Making Media

In this episode of Making Media, Matt and I speak with Bryan Barletta – the founder of Sounds Profitable. Sounds Profitable is a research group focused on the business of podcasting. They produce content, events, and research on all aspects of the podcasting industry. In our conversation, we explore podcasting’s growth problem; why there aren’t enough ad dollars in the industry, whether that will ever change, and how the industry will agree on seemingly simple things like what constitutes a download. We also talk from a podcaster's perspective about the best ways to monetize your show, how to implement subscriptions, and of course – I ask about marketing. Please enjoy this conversation with Bryan and stay tuned for our debrief.For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here. -----This episode is brought to you by Scribe. Scribe is the presenting sponsor of this episode of Making Media and the magic behind the Colossus transcripts. One of the best decisions we made at Colossus was transcribing all of our audio into a searchable transcript library. We had been using another provider up until the summer of 2022 but we were constantly having issues with accuracy if our audio was just the slightest bit impaired. Whether it's training sessions, internal Q&As, or for media purposes, the value of transcripts is huge. And we are not alone. Scribe is the transcription service that powers all of S&P Global - like CapIQ - and the client list includes our friends at Tegus. Go to joincolossus.com/scribe to unlock 150 minutes of free transcription and test their capabilities.-----Making Media is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Making Media, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.Follow us on Twitter: @ReustleMatt | @domcooke | @MakingMediaPod | @JoinColossus Show Notes(00:03:21) - (First question) - His view of the podcast industry and the problem that Sounds Profitable is trying to solve(00:07:01) - Dealing with the mismatch between ad spend and listenership in podcasting(00:12:09) - How different platforms compare as avenues for growth(00:14:36) - Standardization, analytics, and the power of appealing to small niches(00:18:57) - How moving towards cross-platform analytics protocols could bolster the industry(00:20:04) - The complexities of download statistics and how publishers are gaming the system(00:25:23) - How market share between major podcast platforms can affect creators(00:27:48) - His thoughts on the current push towards video-based podcasting(00:32:50) - Addressing the pessimism around discoverability and barriers for marketing(00:39:31) - Reaching new listeners that don’t consume podcasts habitually(00:42:01) - His thoughts on subscriptions and paywalls for podcasts(00:46:18) - Their tech stack and systems they use for their podcasting endeavors(00:47:18) - The most unmissable events in the podcast industry that creators should attend(00:50:17) - De-brief

Founder and CEO of ConvertKit, Nathan Barry, discusses the evolution of the creator economy, the value of transparency in business, the impact of bad actors in the industry, and the importance of having a strong executive team. He also talks about his side projects, including a local newspaper venture, and the potential for innovation in physical location-based distribution.

