School of Podcasting: Expert Tips for Launching and Growing Your Podcast

We all use different tools to create our episodes. I left the door WIDE OPEN for your responses and asked what was your favorite tool to create your show. The answers are very interesting.

Join the School of Podcasting Community

Are you looking to start your own podcast but don't know where to begin? Look no further than the School of Podcasting. Our comprehensive online courses and one-on-one coaching will teach you everything you need to know, from equipment and editing to marketing and monetization. With our proven methods and unlimited one-on-one consulting, you'll be creating high-quality, engaging content in no time. Say goodbye to the frustration and uncertainty and hello to a successful podcasting career with the School of Podcasting.

Use the coupon code schoolofpodcasting.com/listener to save 20%

Participants

Scott from What Was That Like? - Pre Chat Conversations via Squadcast 

Matt from The Author inside You loves Canva (so do I)

Louis from Love Thy Lawyer loves his Rodecaster Pro I (hard to find the new Rodecasterpro Duo is available for pre-order,

Sarah from the Kind Leadership Challenge thinks DELEGATION is her favorite tool. She uses Descript and an outside editor. 

Craig from InglesPodcast - values his co-host.

York from Welcome to Earth Stories loves Izotope.

Alison from Starzology loves Buzzsprout

Fred from Podcast Reporter loves Audacity

Mark from the History of North America also loves Audacity

Steve From stevestewart.me love Text Expander (SO DO I!)

Chris from Podtastic Audio loves Cleanfeed

Zo From Back Look Cinema loves Audacity

Dave Loves Switchy, which is a one-time payment on AppSumo

QUESTION OF THE MONTH

10 Words to Describe Your Show - Full description at:

https://www.schoolofpodcasting.com/question

Where Will I Be?

I look forward to seeing you all; please come up and say hi. To see my full itinerary, go to schoolofpodcasting.com/where

Mentioned in This Episode

Listenable by Bert Weiss

I get the "Is this good?" question when people first see their numbers. I'm going to share the launch numbers of two shows I did that got a "mild send off" and the shows are growing.

Before we get into stats, we need to understand that downloads are just ONE WAY to measure your success. I know our ego is involved but the problem with comparing your podcast stats with others is: Podcasting is a lot like golf or bowling or any other sport that you do against yourself. I'm not saying there is no competition (often much less than you think) but we don't know what we are truly up against. Instead of starring at your competition and getting angry, stare at your audience to help give them what they want. 

For the School of Podcasting, my goals are to inspire you to start a podcast, go in the right direction with realistic expectations, and help you achieve your goals. How do we do that? By having you join my membership site and that is the biggest way I measure my show. 

Michael O'Neil was nice enough to take a picture of my book Profit from your podcast: Proven strategies to turn your listeners into a livelihood in a Fed-ex store (picture on the website). The goal of that podcast is to inform people with monetization strategies that make them buy the book. 

When we launch we tell everyone we know (family friends, co-workers, email lists, etc) and we might continue that for a few weeks until we realize that growth is slow. At first, you might jump 10-20% (but that's easy when your first episode had 15 downloads and the next one had 18). 

Full article with graphics at www.schoolofpodcasting.com/880

Today we explore the factors that contribute to a successful podcast strategy, including getting featured on podcast players and paid advertising efforts. We hear the inspiring journey of Katie, Krimitsos who created the Women's Meditation Network after feeling disinterested in her previous business and finding a lacking market for women and meditation.

We learn about the importance of just starting, experimenting, and having fun, as well as curating content for listeners. Katie shares her experience with advertising and maximizing revenue while engineering her pre-roll to not upset listeners. We dive into the uniqueness of her meditations and the focus on improving the content to create an audio experience that touches the listener's soul.

Finally, we explore Katie's stickler for priorities and energy management, strategizing her business projects, and streamlining her energy to bring on more one-on-one clients.

