Franklin McMahon Studio

Franklin McMahon has directed over 200 movies and TV shows for cable, broadcast and independent cinema. He’s also produced over 200 podcast episodes, both video and audio, downloaded internationally. His shows have produced millions of downloads in 21 countries. His podcast work has been a featured profile on many network affiliate stations such as ABC-TV in Boston (Chronicle) and his podcasts have been featured in local, national and international news programs such as BBC News (The Money Programme) as well as being profiled on leading news web sites such as Wired (Wired.com).

His client list includes Microsoft, FOX, Time Warner, Yahoo, Adobe, Amazon.com and CNET. He can be heard weekly on Sirius satellite radio Channel 102 and his award-winning Media Artist Secrets program appears each month on the CD in Computer Arts Magazine, the world’s largest creative design publication.

As a photographer his work has been featured in magazines around the world, covering the world of fashion, portrait, business and technology. His extensive work with models and talent, and making them look fantastic, applies to a wide range of publications, including his own magazine “Metro” which he founded and published monthly in Portland.

> Please explore: Podcasting Bio / Writing Bio / Photography Bio

Contact: frank@fmstudio.com

Add me at
MySpace / Facebook / Twitter / LinkedIn / One Model Place / Flickr

2 minute hold, reflect, don’t elevate small tasks, talent behind the talent and much more - mediaartist.com - The Podcast for the Creative Professional

Listen to Episode #73

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Working too hard, referrals, lose a pawn to save a rook, don’t finish projects, wealth length, 5 and 5, card deck and much more - mediaartist.com - The Podcast for the Creative Professional

Listen to Episode #72

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Podcast Expo Website
Podcast Brothers

Speaking Details:
Ontario Convention Center - Ontario California
10 Secret Habits to Podcast Stardom
Track 2: Attracting/Growing Your Audience
Instructor: Franklin McMahon
Room: Ballroom A
Date: Saturday September 29th 10:30am - 11:30am

I will be at:
Podcast Awards - Friday Sept 28th 4pm - Expo Hall B
We’ll be there at the awards with the cast from ShowGirls, receiving our Podcast Award for ShowGirls!

We’ll also be at the Extremepods Party - Thursday Sept 27th 7pm - Doubletree Hotel

Hope to see you there! There will be additional meet-ups, if you are going to be at the Podcast Expo drop me a note at frank@fmstudio.com

Join me on:
My Twitter Page / My MySpace Page / My AOL AIM
My E-mail / My LinkedIn / My Facebook

I’ll be speaking at the Podcast and New Media Expo in California this week, click the logo above for all the info on this convention. Look forward to meeting a lot of you out there!

For inquiries about my speaking at seminars, expos, conventions as well as corporate and individual training contact me direct at: frank@fmstudio.com

Here is the rundown of the seminar:

10 Secret Habits to Podcast Stardom

Most podcasters know a couple, some practice three or four, this unique conference experience reveals all 10 habits to making your podcast a dominate force on the new media scene. Podcasting guru and new media svengali Franklin McMahon has produced some of the biggest hits in the podcast arena and this informative seminar will walk you through the magic steps to his success. Tightly focused on audience building, brand development, content refinement, advertiser growth and reaching the masses, Franklin reveals the inside secrets to effectively sharing your creation with the world. If your thoughts are dancing with widespread world domination, this is the seminar to attend.

Franklin McMahon (fmstudio.com) is a media artist, podcast producer and podcast consultant, director, and photographer with an extensive client list that includes Microsoft, Adobe, FOX, Time Warner, Yahoo, Amazon.com and CNET. His podcasts include the award winning business podcast Media Artist Secrets, Rumor Girls (the 5th most downloaded video podcast of 2006), Secrets of Second Life, ShowGirls, The Mary and Karla Show, CreativeCOW and others scoring millions of downloads over the past 2 years. He has been interviewed on podcasts as a podcast industry leader and has appeared in several podcasting books including the “Podcasting Pocket Guide” by Kirk McElhearn (O’Reilly), “Promoting Your Podcast” by Jason Van Orden and “Tricks of the Podcasting Masters” by Rob Walch (QUE). His podcast work has been profiled on networks such as ABC-TV Boston (Chronicle), international programs such as BBC News (The Money Programme) as well as on leading news sites such as Wired (Wired.com).

