PodCraft | How to Podcast & Craft a Fantastic Show

Mike from the Konversations With Kinfolk podcast is thinking about micro-content. He's looking for apps or software that can take small clips (video and/or audio) to create short clips for visibility and promotion. This is a great strategy for podcast growth. Micro-content can be highly searchable, shareable, and doesn't demand a lot of time to hook a potential new listener. It can also be quick and easy to create. Resources MentionedCanvaHow to Create AudiogramsHeadlinerPodIntelligenceBuzzsproutHow to Animate Your AudioOvercast SharingRepurpose.ioAlituWe also offer a bonus tip to Mike - improve those episode titles. The podcast will benefit greatly if you make them more descriptive and intriguing. Finally, we're looking for your feedback to help us help you better. Have you got a second to answer this quick question? What are you most struggling with in podcasting right now? Support the show

Khaled runs the show Curated Advice on Better Living, and wonders how to increase the number of listeners per episode. At time of recording, he's almost hit the 30-episode mark, which is a great point to reflect on what you've achieved so far, as well as revisit your big picture planning. We recommend that Khaled sets up a dedicated website for the podcast, which is a low-hanging fruit these days. You can do this quickly and at a low-cost by using Podpage. We also recommend that he uses our free Podcast Planner tool to tweak the overall aims, targeting, and message of the show. Finally, we give three actionable growth tips for Khaled to try out. These are:Run a co-hosted or crossover episode with another podcast in your nicheCreate a roundup of podcasts that you love in your nicheReach out to 3-5 true fans of your show and create a focus group For a deeper dive, check out our full guide on podcast promotion. On this episode, we also mention Pocket-Sized Podcasting and Alitu: The Podcast MakerSupport the show

Michael of Night Moodz wonders how to turn casual listeners into subscribers, followers, and even, supporters. This is a question with many layers as the first and most obvious move is simply to ask in your Calls to Action. You might also want to show them how by creating a 'how to subscribe' page on your website. A final and essential piece of the jigsaw, though, is to make folks want to come back for more. Our free Podcast Planner tool can help you hone your message and your content, and make sure your show is optimised for growth!Support the show

How do you get useful analytics to present to potential sponsors and advertisers? That's one of the questions on the mind of Karen from BankTalk Podcast. And, one that we'll try our best to answer on this episode of PodCraft. Your Apple Podcast Connect and Spotify for Podcasters dashboards can give you a good sample of listening patterns. Granted, these won't be the full picture, but, for many podcasters, this is at least 50% of their audience. Listener surveys are an optimal way to get first-hand data from your audience. You might also track conversions and clicks from advertising your own products, services, or events, too. We would also recommend using Rephonic's Podcast Audience Graph tool. This shows you the podcasts your listeners also subscribe too. You could check a few of them out and see what (if any) brands are advertising on them. Support the show

Kay is the co-host of the In Da Trenches Podcast and asks about optimising their name, outline, and theme. Sometimes it helps to take a step back and look at the bigger picture of your podcast, asking questions such as:What’s its purpose?Who’s it for?What does success look like for me?You can then start to work backwards from these. Another very useful exercise is to use our free Podcast Planner Tool. And we have thorough guides on Podcast Names, Descriptions, and Formats for a deeper dive on those topics, too. Support the show

Laurent of the Puissante Panoplie podcast asks us about breaks between seasons. He feels that these can halt his momentum, and make him feel a bit like a headless chicken, jumping from task to task with no real plan in mind. Once the break is over, Laurent adds, he feels anything but rested or organised going into his new season. On this episode, we talk about ways to better structure your breaks in between seasons. We also cover the benefits of running an audience survey during these periods. You can even collect listener feedback in voice form, as we're doing on this season of PodCraft. Support the show

Our question this week comes from Teresa of the Homeschool Mama SelfCare Podcast. Teresa's asking us about the optimal position of podcast ads so as to optimise their impact and minimise the chance of them annoying the listeners. On this episode, we cover:Is there a "right" time to play a podcast adThe difference between pre, mid, and post-roll adsThe difference between pre-recorded and host-read ads How you can make ads part of your contentAnd why ads might not be essential to the monetisation of your show, going forward. This episode was sponsored by (and made with) Alitu, The Podcast Maker. Support the show

On this new season of PodCraft we're going to be answering your podcasting questions. Here's how to submit yours! This time around, we have a question from Brooke of Let's Talk Art With Brooke. Brooke has been podcasting for six years and as well over 200 episodes, but is concerned with lack of audience growth. This is a big question in and of itself (so big, in fact, that we actually wrote a book about it). But we find that there's always a few low-hanging fruits that can have an impact right away. These include good, compelling episode titles, Calls to Action, thorough SEO-friendly shownotes, and appearing as a guest on other relevant podcasts. Support the show

It's part two of our dive into the Podcaster Cares Survey data. This time around, we're talking NFTs, measuring success, social media, loudness, and bitrates.We also take a look at some interesting differences between podcasters of five years or more, and folks who've been doing it less than five years. Podcasters of 5 years or more have stronger opinions on Apple Podcasts and RSS Feeds67.5% of the 5 years or more group agreed that a podcast isn’t really a podcast if it doesn’t have an RSS feed.Of the folks in podcasting for fewer than five years, 39.8% agreed, whilst 38.9% didn’t care. 25.3% in the 5 years or more group didn’t care about RSS feeds.44.6% of the 5 years or more group believe that Apple could and should be doing more to help podcasters. This is compared to 34.9% of the newer podcasters group.53% of the newer podcasters have no real opinion on Apple either way, compared to 34.9% of the 5 years or more group. Newer podcasters pay less attention to podcast loudness & bitrates60.2% of podcasters of 5 years or more have a set and consistent loudness level for their show.This is compared to 31.4% of folks podcasting for 0-5 years. 29.7% of newer podcasters don’t worry about loudness levels.This is compared to only 15.7% of the 5 years or more group. 42.9% of newer podcasters have no idea what bitrates are. Only 15.7% of the 5 years or more group thought the same. Get the full Podcaster Cares Survey Report right here. Support the show

The more podcasting grows, the more people talk about it. Some of it is genuine news, and some of it is gossip or clickbait. Rather than waste your time with articles about irrelevant topics, we want to know what the average podcaster cares about most.So, we put up a survey and invited our entire audience to take part through the blog, email and social. We offered a few prizes to say thanks, including a 1st prize gift voucher and a few of our own books (The Podcast Host Planner and Podcast Growth manual). We were delighted to see responses from over 500 podcasters (537 in total!) who generously shared their opinions with us. Let’s take a look at what podcasters think of the topics that spark debate in the content creation community.Get the full Podcaster Cares Survey Report right here. Support the show