Podcast Pontifications

I think anyone who wants to have a podcast should have a podcast. Or at least try it on for size and see if it’s for them.

But the reality is that podcasting is not for everyone. 

I think we podcasters need to be more honest and upfront with that reality during our conversations with people who express an interest in podcasting. 

When a business, perhaps a business you work for, asks you about podcasting, they may not realize the actual work and have a poor understanding of likely outcomes. Don’t let them disappointed or cause them to wonder why you weren’t more forthcoming.

While talking to your creative friends about podcasting, help them understand the time and effort it will take them to new skills necessary to be creative in a new medium.

When your super-smart friends ask, let them know how different podcasting is from other ways they express their knowledge, and that just because you make podcasting look easy; it’s not.

We owe it to the people in our lives to be every bit as honest as we are encouraging. Because nothing sours a working relationship or friendship like missed expectations. 

Links Mentioned:

• Proof of nearly 4 million podcasts -  https://podcastindex.org

• Sign up to PPIYI for free - https://podcastpontifications.com/#subscribe

• Support Evo on Buy Me A Coffee - https://www.buymeacoffee.com/evoterra

-----

A written-to-be-read article and a full transcript of the audio of this episode can be found at https://podcastpontifications.com/episode/give-them-an-excuse-not-to-podcast

https://twitter.com/evoterra for more podcasting insights from Evo Terra as they come.

Buy him a virtual coffee to show your support at https://BuyMeACoffee.com/evoterra.

And if you need a professional in your podcasting corner, please visit https://Simpler.Media to see how Simpler Media Productions can help you reach your business objectives with podcasting.

Evo Terra produces Podcast Pontifications four times a week to provide ideas and ask questions every working podcaster should be thinking about. Subscribe today at https://PodcastPontifications.com

Mentioned in this episode:

Support For Abortion Rights

While Americans overwhelmingly support the right of an individual to make their own decisions about abortion, unfortunately, that right is no longer protected everywhere in the U.S. The Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade on June 24th.

My friend Andrew asked a question on Twitter, which boils down to this: Do podcast listening apps bear responsibility for the podcasts that they promote to listeners? 

My comment back to Andrew on Twitter was a qualified MAYBE. 

If the decision was purely algorithmic and assuming the algorithm isn’t being gamed, then probably not. However, if including the show or episode was an editorial decision, then the human that made that editorial decision bears responsibility, and thereby the app itself. 

Not surprisingly, I've been thinking a little more broadly about that notion.

As podcasters, we have to take responsibility for the guests we have on our show and/or the topics we discuss on our podcast. We also bear responsibility for our own guest appearances or contributions on other podcasts. And I think we bear responsibility for the podcasts we suggest to others. 

We need to own our own responsibility and let it spread through all the things we do in podcasting. If enough of us take the same approach, we’ll start to make a difference and encourage others to do the same. 

Links Mentioned:

• Andrew’s Tweet that started all of this -  https://twitter.com/Clew_less/status/1397091727379505156?s=20

• My comment back - https://twitter.com/evoterra/status/1397153840303001600?s=20

• Sign up to PPIYI for free - https://podcastpontifications.com/#subscribe

• Support Evo on Buy Me A Coffee - https://www.buymeacoffee.com/evoterra

-----

A written-to-be-read article and a full transcript of the audio of this episode can be found at https://podcastpontifications.com/episode/pushing-podcasting-the-responsible-way

https://twitter.com/evoterra for more podcasting insights from Evo Terra as they come.

Buy him a virtual coffee to show your support at https://BuyMeACoffee.com/evoterra.

And if you need a professional in your podcasting corner, please visit https://Simpler.Media to see how Simpler Media Productions can help you reach your business objectives with podcasting.

Evo Terra produces Podcast Pontifications four times a week to provide ideas and ask questions every working podcaster should be thinking about. Subscribe today at https://PodcastPontifications.com

Photo by Carl Heyerdahl on Unsplash

Mentioned in this episode:

Support For Abortion Rights

While Americans overwhelmingly support the right of an individual to make their own decisions about abortion, unfortunately, that right is no longer protected everywhere in the U.S. The Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade on June 24th.

Would it surprise you to learn the most popular podcast listening app, as reported by actual listeners, is not Apple Podcasts or Spotify, but actually YouTube? 

Yes, your podcast’s analytics package reports something quite different. That’s mostly due to differences in accounting between listening platforms and the podcast industry’s obsession with the pointless metric of “download”.

