Podcasting or Blogging?

December 1st, 2008 by Derek | Filed under Commentary.

I’ve reached the point where I don’t know if I would prefer to make a regular podcast or do regular blog posts. Right now, I don’t do much of either on a regular basis and that has always been a private source of embarrassment to me.

Podcasting is a lot easier simply because it is just talking to friends. Writing is a touch more difficult because you never know who is reading your stuff and a lot of the subtle nuances that can be conveyed in speech is lost.

However, once the recording is done there is a lot more to do before you have a podcast (the listen-thru, the conversion to the proper bitrate and format, completing the ID3 tags, uploading the file, updating the RSS feed, creating show notes and updating the website, verifying that the file transferred completely, checking for any RSS errors and making sure that all of the pertinent information is in the episode notification.) Writing a blog post just requires that you double check your spelling and hit Publish.

Then there is the whole reaching different audiences problem. There are people who listen to the podcast who never go to the website and there are website visitors who will read blog postings but never check out the podcast itself. I need to figure out how to get a bit of convergence there, but I’m not holding out much hope.

Oh well, I figure something out. I always do.

Tags: blogging, podcasting

Comments to “Podcasting or Blogging?”

Scott Cederlund | 1/12/08

It’s funny because I’m in much of the same position myself but almost have the opposite approach. I prefer writing and blogging to doing the podcast and the writing aspect comes much simpler to me. In the past 3 months, I’ve started about 5 different podcast episodes but quickly lost interest and now when I try to do it, I feel horribly out of practice.

David Koenig | 1/12/08

Derek, I have been listening to your podcast for a year now. I like how your voice sounds, your opinions and how you mix real life into it. Blogging wouldn’t be the same at all. -Dave K/Grayson, GA

Eric | 2/12/08

I think you should follow Bruce R’s example and just make the podcast your audio blog whenever you feel like it. Don’t worry about editing those episodes. Just shoot from the hip, say what’s on your mind and put it out there. I enjoy hearing you go on tangents or just talk about whatever because you always have an interesting POV. If people don’t want to listen to that then don’t worry about it. And at the times you feel like you can do the more official Podcasts with all the editing and whatnot.

Chris Marshall | 6/12/08

I enjoy the podcast, Derek. Besides there’s no Detroit Bloggers Network meet-ups that I know of.

Derek | 6/12/08

Thanks everybody. I think I just need to get off of my butt and record more. I have a bunch of notes for a bunch of different episodes, so I might as well do something with them.