A special announcement today. The Colossus Merchandise Shop is open for business. If you're listening to this, that means we avoided my biggest fear. We did not break the internet, but please head over to joincolossus.com where you will find a link to our shop.Staying on that theme, Dom and I hosted Michael Williams from A Continuous Lean for a timely conversation on branding, merchandise, and how companies can differentiate themselves. Michael has been writing about heritage brands for over 15 years. In a world where every website looks the same and every gift guide has the same recommendations, Michael consistently presents original things. Enjoy the episode. For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here.-----This episode is brought to you by Scribe. Scribe is the presenting sponsor of this episode of Making Media and the magic behind the Colossus transcripts. One of the best decisions we made at Colossus was transcribing all of our audio into a searchable transcript library. We had been using another provider up until the summer of 2022 but we were constantly having issues with accuracy if our audio was just the slightest bit impaired. Whether it's training sessions, internal Q&As, or for media purposes, the value of transcripts is huge. And we are not alone. Scribe is the transcription service that powers all of S&P Global - like CapIQ - and the client list includes our friends at Tegus. Go to joincolossus.com/scribe to unlock 150 minutes of free transcription and test their capabilities.-----Making Media is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Making Media, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.Follow us on Twitter: @ReustleMatt | @domcooke | @MakingMediaPod | @JoinColossus Show Notes(00:04:00) - (First question) - The early days of launching A Continuous Lean and how it transitioned into the business he built around it(00:06:19) - What led to ACL being featured in the New York Times(00:08:29) - Deciding to branch out from ACL and creating his consulting agency (00:10:43) - How he’s managed to stay true to his vision of staying small and in control (00:12:34) - The best strategy and advice he could give brands today (00:15:45) - Key characteristics of companies that are bad or good at marketing (00:21:39) - Further case studies for brands that are seemingly timeless(00:22:27) - His favorite aspects of the Master's Golf Tournament(00:24:29) - Rolex: Timeless Excellence; The Walt Disney Company: An Entertainment Empire(00:26:34) - When corporate merch became a thing what the point of it is(00:30:14) - Whether or not the rules of consumer goods and quality apply to corporate merch (00:32:08) - What made the Domino’s Rolex so  desirable as a branded watch(00:34:04) - The cult-ish appeal of the New Yorker tote bag  (00:34:54) - Ways to collaborate with celebrities to grow merch awareness(00:35:55) - The process of building and launching the ACL merch store(00:41:48) - Developing brand partnerships and his experience with them(00:44:46) - Whether or not it’s worth it for a business like Colossus to launch a merch store (00:46:14) - Having taste instinctually or if it can learned over time (00:47:43) - Possible reasons why Apple doesn’t have a merch shop (00:49:14) - Quality, exclusivity, and scarcity as factors in the success of merch(00:50:47) - Debrief

We’re delighted to be joined by Adi Ignatius, the Editor in Chief of the Harvard Business Review. HBR is over 100 years old and has created some of the best business content ever produced but few people talk about it as a media force. Last year it made $302 million in revenue, had 11 million monthly visitors to its website, and was followed by tens of millions of people on social media. There's no question it deserves paying closer attention to. That's exactly what Matt and I did in November last year when we did a Business Breakdown Episode on how Harvard Business Publishing works. Ever since that conversation, I've wanted to talk to Adi about the unique model HBR employs and how it operates. Please enjoy this conversation with Adi Ignatius.For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here. -----This episode is brought to you by Scribe. Scribe is the presenting sponsor of this episode of Making Media and the magic behind the Colossus transcripts. One of the best decisions we made at Colossus was transcribing all of our audio into a searchable transcript library. We had been using another provider up until the summer of 2022 but we were constantly having issues with accuracy if our audio was just the slightest bit impaired. Whether it's training sessions, internal Q&As, or for media purposes, the value of transcripts is huge. And we are not alone. Scribe is the transcription service that powers all of S&P Global - like CapIQ - and the client list includes our friends at Tegus. Go to joincolossus.com/scribe to unlock 150 minutes of free transcription and test their capabilities.-----Making Media is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Making Media, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.Follow us on Twitter: @ReustleMatt | @domcooke | @MakingMediaPod | @JoinColossus Show Notes(00:03:50) - (First question) - His most memorable experience as a field journalist in Beijing(00:06:13) - Why it’s so important for media leaders to be adaptable(00:07:10) - His perspective on generative AI as it relates to media and journalism(00:10:46) - The characteristics of the HBR that have enabled it to continue for over 100 years(00:12:54) - The most impactful aspects of their business model and legacy(00:14:39) - The roles of both their freelancers and in-house editors(00:19:48) - How they capitalize on different platforms across the HBP brand ecosystem(00:21:44) - Their signature Case Studies series(00:24:20) - The relevance of print media versus digital formats in their business today(00:25:57) - How their brand image continues to evolve naturally(00:27:42) - The role of diversity in the HBR’s culture and design(00:29:02) - The balance between their subscription-based model and advertising revenue(00:32:20) - Broadness versus specificity in their content(00:33:33) - Keeping their content timely but thorough in the era of digital immediacy(00:35:53) - Their sizeable social media presence(00:39:18) - How working with Harvard sets them apart(00:41:26) - What he has learned throughout his career about branding(00:44:30) - Their book HBR at 100 and the potential for true classics being made in the digital era(00:46:53) - The common threads he can identify in their most influential articles(00:48:40) - The Debrief

