In an increasingly busy world, with shrinking time how do you filter through the myriad of podcasts to find the best ones?
The Lifestyle PodNetwork - based in Sydney, Australia - seeks out top quality independent podcast programming from around the globe. We have created a community to support the production of high quality audio and video podcast content.
We also create our own exclusive content including: Lifestyle Chill, Isolation Pod and our favourite parenting podcast - Oh Behave!
You won't find large lists of podcasts on the Lifestyle PodNetwork, but you will find some of the best.
We are seeking quality shows and talented content producers to join the Lifestyle PodNetwork.
If you're a podcaster with a great show, or a personality with a great show idea, we're all ears.
These monthly posts seem to be getting earlier and earlier! The fact of the matter is that there is so much happening on the network, I'm grabbing whatever time I have to get out a regular message to you. Read on for the latest shows on the network and a competition we're launching for our regular listeners.
Wow! This month Adam Purcell has come on board with his Life in General podcast, in amongst having a brand new child, well his wife anyway. Our congratulations go out to them both and look forward to hearing more Life In General soon!
Holiday Goddess Travel Guides has been rocketing up the iTunes Places & Travel category right through the month, and we've got new episodes for this show coming on line ahead of the launch of the HolidayGoddess.com website this November. This show is hot, and by all reports our viewers can't seem to get enough of it!
Justin Tabari joins the Lifestyle PodNetwork - he is a new podcaster presenting a world music, fusion, and folk music show. The show is called Planet Tunes and already there are two episodes posted in as many weeks. If you're bored of the standard run-of-the-mill music you hear on the radio, then Planet Tunes may be the show for you.
And just for the festive season we've released Lifestyle Yule. This podcast is a seasonal podcast which will showcase special holiday editions from presenters on the Lifestyle PodNetwork, with a few extra interviews and special guests thrown in too. Subscribe to Lifestyle Yule now, so that you'll get all the shows as they are released throughout the Christmas period. It's a mixed stocking of podcast cheer, with something for everyone!
This month we start recording a brand new Astrology series with bestselling author and astrologer for the Australian Womens' Weekly - Jessica Adams. In each new show of this series, Jessica will be using astrology to predict what happens in the coming week, and also recapping how her predictions went from the week before. It's raw, honest and entertaining and we look forward to that coming out this November.
I'm also looking forward to co-hosting a new podcast with podcast personality Dave Grey from the Aussie Geek Podcast. I'll bring you more details about this show next time we talk. I'm also in discussions with a prominent TV personality for a new Yoga vodcast here on the Lifestyle PodNetwork. The discussions on this one are in the early stages, but I look forward to bringing this show to you very soon.
And don't forget if you have a show, or an idea for a show, and you'd like to be on the Lifestyle PodNetwork then please send us an email. We love speaking to podcasters about shows. In our network you'll find a creative and supportive environment to achieve your goals.
Thanks for continuing to support the Lifestyle PodNetwork, and we look forward to bringing you more exciting news this month!
WIN AN IPOD NANO CHROMATIC And now for that competition I mentioned earlier. We'd like your iTunes reviews on our Lifestyle PodNetwork shows. This allows us to spread the word about our shows and the network and help lift the profile on the network on one of the largest podcast directories on the planet. It's a two step process to enter:
1) Write a review in iTunes for your favourite podcast
2) Email a copy of your review to competition@lifestylepodnetwork.com from your email address. Also tell us which store you posted it in, as entries do not appear in all stores. This means that when we draw a winner, we will know where to find you.
Your time starts now! Good luck.
Here are the rules:
1) One review per podcast, per entrant. Each review published by iTunes and emailed, is a new entry 2) Only entries published on the iTunes store will be considered valid. 3) The first email received for the podcast review, will constitute the valid entry. Entries must include details of the store where the review is published. Multiple entries for the same podcast review will not be accepted, the entry timestamped earliest will be considered the valid entry. 4) The prize of a new iPod Nano Chromatic 8GB will be drawn on March 31, 2009 (AEST) at the Lifestyle PodNetwork headquarters in Sydney Australia. 5) The judges decision will be considered final, and no further correspondence will be entered into. 6) The draw will be overseen by an independent third party. 7) As a condition of entry, the winner agrees to have their first name and initial, as well as their city, state and country location published on the Lifestyle PodNetwork website. 8) Prize includes postage/courier and insurance fees to get the prize to the winners destination. Lifestyle PodNetwork will not be responsible for goods lost or damaged in transit. 9) Winners agree to willingly participate in publicity activities supporting this promotion of the Lifestyle PodNetwork. 10) No purchase is necessary to enter this competition.
