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548- Resurging interest in Podcast Networks and membership sites

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This is a repurposed episode of The Podcast Reporter, where the original podcast episode was published on 4May2020. The reason we submit this for repurposing is that the subject is very heated now in conversation and action in the podosphere, with the Chinese virus-crisis now simmering down in the US — and with people now interested in both podcast networks and membership sites.

Repurposed episode 407:

In this episode of podcastreporter.com, we focus on the question of whether to join or even start your own Podcast Network. This theme came to me from a couple of recent episodes from Evo Terra in his Podcast Pontifications show, as well as Daniel J Lewis in his show, The Audacity to Podcast.

If your passion for podcasting has grown such that you want to join or even create your own podcast network, perhaps you should listen to the questions asked by Evo Terra, as well as listen to the experiences (the good, the bad and the ugly) from Daniel J Lewis (who did shut down his own podcast network that he started years ago).

My own experiences with podcast networks

Now, I have had experiences with the thought of joining a podcast network. In 2006 and 2007, I dipped my toes into the waters of joining what looked like a growing podcast network at Podango (this was the podcast company that had acquired Gigavox, the firm that created the Levelator in 2006). I wanted to be a part of what was called a “podcast station” (which was the category or genres of podcasts) called the Business Station. I wanted to include my flagship podcast at the time, Struggling Entrepreneur. And the sharing, the community and the financial benefits all seemed like a great beginning. However, I did have second thoughts about letting someone else run my show and own my RSS feed and content. So I decided NOT to join and just kept being on my own. And, by the way, I do not regret that decision, as Podango later went out of business in another year or two.

Then, in 2007, the podcast network bug bit me again. This time, I wanted to start a podcast network which I had temporarily called the “Content Creator and podcaster network.” This was going to be basically a membership site with 4 founders — one for the technical side of podcasting; another for the financial side of startups and podcasting; another for the marketing side of podcasting and its promotion; and my contribution, the personal productivity side of creating content and podcasts.

For this membership site, we even had a meeting which I had called. And I used the prior method of getting buy-in and commitment and dialog used by Tim Bourquin when he had founded the Podcast and Portable Media Expo in 2005. That is, I invited everyone to join me personally (at my expense for travel, lodging and meals) for a couple of days in Austin, Texas, so that we could discuss all day the creation of this membership site which would then create the network shortly after launch. In fact, we even had an attorney, who was himself a podcaster, join us via Skype to get the details of the contract which he would create for all of us to agree and sign as a commitment. Well, that meeting gave me an indication of how much CONTROL and OWNERSHIP and FINANCIAL EXPECTATION that podcasters desired. As a result, I saw that this arrangement would not suit all the parties involved — what seemed like an exciting discussion and proposal went down in flames when “the devil is in the details.” So we never gave the green light to create the contract (with legal fees of $1300 in those days), and we disbanded the idea. And the survivors were only two of us who started another podcast based on Finance for Startups (which has since podfaded).

What was obvious to me at that time, after some pre-investment expenses and time, was that podcasters were too much desirous of control and ownership of the direction. And this is only natural, since podcasting at that time was individually run, owned and managed by the solo podcaster. And these people were not used to SHARING any intellectual property or revenue with others, especially under contract.

So the notion of a podcast network or membership site was erased from my mind as a creator — and maybe one day I might join one already in session.

The 2 recent episodes about podcast networks

In a recent episode by Evo Terra in his show called Podcast Pontifications, the title of his script and audio episode was “Should you join or form a podcast network?”

In this audio episode, Evo asks the most important questions: (1) What is it that you want to get out of the network?; and (2) what is it that you will be willing to sacrifice to belong in it?

He not only goes over what his own backstory was in creating his own network back “in the day” of 2004 and following, but also how a loose confederation of podcasters can be just a social club rather than a really serious podcast network (and he describes what should be in a podcast network from his point of view).

So the benefits vs. the contributions is a matrix that you should put together to evaluate an existing podcast network that you may feel compelled to join. Also, if you wish to start one, you should examine deep in yourself what you really want to get out of managing this type of organization and see if you have the talent and skills to do so effectively, without having the passion of podcasting be lost due to frustrations because of your potential lack of skills.

And Evo relates what, in his opinion, is really needed for a good podcast network today.

Now, the other example with some lessons learned comes from Daniel J Lewis of The Audacity to Podcast show. He describes how he put together his network shortly after he joined podcasting in full force — and also the end of his network, along with the reasons why he ended it.