For this episode of Making Media, we spoke with Hiten Samtani, SVP of Content at The Real Deal. Now, I'm not sure if you've noticed, but real estate media is everywhere and, to me, The Real Deal sits uniquely at the epicenter of this industry. They are the largest real estate focused publication in the US, they have over 3 million monthly visitors to their website, tens of thousands of paying subscribers, and they still maintain a print distribution of over 150,000 subscribers. But maybe what's most interesting to me is that The Real Deal was ranked as the publication with the wealthiest audience on the web. As Head of Content, Hiten has experience with deep-dive journalism and various forms of media across written word, video, and audio - so he has a full background across media. I think there are a ton of lessons for media professionals across this conversation. Please enjoy.For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here. -----This episode is brought to you by Scribe. Scribe is the presenting sponsor of this episode of Making Media and the magic behind the Colossus transcripts. One of the best decisions we made at Colossus was transcribing all of our audio into a searchable transcript library. We had been using another provider up until the summer of 2022 but we were constantly having issues with accuracy if our audio was just the slightest bit impaired. Whether it's training sessions, internal Q&As, or for media purposes, the value of transcripts is huge. And we are not alone. Scribe is the transcription service that powers all of S&P Global - like CapIQ - and the client list includes our friends at Tegus. Go to joincolossus.com/scribe to unlock 150 minutes of free transcription and test their capabilities.-----Making Media is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Making Media, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.Follow us on Twitter: @ReustleMatt | @domcooke | @MakingMediaPod | @JoinColossus Show Notes(00:01:41) - (First question) - How he landed in the real estate journalism segment(00:02:41) - The history of The Real Deal as it stands out from the rest of the industry(00:06:24) - Challenges the publication faced early on that made it stronger in the long run(00:09:14) - An overview of their scale and structure(00:12:21) - Audience analytics he focuses on to track the health of the business(00:14:20) - How he tries to measure their presence in the zeitgeist(00:16:59) - His emphasis on liaising with readers(00:18:44) - The prevalence of direct website traffic versus ancillary routes to their content(00:23:15) - How he thinks about paywall and subscription models versus advertising(00:25:54) - Why they keep their editorial team and ad team separate(00:27:51) - How they develop new IP and mass media based on their popular exclusives(00:32:27) - Preserving relationships with sources while also maintaining journalistic integrity(00:36:29) - How he typically sources his most important stories(00:39:40) - His philosophies for training budding journalists joining the publication(00:41:34) - What they look for in journalists they hire(00:44:01) - Dealing with top journalists that want to leave to strike out on their own(00:49:03) - De-brief

For this week's Making Media, we sit down with longtime journalist and media observer, Simon Owens. Simon started in newspapers, he’s worked with large brands like US News and World Report, PBS, the Atlantic, New York Magazine, ESPN, and now he writes independently on Substack. All of his perspectives are rooted from actual experience. He's a true practitioner in the industry he covers, which we love. This conversation covers a range of media topics, so please enjoy and stay tuned for our debrief to conclude this show. For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here. ----- This episode is brought to you by Scribe. Scribe is the presenting sponsor of this episode of Making Media and the magic behind the Colossus transcripts. One of the best decisions we made at Colossus was transcribing all of our audio into a searchable transcript library. We had been using another provider up until the summer of 2022 but we were constantly having issues with accuracy if our audio was just the slightest bit impaired. Whether it's training sessions, internal Q&As, or for media purposes, the value of transcripts is huge. And we are not alone. Scribe is the transcription service that powers all of S&P Global - like CapIQ - and the client list includes our friends at Tegus. Go to joincolossus.com/scribe to unlock 150 minutes of free transcription and test their capabilities. ----- Making Media is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Making Media, visit joincolossus.com/episodes. Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here. Follow us on Twitter: @ReustleMatt | @domcooke | @MakingMediaPod | @JoinColossus  Show Notes(00:02:20) - (First question) - Simons’ history in media and what he thinks is happening right now with new companies compared to previously successful ones (00:05:20) - A case study for the archetypical 2023 media company (00:07:28) - A swing back towards advertising in media companies (00:08:59) - Thoughts on Substack and Puck and which model will emerge as the standard(00:10:49) - What pulled him in the most to make the switch over to Substack (00:13:52) - Whether or not he’d stay on Substack if they changed their take rate (00:15:22) - Best practices for implementing subscription models(00:20:34) - Lessons to take away from The Athletic experiment (00:22:58) - Whether or not there’s truth to the claim that investigative deep dive journalism is dying out(00:24:51) - The narrative that every company wants to become a media company (00:26:59) - Ways where becoming a media company has worked well like Hubspot (00:28:23) - The push and pull between a company and their media arm (00:30:04) - Whether or not there will be dedicated mediums for multimedia brands (00:32:21) - Thoughts on YouTube shorts winning the short form video wars(00:33:56) - How important events are for media companies and why they do them(00:35:24) - Overall audience size and the shift in monetizing with advertising (00:39:09) - Different data points that can be collected from various platforms and the role they play in informing delivery writ large (00:40:39) - Whether or not the shift back towards email lists is here to stay or cyclical (00:43:14) - Cultivating community and where he stands on community building in media (00:45:19) - What creators and companies can do to build up their defensibility(00:46:23) - Axios’ ten thousand dollar subscription product (00:49:17) - The one media business that’s likely to have a stronghold on the industry in ten years from now (00:51:35) - De-brief