“…a trade show that has grown beyond anyone’s expectations”

“…the Expo will help everyone from consumers to companies to learn”

“…the place to be…on the forefront of a new industry”

Mailbag, one focus or many, confidence, be seasoned, saving the company, it’s all too much, let go of the past and more - www.mediaartist.com - intro promo: podfinder.podshow.com

Listen to Media Artist Secrets #71

The Podcast for the Creative Professional, Media Artist Secrets provides creative artistic inspiration, tells how to market your talents in your business, fine-tune your vision, advance your skills and share your creations with the world - audio for iPod/iPhone

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Post your thoughts on this in the comments above..thanks!

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Mental workout with books, new solutions vs. core plans, where is your office, relaxation path, digital clutter, e-mail organization tips and more - www.mediaartist.com - intro promo: podfinder.podshow.com

Listen to Media Artist Secrets #70

The Podcast for the Creative Professional, Media Artist Secrets provides creative artistic inspiration, tells how to market your talents in your business, fine-tune your vision, advance your skills and share your creations with the world - audio for iPod/iPhone

Subscribe to Media Artist Secrets in iTunes

Media Artist Secrets RSS / Archives

Post your thoughts on this in the comments above..thanks!

Join me on:
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My E-mail / My LinkedIn / My Facebook

iPhone marketing, daily creative production, responsive vs. passive, explaining yourself and more

Listen to Media Artist Secrets #69

The Podcast for the Creative Professional, Media Artist Secrets provides creative artistic inspiration, tells how to market your talents in your business, fine-tune your vision, advance your skills and share your creations with the world - audio for iPod/iPhone

Subscribe to Media Artist Secrets in iTunes

Media Artist Secrets RSS / Archives

Post your thoughts on this in the comments above..thanks!

Join me on:
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How much do you produce on a daily basis? At the end of the day, when you look over all your accomplishments, is it mostly created work, responsive or passive?

As media artists and content creators, business people and entrepreneurs, content is king. If you are producing, you are moving. You are building a body of work, you are advancing your craft, you are learning. This could be a project that needs to be completed for a client or a personal project. The type of active project matters little, just that you are doing it.

Responsive work is less ideal. Responsive items are things like e-mails, phone calls, IMs. These things are often given heightened priority because they come up suddenly and seem important. And they serve a great purpose, they pull you away from whatever longer term project you are crafting to provide a fix of seemingly advanced importance and urgency. The phone rings..its probably important…so I’ll switch gears and jump on it…at least I can deal with it and get a fix of accomplishment.

Passive is the worst, its checking your social networks, reading news, watching a clip, listening to the views of someone over IM, rechecking your social networks, seeing what everyone is chatting about, more web surfing, oh that looks interesting, let me check this again, let me just pop in to this virtual world, I know I won’t be in there that long, etc. Now many of these items are great for recreation and fun, unfortunately a lot of creative types devote a substantial part of their day to them. Problem is, the production of output goes dramatically down.

The solution? Pear down. Start to trim out as many time wasters as you can. I’m no angel, some of the things I have liked have included Second Life, Twitter and others. Problem is aside from delightful conversations, items like these take mucho precious time. They are better reserved for late night fun than during the day work time. So pear down but stop to look at what you do through the day. Are you producing? Or are you checking your email 20 times per hour and looking for news on the web that may be important. Focus on creating, no matter what you do. Your days will be filled with a better feeling of accomplishment. And building your legacy and empire will develop all the more quickly.