In his recent episode called “Why we retired our podcast network,” Daniel mentions that he had clear-cut goals when he created his podcast network: “My goal was to bring together like-minded podcasters with high-quality shows to grow together through synergy, community, support, cross-promotion, and sponsorship.”

However, what seemed to me to be more or less a society of like-minded individuals with different podcast shows from different genres and possibly some unrelated themes soon grew into a long list of participating shows in the network, like the following:

  • The Ramen Noodle
  • Are You Just Watching
  • The Audacity to Podcast
  • Beyond the To-Do List
  • The Productive Woman
  • Christian Meets World
  • The Sci-Phi Show
  • ONCE
  • Welcome to Level Seven
  • WONDERLAND
  • Under the Dome Radio
  • Resurrection Revealed
  • Podcasting Videos by The Audacity to Podcast
  • Inside the Podcasting Business
  • As you can see, this could appear to be a community of disjointed themes and topics, with possibly the intent to generate sponsorship, financial rewards from downloads and advertising, as well as cross-promotion. And Daniel then explains what things he did well in the network and what things that were done poorly:
  • Audience-relevant common theme
  • Cross-promotion
  • Cross-integration
  • Full and consistent community
  • and you can listen to his audio podcast episode to get the details. Then he states why he retired the network, including the ability for him to focus on fewer things, as well as giving each podcaster more room to expand.

So Daniel’s experiences deliver some lessons learned about starting a podcast network, and I would suggest that you take these into account if you get the passion to go beyond your own podcast shows and want to start your own network.

Considerations for the podcaster about Podcast Network

As a podcaster, what passion can be driving you toward wanting to start a great podcast network? Will you have the time? Will the additional workload and timetables and schedules and management of the network be something you will embrace, as well as have time for? Will you have the necessary skills to manage your network? Will you have the right temperment for being in the network? And will the podcasts in the network be the right ones, or will they be a hodge-podge collection of your favorite podcasters and additional genres and other topics that might not relate well to some audiences? Will the network be governed by contract or by word-of-mouth agreements?

So, whatever your decision may be concerning podcast networks may be (i.e., either joining one or starting one of your own), we hope that these two audio episodes can give you enough food for thought to know what to expect both from the contribution side and the giving side to the network.

So we hope that your podcast show will be successful, whether it be a part of a podcast network or not.

Thank you for your attention

Copyright (c) 2021, Matrix Solutions Corporation and Daniel J Lewis of Theaudacitytopodcast.com and Evo Terra of Podcastpontifications.com and michaelandmike.com. All rights reserved.

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podcast

546- Podcasting publishing where no motivation may exist

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In this episode of The Podcast Reporter, we discuss an article that came out earlier in 2021 from weeditpodcasts.com that seems to pontificate the themes of recording a podcast episode for your show when you have no motivation or when the excitement of the ideal for your podcast show is losing its strength to what the article says is the reality of “the grey monotony of the daily grind.”

Now, this article expands on the ideas of motivation vs. accomplishments and the state of mind in forcing yourself as a podcaster to publish an episode for your show, especially when reality of work and effort will try to combat your enthusiasm that had you initially visualize and launch your show. And here are the topics covered in this article:

  • Discipline trumps motivation — “Discipline is what gives structure and direction to our lives” by locking in your schedule and your systems;
  • Find the right physical space;
  • Find the right head space — “a happy you is a happy podcaster, and a happy podcaster is a motivated one”;
  • Treat yourself (especially with self-rewards for completing certain tasks in your workflow — especially for finally posting and publishing an episode);
  • Remind yourself of WHY — with a physical tip for you to see a reminder of your initial goals for launching the podcast;

And David Hutchinson, the author, delivers his own conclusion for the text of the article.

So, you yourself as a podcaster have to see what your motivation was when you started the podcast to remind yourself, and then you can see the VALUE to you and your audience. By monitoring your FEEDBACK and your RESULTS of “subscriptions” and “follows” and other stats, you can then be vicarious in accepting the reasons positively for continuing to put out your content in giving value to your audience — that is, of NOT letting them down by podfading or delaying an episode. Remember that delay of an episode in a situation where your audience expects consistency of some sort is the first step in the formula to LOSING your audience bit by bit — and this loss is what could be causing your neagativity in podcasting and making it more difficult to find the energy, strength, enthusiasm, positivity, excitement and passion to continue podcasting.

We hope that you can find THE WHY that will fuel your WHAT and your HOW to continue to post your episodes when your motivation may be challenged by the various reasons of reality vs. passion.