We answer frequent questions sent to us over the past few weeks. Dom goes on the offensive over podcast show notes, Matt gets excited about episode artwork, and we debate the perfect length for an episode. Sprinkled between those topics, we discuss sponsorship and the end-to-end process for a show like Business Breakdowns.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here.    -----   This episode is brought to you by Scribe. Scribe is the presenting sponsor of this episode of Making Media and the magic behind the Colossus transcripts. One of the best decisions we made at Colossus was transcribing all of our audio into a searchable transcript library. We had been using another provider up until the summer of 2022 but we were constantly having issues with accuracy if our audio was just the slightest bit impaired. Whether it's training sessions, internal Q&As, or for media purposes, the value of transcripts is huge. And we are not alone. Scribe is the transcription service that powers all of S&P Global - like CapIQ - and the client list includes our friends at Tegus. Go to joincolossus.com/scribe to unlock 150 minutes of free transcription and test their capabilities.   -----   Making Media is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Making Media, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @ReustleMatt | @domcooke | @MakingMediaPod | @JoinColossus    Show Notes (00:02:15) - [First question] - Thoughts on podcast episode length, the potential correlation between length and popularity, and our personal preferences  (00:10:34) - The problem with podcasts that don’t have show notes and fixing existing ones (00:11:34) - Monetization, sponsorships, and the podcasting business model (00:14:56) - Ways to identify and source potential podcast sponsors   (00:19:43) - The importance of having access to detailed data about your show (00:19:48) - Sean Griffey - Big Bucks in Narrow Niches (00:20:12) - Securing payment, setting up contracts, deposits, and accounts receivable  (00:22:20) - Whether or not show artwork helps with growth and thoughts on branding  (00:27:23) - Episode preparation, sourcing guests, and production turnaround time  (00:32:24) - Rerecording episodes and inserting secondary recordings (00:35:14) - Potential platform changes and ways to tell guests their episodes won’t be used

Doug DeMuro, YouTube's biggest car star and founder of car auction business Cars & Bids, discusses his shift from content to commerce. They explore the challenges of YouTube, importance of connections, good content creation, and adapting to competition. They also discuss the impact of outside capital on business growth.

