School of Podcasting - Podcast Tips to Plan, Launch, Grow Your Podcast

Each month I ask my audience a question and they answer and we all learn together. This month I asked, "What have you changed about your show and why?" Some people added/removed co-hosts. Some people updated artwork and intro music. Others start/stopped writing out their podcasts. Some adjusted their attitude, or cut back on some of the podcast promotion.  The following people contributed Win from buterfliesofwisdom.weebly.comBrad from wearethecinemaguys.com Anna From Authentic Moments authenticparenting.com Cheri from www.christianscienceforkids.com Dads Spotlight Lawschool Insider Emily from thestorybehindpodcast.com Craig from Inglespodcast Gabe Guys and food podcast Gary and Margaret from Kiwi Mana - Bee Keeping PodcastJenny K From Studio ChaoticJohn The Wired home SchoolKim from toastmaters101.net and onthetablepodcasts.comMark King (Venture Captial)  http://markwking.com/Paul from http://www.trinitydigitalmedia.com/Scott from the Computer Tutor Podcast  Sean from Slept in Government ClassBryan From Engaging MissionsRandy Cantrel From  Pear Advisory GroupZack from Raising Rents (as in Parents)  In the end, this shows you can change your podcast. Your podcast is not a statue, it's a recipe. If you want to change it you can. If you're happy with it, keep doing it, but there is nothing stopping you from throwing something out there, seeing the feedback, and go from there. Buy the Messengers and Save 40% on the School of Podcasting You can get 40% the first six months at the School of Podcasting. Just preorder the Messengers on iTunes, take a screenshot, or a selfie with the screen in the background (you know, prove to me you bought it, I trust you) and I will send you a coupon for 40% off your monthly subscription. Just email me and in the subject line put "I have a message - your name" and I will send you the coupon. To preorder go to http://www.schoolofpodcasting.com/themessengers The Power Of Distraction I had an awkward moment this weekend. My ex-father-in-law passed away. I wanted to be there for my ex-wife and my ex-step-children. I remember when my Mom died how weird it is to be in a room with your loved one in a box. My goal was to distract them from their Grandfather in the casket. I wanted to make them laugh (if possible) and get them talking about anything. While people alway say, "Thank you so much for coming.." when my oldest step daughter came up and gave me a hug and said, "I'm so glad you came" it seemed a little more heartfelt. It made me feel so good to be there for people in need.  WHAT DOES THIS HAVE TO DO WITH PODCASTING? There are times when people have bad days, weeks, maybe bad months, and YOUR SHOW can be the distraction that helps them get through the day. Your show's ability to make them laugh, cry, think, grown, educated, or entertain, can take them away from whatever is bugging them. I saw that today face to face, and it can be huge.  So if you're not getting feedback, or you're not selling a course, realize you can be doing a ton of service to people and never know it.Mentioned in this episode:2025 Audience SurveyI Want Your OpinionI am doing an audience survey and I want your input to help me make this show exactly what you want. If you have a few minutes, I have a quick survey at www.schoolofpodcasting.com/survey252025 Audience Survey

Because of My Podcast Danny Peña’ is Now on Twitch.tv Danny is a Hall of Fame podcaster who shared his story about how he started off with a cassette deck (see episode 506), and ended up playing video games with Bill Gates, and getting a spot on CBS Radio. Well, he has some more good news. He is not partnered with Twitch.tv Twitch.tv has evolved its reputation as the world’s leading social video platform and community for video game culture to now encompass an array of emerging content surfaced by its users. As a result, 10 million visitors gather each day to watch and talk about video games, music, the creative arts, themselves, and other beyond gaming topics with more than 2 million streamers. So in other words, Danny is going to get to record his podcast live in front of millions of people who happen to be his target audience. You will see when you go to http://twitch.tv/gamertagradio that there is a way for people to tip Danny as his crew, and Danny also gets a piece of the $5.99 subscription fee (which gives you more access, and the ability to watch the video on demand). Check out Danny's Show at www.gamertagradio.com The Messengers: A Podcast Documentary Now Available for Pre Order - Very Special Deal I was asked to work with the crew that created the movie, The Messengers: A Podcast Documentary. I created a podcast to give you the behind the scenes view of making the documentary. Well, the movie is now available for Pre-Order. We want it to be #1 when it is released. If you've ever wanted to support the show now is the time. This is a time when independent podcasters can ban together to show the true power of podcasting. It will be released August 23rd. From now until then I'm doing a special deal. I will give you a coupon for 40% off your first 6 months at the School of Podcasting. Just send forward the email of your purchase, take a self with your confirmation, in general, prove to me you purchased the film, and I'll send you a coupon. Make the subject line, "I have a message - Your Name" so in my case it would be "I have a message - Dave Jackson". The price is only $5.99, and you'll save $20 a month or $120 over the six months (before it goes back to your regular price of $49/month) Purchase the movie and get inspired when it comes out and start your podcast today. Here is the link Congrats to Niel, Willie, Ralph, Chris, and John for a job well done. Order the Movie Here Nominate the School of Podcasting for the People's Choice Podcast Awards I've been so busy working on finding good content for you each week, I have failed to announce that you can now nominate the School of Podcasting for a Podcast Award. I would deeply appreciate it www.podcastawards.com as the voting is different this year (no more having the vote every day). So if you ever got any value out of the School of Podcasting or this podcast, please go to and nominate the School of Podcasting in the Technology category Alexandra Harbushka May Be the Most Courageous Woman in Podcasting While all podcasters have to deal with hating their voice the first time they hear it, as well as worry about if anyone would listen or like the show. Alexandra had all those and one more BIG distinction. Her show is about Herpes, and yes Alexandra has Herpes. Her show is called Life With Herpes, and her first episode was one of the most insanely personal podcasts I've ever heard. She reveals how she found out, how she felt, and how scared she was. