Podcast Insider

The time has finally come, Google Play Music Podcasts will be shut down in the upcoming weeks. We've heard news of this in the past, but it appears late summer, early fall will be it's last days. On this podcast, we say god riddance. Todd and Mike also chat about some upcoming virtual podcast events you don't want to miss such as Podfest and The Podcast Academy.

Blubrry is known for integrating with WordPress, and so we really went through some best hygiene practices with WordPress. Managing a website for years on end is no easy feat and we included some tips that people might miss over time.

And for our support chat this episode, we provide an update on a stats issue we had recently and more.

Facebook Live Recording.

Thanks for joining us this episode of Podcast Insider. Looking to be a guest on the show? Let us know.

Recorded live from two well-separated and socially distant podcast studios in northern and southern Michigan; here’s Podcast Insider.

News:

Google Podcasts Manager is replacing Google Play Music Podcast Portal as the new home for your podcast listeners on Google. Starting in the next few weeks, you’ll no longer be able to add new podcast shows through Podcast Portal. Later this year, access to Google Play Music Podcast Portal will be removed permanently.

The Podcast Academy is having an August Social event.  August 13th at 5pm Eastern.

Podcast Awards slate coming out soon. Nominations are over.

Podfest Global Summit kicks off Monday, Aug. 10 and runs through the week, ending on Saturday the 15th. Todd joined the pre-event festivities yesterday.

Another way to play podcasts on Amazon Echo - via Pandora.

Zoom, the recording equipment company, has released a new recorder and microphone, the Pod Trak P4.

Kindergarteners listening to podcasts as part of their remote learning due to COVID.

Best Practice:

WordPress Hygiene 

Keep things updated (Plugins, WordPress and Themes)

Remove unused plugins or themes

Complicated passwords for logins

Do not use “admin” for a login

Limit logins plugin is a good idea

Set “new users” to Subscriber if you are going to allow people to create logins. (mostly no need for this “feature”)

Blubrry News:

Our Private Internal Podcasting service includes a free Android app to listen to secure episodes. Learn more about the Android app here.

Join Mike for a live webinar on Aug. 25th at 4pm. How to set up and use Blubrry PowerPress.

Bonus Best Practice:

Check your SD Cards for Cracks!

Interviews: Blubrry podcasters, let us interview you for the show! Tell your story of podcasting right here on Podcast Insider. Email [email protected], [email protected] or [email protected].

Support:

Stats reporting slow-down last weekend and early this week.   We had some maintenance on Friday that slowed down our stats reporting for a few days over the weekend.  Everything should be close to back to normal now.  No data was lost.

We still have not heard from Deezer about show submissions.

Be sure to set your email address in the Podcast Settings at Blubrry (feed Email) ONLY IF YOU ARE NOT USING POWERPRESS and host with Blubrry. Otherwise, we will get the emails to claim ownership of a show at Google and the notice when you are excepted into Apple Podcasts.

PowerPress *can* be used with any host.  But you have to still publish using PowerPress and not the embedded player from the host.  Otherwise, it makes it very hard to move to another host.

Google Podcasts Manager - https://podcastsmana...

Todd's back and discussing an array of new podcasts and events happening, with co-host Mike. Ford has a new podcast as a retired Chicago radio personality, and we can't forget Michelle Obama's new "podcast" is now out!

Big news from some industry events, including switching to virtual, 2021 updates and speaking opportunities.

Thanks to Scotty Iseri for joining Mike to discuss his children's podcast. And for those that missed our PowerPress webinar recently, we've got a treat for you.

Facebook Live Recording.

Thanks for joining us this episode of Podcast Insider. Looking to be a guest on the show? Let us know.

Recorded live from two well-separated and socially distant podcast studios in northern and southern Michigan; here’s Podcast Insider.

News:

Ford has a podcast! Bring Back Bronco launches August 4th.

CES has made the switch to virtual for 2021. Still happening early January, they'll be moving everything to an online event, considering they're one of the largest events every year this is definitely the responsible course of action.

Retired Chicago radio personality, Steve Cochran goes to podcasting, Live From My Office.

Podcast Show will be hosted in-person in London May 2021. They’re expecting 6k attendees.

Deezer permanently features Black artists and podcasters on their Black Culture Channel

Michelle Obama’s Spotify exclusive podcast is now live!