Here are some ideas:
Check e-mail only every 2-4 hours (What if there is something important in there? = How can I get quickly derailed today?)
Turn off a social-whatever that nudges you more than once an hour
Reduce the blogs and news sites you view daily to the 5 that are the most valuable
Turn off your phone ringer, check messages only a few times a day
Focus on creation - don’t multitask - juggling is typically only impressive if you are a circus clown

Final tip for work hours: If you wonder “Hmmm..I wonder what is going on in/on __________ I should do a quick check…” that is a DERAIL…its you hitting the pause button on your body of work, your legacy and your career.

What do you think?

That’s a quote from Dolly Parton, fitting because I am working today and its raining out. I am hoping it clears by tomorrow, as it’s the Old Port Fest in Portland.

Today I am working on a project that will debut soon, its a talent agency, and I’ve been talking to a lot of talent, models, actors, etc. and they are often disgruntled because they have devoted a good chunk of their time to developing a career and it has not yet hit yet. It’s difficult, because the road to fame (I use that term loosely to include abundance, bigger fan base, larger paying opportunities, etc) is often a long one. The current age we live in, with internet communication, podcasts, on-line marketing is both a blessing and a curse.

The good part is we’re all connected. We can chat via IM, e-mail, hang out on MySpace, meet and greet in Second Life, all that stuff its amazing. The bad part is that there is a new method, website, social network, IM program, all this stuff is popping up every day. And the tendency is to stop focusing on what you have been working on and jump to something new because the allure is that the new thing will work better.

To me its about balance, its OK to try something new, but don’t neglect the foundation you have been building. Long story short, making it is a long road, but its a fun one. But it does take focus and work. If you keep trying something new every week, you may end up fragmented and too scattered to really build a foundation about much of anything.

Kind of the concept of this new project I am working on, rather than signing hundreds of people, I’ll choose a small select group of clients to work with and more tightly focus on marketing and promoting them. Any ideas let me know, but I’ll keep you posted on this..its very exciting…

Wait..I think the sun is starting to come out…

So you want to start a podcast? A lot of times I meet with clients and of course the first thing is, I have a great idea for a show, how do I make money at it? Well one of the first steps is to build a community. Hit shows on TV and radio have a community. For example on TV, Lost or Heroes, both have built up a large following. It started with a lot of promotion, but then once the people started getting into it, it grew and developed. Now there are communities built around these shows. Fueled by fans.

And that is the first step, develop the community. Get the brand out there, start a wave that will grow high and you’ll be able to surf. A few mistakes commonly made when people start a podcast is they do a couple episodes then hope for sponsors. Sponsors will happen if its a goal, and its a mission, and that is part of what you want out of the show. But rarely does it happen right out of the blue. Another mistake is they are smitten by stats. Once you start to look at stats you often may judge that as success. Your audience is growing, but you’re not making any money at it. Why? Because the stats are more important than generating income. Here in America, attention is everything, so being popular is a goal many shoot for. When it starts to happen, it can become quite appealing. And it is great, don’t get me wrong. But don’t be defined by your stats. Because what happens next is the stats drop, and you feel like you have failed. 

So build a community first, because a community can support a lot, it can ride you through the peaks and valleys. And if you want to make money at doing a podcast, realize first that you have to create an appealing brand, something that will attract someone with money to take part in. I hear a lot of podcasters grumbling that they love doing the show but really want to make money at it. Which is fine, but include making money as a goal. And realize that money will gravitate toward a thriving community, so get that rolling first.

I’ll have more podcast tips soon…so let me know what you think…

Do me a favor and email yourself. What do you see for the name that pops up? Hopefully its at least your first name, last name and/or company name. Most of us keep an address book in our email program on contacts. The problem is lots of your contacts don’t properly fill out the info in their email program. Look at the picture above. Joe has a great Name and Display name, when I go to find him in my address book, its easy.

Now look at info…or Jason…who is Jason? Who knows.