Check out her many shows at www.womensmeditationnetwork.com

Katie's previous appearance on episode 565 about creating communities

Join the School of Podcasting Community

Are you looking to start your own podcast but don't know where to begin? Look no further than the School of Podcasting. Our comprehensive online courses and one-on-one coaching will teach you everything you need to know, from equipment and editing to marketing and monetization. With our proven methods and unlimited one-on-one consulting, you'll create high-quality, engaging content in no time. Say goodbye to the frustration and uncertainty and hello to a successful podcasting career with the School of Podcasting.

Use the coupon code schoolofpodcasting.com/listener to save 20%

QUESTION OF THE MONTH

This month's question is open-ended. This could be software, hardware, etc. What is your favorite tool? What is the thing that has you saying, "Oh, I'm so glad I have this!" What is your favorite tool?

Leave Your Answer at  www.schoolofpodcasting.com/question

I need your answers by 6/26/23

 Mentioned In This Episode

Join the School of Podcasting Community

Profit From Your Podcast Book

Power of Podcasting Network

Dave's YouTube Channel

Dave's Podcasting Newsletter

Buy Dave a Coffee

Put Dave In Your Pocket

Where Will Dave Be? 

I have a few ideas that I have put together, as they are all short ideas. The goal is to help you grow your show, and hook your listeners. 

Creating Better Episode Titles For Your Podcast

NPR SITE

NPR PDF

More Headline Training from NPR

LISTENNOTES INFORMATION

What is Listennotes.com Global Rank? This podcast is one of the top 0.5% most popular shows out of 3,100,277 podcasts globally, ranked by Listen Score (the estimated popularity score).

According to their site: * Other websites / apps may claim that they have way more than 3,100,277 podcasts in their database. This is because they inflate the number by including A LOT of 1) podcasts that were already deleted long time ago; 2) super low-quality podcasts (e.g., no episodes at all, only one 10-second episode in the RSS feed for testing, or machine-generated audio); 3) non-audio contents distributed via rss (e.g., RSS feeds with only PDF files, not audio). On the other hand, we deploy automatic scripts (24/7) and human moderators (daily) to clean up data. We try our best to minimize the number of such bad "podcasts" in our database.

I still find it interesting that my friend's show which had its last real episode in 2015, has a ranking of 42 out of 100, and is in the top 1.5%

So I'm still a little blurry on how those stats are calculated..

TIMELINE

00:00:00 - Table of Contents  00:00:26 - Opening  00:01:21 - Youtube Music - So Far, Nothing  00:02:27 - Ashley Carmen Story (https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2023-05-04/youtube-s-podcast-deals-with-npr-slate-and-new-york-times-are-flopping) 00:03:58 - My Numbers So Far  00:06:08 - Youtube is Confusing People  00:07:28 - Confusion in the Wild (https://soundsprofitable.com/podcast/april-is-adopt-a-listener-month-a-conversation-with-lauren-passell/) 00:09:09 - Listennotes.com Still Bogus  00:11:44 -  A Very Strange Interview  00:14:44 - Join the School of Podcasting Community (https://www.schoolofpodcasting.com/listener) 00:15:45 - Podcasting Observations Newsletter (https://www.schoolofpodcasting.com/newsletter) 00:15:59 - Create Engaging Episode Titles  00:16:39 - NPR Episode Title Summary  00:20:08 - A Great Hook - Daisy Jones and the Six (https://amzn.to/3Bmn1FH) 00:22:51 - She Podcasts Live (https://www.shepodcasts.com) Use coupon sop 00:23:47 - If Podcasts Were Honest | Honest Ads (https://youtu.be/FmZrAlu-j80) 00:24:33 - Question of the month (https://www.schoolofpodcasting.com/question) 00:25:34 - Where Will I Be (https://www.schoolofpodcasting.com/where) 00:26:05 - Join the School of Podcasting (https://www.schoolofpodcasting.com)

Join the School of Podcasting

Are you looking to start your own podcast but don't know where to begin? Look no further than the School of Podcasting. Our comprehensive online courses and one-on-one coaching will teach you everything you need to know, from equipment and editing to marketing and monetization. With our proven methods and unlimited one-on-one consulting, you'll be creating high-quality, engaging content in no time. Say goodbye to the frustration and uncertainty and hello to a successful podcasting career with the School of Podcasting.

