From Robben Island to Goree Island
As an African American growing up in the southern city of Nashville I always dreamed of going to an island, seeing the waves of the ocean crash on the beachfront, and watch the sunset. So when I made my first trip to Jamaica one of my dreams came true. I took in the Caribbean skyline drinking coconut juice. Then I realized there was another dream unfulfilled and that was venturing to the vast homeland Mother Africa.
I have been to Africa a few times since that vision first appeared, and each time I think about what a beautiful, diverse, and historical continent it is. Each visit to Africa whether it is Zimbabwe, South Africa, Ghana or Senegal I continue to get a crash course in cultural filmmaking. I record the smiles of school children as they approach me even when I try to blend in and be unnoticeable. The landscape of the mountains and the oceon are hypnotizing, it consistently gives me a strong emotional feeling of what we are missing in the Americas.
A Day To Remember ( Day of The African Child))
On June 16, 1976 thousands of South African school children took the streets to protest the Apartheid government for human rights and a end to the violence. The Soweto uprising started as a peaceful demonstration against the Afrikaans Medium Decree of 1974 that forced all black students to learn Afrikaans and English as the main languages of instruction.
Before the law was ruled a 1972 poll showed that 98% of young Sowetans did not want to learn Afrikaans and according to Desmond Tutu it was viewed as “the language of the oppressor”. On June 16, 1976 thousands of students rallied to Orlando Stadium and when the police arrived shots were fired. The first person shot was Hastings Ndlovu and the second was 12 year old Hector Peterson who’s body became a symbol of the violent regime and police brutality. Bottles were thrown and stones were tossed at the police patrolmen who began opening fire causing chaos and eventually over 500 people died mainly school children. The government originally claimed only 23 students were killed but research has shown those to be false accounts.
Since that tragic day happened over 33 years ago we know celebrate the day better known as Youth Day in South Africa or the Day of the African Child across the world.
Exercise Your Mind & Body Episode 1
We have started our podcast series that will be a monthly program on the latest book reviews, author interviews, and creative ways to stay healthy. Stay tuned and follow us on Twitter @Bookido.
6 Ways To Promote Your Podcast
Finishing up the last two weeks of the course titled podcasting in business I have learned a great deal about personal branding and marketing your social media websites. In this particular post I will explain six ideas I thought can help boost your podcast programming. Now this may sound similar to my earlier post on seven ways to increase your podcast subscription but these are two different fields. If you believe you have the recording and publishing down but looking for ways to promote here are my suggestions from my experiences.
Take notes and apply these for your next podcast episode:
1. List your podcast in multiple directories. In the days before Google search engines and Microsoft’s Bing many businesses listed their addresses and phone numbers in the Yellow Pages. The same applies to podcast producers who have over 125 different podcast directories to list their shows.
2. Make a press kit for media outlets. Getting coverage from various media outlets requires time and preparations. I suggest setting up a template of press releases that you can adjust and edit once you complete your episodes to send to news reporters, submit to Advertising Age, or use the traditional distribution services like PR Newswire and Business Wire.
3. Network, Network, Network. The is a very crucial practice of becoming an effective podcast producer. The interesting part is that this is a combination of two words net and work. You can translate this however you like with offline socializing and promoting your website or using web 2.0 applications to engage your target audience. Sending out a Twitter blast using keywords and links to your podcast website can be very useful.
4. Show your badge. Just as police officers are required to show their badges upon arriving at a scene you as a producer of downloadable media files should identify your brand with a badge. They cost nothing and are easy to embed in various websites, blogs and social networks. A badge gives the potential listener a map to visit your website and hear your episodes without typing the actual web address.
5. Record a Promo. A brief audio file that promotes your podcast is a great way to provide listeners a “snippet” of what to expect in further episodes. Make sure not to make your promos too long or else you will lose the listeners attention. Your promo is only a mini commercial for your full episode and I suggest you upload your promos at www.podcastpromos.com and www.promos.podshow.com.
6. Provide ranking services. Many directories have the ability to let listeners vote for their favorite podcasts and I encourage you to provide this link. By having a high ranking on these services your podcast can get listed or featured on the directories websites. People who are searching for podcast to listen to use these high ranked recommendations despite not hearing about the podcast beforehand.
I hope these are helpful tips that will assist you in promoting your digital media programs. Once you have a good promotional plan I suggest you read my other post on ways to increase your subscription listings.