If you want to make contacts that last, spend some time in your email program filling out a proper identifying name that you want to represent you. If you are worthy of inclusion in someone else’s address book, at least make it easy for them to remember you.

Do you do this weekly? Do you take on clients, start new projects, expand your working environment to include tasks beyond your current experience? OK I know today is a holiday in the US..so lets discuss from Tuesday on. What will you take on this week that moves you in a direction you have never been? The problem with being a media artist or entrepreneur or running your own empire is that you often are hired for your skills, you are the best and people want to pay for that service. Unfortunately you may often be giving them exactly what they want, what they expect. Nothing more, nothing less. This could go on for years.

There is no margin for growth for you (learning something new) and no way to surprise the client with going beyond their expectations. It may seen like business as usual and things are going smooth, however the long term damage is apathy about your career, no skills gained, no personal growth and building a career that is more stagnant than progressive. You may only realize this in hindsight, after several years, so make the move now.

We develop our purpose (which is often changing and shifting organically over time), shape our character and develop new skills that people are willing to pay even more for when we move into areas where we discover capabilities we did not have previously. So this week make a point to move in a few of those directions. Often clients or co-workers will push you into these scenarios. But if that does not happen this week..push yourself. Or maybe if you look at your to-do list this week, you are already planning it? If not, add it in.

How do you spend most of your week…do you take most of the time to convey your ideas or is it mostly listening to others? Are you providing the direction or taking it? Take clients for example, as a creative artist or business person, people come to you for your vision, your ideas, your reputation. You should be spending a lot of time helping them navigate whatever problem they need solved. Good clients are listening to you, absorbing, taking in all your knowledge. They are getting a lot of bang for the buck. They are coming to you and leaving with hope and confidence. The opposite is a client who sits there and tells you exactly what they need. And you just do it. How they want it, what color it should be, how it should be arranged, everything. And then then when you finish, the changes start pouring in. This needs to change, this should be different, can we add one more thing, it keeps..on..going…

When you start to make it big you see the shift, you see that once you were completely directed, but now you are steering. The amazing part is that this shift can happen anytime, anywhere. Sure its easy if you are a manager or run your own business, but what if you are working for someone or have a less managerial position of power. You can still shift by changing from being a yes person to being an idea person. You convey new concepts, ways to improve, you start to display your knowledge and you begin to become a go-to person. But the people above you need to be flexible enough to adapt. If you are confident, focused and have the best interest of the company in mind they will adapt. Its also a bit of sales, selling your ideas, but just about every establishment wants to be better, so great ideas are usually welcome.  

In an office environment there are several types of bosses, most typical is a manager who always wants your feedback but implements it very rarely, and only when its safe to do so and does not put him out on a limb. The better boss is someone who hired you for your skills and vision, and your involvement is truly steering the department. The worse scenario is a boss who just loads work on you, and the quicker you finish it, the more she collects for you. These jobs drone on for years with the person making little impact and leaving having learned not much.

But what about clients? What if you have a business or you are freelance? Great clients are ones that are not afraid to trust you and be educated by you. They put the ball in your court and see how you hit it. These types of clients can last for years and create a lot of abundance for you. The opposite are clients who are grinders, they know exactly how it should be done, the pester you day and night, the always want something they just thought of and worst of all..they’re not listening. And they’re not learning. They have tiny budgets and even smaller vision. Many media artists fall into this trap, they are super busy with lots of clients but they are getting burned out. Not only from just completing assigned tasks, but the fact they are steering so little of the process.

So learn to steer, you can do it at any level, at anytime. Start today. Learn to make a difference and lead, it’s really the only way to grow and to advance a career worth looking back over.

I was listening to the new M Show Episode 148 and the talk centered around Carin reading a book on mean tyrant like bosses (what was the name of the book..I am trying to remember) and I have to say after reading a lot of books on famous creative artists and business people, its a theme that keeps coming up. Prime example is a book I am about halfway through now called Walt Disney: The Triumph of the American Imagination and it would appear that Walt indeed was a hard person to work for, as least in the early years.

