30 June 2008
TWIP Site News
Posted by
Scott under:
Site Info
We’re not quite six months old here at This Week in Photography and thanks to you, we’re still growing.
As a group of pals who would get together to discuss this stuff off mic, TWIP is really a joy for those of us involved. For me personally, it’s a place to teach what I have learned over three decades of using a camera.
The rest of the cast enjoys the show very much too, and each contributes his own special take on things.
And your participation has made us better.
Here are some stats we thought you might like to know.
As of episode 35, we’ve had more than one million downloads of the podcasts, screencasts and videocasts.
We’ve never been out of the top 100 in technology on iTunes and spent a good portion of time in the top 25 and even in the top 10. For two weeks we made the top 10 overall which is unheard of for a photo show.
In less than half a year, we’ve published more than 240 blog posts and received almost 2500 blog comments. I am told that a comment ratio of ten-to-one is really good in the blogging industry so thanks for participating.
We’ve delivered more than three million page views and seen almost 150,000 unique visitors on the site.
We’ve used nearly 50 GB worth of bandwidth serving the site.
Most of our listeners are from the USA, but we also have an impressive list of foreign listeners. TWIP is very popular in New Zealand, Austria, Canada, UK, Sweden and Germany - in that order.
For those who care about such things, the top browsers used on the blog are Firefox, Safari and IE in that order.
Our three Flickr discussion groups have grown quite nicely. There are more than 10,000 members in the three groups combined. Approximately 20,000 images have been uploaded into TWIP-related pools. That’s a whole bunch of photography!
More than 2,200 discussions have been started in our forums. Obviously you all have something on your mind!
Our team has grown too. We have two co-hosts, Alex and I and three regular guests; Fred - Ron - Steve. We now have Aaron Mahler as a show producer and Steve Salazar as our Twitter producer.
Liana Lehua occasionally contributes to the show and of course we often have special guests.
Our production is split between two teams. Over at Pixelcorps, at least two and sometimes three people work on the back end of the show to make sure it gets recorded, tagged and uploaded to the RSS feed. At Podango Productions, two people work on the show to do the same thing when we record at Podango.
We have an attorney who we regularly consult with and a part-time bookkeeper who we work with to help manage revenue from the advertisers.
Speaking of advertisers, we have some great ones. Audible, Lensbabies and Drobo are all great.
There is more to come. With your help, we can grow the show into something even bigger. We can offer more services, do more episodes, bring in more bloggers and start offering workshops.
So far, it’s been word-of-mouth marketing here. We want to continue to rely on the organic approach to growing TWIP. It’s worked so far.
If you are interested in seeing that happen, please consider linking to us, subscribing to our show in iTunes, spreading the word to your camera manufacturers and retailers about us, telling the folks in your local camera club about TWIP, blogging and Twittering about us and patronizing our advertisers.
Thanks for listening, reading and your support. It makes all the hard work worth it.
43 Comments so far...
Wes W. Says:
30 June 2008 at 2:38 pm.
This is awesome guys! I only just started listening about 2 months ago, but its been great. To have this much traffic in 6 months is just amazing! You guys are doing great!
Congrats!
Ashley Burton Says:
30 June 2008 at 2:54 pm.
Congratulations, it’s a great acheivement and you really found a niche to make your own. I love the witty banter as well as the benefit of the panel’s photographic experience.
Mike Says:
30 June 2008 at 3:12 pm.
Love the info on the podcasts and visit the web site daily for the tips. Keep up the great work!
Martin Says:
30 June 2008 at 3:17 pm.
Hey guys. You are the first site I visit each day, but, herein lies my question, not the last. How does one cure blogstipation (info overload)? I spend literally hours each early morning and late evening viewing lots of great content across the net. How do you guys filter what you look at?
Aaron Heath Says:
30 June 2008 at 3:38 pm.
Guys, thanks for the show.
Scott for the insider knowledge, Jar Jar for the “Hey Everybody” and the great rounded non-pro input, Ron for the Kata video (my new Sensitivity V is awesome, thanks), and Fred (go Adobe!) and Steve for the laughs. PS. Aaron Mahler is the best show notes writer in the business and a great photographer to boot. Period.
And thanks to the sponsors who make it happen. When I can wrangle my Mrs. into another investment, a DROBO is top of the list! (Already an Audible nut.)
But most all thanks to you all, everyone of you, for a great podcast. TWiP is right up there in my must-to listens.
