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podcast

532- Podcasting production partners and how to look for one

In this episode of The Podcast Reporter, we discuss the topic of podcasting production partners — and how to find one, with some tips that are delivered by Ben Krueger in his recent podcast blog and series of cashflowpodcasting.com.

To find a podcast production partner, there are several key tips from Ben in his post, which can give you, the podcaster, an idea of what to look for and some key elements besides the relationship you may have with some other candidates (be it personal or business) and looking forward to the ultimate results for your business podcast.

The key ideas in this post are the following:

  • Make sure all parties are working toward a clear objective that can be articulated by yourself;
  • The challenges in both in-person collaboration and separation of duties vs. the remote work assignments and coordination;
  • Of course, Ben emphasizes the need for streamlined processes in order to be successful (and, of course, he spares no content in reminding you that his firm will have them and support you with them in finding a partner);
  • Do your candidates have the expertise and knowledge to develop content for your target market?
  • Also consider the quality of the marketing materials used to promote the audio content;
  • Inspect the track record of a candidate who has proven that he will have a sharp eye on details;
  • Research how much a podcast production partner should be compensated, as well as the cost of production of a podcast;
  • Determine if a solo podcast show in episodes is the format for you to follow, or if more need to be involved in the production;
  • Determine the source of production equipment (or you may have to accept that you will purchase these yourself);
  • What will be the repurposing strategy for your content — perhaps into other forms of media?
  • What kind of guest “pipeline” will be needed to have a continuous influx of guests for your show, if you will have guests?
  • What kind of scripting strategy will you have to create content around your show and be relevant to your audience?

These are the key items that Ben discusses in his post. And for many aspiring podcasters, these may make a great deal of the topics that need to be asked before launching a show with just a faint idea of who should be the podcast production team.


Ben Krueger

Now, Ben Krueger is someone that I have known since we first met at the initial Podcast Movement conference in Dallas in 2014. Ben is the founder of Cashflow Podcasting and he specializes in helping thought leaders entrepreneurs amplify their impact through podcasting.  He’s a world traveler, outdoor sports junkie and future enthusiast! He also has shared with us (within this podcast series and others) not only ideas on podcasting, but some key gems for free in the form of pdf files and topics that can be key as help to future podcasters and current podcasters. We thank Ben for his contributions to the podosphere.

Thank you for your attention.

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

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podcast

529- Podcasting on 9-11 — how pandemics can affect podcasting

In this episode of The Podcast Reporter, we deliver an episode that deals with 2 issues: (1) a podcast episode that has some remembrance of the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks on New York City and Washington, D.C. (and its effects on podcasting); and (2) how the post-pandemic environment is affecting podcasting (especially audio quality).

11 September 2001

In this first topic, we have seen how terrorism from the Muslim extremists have changed our environment. And many podcast shows are now mentioning the threat of extreme muslim attacks within the USA, in order to destroy the fabric of the American culture, American environment, American system of productivity, American capitalism and American nationalism (and they are, of course, aided by the Democrats in congress, as well as the incumbent white house tenant, Bo-Jiden.

So now, with the censorship in full mode with the Social justice warrior and woke cultures, neither the lame-stream media nor the social media dare to speak out on this topic and include both sides of the conversation (because of the refusal to really communicate both sides), the podcast shows were the only pillar of trying to deconstruct the issues and hear both sides of the conversation, with proof points in the form of articles, audio and video clips and past promises and statements that catch the bad actors (like Fauci and Bo-Jiden) contradicting themselves on the “promises” made to the public.

However, the podcast community has many shows as of the date of this episode when the content was created that delivers the true journalistic approach of having an intelligent conversation and fair discussion and a non-censored approach that would promote any political narrative to the listener — in fact, the listener would be encouraged to use his own critical thinking to analyze the situation and then make up his own mind, instead of being brainwashed by the lame-stream media and social media.

Such are the shows like No Agenda with Adam Curry and John C. Dvorak, as well as Randumb Thoughts with Darren O’Neill, as well as Grumpy Old Bens with both O’Neill and Ryan Bemrose, and even Dean Reiner of Up is Down podcast. Now, there are more, but these are the ones which I feel have been outstanding on their own merit of fairness and exposing the hypocrisy of the lame-stream media, as well as exploring both sides of the conversation or issue.

