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646- The value of podcast networks

In this episode of The Podcast Reporter Show, we focus on the possible value of podcast networks. This is discussed a bit in an article by Ashley Hamer in which the description and value of podcast networks are given, along with some of the more popular podcast networks today. The article is titled “What is a Podcast Network? Everything you need to know.”

The following sections are included in this article:

  • A definition of a podcast network“A podcast network is a collection of podcasts under the umbrella of one company, which promotes those shows with a shared platform of advertisers.” Or another definition of it may be:  “A podcast network is a company or organization that manages a group of shows. Sometimes they’re centered on a theme, like pop culture or politics, but often the only common thread is the network itself.”
  • A caveat:  some creative control may be at stake for the podcaster in some instances, as the network negotiates the revenue contracts due to bulk advertisements for many shows.
  • How the networks help podcasts with their marketing and advertising: “…you may gain access to better  sponsorship opportunities.”
  • They may offer production help;
  • They may help with audience growth, since they pride themselves on their protected audience already;
  • They offer cross-promotion on other podcasts;
  • A discussion on common requirements to join a podcast network, including metrics and cross-promotion duties, as well as agreeing to the revenue-sharing percentages offered;
  • But some benefits can be convincing– including taking the marketing and advertising “off your plate.” This includes identifying, contacting and negotiating with sponsors;
  • There are also benefits for the sponsor:  “Some advertisers prefer to spread their investment across multiple podcasts, instead of making one large ad purchase on a single show.”
  • The sponsor may help you get discovered by a “warm audience.”
  • You can put more time and effort and energy into the creative process than advertising or administrivia;
  • However, you may NOT receive 100 per cent of the revenues from participating in a podcast network;
  • You may also have to “cede some creative control” in a network;
  • The author also gives some tips you may consider before joining a podcast network  — including details on the revenue-sharing model, services provided, metrics used, length of a contract and early terminating consequences, as well as possible production services, etc.
  • And there is a list of 5 of the most famous podcast networks (including Wondery and iHeartRadio).

    For newer and aspiring podcasters who have a key objective of monetizing their podcasts and growing audiences through cross-promotion, I would highly suggest this article for basic education of podcast networks.


Also, there is a past podcast episode that gives much detail and experience from podcaster Daniel J Lewis of The Audacity to Podcast show. This could be very important, since he was part of a podcast network in his early years (and was probably instrumental in setting one up). He tells the good, the bad and the ugly about podcast networks, just as he did when he created his “mastermind” group called PodcastersSociety. I would definitely suggest that you would educate yourselves by consuming those two episodes from his library of podcast episodes on The Audacity to Podcast show. The episode on podcast networks is located at:

https://theaudacitytopodcast.com/why-we-retired-our-podcast-network/:

We sincerely hope that you can be successful in joining (or, if you are bold enough) starting a podcast network, so that your show will grow and that you can monetize your podcasts to your benefit.

Thank you for listening and for your attention.

Copyright (c) 2023, Matrix Solutions Corporation and michaelandmike.com and Ashley Hamer and descript.com. All rights reserved.

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podcast

645- Mobile and Global Podfest events — support for conferences

In this episode of The Podcast Reporter show, we review the concept of both virtual and global and local Podfest events. This is now growing, and the mobile podcast conferences are reaching many podcasters in the local area, as well as the virtual events — in addition to the global online event.

In this unrehearsed and live episode, we explore in an impromptu manner the various events (and at one point we even compare and contrast the podfestmovement.com events) and describe how the local events are very much like the older podcamp events that took place in the first decade of the podosphere.

You may be interested in participating in the Podfest Global Online event.

Thank you for listening and we hope to see you at one of the Podfest virtual online events soon.

Copyright (c) 2023, Matrix Solutions Corporation and michaelandmike.com and Podfest Multimedia Expo and virtual and global Podfest and Daniel J Lewis and podcamp and podcastmovement.com. All rights reserved.

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podcast

644- BONUS – Breakthrough strategies for entrepreneurs and podcasters

In this Bonus episode, we discuss some ideas on capturing and implementing BREAKTHROUGH STRATEGIES. It does not matter whether you are an entrepreneur seeking ideas to improve your business and creating revenue streams. And if you are a creative professional or content creator (such as myself, as a podcaster), this can also be the roadmap to take advantage of those moments — whether accidental or not — to grasp ideas and turn them into manageable and actionable plans for successful execution.


Now, when I first thought about breakthrough strategies when I first saw the terms “Business Breakthrough Strategies” in a business card which I received from a conversation with another at a conference that I had just attended. I really studied this more while on a plane when returning back from the event. Of course, those 3 words were the ones that were in the name of the small business. What I saw on the back of the business card was the 4 x 4 square with the words underneath the image:  “How many squares do you see?”

Of course, the answer to that question is one that I already gave in my course of personal productivity to try an get the students to get the mind primed for patterned recognition and making thoughtful leaps into the data and going beyond. So this is the tale of the entrepreneur who called his firm “Business Breakthrough Strategies” (since 1998).

So now, when I hear those terms again, it gave me the pattern to create and form an idea for either revenue-generating tactics and projects, or else some creative strategies.


And here are three questions that Todd Henry  in his podcast show called The Accidental Creative said that should be used in looking for the breakthrough strategies:

  • what does a good idea even “look like?”
  • do you have the appropriate level of FOCUS to identify and define it effectively (i.e., will you recognize it)?
  • will you know how to implement this idea effectively after refinement of the idea?

Now, Todd gives detail about ideas and tasks that you need to include in your daily life and workflow to generate these ideas and move them into actionable strategies for your business or your content creativity. He describes them within the term “showmergence.”

