In a different perspective, Adam told his truth about what he saw in the event — and how it has totally become different than the OPEN podcast events of the podosphere from the 2005 conference starting in Ontario, California. Now, the conference has become “woke-o-rama” and full of cancel-culture and repression of speakers and ideas, as well as censorship. What a sad thing this was to happen to what was once the last bastion of free speech.
I do not need to review all the negative things to which this event has reverted to. After all, I did participate and present at the very first Podcast Movement conference in 2014 in Dallas. And it was the event that did turn out initially to be the way that ex-founder Gary Leland had envisioned — that is, with the fervor, excitement and enthusiasm and openness for all podcasters and podosphere aficianados, but without any cancel culture, censorship or woke-ness.
And now, you can consume the episode from Adam Curry to see what the Podfather had experienced in this new woke-based event. I am sorry to hear it, and perhaps you will find it difficult to believe that it had turned into this type of event.
And I do believe Adam Curry much more so than I do the organizers and owners of the Podcast Movement conference (mainly because Gary Leland had sold his part of the movement in 2019).
Well, it is up to you to make up your minds to see if this is a turning point in open podcasting and if will be the beginning of the ruin of the podosphere. If so, then this should not be an event that I will support any more, as I do support the openness of the podosphere and podcasting.
Thank you for your attention.
Copyright (c) 2022, Matrix Solutions Corporation and michaelandmike.com. All rights reserved
This is a tribute to Daniel J Lewis from one of his biggest supporters, as he plans to return in September to the podosphere as a publisher of podcast episodes for his show, The Audacity to Podcast.
Now, Daniel has been active as a member of the chat room during the live broadcast of Ask the Podcast Coach show from Dave Jackson. He has delivered suggestions and value by answering questions or addressing topics and delivering details when asked about technical specs on products or services. But he has not posted a recent episode on his flagship podcast show recently. And remember that a podcaster should have reliability by giving the expectation of information from his feed to his audiences — it is part of the reliability.
Most of everything is available on his website page, from his products and services to contacting him for leaving feedback.
So this is just a brief episode giving him a vote of confidence. And we are waiting to receive and consume his podcast episodes when they come down the podcast channel.
Thank you to DJL, and we look forward to receiving more episodes from TAP.
Thank you for your attention.
Copyright (c) 2022, Matrix Solutions Corporation and michaelandmike.com. All rights reserved.
In this episode of The Podcast Reporter, we discuss an age-old manner of supporting your podcast business, as well as promoting your podcast show. And this is by incorporating a resource known as THE COMPANION PODCAST. And we have two cases-in-point of success stories about companion podcasts that highlight and promote books written by podcasters who are also authors:
and I will also briefly mention my own experiences with companion podcast shows for my programs of Finance for Startups and Gain Control of Your Day in the earlier years of the podosphere.
In this book, Dave has had an update to his earlier book titled More Podcast Money. This is really just the latest information that Dave has delivered on how to monetize your podcast, should you wish to get money from your podcast. This is a current example of a companion podcast to help promote and sell the book. And it has resulted in a success story, but not one of titanic proportions of revenue success.
In this original book published in 2005-2006, a companion audio podcast show started by Tee Morris actually had resounding success for the promotion and sale of the book. Now in its third printing, and with a sequel that followed the original book titled Expert Podcasting Practices for Dummies, this was the original case-in-point about how a companion podcast can grow your show and provide success for monetization of your podcast show. I myself first learned of this book in 2007, and I did promote it at the first Podcamp in Phoenix, Arizona, when Evo Terra sat in my session when I presented monetization strategies for serialized podcast shows. Of course, that is when I first met and spoke with Evo Terra.