We certainly hope that it will continue to do so in a fair and accurate way of delivering truthful and uncensored content to the listeners.


Post-Pademic Audio quality for podcasts

In addition, we wanted to let you know that there is some discussion as to the effects of the sham-demic (many people refer to this as pandemic) environment in creating content and its quality and publishing it.

In an earlier article from current.org, this issue is discussed, with the emphasis being on at-home recordings and productions of podcast content for shows — and especially, the lower quality that has resulted from not emphasizing professional audio quality standards.

How at-home pandemic recordings are changing pubmedia’s standards for audio quality

Yes, with the lock-downs that occurred, the poor quality from the Zoom meetings and other episodes recorded from locations within the home, the audio quality has lacked the professionalism which delivered good content to the listeners before the year 2020.

And now, as the article states, self-recording techniques and apps and other “solutions” have been trying to address this situation.

However, as with everything involved with the lockdowns and other restrictive measures in 2020, we see this quality NOT IMPROVING, but merely being “accepted” by the audiences (who will throw the baby-out-with-the-bath-water) and just assume that poorer quality will be the norm for the future.

We hope that this is not so, and we encourage you, the podcaster, to deliver your content with great audio quality and as professionally recorded and edited and published as could be.

Thank you for your attention.

Copyright (c) 2021, Matrix Solutions Corporation and current.org. All rights reserved.

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podcast

583- Podcasting education free to podcasters shortly

In this episode of The Podcast Reporter, we discuss an announcement from Daniel J Lewis, podcaster of The Audacity to Podcast show, along with being an author of various training programs (such as My Podcast Reviews), as well as his Podcasters Society membership program.

Daniel J Lewis, award-winning podcaster


This is an announcement for FREE training and education modules that Daniel will be distributing with his email notices shortly. And here are the content modules from Daniel J Lewis’s new free training:

  • “How to make your podcast stand out
  • How to improve your audio quality
  • Quick fixes to improve your podcast
  • How to get more podcast reviews
  • Law-related answers podcasters need
  • Podcasting with cohosts
  • And much more I’m still writing!”

Daniel reassured his audience that the emails will be “short enough that you can read them in only a couple minutes, but still informative and actionable.”

He also wanted each module to stand on its own, without any dependence on earlier modules: “And each of the above are separate miniseries, so if you’re not interested in a particular miniseries, you can easily cancel that one miniseries and be moved on to the next one.”


Now, I have known Daniel personally since 2010. I have interviewed him that year, and I also had met him in person in 2013 at the New Media Expo conference in Las Vegas. Also, I have been interviewed on his show, and he has been my interviewee several times — not only as a struggling entrepreneur, but also for more details on his membership program, Podcasters Society.

I have always regarded Daniel as a very technically competent podcaster and content creator. His attention to detail and his specific deconstruction of technical facts is second to none. And so, I have  trusted his comments, counsel and recommendations. So, would I expect great value from something FREE from him?

Absolutely.

By the way, in an earlier episode last week of the Ask the Podcast Coach show, I asked Daniel when he would have a future episode of his flagship podcast, The Audacity to Podcast. And he replied that he was going to announce something soon to announce to us.

So, thus, I am passing this announcement to my audience so that everyone may be prepared to receive the free email content. I do predict that there will be great VALUE in them for both older podcasters, as well as the new and aspiring podcasters.

Thank you for your attention.

Copyright (c) 2022, Matrix Solutions Corporation and michaelandmike.com and Daniel J Lewis. All rights reserved.

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podcast

580- Podcast show live streaming and show notes summit

In this episode of The Podcast Reporter, we discuss and give a very high-level overview and review of two programs from our podcasters recently.

One was from Dave Jackson’s Ask the Podcast Coach show (co-hosted with Jim Collison of TheAverageGuy.tv); and the other was an educational webinar called The Show Notes Summit.