Thank you for your attention.

Copyright (c) 2021, Matrix Solutions Corporation and michaelandmike.com and weeditpodcasts.com. All rights reserved.

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592- Best practices in podcasting

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In this episode of The Podcast Reporter, we review some ideas and suggestions from Ben Krueger of cashflowpodcasting.com that deal with suggested BEST PRACTICES for podcasting. This theme was discussed in a post from Ben Krueger in his site titled “Podcast Best Practices for 2021.”

Ben Krueger

As you may remember, I have known Ben since 2014, when we both were at an exhibit table at the very first Podcast Movement conference in Dallas. In my opinion, Ben is a professional podcaster who has delivered lots of good suggestions, especially for the aspiring and new podcasters. And he has posted many documents for free from his site that do add value.

In this post, he reviews some suggested BEST PRACTICES for the podcaster that may add value to the podcasting effort. It is highly recommended that you, as a podcaster, should list some best practices used by other podcasters of note. Then you can look at them and see if you can integrate some of them that may work well for your own podcast shows. Perhaps some of these can help your show to stand out as “value-driven content.” Remember, as Ben mentions, there really is no magic formula for everyone.

Here is a summary of the introduction by Ben about best practices and his discussion: “Podcast best practices inevitably change from one year to the next. As the streaming landscape begins to mature, it’s never been more important to follow podcast best practices and deploy a range of strategies to attract engaged audio listeners. While the consumption of audio content is increasing, listeners only have so much time in a day to engage with podcasts.”

  • Provide your audience with as much value as possible;
  • Create a memorable podcast name and optimize titles: “Establishing a clear value proposition begins with a memorable podcast name.”
  • Strike a balance between creativity and authenticity;
  • Involve your target audience in the conception of the podcast, including the podcast name(s): “Launching a podcast without consulting your target audience is a poor strategy.”
  • Utilize Welcome and send-off phrases to build audience trust to help establish a sense of familiarity;
  • Consistency in how you open and close your episodes adds structure to your content;
  • Take note of how hosts in other podcasts within your niche open and close each episode;
  • Cross-sell other podcast episodes and related content;
  • Consistently schedule and publish new podcast episodes to have your listeners include your episodes as part of their routine;
  • Communicate your publishing schedule to your listeners;
  • Engage in marketing and promotion efforts: “…you cannot rely on organic discovery on these platforms to build an audience.”
  • What is recommended is  leveraging social media marketing to create awareness around your new podcast episodes.

Ben then sums up his post with the emphasis on delivering value to your audience: “Every best practice related to producing a podcast ultimately stems back to value creation.”

Thus, we hope that you can consume this post and see if any (or all) of these suggestions may help you to increase the value of your podcast show and to engage great listeners so that your podcast show can be a success and deliver the great value to your audience.

Thank you for your attention.

Copyright (c) 2021, Matrix Solutions Corporation and Ben Krueger and michaelandmike.com. All rights reserved.

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545- Securing your Podcasting niche

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In this episode of The Podcast Reporter, we discuss the theme advocated in episode 176 of the Podcasting Business School  with Adam Schaeuble earlier this year. The topic was how to “niche-down” the theme of your podcast show, so that your show can be accelerated for growth, engagement and attractiveness to listeners in the podosphere and be on the road to success, instead of going downhill.

In this mentioned episode, Adam describes four key symptoms that can indicate that you need to “niche-down” your podcast (which signifies that you are perhaps covering too wide an area and not getting the customer or listener engagement that you want). And these four symptoms are:

  • Lack of audience engagement or feedback from your listeners;
  • It has been difficult to monetize (because perhaps your offers are not attractive enough or just plain boring);
  • Stalled growth in subscriptions (or “follows”) and downloads, etc.;
  • Perhaps you are losing interest — either in topics or drudgery of creating another episode, etc. (it is too much of slavery for you).

Now, many podcasters see a “lull” or dip in performance of engagement with audience listeners, as well as with the statistics of their episodes. This does not mean all the time that the show is going downhill. It could be for a variety of reasons:

  • the Season has wrapped and the audience will be waiting for the beginning of the next season;
  • the virus crisis has changed their interest levels to other topics, and perhaps your podcast topic was more along the lines of entertainment in a pre-pandemic world where the topics were of a different nature or not as serious as a crisis;
  • more competition from other podcasters along the same topic and themes have taken away a lot of listeners (now that there a millions of podcasts out there, and the number is growing daily); or
  • with the lock-downs gradually retreating us back into the world of mobility and being “out,” the stay-at-home crowd that may have followed your show will now be on the move and perhaps the listener base has cut down on the listening of podcasts; or
  • Big and important announcements have been made and publicized by Apple and other vendors that relate to the podosphere and products, etc., for podcasting — and they have stolen the thunder and grabbed the momentary attention of your listeners;
  • and other reasons.