Podcast Movement speakers: Anyone can submit to speak at their virtual event, submissions must be submitted by Aug. 19.

Best Practice:

What to do when you get no feedback and your audience is growing slowly.

Blubrry News:

Catch a replay of our latest PowerPress webinar.  Currently on YouTube. We are working on a video channel for Podcast Insider that will include these types of videos as podcasts.

RIAA takedown notices are way up lately.

Podcast App Recommendations, the latest from our blog.

Interview:

Blubrry podcasters, let us interview you for the show! Tell your story of podcasting right here on Podcast Insider. Email [email protected], [email protected] or [email protected].

Scotty Iseri - The Imagine Neighborhood

Support:

Upload quotas reset on the 1st of every month

How do you encode your mp3 files?

128kbps Stereo = 1mb per minute of audio

64kbps mono = ½ mb per minute

96kbps = .75 mb per minute

The WordPress Forum for PowerPress, Facebook, Twitter and other social media platforms are great! ...And we love hearing from you, but any questions should be directed to our website where you can contact us directly. Such as blubrry.com/support or email [email protected].

Connect with Scotty here...

The Imagine Neighborhood - website

Contact them

Facebook

Instagram

Twitter

Promo code INSIDER for a free month at Blubrry.com

Coming at you this week from two very separate podcast studios in Michigan. Produced by the Blubrry Pro-Production team.

Schedule a one-on-one with Todd (hosting customers only) Email [email protected]

Schedule a tech checkup with Mike (hosting customers only) Email [email protected]

Send us your podcast sticker and a self-address stamped envelope (SASE) and we will send you a Blubrry care package.

Our mailing address is:

Blubrry – MacKenzie

150 E. Campus View Blvd. #180

Columbus, Ohio 43235

Show notes are an important part of publishing podcast episodes and creating an online presence for your content. This week two tech-minded team members - Mike and Shawn from the support team - discuss some show notes dos and don'ts when it comes to Blubrry services.

And we'll be seeing you online this year for Podcast Movement, instead of in person in Dallas. We've heard whispers of the New York Times partnering with Serial Productions, and now it's official. They chat about some other podcast news as well as what Blubrry has been up to - listen in and get more details in the latest newsletter.

Thanks for joining us this episode of Podcast Insider. Looking to be a guest on the show? Let us know.

Recorded live from two well-separated and socially distant podcast studios in northern Michigan and central coast California; here’s Podcast Insider.

News:

Podcast Movement 2020 in Dallas no more. They made the official announcement this week that they're moving to virtual in October.

Podcast Movement 2021: Nashville! We'll be joining the event in person next year, more details coming soon.

Spotify is now providing video podcasts.

The New York Times bought Serial Productions. No changes coming to their association to public radio and affiliates.

Audio is listened to more on digital devices than traditional audio devices i.e radio. According to the most recent Edison Research Share of Ear survey.

Best Practice:

Show Notes - Part II

Recommended settings in WordPress using PowerPress for show notes

In the Reading menu of WordPress Settings, select “Full Text” for syndication feeds.

In the Post Editor (Classic) go to screen options and check the box for Summary.  In the Block Editor go to settings and check the box for Summary.

When you make your post include your fully formatted show notes (format IN WordPress, not cut and Paste from any word processor)  (content:encoded tag)

Put what you want as a short description of the episode in the Summary box that then shows (description tag).

Blubrry News:

The iOS app for Private Internal Podcasting is available, read about it here. 

Our monthly newsletter went out this week, check up on what we've been doing.

Podcasters of the Month - Mouse Chat – Steve Griswold and Lisa, Lauren, and Sharpie

Interview:

Blubrry podcasters, let us interview you for the show! Tell your story of podcasting right here on Podcast Insider. Email [email protected], [email protected] or [email protected].

Support:

Shawn’s strategies for launching a new show

If there’s a planned launch date in mind, give yourself plenty of lead time to get everything in place.

Launching a new podcast is rarely a “weekend project,” especially for brand new podcasters (though, it can get easier with subsequent launches); give yourself adequate time to avoid going into panic mode.

Levelator (for Mac and maybe others) issues: It's currently causing some trouble on Apple Products for playback.  Make sure you are encoding your files correctly.

Mp3 format, 44.1khz sample rate (Or 48khz works too), 128kbps CBR bitrate is best.

