How Do We Fund Digital History Communications Projects? Or, Ben Franklin's World Starts Crowdfunding

How do we fund digital history communications projects? This question has occupied my mind for quite some time.

Many historians appreciate how Ben Franklin’s World provides history lovers with access to the world of scholarly history. They see the value in generating and stimulating interest in professional historians’ work. However, few have ideas about how to fund and institutionalize projects like Ben Franklin’s World.

Digital history communication is seen as necessary, but non-traditional scholarship. Presently, there is no place for it within either academic or public history institutions.

Those of us who work in digital history communication and communications perform work that everyone wants done, but no one wants to pay for. This has to change.

Engaging the public will be what rescues history and other humanities fields from their present period of crisis.

So how do we raise funds to do our work until we have the proof institutions need to support our scholarship?

In this post, you will discover the four traditional methods for monetizing a digital communications project. I will also reveal why I have chosen to begin funding Ben Franklin’s World with crowdfunding.

4 Methods of Monetizing a Digital Media Project

There are four, proven methods for monetizing digital communications projects.

1. Pre-sell ad space: You approach potential advertisers and pre-sell ad space on your project.

This method works well if you have an established reputation for producing high-quality media.

2. Advertisements: You sell space on your program to people who want to sell something to your audience.

In general, advertisers purchase ad space on audio and video podcasts using the CPM (Cost Per Mille/Thousand) model. For every one thousand downloads or views your podcast garners an advertiser will pay you $2-$50 per thousand.

The amount an advertiser pays depends upon whether their ad will be native (read by the host) and where it will be placed. There are three options for ad placement: Pre-roll: before the main program content; Mid-roll: in the middle of the program; Post-roll: at the end of the program.

Unless you have a program that generates millions of downloads or views, you can’t make a living or support a project using this model. This is why some podcasters supplement the CPM model by including clickable advertisements on their websites. This strategy works well if you have a high-traffic website.

Other podcasters avoid the CPM model and craft their own advertisement deals. They create a media kit that lists their digital assets (podcast, social media followers, e-mail list subscribers, website traffic, poll data showing the demographics of their audience and how engaged it is) and present custom packages to potential advertisers. The presented packages have a set cost and advertisers often have several options to choose from as each package comes with different levels of ad placement, guaranteed social shares/promotion, affiliate opportunities and commissions.

3. Products and Services: Program hosts create products and services that audience members can purchase.

The most successful digital media producers offer products and services to their audience. Products and services include one-on-one or group consulting, webinars, eCourses, eBooks, private mastermind groups, affiliate products, and access to bonus or old content.

WTF host Marc Maron offers his latest 50 episodes for free and charges $3.99 per month for access to his older episodes.

4. Crowdfunding: Ask your audience for support.

You set up a campaign and ask your audience to fund your work in exchange for continued high-quality content, swag, promises of no ads, bonus features, and access to you.

Sites like Patreon and Podbean offer content producers the infrastructure they need to ask audience members for regular, monthly contributions. Think Kickstarter but without a campaign time limit.

These sites make money by charging transaction fees and by taking a cut of what you make. For example, Patreon takes 5 percent of what you raise plus you pay another 4-6 percent in credit card transaction fees or a fee for payment transfers if a supporter opts to pay you via bank account transfer.

After considering these four options, I have decided to begin funding Ben Franklin’s World with crowdfunding.

Why Crowdfunding? Why Now?

Some people have a car payment, I have a podcast payment.

Producing and promoting a high-quality digital history communications project costs money.

When I started Ben Franklin’s World I made a promise to my partner Tim (the benefactor of my digital history projects), that if I succeeded in creating a successful platform, I would find a way to make it self-supporting.

Ben Franklin’s World has been successful and now it’s time to honor my promise.

My first option for monetizing Ben Franklin’s World has always been to ask my audience for support. They are the people who benefit most from my efforts, which means they also appreciate the value of my work.

I have launched the Ben Franklin’s World crowdfunding campaign, which I call the Ben Franklin’s World Movement. Ben Franklin’s World is part of the movement to help bring history back to the forefront of the public mind. The campaign asks my audience to participate in this movement in both financial and non-financial ways.

The How-To of the Ben Franklin’s World Movement Campaign

My campaign includes a video, non-financial support requests, and packages that ask for monthly, annual, or name-your-own financial support.

