Who else wants to keep listening to Pauls podcasts?

O.K., we are back to the ‘why should I do podcasts’ thing again.  I don’t know what you get out of it but I’ll bet a lot of people will agree with me:

I am listening to podcast 45.

I am sure that I am not the only one who learns a lot from your podcasts.

When I am not at work or sleeping, I am busy growing or processing food in some form or another – so I currently do not have time to sit down and read a lot.  And when I do read or research most of the stuff is what you call level one or two.  I want the advanced stuff – that is the stuff that shapes my farmlet. 

So what does that have to do with podcasts?  I can play them while I am at work doing other things.  And the few times I am listening at home I play them while I am working in the kitchen. 

So I am getting primo permaculture stuff while I am getting other things done.

You also have a way of skipping through a lot of basic ‘garden’ stuff that most seem to talk about and you get right to the point on permaculture nuggets of information.

And you are funny – even when you don’t mean to be.

Don't stop now Paul because -->your on  a ROLL

all ya need is some better (new) Lyrics  for the permies song...

i've been thinking about a permaculture Woodstock
well in miniature anyways....but,  Montana's big enough!

Well, it is now easier to make podcasts than to make videos - thanks mostly to Suzy Bean.

At the same time, the amount of hate mail, crazy mail, weird mail, etc. seems to be fueled by the podcasts.  And it does seem weird that anybody wants to listen to me blather on about anything. 

The odd thing is that the podcast counts seem to not be growing much.  My video about respectful chicken harvest hit 20,000 views in a week, but my all time most popular podcast still hasn't hit 2,000 downloads. 

My diatomaceous earth article will get 9,000 views each month.

I kinda think I shouldn't fool with podcasts since I'm not a podcast consumer.  I don't really have any idea what I'm doing.  If I knew what I was doing, maybe the podcast downloads would be ten times bigger than they are. 

Now that I know that there are gobs of other permaculture podcasts, I get the idea "this stuff is already covered - I'm just repeating stuff that is already out there."  Caleb said that my stuff is different, and a bit more advanced. 

For a while, the numbers for all of my stuff was on a powerful incline.  (looking over stats now;  we have an incline now that is similar to the incline of last summer; maybe I should wait until fall/winter when things really get going again)

I guess I've been thinking about "making a difference" via a few different metrics.  A video will get more views and an article will get more than a video.  Podcasts generate the most hate mail.  Most podcasts get downloaded about 700 times - maybe only 300 people actually listen. 

OTOH:  podcasts are now the easiest thing to make.  And I can convey a lot of stuff in one.  And with the podcasts I get to visit with some really cool people that I don't get to visit with with the videos/articles.

I also like the good feeback (like this thread).  That's probably been the biggest driving force for me to keep making the podcasts.

I have to find balance.  Our forum software is falling apart and I need to get us switched over to the new stuff.  And really, the videos, podcasts and articles and designed to pump the forums:  where we can have an exchange about the topics I like and we can all grow beyond our collective knowledge set. 

And change the world. 

I suppose I need to sit down and spend a week or two on the boring, depressing job of building traffic here.  I used to spend several hours a day doing that, and lately I've not been spending more than an hour per week.  It's just BORING!

Another factor:  sometimes I think Jocelyn is a bit worn out on making the podcasts.  And she's the real driving force. 

I guess the summary of all this is:  yes, every day I think I should stop doing the podcasts and focus my time on other stuff that seems more productive.  If I saw the podcast numbers rising, then the decision would be easy.  Therefore, the decision is not obvious.

Here's a thought that just popped into my head:

I'm trying to go through some of the forums and answer questions and stuff.  It would be great to have folks who listen to the podcasts answer newbie questions.  My favorite kind of answer is "paul would say _____".  This way, I will feel like I have less stuff that I need to get done.  And I would feel like the podcast is stacking a function:  I convey the glop from my head to the podcasts, and that stuff finds its way to the forums as answers to newbie questions.

I've seen a few threads where somebody asked a question and there was no response after weeks have passed. 

Further, if a question gets to be two days old and nobody else seems to have a good answer, I want to pop in and provide an answer.  So it would be great if folks would drop me an email or something.  After all, a lot of threads are seen by lots more people than any podcast.

Paul, I didn't realize you were getting so much podcast hate/crazy mail in relation to your other stuff - sheesh! Or, I missed that somehow.