If you are using WordPress and PowerPress for your podcast feed currently,  DO NOT move your site to another platform (Squarespace, Wix, etc) without first making arrangements for your podcast RSS feed. Your show will be gone if you move before you think about your show. Contact us for options! (BEFORE you move).

Promo code INSIDER for a free month at Blubrry.com

Coming at you this week from two very separate podcast studios in Michigan.

Welcome to a special celebration episode of Podcast Insider, our 200th episode. Mike and MacKenzie hosted and shared some memories and past episode clips from over the years.

Before they begin the reminiscing, they discuss a variety of podcast news articles - spending quite a bit of time on Spotify and Apple. Apple has released a new daily show, and Spotify has a new exclusive show with Michelle Obama.

Thanks for joining us this episode of Podcast Insider. Looking to be a guest on the show? Let us know.

Recorded live from two well-separated and socially distant podcast studios in northern Michigan and central Ohio; here’s a Podcast Insider show LIVE.

News:

Apple now has a new podcast,  Apple Daily News.

Spotify now has podcast charts! Available for about 25 markets and top 50 results. They also announced Spotify is now available in Russia, but only the music portion with podcasting to come later most likely.

SiriusXM update! The confirmed selling price for Stitcher’s sale to SiriusXM was $325 million. Congratulations to Scripps!

Rode announced the winners of their contest, “My Rodecast 2020”.

New podcast: There Are No Girls On The Internet

IAB Podcast Revenue study - Comedy is #1

The Michelle Obama Podcast, a Spotify exclusive, will debut on July 29. Nine episodes total released weekly.

Replacing Best Practices:

History of this podcast ... our this may be a bad practice

The podcast originally started  started as The PowerPress Podcast, with MacKenzie as host

Then on March 17, 2017 Todd and Mike decided to start Your Podcast. 

We combined them into this show, Podcast Insider, a year ago.

Episode 200 is the sum of all of the shows.

Blubrry News:

We have installed SpeakPipe on PodcastInsider.com so you can send in your questions, comments or other feedback to the show and we may use it in the show.  The button is under the subscribe links on the sidebar of Podcast Insider. Leave us messages!

Interview:

Nothing this week, we're looking for guests! Let us interview you for the show!  Tell your story of podcasting right here on Podcast Insider.  Email [email protected], [email protected] or [email protected].

Support:

Changing Artwork: When you want to change artwork, simply upload the new artwork to your settings.  In PowerPress you have to put the link to the artwork in two places in the Podcast Artwork menu. Upload it once and copy and paste the URL to the other box. Make sure your artwork file name is NOT the same as the last version of the artwork. This could delay it getting to all the apps and directories.  There is no set time for them to update but most will update within 72 hours.

Along the same lines, changing the TITLE of your show. You simply change the “feed title” and it will get PULLED into the directories and apps the same as any other change to your RSS feed.

Email addresses: Make sure you have an email address you check (not a spam catcher email) in the RSS feed settings.

Promo code INSIDER for a free month at Blubrry.com

Coming at you this week from two very separate podcast studios in Michigan. Produced by the Blubrry Pro-Production team.

Schedule a one-on-one with Todd (hosting customers only) Email [email protected]

Schedule a tech checkup with Mike (hosting customers only) Email [email protected]

Send us your podcast sticker and a self-address stamped envelope (SASE) and we will send you a Blubrry care package.

Our mailing address is:

Blubrry – MacKenzie

150 E. Campus View Blvd. #180

Columbus, Ohio 43235

Todd and Mike are Navy and Air Force veterans, respectfully, and recently spoke with a veteran podcast, be sure to stick around for this weeks interview portion.

Stitcher has recently been acquired by SiriusXM for a reported $300 million, only five years after it was bought by Scripps. Spotify and Omnicom are also working on a deal concerning advertising in podcasting, and Pandora is considering a paywall feature for podcasts. It's been a busy week for podcast purchasing.

But, if there was any doubt, we now know that podcasting is at an all-time high, with more podcasts created in the first half of 2020 than all of 2019, thanks COVID.

We've got some Blubrry updates and news, featuring an interview with Todd as CEO and the idea of podcasting with kids.

Facebook Live Recording.

Thanks for joining us this episode of Podcast Insider. Looking to be a guest on the show? Let us know.