My own experience with COMPANION PODCASTS
In my experience as a professional podcaster, I have had several shows in which I implemented the concept and practice of creating and publishing a companion podcast:
One show was Gain Control of Your Day — this now podfaded show was a training course delivered by audio podcast episodes that used a technology developed by Paul Colligan, (who was a thought leader, a pundit in New Media and podcasting and an author of podcasting books) that mainly dealt with monetization of podcasts. His Technology of “dripping” episodes in his resource called Premiumcast, along with a one-to-one podcast feed for every paying member was key in the initial years of the podosphere. And this method of supporting the course and delivering training by having a smaller companion podcast that introduced the show and delivered content during the marketing and promotion of the show did have some limited success — although the problems that put the nail in the coffin of my success in this endeavor were both a delay in announcing and delivering the show, as well as the introduction of the competition by Apple (which was the 2010 promotional marketing and introduction of the original iPhone 1).
The other case-in-point was my show that was originally called Finance for Startups. Also now podfaded, this show had more success in launching and promoting as marketing tools the course by the same name. Originally delivered as a companion podcast, a late entry also hampered its success, but the audio book that served as a nine-episode companion podcast did see some limited success — as I had a partner that created content and helped me to prepare the podcast episodes. But again, the novelty of the day in 2010 was the latest toy in the podosphere, the iPhone 1. Thus, although you may have the right tactics, the right marketing and sales promotion and the right delivery, the competition in the podosphere may be an obstacle to success in your original plans. So this course was removed from the podosphere in the USA, but my partner had seen limited success in the Australian and other foreign markets for podcasting and online courses.
So, my view of these experiences are that planning and executing a companion podcast is a great competitive tool that can bring success in monetization — but you have to be early enough in the announcement and delivery of the course or the companion podcast that describes your book or course before the competition arrives. And you should be certain that new announcements will not hinder the success of your show.
As Dave Jackson stated, with over a million new podcasts being announced and published in just the one year of 2021, you will have to promote your offering and deliver a companion podcast (mainly for no charge, until you have a purchase-base or subscription-based success for your book or course, thanks to your companion podcast.
Thus, we do wish you well if you wish to create, publish and deliver a companion podcast that will promote your education courses or books or other assets or podcasts that you wish to monetize. You just have to be aware of the vast amount of time that will be used to create your companion podcast and figure in the return on investment (ROI) factors that will be needed to judge its success.
Thank you for your attention.
Copyright (c) 2022, Matrix Solutions Corporation and michaelandmike.com and Dave Jackson of profitfromyourpodcasting.com and Evo Terra of Podcastingfordummies.com. All rights reserved.
In this episode of The Podcast Reporter, we deliver a REPURPOSED PODCAST of episode 271 of this same podcast series, so that we can review the theme of hobbyist podcasting and the benefits it gives to the hobbyist podcaster — even some health benefits. This episode was originally published in June of 2020.
The audio of this podcast episode gives you that episode in its entirety, all 4 minutes and 51 seconds. The attributions go to PodMov Daily, a newsletter that delivered the idea of healthy benefits for pursuing personal passions outside of work if you are employed — or for us, being a hobby podcaster, as we start with podcasting as a side hustle or a hobby. In fact, many podcasters stated that when they upgraded to professional podcasters, the stress that went with it was too much like work, and the fun was starting to disappear.
But we feel that this content should be reviewed, and from some feedback from listeners, they emphasize that others should be offered the opportunity to consume this evergreen content, especially when it was announced on recent podcast shows that over 1 million new podcasts were created and launched in 2021, alone, and the numbers will keep growing. Thus, for the newer and aspiring podcasters, we deliver this content as the main content for this episode.
And we shall return with another podcast episode as we look into themes of the podosphere for newer and aspiring podcasters.
Thank you for your attention.
Copyright (c) 2022, Matrix Solutions Corporation and michaelandmike.com and PodMov Daily. All rights reserved.
In this episode of The Podcast Reporter, we discuss some experiences that I have had when trying to sell my own products from my podcast shows — and the good, bad and the ugly about their results.
The inspiration for this show came from a podcast show of various episodes from Dave Jackson, podcaster and author of the book, Profit from Your Podcast. Yes, I had ordered the book and have read it — in fact, Dave will even send you a personally autographed copy if you order it from him.