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I wanted to have her on the show for a few reasons: If someone can do a podcast and stand up and say, "Hi I'm Alexandra and I have herpes" surely you can find the courage to start your podcast about your hobby or business She is building a community that is super connected because only people with this disease can truly understand what it is like to deal with this disease.  As much as there is a stigma around this disease, she hasn't received any negative comments or name calling. Instead, she receives emails from people thanking her for her courage, and support as they struggle with understanding what is the "new normal." In today's interview we hear: a) What inspired her to start a podcast? b) What it's like to talk about a controversial subject. c) How having a super niche show is enabling her to be found, and her downloads are growing (not a ton of competition) d) How a change in philosophy helps her embrace the day, and inspire her to podcast. e) We hear some of the biggest misconceptions about Herpes (Grandma you gave me herpes!) Check out Alexandra and the Living With Herpes show at www.lifewithherpes.com Dave's Jackson Podcast Experience Ready to start a podcast? I have as of 7/23/17 Dave Jackson has produced over 2988 episodes of 31 podcasts with a total number of 3,182,220 downloads. Some were super niche (Alexacast) other were experiments (Worst Podcast Ever) but through my experience, I have seen what works and what does not. I can help you avoid the common pitfalls of podcast and would love to work with you. You can watch old out dated YouTube videos, or join the School of Podcasting and get access to 16 difference courses on building a podcast that will completely WOW your audience, as well as a private Facebook group, and twice a month there are live Q&A calls with Dave  Join today by going to www.schoolofpodcasting.com/startMentioned in this episode:I Want Your OpinionI am doing an audience survey and I want your input to help me make this show exactly what you want. If you have a few minutes, I have a quick survey at www.schoolofpodcasting.com/survey252025 Audience Survey2025 Audience Survey

King of the Niche Podcasts Bill Strand of Chameleonbreeder.com In this 20 minute interview we hear how: Bill has been involved with Chameleon's For Over 40 Years His Podcast Has Lead His Audience to Trust Him and Engage with him on Social Media This trust has to lead to more sales than when he produced an Ezine (back in the day) His supplier can't keep up with the orders and Bill no longer mentions his Chameleon Cages on his show How Bill keeps his family supporting his show His audience loyalty results in them freely paying more for his products so they can support him. Bill is nice enough to share his numbers, and he is getting WAY MORE than the median 200 downloads (he had more than that in one day) Bill's commitment is to delivering value. 2017 Is More Than Half Way Done, How Are Your Goals? It's July, last month the year was 50% 0ver. My plans for this year had two big projects. Revamp the School of Podcasting Update my book, "More Podcast Money." I have not made any serious strides in either of these. Let's not panic. What did I do instead? I launched a few shows testing different hosting platforms (including a show for my cat). I started a Patreon group my weight loss show. I added a "Baby Steps" free video course to drive leads to the School of Podcasting. While learning about more platforms keep me well rounded in what is available for podcasters, it's kind of like knowing about Coke, Pepsi, and DR. Pepper. Do you really need more cola choices? OK, fine, we'll add RC cola. The Patreon experiment is for the book as was having a sponsor earlier in the year. Free Resources You Might Want to Check Out If you're looking for a way to get the word out (and you somewhat have an audience of friends, etc) there is a free tool called thunderclap.it where you pick a day when you send out a tweet (that you create) and it goes out everyone's twitter at the same time (and Facebook, and Tumblr) . You need a minimum of 100 people (according to their video) or it won't go out (the free version let's you choose how many people you need to share. The smallest paid plan is $55 per campaign.  I've added this to the Podcasting Resources area. Sometimes reading books will give you an idea for a new episode. While there are resources like Audibible.com (where you can get a free book for joining), you may have heard of this thing called the Library (which I recently got to visit when we had a thunderstorm, and I had no power or the Internet and they did). On a recent taping of the Ask the Podcast Coach show, Daniel J Lewis from the Audacity to Podcast informed me of Overdrive.com which works with your library card to enable you to download audiobooks and ebooks for free. Kim Krachi from Toastmasters 101 also mentioned Hoopla Digital which is a similar service. Becuase of My Podcast I'm Going All over the World Talking About a Subject I Love Hilda from the Wise Traditions Podcast and her own site holistichilda.com started this podcast by contacting a company where she enjoyed their newsletter but thought it needed a kick in the pants (and she loves the topic). She get involved and now hosts their podcasts. She is doing such a great job they are now sending her all over the globe to talk about the show and be an ambassador. Check out at holistichilda.com and the podcast is at http://westonaprice.org/ Libsyn and Blubrry ready for New iTunes Tags As Soundcloud continues to plummet (and they hope Chance the wrapper saves them the way Justin Timberlake save Myspace?), Libsyn.com and Blubrry.com have already stated (and demonstrated in some cases) how the new iTunes Tags are in place. You can see Libsyn's new layout and demonstration here Mentioned in this Show Happy 100th Episode to The Feed (the official podcast from Libsyn.com Hero of the week Jessica Kupferman from the jkmagency.com for telling advertisers to stick their $6 per episode offers where the sun doesn't shine. Jimmy Iovine says it takes 6 years for great musicians to break into the music business (from the Howard Stern show on Siriusxm.com ) School of Podcasting Provides Direct Access to my twelve years of experience Private Facebook Group Access to all 16 courses Priority Email Support Live Group Coaching 30-Day Moneyback -Guarantee  JOIN TODAY    Mentioned in this episode:I Want Your OpinionI am doing an audience survey and I want your input to help me make this show exactly what you want. If you have a few minutes, I have a quick survey at www.schoolofpodcasting.com/survey252025 Audience Survey2025 Audience Survey

