The Zweig Letter podcast: Podcasting – Just do it! – Randy Wilburn

In this episode, Randy Wilburn makes the case for starting a podcast for your design firm. He also talks about why the prevalence of smartphones and smart speakers make this new media creation easier than ever before. People are craving quality information relevant to what they do both at work and at play. Creating a podcast is as simple as having an app on your phone and a good Lavalier mic. This podcast tutorial from Cliff Ravenscraft, the Podcast Answerman, outlines what Randy believes to be the simplest way to get started. Here are the tools that Zweig Group uses:

• On the road:
  • AVR PRO – Currently only for iPhone
  • Lavalliere Mic
• In the studio:
  • Zoom H4N Digital Recorder
  • Audio-Technica ATR2100-USB Cardioid Dynamic USB/XLR Microphone

You can go upscale and get processors and soundboards, but that’s really not necessary. Get started! Craft good content with solid production and the listeners will come. Here are a couple of ways that your design firm can implement a podcast:

• Start a podcast to share information about your firm or to export your firm’s culture to potential clients and potential new hires.
• Start a podcast to highlight and document specific projects as you're working on them from start to finish.
• If you're a large firm, you can do a CEO AMA (Ask Me Anything) to make sure everyone can hear from the leadership of the company.

Be creative and know that more people than you think will listen to your podcast. Big Red Dog Engineering out of Austin, Texas, recently took the plunge. Will Schnier, CEO of BRD, has been on The Zweig Letter podcast several times. Will got together with his marketing team, including Kelly Daacon and engineer Shaun Theriot-Smith, to start their own. Here is a clip from their inaugural episode. If you haven’t heard a podcast, visit iTunes, Stitcher, Soundcloud, Spotify, Google Play, or any other podcast service to download an episode or two on a subject matter that interests you and let us know what you think. Here are some statistics on smart speakers from Business 2 Community:

1. 9% of U.K. households owned an Amazon Echo just one year after release
2. Ownership of the Amazon Echo is highest amongst men and 25-44 year olds
3. Amazon dominates the smart speaker market in the U.S., with 76% market share
4. Smart speakers are most commonly used for playing music or listening to audiobooks
5. Almost one-fifth (17%) of Amazon Echo users use their device to order items from the Amazon store

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Additional information: Contact: For more information about The Zweig Letter podcast contact Randy Wilburn: rwilburn@zweiggroup.com twitter: @RandyWilburn Sponsor: Subscribe to The Zweig Letter for free! Click here for a free digital subscription to Civil + Structural Engineer Magazine!