Use the coupon code schoolofpodcasting.com/listener to save 20%

QUESTION OF THE MONTH

This month's question is open-ended. This could be software, hardware, etc. What is your favorite tool? What is the thing that has you saying, "Oh, I'm so glad I have this!" What is your favorite tool?

Leave Your Answer at  www.schoolofpodcasting.com/question

I need your answers by 6/26/23

I looked for a new podcast and never really found what I wanted (a daily motivation podcast of 5 minutes or less). What I did find as I search floored me in some cases. I thought, "Are people still doing/saying that?" I did some research on some subjects and found out some things as well.

Ready To Start Podcasting? Join the School of Podcasting Community

Are you looking to start your own podcast but don't know where to begin? Look no further than the School of Podcasting. Our comprehensive online courses and one-on-one coaching will teach you everything you need to know, from equipment and editing to marketing and monetization. With our proven methods and unlimited one-on-one consulting, you'll be creating high-quality, engaging content in no time. Say goodbye to the frustration and uncertainty and hello to a successful podcasting career with the School of Podcasting.

Use the coupon code schoolofpodcasting.com/listener to save 20%

Podcasting Is "Too Crowded," and Someone Is Already Doing a Podcast Like Yours

When you look at Podcastindex.org, you will see (today) 4,088,299 and only 253,396 have produced an episode in the last ten days (6%) and that only goes up to 13% if you include the 523,942 shows that produced an episode in the last 90 days. 

Time and time again, I found a podcast that I thought would fit my criteria, but they either had 2 episodes (and quit) or had many episodes but quit in 2021. So if you see a large number of podcasts in the genre you are looking to be in when you launch, it may not be as crowded as you think. Many of the dead shows are from Spotify for Podcasters users (formerly Anchor) who "tried podcasting" and then quit (and being a free service, the files have not been removed). 

Horrible Episode Titles

This would be a horrible example of an episode title for the episode:

Episode 878 Dave Jackson School of Podcasting 

If you must use episode numbers, I recommend putting them at the end of the name. 

When I look at Tim Ferris' show, he has extremely long episode titles, and when you first look at his show (where you can see all the episode titles), they seem to get cut off after 167 words. 

I've heard other people recommend 60-80 characters for your title, and that goes against

Unhelpful Artwork

I see people who put a microphone on artwork about mental health. This would be like putting a camera on every movie poster. It's not needed, as is the word "Podcast" in your title. Does your artwork help people know what your show is about before they hear it?

Rating and Reviews Nonsense

From Apple's website:

Although ratings, reviews, and shares also help indicate a podcast’s newness, popularity, and quality, they are not factored into the algorithm that determines the rankings for Top Shows and Top Episodes. In other words, they may not help people find a podcast on their own, but they influence whether people will listen or follow, and those factors influence the charts. -source

Poor Descriptions

Again from Apple:

Your description should tell listeners what kind of content you talk about and explain how people can benefit from listening. If you need a little help, think about how you can convey the problem you’re trying to solve in a way that convinces listeners they should care. -source

Guests With Really Bad Audio

I get it when it's an A-list guest, but with anybody else, you need to keep in mind it is YOUR show and YOUR brand that takes the hit. See this episode.

QUESTION OF THE MONTH

This month's question is open-ended. This could be software, hardware, etc. What is your favorite tool? What is the thing that has you saying, "Oh, I'm so glad I have this!" What is your favorite tool?

Leave Your Answer at  www.schoolofpodcasting.com/question

I need your answers by 6/26/23

Where I Will Be?