I am hosting the campaign on the Ben Franklin’s World website using a customizable LeadPages LeadPage; LeadPages is marketing software I purchased so I could offer a text-to-opt-in option for my listeners (text BFWORLD to 33444 to receive the show notes for each podcast episode in your inbox).[1]

LeadPages connects with PayPal, which will process funders' payments. I created custom PayPal buttons for each sponsorship package linked in my LeadPage. These buttons will place the correct amounts in my funders’ carts.

I am keeping track of donors by using MailChimp’s integration with PayPal. MailChimp will automatically log each new donor on a separate email list and send them a thank you note.

I chose to bypass sites like Patreon because I wanted to host the campaign on my website and I did not want to pay the 5 percent monthly and additional transaction fees.

As Patreon and like sites process payments through PayPal, my campaign strategy cuts out the middleman. Without the “middleman,” I maximize the amount I receive from my listeners’ donations. This is important to me as I have plans to expand the educational resources offered by Ben Franklin’s World and I ideas for other digital history communications projects.

Circumventing sites like Patreon has two drawbacks: First, sites like Patreon make it easy to set-up a campaign.

My desire to save 5 percent per month, plus additional transaction fees, required me to invest time into thinking about how I could recreate their campaign system with services I already pay for.

Second, my bypass means my campaign lacks a few crowdfunding specific options, like a total amount raised widget.

As I want to be transparent about the monies I raise, I will start issuing monthly earnings reports in November. I will place these reports on the BFWorld website and I may also send these reports to my funders via e-mail.

Conclusion

Will crowdfunding fully fund my digital history project?

I don’t know. I am hopeful it will cover my production costs.

I look forward to posting more about how the campaign works as a funding model for digital history projects when I have data to report.

[1] Please note that the LeadPages link is an affiliate link. I purchased the LeadPages template I am using for my campaign. LeadPages offers many free templates. I had to purchase a template that included the video, package, and button options I wanted because I adapted the software to fit an unintended purpose.

How to Pitch a Podcaster

What do you think of the following pitch?

Dear Ms. Covart,

I think my new book George Washington's Winter Wardrobe would make a good discussion piece for Ben Franklin's World. [Amazon Link]

Sincerely,

John Doe

Are you underwhelmed?

I am.

Yet believe it or not, the above pitch represents the format of most of the pitches I receive for Ben Franklin's World: Greeting, book title, amazon link, sign-off.

Podcasts offer historians powerful tools to promote their books and ideas. In this post, you will discover how to pitch a podcaster in a way that will garner you serious consideration for a guest spot.

Behind-the-Scenes of a Podcast

When you download a podcast you receive a 30-60 minute audio file. What you may not know is that 30-60 minute episode represents many hours of a podcaster's time.

For example, each episode of Ben Franklin's World takes 15-20 hours to produce. That work includes reading your book, developing an outline for our discussion, conducting and recording your interview, editing your interview, drafting show notes, recording an intro and outro, mastering the episode so it has a radio-like sound, listening to the final recording to ensure quality, tagging the audio file, uploading the audio file to a hosting service, editing and posting show notes, creating a custom episode graphic for social media, and marketing your episode to listeners and social media followers.

Admittedly, I am spend more time working on episodes than many podcasters because I am committed to ensuring that each of my guest historians sounds as good as possible. However, most podcasters spend at least 6-10 hours on each episode they produce. The majority of us put a ton of work into our shows and you know what?

Very few of us get paid to do this work. We podcast because we have a passion for the media and our topic.

When we receive pitches like the one above we feel insulted. The above pitch demonstrates that the sender did not take the time to get to know us, our show, or our audience. It also reflects that the sender does not value our time. We are too busy to research you and your book, which is why most of us either do not reply or send an automatic "no" when we receive such an e-mail.

How to Pitch a Podcaster: Secrets Revealed

Many podcasters want to be pitched and we want to say "yes."

How do you get us to say "yes?"

Woo us.

That's right, we want to be courted. We want you to tell us who you are, why you love our show, and about the value you can provide to our listeners.

A Good, Fictitious Pitch

Dear Dr. Covart,

I have been following your work for some time and I must say, I enjoy your tweets about early American history. I am sorry that your beloved Red Sox finished in the basement of the AL East this year, but at least there is next year, right?

