In today’s show I did a quick search for “Podcast Success” and found the Speaking of Wealth podcast from Jason Hartman. Who is Jason Hartman? According to their website:

Jason Hartman is the Founder and CEO of Platinum Properties Investor Network, The Hartman Media Company and The Jason Hartman Foundation. Starting with very little, Jason, at the age of 19, embarked on a career in real estate while promoting his unique Personal Branding methodology through which Jason says “virtually anyone can achieve wealth, notoriety and a high level of personal satisfaction”. Through creativity, persistence and hard work, he soon joined the ranks of the top one-percent of Realtors in the U.S. and in quick succession; earned a number of prestigious industry awards.

In a nutshell he made some cash in real estate and then some.

First Impressions iTunes Listing

The description in iTunes is from their website (all six paragraphs). The problem is in iTunes it shows up as one giant paragraph (that in my opinion nobody will read). I don’t think you can have multiple paragraphs as your description in iTunes. I would shorten it, get to the point, and explain what your podcast is about and how people will benefit from listening to it.

Their individual descriptions are picking up the HTML code of putting an image as the first thing in the posting. YOu can fix this with a setting in the Powerpress plugin for WordPress.

First impressions The Podcast

The podcast episode I listened to was Fast Podcast Success with Karen Chu of the Good Job, Brain! podcast. Jason has a good opening and I had no questions as to what I was getting into. He quickly dumps into a commercial, but it was quick and to the point. From this aspect he made a good first impression. From his media, he did not.  While his iTunes listing has all the proper graphics and description, his actual media file is missing the artwork (you need to “TAG” your media before uploading it – the image resides INSIDE your mp3).

The interview had good quality and moved along quickly. I learned how she funded the podcast, and got their opinions on audio podcasting. It was interesting to hear how with only seven episodes under her belt she is getting a lot of interaction with her audience.

The audio quality is good, and the levels of host and guest are mixed well.

First Impression Website

The website is easy to navigate, and you can listen to the podcast with one click. I would advise them to turn on the feature to allow people to listen in a new window. Many people listen at work. If they listen on their site and then have to use their browser for something work related, they may just click the back button, go to Google, etc. When you force people to listen on your site, you are leaving the door open for them for them be in the middle of an episode, click the back button and lose their place.

Also they have a button that looks like an iTunes icon, but it is only the RSS feed for the podcast. I would recommend having that link to their iTunes listing in iTunes. You can even replace the “http” with “itms” and it will send people directly to iTunes (assuming they have it loaded).

They have an easy to use contact form on their website.

Final Impressions

I listened to one episode, and will definitely give this podcast another listen. While Jason is an obvious businessman, his podcast wasn’t overly forceful in pushing his products, he has a decent voice, and good audio quality. I would touch up his audio with his ID3 tags, and maybe add a multi-episode streaming player (like the blubrry player, or podtrac player), or at least the option to listen in a new window. In setting up the player below I see where their RSS feed is also missing the image for the RSS feed (which will show up on people’s iPod’s, iPhones, etc). This is typically 144X144 pixels.

This is that first episode where you get to meet me. I’ll tell you what I will be judging the podcast on, and more. But it also gives a glimpse into what will be coming down the line in terms of future shows.