School of Podcasting: Expert Tips for Launching and Growing Your Podcast

Is Your Podcast Future Proof? I was asked by one of my editing clients to go back and edit some of their episodes and remove discussions that were about specific events at a specific time. In listening to their episodes there are a couple of strategies you can do to make your show future-proof. Always Use the Year The deadline for the question of the month is December 14th, 2020. By adding the year into the discussion, a listener knows that the episode has passed. But what about outdated information? If the episode consists of nothing but information that is outdated you can always delete that episode form your host and within 24 hours it will be removed from most apps. When I watch a movie and one of the characters says, "Why didn't you page me?" I can figure out that the movie is from the 1980's. I don't hold the movie studio responsible for outdated references. (Just my opinion). As always if you are delivering value to your audience, then keep it up and available. Use Timeless Landing Pages For example, I could say, "I'll have a link to the question of the month in today's episode at schoolofpodcasting.com/XXX, or just go to www.schoolofpodcasting.com/question. Every month when I do a question of the month I always have the same landing page. This way if someone goes to answer an older question that is outdated, while they are too late to answer the question from two months ago, they are in the right place to answer the current question. Another example of this is from Jordan Harbinger. Jordan gets mountains of downloads and makes a living with ads on his podcast. Jordan often has pages on the manufacturer's site such as hostgator.com/jordan but he also mentions that you can find more by going to jordanharbinger.com and clicking on the deals page. Here again, if there was a time-sensitive deal in place for the sponsor it may be too late, but you are now in the right place to find a deal from another sponsor that will help Jordan. If you're doing webinars you can say something like, "My webinar on the perfect gear is at schoolofpodcasting.com/perfectgear or just see the schedule for all of your webinars at schoolofpodcasting.com/webinars (where you would use your website - not mine.... :)  I realize you might say, "But I only have the one webinar. While this is true TODAY, in the future you might be doing one a week." When Glenn Hebert of the Horse Radio Network started it was a network with one show, but Glenn knew there would be more so he founded the Horse Radio Network. Reinforce Your Band By using your website you reinforce your brand, and you keep control of your content. For example, I have a Patreon account that I promote on the Ask the Podcast Coach where you can be an Awesome Supporter. Do I tell people to go to www.patreon.com/davejackson ? No. Why? Because what if something better comes along? Then I have a bunch of podcasts with mentions of a website I don't use. An example of this is web hosting. Over the years I've used Hostgator, Siteground, and Cooler Websites. Did I promote that company by mentioning their website? No, I told people to go to www.schoolofpodcasting.com/hosting, and in the early days of my show that link went to Hostgator, and for years it went to Siteground, and then Cooler Websites. I might direct that at Podpage in the future. While this might confuse someone expecting a Hostgator link, but in the end, if the person is looking for hosting and you direct them to a hosting page, I feel (again an opinion) they should trust you, and if they have questions they can always contact you. Tools To Make Redirects If you are using WordPress, you can use the PrettyLinks plugin. There is a free version and the premium version starts at $49/year. It's been downloaded over 2.5 million times. Thirsty affiliates is a very similar plugin for about the same price ($49/year). If you're using Podpage Pro, redirects are one of the many features. (Check out the free "Learn PodPage" course ) While some people use bit.ly, I prefer Rebandly. Tools To Help Follow Your Money And.co In the past I used Freshbooks, but they charged their pricing (costing more if I had morse customer) and many of their features I didn't use (I just need to create invoices and track income and expenses). I found and.co and this does exactly what I want. There is a free version to allow you to kick the tires, and if you go with the pro plan it's $18/month (you get a discount when you purchase a year in advance).  I love their "shoebox" feature. When a bill comes into my email, I can forward it to an email at and.co and it adds it to my account where I can easily add it as an expense and categorize it for tax purposes. It is super easy, and I love it.  Check it out at https://supportthisshow.com/andco (aff link) You Need a Budget (YNAB) YNAB is a web-based tool that makes it sooo easy to track every penny you make (and more importantly every penny you spend). You can even integrate it directly with your bank so you don't have to do data entry (I import mine manually). It uses a different philosophy as you give each dollar "a job" so you can see exactly where you money is going. You can set up savings goals, and I attended a webinar to learn the software and was up and running quickly. It's $12/month of $89/year.  Check it out at https://supportthisshow.com/ynab Mentioned In This Show Profit From Your Podcast Book Join the School of Podcasting How to Fix a Mistake Episode My Podcast Reviews Ask the Podcast Coach Dave's Patreon Account Jordan Harbinger's Deal Page Schedule a Podcast Coaching Call Join the School of Podcasting Avoid sounding unprofessional, buying the wrong equipment, and creating content that isn't good.  The School of Podcasting has step by step tutorials, Live Group Coaching, and a private Facebook group filled with brilliant podcasting minds.  Join worry-free with a 30-day money-back guarantee.  Go to www.schoolofpodcasting.com/start  

Today we talk about the 1.7 billion dollar mistake that was Quibi and how we can learn from their mistake. We also take a look at the power of follow up questions, and the best place to buy gear.  Table of Contents 01:22 Your Favorite Podcast - Send in Your Answer 02:56 Now That's A Good Question: Howard Stern and Wolfgang Van Halen 06:35 Join the School of Podcasting 07:33 Lessons From Quibi 13:24 They Blew Their Launch 16:12 Big Name Celebrities 19:02 Make It Easy To Share Your Content 21:05 It's Not the Tech 23:28 Clueless About the Competition 29:49 Who is the Audience? 33:29 The Best Place to Buy Gear: Sweetwater 36:07 Your Audience Awaits Exercise How to Avoid the 1.7 Billion Dollar Mistake that Was Quibi Quibi is an over-the-top American short-form streaming platform that generates content for viewing on mobile devices. It was founded in Los Angeles in August 2018 as NewTV by Jeffrey Katzenberg (chairman of Walt Disney Studios from 1984 to 1994) and is led by Meg Whitman ( She is a board member of Procter & Gamble and Dropbox. Whitman was previously president and CEO of Hewlett Packard Enterprise), its CEO. In 2019 Variety reported that Quibi had secured 100 million dollars in advertising before the service had even launched. On February 2, 2020, they spent $5.6 million for 30 seconds on an ad in the Super Bowl that was seen by a reported 99.9 million viewers.  That is $18 per person if you round up. This for a service where subscribers can get the service for $5 per month with ads, or $8 per month without them.  