And, usually, the “dip” would soon recover back to the “normal” trend of growth and stability for your podcast show over time.

Well, this time, Adam deals with the elements that are too broad for topics or your show to deal with. He has several people whom he recorded and included in his episode number 176 of his show that deal with experiences — and these can serve as proof points and case studies.

For this podcaster, I have seen dips come and go. In some cases, I did a study to examine the causes of the dip for one or more of my podcast shows. And after this type of review, one result that I implemented was to PODFADE the show or shows which I felt had run their course and were no longer relevant to my audience in the podosphere.

In other cases, I saw which episodes could be REUSED or REPURPOSED in other active podcast shows (nearly all of the selected episodes could be repurposed with some editing and updating). And for the shows targeted for podfading, I quickly put into place the creation of another episode alerting the audience of the podfade for that show — it is just common courtesy to the listeners, and many of them resulted in going to my other shows or new shows that I had launched (their feedback told me so).

But for yourself, you have to decide what the causes of the “dip” are, and then you have to decide if this is a seasonal or temporary setback, or whether it is permanent — and then take the appropriate action for your show.

As Adam mentions in his episode, the symptoms tell the ugly truth about the current state of your show. You have to determine to accept the truth and status, and then you have to decide on which path to take to alleviate this dip — and one key way is what Adam mentions, which is to “niche-down” your show. So you may want to see if your own show should be “niched-down” to alter the downhill path and get your show back on an upward direction. And perhaps this will get you back on the road to success. And that means that you constantly have to monitor your show to see if these symptoms will tell you perhaps that you need to consider the tasks needed to “niche-down” your show.

Thank you for your attention.

Copyright (c) 2021, Matrix Solutions Corporation and Podcasting Business School and michaelandmike.com. All rights reserved.

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579- Steps for positive podcast interviews

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In this episode of The Podcast Reporter, we review a post from podcaster Ben Krueger that deals with the steps in how to interview someone for a podcast.

In this post, Ben gives some steps needed for successful interviews of your guests for your podcast episodes:

  1. “Find guests that you are genuinely interested in.
  2. Do extensive research on the guest to identify talking points.
  3. Listen to previous podcast interviews featuring the guest.
  4. Avoid interrupting the guest during the conversation.
  5. Make sure they are given plenty of time to speak.
  6. Don’t be afraid to challenge guests on their opinions.
  7. Practice the concept of active listening.
  8. Talk with the guest before you start recording.
  9. Always keep the conversation moving forward.
  10. Create batches of questions on particular topics.”

An example of this type of interviewer is Bill O’Reilly of the “No-spin news” podcast show. He interviews guests from BOTH SIDES OF THE ISLE or of differing perspectives, so that he can show that he will respect the viewpoints of the pros and cons of a particular topic (even if they may not agree totally with what he says or with his own “narrative” — because everyone does have a hidden narrative).

Many interviewers suffer from “group-think” or from subjective opinion-based narratives from which they cannot remove themselves when talking to others or interviewing others. This type of narrow-minded thinking will always go along with the narrative-of-the-day along the “party lines” that dictate what to say and how to say it, regardless of possible truth or issues that may surface when you have someone giving you a different point of view that may have merit.

Now, Ben stresses the dangers that may be underlying in your own attitude when you have basically a mindset that demands group-think or when you do not really want true and honest opinions and viewpoints from your guest that you interview. He states: “If you’re not interested in their opinions and perspectives, there will likely be an absence of thoughtful interview questions – and this will damage the value proposition of the content. To create great audio content with guests, you must lead with passion. It’s essential to focus on topics that both you and the audience care about.”

For this podcaster, my suggestions would be to review the steps outlined by Ben Krueger and see if they match your workflow and elements in planning and executing various podcast guest interviews. In fact, you may have an additional step or two that will help you to ensure clear, concise, fair and impartial interviews that will have an impact on your listeners.

As you may remember, I have known personally Ben since the 2014 time frame, when I shared a booth in the exhibit hall of the very first Podcast Movement conference in Dallas. I know that he has delivered good information and free pdfs at times for his listeners. He has suggested many tips and techniques which I consider of value, especially for the new and aspiring podcasters.