Thanks
Aaron
teymur madjderey Says:
30 June 2008 at 3:40 pm.
nice one! FTW as they say!
glad you started TWIP and glad you put so much afford into it! keep it up!
teymur.
KentGoldings Says:
30 June 2008 at 4:28 pm.
You’re fun to listen to. The informative aspect is icing on the cake.
Bruce Clarke Says:
30 June 2008 at 4:47 pm.
I’ve been listening since the first episode and they just keep getting better and better. I learn so much from you guys each week and it’s fun to listen to the Canon vs. Nikon and Lightroom vs. Aperture teasing that happens on the show. The rapport you guys all have with one another makes the show very entertaining and us listeners can tell that you really enjoy doing the show.
The blog is also fantastic. Keep up the great work guys both behind the scenes and in front. Looking forward to what happens next!
Thanks
Bruce
Adam Rosser Says:
30 June 2008 at 5:12 pm.
Austria, or Australia? Seems odd a German speaking country would have more listeners than the english speakers.
Olga Says:
30 June 2008 at 5:54 pm.
This podcast & website are *wonderful*. Keep up the great work that you are doing, I appreciate it very much. I don’t even recall how I stumbled across it, but now I am a regular fan. I listen to the podcast while I drive (iPod connected to my car’s speakers), and then again at home, if I want to refer back to something. I read the website pretty much every day. I have also told all my friends about it. I am interested in every topic you have taken up, and I cannot wait for more. A great big thanks for all that you do.
Barrie Says:
30 June 2008 at 6:51 pm.
Very cool! 
The injection of humor and wit in the show really makes it gold.
JVL Says:
30 June 2008 at 8:05 pm.
I listen on my walk to work every day (it’s a short walk), and I often find myself LOL’ing in the real world at some of your tangents. I’m glad Steve represents his Canadian people - a Canuck joke a day adds a personal touch that is much appreciated.
Malcolm Says:
30 June 2008 at 8:07 pm.
I’m here in Melbourne..It does seem odd that New Zealand is on the list and not Australia? Where are all the Aussies?
Jesus Inclan Says:
1 July 2008 at 12:31 am.
I love the show. I listen to it on my ipod. Looking forward to many great shows.
James Sugrue Says:
1 July 2008 at 1:20 am.
Awesome to see so many fellow Kiwi’s interested in TWIP. Maybe you guys could come down for a photo tour. You’d get great snaps as we have he best scenery in the world. Maybe that’s why there are so many interested photographers in NZ?
Anyway, keep up the great work.
edmund Says:
1 July 2008 at 1:20 am.
Keep up the excellent podcast guys. You all have a great sense of humor.
Tim in London Says:
1 July 2008 at 2:09 am.
I really enjoy the show. I’ve only recently taken up photography so someitmes the discussion is a bit over my head but that helps me learn faster as I then go looking up whatever you talked about. It’s a great show and based on those stats I think you have a format which could easily find an audience on mainstream TV. I actually think the show would translate well to a TV format.
Paul Says:
1 July 2008 at 2:50 am.
Thanks for the great work that you guys put into the podcast each week. As someone who has started to taken photography more seriously this year it’s good to learn from your experiences and enjoy the light hearted way that it is put across.
Thanks again, Paul
UK Listener
Gary Says:
1 July 2008 at 2:54 am.
You are by far the most entertaining and informative (photog) podcast around. Your sponsors are great. (I love the Lensbaby 3G). Attention sponsors and potential sponsors: “Ahem… after listening to this podcast, all I want to do is buy new camera stuff. It’s costing me a fortune. Okay, that’s it.”
Jan van Beijnhem Says:
1 July 2008 at 3:10 am.
Hello from Holland (strange that we are not in the list:-)
Success and congratulations with the show!
Buzz Says:
1 July 2008 at 4:13 am.
Thanks all, great show. I’m currently working on a dive boat and pick up the show every time we are in port. Keeps me sane and up to date.
Arch Says:
1 July 2008 at 4:43 am.
Malcolm - another Aussie here (Brisbane). Been listening for a couple of months now.
To the TWIP team - great shows. Keep them coming.
Frank Says:
1 July 2008 at 6:58 am.
The show and daily blog is outstanding. I listen to many different podcast each week [long commute plus too much time spent on my tractor cutting the grass]. Your show is the best photography podcast published.
I imagine folks drive by and wonder what I am laughing at when I hear your discussion between Nikon vs Canon or Lightroom vs Aperture.
Thank you for your dedication to keeping the photography community informed!
Doug Says:
1 July 2008 at 7:31 am.
Hi Guys,
I’ve been subscribed since the beginning and I’d like to thank you for the work all of you put into this podcast.