I'm glad you're asking permies for feedback on this because it is an interesting conundrum in a sense.

Plus, I wanna clarify a few things.

paul wheaton wrote:
Another factor:  sometimes I think Jocelyn is a bit worn out on making the podcasts.  And she's the real driving force. 

I don't think I'm the driving force! I helped make the initial one or two happen, and I've helped organize some of them, but folks REALLY like your podcasts with experts like Helen Atthowe and such.

It's not so much that I'm worn out on podcasts, it's more specifically:

[li]I think others might be better in the podcasts[/li]
[li]I'm sometimes more picky about quality or preparation and want more time/space for that[/li]
[li]my schedule exploded with client work and family commitments and I'm struggling to keep my head above water with all that is on my plate.[/li]

I am truly enjoying reading/reviewing Gaia's Garden and look forward to more discussions around that.

Hope that helps a bit and that more folks will chime in about what might help the podcasts reach larger audiences.

Maybe if more of us would 'Like' the podcasts on our FB our network of contacts would listen to them.

I have never thought to 'like' a podcast but have recieved feedback when I have 'liked' other permies stuff and videos.

I have already listened to all of the podcasts but I could go back and share each one on my FB - like one a day or every other day or so. 

Personally I will listen to a podcast before I will watch a video - the video requires me to stop what I'm doing and give it my full attention.

I'll try the sharing on FB thing.

Well I love the podcasts, but I'm already a total convert...

I also have a few friends who listen to them, friends who I would dearly love to adopt permaculture, and they are really helping get them interested.  The book reviews are particularly useful in this respect as they then want to read them, and I'm in a position to lend out my copies. 

So please finish the Gaia's garden podcasts - that last one you did was superb!

I made at least two podcasts with toby. 

On the road trip out to see toby, somebody said that itunes has a rating system.  I never did figure out itunes.  for those of you that use itunes, i hope you gave my podcast a good rating.

Does the itunes stuff show download count?

Jeanine Gurley wrote:
Maybe if more of us would 'Like' the podcasts on our FB our network of contacts would listen to them.

It certainly wouldn't hurt!

Something I would like:

I put out something new each day.  Some things are better than others.  I would like to think that somebody that wanted me to keep making stuff would share at least one thing out of four.  The 25% that they like best. 

This might mean:

--  like/share on facebook
--  thumbs up on stumbleupon
--  submit to reddit
--  retweet
--  mention/review on a blog
--  mention/review on a forum (or mailing list) other than the permies forum

If I had even one podcast that had more than 10,000 downloads, I would feel a bit more comfortable approaching big players (that I don't already know) for an interview.  Currently, my most popular podcast hasn't even been downloaded 2,000 times.

I enjoy the podcasts very much.

I must still be part kid because I think it's cool when you say "fuck" and "shit".

It's hardcore permaculture (like hardcore rap except less guns and killing).

Travis Halverson wrote:
I enjoy the podcasts very much.

I must still be part kid because I think it's cool when you say "fuck" and "shit".

It's hardcore permaculture (like hardcore rap except less guns and killing).

That's not kids stuff; it's solid permaculture education - Bill Mollison is forewarning participants of his PDC courses
that he'll try to offend each and every one of them at least once

Usually done by calling them 'bastard(s)'.

I love Paul's podcasts!!  I find him to be ... funny.... off the wall... intelligently opinionated... articulate..... in a word.... entertaining!!  Many folks have lots of knowledge, but Paul has that info, plus a unique life experience, and personality plus! 

Slow down if you must, give Jocelyn time to breathe, but please keep them coming.  And keep if unvarnished.... btw, what are the haters upset about, in the main?

Listening to #52 with Toby Hemenway at the moment.  What an awesome person Toby is.  Honest, even humble maybe.  And certainly on the money when it comes to not taking himself too seriously, and allowing himself to adjust his opinions as he observes results. 

Great hearing the podcasts, and I would like to continue listening and enjoying.  Paul is intelligent and manages never to pontificate on any point.  He's also incredibly funny and down to earth.  Not wanting to be a brown-noser. but his stuff is good.

I'm in the process of listening to the older shows. Keep them coming! I'm keeping my end of the deal. Links everywhere I can post them and iTunes rating of 5 stars.

Chad,

you just got started?

how did you find out about these podcasts?

Paul,
I've been listening for a couple of weeks. I found the podcast by listening to the survival podcast.