But it’s also because podcasters aren’t playing to the strengths of listening/watching services used by living, breathing humans to more than just listen to podcasts.

Far too few of us make the type of content that works well on YouTube, preferring instead the low-effort (and low-result) approach of uploading full episodes only.

Few, if any, of us are experimenting with alternate cuts and remastered versions of our episodes on Spotify, when that’s been a staple of the music industry since the music industry started.

Every year we hear from consumers that they listen to our shows in ways we have trouble wrapping our heads around. And every year, we close our eyes to the reality staring us in the face and resume our efforts of trying to distribute our episodes everywhere with as little effort as possible.

What would you change about your podcast publishing if you considered your Apple Podcasts audience different from your Spotify audience, which is distinctly different from your YouTube audience?

Because they are all three distinctly different audiences. Perhaps it’s time to treat them as such.

Links Mentioned:

• Edison Research Podcast Consumer Tracker - https://www.edisonresearch.com/the-podcast-consumer-quarterly-tracking-report/

• Tom Webster’s article - https://tomwebster.media/archive/platform-wars/

• Overcast - https://overcast.fm/

• Podcast Pontifications In Your Inbox - https://podcastpontifications.com/#subscribe

• Coffee Membership: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/evoterra

-----

A written-to-be-read article and a full transcript of the audio of this episode can be found at https://podcastpontifications.com/episode/facing-podcastings-round-peg-square-hole-problem

https://twitter.com/evoterra for more podcasting insights from Evo Terra as they come.

Buy him a virtual coffee to show your support at https://BuyMeACoffee.com/evoterra.

And if you need a professional in your podcasting corner, please visit https://Simpler.Media to see how Simpler Media Productions can help you reach your business objectives with podcasting.

Evo Terra produces Podcast Pontifications four times a week to provide ideas and ask questions every working podcaster should be thinking about. Subscribe today at https://PodcastPontifications.com

Photo by Tomáš Petz on Unsplash

Mentioned in this episode:

Support For Abortion Rights

While Americans overwhelmingly support the right of an individual to make their own decisions about abortion, unfortunately, that right is no longer protected everywhere in the U.S. The Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade on June 24th.

Podcasting is in a period of accelerated growth. As of this morning, Podcast Index is tracking close to 4 million shows. And nearly a quarter of a million of them were published in only the last ten days. More articles about podcasting are appearing in mainstream media. More consolidation is happening internally, and companies outside of podcasting are investing money to get in. 

All of that means more opportunities are abundant for all of us podcasters. So, of course, you should get your fair share by saying YES quite a lot! 

But as you, your podcast, and the podcasting space itself continue to mature, it's equally important to know when to say NO.

Saying NO to the wrong client can save you a lot of stress. 

Saying NO to the wrong guest can keep you from chasing vanity metrics.

Saying NO to the wrong advertiser can increase the value of your show.

Saying NO to the wrong opportunity to present at a workshop or event can protect your integrity.

Saying NO to the wrong collaboration can keep you from disillusionment. 

Not that you should be dismissive. You should take the time to examine the opportunities sent to you. And if one seems the right fit, you should absolutely take it. But if it’s not the right deal, then don’t fret giving it a pass. Another deal will come along presently that’s a much better fit for you.

Links Mentioned:

• Podcast Index - https://podcastindex.org/

• Podcast Pontifications In Your Inbox - https://podcastpontifications.com/#subscribe

• Coffee Membership: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/evoterra

-----

A written-to-be-read article and a full transcript of the audio of this episode can be found at https://podcastpontifications.com/episode/knowing-when-to-say-no-to-podcasting-opportunities

https://twitter.com/evoterra for more podcasting insights from Evo Terra as they come.

Buy him a virtual coffee to show your support at https://BuyMeACoffee.com/evoterra.

And if you need a professional in your podcasting corner, please visit https://Simpler.Media to see how Simpler Media Productions can help you reach your business objectives with podcasting.

Evo Terra produces Podcast Pontifications four times a week to provide ideas and ask questions every working podcaster should be thinking about. Subscribe today at https://PodcastPontifications.com

Photo by Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash

Mentioned in this episode:

Support For Abortion Rights

While Americans overwhelmingly support the right of an individual to make their own decisions about abortion, unfortunately, that right is no longer protected everywhere in the U.S. The Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade on June 24th.

Today’s article is not about mental health, but it is adjacent. Before continuing, realize I am not a psychologist. If you have a personality disorder, are in therapy, or are working in any capacity with a professional mental health provider, do what they say. Not this yokel. 