First, we review some comments (that some of the purist grumps will enjoy criticizing) in the live streaming and tech environments of podcasting. In the tech area, we experienced the pros and cons of the live streaming tool called riverside, which was used in a recent live podcast episode of Ask the Podcast Coach from Dave Jackson and Jim Collison. The poor video and audio quality was only surpassed when the system knocked you off and had to re-initialized.

This comment was echoed over and over again in the chat room (or “troll room,” if you will). It was even echoed in the discussion by myself and co-host Matt Cox (who is a co-host for 2030podcast.com and grumpyoldbears.com).

Comment is: bring back the quality live streaming with YouTube, as they had before.

My opinion was that the sad part about this “experiment” was that the co-hosts for Askthepodcastcoach.com did NOT warn the listeners ahead of time that there was an experimental session that would use a new tool for the session. And, yes, some listeners and viewers were left out, due to technical and other problems. So several listeners were left out — and there was, in my view, no reason why this had to happen without warning.

Now, would I, as a podcaster, use this for live streaming?

No, never — not on your life, as I had to painfully experience the poor audio and video on this stream. Enough said.


Another theme was the live webinar with Daniel J Lewis and Steve Stewart that dealt with show notes for episodes (yes, the Grumps probably did not enjoy paying the $9 USD fee for live attendance, mainly because grumps like only FREE webinars with no charge).

It was called the Show Notes Summit.

But, in my opinion, it was worth it.

Our view is that webinars like this are ideal for learning and communicating with the ideal group of like-minded individuals.

Why?

  • it goes no longer than 4 hours and many speakers that deliver value;
  • there is a live chat room that becomes very lively and helpful for issues that are brought up during the presentations;
  • there is a question/answer session at the end of each presentation, and it does not go longer than just a few minutes;
  • there was a choice that could have been made by a live attendee of the presentations, where for an additional $40 allows the individual to get the replay videos, charts, membership in  a slack group for community sharing and other premium deliverables.
  • there are great presenters and instructors, such as Daniel J Lewis, who gave a new view and approach in creating better show notes.

This whole webinar was a positive step for education, training and learning about creating and delivering show notes for podcast episodes — mainly due to the leadership of Steve Stewart, a podcaster and master of editing (i.e., he runs the Podcast Editor Academy).

And, in our opinion, the best session was delivered by award-winning podcaster, Daniel J Lewis (who has a show called The Audacity to Podcast, as well as other products for podcasting, which you can see on his site). He described how to use AI in helping you to create show notes for your episodes. In fact, he was demonstrating how AI can help you to get inspired for show notes — but NOT be a crutch to automatically write them for you and whip them out in a couple of seconds. The tool he used was Jarvis, which is promoted as a copywriting assistant.

We are looking forward to other webinars in the same format under the leadership of Steve Stewart and company.


One question that I did ask of Daniel J Lewis while I was in the chat room of the Show Notes Summit was for the time frame for an upcoming episode of The Audacity to Podcast. The reply I got from Daniel was that we could see something very soon.

I will be waiting with bated breath for that episode to appear.

Thank you for your attention.

Copyright (c) 2021, Matrix Solutions Corporation and michaelandmike.com and Daniel J Lewis and Steve Stewart and David Jackson and Jim Collison. All rights reserved.

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Uncategorized

577- Determining which people can be good podcast guests

In this episode, we discuss podcast interview guesting — but more from the angle of which people can be good guests as opposed to the folks for whom guesting will probably not work.

For this theme, we turn to a post from Tom Schwab, a podcast interviewer with a site called Interview Valet, as well as author of the book Podcast Guest Profits: Grow Your Business with a Targeted Interview Strategy

Now, I have known Tom Schwab since 2015, and I have interviewed him in several podcast shows, including this one, in the past. I have a copy of his book, and I find it very helpful for those who want to focus on becoming guests on other podcasts, in addition to interviewing guests. I would strongly encourage aspiring or new podcasters to read this book and find out about the art of guesting on other podcasts from podcasters, in order to get discovered and increase your reach in the podosphere.


So in this article, Tom explains how podcast guesting may not work for certain people within these five suggestions and tips:

1. “Your Clients Are Geographically Constrained

It’s not about reaching more people, it’s about reaching more ideal customers.