That $5.6 million was a drop in the bucket. The commercial was really stupid and didn't really answer or explain what the heck it was. You just knew it was less than 10 minutes. They explained what is was, but not so much why it was or how you would benefit. It raised $1.75 billion from investors. It had a variety of shows featuring originals with Jennifer Lopez, Chrissy Teigen, Chance the Rapper, Liam Hemsworth, Sophie Turner, Lena Waithe, Nicole Richie, Reese Witherspoon. Quibi offered a 90-day free trial to those who sign up on its website before April 6. Overall, it plans to release 175 original shows and 8,500 episodes in the first year. Their lineup has a ton of stars, celebrities, etc It launched on April 6, 2020. It is set to shut down "on or about" December 1, 2020. December 1 is 239 days. That is $7,322,175.73 a day. Here is my thoughts on why this was such an epic fail. They Blew Their Launch When you spend $5.6 million dollars on a Super Bowl ad, they should have an idea what you do and what is in it for them. In the event, the ad inspired people to check out the service (it didn't), you should be able to go check it out and not have to wait four months. Yes, you can build buzz, but for me, I never heard from quibi again. Putting All Their Faith in Celebrities Here are some of the names that appear on shows: Jennifer Lopez, Kristen Bell, Nick Jonas, Tracy Morgan, Aaron Rodgers, Yara Shahidi, Gabriel Iglesias, Anthony Davis, Kevin Hart and Karlie Kloss. Cardi B, Chance the Rapper, Dapper Dan, Jay Leno, and Wolfgang Puck (and that's just some). The people involved had experience Phil Abraham has directed the Sopranos, Madmen, Daredevil, Ozark. No Compelling Content Yet, there was no breakout show that inspired the people who had found Quibi to tell a friend about Quibi. Nobody was compelled to tell a friend. They did recaps of the previous days news or sports updates. WOW what revolutionary content! They Made it Hard To Share According to Media Analyst Josh Consine there was no sharing capability (no screenshots) which limited your ability to go viral. When it first launched you could only watch it on your phone. There were no apps, not Fire TV, Chromecast. They made it "hard" to consume. They took away choices from the consumer. They Put Their Faith in the Tech One thing that set them apart was a feature called Turnstyle. This meant that if you rotate the phone horizontal to verticle, you would get a different camera angle. Neat? Sure. Something so cool I had to tell my friends? Apparently not as I had never heard of it until I started researching how you blow 1.7 billion and lose. In a nutshell, Turnstyle served you two video streams simultaneously and “stitches them together” with a single audio track. Since we're talking about the Tech, a company sued Quibi shortly after their launch company called Eko alleged that Quibi stole the technology after Eko demoed it to employees of the company, including founder and chairman Jeffrey Katzenberg. Even when you have billions in funding, lawsuits are expensive. Clueless About the Competition They were charging $5/$8 a month for new content. Look at Disney, Netflix, Hul. While they have original content, they all have old favorites as well. They also have a way to add more than one person under your account (so when your kids login under your account your recommendations don't all turn into cartoons). This was not the case to Quibi. It figured each person was watching on their phone. One person per account. This gets expensive and now anyone who wants to see what you're talking about has to use your phone. It is reported that CEO Whitman repeatedly said "We're not competing with Netflix." Think about that one for a minute. That's like a radio station saying, "All of our songs are under four minutes long. We don't compete with other stations." Lack Of Focus Group? In one article that was published right after they launched it stated, "Quibi’s executives have hinted that the company will deliver on a TV experience if customer feedback and data warrant it. " Well they did add support for Apple's airplay and Chromecast, but at the expense of the Turnstyle technology. They did release an app for Roku and Fire TV - the day before they announced were closing down. It seemed like they didn't understand how people used their phones or consumed content. Did they think that because the average length of a YouTube video is 11 minutes that making "short" videos would be the key? Meanwhile, TikTok was taking off with all sorts of celebrities making their own channels. TikTok is free. Did Quibi follow the Facebook strategy and buy them or "borrow features" and add them to their platform? No. They were doing something different and nobody cared. They Didn't Answer the Number Question: WHO IS YOUR AUDIENCE The idea was people could watch these short clips while waiting in line, or on the bus. When you think of people consuming content on their phone you might think it would be younger people. Yet you're trying to attract those people with Steven Spielberg and Jay Leno? Sure Cardi B appeared in an episode, but they needed to define. If the content is for busy people, who are the busy people and what do they want to watch? According to an article in Forbes, Katzenberg and Whitman said, "We created a new form of mobile-first premium storytelling." They did. But the stories weren't any good. Now That's a Good Question 02:56  Today we listen to Howard Stern ask a great follow-up question to Wolfgang Van Halen. While he started off with a yes/no question, but then asked a few follow-up questions lead to the information you can't get anyplace else, and listen to how Howard shuts up and lets Wolfgang wrestle with a potentially uncomfortable topic.  Sweetwater is My New Favorite Place to Order Gear 33:29 My co-host for Ask the Podcast Coach Jim Collison ordered something from Sweetwater and told me about their INSANE customer service. I recently saw where they were one of the few people to have the new Zoom Podtrak P4 IN STOCK and I see what he means. I was called to let me know my order had shipped, and to let me know if I had any issues I could call them. So here is why I think they are the best: Prices are just as good (and in some cases better) than Amazon Free shipping (even on small stuff) Built-in two-year warranty  Free tech support  Payment plans available if needed. My goal is to build more of a relationship with Sweetwater (as I have a dedicated rep) which should keep me in touch with podcasting technology going forward. In full disclosure, I earn a referral reward (but that's why I ordered something as I wanted to see for myself)  Your Audience Awaits Exercise I'm listening to the book Unhackable: The 30-Day Elixir for Creating Flawless Ideas, Leveraging Superhuman Focus, and Achieving Optimal Performance Through Flow its a very interesting book that you can listen/read to one chapter per day. The one exercise was to write yourself an email from your future audience as is these people who are waiting for you to start your show. SO MANY TIMES I hear people worried about having trolls or people say negative things. I say, What about ALL THE POSITIVE that could happen? Think of going to your inbox and see an email with the title, "Just wanted to say Thank you." You open it and it starts, "Hello, I just wanted to reach out. You may not believe this but due to your podcast....  and the listener explains how you made them feel. How they no longer felt alone. How they were taken to a place where the stress of work, life, and more melted away.  This could happen. But your podcast can't help people if you don't start your podcast. You can't update a show that doesn't exist. Please let me help you, as your audience is waiting. 