I went to two concerts this weekend and underneath all the education and information, podcasters are entertainers.  If you're not entertaining your audience, you're losing them. Dictionary.com defines entertain as, "to hold the attention of pleasantly or agreeably; divert; amuse." We need to hold people's attention. The concerts I saw this weekend were Jonny Lang and King's X. Two Concerts by musicians with track records going all the way back to 1980 (King's X) and 1995 (Lang). Jonny Lang released his major label debut when he was 15 years old. Both bands had music in the rotation on MTV (for those that remember MTV)  So what does this have to do with Podcasting? Well as both of these bands are now "Indie" we can learn from them.  Have a Crappy Opening Act In both instances, the promoters of these shows picked HORRENDOUS opening acts. While the bands have little if nothing at all to do with this, it does make them sound better. Know what you're going to say Both of these bands have what are called set lists. This lists the songs in the order. It's only game plan and can be changed, but when they hit the stage they have a pretty idea of what is going to happen in the next 60-90 minutes.  As a podcaster you should have a pretty good idea of where you are going when you press record. I know this seems common sense, but I often here shows start with what should be pregame chatter, "Did you want to talk about _____?" This should've been decided before the microphone was turned on. It's not like the guys in King's X have a big "LADIES AND GENTLEMEN KING'S X" and then Doug and Ty look at each other and ask, "Should we do Groove Machine?" I recently read a book about Van Halen, and bands of this caliber practice the same set for months to make sure everything is smooth.  For the Love of God put the good stuff first There is a reason the news often starts with the phrase "Our top story tonight." Both bands came out with great up-tempo songs to get the crowd engaged. 3. Be Original Jonny Lang sounded like he was 15 going on 48 when he came out of the gate. He has a voice that is very distinct, and you know its him. Kings X has a very distinct sound. Did they do something way outside the box? Yes and No. They tune their guitars lower than what is considered standard, and they use a slightly different tuning (for the musicians they tune to C instead of E, and they use Drop D (not C) tuning). So while a little outside the box, all they did was twist a few knobs. These small twists (combined with awesome musicianship) makes them very identifiable.  4. Listen to Your Audience During one song Jonny was playing and singing with his guitar. This is called "Scat singing" and it was pretty cool (and I hate scat singing). The crowd really came alive. Sure enough later in the evening he brought it back.  All night King's X fans were shouting requests (they have quite a few albums). One song is called, "King" and one person kept screaming, "Are you going to play King?" Well, they weren't because I was in the front row leaning on the stage and could read their set list (and I took after the convert). Before their first encore, they swapped added it.  5. You Can't Make Everyone Happy One dufas at the Kings X show wrote a note with a song request and was very persistent. Eventually, the lead singer stated they had a set list, and they are prepared to play and some they are not.  6. Have a Cool Logo if You Want to Sell Merchandise Jonny Lang's t-shirt was boring. They pictured his latest album cover which has his picture on it. With the music business in a mess, musicians make a fair amount of money from merchandise sales. For those who want to keepsake from the concert, the traditional "Album cover" t-shirt will do. King's X has a cool logo, with the phrase "First Church of Rock and Roll" with the saying "May the Groove be With you" You want to wear this shirt BECAUSE IT'S A COOL SHIRT. The other thing about having a cool logo shirt, is you can sell it no matter what tour you're on.  This also means knowing your audience, so if your audience is a bunch if middle aged dudes, you better keep the extra large in stock.  7. Do No Underestimate the Power Of You, and the Value of Direct Access With Jonny Lang you can purchase a VIP package with gives you access to the soundcheck, selfie, posters, guitar picks, commemorative laminate, etc for $100. Most of this has very little to do with Jonny.  8. Don't Lose Your Cool, or Panic During the first few songs, the lead singer was having an issue with a microphone stand. Eventually, he threw it to the ground. Was he upset? I don't think so. I think he was trying to get the attention of the sound crew. Some "Rock stars" might've walked off the stage.  Doug kept his cool. King's X Did Something Brilliant At Disney at end of the every ride you exit through the gift shop. At the end of their show, the lead singer from King's X explained how they were going to towel off, and head over to the merchandise table where you can get pictures, selfies, merchandise, etc. In other words, exit through the gift shop. The AMAZING thing is you didn't have to purchase anything to meet the band. The lead singer explained this as he was leaving the stage, "After all, it's all about you.'  I was at the very end of the line. I was worried that they would cut the line, but I was told by one of their staff, "No, they stay till everyone has been served." WOW.  What Was The Result? Most of the people there got a lot of time to look at the merchandise. To see other buying the merchandise. This was the law of reciprocity in action. They were doing something nice for you (free selfies) in hopes that you would do something nice for them (I bought a $25 t-shirt). Doug did a quick soundbyte for the show. They were awesome.  