2. Transactional Sales with low Life Time Value

I’m not going to hire a lawyer, accountant, or surgeon from a Facebook Ad.  Conversely, if the purchase is a low-cost, low-risk, transactional purchase I don’t need to spend 30 to 45 minutes to get to know the company or founder.

3. One Time or Perishable Product

While podcasts may not be evergreen, they are like a can of soup – good for 3 to 5 years.

 

4. Your Digital Presence is Weak

When I hear you on a podcast before I engage I will check out your website and social media.  Here is an online assessment to find if podcast interview marketing will work for you.

5. Not Committed To Delivering Value

This means everyone must win: Audience, Host, Guest, and us. Guests won’t get the desired results if they don’t take an active part in making a great interview:

Show up on time                                 Use a professional mic

Add massive value                              Promote the show

Prepare (here’s our checklist)  


With these types of hints, tips and practices, you can understand how much work it will take for you to land the great podcast guest for an interview or discussion or dialog in your episode. Since Tom has made a business (and he was one of the first in 2015) of the art of guesting in podcast episodes in order to better your business, his success speaks for itself.

I would strongly encourage you to speak to Tom in perhaps an exhibit hall if your attend a podcast conference in which Tom Schwab or the Interview Valet is present. I think you will find the material and the tips  of value to you as a podcaster.

Thank you for your attention.

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

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podcast

561- Daily Podcast shows — their possible returns with community

In this episode of The Podcast Reporter, we discuss the announcement of a podcast show that will be more than just episodes — it will have dialog, a community for conversations and interactions, as well as feedback and creativity. This new podcast is a re-incarnation of the prior podcast show from earlier years by Todd Henry (the podcaster from The Accidental Creative since 2005) and it is called The Daily Creative.

Now, this announcement proclaimed the arrival of the published book by Todd in September of 2022. Why, then, is he launching this podcast and this project for more than a year ahead?

Well, he wants to give his audience a chance to consume the book one episode at a time in the podcast space as the book is being “written.” And for a mere $50 per year, the audience member can join and receive the nuggets one episode at a time. And this offer to his audience members has been available since July of 2021. What a new way to monetize content for a podcaster!

Is this a new trend?

Not really.

I had commented about his earlier podcast show of The Daily Creative from an earlier episode in this series (episode 102) that was titled “Daily Podcast Show — will it survive?” 

And this episode was first published in November of 2018, with the growing trend of a daily episode in a podcast show. And the content of this 6-minute episode tended to focus on the resurrection of the daily episode of a daily podcast show — yes, THE DAILY CREATIVE by Todd Henry. And I did subscribe to this podcast show in 2018, until the podcaster went on a long break after just over 100 episodes that were published and promoted daily (Monday-Friday). And here was the discussion of the content of this episode:

And I did mention some other daily episode podcast shows in the brief history of the podosphere in that prior episode.


Now, when I received the episodes of the 2018 The Daily Creative, I saw that they were 5-to-10-minute episodes from Todd Henry. But they were very similar to a prior project in the 2006-2009 time frame, in which Todd had a premium content podcast with episodes. The project was called “AC Engage” — especially since the topics were so very similar and possibly with more details. And there were close to 150 episodes to this program. So now this seemed to be yet another opportunity for monetization with repurposed content.

Thus, for me, this new 2022 project of THE DAILY CREATIVE podcast is really the 3rd generation of Daily thoughts from Todd Henry, which indeed, he is monetizing for a suggested further audience. First, there was AC-Engage, then The Daily Creative podcast show of 2018, and now, The Daily Creative book, community and podcast of 2022.

As for this podcaster, I find the thoughts motivating and insightful and they do deliver value to both the podcaster and the entrepreneur who struggles with creativity (e.g., new media, podcasting, screencasting, video, blogging, etc.).

I would probably recommend the daily thoughts given in this newly announced series to both the podcaster and entrepreneur — for the value could be great, especially if they have been updated and enriched with the environmental challenges for the last 3 years.

So, I hope that you do find value in either written chapters of the book, or the blog or emails, or the audio podcast episodes of the 2022 The Daily Creative podcast — and that you can improve yourself to become more brilliant, more prolific and more healthy as an entrepreneur and podcaster.