I write to you because I think my new book George Washington's Winter Wardrobe [amazon link embedded in title text or included at bottom of e-mail] would make an excellent conversation topic for a Ben Franklin's World episode. Mine is the first book to describe and analyze Washington's extensive array of winter capes, jackets, gloves, and boots. I heard you speak with Kimberly Alexander in episode 024. You discussed the deliberate thought early American people gave when they had their shoes and clothes custom tailored to fit the styles of the times they lived in. Did you know that Washington did the same before each winter encampment? The cloak he sported during the frigid winter of 1779/80 at Jockey Hollow was 2 lbs heavier than the one he wore at Valley Forge during the winter of 1777/78. He had an extra-heavy lining installed after his experience at Valley Forge. Also, by wearing his blue wool cape with red lining around the encampment, Washington caused a surge in demand for similar cloaks, which stimulated the national economy. I think your listeners would enjoy hearing this story of how the fashion trends established by Washington's winter wardrobe put Americans to work. We could also talk about how seamstresses and tailors fashioned Washington's wardrobe too as I know your audience loves to hear about the details of everyday life in early America.

If you think your audience would be interested in my work, please let me know and I will have my publisher send you a copy of my book for your further consideration. You should also know that I have over 10 years experience working with clothing and other material sources and that I often speak to public audiences about how historians use clothing to learn about and interpret the past.

Thank you for your time and consideration,

John Doe

Podcaster Pitch Anatomy

Introduction: Demonstrate that you took the time to research the podcast host.

In the above letter, the writer demonstrates that they know I hold a Ph.D., that I like to tweet about early American History, and that I am a huge Red Sox fan. This doesn't mean that they have followed my work for some time, but it does mean that they took the time to visit my website and read my about page and Twitter bio.

Pitch Paragraph: Get to the point.

The author of this fictitious pitch tells me that they have a new book that they wish to discuss on my podcast. They also explain why their book is significant and why my audience might be interested in hearing about the author's ideas. Furthermore, the prospective guest demonstrates that they have listened to Ben Franklin's World. They know about my past guests and show topics and they used that information to explain why their topic is a good fit for my show.

Bio Paragraph: Who are you?

In addition to offering me a review copy of their book, the author tells me personal details that demonstrate why they would make a good guest: They have over 10 years experience working with material sources and they have experience speaking to non-historians about how-to use clothing as a primary source.

Closing: Thank and sign off.

Thank the podcaster for their time and sign your name.

Conclusion

Although not perfectly worded, the above pitch would garner attention from most podcasters because it tells us what we need to know: Who you are, why your book is significant, and why you would make a good guest.

The above letter also demonstrates respect. It shows that the sender took the time to get to know the host, their show, and their audience.

Additional Resources

Do you have questions about how to pitch a podcast host? Leave a comment below, tweet me, or listen to my friend Natalie Eckdahl's episode on "How to Pitch a Podcaster."

Ben Franklin's World: 1 Year Anniversary

Happy Birthday Ben Franklin's World! Today marks the 1-year anniversary of Ben Franklin's World: A Podcast About Early American History.

I thought it would be fun to discuss the current status of the show, how it has evolved over the last year, and how I intend to experiment with, and add to, this digital history project over the course of the next year.

By the Numbers

Statistics as of October 7, 2015, 7:59am

Number of Episodes: 55 published; 61 recorded

Total Downloads: 333,374 (this includes the Spreaker & iHeartRadio stats, which I always forget to consult)

E-mail Subscribers: 824

Listener Community Members: 227

Monthly Download Total October 2014: 288

Monthly Download Total September 2015: 43,829

Evolution of the Podcast

I started Ben Franklin's World to see if a podcast could create wide public awareness about the work of professional historians. Over the last year, the show has positively answered this question. It has also proven that people are interested in professional historians' scholarship and that our work enriches their lives.

However, Ben Franklin's World has also become more than a platform to generate interest in historical scholarship.

Educational tool: High school teachers and college professors incorporate episodes into their classroom teaching.

High school and college students listen to the show to study for their exams and papers. One high school student told me that she passed her history exam in part because she listens to the podcast.

Graduate students use episodes to study for their comprehensive exams.

Professional development and service tool: Potential guests note Ben Franklin's World as part of their marketing strategy in book proposals. Guests use show and episode download numbers in their tenure and promotion packets. Many professional historians listen to the show to keep up to date with early American historiography.

Networking tool: Not only have I had 30-60 minute conversations with many great historians, but historians have connected with each other as a result of hearing about each other's work.

Community building tool: Over 200 listeners have joined "Poor Richard's Club," a community for Ben Franklin's World listeners on Facebook. Members of the community share articles, discuss history, and interact with each other based on their shared interest in early American history.

Ben Franklin's World serves all of these functions and yet I did not create the podcast to serve these purposes. Like many digital history projects it has taken on a life of its own. It will be fun and exciting to see how the show continues to evolve beyond its original purpose.

Experiments & Goals for 2015-2016

Three big projects will dominate my attention over the next year: Monetization, community development, and time management.