Jonny Lang put on a great show. I love his voice, and can't wait for the new album. I do want to comment on something I noticed. I talked to people at the Jonny Lang show and for the most part people were from the Akron/Canton/Cleveland Area (within an hour of the location). There were a lot of fans of the venue (the Kent Stage), and alot of fans of Jonny.  Within the first five minutes of standing in line at the Kings X show, I met people who came from New York (7 hours away), Indiana (4 hours away), Columbus (4 hours away). People who had seen them 10, 12, 13 times.With any prodding of the band, the King's X fans bellowed out the song with the singer. This often lead him to back away from the microphone. I was in the front row, I had probably 400 people behind me. To hear a room of people drowning out the amplifiers a few feet from me was a very cool thing. It obviously touched the singer as he was amazed at the enthusiasm of the crowd. So is this enhanced engagement with their audience the result of their "Free" Meet and Greets?" I don't have any facts to prove this, but if I was a betting man, I would guess that to be true.  Check out both bands (both were great concerts) at www.jonnylang.com and kingsxrocks.com    Other Topic Nominate the School of Podcasting in the technology category at www.podcastawards.com  Soundcloud laid of 40% of their employees see http://www.spin.com/2017/07/soundcloud-lays-off-40-of-staff/    Mentioned in this episode:2025 Audience SurveyI Want Your OpinionI am doing an audience survey and I want your input to help me make this show exactly what you want. If you have a few minutes, I have a quick survey at www.schoolofpodcasting.com/survey252025 Audience Survey

Today I talk with Drew Ackerman of the Sleep with Me Podcast. I met him at Podfest.us and I was amazed at the amount of detail he puts into a show that has a singular goal of putting you to sleep. In the interview you will hear: How Drew started his show with not the best of equipment His "Let's See What Happens" attitude How he picks the not too boring, not too entertaining topics. How he pushed through when he thought about quitting What inspired him to start the podcast How he takes it seriously, but not too seriously. What countries just don't get his show.  The listener email that left him humbled. His massive amount of downloads reported in the Washington Post Check out Drew's Sleep With Me Podcast at www.sleepwithmepodcast.com Anchor.fm Trying Hard to Be Everything and Succeeding at.... I took another look at Anchor.fm now that you can create a podcast for free. This is another great example of a company knowing NOTHING about podcasting and jumping into the space. Leading people who are uninformed into situations that they are going to hate in a few months.  They are going to control your feed if you let them submit your podcast feed "for you" which means later you won't be able to see your Apple stats.  As a feedback mechanism, it's easy to receive feedback, but impossible to get it off your phone (and if they knew anything about podcasting they would know this).  For now, I'm going to play with it for a week, but getting these files into a podcast (not using their horrible system) is not easy.  Ready To Start a Podcast?  Go to www.schoolofpodcasting.com/start You get step by step tutorials on 16 courses Private Facebook group to pick the brains of other podcasters Priority email support and Live Group Coaching 30 Day Money Back Guarantee  Go to www.schoolofpodcasting.com/startMentioned in this episode:2025 Audience SurveyI Want Your OpinionI am doing an audience survey and I want your input to help me make this show exactly what you want. If you have a few minutes, I have a quick survey at www.schoolofpodcasting.com/survey252025 Audience Survey

Even though I asked, "How many strikes do you give a podcast before turning out?" nobody answered with a number. Instead, the answers were "it depends." It sounds that you are going to get more strikes if you are delivering Contributors to the show Cliff from www.podcastanswerman.com Tim From the Sled Dog Podcast Jenny from Studiochaotic.com (personal journal podcast) Kyle from Reckoneer.com Reckoneer is your #1 resource for the race promoter who didn't major in business. Darren from coronertalk.com (thanks for the shirt!) Haley from Adopteeson.com a podcast where Adoptees talk about the adoption experience Larry from goinglinux.com Sean from Slept in Government Class Dennis from Evil Podcast The CUB Approach to Podcast Reviews CUB stands for is it Confusing, Unbelievable, or Boring. If you have any of these, it's time to edit the show. Because of My Podcast: Ray Edwards I attend Ray's copywriting Academy and Ray mentioned how he had a client hire him for a $10,000 job from a podcast Ray puts out for free. This was part two of episode 572, and originated at www.schoolofpodcasting.com/572 July's Question What has changed about your show since you started, and why did you make the change? Contact me, and be sure to mention 577 Ready to start Podcasting? Join the School of Podcasting.com using the coupon listenerMentioned in this episode:2025 Audience SurveyI Want Your OpinionI am doing an audience survey and I want your input to help me make this show exactly what you want. If you have a few minutes, I have a quick survey at www.schoolofpodcasting.com/survey252025 Audience Survey

We seem to think we don't know what to do, when in truth we don't do what we know. This week I attended Ray Edwards copyrighting academy, and it was pretty cool. I went there as I will be updating the School of Podcasting's website later this year. Also, people that are learning to write copy, probably have a product. People who have a product need customers, a great way to attract customers is via a podcast. So when you hear me say go to where your target audience is, make friends with them, then tell them about your show, I did that repeatedly this weekend.  Success is sequential, not simultaneous.  Your calendar shows your priorities or your distractions? Everyone has a excuse as to way they didn't succeed. If everything you do is an experiment, then nothing is a failure If it does everything, it does nothing well.  Part 2 coming later this week after I take care of my car.Mentioned in this episode:2025 Audience SurveyI Want Your OpinionI am doing an audience survey and I want your input to help me make this show exactly what you want. If you have a few minutes, I have a quick survey at www.schoolofpodcasting.com/survey252025 Audience Survey