Thank you for your attention.

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

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podcast

528- Podcast quality from your interview guests

In this episode of The Podcast Reporter, we discuss a recent post in the podcastbusinessjournal.com from Dave Jackson, podcaster of the School of Podcasting, where the topic centered on the audio quality from your interviewee and to whom the blame should be leveled. The title of this post was also mentioned in the podnews.net newsletter, and it was: “Stop blaming your guest for bad audio.”

In this post, Dave mentions that you, the interviewer, is really to be held responsible for any episode interview where your guest has bad audio. Dave says that you are to blame for letting bad audio be recorded and published in your podcast show interviews.

And Dave delivers to us several options so that you would not have to deal with sloppy or bad audio in your published interview — for example:

  •  Dave says: “You control what guests make it to your listener’s ears.”
  • Just as a potential prospect may ask you for examples from your portfolio of either art, podcasts, videos, etc., so, too, you can do the same to qualify (and later vet) a potential interviewee:  “When I have people pitch me to be on my show, if they’ve done their homework and connected their expertise to my audience (which 98% of them don’t) one of the first things I’m going to ask is, “Do you have a link to a previous interview so I can hear your audience quality?”
  • As far as equipment goes, Dave suggests several low-cost options for interviewees to deliver quality audio when they record (especially if you are doing a double-ender) — e.g., the Samson Q2U is an ideal mic (which used to be the AT202x series of mics), as well as the Blue Yeti (as long as it is configured properly and placed in the correct positions for quality audio capture). Now, for myself, there is no mention of the Samson go-mic (which is what I recommended for my co-host to use, and which he has used for 50 podcast episodes as an interviewee or co-host) or other quality mics that are affordable;
  • And finally, Dave suggests what to do for a proper job of planning for audio quality for interviews (and this is merely a way to get the interviewee to obtain the proper equipment for quality, and not a total rejection): “When you say to them, “I’d love to have you on my show, but your audio isn’t currently cutting it. If you want you can order a cheap headset or some earbuds, and we can try again later.” You’re not saying “No.” You’re saying “Not now.” 
  • And then you have the proof of the pudding when you find out why your podcast show may be suffering:  “The bottom line is if you’re wondering why your podcast isn’t growing, it may be that it’s leaving a bad taste in people’s mouth…”

Now, for this podcaster, I have had multiple interviews with many podcasters, celebrities, professionals, etc., during the past 15 years of podcasting. And the worst audio occurred when a guest refused to use a quality mic and agreed to the interview when I had to call him on Skype (remember that old application) and he did the interview from the mic on his smart phone while he was outside. Needless to say, the quality was not good and it would not stand in today’s circles of acceptability. This was an exception, for his partner (also a podcaster and a tech-guy, had wonderful audio when I had interviewed him the year before).

So, unless I know what type of equipment is being used, I would now prefer NOT to conduct an interview over the telephone. I have always preferred to do interviews in person (if possible) with my handy Zoom H2 or H4n or Q3 or even my Zoom H1 that I would hold in my hand, because I could then control the quality of the audio — and I could clean up any wrinkes in post.

But for the newer podcasters or the aspiring interviewers, I would suggest that they should take Dave’s post to heart. Some podcasters have even got to the point of having an extra quality microphone and recorder — and then sending it to the guest, so that quality would not be impaired and all glitches could be corrected in post.

So, we hope that you, as a podcaster, would be very conscientious about the required audio quality in today’s environment and insist that the right mic and the right positions of equipment and settings would be the environment for any future podcast interview recordings with your guests.

Thank you for your attention.

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

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podcast

527- Podcasting and repurposing podcast episodes

In this episode of The Podcast Reporter, we discuss the topic of repurposing podcast episodes within the area of improving your podcast show and helping it to grow. This theme was conceived by a recent publication of a post in the podreacher.com site, with the address of:  https://podreacher.com/podcast-repurposing-to-grow/?utm_source=podnews.net&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=podnews.net:2021-03-03

And in this mentioned article, the following are sub-topics that are discussed:

  1. why you should repurpose podcast episodes — especially helping search possibilities to your show;
  2. is repurposing worth your time as a podcaster? And to answer that question, there are several reasons given:
    • “Repurposed podcast content will help you grow if:
      • You think more people could benefit from your content.
      • Your content is mostly evergreen (meaning it won’t go out of date).
      • You have an established production process.
      • You’re open to being discovered on multiple channels.”