Ben Krueger

And although the steps that he outlines may take more time and seem to cause more trouble and time for you, they may be helpful in the long-term for you and your credibility as an interviewer. They certainly cannot hurt, and they may cement good habits in the preparation of guest interviews for you, the podcaster, in the future for your episodes and shows. And I, myself, have adopted a couple of these in my workflow that have already paid off with valuable results in my interviews for my podcasts. We hope that you will find some additional formulas for success with your podcast guest interviews.

Thank you for your attention.

Copyright (c) 2021, Matrix Solutions Corporation and Ben Krueger and michaelandmike.com. All rights reserved.

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543- One success in Podcasting — case study of quality and audience

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In this episode of the Podcast Reporter, we discuss a case study where a podcast show reached one of their success measurements (no, it was NOT financial growth or revenue streams). The measurements included two criteria:

  • Being considered a “quality podcast” by the publishers of an ecosystem with the managers of the ecosystem managed by the stream to an audience worldwide; and
  • Reaching an optimal audience that is filled with people of similar tastes, similar thoughts and like-minded listeners worldwide.

The podcast we speak of had originally one host. And it was brought to our attention since 2014, but it never took off the ground until 2018. And then, in 2019, a co-host was added — and since then, the two co-hosts have been recording episodes with greatly planned content.

In 2020, the managers of an ecosystem that is in the podosphere in managing a stream that runs 24 hours a day added this specific podcast show into the stream and called it a “quality podcast” and also remarked that one aspect of this show (in addition to the relevant and good content) was the audio quality.

Now, with these two factors that are in play in 2021 — both the right audience fit and the publishing of the episodes in this ecosystem that is a stream in the podosphere — we feel that we have met our main objectives to date.

But does that mean that you want to monetize the show?

At this point, no. We are happy to reach an audience of thousands of listeners who are like-minded and that we receive the backing of the managers of the stream.

So, what does this mean to us?

The equation of our “success” so far is that

(relevant content for a targeted APPRECIATIVE AUDIENCE) + (good audio quality) = our first measure of success.

So we are now contemplating how to IMPROVE the show, taking the audience in mind and creating more relevant content.

So, how does this show survive?

Well, our answer is that we keep it away from the censors that are available — that is, we do not ask for any Apple reviews or ANY REVIEWS or comments from the podosphere participants.

Why?

Because we know that we want to stay away from the censorship and de-platforming that is done by the social media and others who are trolls that just want comment on negativity (regardless of anything else) with false narratives.

Thus, this podcast show has found a good audience, and the success of the audience embracing the content is proof of its success — and our download numbers prove this. So we do NOT need any Apple reviews, as well as any promotion or marketing. Why? Because we do not need any comments or reviews from the activist and radicals in the podosphere.

And so far, this equation has proven to be a great one for our show.

So this is a case study of a podcast show that originated in 2014 and 2015 — but finally was launched in 2018 — and has reached some milestones of success by the feedback that matters the most: the audience and the managers of the ecosystem that supports its listeners.

Thus, we hope that you, too, as a podcaster, can set your objectives to include great audience fit and feedback, as well as publishing it in the right locations and tools to reach a grateful set of listeners. And if you do, then we wish success for your show.

Thank you for your attention.

Copyright (c) 2021, Matrix Solutions Corporation and michaelandmike.com . All rights reserved.

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542- Podcasting changes for your audience podosphere experience

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In this episode of The Podcast Reporter, we discuss the results of a study that influenced me and that I underwent a review after listening to a May, 2021, episode from Evo Terra in his Podcast Pontifications show.

In that episode from Evo,  the question pondered was: how is a podcaster supposed to embrace and live by consistency, since everything in the podosphere is changing so rapidly?

So, with this in mind, he explained how he went through a review of his own podcast show and wondered how he could improve and change it for the better, as a good experience for the listener and audience. And Evo listed nine things that he did with his show to improve it, as the theme of the episode was “The Process of Changing your Podcast.”

Thus, I let the study take place over some time. So I looked at most of these nine things which related to me and my shows, and I added a couple more (see, below, for my comments of my own review, as well) for me to examine in my review — although I did not wish to change anything just for the sake of changing. Evo Terra and I are different in that aspect, for he gets the urge to change often.