I think that 80% to 90% of my current podcast audience comes from jack.

I suppose that's the best way to build a podcast audience - to make appearances on other podcasts. 

Well - for all of you folks that want me to keep making podcasts, I make the following request:  find some huge podcast that you like and request them to have me on their show.  Maybe send them a jack podcast with me in it.

perhaps slightly off topic but it seems as though everyone who has a question just plunks it on as a new thread rather than being able to find (easilly) old threads that have already dealt with the topic. It might be that people wouldnt have as many threads not responded to if they knew where to look up previous threads..

I don't see how you keep up, it seems as though every time I log in to ANY of the forums all the posts  for the whole page are new, with one or two exceptions. And many of them are dealing with questions which have already been fairly thoroughly discussed.

There is such a wealth of information on the forums..if it were possible to have sub links within the categories to threads? Maybe the forums have become too much of a behemoth to do that now. And of course, probly a lot of people would just leap into their question anyway, but for those who would like to read  everything on wofatis, for example, in one place...  or lord knows RMHs..

I'm almost computer illiterate but it's something that would be helpful if possible. And might cut down on the unanswered question problem a bit.

FWIW I have thoroughly enjoyed most of your podcasts. The interviews are fascinating and wonderfully informative. I'd especially like  to hear more of those. What with the scope of the forums there is enough material in there now to keep you busy for a lonnnnnnnggggg  time. (Just what you need, no doubt!)

i love the podcasts and your sense of humor  makes every podcast worth it. almost all the rest of the podcasts speak in monotone voices andDRONE on and on. s o yeah maybe its been said before paul, but they are yawners. you make me want to jump in the dirt!  podcasts are certainly the way that i interact with your material the most. i would love to be able to add more info on the forums, and one way i think i could do that would be to review your podcasts, offer my views on the subject matter. i am a truck driver and yearn to be able to have some land to work and a job that doesnt make me travel all lower 48. you keep my drive alive. having the podcasts in my ear while im driving makes my drive for the day worth it. i dont know how to do it but you should try to get on the top banner at itunes. that will jack your numbers up. i thought the round table at la biondos farm was the worst podcast. next time try to get everyone involved in the question being asked. my truck is a 2007 and it only gets abt 6 miles to the gallon, but i imagine the newer ones might get 8 to the gallon like you were saying on one of the podcasts, but i think you oughta check those numbers for sure. thanks for everything you do. when i went through missoula a while back, i really wanted to stop and check out the town, but i had to keep rolling. how do we or can we still sign up for sepp holzers pdc classes in missoula montana?

" If I had even one podcast that had more than 10,000 downloads, I would feel a bit more comfortable approaching big players (that I don't already know) for an interview.  Currently, my most popular podcast hasn't even been downloaded 2,000 times."

Well one thing that came up several times in various marketting courses was that  people who are hot shots in an area are generally delighted and very receptive to being asked for interviews. They are as eager as you are to get their message out.   You have a big audience here even if it isn't 10,000  and possibly your audience would complement their audience and both would benefit?

Besides, you don't have to belabour the fact that your podcasts haven't been downloaded as often as you would like. You DO have an audience here.

almost all the rest of the podcasts speak in monotone voices andDRONE on and on. s o yeah maybe its been said before paul, but they are yawners. you make me want to jump in the dirt!

Wow!  That's a new one for me!  Cool!

i dont know how to do it but you should try to get on the top banner at itunes.

I don't know either.  That sounds expensive.

it only gets abt 6 miles to the gallon

The hybrids get 8 and it sounds like a lot of folks are moving to those to save money.

how do we or can we still sign up for sepp holzers pdc classes in missoula montana?

Another thing I should do today....  okay put an email out about that.

Pam wrote:
" If I had even one podcast that had more than 10,000 downloads, I would feel a bit more comfortable approaching big players (that I don't already know) for an interview.  Currently, my most popular podcast hasn't even been downloaded 2,000 times."

Well one thing that came up several times in various marketting courses was that  people who are hot shots in an area are generally delighted and very receptive to being asked for interviews. They are as eager as you are to get their message out.   You have a big audience here even if it isn't 10,000  and possibly your audience would complement their audience and both would benefit?

Besides, you don't have to belabour the fact that your podcasts haven't been downloaded as often as you would like. You DO have an audience here.

