Podcast Pontifications

Podcasting's greatest strength -- room for unbridled creativity -- is also it's biggest weakness. For some, a wide open playground, with zero rules and unlimited freedom leads to some amazing creations.

But for many -- more, perhaps -- the lack of structure and rules leads to a sort of paralysis akin to the frustrated author staring at a blank page.

In this short episode, I'll talk about ways that adding in artificial constraints to your podcast can help you be creative in the right ways without alienating your audience (or potential audience.)

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 and punk share a similar origin story. Both "movements" had people on both sides of the equation wanting something different. The creators broke with tradition and created (often re-assembled from conventional products) content that an eager group of consumers couldn't get enough of. 

For punks it was music, clothing, lifestyle, and attitude. Eventually (or quickly, depending on your time-horizon) the mainstream picked up on the trend, and punk became fashionable. None of the true punks -- on either side of the equation -- ever wanted that. (Though I bet secretly, many did.)

Podcasting was that same way in the early days, with creators happily coming up with new formats, experimenting with new ways to tell stories, and re-mixing what conventional broadcasters had been doing for years. It didn't take long for that freedom and creativity to be noticed by the mainstream, and here we are less than 15 years later.

In this short episode, I explore how podcasts -- yes, even business podcasters -- should embrace the punk rock roots of podcasting to keep the creative spark. And maybe make a little money along the way.

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I make shows for professional firms that support business objectives. Visit https://podcastlaunch.pro for more info and ways to get in touch!

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.

Most serious podcasters know the importance of putting out a new episode on a consistent, regular basis. But that's hard to do every day (or week) of the year.

So while many pro podcasters reach back into their archives when they have no new content; I've a novel idea.

Why not rent out your podcast? 

The concept is simple, but takes a bit of planning and foresight. And yes, even business podcasts -- or perhaps especially business podcasts -- can take this approach. 

In this short episode, I'll walk you through the high-level concept, with a couple of pitfalls to watch out for. 

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I make shows for professional firms that support business objectives. Visit https://podcastlaunch.pro for more info and ways to get in touch!

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.

The words used on your show matter. Specifically, the words used to describe:

• the host(s) of the show
• the company/organization the show is for
• the people who listen to the podcast

You might think this doesn't matter, but it certainly does.

How much "you" should you put into a show? Many hosts are trying to be "influencers", where putting more you in your show is a good thing. Sometimes.

What about the company the show is for? Or the crew that helps put the show together? Is that worthy of the "we" treatment? How much should "we" be mentioned?

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, I'll convince you why you should never refer to your audience as "the audience" or any other collective noun.

Listen in! 

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.

You need your show to be "everywhere" to reduce the amount of friction it takes for a would-be listener to find and subscribe to it.

Historically, being "everywhere" was a bit of a challenge. Either you don't know where to submit (I submit to around 17 different locations), or you don't have the time it takes (a couple of hours) to do the deed.

Now, some aggregators and directories are offering to take care of that heavy lifting for you. And that's tempting to take them up on their offer.

But don't. You need to be in charge of your own future, and you can't if you don't have control over all the listings.

Don't get me wrong: I like easy. But there are some potential problems you may run into if you leave it to someone else. And those problems may impact the future of your podcast. Or at least take away your control from important places like Spotify, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts... and whoever is next.

Yeah... you don't want that.

Check out this short episode to learn more.

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.