I look forward to seeing you all; please come up and say hi. To see my full itinerary, go to schoolofpodcasting.com/where

Mentioned In This Episode

Join the School of Podcasting Community

Profit From Your Podcast Book

Power of Podcasting Network

Dave's YouTube Channel

Dave's Podcasting Newsletter

Buy Dave a Coffee

Put Dave In Your Pocket

Previous Episode: Have I Underestimated the Power of Apple Podcast Reviews?

Beating Podcast Burnout with Dave Jackson: Setting Real Expectations (Part 1)

Do you have questions about podcast length? We discuss this with various podcasters. The ideal length of a podcast depends on the type of content and the audience's needs, preferences, and routines. Our guests share their thoughts and experiences on the matter. We also preview new podcast discoveries and the creation of a weight loss accountability group. Tune in, as always, to learn more about podcasting and join our community on schoolofpodcasting.com.

Are you looking to start your own podcast but don't know where to begin? Look no further than the School of Podcasting. Our comprehensive online courses and one-on-one coaching will teach you everything you need to know, from equipment and editing to marketing and monetization. With our proven methods and unlimited one-on-one consulting, you'll be creating high-quality, engaging content in no time. Say goodbye to the frustration and uncertainty and hello to a successful podcasting career with the School of Podcasting.

Use the coupon code schoolofpodcasting.com/listener to save 20%

 Participants:

Brandon B (future podcaster)

Chris from Podcastic Audio (Prefers a 1-hour podcast)

York from Welcome to Earth Stories (reminds podcasters to pick a consistent length)

Paul from Pass ACLS Top of the day (prefers 20-minute episodes)

Todd from Guardian Down Cast, The Destiny Help Desk  (expects 1-2 hours per episode).

Kim Newlove from The Pharmacists Voice ( prefers 8-17 minute episodes)

Eric Alton-Glenn Hilliard from White Collared and Steel Watching (doesn't have a preference)

Sarah Clark from Kind Leadership Challenge (shares that the content fits the episode)

QUESTION OF THE MONTH

Each month we ask a question for the listeners to respond. This is a win-win. You get added exposure (sometimes called "The Dave Jackson" effect), and we all learn together. To see this month's question and to get free exposure for your show, go to www.schoolofpodcasting.com/question now. 

Where I Will Be?

I look forward to seeing you all; please come up and say hi. To see my full itinerary, go to schoolofpodcasting.com/where

Follow the Show and Never Miss an Episode on:

Apple - Google - Spotify - Amazon

Check out New Podcast Apps for apps to stream bitcoin to podcasters.

Additional Shows About Podcasting From Dave

In addition to this show, I have additional shows about podcasting:

Your Podcast Consultant: One tip per episode - 9 Minutes or Less

Podcast Rodeo Show: I Grab a Random Podcast and See How Long I Can Hang On

Ask the Podcast Coach: A live "call in" show every Saturday at 10:30 AM ET

Podcast Review Show: Myself and radio veteran Erik K Johnson go over your episode and website.

 Did You Get Value From This Episode?

Enjoy the Show? Buy Dave a Coffee

and give some of that value back. 

 Join the Newsletter For More Podcast Tips

Want more podcast insights, tips, tricks, and strategies? Sign up for my newsletter at 

www.podcastingobservations.com

Addition Shows By Dave About Podcasting

and check out my other podcasts at www.powerofpodcasting.com

So many podcasters think there are only two formats for your podcast: solo and interview. Today I share additional formats that you may choose to use with your show. We also talk about ways to spice up your show for maximum impact. We also have a "Because of My Podcast" story.