Art Ludwig seems open to an interview.  And I really want to interview him.  I feel that before I do, I need to re-read all of his stuff.  Not re-reading all of his stuff seems disrespectful to him.  At the same time I feel like I am drowning in things that need to get done. 

I complained to Jack the other day and asked him how he gets so much done.  He said the he gets advertising and then pays people to do stuff.  Getting advertising sounds like yet another job.  And finding people to do stuff, and figuring out which parts to farm out - that sounds like work too.  And besides - I doubt a sponsor would want anything to do with me unless my numbers were bigger.

I haven't put podcasts or videos out for a while because I am trying to catch up on stuff. 

The last few days I've been thinking "fall is coming.  my cast iron article needs more attention.  I need to get links and stuff."  I've made a list of 17 things I need to do to take better care of that. 

I suppose that if people came to one of my things and said "this is good stuff" and then shared that thing with friends.  And then some of them shared it with friends ... and so on.  Then everything would be on a growth path and I wouldn't feel the need to do this other work.  But I get the impression that 99.9% of the consumers of my stuff just consume, enjoy, and then move on.  Meanwhile, somebody consumes some teeny bopper stuff and 80% of the teeny boppers go ape and share it willy nilly, so our society then gets lots of attention for teeny bopper stuff. 

I wanna say thanks to the folks that post to the tinkering forum and think about this stuff.  I feel like if enough people think about links and sharing and stuff, then I can focus more on content and less on being a steward for the content.

thanks so much for replying to what i posted last night.  i have beenhesitant to get involved in the forums  because i thought that whatever i posted would just sit around in cyberspace and noone would  ever really pay much attention unless i got really lucky. i meant what i said aboutyour podcasts. backachers.com-- boring  they seem to just want to talk about their farm animals and ohhh theyre so cute they were really happy to get out of the barn permaculturepodcastwith scott mann---boring monotone voice permaculturepodcast with ryan unmack i think this is the guy that is just getting started,doesnt seem to really know much.  pri podcasts i think this probably ranks second to yours but there is no humor. i would get in touch with this super funny musician named josh gardner. his album is named mr stinkfinger. he might be able to write an intro song for you or something. i will write adam carrolla and tell him about you and how he should interview you. when youtalk about big boys in podcasts, there is noone bigger than adam! i would love to be a catalyst for that interview.  by the way, dont despair about the difference you're making. there are a LOT of people in the world who work very hard to keep this kind of stuff suppressed. what little i know about permaculture clearly illustrates this to me.
i wrote this  last part124 days ago and just never got around to doing anything about it till now.  it was in response to the podcast that you made by yourself while driving and you said jocelyn woul dn't let you say that stuff. here goes: Hey Paul, I just wanted to offer you some words of encouragement because I heard your dissatisfaction with those that said they were going to help out promoting your podcasts.  I knowhow you felt/ feel because i was a manager of a csa for 3 years.  I Went through a lot of the same stuff.  I  find you very entertaining and would be happy to pay for YOUR podcasts. Have you ever heard this guy at thepermaculturepodcast.com? YOU and Jocelyn are  way better at presentation of this material! Thank you so much and I think you should tell people how to make a link to the  forum. I for one am not always successful ingetting the link to be blue.

Note about your podcasts:

There is another forum (to remain nameless) that has good stuff but I don't listen to it because there is too much political stuff thrown in it.

If I wanted to listen to political stuff I would turn on the TV or something.  Lots of people love that stuff but I don't.

I like your podcasts and this forum because it sticks to actual hands on stuff that we can do to improve our lives.

And someone mentioned the monotone thing - Don't really want to make your head any bigger but you do have a good voice to listen to.  You have the ability to change tone, and emotion -  preachy, understanding, humerous, playful, angry and neutral.  That talent is hard to come by.  Makes it interesting to listen to.

tawnyscrawnylion wrote:
i have beenhesitant to get involved in the forums  because i thought that whatever i posted would just sit around in cyberspace and noone would  ever really pay much attention unless i got really lucky

I think these forums are pretty active so that shouldn't be too much of a problem.  And, at the same time, it seems that if you have this concern, you'll wanna keep your eye out for newbies and make sure they get an answer.