The show is filled with "Because of My Podcast" stories. We also have a great example of a good question, and a reminder that Apple is going on Holiday soon (very important if you wanted a podcast ready to go in January 20201). SPONSOR: SCHOOL OF PODCASTING Ready to start your podcast? Got a podcast and you need to grow it? Join the School of podcasting and get instant access to: Step by step tutorials Live group coaching Access to a private (spam-free) Facebook Group filled with other brilliant podcasting minds Premium access to Dave. Join worry-free with our 30-day money-back guarantee. Go to www.schoolofpodcasting.com/start Because of My Podcast, I Got a Book Published, that Inspired a Podcast I was contacted by a publisher to write the book Profit from Your Podcast: Turn Your Listeners Into Livelihood and it took a lot of work, but it's getting very good reviews. This lead David Hooper (author of the book Big Podcast, and host of Red Podcast and Big Podcast) along with Jeff Sanders of the 5 AM Miracle podcast (author of the book with the same name) got together to create a series called Podcast Profits which promotes my book. The podcast is called Podcast Profits: Make Money (and more) With Your Podcast Dave called me to let me know what he was planning, and to make sure it was OK to have "Because of My Podcast" stories. As they were talking about me, I was fine with that. I was really surprised that they didn't mention/plug their podcasts or their company Voxphonix until the last episode (and it was very minimal). Because of My Podcast, Leslie Eiler Thompson Got to Participate in the Iditarod Dog Race in Alaska 05:39 Leslie is a Multimedia Producer & Creator in Nashville, and she shares the story of not only being able to interview one of the top champions in Sled Dog Racing, but she eventually ended up as part of his team and participated in the race. Rick Coste Interview: Audio Drama Podcast Leads to Bigger Things Because of His Podcast, Rick Coste Got to Work with Marvel Rick Coste approached me with a "Because of My Podcast" story. He's got an agent who wants to turn his podcast Evolution Talk into a book. He's been on TV and got to work with Marvel on their This Week in Marvel podcast as well as their Women of Marvel podcast. He does sound design and post-production as well as producing other shows (see https://www.rickcoste.com/podcast-production/ ) His first crack at audio drama the Behemoth is still getting very impressive downloads. Rick shares how he creates his soundscapes, his technology, and insights into sound effects. 17:12 Rick Coste Interview 17:54 When did Rick get into podcasting? 19:39 Getting into audio dramas 20:50 How did you find actors? 22:25 Impressive Downloads 24:10 Getting to work with Marvel 26:40 Tips for Starting an Audiodrama 28:27 What software Rick Uses 28:45 Sound effects resources 29:21 Struggling with perfection 30:53 Giving notes to actors 34:06 Passion Project? Check Out Rick at: https://www.rickcoste.com/ https://modernaudiodrama.com/ Now That's a Good Question 08:53 This is a new segment I am adding today. While I hear people say "That's a good question" when IT'S JUST NOT. So now, when I hear an actual good question, I thought I would spotlight it. This example is from an interview by Lars Ulrich (the drummer for Metallica) who is interviewing Noel Gallagher (of Oasis) and Lars asks him how he feels about doing some of the older songs that were mammoth hits in the 90's when he has his own solo songs now. Noel starts to answer the question on how it makes his audience feel, Lars interrupts and asks, "But what do they mean to YOU." Lars then does something brilliant and Noel takes a deep breath. He shuts up and lets him think. The longer he lets him think - the better the answer. Eventually, Noel explains how those songs mean the world to him. Noel wasn't really answering the question, and Lars pointed him in the right direction. Catch the who interview on YouTube Thanks to Wayne Henderson of mediavoiceovers.com for his awesome tones. Podcast Rewind: Where I've Been 13:58 I appeared on The Author Inside You Podcast talking about listening to your audience and the book Profit From Your Podcast 16:26 I appear on Podcasting Experiments talking about the book Profit From Your Podcast What Is Your Favorite Podcast and Why? Every year the last episode is you answering the question, "What is your favorite podcast and why." Now I want to know about your show as well, so if I answered the question it would sound like this: Hey this is Dave Jackson and I host the School of Podcasting show where I help you plan, launch, and grow your podcast. You can find me at schoolofpodcasting.com. My favorite show is (name of show ) at (their website address) where they (what they talk about on their show) and the reason I love it is (as a detailed answer as you can provide). I need the answer by December 14th. Apple Holiday Schedule 10:40 The door to have a show ready on all the platforms come January 2021 is closing. Dont' forget Apple goes on holiday twice between now and then. Here is their holiday schedule: November 22 to December 2 December 23 to January 2 Which means you should submit your show to them almost immediately. If you have questions, let's schedule a coaching call. Mentioned In this Podcast Profit from Your Podcast: Turn Your Listeners Into Livelihood Dave on the Business of Podcasting Show Part 1, Part 2 Leslie Eiler Thompson Check out Leslie on the Podcast Review Show Big Podcast 5 AM Miracle podcast Voxphonix modernaudiodrama.com Join the School of Podcasting

I had someone ask me about starting a podcast. They wanted to "Stand Out" without "Niching Down." The easiest way to stand out is to Niche down. When you do a show like We Have Cancer, Adoptees On, or the Chameleon Breeder, you get providing information that people can't get anyplace else. You end up with a smaller audience size, but a more engaged audience. Podcasting is Closer to Cable Television Than Radio In this clip of "The Loudest Voice," you will hear actor Russel Crowe as Roger Ailes explains how he doesn't want a wide audience. He's is going to purposely make content for a demographic that is being underserved. Roger went on the grow Fox news which dominated cable news for decades. When you turn on cable, you get channels on cooking, animal sports, outdoors, and none of the channels will get anywhere near the audience of the major networks. However, you will have people like my ex-wife who watch HGTV like her life depended on it. COVID Took Natalie Kennedy's Job - Podcasting Delivered Her Dream Today I talk with Natalie Kennedy who is the host of the Anxious Love Podcast. The podcast is where Natalie covers relationship anxiety, ROCD, and upgrading love partnerships-- how to go from DOUBTING your relationship to LOVING it and gushing about your man. You can see where she already has gone from the wide topics of relationships and she niched down. Just like a cable channel.  The show is for women. The show is for women having an issue with their relationships. The show is for women who are doubting their relationships and worried about commitment. Today you will hear: 00:58 Podcasting is Closer To Cable TV Than Radio 06:09 Natalie Kennedy Interview 07:13 Natalie Knows Her Niche 09:53 How She Picked Her Niche 11:07 Natalie's Transparency and how she describes her services 12:03 Dealing with Impostor Syndrome 13:37 Proof Of Concept - She had people asking for her services before she offered them. 15:45 Starting Her Podcast 16:41 How Many Episodes Does She Have? - This all happened really fast. 16:55 Is the Podcast Bringing in Clients? - ( spoiler - yes it is !) 