Things have been moving forward steadily on the Lifestyle PodNetwork since we last spoke. We have negotiated agreements with three new podcasters, who will be creating podcasts for the network.
Adam Purcell is officially the first podcaster to bring his existing podcast over to the Lifestyle PodNetwork. Adam has been podcasting for quite a while, and has a passion for audio engineering. You will find new episodes of his podcast Life In Generalcoming online soon.
This month sees the start of an arrangement with Holiday Goddess to become the exclusive network host of their branded holiday podcasts. You can view the first of a number of podcasts on the Holiday Goddess Travel Guides page.
We are also looking forward to a new podcast from best selling author Faith Bleasdale. Her new show will be coming from Brighton in the UK and will be a diary of all things dating, mating and detonating. Her new show should be coming on line this month.
The Lifestyle PodNetwork is definitely growing - now with 15 shows in production and many more in pre-production and planning. If you have a show you would like on the network, why don't you get in touch with us?
The Lifestyle PodNetwork is my passion. It was born out of a need I saw to build a community around great podcasters (both from Australia and elsewhere in the world).
As a podcaster I found it quite a lonley experience. There was so much information I had to go out and find for myself, and very few people to go to for help. Thankfully that situation has changed, and now I'm in a position to give something back to my community.
Wow! Looking back there has been so much activity in the last week on the Network... let me give you a glimpse of some of the things that have taken shape in the last week.
We built Making Work Work
We conceptualised, branded and produced the first four episodes of a new podcast called Making Work Work. Building new podcasts is one of my great passions, especially when I have the opportunity to do it from the ground up.
I find it a great privilege to share my experience with two talented people in their respective fields, Martha Follent in the area of professional performance, and Liz Mead who is a facilitator and crack communicator.
Liz is the pressing buttons person for this show, and it was great to hear her behind the mic producing this new show for Martha, and the results were very good, as I'm sure you'll agree.
For me it was a great opportunity to test a methodology I put into place when putting together the Oh Behave podcast. We did a complete repeat of the process with Liz and Martha, and I'm pleased to say that it worked spectacularly.
I love watching people who are quite apprehensive about podcasting, completely transform themselves into confident podcasting professionals by the end of the day. I like to think of it as my little bit of magic, and I'll be transforming this process into a powerful training program later on in the year.
Latest Episodes feature
I realised this week there is no way that visitors to the site can see what new episodes have been posted. You'll be pleased to discover that this has now been fixed. On the website you'll find a link to Latest Episodes which gives a summary of all the shows who have produced new epsiodes over recent days. Additionally I've provided links to add this as an RSS feed, and also take it away as a widget (courtesy of Spring Widgets)... I'd love your feedback on this new feature and let me know if I've missed anything.
Show page website button
I was interviewing Dave Gray from the Aussie Geek Podcast this week, and our conversation turned to the Lifestyle PodNetwork. One of the missing features for Dave, was the ability to easily find the podcast website. Dave - you will be pleased to know that each of the shows on the network now have a website button clearly visible in the location you suggested, below the show description. So give it a whirl!
New Feedback button
In the top right hand corner of the Lifestyle PodNetwork website pages (with the exception of the show pages) there is a new option for you to give feedback. The button is yellow, and it will move with you when you scroll through pages on the site. This is a quick way for you to launch a feedback window and give us feedback, report a bug, or pay us a complement. If you're reading this now, why not stop for a few moments and give us feedback on this news feature?
What next?
This week I hope to be birthing a new communication podcast with Liz Mead (co-host of the Making Work Work podcast). We will be putting our heads together to speak about communication best practice. The podcast will be called Working with Sparkle... and if you want to know what the name is all about, then you'll need to listen to our first episode. Stay tuned for details.
Well that's about it for now... don't forget to subscribe to the podcasts you like - and if you want to become a podcaster yourself then please drop me a line. I'd love to discuss ways that we can help you realise your dream of becoming a podcaster.
In an increasingly busy world, with shrinking time how do you filter through the myriad of podcasts to find the best ones? 
