How Live Podcasting (a.k.a. Podcast Streaming) Can Differentiate Your Show

Podcasting is one of the best marketing options for your brand in this day and age. The human voice can convey a sense of trust and offers your listeners a guarantee that they are being given the best advice from an expert in the industry. One thing that can cause doubt over this is the recording aspect of your podcast.

When you record a podcast and then release it, you often have a chance to edit out the blemishes from your episode and make it seem perfect. This is great for quality, but by being too perfect, the podcast can appear fake. This can become a problem.

Trust is a key issue and by being perceived as fake, your reputation and the success of your podcast can falter.

There is a solution to this: live podcasting (also referred to as podcast streaming).

What Do We Mean By Live Podcasts?

Live podcasts are shows that are more like a radio show than a traditional podcast. Shows are broadcast live through online software to an audience who are listening to the podcast as you record it.

There are many different online software packages that allow you to do this and there are advantages of live podcasting. For one, podcast streaming is a little used technique therefore you are going to be more unique. It can also establish a very loyal following. If your content is strong and you offer time specific content (i.e. offers that are only available for three hours after broadcast), then you can ensure that you have a regular audience who are brand advocates.

Live Podcasts vs. Podcast Streaming

Is there a difference between live podcasting and podcast streaming? Not at all. These concepts are exactly the same, but some people prefer different verbiage. In some cases, “podcast streaming” refers to podcasts with a video element, but otherwise these terms are interchangeable.

Is It Harder to Manage a Live Podcast?

There are certain challenges to live podcasting.

For one, any guests that appear on the show have to be punctual and prepared. Otherwise you can seem rather unprofessional. At the same time you need to be fully prepared for your segments.

You can’t re-record any elements of your podcast and therefore you have to get the content right from the get-go. This makes podcast streaming challenging for beginner podcasters.

Technology can also cause problems. If you are recording the podcast in-person with your guest, then the only technological issues you may have will be to do with your equipment not working. However, you can quickly dispel worry with this by checking your equipment before and after each recording.

If you do remote podcasting you may have more trouble. Skype and other chat programs aren’t immune to large outages. An outage in the middle of a podcast streaming session could be catastrophic. Recently Skype had a massive outage that would have meant any guest on your show would have had to find another way to communicate with you.

What About Sponsor Ads and Jingles?

Many online, live recorded podcast programs available, allow for you to insert adverts and jingles at your command with the click of a button. This means you can still have some of the key revenue earning streams and the top quality production that you would expect from any other podcast. But you’ll have to be prepared to play these elements during your podcast streaming session.

You even have the option of recording the show for release on iTunes and other podcast hosting sites for those who missed the live recording of the show to download it later. Therefore, with a live recorded episode you are getting significant benefits while not losing any of the advantages of pre-recording the podcast.

Is Living Podcasting / Podcast Streaming Worth It?

Live podcasting is an excellent way for your business’ brand to be portrayed to the audience. But they demand consistency and good organization from you and anyone else involved in the production of the episodes. The returns on live broadcasting can be excellent but as with any form of online marketing, it isn’t right for everyone.

Do you think you could live broadcast a podcast? Have you done it before? What were your results?