17:21 Coaching Insights - How she gets people to open up. 18:45 You Don't Have to Know Everything - Just more than your clients. 19:37 How is Her Business Doing? 20:19 Pivots Don't Kill You  21:00 When Your Message Differs From Mainstream ( this is how you stand out).  Find Natalie at https://www.anxiouslovecoach.com/   23:05 Apple Holiday Break  November 22 to December 2 December 23 to January 2 Mistakes Breed Confidence 24:20 If you wait until things are 100% perfect, you'll never launch. Mistakes (are still something we want to avoid) leave to growth. I just moved, and the house is old, and I learned how to fix holes in walls. I hired a contractor who makes a mistake. Did I freak out? No. My experience with fixing previous holes help me stay calm, and I knew what to do. When you make a mistake, realizing you are growing as a person (or you can hire a mentor to help you avoid them, and learn that way). How Long Does it Take To Make Money with a Podcast? 25:22 I get this question all the time. In my travels, I started seeing an answer that start to appear, and reappear over and over. That answer is three years. Obviously Natalie today beat that record. Why do I tell people three years? I started making snippets every time I hear that answer. I forgot to write down who the first clip is. The other three are from Content Heroes Podcast. (Alex Nerney episode) The Business of Podcasting (Gert Mellak interview ) Dave from the Cigar Authority, on Ask the Podcast Coach.  Dave's book David VS Goliath What To Do When You are Face to Face with Your Audience 28:33 Just a quick clip showing that I practice what I preach, and when you have a listener in front of you take advantage. Zoom Podtrak P8 Follow Up 30:23 I talked about the Zoom Podtrak P8 in my last episode. I had mentioned that there was an issue with a noise in the headphones. That is definitely an issue. Also, there is no timer count down for the jingle buttons. This makes "talking up" any kind of music a real challenge. Join the School of Podcasting Worry Free 33:20 You can try the private Facebook group, go through the step-by-step videos, and even attend one of the group coaching sessions, and any time in the first 30 days if you're not happy, you can stop and I will refund your money. Go to www.schoolofpodcasting.com/start Natalie's Top Relationship Tip 33:22 I asked Natalie what she sees the most when it comes to her clients in regards to relationship issues. She has a really, really good answer. Coming Attractions 36:15 I will be showing you how to convert your RSS feed into an Excel Spreadsheet on my YouTube Channel I will be interviewing Rob Coste who ended up working with a MAJOR company that will make you say WOA!

Your Podcast is A Steam Train I often say that when you start out, your show is rolling slow. As it keeps moving, it gets faster and faster. It just takes time, consistency (of schedule, and value). Kim Krajci of Toastmasters 101 pointed me toward this YouTube video from Box Angeles. This video shows Mellisa Hunter who has a hilarious series of Adult Wednesday Adams and how one video in that series went viral and her back episodes starting taking off with the original video.  More Cool Podcast Gear For Podcasters One of the great things about podcasting getting more and more popular, is more and more products are coming to the marketing Specifically for podcasters. Zoom Recently came out with the Podtrak P4 (for me this is THE go-to piece of equipment). Now they've come out with the Podtrak P8 which is a direct competitor of the Rodecaster Pro from Rode. Neither one of these units is a bad purchase. They both make it easier to create great sounding podcasts. Who Is This For? The Zoom Podtrak P8 (and the Rodecaster Pro) allow you to: Record up to six people in the same room. Report a remote interview via SB Connect and record a smartphone Play live sounds via touch buttons. Comparing Different Features of the Units. For me, I am always connected to my computer via a USB cable. This is for zoom calls, or recording directing into software. Keep this in mind when I talk about different tests. I do one live show on Saturday morning where I record to the internal card, or if I'm doing an interview (I use it as a back up).  Power Both the Zoom and Rode can be operated via batteries (The Rodecaster has an optional DC-USB-1 cable that enables you to plug in a USB battery). The Zoom P8 uses double-A batteries or can be powered via a USB cable. So with the Rode, you will have a USB and a power cable. With the Zoom P8, you can power it with just your USB cable. Advantage Zoom P8 Price The Rodecaster Pro currently lists for $599. USB Power Cable for RODECaster Pro $20 Total: $619 The Zoom P8 is listing for $499. Zoom BTA-2 Bluetooth Adapter $49 Total: $548 Advantage Zoom P8 Input Channels ZOOM P8 This is an interesting one, as the Zoom P8 has six XLR inputs. It has a dedicated channel to the phone input. This means you have a total of seven inputs. The USB interface on the zoom is used in place of one of the XLR inputs. You could have five XLR inputs, one USB, and One phone. Rodcaster Pro The rodecaster pro has four XLR inputs. Then it has a dedicated channel for a phone. It has a dedicated channel for the USB interface. It has another channel for Bluetooth. This means you have a total of seven inputs. You could have four XLR, one USB, One Phone and one bluetooth. Comments: The blue tooth is built into the Rodecaster, and the P8 has the ability to have one more XLR input. Advantage? Tie. Number of Outputs The Zoom has six headphone outputs, and a stereo output. The Rodecaster has four headphone outputs and a stereo output. The plugs are on the back of the Rodecaster where the inputs on the Zoom are on the face. Advantage: Zoom. Marker Feature Both units have the ability to add markers. Advantage? Tie Normalization While there is no normalization in the hardware of the Rodecaster, using the additional software on your computer you can have the files normalized with multiple settings with presets for Apple, Audible. The P8 has a normalizing feature built into the unit. There are no details on if this is peak normalization or loudness normalization. It appeared to be peak. Advantage Rodecaster Recording Mode Both units provide each individual tracks along with a stereo mixdown of the whole recording. The Rodecaster provides the ability to turn off the individual track recording and just provide the stereo mixdown. This enables you to not have a ton of extra tracks when you don't want them, which doesn't take up as much storage on your storage card. Advantage: Rodecaster Effects Both units provide effects for each track. Zoom P8: The Zoom provides bass and treble controls. It was one combination compressor/De-esser. There is also a limiter and low cut. Rodecaster: Each track has Aphex effects built-in. This includes a de-esser, compressor, big bottom (bass), and aurel exciter (treble), high pass filter (low cut), reverb, and what my favorite feature - a noise gate. Neither unit provides the full slate of effects to the USB channel (which is frustrating). Advantage: Rodecaster (by far much more control). File Management Zoom: The zoom uses an SD Card and allows you to delete and rename files on the unit. Both units have a card slot on the back of the unit. The Rodecaster uses a microSD card. In my case, I have to put the microSD card into an adapter to insert it into my computer. Advantage (due to ease of use): Zoom P8 Sample Rate The Rodecaster Pro has a sample rate of 48 khz The Zoom P8 has a sample rate of 44.1kHz For me, this is no big deal, but if you're doing video it probably is (video people love a sample