There's a lot that we can change about our podcasts we feel like we need a change. Like our topics, our angles, the format, branding elements, and myriad other changes, some subtle and some gigantic, that we can make to our podcasts. 

But what about changing our personality?

I think there are some aspects of your personality that are “affected habits” if you will. A sort of “muscle memory” of brain-behavior that is expressed outwardly, to use a layperson's and probably clumsy metaphor.

Take me, who’s rush to joke gets in the way of being a good interviewer. I’m learning to suppress that affected behavior by interviewing people (on a different podcast) on markedly un-funny topics.

Take Don, a long-time podcaster experimenting for the first time short-form, scripted content in a semi-private, limited-run show. 

Take Terry, a newer podcaster who tends to get tangential who’s learning to (and being rewarded for) stay tight and succinct on a short-form video platform.

Are any of those examples really a changed personality? I don’t know. But I do know that each represents someone who’s making (and able to make) a decision on which parts of their personality to emphasize and expose, and which ones they de-emphasize and keep out of the podcasts you hear.

We’re all three trying to make better podcasts. Not just for us, but for our audiences as well.

-----

A written-to-be-read article and a full transcript of the audio of this episode can be found at https://podcastpontifications.com/episode/playing-up-or-down-your-podcasting-personality

https://twitter.com/evoterra for more podcasting insights from Evo Terra as they come.

Buy him a virtual coffee to show your support at https://BuyMeACoffee.com/evoterra.

And if you need a professional in your podcasting corner, please visit https://Simpler.Media to see how Simpler Media Productions can help you reach your business objectives with podcasting.

Evo Terra produces Podcast Pontifications four times a week to provide ideas and ask questions every working podcaster should be thinking about. Subscribe today at https://PodcastPontifications.com

Photo by Elizaveta Dushechkina on Unsplash

Mentioned in this episode:

Support For Abortion Rights

While Americans overwhelmingly support the right of an individual to make their own decisions about abortion, unfortunately, that right is no longer protected everywhere in the U.S. The Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade on June 24th.

If it isn’t abundantly clear, I have more than a passing interest in making podcasting better, not just easier. Oftentimes, podcasters who listen to or read my words are inspired to take some concepts back to their show, making their own podcasts better. 

In no particular order, here are 9 ways you can give back to podcasting and make podcasting better

1. Write a niche newsletter

2. Buy something advertised on a smaller podcast

3. Volunteer to help at a podcast event

4. Participate in PodRevDay 

5. Share podcasts outside of your podcasting circles 

6. Try out new podcasting tools and services and share your experience

7. Become a mentor to a less-experienced podcaster

8. Host a local podcasting meetup in your town

9. Start collaborating with other podcasters

Links Mentioned:

• PodRevDay: https://www.podchaser.com/articles/community/podrevday

• Podchaser: https://www.podchaser.com/

• What is an IHNI? https://podcastpontifications.com/episode/the-gateway-drug-to-podcasting-is-you

• The Podcast Academy’s Mentorship program: https://www.thepodcastacademy.com/mentorship

-----

A written-to-be-read article and a full transcript of the audio of this episode can be found at https://podcastpontifications.com/episode/how-can-you-give-back-to-podcasting

https://twitter.com/evoterra for more podcasting insights from Evo Terra as they come.

Buy him a virtual coffee to show your support at https://BuyMeACoffee.com/evoterra.

And if you need a professional in your podcasting corner, please visit https://Simpler.Media to see how Simpler Media Productions can help you reach your business objectives with podcasting.

Evo Terra produces Podcast Pontifications four times a week to provide ideas and ask questions every working podcaster should be thinking about. Subscribe today at https://PodcastPontifications.com

Photo by Gary Bendig on Unsplash

Mentioned in this episode:

Support For Abortion Rights

While Americans overwhelmingly support the right of an individual to make their own decisions about abortion, unfortunately, that right is no longer protected everywhere in the U.S. The Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade on June 24th.

Last night was the Ambies, the annual awards ceremony from The Podcast Academy, of which I am a dues-paying member. If you work in the podcasting industry, you’re probably familiar with the list of winners and nominees. But I’d wager that the average weekly podcast listener wouldn’t be able to say the same.

The “screw you, big media!” mentality didn’t seem to hold true among the winners last night, with professional production houses and networks taking home multiple Ambies. Big Podcasting media, which is a lot less fractured and a lot more centralized than indie podcasting, has some pretty great chops.