Recorded live from two well-separated and socially distant podcast studios in northern and southern Michigan, here’s a Podcast Insider show LIVE.

This week on Podcast Insider…

News:

SiriusXM Buying Stitcher from Scripps for $300 Million

More new podcasts in 2020 so far than ALL of 2019.  There are currently 1.3 million 'active' shows.

Spotify and Omnicom: Spotify got a 20 million payday from Omnicom for ad measurement.

Pandora experiments with a paywall for podcasts. How will listeners react?

Are ID3 tags needed any more? For SEO, or really anything. Thanks, Cridland.

Best Practices:

Should your show talk about current news and events that are unrelated to your podcast topic?

If the news effects the topic of your show, then yes, talk about it.

If your show is “evergreen”, you might not want to date the content by talking about current events.

If your audience is coming to your show for something OTHER than the news, it might not be a good idea to address current events.

Blubrry News:

Major overhaul of our checkout process. Upgrades and downgrades are a breeze and prorated now.

Recently on our blog: Podcasting with Kids.

In case you missed it recently: Todd was featured in Columbus CEO, and now it’s been run in the Columbus Dispatch.

PowerPress 8.4 will allow people to create an account at Blubrry, right from PowerPress  (For Free stats, Pro Stats or Hosting).

Interview:

Stigma Free Vet Zone - An Interview with Mike Orban and Bob Bach

Support: 

Advanced Menu in PowerPress: Unless you’re publishing more than one show/podcast, or utilizing the playlist player, you do not need to turn on the Advanced Menu. Those extras are unnecessary for most podcasters, so just keep it simple.

Spotify Stats: The Spotify statistics section is still visible in Blubrry stats, but has been discontinued since March 2020. Your Spotify stats (if you submitted via Blubrry) are now the main stats section, located under Clients.

Podcasting with a team?: If so, if possible please assign one person to work on the website and podcast settings. That way there is one person that knows what was changed, when and why.

Voicemails!: We’re adding Speakpipe for website voicemails to Podcast Insider.  We want to encourage you to ask questions about podcasting and comment on what we talk about here, and best of all we may use your comments on the show.

Connect with Mike and Bob here...

Website

Email

Facebook

LinkedIn

Promo code INSIDER for a free month at Blubrry.com

Coming at you this week from two very separate podcast studios in Michigan. Produced by the Blubrry Pro-Production team.

It's well-known that we encourage podcasters to use WordPress for their podcast - website as well as RSS feed. With any service there are dos and don'ts, pros and cons. This episode Todd and Mike discuss those and more when it comes to maximizing results using WordPress for your podcast.

The Nod, has been a hot topic recently as the hosts would like to gain ownership over their show but have been met with resistance from the company behind the show - of which they worked for. Blubrry has always been big promotors of owning your brand, IP, RSS feed, etc - while not always easy and possible - it prompted a great discussion with this episode.

Those of you in the U.S, enjoy your socially distant 4th of July!

Facebook Live Recording.

Thanks for joining us this episode of Podcast Insider. Looking to be a guest on the show? Let us know.

Recorded live from two well-separated and socially distant podcast studios in northern and southern Michigan, here’s a Podcast Insider show LIVE.

This week on Podcast Insider…

News:

No more recommendation letters for the Podcast Academy. Earlier this week they removed the requirement, which means it is now easier to become a member.

The podcast hosts of the show The Nod want their show back from Spotify/Gimlet.

From the team that provides an annual conference, Podcast Movement University. A virtual event, SHIFT Conference will commence on July 14, check out the site for more info.

BBC is starting a new unit for podcasting.

The Google Podcasts creator program is accepting applications.

Not to be confused with the water bottles... are you Swellcasting yet? It's a new app sort of like Twitter for audio called Swell.

25% of Latinos are podcast listeners.

NPR’s Invisibilia gets new hosts. New hosts have been previously involved in the show.

Pablo Torre becomes the new host of The ESPN Daily Podcast in August.

Best Practices:

Make sure your audience can contact you from your website

Email address and/or contact form.

Social media links to your profiles.

Voicemail line or Speakpipe link.

If you have guests, make sure you include a section in the show notes for their contact information.

Blubrry News:

Todd (and Rob G.) had Adam Curry (The Podfather) as a guest on the New Media Show yesterday.

We are out tomorrow for the 4th of July (observed on the 3rd). Please keep in mind our staff will be largely unavailable.