rate of 48 khz) Advantage: Rodecaster Transfer Speed I took a wave file and put it on both cards. It was 557M and then copied and pasted it to my computer. The Rodecaster tool one minute 14 seconds, the Zoom P8 took one minute two seconds so it appears to be slightly faster. One thing I do like more on the Zoom is when you put it into transfer mode, it doesn't make you confirm. I do not understand this on the Rodecaster as you have to somewhat hunt to get to it, so why do I have to confirm it (both on and off). Advantage: Zoom P8 PreAmps The specs show that: Rodecaster: 0dB – 55dB Zoom P8: 0 – +70 dB I recorded on both units and found the difference in noise was almost nonexistent. If you have to listen that hard to see if there is noise, you're fine. Advantage: Footprint (Dimensions) Rodecaster Pro: 350 x 275 x 82 mm (13.8 X 10.8 X 3.2 inches) Zoom P8: 295 × 248  × 61 mm  MM ( 11.6 X 9.7 X 2.4 inches) The big difference here is the XLR inputs are on the face of the Zoom P8 and on the back of the Roadcaster. This extends the height to by 2.5" (64 mm). Likewise all the headphone/output jacks also on the back s0 the Rodecaster does take up more space on my desk. Sound Pads With the Rodecaster you have to use the free additional software to bring your files on to the Rodecaster. With the Zoom P8 you can drag them on to the card and bring them into the unit. It even converts the files if needed. The Zoom had 9 pads where the Rodecaster has 8. Both allow you to scroll through the screen to switch between multiple pages. Advantage: Zoom P8 Quality of Outputs/Headphones In going back and forth between the two units, I did notice more noise in the headphones when using the Zoom P8. This noise wasn't on the recording, but a bit of a bummer when what you're hearing is not what you're recording. Advantage Rodcaster Noise Gate Vs Noise Reduction One of the KEY features of the Rodecaster is the ability to add a noise gate to channels (sadly not the USB). The Zoom has a feature called, "Noise Reduction" When multiple mics are being used to record sound, the noise reduction function of the P8 suppresses background noise to a constant level by automatically reducing the levels of the mic inputs not being used by people. Sadly, I tried to test this, but living alone, I couldn't really put the Noise Reduction into practice and Zoom doesn't talk about it much in their videos. Advantage: Rodecaster (as a gate is better than reduction) Mic Modeling This is a feature only available on the Rodcaster. For example, you can use presets for the Rode Podmic, EV RE20, and with a push of a button, your channel is set to your microphone (video). Combining Files / Editing You can combine files into one, you can trim files, add fade-ins and out. (Basic editing without a computer). This is only available on the Zoom P8 Summary: When you look at the features I covered: Power: Zoom P8 Price: Zoom P8 Input Channels: Tie Number of Outputs: Zoom P8 Quality of Outputs: Rodecaster Marker: Tie Normalization: Rodecaster Recording Mode: Rodecaster Effects: Rodecaster File Management: Zoom P8 Sample Rate: Rodecaster Transfer Speed: Zoom P8 PreAmps: Zoom P8 Sound Pads: Zoom P8 Noise Gate/Reduction: Rodecaster Mic Modeling: Rodecaster Combining/Editing: Zoom P8 There are 17 items and the Zoom Podtrak P8 had eight of these, with two ties and the Rodecaster having an advantage in seven of them. You can see that its very close, but for some, they may argue as the areas where the Rodecaster comes out on top is on boosting the sound (the Aphex Processing) and in that area, the Rodecaster is much better. HOWEVER, keep in mind that you can use something like the Schepps Omni Channel plugin on sale for $69 (and sometimes even less) and you can all this processing in post-production. So Again, It Depends So if you're doing a ton of live streaming, you may want the extra processing (and noise gate) to keep things sounding great as you go live. However, if you have large fingers and hate having to take out that tiny MicroSD card and having to deal with adapters and confirmation prompts, the ease of use of the Zoom Podtrack P8 may provide you a better experience than the Rodecaster. Conclusion: As I said at the beginning if you are having (Let's pretend there is no COVID) multiple people in the studio with you, both of these machines make it easy. The P8 gives you two more mic inputs (which, for me is a lot of guests for one podcast). If you like ease of use, and are not going to obsess about your sound then the Zoom P8 is a good fit for you. If you don't mind having to do a bit more searching through menus to find what you are looking for (to enable you to sound better) then the Rodecaster might be the way to go. Mentioned In This Episode Join the School of Podcasting Rodcaster Pro from Rode Zoom Podtrak P8 Zoom Podtrak P4 Electrovoice RE20

Last week, I interview Matthew Dicks who is the author of the book Storyworthy. I am a HUGE fan of Matthew and was very excited when he agreed to come on the show. After the episode was published I get email after email. I saw comments on Facebook all stating, "WOW, That was a great interview." There will be times when you get feedback, and no matter if it's positive or negative you want to investigate why (so you can do more about it). I've received more than average feedback on episodes like The Ultimate Guide to Hosting and Guesting Podcast Interviews, Overcoming Impostor Syndrome,  How to Start a Podcast Network: The Good, the Bad, the Ugly, but the feedback I got about How to Tell Better Stories with Matthew Dicks was "way more than usual." One of the things I help people do is figure out what they are doing correctly with their podcast so they can do more of that type of content. With this in mind, I went back and looked at "Why did this connect with my audience?" Step 1: Start with someone interesting Getting entertaining stories out of Matthew Dicks is like shooting fish in a barrel. Step 2: Ignore the Back Story Matthew has an AMAZING back story. He took enormous steps to avoid telling his first story. While that's a nice story, I was looking for something my audience could take away. Ask yourself what is more helpful their backstory, or what they can do for your audience NOW? Step 3: Have a Goal Why was I bringing in Matthew Dicks? Because his book storyworthy is filled with strategies. I wanted to focus on strategies. I wanted to boost the skills of my listeners, and I wanted to sell books more Matthew. Step 4: Know your Guest I really wanted to get this interview going in the right direction. The minute I knew he was coming on the show, I was focused on coming up with the best questions. I especially wanted that first question to lead to a story, and to help people understand that words matter. Every night I would walk around my neighborhood listening to Storyworthy on Audible. I've already listened to this book, but I was now looking at topics that I would want to expand on. This would allow me to mention the book, and to get the content I was looking for my audience. Step 5: Don't Test Their Powers of Improv I had decided that the opening question would be, "When did you realize the power of words?" I really liked that question. It would lead to a story, and let my audience knowing we were going to be talking about words, and story crafting. However, I also realized that this question might need some thought on Matthew's part. Consequently, I let him know the topics we would be covering. That would be: When did realize words had power? (the actual question) Editing (such as where to start a story). Homework for life (this is Matthew's Freebird). Normally I don't give my guests the exact questions. I typically let them know why I'm bringing them on, and the subjects we will be covering. Step 6: Get the Best Audio You Can When we connected via Squadcast,  I was hearing Matthew through his camera's microphone. I tested this by having him tap his microphone. When he tapped it, and I didn't hear the tapping, I knew Squadcast was using the wrong microphone. When he switched away from his camera's microphone, it was like night and day. Step 7: Prove You've Done Your Homework When we first connected and got the microphones configured, I wanted to show Matthew I was a fanboy without being a fanboy. I know he is a HUGE fan of the New England Patriots football team. They recently made a quarterback change, so I asked him how they thought they would do.  