I appreciate the efforts to keep this a PG-rated podcast as I often listen in the car with my kids along. I had been listening to another digital photography show but the unpredictable outbursts of swearing made me decide to find an alternative. Your podcast started at just the right time.
As one of the poll respondents that would like to have a longer show, may I offer a solution to the bladder problem? Portable urinals.
Thanks again - Audio podcasts on the iPod, video podcasts on the TiVo, blog on the PC.
Alvin Kim Says:
1 July 2008 at 8:19 am.
wow that’s amazing! I’ve gotta say, it IS my favorite podcast of all time.
congratulations to you guys and keep up the good work
Jeremy Says:
1 July 2008 at 9:36 am.
I’ve been listening since episode 1, and while there are, at times, topics that are of little interest to me as an amateur photographer this is by far one of my favorite podcasts and blogs to pay attention to on a weekly basis.
It is particularly interesting to me that it is Firefox and THEN Safari users and THEN IE users who are interested in TWiT. To me, that says it is the cutting-edge, IT and intelligentsia of our society who are paying attention to this blog/show/team. Great work on serving our wants and needs and offering us some intelligent talk on the interwebs, TWiT team!
Julio N Says:
1 July 2008 at 10:00 am.
Is this the part where we all group hug?
Scott Says:
1 July 2008 at 10:07 am.
@Julio you’re welcome to hug or not. Like everything else here - hugs are free.
Kelly Says:
1 July 2008 at 10:45 am.
Keep up the good work, it’s a relief to finally have a photography blog or podcast that its sole purpose is to sell the photographers book or work.
Thanks
Kelly Says:
1 July 2008 at 10:52 am.
I was going to add also that its nice that you advertise other photographers books more than your own.
Lee Says:
1 July 2008 at 11:54 am.
Not surprising you have grown so fast, I am a better photographer now than before I started to listen. 1 hour a week of entertainment and information that helps me improve at my hobby, good job!
Sam Says:
1 July 2008 at 12:55 pm.
Scott,
Congratulations, Scott, on the great site you have launched. Lensbaby is very pleased to be a sponsor!
Sincerely,
Sam Pardue
CEO
Lensbaby, LLC
mark wakefield Says:
1 July 2008 at 1:47 pm.
The best for photo:)
Thank you
Robert Says:
1 July 2008 at 2:10 pm.
A loyal TWIT fan and a photo enthusiast, I’ve been a listener from the beginning. TWIP is now my favourite show and you guys have done a fantastic job. You inject real knowledge and enthusiasm into the show and blog which is what makes all the difference. Keep it up!
Barbara Says:
1 July 2008 at 4:49 pm.
I agree with the other Aussies, must be more Aussies than Austrians!!!
And I missed the poll about how many women listen as I was on holidays (vacation for you US/Canadian listeners..) and I would have given another 0.2% to the girls had I been around.
great show guys.
joanlvh Says:
1 July 2008 at 9:41 pm.
workshops YEH!
Luis Says:
2 July 2008 at 5:20 am.
I’m a listener from the beginning… and here are a couple more stats due to your show:
-I’ve joined Flickr and the 3 TWiP groups.
-I’ve managed to properly tag all my shots just so I could find what I wanted for the photo challenges (in Lightroom).
-I’ve made my first $0.01 (from ad-revenue) with one shot I uploaded to the beta Photrade! 
-But more importantly, I now actually MAKE time to shoot at least every two weeks (for the photo challenge)… and I enjoy every minute of it!
Thanks guys…
Julio N Says:
2 July 2008 at 10:09 am.
*hug*
…alright that’s enough…
Michael in south London Says:
2 July 2008 at 4:37 pm.
It is somewhat surprising New Zealand would be second to the US when London’s population alone is almost twice that of the entire country!
I know a lot of web stats generate visitor graphs based on the IP domain names, which is very misleading for the UK. Around half of British internet providers use either .com or .net domains for their servers rather than .co.uk ones, so get wrongly counted under the US. This may also be true in other countries.
As I do not remember this being a poll question, maybe it would make a good one to ask to get a better idea? You could use the top countries above as the options, plus maybe Japan, along with South America, Africa, Europe (Other) and Asia (possibly split into east and west because it such a vast and diverse continent).
And, of course, an “Other” option in case there are any polar bears listening!
Michael.
subcorpus Says:
14 July 2008 at 12:11 am.
i’ve been listening since the first show …
never missed an episode …
good show … great work guys …