       

Then there is a 4-step process for repurposing podcast content;

  • Start with the end in mind;
  • Listen for tips and strategies;
  • Start writing for repurposing:
      • Use direct quotes sparingly.
      • Discard parts of the interview.
      • Ignore chronology.
      • Tighten your introduction.
      • Brainstorm multiple headlines.
      • Spot the gems.
  • Editing: refine the position;
  • Then gain practice and become a professional repurposer.

Now, I myself have repurposed content from other podcasts, as well as the current one, when it seemed appropriate. Whether the passage of time requires a refresh of the theme to grow the impact of the podcast show, or whether the theme once again crops up in the news from the podosphere — the time must be appropriate for a repurposed post.

And your downloads and other stats will prove whether it was well received — especially with the feedback.

We hope that you consider repurposing content, when appropriate. And it all does not have to be from a prior episode of your current show. You can repurpose content from other podcast shows, especially if the themes are related. I have done so with repurposed episodes from some of my prior 16 podcast shows from the past — but they must all have had a key relationship to the discussion at hand.

We hope that you, yourself, will consider the idea of repurposed content for your show, if appropriate. And if you find that this becomes a successful strategy, then we hope that your show will benefit by improving the quality and getting more subscribers and downloads which will have your listeners enjoy your content (especially for the newer listeners that were not around for the original episode of content that you repurpose now).

Thank you for your attention.

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

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podcast

526- Lessons learned after 15 years of Podcasting

In this episode of The Podcast Reporter, we discuss my own lessons learned and experiences of value gained from podcasting for the last 15 years, when I became a podcaster — with having been within the podosphere as a listener for the prior 2 years (and with listening to over 100 podcast shows per week, as there were not as many shows as there are now).

In a recent edition of the podnews.net newsletter, we had an article that spoke about what experiences and benefits were learned by someone who had just celebrated seven years in podcasting (you can find it at Bruce Wawrzyniak, the host of Now Hear This who celebrated his 7th anniversary of the show with 367 episodes). Well, as a podcaster with over double the time in the podosphere as an active podcaster, and with over 1000 episodes and 2 million downloads, I wanted to also give you some perspective of an old-timer podcaster.

Now, by old-timer, I don’t mean to state that I was one of the original podcasters when the podosphere started. By no means. There were folks like Gary Leland, Todd Cochrane, CC Chapman, Paul Colligan, Rob Walch and Dave Jackson (among others) that already had podcast shows — and some for almost 2 years since 2004. Among them, I seemed to be a newcomer. And my podcast show that I promoted at the time of the early Podcast and Portable Media conference seemed pale in comparison to the work of those earlier maestros.

But now, after 15 years of podcasting, my current flagship podcast show of PodcastReporter.com has between 500 and 600 episodes; my other show of TheStrugglingBiz.com has over 100 episodes; and my other podcast show of 2030podcast.com has over 50 episodes — and the latter is done with a co-host, Matt Cox (a podcaster with over 12 years of his show, Brunch with the Brits.net).

So the question is: what experiences have I learned from podcasting in 15 years? and what is the suggestion that I deliver to new and aspiring podcasters (even though these will never be posted in the podnews.net newsletter)?