Podcast Awards nominations are open!

Support:

If you are using WordPress it’s important to keep everything (plugins, themes, and WordPress itself) up-to-date. Hackers look at any updates and then figure out what is hackable in the old version; then they target sites using that old version.

On the same topic, if you are not using a plugin, delete it. There is no need to have extra code on your website.

Be careful when you hire someone to design your website. It might not feel as intimidating or essential as hiring an employee but you are relying on them to help you move forward with your entire brand. Make sure they are knowledgeable about podcasting and how that integrates to your website; remember many podcast RSS feeds come from their website.

The main thing is to keep your WordPress site as clean and uncluttered (on the back end, but it’s not a bad idea for the front end as well) as you can. The less plugins you have, typically, the better it will run.

Promo code INSIDER for a free month at Blubrry.com

Coming at you this week from two very separate podcast studios in Michigan. Produced by the Blubrry Pro-Production team.

Podcasting the Blubrry way - what does this really mean?

We strive to make our service as easy as possible for all podcasters, without losing the power that podcasting really has and that we want podcasters to have control over. This truly is a medium that you're able to have branding, marketing, and most importantly your own voice with, and in our own Blubrry way we set you up for success. Mike and Todd go on to discuss the positive ways we make this possible for all podcasters.

This episode they also talk about some newcomers to podcasting and an update to Spotify for podcast ads and sponsors. And speaking of directories and apps, Scripps might be looking to sell Stitcher, less than five years after their acquisition.

Thanks for Kevin Pannell for joining us this episode to discuss his podcast, People Process Progress.

Facebook Live Recording.

Thanks for joining us this episode of Podcast Insider. Looking to be a guest on the show? Let us know.

Recorded live from two well-separated and socially distant podcast studios in northern and southern Michigan, here’s a Podcast Insider show LIVE.

This week on Podcast Insider…

News:

CBC is using an old radio show as a new podcast.

Spotify is introducing a new feature for ads: In-App Offers

Is Scripps looking to sell Stitcher?

iHeart is utilizing radio to promote their podcasts.

Let's welcome CourtTV to podcasting. Their first show is Murder and the Menendez Brothers: A Court TV Mystery

Best Practices:

Back to Basics. Own your show, completely!

Purchase your own domain name

You should have a home base for your podcast, preferably not owned by someone else

A home base means better SEO!

YOUR branding for YOUR show

Blubrry News:

The intentionalism of ‘The Blubrry Way’

Slowly but surely we're making progress on on UX/UI work

PowerPress 8.4 is getting close to a beta release; if you'd like to test, let us know!

Interview:

Kevin Pannell - People Process Progress

Support:

Replying to old tickets and emails: Don’t do this. If you have a new issue the support team needs to look at and assist with, send us a new ticket.

Play your published episode: It’s a breeze publishing an episode, but after it’s been done hit play just to make sure it actually does work properly. On the off chance it doesn’t work, you’d rather find that out yourself than a listener, right?

Linking your Blubrry account to PowerPress:

You are logging into your Blubrry.com account FROM your WordPress account

Saved passwords will not work (in most cases the password manager thinks you are logging into your WordPress site instead)

This obviously only applies to those using Blubrry stats (free or paid) or hosting.

Spotify… How it really works (at Blubrry)

Spotify requires you to be hosting at Blubrry to submit via our dashboard. Not just have a hosting account, but the files have to be hosted at Blubrry.com.

Your files should be in mp3 format. M4A will not work at Spotify directly. We have to transcode.

We utilize Passthrough, so your stats for Spotify will be collected in with your main Blubrry stats.

If you are moving to Blubrry from another host that submitted your show to Spotify, you have to have them remove your show from Spotify before you can submit it via Blubrry.

Show Titles: Remember, the simpler the better. Keyword stuffing not only looks bad, but can potentially get you removed from directories.

Connect with Kevin here...

Choosing podcast gear can seem overwhelming, and we break down some suggestions on what new podcasters should get. Not only do we provide suggestions on what to get, but also what not to purchase or focus on when getting your podcast started.

There was quite a bit of news in podcasting this week including a SiriusXM acquisition, a new Spotify podcast and Podcast Academy update about submissions to apply to be part of the newly formed academy.

And thanks for York Campbell for joining Todd to share the story about why he started his podcast.