Formats: 1. Solo 2. Co-host 3. Panel / Roundtable 4. Narrative 5. The Hot Mess 6. Audio Drama

Full show notes at schoolofpodcasting.com/875

JOIN THE SCHOOL OF PODCASTING COMMUNITY

Are you looking to start your own podcast but don't know where to begin? Look no further than the School of Podcasting. Our comprehensive online courses and one-on-one coaching will teach you everything you need to know, from equipment and editing to marketing and monetization. With our proven methods and unlimited one-on-one consulting, you'll be creating high-quality, engaging content in no time. Say goodbye to the frustration and uncertainty and hello to a successful podcasting career with the School of Podcasting.

Use the coupon code schoolofpodcasting.com/listener to save 20%

Where I Will Be?

I look forward to seeing you all; please come up and say hi. To see my full itinerary, go to schoolofpodcasting.com/where

QUESTION OF THE MONTH

Leave Your Answer at  www.schoolofpodcasting.com/question

I need your answers by 4/21/23

Dan hosts the Leader of Learning show, and because of his podcast, he was hired to create courses for a company in Dubai.

School of Podcasting Community

Narrative Style Episode with Deirdre Tshen of Capsho

Time-shifted Roundtable Episode on EMail Lists

Dealing with Overwhelm Episode

Rumble Studio

Squadcast

Libsyn (www.libsyn.com - use the coupon code sopfree)

On this episode of School of Podcasting, we're discussing an important topic for podcasters - rebranding. The conversation revolves around the possibility of changing the name, intro, outro, and thumbnail of a show, including updating old episodes and descriptions. Dave offers helpful tips on how to go about the process and stresses not changing your feed..This episode is filled with valuable insights and resources for both aspiring and seasoned podcasters. You won't want to miss it!

Are you looking to start your own podcast but don't know where to begin? Look no further than the School of Podcasting. Our comprehensive online courses and one-on-one coaching will teach you everything you need to know, from equipment and editing to marketing and monetization. With our proven methods and unlimited one-on-one consulting, you'll be creating high-quality, engaging content in no time. Say goodbye to the frustration and uncertainty and hello to a successful podcasting career with the School of Podcasting.

Use the coupon code schoolofpodcasting.com/listener to save 20%

How Did You Like This Episode?

I'm always looking for feedback and I would love for your input on this episode (it takes 1 minute)

QUESTION OF THE MONTH

This month's question comes from Mark Vinet from the History of North America Podcast. While we know the perfect length of a podcast is “As long as it needs to be and not a minute more.” What is YOUR perfect podcast length, and why?

Leave Your Answer at  www.schoolofpodcasting.com/question

I need your answers by 4/21/23

Where I Will Be?

I look forward to seeing you all; please come up and say hi. To see my full itinerary, go to schoolofpodcasting.com/where

Because of My Podcast: I'm Alive

Jennifer Dragonette shares how podcasting help redefine who she is and put her back on the road to success. I recently appeared on episode 60 of her Cure for Podfade show.

Mentioned In This Episode

Join the School of Podcasting Community

Profit From Your Podcast Book

Power of Podcasting Network

Buy Dave a Coffee

KFC Rebranding

Weight Watchers Rebranding

The Messengers: A Podcast Documentary

Follow the Show and Never Miss an Episode on:

Apple - Google - Spotify - Amazon

Check out New Podcast Apps for apps to stream bitcoin to podcasters.

Did You Get Value From This Episode?

Enjoy the Show? Buy Dave a Coffee

and give some of that value back. 

Deirdre Tshien CEO and co-founder of Capsho, recently discussed the mental process of dealing with competition. She explains that Capsho is an AI-powered podcast content writer, created to help Podcaster organically grow their show. Additionally, she talks about the new updates in CapSho 2.0, which allows users to have more control over their content, such as being able to drag and drop blocks into their descriptions.

In Today's Discussion

• Always double-check and ensure anything that appears to be "competition" actually is (cause it may not be.
• Ensure you are solving a problem your audience has by keeping in touch with them and, above all, listen. 
• How Capsho 2.0 puts the reigns of control back into the podcaster's hand through HumAIne controls
• How pushing through the urge to quit can result in new success (notice Deirdre said it was her third time of making the other with her coaching business
• How creating amazing content for your listeners can leave them feeling in debited to you (which inspires them to purchase your products).
• Why every coach should have their own podcast.