Along those lines, i have been dropping dozens of things.  If there are 100 things that need to get done here, I first pick out the 50 that only I can do, and hope that somebody else covers the other 50.  Then I take those 50 things and put them in priority order.  After a years passes, number 8 through 50 never got done.

they seem to just want to talk about their farm animals and ohhh theyre so cute

This is something that I don't understand.  I went to an event where a guy was giving a two hour presentation on lots of organic farms he went to.  I thought "cool!  he does what I do!  this will be awesome!"  More than a hundred people!  Wow, this guy must be really good!  All pictures and poetry.  So boring.  Yet the crowd went hog wild for it.  I have now seen this dozens of times.  People like pictures and poetry ten times more than hugelkultur and wofati. 

But I'm not wired to generate pictures and poetry.  I get lots of people that want me to generate pictures and poetry, but it just isn't there.  So my audience will, therefore, be smaller. 

I was talking to jocelyn yesterday and was relating how a couple of events i've gone to as "just some guy" (not "the guy") while focused on eco and horticulture and the like were not only freaky lame, but if anything came out of my mouth I would be freaking people out.  They are at wheaton eco level 1 and 2 - and the stuff that comes out of my mouth is level 4 or above.  So, to them, it sounds crazy.  It was painful to hear them proudly talk about rototillers and llama poop while uttering "organic".  And if I say "hugelkultur" their eyes glaze over and you can see their interest focus on whether there is any beer left.

I am realizing that my audience is gonna be tiny.  Very few people will be able to digest this stuff.

Yet, if only 1 person in 10,000 has interest in this stuff, and a billion people understand english, that still means there are .... (6 billion / 10,000) 600,000 people to find.

Each podcast gets downloaded at least 600 times in the first week.  Some get downloaded more than a thousand times.  So I'm currently reaching about 1% of the people that might like this sort of thing. 

i would get in touch with this super funny musician named josh gardner

I have a great musician:  jimmy pardo.  The thing is, working his song into the beginning might make things more professional, but it also makes things more work.  Right now, no podcasts or videos have gone out for a while because of work that needs to be done.  If we fancy up the podcasts, there will be fewer of them.  Let's face it:  the podcasts make zero money and they take time.  They take time to record, they take time to mash, they take time to put up with all the right text, they take time to let folks know that they exist.  And by putting up a podcast, other things don't get done.  And eventually, those things need to be dealt with.

i will write adam carrolla and tell him about you and how he should interview you.

That seems huge!  If that pans out, that would probably bring a lot of people to this. 

Hey Paul, I just wanted to offer you some words of encouragement because I heard your dissatisfaction with those that said they were going to help out promoting your podcasts.  I knowhow you felt/ feel because i was a manager of a csa for 3 years.  I Went through a lot of the same stuff.  I  find you very entertaining and would be happy to pay for YOUR podcasts. Have you ever heard this guy at thepermaculturepodcast.com? YOU and Jocelyn are  way better at presentation of this material!

I think that just like your CSA, you had gobs of people saying "you should tell more people" or even "I'm gonna tell my friends" and then very little really comes of it.  There is a huge gap between good stuff and the people looking for that stuff.  A person could like your CSA, and then go tell somebody, but somehow every person they talk to seems to not get it.  The CSA thing just seems too ... different.  And they get discouraged and then never tell the people that would have jumped on it.

As for other podcasts, about a month ago i poked around and listened to fragments of a few.  I'm not really a podcast consumer.  I think their stuff is gonna do better than mine because it will seem less crazy.

Thank you so much and I think you should tell people how to make a link to the  forum. I for one am not always successful ingetting the link to be blue.

What are you trying to link from?

Jeanine Gurley wrote:
There is another forum (to remain nameless) that has good stuff but I don't listen to it because there is too much political stuff thrown in it.

If I wanted to listen to political stuff I would turn on the TV or something.  Lots of people love that stuff but I don't.

I like your podcasts and this forum because it sticks to actual hands on stuff that we can do to improve our lives.

I get a lot of people crazy angry that I don't go down politics road.  So I like to hear folks say that they appreciate me not going down that road. 

I do like to stick to the nuts and bolts.  And, at the same time, there are some social aspects that i think are important, but that has more to do with getting 20 people to live under one roof than "social justice" stuff. 

And someone mentioned the monotone thing - Don't really want to make your head any bigger but you do have a good voice to listen to.  You have the ability to change tone, and emotion -  preachy, understanding, humerous, playful, angry and neutral.  That talent is hard to come by.  Makes it interesting to listen to.