My questions also showed I had actually read the book. Step 8: Ask and Shut Up When I do an interview I had my list of questions on a pad to my left and a blank pad in front of me with a pen that doesn't click. When I was would ask a question I would then shut up and listen. I didn't "um, hmm" and I listened for potential opportunities to ask a follow-up question. Step 9: Follow Up Questions When he was talking about things that had happened because of his podcast he mentioned how at one event that he was asked to tell a story, his daughter got up and told I story. While I realize that asking an athlete, "How does it feel to win the game?"I still asked what it felt like to watch your child follow in your footsteps. This question isn't in alignment with my goal (story crafting and book sales), but I know my audience has children, and I believe we call can identify with how cool it would be to see your child follow in your foto steps; Step 10: Remove Things That Aren't Needed I asked Matthew what was the first podcast that he listened to. Matthew couldn't exactly remember it and was a little blurry on the year. Does this help us craft stories? Does it sell books? No. Does it give us a glimpse inside Matthew that you can't get anyplace else? Nope. This is why you didn't hear it. Step 11: I Ran It Through a Transcription Service to find the Nuggets of Gold If you do interviews, one way to reposition yourself as the expert (and not your guest) is to do what I call the "Jerry Springer" a summarize the main points that YOU found interesting. This enables you to share a bit of yourself as well as remind the audience of the value they just received. For this step, I ran the edited interview through Otter.ai. This enabled me to find those great points in record time. Instead of having to listen to the episode again, I could read it much faster. Using transcripts as an editing tool is not something I hear people talk about it is typically about to create a full transcript of the show. I did edit the transcript into something readable and added it to the website. This is not something I normally do, but maybe I should. Need to Plan, Launch, and Grow Your Podcast? Join the School of Podcasting and get access to our easy to understand, step-by-step tutorials, our live group coaching, and access to our private Facebook group filled with other brilliant podcasting minds. Joined worry-free with a 30-day money-back guarantee. Go to www.schoolofpodcastibg.com/start

I have had the voice of Matthew Dicks in my head more than any other person this year. I heard him on a podcast, bought his audiobook Storyworthy: Engage, Teach, Persuade, and Change Your Life through the Power of Storytelling, and listened to it. When I was done with the book I wanted more and found his Speak Up Story Telling podcast. Unlike other books on Storytelling that have brilliant messages like "Stories are good," and "You should learn how to tell stories," I was THRILLED that I had finally found a book that explained HOW to tell better stories. It is an AMAZING book, and I feel it will benefit anyone who reads or listens to it. Today I am honored to have the author on my show. Here are some key points: Start with a thesis. I use to think something, and then something (the story) happened, and now I think something else. I would prefer to be entertaining than lengthy and boring. Always serve the story (not yourself). I think about what I want my audience to feel in certain parts of the story. I make those decisions before I begin crafting my story. "How about making the first thing you say something that's actually engaging and interesting? Because those first 30 seconds to 60 seconds of a story that is such fertile ground, that is your opportunity to either convince the audience that what is to come is worth listening to, or I don't know what the hell I'm doing. Because I've just bored you for 30 to 60 seconds, and essentially told you nothing." Our questions that we asked people like in a podcast, the more specific they are, the more helpful they are to our guests. Ready To Start Your Podcast? Are you worried about spending too much money on equipment? Sounding unprofessional? Not sure what software to use? How to shape your content?  Join the school of podcasting and enjoy the step by step tutorials along with a private Facebook group filled with other brilliant podcasting minds.  You can join worry-free with a 30-day money-back guarantee. Go to www.schoolofpodcasting.com/start TIME TABLE 01:22 Matthew Dicks Introduction 03:50 When Did You realize Stories Had Power? 08:38 Do Stories HAVE to show vulnerability? 10:14 Is vulnerability Magic? 12:38 How do you know what to keep and what to delete? 15:27 The Importance of Location 19:30 Homework For Life 23:44 Can you Tell a Story "By Numbers" 26:40 The Power of But and Therefore VS And 30:16 Story Telling Peeves 33:52 3-2-1 Game 36:23 When Did Mathew Know He Wanted to Podcast? 37:58 Because of My Podcast ______ 40:58 Watching Your Daughter Tell a Story 42:13 Where to Find Matthew's Workshops 44:33 Storytelling is More Than Just Stories 45:40 How Storytelling Helps 47:36 Matthew Has Other Books Profit From Your Podcast is Available Pick up any book on podcast monetization, and you will find 90 percent of it only covers how to launch a podcast. If you already have a podcast, you have that information; you’re ready for the next step. Profit from Your Podcast provides top strategies and real-life examples of podcast monetization. This book is more than what to do. It also tells you how to do it. Chapters cover such topics as:  How to Grow Your Audience How to Set Your Pricing Understanding Advertising Jargon How to Find Sponsors Best Strategies for Making Money as an Affiliate Master Strategies for Crowdfunding Harnessing the Power of Webinars and Events The Top Tools to Make Your Job Easy Built on the author’s fifteen years of experience in podcasting, this action-packed guide will benefit new and veteran podcasters. Get clear on who your audience is and what they want, deliver value, and build an engaged audience that wants to give you money. Leverage your relationships and the integrity you have built through your podcast to create multiple streams of income. Profit from Your Podcast gives you the tools to do it all. Mentioned In This Episode Matthew Dicks Website Storyworthy: Engage, Teach, Persuade, and Change Your Life through the Power of Storytelling Get the Audiobook for free if you're new to Audible Speak Up Story Telling podcast Homework for life video Profit from Your Podcast School of Podcasting Podcast Consulting