Of course there is a difference between disruptive middle management bent on hidden agendas as opposed to visionaries who push people to their limits to see their dreams to fruition (which John Wall was explaining on the M Show). Steve Jobs is another example, there have been stories he’s tough to work for..or does he just bring out the best in people? Apple seems to be doing OK.

My take is the difference is trust and respect. And winning people over on a personal level. Being a manager for many years I learned if you can get people on your side, if they trust you and respect you, they will follow your vision as intensely (or more intensely) as you do. But here is the catch: getting people on your side is personal and does not come automatically because you are the boss. If you automatically expect people to follow you because you are the boss, you are doomed to fail.

If you work with them, empower them, they become right in line with you, capture your vision, and in turn inspire others to join in. They then become employees that rise above what is expected. Of course, another aspect is sales. If you can sell your ideas effectively you have a much better chance of success and surrounding yourself with people who share your vision.

Computer Arts is the worlds largest creative magazine and you can find Media Artist Secrets episodes on the CD each month in Computer Arts Projects (this month’s issue has a two hour special that I did recently, in addition to some extra episodes of MAS). And if you have not checked out the magazine, do grab it, either the monthly Computer Arts or the Computer Arts Projects, its wildly creative and features the absolute best in design and creativity. Get a taste by exploring www.computerarts.co.uk

I get a lot of e-mails from listeners of Media Artist Secrets who tell me they are working very hard on improving their skills. That is good, skills are needed to pay the bills, but the more important issue is drive. Drive is the forward momentum that keeps everything humming. Without that, the most talented and skilled person will be stuck at the starting line.

When I started my photography company years ago I have to say I was not the most skilled photographer, but I was very driven to see it succeed. I really wanted to make it happen and as such got into projects that were often over my head. But I learned a tremendous amount. Learning on a job that is several steps out of your comfort zone can provide 1000% more info then passively reading out of a book or being show how to do something.

One byproduct of success is that you tend to stay in the comfort zone once you “make it” but remember to take chances and break out of that zone. Think back to a time in your life when you had that momentum and exhilaration of pushing beyond your skill set and abilities.

So if given a choice between talent or tenacity, choose tenacity. Dive in and work it. Don’t worry about the skill set, that will always advance, just focus more on the forward momentum and drive.

Can you remember something you dived into, thinking it was not going to go well and it came out great?

If you are a content creator now is the time to start thinking about shooting in high definition if you are not already. Now you may be distributing to iTunes and iPods and taping with MiniDV or whatever, but start now getting poised for the future. In the past few years we’ve seen a reversal..things were at standard definition and the jump was always to move to high definition. But portable content happened along the way. Suddenly instead of a broadcast delivery target, you now had a file that was 320×240, to be distributed via iTunes. Now the swing is that the portable content is bumping up in resolution, and its happening very quickly.

In the past year, Apple alone has promoted increasing resolution with it QuickTime Pro software export options. When the last version of the video iPod came out, the standard went from 320×240 to 640×480. Now in the past month, with the introduction of Apple TV, new QuickTime resolutions has emerged, 1280 by 720 pixels at 24 fps, 960 by 540 pixels at 30 fps. Many producers shooting video will use the 960×540, as QuickTime Pro easily exports widescreen video to this size. But look at the width of this video: it’s tripled in size in only a year. Mainly because portable content is skipping the portable device and wirelessly streaming to an entertainment unit, such as Apple TV, PS3, XBox 360 and others.

