Tag Archives: podfade

No Podfade — Just Pulling the Plug on MYDL.ME



mydl_logof you’ve been around the Internet for any length of time, I’m sure you heard of Scott Bourne and Andy Ihnatko.  Both can be found at the MY Digital Life blog and podcast — at least until August 31, 2009.

Scott and Andy have been doing a podcast and blog helping listeners manage their digital life for the past six months. Everything from backups to storage and cool gadgets were discussed on their blog and three times a month on their podcast.

The last podcast, MYDL #15, was a much shorter show and Scott announced that they were pulling the plug on the podcast and blog at the end of the month. The site was sponsored by Data Robotics (Drobo) and everyone decided it was time to shut down and move on. I had the pleasure of generating the show notes for the podcast and learned a lot in the process. Scott and Andy had some great information and the show will be greatly missed. Scott and Andy will still be around but focusing on other things.

In Scott’s final comments to his listeners, he urged everyone to backup, backup, backup. Something Scott and Andy preached on every show and good advice for everyone.

In the Internet world we tend to think everything lives on forever. Podcaster fade and websites go dormant, but rarely go away. MYDL is an exception. If you haven’t been to MYDL.ME, head over there now before August 31, and check out the great content, before it’s gone forever. 73’s, Tom


Podfade



Update Written by Contributing Editor

Why do so many podcasts just end after a while or experience “podfade”? Obviously it takes time to do podcasting so since time is scarce in our culture you can only do so much in the 168 hours you have each week. I imagine the reason people start a podcast is they want to make money, they have always wanted to be in “talk radio”, or they are truly passionate about the subject they are discussing. Making money at podcasting is not easy or immediate so that ends the dreams of most. It can be done but you better hold that day job …… for a while. Secondly people just don’t realize how much time it takes to do a regular podcast. They think you can just fire up the microphone, start jabbering, and hit upload. They don’t think about show prep and getting their facts straight so they don’t come off like a moron. They also find it hard to have a quiet time to do a show when the family is not going to be heard in the background. They try to keep it up but fall behind on doing their show, eventually giving up.

I speak from experience as I did one for a while but podfade hit & it was over. I did it on a subject I really love, sports, but was still unable to keep it going. Part of that is from my not being organized enough at the time but I am turning that around currently. I am trying to work out a “zero based time budget”(Dan Miller idea) to keep me focused on important stuff. That led to always feeling the pressure to do a show because I wanted it to be on schedule. Like Todd says, if you are not uploading a show on time on a regular schedule your listeners will leave. I have started podcasting again but on a different subject in hopes of creating an extra income connected to my small business which I am passionate about and enjoy. Another thing I am doing is creating the show early to have in the can to upload on the scheduled day. I am not waiting to do the recording on the night I need to upload since things can come up with the family that needs my attention. I like this way better plus it is a show that does not have up to the second industry news so recording a day early is fine. I think this show will have a long life but I know I have to make it a priority or podfade will attack me again!