I would suggest that you consume that podcast episode that explains this concept, for it may give you some creative thoughts to help you develop some tactics that improve your creative suggestions and benefit your business, as well as your content creation.

We would like to thank you for your attention, and thank you for listening. We shall see you next time.

Copyright (c) 2023, Matrix Solutions Corporation and michaelandmike.com and Todd Henry and TheAccidentalCreative.com. All rights reserved.

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podcast

643- Suggestions for Optimizing podcast audio

In this episode of The Podcast Reporter show, we deliver a summary of the suggested publication by Ben Krueger called “How to Optimize Your Podcast Audio Quality” in 2023.

Ben Krueger

From his previous podcast shows and episodes — as well as his written posts with free pdfs and suggestions that actually brought value in the form of suggested theories and tasks — Ben delivers some steps and general practices that could, indeed, help your podcast audio quality improve and be more attractive to the listener.

Most of these are free or can be done very cheaply using a DIY approach.

Key suggestion: One major point to note if you want to improve the audio quality of your podcast is the importance of “taking a bit of time (about an hour or two) to test these things out and experiment to find what works best for you to optimize your podcast audio quality.”

After reading and implementing the tips, Ben recommends that you review and “tweak things if it isn’t sounding quite right and then record another test to listen back on and critique.”

Obviously, the important item to remember is to record your audio in the highest quality (e.g., bit rate, less ambient sounds and noise, etc.). And Ben reminds of this before he begins his survey of audio quality.

Ben then deals with the topics of:

  • equipment  — reminders to wear earbuds or headphones for analyzing sound quality at the time of recording;
  • avoiding the use of speakers;
  • use of microphones — including the use of pop filters and mic stands with the list of suggested mics;
  • setting the mic input levels in your DAW (i.e., digital audio workstation);
  • then setting up the environment — whether you may be in a studio or use your closet or your home rooms as your “studio” to cancel any noise and have a silent area for you to record:
  • minimizing background sounds and noises;
  • And TECHNIQUES of audio recording — including placement and care during your recording;
  • And he gives some general suggestions for audio settings for Zoom calls on separate audio tracks:
ZOOM SETTINGS FOR RECORDING SEPARATE AUDIO TRACKS

Zoom Settings for Optimizing Your Podcast Audio Quality

  • And he also recommends some “pro tips” for those who may run into the land-mine areas of novice mistakes (e.g., keeping the temporary recording files), including TESTING the mics beforehand and BONUS Zoom tips;
Ben Krueger

 

So, we hope that the new and aspiring podcasters can get a few tips from Ben in his quest to help out the newbies to avoid common mistakes and improve the audio quality of their podcast recording.

We thank you for listening, and we are grateful for your attention.

Copyright (c) 2023, Matrix Solutions Corporation and michaelandmike.com and Ben Krueger. All rights reserved.

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podcast

642- The lost practice of Podcast bumpers

In this episode of The Podcast Reporter show, we discuss the eroding practice of podcast bumpers. This is, for us, a sad loss in creating and recognizing podcasts of value (since 2005).

As you will hear in this podcast, we mention both Leo LaPorte of TWIT and from The Audacity to Podcast show creator, Daniel J Lewis, as well as others.

So why is this very famous and heavily used practice now fading from the podosphere today?

As cases in point, we deliver some examples of past podcast bumpers which I have delivered to others, as well as other podcasters’ delivering them to myself and my shows:

  • Leo LaPorte and his bumper in 2013 at the NMX show;
  • Daniel J Lewis from his show of The Audacity to Podcast;
  • A bumper from myself for the show Brunch with the Brits; and
  • A bumper from myself to Ray Ortega in 2 examples — one that proves the value of Ray’s show.

As you will hear in this episode, they are included.


In my opinion, the practice is eroding due to the following reasons:

  • Loss of value by the branding podcaster delivering the bumper (e.g., Leo LaPorte of TWIT);
  • Not being able to promote or deliver a bumper due to the podfading of the recipient podcast show or podcaster (e.g., Daniel J Lewis of The Audacity to Podcast, who earlier sent a bumper to the now-faded podcast show of mine, The Struggling Entrepreneur;
  • The change of political recognition of the podcaster who delivered a podcast earlier, but is now going woke — and the receiving podcast does not want to be affiliated by the woke podcasts;
  • The trend to be self-recognizing and refusing to be part of a group or podcaster that once mentioned your show of value;
  • Not being able to incorporate bumpers from the marketing tactics of promoting podcast conferences. This was a practice that was used by the Podcast Brothers podcast show, in preparation for the Podcast and Portable Media Expo in 2006 and 2007. Unfortunately, the owners of the new conferences tend not to include these at all any more.

So, thus, we may ask if there will be a return to podcast bumpers in the near future? I, myself, do not see this, mainly because of the ideologies of the owners of the conference, and the refusal of podcasters to be aligned or recognized with the political views of the show owners. That is, they do NOT want to damage their brand by being aligned with the political beliefs of the owners of the show.

And that also goes for the podosphere, as well. Podcasters want to be neutral in the podopshere and do not want to be canceled or censored or be discriminated because of the title or nature of their show.

So, my perspective is that the politics of the podcasters must not be included or recognized and politicized by the listeners in the podosphere so that we can all celebrate the value from the shows which we want to promote — and that means keeping political views and ideologies out of podcasting shows, conferences and potential podcast bumpers.

Thank you for your attention.

Copyright (c) 2023, Matrix Solutions Corporation and michaelandmike.com and Leo LaPorte and Daniel J Lewis and Ray Ortega and Matt Cox. All rights reserved.