This week rock guitar God Eddie Van Halen died after a long battle with throat cancer. As a guitar who was 13 when Van Halen's first album was released, and whose band provided the soundtrack to my adolescent years this hit me hard. With this in mind, I wanted to talk about things podcasters can learn from Eddie Van Halen. Sponsor -Profit from Your Podcast: Proven Strategies to Turn Listeners into a Livelihood Methods and Advice for Making the Most of Your Podcast—Pricing, Sponsors, Crowdfunding, and More Pick up any book on podcast monetization, and you will find 90 percent of it only covers how to launch a podcast. If you already have a podcast, you have that information; you’re ready for the next step. Profit from Your Podcast provides top strategies and real-life examples of podcast monetization. This book is more than what to do. It also tells you how to do it. Chapters cover such topics as: How to Grow Your Audience How to Set Your Pricing Understanding Advertising Jargon How to Find Sponsors Best Strategies for Making Money as an Affiliate Master Strategies for Crowdfunding Harnessing the Power of Webinars and Events The Top Tools to Make Your Job Easy Built on the author’s fifteen years of experience in podcasting, this action-packed guide will benefit new and veteran podcasters. Get clear on who your audience is and what they want, deliver value, and build an engaged audience that wants to give you money. Leverage your relationships and the integrity you have built through your podcast to create multiple streams of income. Profit from Your Podcast gives you the tools to do it all. Order on Amazon.com Van Halen Took Years to Build Their Audience The band was formed in 1972. Some of the top songs in 1972 were Saturday in the park in Chicago, Brandy (You're a fine girl), I'll take you there (the staple singers). Not exactly a thriving time of high energy, guitar-oriented hard rock. They played clubs for years. In 1976 (four years later) Gene Simmons of Kiss financed a demo tape, and arranged a performance in front of Kiss's management and was told that "they had no chance of making it" and that they wouldn't take them. Gene then removed himself from further involvement. A year later when they were playing the famed "Starwood: club Ted Templeman of Warner Brother saw the band and they were offered a contract. Good Planning Leads to Less Editing As they had been playing clubs for years, the band was well-rehearsed and ready to go. Their first album was recorded in three weeks with almost no overdubs. You Don't Need to Spend a Ton of Cash There are two popular guitars in rock music. A Stratocaster has a thin sound and used by blues players and it had a whammy bar. A Les Paul has a thicker, chunkier sound. Eddie took the guts of a Less Paul and put them into the Stratocaster (called the Frankencaster). He made the guitar himself using a guitar body that cost fifty dollars and a guitar neck that cost eighty. He ended up with a thicker, chunkier guitar tone that had a whammy bar. The guitar that cost $130 to make has a replica that now goes for thousands of dollars. He stated that because he was poor he had to find ways to make the noises on the guitar. He Learned Through Trial And Error In the process of creating his own guitar, Eddie states, "I ruined a bunch of stuff." The bottom line he never stopped experimenting. In the song intruder, you hear Eddie creating bizarre sounds on his guitar. It turns out that some of those sounds were Eddie Swiping a Schlitz beer can up and down the neck. In the song poundcake, Eddie uses an electric drill. The bizarre noise on Automic Punk is Eddie running the side of his hands up and down the strings. He was always looking for ways to make different noises (like an elephant) with his guitar. The strange wooshing noise in the middle of the song Panama is Eddie's Lamborgini. He had an endless curiosity and was constantly experimenting. He Never Learned How To Read Music He would watch his teacher's fingers and then play whatever he just saw. His parents forced him to play the piano and won contests when he was ages 9-11. After using the Beatles and the Dave Clark Five he picked up the guitar. Because he never learned guitars lessons "by the book" he believes he wouldn't play the way he does if he had done "Traditional" guitar studies. Inventions Around Van Halen I mentioned how he created his own guitar. He holds a patent for a device that allows you to stand and hold the guitar flat. He perfected a style of playing called "tapping" where he play notes with both hands. This lead to the invention of guitar tablature as people couldn't figure out how to put down on paper what he was doing on the fretboard. Enjoy Your Soup How did Van Halen get their sound? Drummer Alex Van Halen prefers straight forward rock. Eddie liked progressive rock, and David Lee Roth like disco at the time. Eddie referred to this as ingredients in your soup. I like singer Gary Cherone from the band Extreme. He joined Van Halen and recorded Van Halen III. On that album bassist Michael Anthony has stated that Eddie told him what and how to play, Gary stated that Eddie was playing bass and drums, making it more or less an Eddie Van Halen Solo album. One point here is this album came out in 1998, and was not sober until 2008. This was the first album to not go platinum (it did achieve Gold status). I was also the longest studio album.  Embrace Who You Are When they were in the clubs, they were playing covers. As Eddie put it, no matter how hard I tried I couldn't play what was on the record. I could only be me. Consequently, when you hear a Van Halen record, it sounds like a Van Halen record. Go To Where Your Audience is and Promote Nonstop When they couldn't get a record deal they started throwing their own parties and concerts. They toured for 11 months straight to promote their first album including 23 shows in 25 days in the UK. When he got home Warner Brothers alerted the band that they owed the record label three million dollars and a new album. They wouldn't take no for an answer. They stuffed flyers in lockers of high schools. If you liked them or not, you were at least going to know about the band. Slowly they built an audience of 3-5000 people which attracted the attention of Warner Brothers. He Was Always Nervous Going On Stage In the early days, he asked his Dad how he dealy with stage fright. His father gave him alcohol and cigarettes (and would later die from Alcohol-related issues). After Eddie got sober, his son was in the band and Eddie said, "If my sixteen-year-old son can be out there kicking butt, then I guess I better get out there." You Don't Have To Release Everything Eddie built himself a studio and was always recording, experimenting, but it is assumed that there is quite a bit of music that was not released. Have Fun One of the things you can hear in a Van Halen record is fun. Watch Eddie play guitar and you will see one thing that never changes. He smiles. Why? Because he came to this country from Holland with his parents who brought a piano and what amounted to $50. He didn't speak the language and got bullied as he was considered a minority. Money Changes Everything In the book Runnin' wit the Devil" he states that the Van Halen brothers (along with David Lee Roth) gave Michael Anthony an ultimatum right around the time the “1984” album came out. In a nutshell, they did not believe Michael’s contributions to the band’s music entitled him to an equal 1/4 split of the profits, so they drew-up a contract that stipulated that he would no longer share in any royalties from Van Halen recordings from the “1984” album on, and I believe it also limited what he would receive from the previous records, touring, and merchandise sales as well. In effect, while Michael would technically still be in the band, he would essentially become a paid employee from that point on. Most die-hard fans found this offensive. We want to believe you all get along and are best buddies. Put Your Family First In 2006 Eddie Van Halen replaced Michael Anthony with his son Wolfgang. He knew this was not going to be a popular choice, but he put his family first. What father wouldn't want to play with his son? Communication is the Lubrication Eddie Van Halen wasn't on social media. The website as I write this now does not even have a notice that Eddie has died. For years his audience had no idea what he was up to. Michael Anthony found out he had been replaced via the Internet. He could have kept that connection stronger by keeping people in the loop.  