Latest book from Dave Jackson about monetizing your Podcasts.
In addition, Dave has also produced a podcast show called Profit from Your Podcast, with the same content.
In these episodes of this podcast show, Dave talks about how both feedback in the form of survey results — as well as perhaps focus groups — can be critical for getting audience buy-in for your own products that you may want to sell to monetize your show. And, yes, there are many other strategies in which he goes into within his book, but these are the 2 in which I personally can deliver some experiences when I started off in podcasting and had courses to sell about my podcasts since 2006 (which, in those days, was the very beginning of the podosphere with very few rules — in fact, they called it the “wild, wild west” of New Media).
ABOUT FOCUS GROUPS
Focus groups can give you immediate reaction of your audience from selected members (besides your family and friends) who may be part of your intended and targeted audience. They can help you see if you do, indeed, have a solution or product which they not only want, but also need — and if they would be willing to spend money for it. And in the book and podcast from Dave, he spends time talking about what a focus group is, how to conduct one and what to do with the results for you to analyze the landscape into making a decision to proceed with the strategy and solution you wish to sell.
For this podcaster, I did NOT perform any focus groups. I had only brainstormed this idea with a current podcaster in 2006 when I had the podcast premium course that I had been creating almost done. And it seemed like a good idea at the time, for there were hardly any solutions like mine. And I had been teaching this course in a stand-up inbound class in person for many years — and so the content was second nature to me, and I saw the reviews of my classes and felt very confident that this would sell in the market of that day.
So I went on to finish the course using some technology that came about to make distribution, security and monetization easier for this podcast premium product that I wanted to market. However, I did NOT consider the market landscape of ALL of New Media. And this is the snake that bit me in the back.
Why?
Because Apple had announced, launched and marketed their iPhone product to the world — and that included the majority of my target market. And so the Apple announcement and the audience’s desire for “apps” destroyed my marketing efforts and killed off 99 per cent of my sales, regardless of my strategies and investment in my solution.
And because I had not done any focus groups to wet the appetite of my audience and get good feedback and positive reinforcement that I was on the right track, I was faced with an albatross for several years until I had written off my project and finally withdrew it.
SURVEY RESULTS
I had also committed another grievous sin — I did not have solid pre-launch survey results from my target audience about the utility of my product and their desire to obtain it to solve their problems. The desire for “apps” overcame their senses, and they dropped my product and podcast like a hot potato, as they circled around a solution in an app for their problem.
And, truthfully, up to this day, there has NOT been a solution in app format on the smartphone that has delivered the same solutions as my premium podcast course. But the lure for an all-encompassing app led my target market astray, and I suffered the results.
Why did I not have pre-launch surveys?
At the time, I, as a podcaster and trainer of a successful in-person course, felt overconfident that my solution was the best and that it would sell to my audience.
How wrong I was. In fact, the only surveys came AFTER the product was launched and after seeing the results that lacked success.
For if I had done surveys, I know that the responses would show that the only format that would have been suitable to my target audience would have been an iPhone app — and, again, that day not only did NOT arrive then in 2010, but it has still not arrived even today. And, yes, one or two scattered customers recently saw the value of my course and have purchased it now — but the marketing and sales plans that I had so carefully prepared did not show up, because I was flattened by the competition in the marketplace by mere illusory dreams of a solution that has never been delivered.
Now, the lessons I have learned have been to create a marketing plan for any monetization that I wish to follow with pre-launch activities that include:
surveys; and
focus groups
and to rely on their feedback to create milestones in which to make a hard decision that is fact-based on whether to continue or change course — or even to scrap the project solution due to audience feedback.
And since that time, I did create another podcast course with another podcaster — and we achieved more of a success, but it was still not enough to get us over the hurdle into great profitability.