I doubt it was the easy road last night’s winners traveled. And for those who might have recorded parts of their Ambie-winning podcasts in their closets, none of them sounded like they were recorded in a closet. 

That’s what originally attracted me to The Ambies: a focus on excellence in podcasting that would go beyond podcasting. But let’s be realistic: Awards ceremonies that elevate the best are a zero-sum game. When we elevate the best-sounding shows, all other shows lose. It doesn’t matter if you think a show is a winner. It doesn’t matter if the producers think their show is a winner. It doesn’t matter if the deeply engaged extant listening audience thinks the show they love is a winner. Statistically speaking, the show you or they want to win is going to lose. It probably won’t even be nominated.

So yes, we should absolutely bolster the up-and-coming, indie-minded podcaster. Without question, we should be working to bring new voices into podcasting. There’s plenty of room and we should go out of our way to make sure anyone curious about podcasting is encouraged to jump in.

But I also think we need to do our part in talking up award-winning podcasts to people outside of podcasting. 

Links Mentioned:

• My Podchaser list of the 2021 Ambie Award winners: https://www.podchaser.com/lists/ambies-2021-winners---the-podcast-academy-107aDrdG49

• The list from The Podcast Academy, which oddly does not link to any of the shows: https://www.podchaser.com/lists/ambies-2021-winners---the-podcast-academy-107aDrdG49

-----

A written-to-be-read article and a full transcript of the audio of this episode can be found at https://podcastpontifications.com/episode/podcasting-for-the-brass-ring

https://twitter.com/evoterra for more podcasting insights from Evo Terra as they come.

Buy him a virtual coffee to show your support at https://BuyMeACoffee.com/evoterra.

And if you need a professional in your podcasting corner, please visit https://Simpler.Media to see how Simpler Media Productions can help you reach your business objectives with podcasting.

Evo Terra produces Podcast Pontifications four times a week to provide ideas and ask questions every working podcaster should be thinking about. Subscribe today at https://PodcastPontifications.com

Photo by Jason Dent on Unsplash

Mentioned in this episode:

Support For Abortion Rights

While Americans overwhelmingly support the right of an individual to make their own decisions about abortion, unfortunately, that right is no longer protected everywhere in the U.S. The Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade on June 24th.

To me, I equate happiness to contentment. That’s not the same thing as complacency, which is to be avoided. What makes me content about my podcasting journey may not be (and likely will not be) the same thing that makes you content about your podcasting journey. We both have to chart our own paths toward happiness and contentment.

Doing More To Achieve Podcasting Happiness

Sometimes doing more with your podcast can greatly increase your level of happiness. Like  focus more effort in post-production, investing more in marketing or outreach to grow your audience, or spend more time building a bigger and better-connected community

Doing Less To Achieve Podcasting Contentment

Sometimes unburdening yourself from commitments can go a long way toward getting you to a more happy place as a podcaster. Can you outsource some podcasting tasks that you really don't enjoy?  What about cutting back on (or cutting out) a social platform that you don’t find all that enjoyable? Or reduce your episode output frequency to lower your stress and anxiety? 

Doing Things Differently To Achieve Podcasting Bliss

Maybe do different things to cause a positive outcome on your happiness and contentment as a podcaster.  You can shift the entire focus of your show if you're not happy with the direction Or you might consider joining a network or a collective. Or maybe something as simple as changing where you podcast will give you a fresh perspective and, with luck, increase your overall happiness as a podcaster.

Ultimately, your happiness is just that: your own happiness. So take control over it. Especially if you’ve tried to chase someone else's definition of what success in podcasting looks like and found it lacking. Podcast in a way that makes you as happy of a podcaster as you can be.

-----

A written-to-be-read article and a full transcript of the audio of this episode can be found at https://podcastpontifications.com/episode/the-happy-way-to-find-podcasting-success

https://twitter.com/evoterra for more podcasting insights from Evo Terra as they come.

Buy him a virtual coffee to show your support at https://BuyMeACoffee.com/evoterra.

And if you need a professional in your podcasting corner, please visit https://Simpler.Media to see how Simpler Media Productions can help you reach your business objectives with podcasting.

Evo Terra produces Podcast Pontifications four times a week to provide ideas and ask questions every working podcaster should be thinking about. Subscribe today at https://PodcastPontifications.com

Mentioned in this episode:

Support For Abortion Rights

While Americans overwhelmingly support the right of an individual to make their own decisions about abortion, unfortunately, that right is no longer protected everywhere in the U.S. The Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade on June 24th.