At the moment, the stuff that makes my head bigger is the only fuel that keeps the podcasts going! 

a couple of things...  a lot of people  may well be interested in this sort of thing but have never heard of the term "permaculture" If you know  of someone  "big"  and also openminded and feisty in the organic crowd it might make an interesting podcast to discuss where the two coincide and diverge.

Until I stumbled by accident into your site I had never heard of permaculture and I have tried to follow information about growing things on a farm scale all my life.  How long did it take for the organic idea to take hold?  Even now people argue about that and you are taking it yet a step further. 

Organic is superficially easy to understand, no chemicals. O.K. Anyone can understand and do that.   Permaculture  involves all sorts of stuff and even has a different vocabulary..swales? suntraps? food forest? It's confusing and intimidating to many people I think....besides, anyone can say their   10 x 10 suburban garden is organic but how in the world are they supposed to think of permaculture? It would mean ..what, exactly, to them? There are a lot more people in suburbia with gardens than farmers.  I suspect when such people hear the term  "food forest" most of them immediately have an image which is not compatible with their situation.

It occurred to me yesterday that Sepp  seems not to worry about what other people are doing or thinking; he decides for himself what needs to be done and he just gets on with it. What people make of it, he leaves to them.

It seems to me you worry a lot about stuff you really have no control over, such as how to make people do what you want them to do; listen, download, link, believe, prosletize.  Understandable  but I think you are giving yourself a lot of stress because you have no control over what other people do, only what YOU do. Tell them what you want them to do and then get on with your own stuff; they will or they won't.

You are  reaching a large number of people and if you torture yourself by focussing on how it should be x many more then I think that's largely a waste of energy.  People who are "doers" will get involved, most probably won't. If you look on store shelves today, although most people talk the "organic is better" talk, there's still miles of shelf space dedicated to various poisons and chemicals. It's there because it sells. People largely retreat back into the known that they were taught, it's just easier and they don't know what else to do anyway, how to cope with something that turned up in their garden unless they go back to the chemical solution. It's just how people are. You are presenting something that on the face of it seems complicated and strange, so lots of busy anxious people are often going to "turn off" in self defense.

However, you have a large audience that seems to be growing all the time. What you are already doing is working, and working extremely well, if you consider  how much "noise"  there is on the internet now, competing for attention.

To take over the world takes TIME, Paul.

But I want world domination NOW! 

here is the work I'm doing today:  no videos/podcasts/articles.  Instead, focus on how to put the existing stuff into more brains.  If I put out a new podcast, the same folks will hear it that have heard the previous podcasts. 

Your point is good.  Which is why I value the lawn care article so much.  It is bizarre what a large percentage of the world's problems happen in a lawn.  So people spend enough time futzing with their lawn, that they sometimes turn to google and ask about "lawn care".  I can then tell them about how to spend less time, less money and get a better looking lawn.  And then they can plant crocuses in it.  And they can grow all sorts of other cool things in it.  And that article introduces them to hugelkultur and the forums and other ideas and ....  that article is a gateway to permaculture. 

But the article is no longer high on the search engines like it used to be.  Big companies have displaced it because they have spent big money on SEO.  I don't have big money.  But I do have people that like my stuff.  If these people can make links ...

And then there is the cast iron article.  I think it is a good gateway article too.  I feel powerfully compelled to get links for it.

Don't stop. Instead, how about shorter ones? I probably wouldn't watch the TED talks if they were any longer. So - 15 or 20 minutes is perfect. Do some video, too. Don't worry about the numbers. It's not a mass-culture topic you are covering here. Editing is a bore, but most people are way too busy and I know I would spend more time with the podcasts if they were shorter.

The reason I keep listening is that I ALWAYS learn something.

That said, there are some folks with a big following that you could plug into, such as Get Rich Slowly, where your video on lowering your heating bill by only heating yourself could be written up. JD is looking for readers to write in all the time.

And there's Dave's Garden, which has good articles by readers. Surely you could be making some money selling articles. I do.

And the hate mail - a true sign that you are having a deep effect on people. That's good. If you are hurt by it, delete it as soon as you know what it is. Some folks read it to learn by it, but it can be too depressing. Some folks get others to delete it for them so they can avoid it completely.

Do what you love. It will get better. So will you. And listen to your own podcasts!
ß
Rita

Rita,

I think you might be my new best friend.  Because you publish articles that might have links to my empire! 

shorter podcasts:  we've done a couple that are shorter.  And will probably do some more shorter ones in the future. 