And the nine things that Evo examined do follow my 2 additional items. They are:

  • Repurposing older episodes from all my podcast shows and re-relate them to the current environment — this is one of the extra items that I added, for I did comment about this earlier in this podcast show. And this has worked extremely well for me, for content can be fresh and new (even though the theme is from before), but with a different spin that relates to the current time;
  • contemplating whether to add a co-host or to add additional current interviews with key people who can add to the value of the show for the listener — this is the other extra item that I added. And this means that you should always be asking how to improve the show from the audience’s perspective. For example, do they want to hear another voice or another viewpoint or even some rants or banter or polite arguments or discussion?
  • And here are the nine changes that were experienced by Evo in his podcast show this year:
    • How to do your podcast prep — mainly the OUTLINE and the steps, the process, the resources and the habits;  [for me, I have tightened my podcast prep for all my 3 shows]
    • Change your sites and phone resources for all new branding; [for me, this was not a key issue and needed no update]
    • Update and re-implement a brand new web site; [for me, this was not applicable]
    • Incorporate CORRECTED transcripts with different collaboration and processes for speedy transcripts; [I do use show notes as a means of transcripts for my audience]
    • Any change to your electronic in-box deliveries of your newsletters and email correspondence to your mailing list with the third party vendor or company you may choose (remember that Adam Curry had a problem with Mail Chimp recently); [This was not applicable for me]
    • Evo switched to an herbal tea from coffee, due to vocal coach suggestions; [I drink both tea and coffee quite sparingly]
    • Evo has been seeing a vocal coach, so that he can take care of his resource (his voice) for the future as a podcaster; [I have not employed a vocal coach]
    • Evo has engaged a sound engineer to improve the sound of his episodes and great quality with a brand new way to do post-production; [I have improved my own post-production processes, tools and quality]
    • Evo has changed his processes for creating in-app episode details, thanks to Apple; [this, for me, did not apply]

If you are on a show that has a seasonal publishing schedule, then you may want to do your improvements from this list (or also from those of your own lists) for your next season — that is, after you leave a hint to your audience about changes at the end of your current season.

As Evo said: “Changing is never finished.”

And so we may see Evo changing and improving on a faster track than you may be on, it is still a good idea to review some of the ideas of change that Evo has done after a good study, and then see if your podcast may be able to benefit from one or more of these to improve your show. If you do, we hope that the results will be increasing your audience, getting your listeners to agree that you did provide value to them and having better success in all ways for your show.

Thank you for your attention.

Copyright (c) 2021, Matrix Solutions Corporation and Evo Terra of podcastpontifications.com and michaelandmike.com. All rights reserved.

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540- Podcasting website requirements

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In this episode of The Podcast Reporter, we review a post by Mark Asquith of rebelbasemedia.io in which he reviews the five “must-have” items for creating a podcast website that will “stand out.”

As an experienced podcaster, I wanted to see what he would include in these necessary items for aspiring podcasters. The reason I did this is that I had seen his video titled “How to record a podcast episode: software and setups for all budgets” — and I was interested in what the absolute requirements were mentioned for a podcasting web site.

Well, I saw the main sections of this blog post about a podcasting web site, and he goes into detail about each one. They were:

  • Include a web magnet (and he refers you to a site that explains how to create a lead magnet;
  • Get involved with your podcast (and he gives several examples, such as contributions, questions or feedback — as well as a private  podcast or bonus feed);
  • Have organized and optimized pages (and he includes a reference to Evo Terra of PodcastPontifications.com as an example:  “Evo Terra’s revamped website places a lot of emphasis on his written content. Every episode has a transcription, full show notes and is tagged to make navigating his vast content library super easy.”);
  • Include a SPONSOR KIT, which should have the following:
    • “What you’ll provide for them – what does a sponsorship include, and how much will it cost?
    • Your previous ad-reads (if you have them)
    • An overview of your stats, including downloads, unique listeners and listener behaviour
    • Information on your demographic and audience
    • A contact form to call to action to get in touch.
    • A link to your PDF sponsor kit.”
  • A guesting page (with speaker and guest profiles and other needed promotional and preparation information pertaining to guests for your show).

And the main conclusion for this post is:  YES, you DO need a podcast website, if you are serious about becoming a professional podcaster and stepping into the world of monetization.

For this podcaster, I have used in the past the models created and espoused and delivered by such pundits as Paul Colligan and others to fill these requirements — and deliver many more for me.

Of course, Mark is monetizing his call to action to have you, the podcaster, engage him to help you create these sites for your podcast show.