Because of my Podcast: Clay From Fish Nerds Clay has had some very cool things happen on his Fish Nerds Show including having a touring opera singer invite clay to do a show at a theater. Check out Clay at www.fishnerds.com The Sometimes Condescending Nature of Radio People Towards Podcasting There are some really cool people from the radio industry that get podcasting. People like Eric K Johnson from Podcast Talent Coach and the Podcast Review Show, Michael Sharkey from the Talent Show, Jeff Brown From Read to Lead, Tim Sinclair from Ringr and My Worst Interview Ever, and Phillip Keller from Blind Faith live GET PODCASTING. I don't want to lump all radio people together. There are times when someone comes across with a condescending tone of voice. It comes across like "Podcasting is a fad, or not "Real Broadcasting." They seem to think that now that the "Real" broadcasters are here and it's time to step aside and let the "real" broadcasters take over. I recently listened to The Sound Off Show with Matt Cundill. In the episode, he was talking about how a recent professional survey company had polled listeners in Canda.Matt asks, "Is the hype on podcasting just a lot of noise and it takes a study like this one to figure out where it really ranks?" What a douchebag. AS if study after study showing podcasting's slow but steady growth, and radio's slow and steady decline aren't enough. This is what I say "Radio People" with a negative slant. This is what I'm basing my opinion on, and when I say "Some radio people have a bias," this is why. How Improv Skills Can Help Your Podcast Today I have Chad Elliot from the Off the Cuff Comedy Improv Podcast, and http://seattleimprovclasses.com/ I appeared on episode 7 and was SUPER nervous as I didn't get this I would be doing improv on his show. I have never done improv. Luckily Chad sent me his book Improv Manifesto: 7 Easy Steps to Confidence, Creativity, and Charisma - Even If You're Shy! (Think On Your Feet Under Pressure with Tools of Improvisational Theater & Improv Comedy.) which helped me get ready. Here are some things I learned. Talk with confidence, even when you're not confident about your answer. You will be amazed at how your brain "Fills in the blank" when you start talking. The key to improv is listening to every word of the person you are working with. If things horrible, it is a learning experience and you will handle it better next time, and will build skills to help get through it better. You can see results when you start doing one improve exercise What Does This Do With Podcasting? When you are 100% focused on what your guest/co-host is saying you are better prepared to ask a better follow up question (than if you had a premade lit of questions). If you have a bad interview, living through this experience shows you that you will survive and equips you to handle it better in the future You can contemplate different stories to pull from an idea (see The Story Factor: Inspiration, Influence, and Persuasion through the Art of Storytelling by Annette Simmons) It builds confidence and can get you our of your comfort zone. This way when podcasting opens the doors to new relationships, you will have the confidence to walk through Face Your Podcasting Fears Chad had a client who said, "You know what I want to do this because I'm scared of it, but I don't want to do it because I'm scared of it." The pros of podcasting outweigh any negatives and if you can make it through the learning curve, you will be so happy you made it through (see www.schoolofpodcasting.com/start to start your podcast today) This Month's Podcast Question How many "strikes" do you give a podcast before you unsubscribe (if you have subscribed) or if you don't subscribe how many strikes do they get before you quit streaming their show. Got to www.schoolofpodcasting.com/contact and use the information there. You can send an email with an audio attachment and put 572 in the subject line. Be sure to mention your show and website so I can put a link in the show notes Start Your Podcast Today - Risk-Free The School of Podcasting has a 30-day Money-back Guarantee, so if you sign up and decide podcasting is not for you. Contact me anytime within the first 30 days and get a full refund. Sign up today at www.schoolofpodcasting.com/start    Mentioned in this episode:I Want Your OpinionI am doing an audience survey and I want your input to help me make this show exactly what you want. If you have a few minutes, I have a quick survey at www.schoolofpodcasting.com/survey252025 Audience Survey2025 Audience Survey

New Apple Specs Coming In the future, Apple Podcasts app will support some new features including: One the podcast level you will have Seasons Serial and Episodic podcast types On the Episode level  Title, episode number, and season number Summary and episode notes Trailers and bonus content GUID (don’t change it!) I am worried when I read the text, "New subscribers will receive the first episode in their Library, or the current season if using seasons. " As we don't know what "will receive" means. Does this mean it will automatically download an entire season? We don't know. If it does, I can see people abusing this to get more downloads. There are already people sending old content back to their audience just to juice their download numbers. They also mention not to change the GUID. The GUID is a unique number that identifies your episode. Changing this number will have the app seeing the episode as new. You should never change this number. Apple is saying "Don't change this." This is kind of like saying "Don't stick that knife in the outlet" to a two-year-old. In my opinion, this is a bad idea to even give people access to this. New Listener Stats Apple will provide statistics on how many listeners you have, minutes per listener, Abandonment Point, and Average Completion. The statistics are "Launching this year." The other thing I'm worried about is currently people OBSESS over their podcast numbers. They release an episode, FREAK OUT that it's not in their iTunes listing, and want to know why they don't have download number immediately. This will give podcasters more stats to obsess over. Also, you may not be ready for the shock when you find out that only 48% of your audience is listening to the entire of your episode. None of This Matters Yet If I told you there was a new audio format and it was going to sound great and do all sorts of new fun stuff, but there aren't any players that can play it yet the news wouldn't mean