Women in Podcasting

Women in podcasting are on the move

We are on the move!

Anna has done an amazing job over the last week getting us in great shape to move to a new home.

We have decorated and have almost all the furniture in place and are ready to invite you over for a coffee - well metaphorically speaking.

This will be our last post here, but we do hope that you will mouse over to our new home and drop in as we have lots in store for you in the weeks and months ahead.

Yes the Podcast Sisters website is live and we have our first podcast there ready for your to listen to.

So thank you to all of you who have been part of our community here at Women in Podcasting. We do hope you will stay with us as we move home and we look forward to helping you play big on the web.

The Podcast Sisters have arrived!

We are determined to get the message of the power of Web 2.0 and how it can help you in both your personal and business life. Well, we are now producing a weekly podcast called The Podcast Sisters which is for the non geek. It explains all the terms in nice simple ways and also tips on how to incorporate the technology to grow your business or build your personal brand. We are just waiting for the iTunes review the podcast should be available in the next 48 hours. If you want to e-mail a topic to the show then email The Podcast Sisters.

In the meantime, catch the very first episode and subscribe so that you don't miss the next show which explores blogging and which platform to use. Remember it is FREE and you can always listen on your PC here.

What's this?

Internet Demographics

Hitwise show that over 55s, or ‘silver surfers’ as the new term seems to be, are close to becoming the largest demographic age group online. At the moment the largest group is the 35-44 age group, which accounted for 23.5% of internet visits in the four weeks up to 12th May. Silver surfers had 22% of visits.

So for people who think the internet is about youngsters, about the new generation beware! Obviously the ageing of the workforce is possibly an influence, however remember the silver surfers also have high disposable income....an attractive group for marketers.

UK Podcasting Association

I am a member of the UKPA, an association dedicated to helping podcasters promote their work, connecting people and also helping shape the regulatory requirements both now and in the future. Dean Whitbread heads the association, and has been a great promoter of podcasting within the UK.

I was delighted to hear from Dean and learn that our small band of merry little people, who are trying to promote podcasting and the whole arena of Web 2.0 to more women, had been recognised by the association. Here is the link over to the UKPA site. Subscribe to their feed to learn more about podcasting in the UK !

What I learned from recording the Podcast Sisters

Today we recorded the first show of the Podcast Sisters, to be released later this week. Here are my thoughts after the recording...

• How amazing that I record with 2 other people - one based in Dublin, the other in 300 miles away in Hereford, UK people that I had no idea existed only a few months ago. I would not have met either of these fantastic people without Web 2.0.
• We were on the phone for about half an hour - all for free, via Skype.
• How the show is all about community and helping, supporting each other in understanding how to use Web 2.0 to improve either our business or personal lives.
• How connecting with others helps you think differently about areas of life. For instance, Heather's passion for farming on Wiggly Wigglers has made me think much more about the environment, what I eat and also nature.
• It is all about collaboration. Krishna and I are in the same field however we want to see how working together on line can bring value to our businesses rather than "competing"

Is the world ready for The Podcast Sisters?

Well as you read about recently, Anna and I met up recently in Dublin. It would have been great to have had more time, but Dublin traffic conspired against us. It actually took Anna less time to reach Dublin airport flying in from the UK than it did for me to drive there!

As you can imagine we had alot to talk about. It was just too bad that Heather was not able to join us.

Anyway the seeds of our new venture together were sown - "The Podcast Sisters".

It is a new business podcast that Anna, Heather and I will be starting together - actually we are meeting tomorrow for the first time.

Our goal is to provide provide inspiration and guidance for women in Europe on how to engage with the internet to progress their personal and professional goals.

We will be sharing knowledge and tips all from blogs to podcasts, from websites to wiki's.

However "The Podcast Sisters" is for you, so do let us know what you would like us to cover to accelerate your online success.

I'm sure it will be entertaining listening knowing Anna and Heather - you can be sure that there will be times that our different experiences and backgrounds will show through as we share our personal success and all that we have learnt in our foray into this wonderful online world.

So watch out for "The Podcast Sisters Podcast" coming to a CD/iPod/MP3 player/your Mac/your PC very soon.

We have stars in our community!

First of all, one of our authors Krishna De was in the Wall Street Journal this month - congratulations Krishna for the well deserved recognition.
Secondly our own Heather Gorringe as just won Best Gardening Podcast award in the Mouse and Trowel awards!

Both great news and I am now bowing in the general direction of you both! I hope this shows there are some "wonderful female podcasting role models in the UK" to inspire us all.
Well done to you both

Why aren't there more women in podcasting?

Janet Parkinson of Talking Voices has just published a podcast on Women in Podcasting and asks why aren't there more women podcasters? She interviews myself, Anna Farmery from The Engaging Brand, Linda Mills from Podcast User Magazine and Suja from Podbazaar.

What are your thoughts? How do we bring more people to the world of Web 2.0?

5 Ways Podcasting has helped my business

I have just posted about the 5 ways on my podcasting blog - if you want to check it out here are my podcasting thoughts!

Making subscribing easy

We all want to grow our listenership, and one factor we all need to address is the ease of subscribing. OK it makes sense if you are tech savvy but if you are new to the idea of RSS then it still appears difficult. Dave Jackson of the School of Podcasting has just started a new website called Learn to Subscribe which is worth checking out and maybe linking to it to help grow your subscriber base. Here is the link to learn to subscribe.