Now, you can ensure that you have included these (or something like these) items in your website, or you can farm it out to a third party (of which there are many). But the important things to get out of this post is for you to check against your own show and website to see if you are including — or missing — some of these items. And a good checklist is always a beneficial idea for you, as a podcaster, to review.

Thank you for your attention.

Copyright (c) 2021, Matrix Solutions Corporation and Mark Asquith of rebelbasedmedia.io and michaelandmike.com. All rights reserved.

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537- Some podcasters do not support progress for podcast software

In this episode of The Podcast Reporter, we discuss a theme of which I have been hearing more and more with live conversations from older podcasters — that is, those who started podcasting some 15 or 16 years ago (for me, it was more than 15 years ago). And we can tend to call these podcasters the “old guard” or “old timers” or “original podcasters.”

What is interesting is that this theme centers around “the gold old days” when podcasting was much more simple in not only discovery, but also in recording, posting, publishing, promoting, marketing and generating revenue from podcast episodes, podcast shows or podcast courses.

You see, in the early days of podcasting, there were not many tools available — either hardware or software — that made podcasting as easy and simple as it is today. You had to LEARN how to podcast by taking one of the very few available courses online or via audio or video course (you see, YouTube was not even available, as well as the other learning libraries like Udemy.com). Then you had to use the proven system of recording double-ender remote interviews and rely on the quirks of Skype for capturing the audio, and then rely on either free recording editors like audacity or fee-based editors like Adobe Audition.

For today, you have a ton of great hardware resources that allow you not only to capture the audio on both sides of interviews for yourself as a main podcaster and a guest (or guests), but also you have a myriad of software solutions to edit, post and publish (and then promote) your episode and show in the podosphere.

And earlier, you really only had the 800-pound gorilla (known as Apple iTunes) to rely on getting your show listed in New and Noteworthy, as well as getting reviews from listeners that could help you become more popular, as well as subscription and download stats to help you get ranked higher in the world of podcasts. And you see, today, you have not only Apple, but many systems and platforms that support podcasting — especially since now the social media platforms are getting into podcasting.

But if you wanted to become a podcaster then, you had to learn the hard way the details of podcasting from every point of view, every task, every detail and then be able to become versed in these — that is, become a professional podcaster who can then monetize the podcast environment in your business by becoming a podcast consultant or seek to become a pundit who would be recognized in the podosphere and then be asked to speak at podcasting conferences and events. And this led to your being able to promote (or “pimp”) your recently published book, ebook, course or program to audiences in person and in virtual events and replays. Why? Because you were then able to be known as a “podcast pundit” or resource with fame and with possibly generating revenue streams from your podcast (although it was almost impossible for most podcasters to make a full-time living from the revenues of podcasting — and so we had to be part-time entrepreneurs for such success).

So what happened to all the “good old days”?

Well, like all things, history and time have seen the PROGRESS of both the technology and the podosphere in terms of resources, hardware, software, conferences, ideologies, platforms and processes that have transformed podcasting to today’s situations.

I bring up this topic because several of the key podcasters from “the good old days” have expressed their opinions and feelings to me that they are not satisfied with the current status or direction of podcasting, and that perhaps they are tired of what is going on and the rapid pace of change and growth (especially with over 2 million podcast shows now) — so much so that they are considering leaving the podosphere and replace their once-passionate situation of podcasting with something else that will bring self-satisfaction with respect, development and success (whatever that may mean to them, like financial or fame rewards, etc.). In fact, they all mentioned that they do not support “PROGRESS” in podcasting at this time.

So, when a podcaster now starts to see this type of “twilight year” coming to his own environment, what should he contemplate? Should he depart from the podosphere or should he try to find a new niche in which he can rest his energy and his ambition and his passion?

This is an obvious call for a media content creator. For instead of audio podcasting, should he consider video podcastig? Should he consider going into the medium of screencasts and focus on creating helpful courses in video and audio that can assist those who really wish to learn — and perhaps become a regular on electronic learning libraries like Udemy.com? Or should he dedicate himself to writing a book or creating an audiobook about the history of podcasting from his own point of view and experiences (very much like political memoirs)?

For this podcaster, it really doesn’t matter what the arguments and directions for a PIVOT are (using the metaphor from Rise’s book about the Lean Startup Method) — but the important point is that the joy, passion and satisfaction from podcasting must be fulfilled. If not, then it becomes just a series of steps and tasks that one feels must be taken only due to habit — which have now become boring and even become an onerous task that can grow to become hated by the podcasters.

