How to Support Scouting Bloggers and Podcasters

A handful of Scouters are blogging and podcasting regularly. Many others have tried and discovered that it requires more work than they first thought. (Hands up everyone who ever started a blog). The vast majority of us are readers and listeners rather than publishers.

Scoutmaster blog started five years ago this month. Like any endeavor it has had its ups and downs but it has been worth it to me personally because I have been able to work out my own thinking about Scouting and hear from others in an ongoing conversation. The response I receive also indicates that other people find it helpful.

I started the weekly Scoutmaster Podcast in February of this year and it is still rolling along.

Bloggers and podcasters like Jerry Schleining at the SMM blog and podcast and the other folks at PTC media are also posting regularly. There are other Scouting bloggers out there too (I will, no doubt leave someone off this list unwittingly - let me know If I should add your blog)

Commissoner Keith
Nick's Ramblings
A Scoutmaster's Blog and Around the Scouting Campfire Podcast
True North
A Boy Scout's Blog
The Scoutmaster

What it Takes to Publish
Speaking only for myself here's what it looks like from the publisher's side. As with most things the practical reality boils down to two things:

Time
I spend five to ten  hours a week composing blog posts, responding to emails and comments and just doing general chores to keep the blog moving along. Each podcast takes four hours (sometimes more but never any less) to record, edit and publish. (I should mention that the greatest asset is a patient wife.)

Money
Expenses
Web services to maintain the blog run about $30.00 a month. There's not much capital expense exclusively for the blog and podcast I use my laptop for other work and my 'studio' consists of a decent microphone.

Income
I use google ad-words and several affiliate networks to earn tiny amounts of money. Over the last five years this income almost offsets the expenses. This has never been a money making scheme, just a way to spend a little less. (I did mention a patient wife, right?)

How you can support us
Here I will speak for all bloggers and podcasters with little fear of contradiction;

1. Respond to what you read and hear

Comments questions, reviews, ratings - these all mean more than you can imagine. In the 'old days' if someone sent you a letter it was thought impolite to respond (I should know, I was there!) Blogging and Podcasting are more like publishing than personal correspondence but without some kind of feedback one is working in a vacuum. There are no faces to see or voices to listen to. Most any response I get I acknowledge, as do my fellow publishers.

You can help immensely if you:

• Comment on blog posts
• Email the author with questions or comments
• Leave reviews and ratings on iTunes

2. Support Sponsors

• While I don't have a sponsor for the podcast others do. Do some shopping with them.
• Click ads and follow links from my affiliates.

All this being said I am not starved for attention or going broke. I enjoy hearing from many folks every week. If you are already one of them; thank you! If you aren't do get in touch soon.

Finally we bloggers and podcasters chase various web metrics to have some idea of how many people are listening and reading. While I have a basic idea that several hundred people listen or read regularly It is a fuzzy, inexact science. The only way to know that people are actually out there is to hear from them.

Five year metrics for the Blog:

1,065,642 Pageviews
577.58 Pageviews/Day
1061 Total Posts
1005 Total Comments

44 editions of the podcast have been downloaded a total of 9092 times for an average of 207 listeners per show.

349 daily subscribers tracked through Feedburner

722 Friends of Scoutmaster blog on Facebook

http://blog.nawbus.co.uk/

Comments

[Bryan Spellman]

Would love to be included in that group!

Here is my site/blog:

The Scoutmaster http://thescoutmaster.posterous.com/

I try to be semi-regular. I've been blogging since September 2002 (personal blog not scouting) and never paid for a site. There are plenty of 'free' resources out there for the start up blogger.

Keep up the great work! And thanks for the link list, I have been thinking of linking the Scout Blogs I visit, kinda like the old BlogRolls.....

YIS
Bryan

[Scoutdude]

Nice list Clarke, Thought you might like to add my blog, A Boy Scout's Blog to your list as well. My blog is available at http://boyscoutblog.wsr3.net.