Monetization

Can Ben Franklin's World become a self-supporting project? Over the next year, I intend to investigate ways to make Ben Franklin's World pay for itself. Experimentation begins later this month when I will launch my first crowdfunding campaign.

Community Development

I have been surprised by how many listeners want to interact with me via Twitter, Facebook, or e-mail and by how many listeners want to spend time hanging out with other listeners in Poor Richard's Club. The community-building aspect of Ben Franklin's World requires more attention. This unintended aspect of the show could further historians' efforts to engage with the public and, in turn, the public could help us with how we write about, talk about, and interpret history.

Presently, I am halfway through an online course on how to build and develop online communities on Facebook.*

Time Management

I love working on Ben Franklin's World, but this work has come at the expense of my scholarship. As much fun as the podcast has been, and continues to be, I miss researching and writing about history.

I started Ben Franklin's World as an historian with a podcast. A year later I am a podcaster who happens to be an historian. I do not regret the quick success of the show or the challenges it has created for me, but I am also not intellectually satisfied by working on the podcast alone. Over the next few months, I need to find a way that I can continue to produce a high-quality show and work on my book projects.

Share Your Story

Do you listen to the show? What has your favorite episode been?

Do you have tried and true strategies I could use to better manage my time?

Listener Testimonials

"I am not an historian, but subscribe to many history-related podcasts. Liz's is one of my favorites. It is fun and provides historical views and perspectives that I trust."--krrat

“If my teachers had been half this engaging I would not have slept through most of history class.”—Sheryse Lang

“If you remember a really great university history class— not the one where you fell asleep in the back row, but the one where you got their early to get the good seats in the front row—that’s Ben Franklin’s world.”—Friscodog

"I LOVE Ben Franklin's World podcasts.  Liz Covart's enthusiasm for history is contagious!  I have always enjoyed learning about American History, but I can't emphasize enough how much I look forward to each new episode."--Pat Kerper

*I am taking the "Facebook Groups Rock!" course by Katie Krimitsos. Her course is closed at the moment, but this special link works in case you want to take the course too. This is not an affiliate link.

New Article, New Project: The Articles of Confederation

The editors of the Journal of Early American History have published my article "Trade, Diplomacy, and American Independence: Cuyler, Gansevoort & Co. and the Business of Trade During the Confederation Era" in their latest edition. I came across the papers of Cuyler, Gansevoort & Co. during my volunteer work at the Albany Institute of History and Art. In exchange for building a finding aid for the Ten Eyck/Gansevoort Papers (MG2), I had the opportunity to be the first scholar to look at the collection. I had hoped that the papers would contain information for my book project AMERICA'S FIRST GATEWAY: ALBANY, NEW YORK AND THE MAKING OF AMERICA, 1614-1830. Instead, the collection led me to my second book project: The Articles of Confederation.

The Ten Eyck/Gansevoort collection contains many of the papers from Cuyler, Gansevoort & Co., an import-export firm that conducted business during the Confederation Era. The correspondence between Jacob Cuyler, Leonard Gansevoort, and their trading partners reveal the hope and perils of conducting domestic and foreign trade during the first years of American independence.

The idea for my second book project came as I wrote the historiography section, which I opted to place toward the end of the article as not to breakup the story of Cuyler, Gansevoort & Co. Few books discuss the Articles of Confederation on its own terms. Merrill Jensen wrote two books on the subject between 1940 and 1950. Since Jensen's work, scholars who discuss or investigate the Articles look upon the government as a stepping stone to the Constitution of 1787.

My future book will not claim the Articles of Confederation as a successful government. My article below uses a case study to discuss the diplomatic and economic weaknesses of the government. Instead, my book on the Articles will investigate the government and its making within the context of the American Revolution. I am sure it will take great interest in the regional debates surrounding the formation of the government because I am fascinated by the diversity of American culture and how the United States functions despite Americans' cultural differences.

Enjoy!

How to Find and Subscribe to a Podcast

September 30, is International Podcast Day. Long before I became a podcaster, podcasts had enriched my life. I love how podcasts allow me to learn something new while doing ordinary tasks like cooking, walking my dogs, or driving.

In this post, you will discover how you can make podcasts a part of your life by exploring the different ways you can find and subscribe to podcasts. I will also help you get started by sharing a list of some of my favorite shows.

A Brief History of Podcasts

Podcasts emerged ten years ago. Early producers created audio files and uploaded them onto the internet to provide listeners with on-demand, radio-like content.