  • I have learned that technical skills are important, but that they are not the most important — what is of greatest importance is the value that your show and its episodes will provide to your audience;
  • I have learned that your communication with your audience is critical — and that goes for any planned or unplanned absences (remember — even great podcasters like Daniel J Lewis of The Audacity to Podcast show disappeared for almost six months without leaving word to his audience of any planned or unplanned absence.  But he later made up for it by publishing an episode explaining his forced absence, and then proceeded to return to the podosphere in many formats. And he keeps being a subject matter expert in his own right);
  • I have received value in the faith and commitment of my audience in staying with me, providing me with feedback and commentary, as well as giving word-of-mouth promotion to others in the podosphere;
  • I have received value in seeing the number of downloads increasing for each show (in fact, both The Struggling Entrepreneur podcast show — which has podfaded — and this show have had over 1 million downloads each, and still growing), as well as the popularity of my shows increasing;
  • I have received value when our 2030podcast.com show received promotion on an international live stream — they played episodes from this show to their audiences; they stated that this was a “quality show” to the audience; and they praised the quality of the audio, as well, to their audience and live stream. And they did this WITHOUT any requests from me or any paid promotion or marketing or sales. This occurred because they found value in the show; and as of the date of this episode, it still continues to be published with various episodes and still continues to receive admiration from listeners who found value in the content of this show, even though none of the serendipity results were planned;
  • I found value in other podcasters whom I have met in person or on the web — either a conferences or in remote interviews which I conducted for many of my 16 concurrent podcast shows that I had in 2010, and which I had to whittle down due to health and personal family issues with which I had to deal in 2016 to 2018;
  • and finally, I learned that the VALUE FOR VALUE model applies to podcasters who deliver good content to listeners. I learned this when the value was “treasure” (i.e., monetization), as well as “tech” (i.e., learning valuable technical skills and models), as well as “frienship” value (i.e., starting great relationships with the pundits of podcasting and other podcasters).

And these are just a few of the lessons learned from this podcaster in my 15 years as a podcaster and 17 years within the podosphere.

So, if you think that seven years is a lot of time to learn about value in podcasting, try learning from the podcasters who have spent more than double that time within their craft. This will help deliver lessons learned to the new and aspiring podcasters, so that they can improve their skills and become better deliverers of value to their audiences.

Thank you for your attention.

Copyright (c) 2021, Matrix Solutions Corporation and michaelandmike.com and 2030podcast.com and Matt Cox. All rights reserved.

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podcast

574- Response to most-asked question by podcasters

In this episode of The Podcast Reporter, we review some content that answers the issue of the most asked question by podcasters in podcasting. So in a keynote at the 2021 Podcast Movement conference, we have the speaker tell all:  “The existential question for so many of us is not how do I grow my audience, but why did my audience stop growing?

For this, we look to the web site by Tom Webster, who gave a presentation at the conference.

However, in the article from his website, Tom gives the very simple explanation that is above and beyond any SEO or promotion programs or social media referrals, etc.: “There are many answers to the question ‘how can I grow my audience,’ but there is one simple answer to the question, “why did my audience stop growing?” You might not like it, but here it is: because people stopped recommending your podcast.”

So this leads me to believe that WOMMA (“word-of-mouth-marketing-advertising”) may be the best way and the really old way in proven circles to help grow your audience. For myself, as a podcaster, I have seen this work and I am a case study of this with a podcast show that has seen its audience grow for the past year without a single SEO tactic, without a single promotion on the web or on social media, and without any paid advertising of any kind. It was strictly on referrals made by word of mouth by those podcasters who had a stream of shows listened to by the world audiences. They had mentioned that it was a great show, with value — and the audiences grew in their participation very quickly and very largely.


And although I did not plant any questions to my listeners, I feel that those who listened to the show had the following issues addressed, as Tom Webster mentions in his article:

“In my keynote at Podcast Movement I focused on the concept of recommendability, and gave three things every podcaster could do to improve theirs:

  1. Know who you are for, and why they are there
  2. Make your show easy to recommend
  3. Master your craft”

Then Tom goes into detail and explains each one of those three bullets in his presentation. He also has some charts in which he goes into detail about discoverability of podcast shows, and why you should think more about other areas beyond being discovered — especially recommendability.

And I believed that the case study of the show mentioned from my team addressed all of these in several ways. So, sometimes you can reach a level of success in growing our audience without your even planning for it or paying for it — all due to the word-of-mouth marketing and advertising given by others through recommendability.

So, thus, I would recommend that you consume the article from Tom (if you did not have a chance to consume the audio of his presentation from a virtual ticket of the conference or you did not have a presence in person at the conference). You may want to see how you may define and plan for recommendability in addition to discoverability — and beyond — for the success of your show in growing your audience.

Thank you for your attention.

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