Unless you’re a famous celebrity, you need to be able to quickly and clearly communicate the uniqueness of your podcast. 

But In my experience, a lot of podcast hosts out there don't know what their show is about. They know the mechanics, obviously. They know the pieces and the features that make up their show. But they don’t know what it is that makes their show special. Or at least they’re unable to properly articulate what makes their show special. They themselves fail to understand the why behind their podcast. 

Understanding your show’s brand identity allows you to have zero doubt the next time you sit down to work on your next episode or season. You’ll know—deeply and simply—what it is that makes your show unique and different from similar podcasts. 

But only if you understand it.

Links Mentioned:

• Simpler Media - https://simpler.media

• IAB Podcast Upfront - https://www.iab.com/events/podcast-upfront-2021

• Brand identity questions - https://www.lean-labs.com/blog/creating-a-brand-identity-20-questions-to-consider

-----

A written-to-be-read article and a full transcript of the audio of this episode can be found at https://podcastpontifications.com/episode/discovering-what-makes-your-podcast-uniquely-yours

https://twitter.com/evoterra for more podcasting insights from Evo Terra as they come.

Buy him a virtual coffee to show your support at https://BuyMeACoffee.com/evoterra.

And if you need a professional in your podcasting corner, please visit https://Simpler.Media to see how Simpler Media Productions can help you reach your business objectives with podcasting.

Evo Terra produces Podcast Pontifications four times a week to provide ideas and ask questions every working podcaster should be thinking about. Subscribe today at https://PodcastPontifications.com

Image credit: Photo by MARC RANGEL on Unsplash

Mentioned in this episode:

Support For Abortion Rights

While Americans overwhelmingly support the right of an individual to make their own decisions about abortion, unfortunately, that right is no longer protected everywhere in the U.S. The Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade on June 24th.

Podcasters put a lot of effort into building portfolios, media kits, websites, social shares, and myriad other ways to say “these are the things I do!”. But each of those highlighting efforts exists, at least in part, outside of podcasting. And when a listen-to-this example of your very fine work is given, it’s rarely in situ and is instead almost always provided outside of the full podcast experience.  

Let’s let podcasting showcase your podcasting work by making a brand new podcast that highlights your work. To accomplish this, we’ll use a brand new but highly constructed RSS feed where each podcast you want to showcase is self-contained in its own season, and each season consists of a single trailer and a single episode.

For example, if you’re a podcast producer and you want to showcase 10 podcasts you’ve worked on, your new show will consist of 10 seasons. Each season will contain a representative episode of just one of the podcasts you want to highlight. And that season will also have a “trailer” episode where you explain and call out the very specific work you did on the episode they’re about to hear. The result: 20 episodes.

You’ll likely need to tweak publishing dates to get your episodes to display properly in your RSS feed Luckily, most podcast media hosting companies will display your published episodes in their editing interface the same order they show in the RSS feed. However, I strongly suggest side-loading the RSS feed to a podcast app that will allow it (which means almost everyone except Spotify) and checking your work before you submit the new show anywhere.

Treat your new highlights podcast as you would any other aspect of your portfolio. Don’t let it languish, and don’t be afraid to remove content that’s no longer relevant or representative of your work. And add to it! Don’t worry about making regular updates—this isn’t that kind of podcast. Just add new seasons when you have something new to showcase.

Links mentioned in this episode:

• Bryan Barletta - https://twitter.com/highfiverpg

• Sounds Profitable - https://soundsprofitable.com

• Up Next - A Podcast Format Up Front - https://upnext.supercast.tech

-----

A written-to-be-read article and a full transcript of the audio of this episode can be found at https://podcastpontifications.com/episode/share-your-podcasting-brilliance-with-a-new-podcast

https://twitter.com/evoterra for more podcasting insights from Evo Terra as they come.

Buy him a virtual coffee to show your support at https://BuyMeACoffee.com/evoterra.

And if you need a professional in your podcasting corner, please visit https://Simpler.Media to see how Simpler Media Productions can help you reach your business objectives with podcasting.

Evo Terra produces Podcast Pontifications four times a week to provide ideas and ask questions every working podcaster should be thinking about. Subscribe today at https://PodcastPontifications.com

Image credit: Photo by Bankim Desai on Unsplash

Mentioned in this episode:

Support For Abortion Rights

While Americans overwhelmingly support the right of an individual to make their own decisions about abortion, unfortunately, that right is no longer protected everywhere in the U.S. The Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade on June 24th.