At first, only the most tech-savvy people listened podcasts. Hardly anyone but those fascinated by tech knew that podcasts existed. There were no central directories. Files had to be downloaded and either played through your computer or uploaded onto one of the earliest iPods. None of this could be done wirelessly.

A lot has changed in the last ten years. Apple has created iTunes, which contains a comprehensive directory for podcasts. The production quality of podcasts has improved as professional-grade equipment has become affordable and audio editing software has improved. Additionally, smartphones have made it easy for anyone to download and listen to a podcast. According to Libsyn, one of the largest podcast hosting services, listeners download 69.94 percent of podcast episodes to a smartphone.

With that said, podcasts still have a ways to go before they become a mainstream media like television or radio. Although Apple took an early interest in podcasts, Android smartphone developers have not. 82 percent of podcast listeners listen on an iPhone. The Apple podcasts app accounts for more than 50 percent of all podcast downloads. In contrast, the iOS and Android-based app Stitcher Radio accounts for 2.5 percent of podcast downloads. For podcasters, the association of podcasts with Apple iOS devices presents a problem: Android smartphones outnumber iPhones 79 percent to 14.2 percent worldwide and 52.4 percent to 42.6 percent in the United States.

How to Find Podcasts

There are several ways to find good podcasts:

1. iTunes & Apple Podcasts App: You can search iTunes or the Apple podcasts app. Both apps will show you what shows are “New & Noteworthy,” which have the most downloads in its top charts, and you can search for new shows via categories. Love history? Try looking at the Society & Culture category where you will find a subcategory for history.

2. Word-of-Mouth: Ask your friends and family members about their favorite podcasts. The best way to find podcasts you will like is to ask like-minded people what shows they enjoy.

3. Internet Search: Try searching a topic you are interested in and “podcast” in your favorite search engine. This technique should turn up podcast websites, blog posts, and news articles about popular podcasts and shows people like.

4. Magazine and Newspaper Websites: Many popular publications now produce podcasts. For example, Slate, The New York Times, and The New Yorker have podcasts. 5. NPR or Radio Station Websites: In addition to having nearly 30 non-radio podcasts, NPR releases episodes of its most popular programs via podcast episodes. Local radio stations also release versions of their morning and afternoon programs as podcasts.

6. Podcatcher Apps: Many podcast listening apps offer a search function. I use both PocketCasts and Overcast (iOS-only) to listen to my favorite shows. I also use them to find new shows.

7. Internet Radio Apps: Internet radio apps such as iHeartRadio, TuneIn Radio, Stitcher Radio, and AGOGO (iOS-only) allow users to locate and listen to podcasts. Even Spotify has started to offer podcasts. As of summer 2015, they began offering podcasts to listeners through a beta program.

How to Subscribe to a Podcast

Regardless of what app you use to listen to podcasts, you can subscribe to your favorite shows to ensure you never miss an episode. Subscribing to podcasts also helps your favorite podcasters as the only way we have to measure how we are doing is by download numbers, show ratings and reviews (click here for short video tutorials on how you can rate and review podcasts in iTunes and Stitcher), and listener engagement via e-mail, voicemail, and social media.

iTunes: If you are a Mac user, you can search and subscribe to podcasts in iTunes. To locate the podcast directory, click the "more" icon in the iTunes store.

Click the "subscribe" button underneath the cover art on the show description page.

Apple Podcasts App: Click the "subscribe" button on the show info page.

Overcast App: Click the "subscribe" button on the show description page.

PocketCasts App: Click the "subscribe" button on the show description tile.

Stitcher Radio: Press the + in the top right of the listing for the show you wish to subscribe to.

Show Apps: Some podcasts, like Ben Franklin’s World, have apps for both iOS and Android devices. These apps allow you to listen to episodes, share your favorite episodes via social media, and contact the hosts directly from the apps.

Word-of-Mouth Recommendations

If you are on the lookout for new podcasts to listen to, allow me to share a few of my favorite shows (in no particular order)

History

Ben Franklin’s World (yes, I am partial, but it is also one of my favorite shows) 15 Minute History Backstory with the American History Guys The History Chicks

Social Media

The Social Media Social Hour Social Media Marketing Podcast

Business

The BizChix Podcast Biz Women Rock Podcast Smart Passive Income Rhodes to Success Startup

Podcasting

Podcast Junkies ShePodcasts The Feed The Wolf Den Podcasters’ Roundtable The Podcast Producers

Other

Fish Nerds (Kind of like CarTalk, but about fish) Reply All Serial

Share Your Story

What are your favorite podcasts?