qualify as a real crisis, does it, Mitch?

The jobless rate is at the highest level since the Great Depression. On July 31^st, the last of the $600 weekly extended unemployment checks went out. But still no action (or empathy) from our lawmakers as House Democrats were unable to reach a compromise with Senate Republicans and White House officials in recent weeks. Americans hoping for another coronavirus relief bill from Congress will likely have to wait at least another month. Hopefully they’ll find a way to make ends meet as lawmakers enjoy full salaries, benefits and second homes, while frolicking in the sunshine until after Labor Day.

You can fire your representatives in November

As Paul Muschick noted in The Morning Call, “If your company was in the middle of an unprecedented crisis, there’s no way the boss would put up with the entire staff leaving town to take a break. So why do we let Congress get away with it?” After all, they work for us. We pay their salaries.”

Do they need overtime pay to prevent more nursing homes, hospitals, school districts, local governments, businesses and individuals from being hung out to dry?

“These elected officials act as if they have no boss,” lamented Muschick. “It’s time for us to remind them they do — us.” Call and write and tell them to get back to work. If they refuse, remember that we have the ability to fire many of them on Election Day.”

I rarely use this blog to opine on politics. It’s not in my wheelhouse. But it’s too upsetting to see both parties cheerleading at their quadrennial convention/lovefests at a time when so many of their constituents are hurting—really hurting.

I know some elected officials are on this distribution list. If you’re reading this week, I have a special message for you: “Skip the virtual convention. Take off the damn flip flops, put away the straw hats and get your butts back to sweaty, steamy Washington, DC. Start passing some legislation or find a replacement who can!

At least you’ll have AC and a roof over your (pointy) heads. That’s more than many American will be able to say in the weeks ahead. If it’s not stressful enough figuring out how to get their kids/grandkids to school safely—now they have to beg friends, relatives and houses of worship for a temporary place to live. The alternative? Going to homeless shelters, which were never safe to begin with and certainly not set up to optimize social distancing as we head into our first official flu season of the pandemic.

Conclusion

America is not supposed to be like this under any circumstances, no matter how dire. Besides, we might not have a postal service much longer. There’s no sense in watching lawmakers “mail it in” while one out of ten American households could be out on the street.

As The New York Times editorial board opined recently: “Staying in Washington until they get this crucial piece of the job done is the least that senators can do to show their solidarity with the legions of Americans who are facing far worse this summer than a canceled holiday.”

 

What’s your take? I’d love to hear from you.

#CongressionalRecess #stimulus #CARESAct #joblessrate #homeless #eviciton

Actually, You CAN Judge a Book by Its Cover

Now is the time of year that thoughts turn to summer reading lists. Whether you’re a procrastinating student or a stressed-out professional finally getting some R&R, the dog days of August are idea for finding a cozy hammock or beach chair and delving into that stack of books we’ve been planning to get to all summer.

But, now is also the time of year that many of you are making your Summer Writing lists. I can’t tell you how many of you have promised me you’re finally sitting down to share with the world the book that everyone’s been telling you to write your whole career.

And you should. Our annual CPA/Wealth Advisor Confidence Survey ™ finds that two-thirds of professionals (61%) believe publishing a book/eBook is a highly effective way to become a thought leader.

I wish I could tell I have “6 Easy Steps for Writing a Business Best-Seller”— but I don’t have even one. I’ll leave that up to the vanity press services that I’m sure have hit you up with one-stop instant book writing services.

I can only promise you this: To do it right, there’s going to be some hard work involved along with some serious introspection and mental heavy lifting. Maybe some drinking or binge snacking, too.

But there are ways to make the authoring process less daunting. Before you write Word One, you have to nail down your outline. Without an outline, it’s like building a house without a blueprint. You might be able to throw up a few walls and maybe a room, but sooner or later the structure will collapse on itself without a master plan. And before you put the outline together, always have a clear vision of the finished product in your head.

Exercise: Start with the end in mind

Try this fun exercise. Imagine you have finally published the book of your dreams. Congrats. How will radio shows and podcast producers introduce you? Imagine the host saying: “My next guest is [your name] author of the fascinating new book [Title].”

How would you want that intro to sound?

Then ask yourself the first question of the interview: “{Your Name} Thanks for joining us today. What made you decide to write this book and why now?”

One of the best ways to answer those questions is to noodle around with your book jacket and cover lines. You don’t need to download any apps or install software or start a trial subscription. Just take some blank sheets of white paper and a sharp pencil. Tape the blank sheets of paper to a sturdy hardcover book you have lying around your office. Start penciling in some titles, coverlines and the copy for the spine. Just for kicks, add a few pro forma blurbs from professional colleagues that you’d like to ask to review the book. What would they say about you and your masterwork?

Now put your “dummy” book on your bookshelf; then lay it horizontally on your coffee table. Will the title you’ve penciled in grab people’s attention (along with your author credit) when they have about half a second to notice it?

5 key questions to ask

1. Who is your target audience?
2. What problem does your book solve for the target audience?
3. What will readers be able to do after reading the book that they couldn’t do before?
4. Why are you uniquely qualified to write the book on this topic?
5. Why has it taken so long for someone to finally write the definitive book on this topic?

I have plenty more “thought provoker questions” I’d be happy to send you at no cost or obligation. Just ping me any time.

Conclusion

Whoever said “you can’t judge a book by it’s cover” never had a successful book and wanted to be a thought leader. After all, your mother was right: “You only get one chance to make a first impression.”
 

What’s your take? I’d love to hear from you.

#thoughtleadership #practicedevelopment #selfpublish #wealthadvisorconfidence #authorabook