anything. You can't experience any of the new stuff until players are available. These new features won't come into play until iOS11 is available (that will have the new Podcasts App). So it's exciting, but the time to celebrate and figure out how to get these new tags into our RSS feeds should be something we worry about later. I'm sure Libsyn, Blubrry, and Speaker (and any other Podcast Media hosts worth anything) will have systems in place shortly. I know patience is not a characteristic of some podcasters, but for now, know things are going to get better later this year. Here are the details from Apple. Becuase of My Podcast: I Got a Gig as an Audio Editor Jeff Perry has had multiple version of shows about podcasting. He has really enjoyed editing them into different forms. He recently landed a job working for Emerald City Productions as an audio editor. Check out Jeff's show at https://podcastingspark.com/ Great Follow Up Questions Make Great Podcasts Your homework for today is to reach out to a podcast you listen to, and let them know you enjoy their show (I call this "putting gas in their tank). For me I did this after listening to Lee Silverstein on Podcast Junkies What Podcasters Can Learn From Kevin Hart I remember watching the comedy special I'm a Grown Little Man and he was hilarious as he shared stories about his family. At the end, he said, "I want to show you why I do this," and brought out his two little children. It was touching, and transparent. I've seen copier salesmen drag their kids around as a gimmick. This just seemed genuine. I've seen every one of his specials since then, and when his book came out, I instantly got the audio version (read by Kevin) on Audible. (you can get it for free if you're new to audible). I always if you can make me laugh, cry, think, groan, educate, or entertain me I'm in. This book did all of that, but the things that podcasters can take away from this story is Kevin's relentless pursuit of getting better at his craft. You also see how those "hard times" that we have often come back to life in a way that you are thankful that you had them. Here are some of the things that jumped out of the book: Kevin's Father is crazy. He did things to his children that were cruel. One time he stole a bike and tried to give it to Kevin as a present. His Mom knew it was stolen, and instantly made Kevin give it back. He "borrowed" a neighborhood dog and gave it to his children, only to have the neighbor come back and get the dog. Kevin soon realized, his father wasn't going to win any medals for "Father of the year."He accepted it, but instead of hating his father, he forgave him. Kevin got a mentor after making it "big" in Philidelphia and wanted to takes grow his career. He drove from Philidelphia to New York City (according to Google Maps that is one hour and forty-five minutes one way). He would then sit and watch his mentor perform a numerous clubs. He wouldn't get to sit at the table with all the comedians. He was building a relationship with his mentor, and eventually would be able to do five minutes of stand-up. To boil this down, he spent three hours in a car, three or four times a week, to perform for five minutes. His career starting taking off. He started getting some acting roles. He was in a movie called Fools Gold (it tanked) and later was in Soul Plane. Soul plane has historical relevance as one of the most bootlegged movies in history. People were watching a DVD of the movie before post-production was finished. Consequently, when it came out nobody went to see it. Kevin had worked so hard to get this point, but with two flops under his belt, nobody would cast him in any movies. So what did he do? Sink into oblivion? Instead, he decided to build his career up so much, that they HAD to put him in a film. So once again, he went back to working on his craft. He wanted to be good. He did this for seven years. Seven years.  There is no practice in comedy. This is why big comedians play smaller venues. They want to test their material. The only way to get better is to do it. The only way to get better is to increase you stage time. It is the same with podcasting. You can read all about it. You can watch videos, record episodes, but you don't know if it's any good until you let someone not named Mom listen to it. Kevin got deals that lead to nothing. He figured out that the reason why things weren't working with TV is other people were writing for him. So he creates a sitcom. Then it got turned into a pilot, and YES, it got picked up. They filmed the show, and he was flown to New York to this big event to meet all the people at the networks and he is ready to walk on stage and tell the world who he is and tell them about his show. He is on the side of the stage when the stage manager tells him NOT to go on stage. Instead, they send the cast of another show onto the stage to promote their stuff. Wait, what? What was going on? Seconds before Kevin was to go on to a stage and introduce himself to a nationwide audience, he is informed his show was dropped. Can you imagine? Growing up Kevin's mother was BEYOND strict. There was a lot of "NO" in Kevin's childhood. There was a fair amount of embarrassment in his childhood. In all case, Kevin would shrug his shoulders, say, "OK" and go back to making his stand up better. To quote a famous comedy manager Barry Katz, "If you are undeniable, you won't be denied." Kevin as a Brand Kevin had some people helping him. One person was threatening people when it came time to pay Kevin. He was very assertive and people didn't' want to work with him. Kevin always focused not on just his jokes, but what was the experience like. He wanted a nice theater. He wanted people to have fun, and not worry about getting into fights, etc. Kevin Listened When Kevin was a child his mother was strict. He didn't agree with the rules, but he followed them. All those "No's" from his Mother help prepare Kevin for the movie business where you go on audition after audition. His jokes, in the beginning, were funny, but any comic could have told those jokes. There was very little about Kevin in the act. Some of his stories were made up. His mentor kept saying, your life is funny. Talk about you. Kevin had a stage name. George Carlin, Richard Pryor, none of the great comedians had a stage name (Kevin's names was Lil' Kev the Bastard). He changed his name. He Listened. His name is his brand. At one point he was offered to play a very large comedy