So, for me, the idea of becoming a content creator in a new world of media (regardless of audio or video or blogging or other types) should be paramount. It is of such importance in a rapidly changing world that this should be examined every year in a planning session with yourself, where you review the situation today, as well as your feelings and your future in the podosphere. Then you can create a cost-benefit analysis (where money and financial gain and revenue may not be the main considerations) to see what your real key success factors are for going toward your own personal RETURN ON INVESTMENT in your life.

I know that I, myself, go through this every year (I have since my 11th year in podcasting, when I felt the rapid change during my forced absence due to illness and family deaths). And my end result is that I have felt a renewed sense of PASSION and enjoyment from today’s podcasting — mainly because I have not let myself become a victim of letting habits become my “stale prison” due to any lack of planning and considerations for the podosphere and my relation to it (both then and now and the future).

I wish you the best in your own planning sessions with yourself to reflect and contemplate what value participating as a podcaster in the podosphere means to you now and in the future (or not); and for your strategies in determining what will be best for you in the near future.

Will you pivot or not to a new direction in the area of media? The choice is yours, and I wish you all the luck in the world if you do decide to continue in podcasting.

Thank you for your attention.

Copyright (c) 2021, Matrix Solutions Corporation and michaelandmike.com . All rights reserved.

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podcast

536- Get into Podcasting — a case for a podcast consultant

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In this episode of The Podcast Reporter, we discuss the situation where an aspiring podcaster may want to start a podcast, but does not want to go through all the details about Apple and other providers to begin a podcast show and post episodes. They also don’t want to keep up with the rules and regulations, processes and procedures (which seem to be always changing frequently now) by Apple and other sites in order to create, test, post and publish episodes for your podcast show — they just want to create the content and publish it very easily.

So, one way of doing this (besides doing it by yourself and getting frustrated with the firms who do not call you back or take your technical support calls or answer questions in person but only by bots) is to go the route of using a podcast consultant until you understand the process and have a smooth running system that you can handle in the creation and posting and distribution of your content where you  want).

For this podcaster, I started podcasting 15 years ago. I used a free tutorial that was distributed online by Jason Van Orden (a podcaster at that time for the Podcasting Underground show). And soon, I realized that I needed a bit of education (which was not really available as it is today) by hiring a podcast consultant. In my case, I hired Dave Jackson of the School of Podcasting. Using remote conversations and communications via the internet, he set me on my way on the path to podcasting, and from there, I was on my own. I did hire him later on when I set up various other podcast shows, so that he could set them up, post them, publish them during the time which I wanted to focus on new content for my current shows. And this worked out very well.

And since then, other podcast consultants announced that they wanted to assist aspiring podcasters to launch their shows — one of them was the Podcast Repairman from Gary Leland, as an example.

And because of these reasons, I can see a favorable argument for hiring a good podcast consultant (like Dave Jackson or Daniel J Lewis) to assist me with MY OWN instructions, restrictions and limitations as agreed by a written contract or one saved by audio or video recording to assist in setting up a podcast show and episodes, and leaving you a well-oiled machine for you, as a podcaster, to create and publish your content in the podosphere.

Now, for this podcaster, I have also been a podcast consultant for several years, and it was enjoyable and I have had good customers that thanked me for getting them started in the podosphere and delivering VALUE in the editing of content and “productizing” the episodes which they published. However, with medical problems and family emergencies, I had to withdraw from this podcasting career specialty and only to keep a customer or two that wanted only screencasting services (e.g., creating video tutorials for software products and services). I only focus now into podcast content creation, but I am no longer a podcast consultant to assist others in setting up their shows.

But if I were now an aspiring podcaster that wants to start a show and focus strictly on the content creation and publication, I would seriously consider getting a quote from a respected podcast consultant (with a good and long favorable history of grateful customers) to assist me in getting my show created, launched and set up as a “publishing machine.” And if I wanted to monetize my show after creating and publishing it, I would then use the suggestions given to me by authors and podcasters who have published content on how to successfully make money from their podcasts — especially like Dave Jackson with his latest book, Profit from your Podcast.

I hope that you, as an aspiring podcaster, will find success in starting your show — whether or not you decide to use a podcast consultant, so that your show will deliver great VALUE to your audience and help to get you on the road to success (especially if you wish to monetize your show).

Thank you for your attention.

Copyright (c) 2021, Matrix Solutions Corporation and Dave Jackson and Daniel J Lewis and Gary Leland and michaelandmike.com . All rights reserved.