[Gerald Schleining]

Clarke,
Thanks for this post, I appreciate that you spoke for all of us.. well at least I share your thoughts on this subject.
It is a touchy subject among us bloggers and podcasters, in that we don't like to throw out numbers and beg listeners/readers for feedback. But the feedback, comments, etc are so important to give us a look at what is on the other side of the mic or keyboard.
Thanks again, I enjoy both your blog and the podcast.
Keep it up.
The Check is in the mail.
Yours in Scouting, Have a Great Scouting Day!
Jerry Schleining
www.thescoutmasterminute.net

[Clarke Green]

Thanks Jerry!
It is energizing and inspiring to hear from readers and listeners - we do need to remind folks every once in a while how things look from our perspective.
I feel the same way you do about appearing to beg for a response. I am conflicted over posting numbers too - but they are one way to interpret effectiveness (a very imperfect way).
I think it is important that folks understand this does cost money. None of us are going broke but none of us are getting rich either!
Keep on keeping on.

[Shawn Cleary]

Thanks for including me on your "blogs to read" list. Sometimes, writing down what I am feeling doesn't come out the same as talking about it...hence the podcast. I do have to thank a lot of people that listen and read my about my scouting experiences. Keep up the great work, and have a great day!

[Nick Wood]

Thanks for the mention Clarke (although the link to my blog & some of the others are pointing to the wrong places!).
You are correct in saying that time is one of the biggest factors to do with blogging and podcasting. I myself did a podcast for around 12 months, with various degrees of success, but by having a baby last year, something had to go and it was the podcasts!

I am always interested to know that people read what I write and I guess am always surprised that they do so!

The other thing about reading various blogs is that I can see the views and methods from different people at home and abroad.

So thank you to you and all the other bloggers, hope you keep it up for many years to come!

YIS

Nick

[Bill Macfarlane]

Great point Clarke...Keep up the good work

[Clarke Green]

Thanks for the head's up on the links! I've fixed them.

[Michael S. Malone]

Clarke:

May I make a suggestion? The challenge for all bloggers is marketing, not content. With 80+ million bloggers out there it is hard to rise above the noise and actually get enough attention to create a reader base sufficiently large to keep the writer incentivized (much less make any money). That's why only a few bloggers, such as Glenn Reynolds, have been able to reach the tipping point of a several hundred thousand loyal readers.

That said, there is a workable model emerging that can get you both readers, and perhaps even some income (not enough to earn a living, but at least to defray your costs): aggregate into a portal. By that, I mean that there are now enough Scouting bloggers for all of you to continue to post to your own site, but also to post in an aggregator site that displays each blogger's recent postings. This would give all of your combined readership a single location to go to and read everyone else as well. Interestingly, rather than cannibalizing your respective readerships, you will likely all add readers.

Such a portal is also a vehicle by which you can sell banner ads, sponsorships, etc. Obviously, this will require somebody to serve as the publisher/editor of the site, but someone might actually enjoy doing that more having to regularly post their own blog.

If you want some examples, look at the Huffington Post (a liberal site) or Pajamas Media (conservative). They are each running several million hits per week. I'm not suggesting you'll achieve that level, but I'll bet each of you will 10x your readership in six months -- and not feel pressed to write as often as you do now.

Another example you can look at (though more complex) is the new Forbes.com blogger portal. I just moved my column over there after being at ABCNews for a decade. Forbes is racing towards several hundred bloggers on the site -- so it's a lot more complicated that anything you'd do (though I'll bet there's 100 Scouting bloggers out there)it'll give you a glimpse of where this model is going.

Best,

Mike Malone

[Larry Geiger]

I love the podcast. It's like an old friend. I usually sit and listen to the whole thing until the last song ends. Just me. I don't listen to or watch much. I don't have cable TV and I don't watch TV. (Does a Scoutmaster have time to watch TV?) But I have become addicted to your podcast. I don't have a pod-thingy. I don't have ear buds and I don't listen to stuff when I'm walking and driving (the windows are usually all the way down and the wind drowns out everything else) (not the wife of course :-) )

So I sit here by my computer and turn up the speakers and listen to Clarke. Sort of reminds me of when I was a kid and we would gather round and listen to radio shows and crystal radios. Every one reading this knows what a crystal radio is? Right? Hee hee. Anyway, it's just too much fun. I'm mostly a reader and I like blogs, but I can't get enough of Mr. Green.

[The Scout Boy]

As a brand-new blogger, I'd like to be included and be involved with you guys. I'm just starting the journey and learning more day by day.