event in Canada. This is a launching pad for many comedians. His manager told him he wasn't ready. He wasn't happy, but he listened. When he was invited back the next year, he was ready. It worked, and it began his come back." The bottom line is Kevin's attitude is AMAZING, and we can learn a lot about how to handle adversity in your life based on his attitude. Summary Being told no over and over build endurance When you have "Downtime" use it to work on your craft It's better to forgive than to hold a grudge Make sure people have a good experience consuming your content Always strive to do more, but have an attitude of gratitude for the things you have. Get the book at Amazon Get the Audio Book for Free Get a Free Month of Hosting a Libsyn.com using the coupon code sopfree Start your podcast today, join the School of Podcasting risk free  Mentioned in this episode:2025 Audience SurveyI Want Your OpinionI am doing an audience survey and I want your input to help me make this show exactly what you want. If you have a few minutes, I have a quick survey at www.schoolofpodcasting.com/survey252025 Audience Survey

Understand Before Being Understood About a month ago I left a comment on the Spreaker Live show, and this comment resulted in a response from the host that in a conversation he had with me was "Disproportional." So after we both hissed at each I set up a time when we could talk about this and see how we pushed each other's buttons. We did and it was a great interview. The bad news is my SD Card ran out of room, and my backup (mp3 skype recorder) didn't get it either. I could call Alex back on, but at this point, so much water is under the bridge, I thought I would just paraphrase what really happened. In my comment, there were times when I used ALL CAPS to make a point. Alex is used to dealing with comments from YouTube which are much crueler, and personal that the average podcast comment This was the first time he had been challenged on the podcast side of this content (vs the YouTube side) and it caught him off guard. He apologized for calling me a schmuck, and I explained that when he made a joke about me not having any listeners (because I don't use Spreaker), and that I wasn't up front with people about the fact that I work for Libsyn, and we chatted about that. I explained how I wasn't trying to push his buttons, and then we did something that most people miss out on. We had some cool conversation about topics we have in common. For example, Chris Cornell had just died. Neither one of use quite gets while World Trade Center Tower Number 7 went down. In the end, I look forward to meeting Alex at Podcast Movement. If I had not taken a second to step back, and wonder if there was something I DID to create such a reaction (instead of just condemning the other person) then I would've lost out on an opportunity to learn something (be careful using caps in comments), and Alex wouldn't have been able to see his reaction. Lastly, I think we both gained a new friend. So instead of being so set on proving somebody wrong, instead maybe ask, "Why did you say that?" or "What were you feeling when you said that?" and try to understand before being understood (Which is a lesson I learned from the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People) Seriously, How Do I Grow My Audience? Devlin Wilder posted in a Facebook Group, "Please, for the love of all that's good and pure, someone please help me WITH REAL INFO on how I get the numbers. I don't want to hear I need to have my show out for years or I need to get to 200 episodes or what not. And I've had no luck with Fiverr. I need to know the real deal" This is like saying, "I want to know about making a baby, but I don't want to hear about ovaries, sperm, or having to wait 9 months." THERE ARE NO SHORTCUTS  In her book Beyond Powerful Radio Radio Consultant Vallerie Geller states, "in my experience, with few exceptions it takes about three years to build a talk station." She points out that the original Star Trek Series was canceled after three seasons and it was re-runs where the audience found the show. Jerry Seinfeld has framed a memo stating that his show has a poor supporting cast, and most people who saw the test pilot would not watch it again. Gary Vaynrchuck says nobody watched his show for the first 19 months Rand Fishkin tells about his wife, Geraldine, and her travel blog, Everywhereist. For two years she never broke 100 visitors a day (she does a blog). Five years later she gets 1000,000 visitors a month. Source Success comes from feedback, and the ability to look at yourself and ask "Can I Improve This?" Growing up I had a basketball hoop in my backyard. Every time I shot a basket and it bounced off the rim and back at me.... that was feedback.  I watched Kareem Abdul Jabar and his sky hooks shot. It was unblockable. I practiced my skyhook over and over and over. Eventually, I could shoot it with my eyes shut. That took time. If you want to quit your job in six weeks, I would recommend that you not even start podcasting. This is like someone wanting to lose 40 pounds in six weeks. You soon learn that six weeks is not that long, and 40 pound is not that small. The Answer is There is No Answer There are so many factors that play into this Are you working full time? What market are you in and how crowded is it? How unique are you? Your Web Design It's Not Who You Know, It's Who Knows You Podcast Movement is coming up in August, and DC Podfest is coming up in November. I will be at Podcast Movement, and I plan on being in DC Podfest. Do these cost lots of money? Just the travel alone can be expensive based on your budget. That is the key, what is your budget? If you don't have the budget, don't be stupid, don't go. I'm saving money as we speak for Social Media marketing world. I have to plan. I have to put money in my budget. If you have a family with a spouse and kids, don't be stupid. Is It Worth Going to An Event? I have a podcast group for people in Northeast Ohio. I rarely get more than five people in attendance. One of those people (Matt from theauthorinsideyou.com) helped get me on a local TV show. I met Gary Leland, Paul Colligan, and Rob Walch at one of the fire New Media Expos. Rob was the person I called when I found myself out of a job and looking to work in the podcasting industry (I now work for Libsyn). I met Ken Blanchard at an event and I haven't stopped laughing yet. I met Jared Easley and Dan Franks at the New