With the Closing of Volley, I'm Moving to Zip Message

I was a big fan of the Volley app except for one thing: it s was free. Eventually, they added additional features that you had to pay for, but in my opinion, they had so many great features in their free version that there wasn't enough motivation to upgrade(although "keeping them in business" should've been motivation enough). 

So I'm replacing Volley with Zip Message, which I feel is the closest Volley Alternative at the moment. Here is a quick video.

Join the School of Podcasting

Are you looking to start your own podcast but don't know where to begin? Look no further than the School of Podcasting. Our comprehensive online courses and one-on-one coaching will teach you everything you need to know, from equipment and editing to marketing and monetization. With our proven methods and unlimited one-on-one consulting, you'll create high-quality, engaging content in no time. Say goodbye to the frustration and uncertainty and hello to a successful podcasting career with the School of Podcasting.

Use the coupon code schoolofpodcasting.com/listener to save 20%

There is a giant button at the top of your listing in Apple labeled LISTEN. When someone clicks it whatever comes out is going to shape their first impression, and it will influence how long they let this play. I listened to podcasts for 14 hours in the car this weekend as I drove to a speaking gig in Nashville. Bad audio is becoming more and more apparent in this space (especially for "indies" and I thought I would help us understand what it sounds like and what tools are available to help fix it.

In This Episode

How to politely let potential guests know their audio is unacceptable.

How you can sound amazing for less than $100

The importance of microphone placement.

Why A-List Celebrities are the only people allowed to "dial in" to your show.

Tools you can use to get rid of reverb and level out the audio and remove noise.

JOIN THE SCHOOL OF PODCASTING COMMUNITY

Are you looking to start your own podcast but don't know where to begin? Look no further than the School of Podcasting. Our comprehensive online courses and one-on-one coaching will teach you everything you need to know, from equipment and editing to marketing and monetization. With our proven methods and unlimited one-on-one consulting, you'll create high-quality, engaging content quickly. Say goodbye to the frustration and uncertainty and hello to a successful podcasting career with the School of Podcasting.

Use the coupon code schoolofpodcasting.com/listener to save 20%

Question of the Month: Do You Subscribe to Paid Podcasts?

Louis from Love Thy Lawyer sent in the question, "Do you subscribe to any premium podcasts?"

Louis supports

Serious Trouble, Making Sense, Storm Skiing, Real Skiers, School of Podcasting

Mark Vinet from the History of North America asked a few people and nobody was paying for podcats.

Dr. Sarah Clak from the Kind Leadership Show pays for a few shows because she wants more content from these shows, and wants to support people who are doing fact-based content that she can trust.

Zo from backlookcinema.com also has not found any podcasts that deliver enough value to support financially.

Value For Value Support

Dave Jackson supports people via the Value For Value model, where you can stream cryptocurrency. He has streamed over $125 to many Podcasts about Podcasting, and the NO Agenda Show, and Congressional Dish. 

You can set up your show to receive streaming crypto using the steps in this video. Then your audience can use one of the New Podcast Apps that are enabled to send you money. The key point is THEY set how valuable you are. 

Check out the new show about Podcasting 2.0 with Dave Jackson and Daniel J. Lewis at www.futureofpodcasting.net

Tools For Cleaning Up Audio 

The best way to

Studio Sound (in Descript) - Great at Removing Room Noise and More

Adobe Enhance - Great at removing reverb/room noise and generally clean up.

Deverberate Plugin - Removes Reverb

Loundness.fm - Noise Reduction, Volume Leveling, Mastering (try it for free)

Auphonic - Noise Removal, Leveling

RX10 - Suite of Tools - Expensive - For the Serious Editor

Not Tested (but not bad) Deverberate inside of Adobe Audition