Why? Eddie was a nice guy, but an introvert. He just wanted to make music. Upon his cancer diagnosis, he retreated even further.  Profit From Your Podcast Is Available Thanks to Letitia Evans who was the first to write a review of my new book Profit from your podcast: Proven Strategies to Turn Listeners into a Livelihood. She said, "Dave is one of the best in the podcasting space! This book does a great job of sharing the pieces that need to come together for podcasters to serve their listeners well without shortchanging their livelihoods. Any podcaster that wants to start right and continue well will benefit from this book. Mentioned in This Episode Audio Technica ATR2100x microphone Samson Q2u Start Your Podcast Worry-Free at the School of Podcasting You're worried you'll sound stupid. You won't as I show you how to know exactly what your audience wants. You're worried about the technology? Don't be as I have step by step tutorials to walk you through the whole podcasting process. Need some help along the way? I do live group coaching multiple times per month, you have priority email support, and a private Facebook group filled with brilliant podcasting minds. You also have a 30-day money-back guarantee so if you're not happy you can get your money back. Go to www.schoolofpodcasting.com/start  

School of Podcasting Win Best Technology Podcast People's Choice Podcast Award I am thrilled and humbled to be named the winner of People's Choice Podcast Award for best Technology podcasts (beating out seven other podcasts). Thanks to Todd Cochrane and everyone at podcastawards.com for all you do and thank YOU for voting for me. I had one this award back in 2017, and now I will have an awesome set of bookend for my bookcase.  THANK YOU!.  Profit From Your Podcast Is Now Available I spent months researching podcasters who are making money with their podcasts and assembled all the insights and strategies for you to follow. I announced that I was available for speaking on different podcasts, and I was lucky enough to have listeners who felt I would be a good fit for their show (I'm still available if you think I'm a good fit). By appearing on these different shows, the book was rated the #1 New Release in the blogging category. I was honored to be on the following shows, and look forward to appearing on yours.  06:02 I appeared with Ross Brand of Live Stream Universe on his Streamyard Connect Podcast which will be replaced in the future. 08:21 I appeared on Episode 360 the Jeff Sander 5 AM Miracle show.  I mention Jeff in the book on how Jeff won't take sponsors that he wouldn't use, and how you really need to guard your integrity as a podcaster. Jeff has appeared on this show back in show 603 in Getting Focused 12:11 I appeared on the "I Could Never Do That" podcast with Carrie Barret who is a podcast producer and talks about overcoming fears. We talk about how to find sponsors. 18:45 I appeared on Dealcster with Jeff and Chris. This was on Amazon Live so in addition to affiliate marketing we talked about Amazon getting into the podcasting space.  23:34  I will be appearing the For the Love of Podcasting show with Billy Samoa Saleebey talking about you need to look at negative feedback as an opportunity to improve.  What To Do With the "Wrong Audience" In the book Profit From Your Podcast I talk about Daniel J. Lewis who designed websites for people. His show "The Audacity to Podcast" attracted people looking for information about the free software titled "Audacity." This was not who Daniel wanted to attract. What did he do? Instead of trying to talk them into a product they didn't want (a website) he listened to what they wanted, and then gave it to them.  He creates products like an SEO for Podcasters Course, My Podcast Reviews (to track reviews in Apple, Stitcher, and others) as well as the Subscribe and Follow Plugin. He recently added a "Love this Podcast" feature to My Podcast Reviews that provides one link to provide to your audience and helps them get to the right directories/apps for their device.  You can test this by going to www.lovethispodcast.com/sop Sign up for My Podcast Reviews at www.schoolofpodcasting.com/mpr Table of Contents 06:02 Dave with Ross Brand 08:21 Dave with Jeff Sanders 12:11 Dave with Carie Barrett 17:15 Join the School of Podcasting 18:45 Dave on Dealcasters 23:34 Dave on For the Love of Podcasting 26:11 What To Do With the "Wrong" Audience 31:41 Because of My Podcast: Ross Brand Mentioned In This Episode The 5 AM Miracle Book by Jeff Sanders also available on Audible Profit From Your Podcast: Turn Your Listeners Into Livelihood My Podcast Reviews Subscribe and Follow Plugin SEO for Podcasters Course, Zita Christian from Ritual Recipes David Hooper of Big Podcast Join the School of Podcasting Check out the Love The Podcast Link and subscribe to the show. This is episode 743 of the School of Podcasting which is part of the Power of Podcasting Network.

If you want to hold someone's attention you first need to know who they are and what they need. Then we hear that people's attention span keeps getting smaller. Is it? Today I look into attention spans, and what makes things interesting. I asked my audience what thought made things interesting. Thanks to everyone who contributed including: Craig From http://www.inglespodcast.com/ Thomas from www.novelmarketing.com Harris from Wild Talk (XFL Podcast) Orlando from www.hablandodetecnologia.com/ Carey from Podcastification Andres from Colmillo Roquero Brandon from Florida Focus Podcast Bill from the Stroke Cast Kim from the Pharmacist's Voice Sean Whaley from Tourpreneur, Spybrary and Radio GDR Full show notes at www.schoolofpodcasting.com/742 Conclusion It's not that attention spans are getting smaller (they are not) but more our ability to know what we want and identify when we are NOT going to get it has grown. Know your audience, and give them what you want. Be your honest, transparent, vulnerable self to hold their attention. Use tools like your voice, your pacing, to grab their attention. Never stop your passion from coming out. Let people hear your passion. Keep in mind you are somewhat doomed. If you stay 100% consistent, your audience may get bored. If you branch out and try new things, you may upset those who want the show to never change. I know... so be ready to embrace that no matter what you do - some people will leave. Include any of these six to be more interesting: Tone of voice Pacing Passion Stories Autonomy Vulnerability Start Your Podcast Today - Join the School of Podcasting When you join today you can immediately start taking the online courses and: Enjoy step by step tutorials Live group coaching Private Facebook group filled with other brilliant podcasting minds. Join worry-free with our 30-day money-back guarantee.  Start Your Podcast Today Mentioned In This Podcast Tyler Perry Episode on the School of Podcasting Podcast Talent Coach Podcast Review Show Podcast Rodeo Show Dave's Patreon Page Buy Dave a Coffee Discounted "Teacher's Pet" Podcast Consulting