Media Show. Later they would start Podcast Movement and I've been blessed to say I've spoken at every single one in one capacity or another. I met Eri kK Johnson and came up with the idea of adding him to the Podcast Review show at an event. I met Mike Russel of Music Radio Creative at the New Media Show I met Glenn The Geek At Podcast Movement. Glen got me involved with Chris Krimitsos and I was able to speak at Podfest.us That lead to me helping with the Messengers Podcast about their documentary. That lead to me being the closing keynote at podfest.us this year. One person, one contact. Last year I met a whole bunch of people at DC Podfest including Matthew from Podtopod.com. Most of those I paid for (events post-2016 I typically can expense out). When I was a musician, I once drove four hours after getting off work at 8 PM to drive to Cincinnati and hangout with a bunch of indie musicians for three hours before turning around and driving home (I was probably 20). One of the relationships I start at that meeting was a guy who went to another event and learned about podcasting. Whooshkaa Free Media Hosting For those who are new to me reviewing media hosting, I have some criteria. 1. Don't mess with my file. What I upload is what I want people to download. 2. Give me the ability to have an unlimited back catalog (unlimited storage) 3. Don't limit my audience size (unlimited bandwidth) 4. Don't control my feed, and make it easy to leave if I choose to do so. I need to be able to put in an iTunes redirect script. 5. Give me support. 6. Charge me for your service so you can stay in business 7. Give me stats so I can see what's working. It would be nice if they were accurate Whooshkaa is doing something that has been tried by audiometric.io and before them podango.com. This is where you give free hosting so you can see advertising on the podcast. Do Whooshkaa meet my criteria? No, but there is an asterisk. They mess with your file (as they put code into the mp3 file to alert when to play an advertisement), so they keep most of your ID3 tags, but they ditch you image (so if someone downloads your show to their computer and plays it, the dreaded gray music note of death appears on a windows machine). They also change your file name. They don't change your file format, but by nature, they HAVE to change your file to stay in business. Their support was quick and very helpful. Their stats are very similar to what everyone else provides (number of downloads, geographic, operating system, the technology used, etc). They do offer how long someone has listened. Unless they have cracked a new code, this is typically a wasted stat. The only way they can get that information is if you are using their player. To this, I point out that over 80% of podcasts are listened to on a mobile device (so this stat is kind of a "Corinthian leather" feature, sounds good, but in the end not that accurate). They have a built in "Clammr" feature, called highlights. Clammr.com is the first service that allows you to make snippets of a show and share it on social media. With Clammr you can share a snippet of the show and when they click on the snippet they are taken to a place where they can listen to the rest of the episode. You can see how many people listened to your "Highlight." For me, I thought the design could be adjusted to make it go from easy to SUPER EASY to hear the rest of the podcast. They do have a weird "Sign up for our newsletter" when you send people to an episode on Whooshkaa. The problem is that for the Whooshkaa email list (not yours). Getting Paid As the code in the mp3 file has the word "Triton" I'm guessing that they are using Triton for their advertisements. This means that podcasters can probably expect 1 to 2 cents per download. So if I had my Weekly Web Tools on their platform I might make $12 for the month (at 1200 downloads a month). That is if you are lucky enough to have advertising. When I enquired about their CPA, they responded, "We don't have any information on the CPA for ads.  We generally only work with our larger podcasters/media companies for ad injection." When I wanted to know how many downloads you need to get a sponsor, a support person lets me know, "Generally more than 10k per month before we approach a podcaster for ads. Some of our current partners monetising include News Corp, Fox Sports, Sky News, Bauer and a few large Australian Sporting organizations. When I pointed out to them that others had tried this model, they responded, "We support the podcast ecosystem with free hosting, while making ad revenue from the top 5%.  At the end of the day, the cost of hosting a podcast with small downloads is negligible.  We hope that some of the smaller podcasters turn out to be the next Ira Glass or Alex Blumberg :) It's super easy to pick a spot where you want your advertising to be placed. By default, they want to add three advertisers (I chose one). I believe you will be contacted when you reach certain milestones for advertising as there is nothing in the dashboard (that I can find, and nothing in their help section) about getting paid (i.e paypal, direct deposit). Conclusion Call me weird, but building your podcast on a host that doesn't charge is risky business (again, podango, audiometric.io) but if you're in a boat and have zero budget (they do redirect feeds if you want to leave) then I would recommend Whooshkaa over another free service Pinecast if you're looking for a free service with all the trimmings. If you asked me which one will be in business in five years between Pinecast and Whooshkaa, I would put my money on Pinecast as their free service motivates you to upgrade to their paid service. With Whooshkaa they are hoping that people with 10,000 downloads per episode take their advertising, and don't leave for another host. I notice in their terms of service it states, "If you are a Commercial User/Channel Partner, this may be altered by any specific agreements we hold with you." Podcast Rewind Podcraft on New and Noteworthy Podcaster's Roundtable on Finding Your Audience Start Your Podcast Today Step by Step Tutorials Twice a month Live Coaching Private Facebook Group Priority Email Support JOIN TODAYMentioned in this episode:I Want Your OpinionI am doing an audience survey and I want your input to help me make this show exactly what you want. If you have a few minutes, I have a quick survey at www.schoolofpodcasting.com/survey252025 Audience Survey2025 Audience Survey