Thus, my lessons learned included the inclusion of feedback from many sources (here we only touch upon 2) in pre-launch activities that can provide great information before sinking any more time and money into continuing on something that may not provide a good ROI as we desired.
These are lessons that I could have used if Dave’s book had been available to me at that time. For in his book, Dave speaks about both, but he also gives some scenarios and recommendations on how to conduct both surveys and focus groups — and these may be well worth consuming if you are a newer or aspiring podcaster that wants to monetize your show with online courses you wish to sell or with other products of your own
So, I hope that you can get more information from Dave’s book and free podcast, as mentioned. And I wish that you can avoid the mistakes that I had made and then get your show to have successful launches of your products that will make your podcasts more successful and profitable.
Thank you for your attention.
Copyright (c) 2022, Matrix Solutions Corporation and michaelandmike.com and Dave Jackson and profitfromyourpodcast.com. All rights reserved.
In this episode of The Podcast Reporter Show, we discuss an email-episode from Daniel J Lewis, the award-winning podcaster from his show called The Audacity to Podcast (currently on hiatus with sparse episodes being released on demand within important announcements). He has specialized in helping podcasters be aware of podcast reviews. In this current email sent out in 1st quarter of 2022, he goes one step further — he helps to solve some complex issues with getting podcast reviews.
What is the problem? And how does Daniel go about trying to help the podcasters who want reviews from any location worldwide? Well, Daniel states in his email content:
Here’s the problem. There are so many podcast platforms out there and so many of them don’t allow ratings or reviews, it’s hard to give the right call to action for your audience to rate and review your podcast.
It gets worse. Android devices can’t access Apple Podcasts, non-Android devices can’t access Podcast Addict, and Apple Podcasts is actually still “iTunes” on Windows and older macOS versions.
So how can you ensure your listeners are going to the right place to leaving ratings and reviews for your show and without overloading your audience with incompatible options or complex instructions?
Here are two solutions:
Learn all the coding necessary or find and buy the right tools or plugins to build your own solution.
Use the LovethePodcast.com feature included with all accounts on My Podcast Reviews!
LovethePodcast.com provides the smartest way to get more ratings & reviews! It automatically displays only the rating and review platforms compatible with your listener’s device. For example:
Only Android users will see Podcast Addict.
Windows and older macOS versions will see iTunes.
New macOS, iOS, and iPadOS will see Apple Podcasts.
All platforms will see Podchaser since it works on everything.
And so on.
Plus, this gives you a memorable and easily speakable URL you can customize to your needs! For example, I can say in my own podcast, “If you love the podcast, please give it a rating and review at LovethePodcast.com/audacity and I might read your review on the show!”
But whether you use My Podcast Reviews or make your own page, make the process as easy as possible for all your listeners, and your non-Apple audience will probably feel more valued and more likely to give you those positive reviews!
Thus, Daniel has made this easy for the podcaster. I would highly recommend that you subscribe to Daniel’s email episodes being delivered now and for the foreseeable future. And then you can get the emails directly sent to your inbox.
Now, I have known Daniel since 2010 when I interviewed him on my flagship podcast (at that time), The Struggling Entrepreneur (now podfaded); and Daniel later interviewed me on his show, The Audacity to Podcast (in 2 episodes). I have always admired his contributions to the podosphere and the great value he delivers in his podcast episodes, as well as his products and membership site (Podcasterssociety.com) and his training and exhibitions at Podcast conferences in the past.
So with the products that Daniel has released, you, as a podcaster can benefit from his content if you are interested in maximizing the rewards from podcast reviews worldwide. And his several products have all been very thorough and technically competent (in fact, many podcasters have used him and his content as the authority).
Thus, I hope that your decision in dealing with podcast reviews worldwide will benefit from the content, training and products from Daniel J Lewis. In this way, you can get closer to your audience and benefit in the community of your own podcast show.
Thank you for your attention.
Copyright (c) 2022, Matrix Solutions Corporation and michaelandmike.com and Daniel J Lewis. All rights reserved.
