Show Posts: Too Much v/s Not Enough

[michel]

When I first began producing my show I would put up a few lines of text describing the show on the webpost. As I began looking at other shows' sites I saw many different things on posts: Show Notes, Show Breakdown, File Information, Extensive Thesis-esque Posts... Just a lot of stuff.

Some of which I borrowed and some of which I didn't. Currently on show posts I put up two or three short paragraphs about the show, a handful of links that relate to topics that were covered, a minute by minute breakdown of the show, and then some File Information...

Holy crap... That's a lot of stuff, and I'm tired of it! It's just too much other junk. And I'm pretty sure the majority of my listeners aren't coming via the website, but I don't know. It's taking me almost two hours of post-production for every half hour show. This is ridiculous.

If I quit doing all that, do I appear lazy? Or does it matter.


What are your thoughts on post information. How much do you do, or how little?

[SteveRunner]

I try to keep the notes minimal, my listeners only go to my website to get the links I mention in the show (and since I am a terrible annoucer, and can barely get my words out...if they want the links, they HAVE to go to my website).

That's not to say that detailed show notes are a bad thing. I really appreciate show notes like on Dawn and Drew and DSC (especially with DSC, Adam tends to rattle off alot of great links...so his show notes are very helpful).

As for spending time on my website...hey, I'm training for a marathon AND hosting a PodCast...it's a wonder I have time to sleep as it is!! :)

Here are my show notes for this weeks show (to give you an idea of how much information I include):

Volunteers are essential to the success of a road race. Without them there would be darkness and chaos. It would be a nightmarish, crowded march of confusion amidst a cacophonous mass of unguided athletes.
http://firstgiving.com/debkumar
http://trainingformyfirstmarathon.blogspot.com/
http://snipurl.com/coloncancerchallenge
www.cancer.org
www.cdc.gov
http://juicereceiver.sourceforge.net
www.tobyk.com/maps
www.runrestrepeat.com/blog
http://beach.typepad.com/
www.ktc.org
www.Burning20.com
"Running Free" performed by "The Hushpuppies Band" http://www.thehushpuppies.com

[WyethDigital]

Since our show features what amounts to tutorials, we use our show notes (in it's own RSS feed) to give instructions, recipes, links, or whatever was covered on the Podcast. Since we're so short (4 to 5 minutes), I don't go by timecode.

And since we're so new, we haven't done any plugs for other podcasts yet (we'll be trying that in a couple of weeks).

As far as reading show notes goes, I skim them. Unless something really outrageous happens, and I wan't to know where in the podcast I can find it, I don't usually bother paying attention to timecodes in shownotes. I think they're overused, and on a long show can make the show notes almost as cumbersome to read as it probably was to put them together. When I look at show notes, I'm looking for a synopsis of the show, maybe a highlight or two, instructions if there's a tutorial, and if there are links mentioned, I look for those.

I have no idea if I'm typical.


Eric

PS -- You can see our Show Notes here. (http://www.wyethdigital.com/howtogirl/howto_show_notes/howto_show_notes.html)

[michel]

My long time-coded breakdown of the show was actually a direct result of Dawn and Drew... jerks... I started listening to them last year when they went to NYC, and I really liked how on their page they had basically no show post info. But then they got back from NYC and Drew posted something like, "Now that we're back I can start posting show stuff again." And as one of the top shows out there, I felt the need to imitate them post wise, as it is the sincerest form of flattery... or so they say.

My big problem though with my show is that there aren't any show notes... ever. That's how I run the show. Sometimes I'll jot down a couple of things on a scrap of paper, but for the most part I want to keep the show very free-formed stream-of-consciousness. From what I've listened to out there (not a lot) the idea seems sort of atypical. From everything I've listened to, show notes pre-recording seem to be the norm. My main co-host, my brother David, doesn't always like my approach as he went to Broadcasting school. And there I suppose it's drilled in that Show Notes are a must... I disagree. I dislike on terradio how Talk Jockeys will run one topic into the ground for an hour. Of course, I can't say that I wouldn't do the same thing if I had to talk for 2 or 3 or 4 hours.

So with a stream of consciousness show I have to listen back to it to create any "show notes" which is part of the time equation. And as for links, sometimes we mentions something, sometimes there's something in our email, sometimes the show is about a link (like show 11 which dealt with navigating a post-op tranny's site). But who knows...

[TheBiblePodClass]

Just a lot of stuff.... That's a lot of stuff, and I'm tired of it!.


You're not alone. I update my site twice a week. I pay homage to the artist that I play on the show and also show notes.

I think the real question is are the people looking at it? I would check your weblogs, if you have access to them. But I would look at what the core function of your podcast is. If the information on the site doesn't add to your podcast then it may not be worth it. If it is important it might be worth pushing your show notes out as a PDF. I like this because you can get stats on how many downloads. About half of my listeners download the show notes-- to me that is substantial.

If the podcast is for entertainment, then you may not need much, just a bunch of pictures with blurbs. If your podcast is news-oriented you probably want to have a bunch of links to the original stories, the same for music casts. If your podcast is information-oriented or educational etc then you may need a lot of content on the website because the podcast is just one piece of the educational puzzle.

I think every genre of podcast will be different.

But I think the real problem is that podcasters are doing the jobs of 3,4,5 or more people. You're the producer, talent, sound engineer, marketer, web designer and publisher. Some people have even more roles. It's a lot. My next step is to find partners that I can count on to help out.

And no, you're not being lazy. You're putting on a program with very little resources.

[Seuss]

Basically your shownotes on the web should accomplish 2 things. They need to offer actual links to info or music you discussed on your show and also need to entice a potential listener visting your website through a link to actually click the link to your mp3.

You should be able to accomplish that pretty easily and it should definitely NOT be broken down minute by minute.

Check my sig to see if we practice what I preach on that.

As far as show notes for you the broadcaster YES... essential. Again these notes should be brief. Our topic notes and music selections minor bio info usually takes up only the front & back of an index card and for us only serves as memory trigger for the most part.

[WyethDigital]

My long time-coded breakdown of the show was actually a direct result of Dawn and Drew... jerks... I started listening to them last year when they went to NYC, and I really liked how on their page they had basically no show post info. But then they got back from NYC and Drew posted something like, "Now that we're back I can start posting show stuff again." And as one of the top shows out there, I felt the need to imitate them post wise, as it is the sincerest form of flattery... or so they say.

I like Dawn and Drew also, but I've always hated their show notes. Personally, I think it has less to do with being a pro on their part, and more to do with Drew being a geek who gets into that whole OPML thing :) Adam Curry's used to be pretty simple. Pretty much just links. I sometimes think he could do more of a synopsis. But I pretty much quit subscribing to him when he subjected me to a 1 1/4 hour "sound seeing tour" of his flight from England to the Netherlands on a really hissy/noisy mic -- and then did nothing to edit it or clean it (I will listen to shows that have an "amateur sound," but not to shows that are lazy, especially given AC's background).

But back on topic! I think Einstein's addage of making it simple enough, but not too simple applies here. Do just what you need, and nothing more. I think your audience would much prefer a quality show to pages of show notes!


Eric

[jeffoest]

I did shownotes on "This And That" simply to make some of the content Google/Technorai searchable. Have no idea if it did anything or not...

As far as reading other's shownotes. If I'm sampling a brand new show, I may go to the shownotes to pick a candidate to sample. Also if I hear a reference on a podcast to something that I just have to check out, I'll refer to the shownotes for the link. But that happens rarely. Normally show notes are wasted on a listener like me.