That said, there are some folks with a big following that you could plug into, such as Get Rich Slowly, where your video on lowering your heating bill by only heating yourself could be written up. JD is looking for readers to write in all the time.

Something I know nothing about.  Can you help me here?

And there's Dave's Garden, which has good articles by readers. Surely you could be making some money selling articles. I do.

I have posted to their forums before.  Really lame results with that. 

As for making money:  getting money to then spend on getting more traffic is not a bad idea.  Of course, I kinda need a better idea of where to spend the money once I have it. 

The idea is a big gob of stacking functions.  The end result is world domination:  people being permaculture savvy and helping me to further my own knowledge set through these forums.  The articles that were recently published in countryside mag did almost zero in bringing people to these forums.  In the meantime, a mention on lifehacker seems to have brought big heaps of traffic! 

At this moment I am thinking that I should work something out with bloggers and writers to help flesh stuff out a bit so that they can get paid for content that contains links to my stuff!

How do you feel about that?

I will soon begin blogging, and I think you need an actual website and a blog, so you can sell books, videos, and also do some affiliate marketing. Lots of bloggers list their favorite blogs (on a blogroll) and links. Amazon pays you a tiny bit for business you send them. You can sell ads for your friends that have books or products or courses. All this could happen gradually as you learn about it. Just start small. You don't have to price things high.

It is possible to start with a free blog, but people who do that complain a lot when it is time to get their own and they have to hire someone to make the move.

I write for the Harris Farmers' Almanac (the 32 essays under each of the months), plus some other articles for them, so that money all comes at once in the spring. I blew all that money on a trip this year, but next year I will spend it on a website/blog. In the meantime, I am studying how to do it, and looking for a local tech guru here in Arkansas.

You are right that lots of info is on the net, but you can also say that lots of fiddlers are out there already, or lots of people already write short stories. You can contribute your talents without having to be the best, or make a big splash. World Domination will happen by default anyway, or in our world, at least.

In a real sense, you are a performer. If this is what you love to do, keep doing it. Look around. Everyone old guy who has achieved anything did it by just keeping on keeping on. Do it for the Mama.

Study how to make it easy for people to send your work to their friends. I really don't want to get on facebook, but I may do it, kicking and screaming. And there is twitter (groan). But I admire people like Sharon Astyk that break a lot of marketing rules and still have a huge following: she has no picture of herself, or other marketing ploys, and just uses the platform of The Energy Bulletin.

When you have a website/blog, you can sometimes include a link to it when you post on Dave's Garden or JD's site. I think some may be uncomfortable with the complexity of a forum, and not spend the time sifting through a forum but would click on a blog. It need to be simple and attractive and easy to use. If you wrote an article for Get Rich Slowly, and people learned new things, they would check out your blog. That is how people build blog readership - by guest posting.

The best teachers in how to do this , IMHO, are Leo Baubata and Mary Jaycsh (spelling?) of minimalist blogging fame. Check out Zen To Done, and his other blogs. He had a message and just started putting it out there and now he is huge, six years later. It would be only a little money to sign up for their blogging lessons, and cheap, too.

Good idea to build a community of permaculture writers. We are all in the same boat - not doing it for the money, but needing some cash. When you have a blog, you can pay people to guest- blog and connect with their readers. If I were you I would focus on the internet instead of print. It is the future, until the grid goes down. Also, read anything by Seth Godin. And if you want to get a quick education on World Domination, the current master is Chris Guillbeau, of The Art of Non-Conformity, IMHO. Go to his World Summit in Portland next June. I went to the first one and it was a mini-MBA in all this stuff.

One more thing, I think you are right to do some podcasts/videos on those topics of wider interest, like lawns. How about some on other common problems: attracting pollinators, keeping critters out (I have trouble with cats!) making your veggie garden look like a flower garden so the neighbors won't complain, situating your garden well (places not to plant - like near walnuts), How to get started if it's your first garden, how to read the landscape so you don't watch your garden get carried away in a flood, etc.

I hope this helps.
Rita

I just noticed the books for sale! Okay. A good way to support you.
Rita

Paul - After spending hours really delving into the innards of this forum, I now see that you are doing a ton of stuff already to make it grow. I am impressed. How do you keep up with it all? Thanks for keeping it going.
Rita

RitaSparrow wrote:
Paul - After spending hours really delving into the innards of this forum, I now see that you are doing a ton of stuff already to make it grow. I am impressed. How do you keep up with it all? Thanks for keeping it going.
Rita

I have lots of people like you helping me.