And the resolution advances do not appear to be slowing. Audiences will be demanding HD more and more in the coming year, so if you produce, at least shoot, edit and do all your graphics and animations in a format such as 1080i/1080p. That way when the next HD device pops up you can easily redo your existing content into whatever the new file demands. Its an issue because more and more producers are creating shows with webcams, laptop cams and still cameras that shoot video. All in standard definition. These are convenient to be sure, but if you really want to ready yourself and your brand for the future, master in the highest resolution you can afford. I’ve been shooting in HD and producing everything at 1080i/1080p for a while now, so for example I was able to quickly launch an Apple TV Rumor Girls feed in iTunes as soon as the unit was released. Also we can redo most of our shows (except some early SD ones) and make them portable and HD.

So even if you are mainly working in SD now for the web or iPods, switch to HD so your past work will look even better in the future.

Everyone needs a professional photo of themselves these days for marketing. It used to be just models and actors, now everyone is in the spotlight and having a set of photos for promotional purposes is key. Here are 4 tips:

1. Get a Great Photographer
No matter what the price, get the best photographer you can afford. These days everyone who has a digital camera is a photographer, and often are willing to shoot you for free. Or perhaps you have a cousin who just got a new digital SLR. Only go down that road if they are really excellent. The problem is you’ll be using these images to market yourself and if they look amateur, you will be perceived as amateur. I have seen countless models in particular do trades for prints and then use these as a portfolio, needless to say they get little to no work. This is your visual resume, so make sure you focus on great shots above all else.

2. Pick Your Photos
After the shoot its OK to get some opinions, but in the end you’ll need to live with these images. After everyone throws in their two cents, you’ll need to look at the pictures for months and months. Make sure the ones you want out there marketing you are the ones you love the best. Otherwise you’ll not be as confident sharing them and you’ll tend to hold back. If its a shot you love you’ll have no problem sharing it with the world. And sharing your photo with the world is exactly what you need to do. Also chances are if you do a photo shoot you’ll have many to choose from, and chances are also you’ll drive yourself crazy trying to choose “the right one”. Don’t worry…whatever you choose will be fine.

3. Don’t Go Photoshop Crazy
A little goes a long way. If you airbrush too much then when you actually go to meet with the person who you’ve sent the picture to they may not recognize you, leading to disappointment and getting the meet off to an awkward start. Touch-ups are fine and are standard procedure these days, but tweak…don’t transform.

4. Update Often
I’ve seen so many headshots that are literally five years old. I recommend getting photos done yearly, you may not notice the changes, but others will. You want a very accurate representation of yourself. Also styles and clothing change, as does your hair and features, so you’ll want to look current. Most people get better looking and improve their style as they get older and learn what looks good on them, so make sure you have updated images that accurately portray these advances.

Questions? Add a comment…

What if you were 18 again? What if you were just starting your professional career. Remember when you were that age and you had all these choices, all this opportunity. It was a blank slate professionally, you could do anything you wanted. Go to school, start a business, start working in a field you really loved. The potential was incredible.

Are you doing it?

Who doesn’t want to quit their day job? Branch off on their own, start their own empire, stop working for the man. Because of my podcast I get e-mails all the time from people who have made the move, they’ve stopped working for others and began working for themselves. It’s quite a leap from the comfy zone to the unknown zone, but its often amazingly rewarding. Often it comes down to benefits. People need to stay at their job for the benefits. They stay there for a decade locked into a slowly incremental pay rate just for benefits. However its important to realize that when you start your own empire, your income becomes unlimited. It’s no longer anchored to a set scale. And its often not a problem to get benefits when your income advances, even if you have to handle it separately.  

But lets say you can’t leave your day job..just yet. What can you do now? Leave a legacy. Make sure that your time spent at your current job is filled with milestones, advancements and achievements. Ensure that you provide so much value to the company that when you do decide to leave, the company is losing a huge valuable asset. Many just punch the clock, putting in the hours, not trying to hard, but meanwhile dreaming of doing their own thing. The problem is you have a grand opportunity to learn, advance your skills and take on new responsibility. To gain a lot of skills that you can take with you. You don’t have to be a five star employee of the month, but at least if you’re going to be spending all that time at your current job, get some benefits from it besides health and dental.

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