Lastly, a kind reminder that now is the time when many team members will take some time off, please be patient with the team.

Facebook Live Recording.

Thanks for joining us this episode of Podcast Insider. Looking to be a guest on the show? Let us know.

Recorded live from two well-separated and socially distant podcast studios in northern and southern Michigan, here’s a Podcast Insider show LIVE.

This week on Podcast Insider…

News:

Podcast listening has jumped 26% since Q1 2020. This data is according to Edison Research and they’re attributing COVID as one of the main reasons for the increase.

SiriusXM acquires Simplecast.

Podcasts are winning Peabody Awards, four podcasts to be exact. Congrats to WNYC Studios, Montana Public Radio, APM Reports, and BBC Sounds.

Patreon will start collecting sales tax in July 2020. It will affect some U.S. states and many countries.

Kim Kardashian West signs exclusive podcast deal with Spotify.

Twitter voice memos capture up to 140 seconds of audio.

Best Practices: What gear do you need to podcast?

 A decent microphone

Dynamic will be easier.

USB is ok as long as it’s not a Snowball/Yeti.

A way to connect it to the computer or recorder.  A mixer is NOT required if you have a USB interface and are podcasting solo. 

A way to record (stand-alone recorder or computer) 

Portable recorders are good as long as you use an external microphone (in most cases, the built-in mics pick up a lot of noise).

Basic editing/recording software for the computer.

A quiet environment to record

The knowledge that once you get the sound good and checked off the list, you are free to create content and not worry about gear anymore. Gear can be fun, but don’t spend all your time worrying about it.

Blubrry News:

Allanté Whitmore, Blubrry Podcaster of the month!

Private Internal Podcasting: our PIP mobile apps are almost ready to be accepted and released in iOS and Android app stores.

Interview:

York Campbell - Poetic Earthlings

Support:

Password Managers: There are too many passwords to remember when podcasting. I.e WordPress, Blubrry, Apple, Google, email, etc. etc. A solid password manager is a great tool to have and use; it will make life a little easier for you (and the support team).

Getting started with Blubrry hosting: Please, use the videos on this page: Getting Started. Once you do, if you have specific questions, contact us. Those videos should answer most getting started questions, and if they don’t, we'll fix them. 

Shownotes: We’re researching what part of the post is displayed in various podcast apps and directories. We’ll provide a guide soon based on what we find. The support team recommends to put whatever you want to display in all apps/directories in the blog post content and let the apps do what they want.

I (Mike) need a vacation! This is the time of year where many of our staff and the staff of other companies will be taking some time off

The past few weeks have been crazy busy with releases here at Blubrry, and Mike and Todd review them in this episode of Podcast Insider.

Our most recent release, Blubrry podcast hosting now available via the AWS Marketplace, a first in the podcast industry. And private internal podcasting is already in the works for podcasters. We can't forget that we also released PowerPress 8.3, which included a major look and feel overhaul.

Before they get into Blubrry's news, they discuss podcast length, PocketCasts issues in China, a new audience donation option, equipment updates, and whats going on with Luminary.

Note: We had some glitches on the live show, but Kate and the Blubrry Pro team fixed them in the recording!

Facebook Live Recording.

Thanks for joining us this episode of Podcast Insider. Looking to be a guest on the show? Let us know.

Recorded live from two well-separated and socially distant podcast studios in northern and southern Michigan, here’s a Podcast Insider show LIVE.

This week on Podcast Insider…

News:

Podcasts have gotten shorter over the last 5 years. They’ve gotten shorter by about 10 minutes since 2015.

PocketCasts has been removed by Apple from the Apple China Store. PocketCasts was contacted and notified shortly before the removal. (also Castro was removed) 

Podhero, a new listener donation app for podcasting. For audiences that would like to donate to multiple shows and not sure how to do so easily, this seems like a simple solution.

The RØDECaster Pro released a firmware 2.1 update, which offers a set of new features. Such as master bus compressor, broadcast-style level metering (in dBFS, not PPM nor short-term LUFS), and multitrack recording can now be achieved “post-fader”. The companion app has also been improved, including direct uploads to podcast platforms and firmware updating straight from the app itself.

A conversation with Luminary, what they need to do in the future to be successful, but not sure how they might get there.

Best Practices:

Planning for the long haul what your show will look like in two years.