We’re very excited for this one. Part of our mission with Making Media is to highlight great content across the internet. Today, we’re starting with business essays and to bring some wisdom to the conversation, we enlisted one of our favorite writers, Packy McCormick. Hear us break down our most influential business essays, read them through the links in the shownotes, and let us know what you think on Twitter or hello@joincolossus.com. Enjoy!   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here.    -----   Scribe is the presenting sponsor of this episode of Making Media and the magic behind the Colossus transcripts. One of the best decisions we made at Colossus was transcribing all of our audio into a searchable transcript library. We had been using another provider up until the summer of 2022 but we were constantly having issues with accuracy if our audio was just the slightest bit impaired. Whether it's training sessions, internal Q&As, or for media purposes, the value of transcripts is huge. And we are not alone. Scribe is the transcription service that powers all of S&P Global - like CapIQ - and the client list includes our friends at Tegus. Go to joincolossus.com/scribe to unlock 150 minutes of free transcription and test their capabilities.   -----   Making Media is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Making Media, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @ReustleMatt | @domcooke | @JoinColossus    Show Notes (00:02:59) - [First question] - The Not Boring back story and what he learned from his time at Breather (00:05:06) - Aggregation Theory by Ben Thompson (00:09:42) - The Bus Ticket Theory of Genius by Paul Graham (00:13:45) - Letter to a friend who may start a new investment platform by Graham Duncan (00:17:05) - Positional Scarcity by Alex Danco (00:22:23] - The Three Sides of Risk by Morgan Housel (00:26:56) - Salary Negotiation by Patrick McKenzie (00:31:47) - Sam Hinkie’s resignation letter (00:37:10) - Increasing Returns and the New World of Business by W. Brian Arthur (00:41:54) - 10 Tips on Writing by David Ogilvy (00:44:46) - The next big thing will start out looking like a toy by Chris Dixon (00:49:08) - The Tail End by Tim Urban (00:53:41) - 1,000 True Fans by Kevin Kelly (00:59:07) - Honorable mention: The Great Online Game by Packy McCormick (01:03:26) - Honorable mention: Excel Never Dies by Packy McCormick  (01:05:58) - Packy’s closing thoughts and why he thinks people should read more Sci-Fi (01:08:37) - Honorable mention: Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson

We hear you, you’re enjoying our debriefs and want more inside Colossus content. Here it is, we spend the first portion of this episode going over important events at Colossus HQ before diving into our conversation with podcast legend, Eric Nuzum. Eric has been podcasting for as long as podcasts have been a thing. He started NPR’s podcasting efforts in 2005 and was their chief creative director for a decade. He then went to Audible to lead their podcast team and has since co-founded his own audio business. Eric has seen it all and has written a wonderful book called, Make Noise, which was our gateway into his ideas. If you’re looking for podcasting literature, start with that book.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here.    -----   Scribe is the presenting sponsor of this episode of Making Media and the magic behind the Colossus transcripts. One of the best decisions we made at Colossus was transcribing all of our audio into a searchable transcript library. We had been using another provider up until the summer of 2022 but we were constantly having issues with accuracy if our audio was just the slightest bit impaired. Whether it's training sessions, internal Q&As, or for media purposes, the value of transcripts is huge. And we are not alone. Scribe is the transcription service that powers all of S&P Global - like CapIQ - and the client list includes our friends at Tegus. Go to joincolossus.com/scribe to unlock 150 minutes of free transcription and test their capabilities.   -----   Making Media is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Making Media, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @ReustleMatt | @domcooke | @JoinColossus    Show Notes [00:01:35] - Inside Colossus: Round-up of important events at Colossus HQ [00:17:57] - [First question] - Why he has a picture of Richard Branson in his office [00:20:58] - The power of differentiation for podcast hosts and their interview styles [00:24:00] - His focus on podcasters being authentic and its teachability [00:26:55] - To what extent a podcast host can play a character authentically [00:28:49] - Breaking the fourth wall and talking directly to podcast listeners [00:31:54] - Cardinal sins and best practices in communicating with listeners [00:34:00] - Navigating the pitfalls of marketing for a podcast [00:38:45] - His feedback on the Making Media description pitch and how every good podcast solves a problem [00:43:42] - How important it is to nail your format before launching [00:47:00] - Diversity versus specificity in podcast branding and demographics [00:54:17] - Determining when and how to discontinue a podcast or any project [00:55:48] - His thoughts on podcast charts and why the top 50 haven’t changed much [00:57:52] - Why he chooses to write books instead of making them into podcasts [00:59:54] - Debrief