Some people post good stuff, taking care to set precedent for good communication.

Some people delete spam.

Some people help with mashing podcasts.

Some people send me video clips.

Some people answer questions with "paul would say ..."

Some people click on "report to moderator" a lot.

Some people share "bricks".

The list goes on and on.  Many hands make light work.

Paul - I did not relate to this as a web site. I get confused at reddit-type sites. maybe too ADD. It gets overwhelming, so I gravitate to simple one-topic-at-a-time blogs instead. Is there a place here where you talk about your own history, like a blog has an "about" page?

Thanks for the podcasts Paul!  I generally get a lot out of them.  I have particularly enjoyed the Gaia's Garden chapters - it's a great way for me to review the content in my head from the book which I read a few years ago now.  I pulled it out to review some of the tables and stuff you mentioned.  I think the book review idea is a good one as it raises lots of interesting conversation points.  Maybe you could use the Gaia's Garden content to get more people involved - after all, it is the most popular permaculture book isn't it?  I'm sure Amazon have a policy against posting links on their reviews, but there must be other ways to tap into those readers.

PRI Australia (permaculture.org.au) pay for informative articles.  Why not write a quick summary of your Gaia's Garden podcasts so far and include a link to the podcast as well?  I'm sure they would be interested, it'd be heaps better than reading another depressing Lester Brown article about how fucked up the world is

Also, the higher you go up the "Wheaton scale", the less people there will be who are able to utilise the information, like a pyramid.  So inherently your material will not appeal to the masses unless you dumb it down.  But arguably the more advanced info is just as valuable, as it then trickles down to the lower levels, even if the number of people directly receiving it is lower.

Keep up the good work!!

paul, i know i said that i was going to write adam carolla an email and i tried but i couldnt find anyway to email him or a contact phone number. i did notice that hes got twitter but i dont play that. i would classify him as a blist celebrity, but still it would be a helluva lot of exposure for you to be on his show. i think planb would be for you to advertise your websites somewhere. i bet adam carolla is out of your price range but the podcast risk! seems to be starved for advertisers or like i said before get on the top banner at itunes.  in reference to posting a link i did try to put a link up at the yahoo! groups forum for the csa that i used to manage. i couldnt get it to be an actual link. it looked this: www.permies.com i think it has everything to do with the browser i use. safari on the ipad. i loved the mullein video. the spokesperson part was hilarious.

Please keep the podcasts coming Paul !!!

I am a podcast junkie of sorts and love to listen to you and Jocyeln. BTW, she is a real sweetheart and she adds so much to the show with her kind and gentle manner.

I faithfully listen to a handful of other podcasts along with yours and have a few suggestions that may or may not be helpful. Before I do that, maybe it would be helpful for you to listen to more podcasts yourself to sample the range of what's out there, etc...you might be surprised that your shows compare very favorably in quality of content, audio fidelity, entertainment value, and so on.

I find it easy and fun to listen to a handful of podcasts when I am outside working in the garden, tending critter, painting the house, you get the idea. The only thing I cannot do is mow due to the sound level. I have a cheesy $10 mp3 player that can get destroyed in the dirt and 'so what' - no one would dare do what I do with their fancy eyePod.

Suggestions

1. SLOW DOWN - I was amazed at the sheer number of podcasts you posted in the last few months. Most podcasts I listen to post one show per week, or less. I could see where a listener with less time to listen than I have would not be able to keep up, especially if they have a list of other podcast that they listen to weekly.

2. Control the length of each episode - One hour is about right. Less if appropriate. Break up long interviews and/or topics into multiple episodes. Don't be afraid to finish one topic and start a new discussion in the middle of a podcast. How long was your longest show so far? I show #19 at 2 hours and 35 minutes. Great if you are on a long drive or have a lot of trees to plant, but otherwise, who has that much time to listen without many interruptions?

3. Be a guest on other podcasts - obviously you know this after being on spearco's survival podcast. I will recommend you as a guest to some other podcasters, and I would encourage any others on this forum to do the same.

4. Have you thought about putting up a paypal donte button, or something like it? I know I would donate...

5. Think about your audience and the use of the F-bomb. I know it sounds strange, but some people may be put off by it, or not want to recommend the show to others...just a thought.

Thanks for all you do Paul

Listening faithfully in great falls,
Bill