Advertising: Placement or time hacks for future ad spots.

Prep your audience: Let your audience know beforehand that you may be commercializing the show.

Regular support requests: Get your audience used to supporting the show through volunteering and/or monetary support.

For you: what do you want to get out of your show?

For your audience: what do you want to provide to your audience?

Blubrry News:

Blubrry Pro Hosting is now available on the AWS Marketplace. Check out the highlights:

First in podcasting to offer this capability

Truly SAAS (software-as-a-service)

No contract negotiations

Billing is already handled in AWS, users AWS billing units Setting up special billing

IT/Dev/owner just adds the service to AWS

Scenarios for AWS Marketplace

Use our services like normal

Publish through Dashboard

Publish through your WordPress site

Roll your own and Complete API Integration

Our new service, Private Internal Podcasting, now has demo accounts.

Mobile apps waiting on approval.

Interview: We want you on our show! Set up an interview with Todd, Mike or MacKenzie to tell your podcast story on Podcast Insider.

Support:

Best Ways to reach support and get help, in order of fastest to slowest.

Submit a ticket! You can do this on our website, found in our footer. www.blubrry.com/contact/

A phone call during business hours. Available from 9am-5pm EST, Monday through Friday or leave a message.

Submit an email to the support team,

Happy Birthday, Todd!

Here at Blubrry, we're big believers that podcasters should have a website for their podcast, and it turns out we're not the only one. Check out the article listed below that details reasons why a podcaster should always have a website for their show.

Submitting your podcast to directories is critical so people can find your show everywhere, and owning those listings is important is any issues come up and the directory team needs to contact you.

We've been talking about our PowerPress update for a while now and earlier this week it finally went live. PowerPress 8.3 is ready and available for all users, with significant user interface changes.

Facebook Live Recording.

Thanks for joining us on this episode of Podcast Insider. Looking to be a guest on the show? Let us know.

Recorded live from two well-separated and socially distant podcast studios in northern and southern Michigan, here’s a Podcast Insider show LIVE.

This week on Podcast Insider...

News:

Infinite Dial 2020 Canada, happened earlier today, at 1PM EST today.

Why it’s critical to have a website for your podcast, from Brenden Mulligan.

According to a recent survey, Joe Rogan could lose a chunk of his audience by going exclusive with Spotify.

Podthon is happening July 18-19, 2020, as a virtual summit.

96,537 podcasts were added to Apple in May (a new record), according to My Podcast Reviews.

Best Practices:

Submitting to the Directories and Apps

One published episode is required to submit to directories. Typically most podcast apps only download the last episode if you’re subscribed. Submitting multiple episodes at launch may have disadvantages such as only the last episode is downloaded when someone subscribes. Older episodes may or may not be listened to. 

Episodes can not be made private and continue to be published in directories. One episode has to be public to be found.

Launches work best when you’ve already submitted an episode zero or pilot episode. That way, you can ensure your new episodes will be found in directories on launch day.

Submit to directories yourself; do not leave this up to a third-party organization (such as your hosting company).

Blubrry News:

PowerPress 8.3 is out, finally!

Columbus CEO Magazine featured Todd Cochrane

Meet Toby, he works on our Pro-Production team, article on our blog.

Interview:

We want you on our show! Set up an interview with Todd, Mike, or MacKenzie to tell your podcast story on Podcast Insider.

Support:

All the how-to videos for PowerPress 8.3 have been updated. Give them a look if you’d like to review changes made and how to find everything.

Podcasting by Committee: AKA too many people involved in the tech side of your show. Designate one or two people on your team that will take care of all tech and interact with support. 

Mike’s favorite tools for ensuring your podcast feed is healthy after publishing an episode:

CastFeedValidator.com - Check your feed here after posting a new episode

Firefox Browser with the RSSPreview plugin/add-on - Load your feed in Firefox to see if the post shows up and that it has a working mp3 link in it (click on the mp3 link).

Chrome Browser - Load your feed in Chrome to make sure it comes up as XML code and not plain text / HTML (this only works if you are not using a service that formats your feed like Podcast Mirror or Blubrry.com based feeds).

Play Your Show - Try the player on your website to make sure it plays.

Subscribe to Your Show - Apple or either Apple Podcasts or Google Podcasts and make sure YOU get the episode. (Stitcher, Tunein, Spotify,