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

I went to two concerts this weekend and underneath all the education and information, podcasters are entertainers.  If you're not entertaining your audience, you're losing them. Dictionary.com defines entertain as, "to hold the attention of pleasantly or agreeably; divert; amuse." We need to hold people's attention. The concerts I saw this weekend were Jonny Lang and King's X. Two Concerts by musicians with track records going all the way back to 1980 (King's X) and 1995 (Lang). Jonny Lang released his major label debut when he was 15 years old. Both bands had music in the rotation on MTV (for those that remember MTV) 

So what does this have to do with Podcasting? Well as both of these bands are now "Indie" we can learn from them. 

Have a Crappy Opening Act

In both instances, the promoters of these shows picked HORRENDOUS opening acts. While the bands have little if nothing at all to do with this, it does make them sound better.

Know what you're going to say

Both of these bands have what are called set lists. This lists the songs in the order. It's only game plan and can be changed, but when they hit the stage they have a pretty idea of what is going to happen in the next 60-90 minutes. 

As a podcaster you should have a pretty good idea of where you are going when you press record. I know this seems common sense, but I often here shows start with what should be pregame chatter, "Did you want to talk about _____?" This should've been decided before the microphone was turned on. It's not like the guys in King's X have a big "LADIES AND GENTLEMEN KING'S X" and then Doug and Ty look at each other and ask, "Should we do Groove Machine?"

I recently read a book about Van Halen, and bands of this caliber practice the same set for months to make sure everything is smooth. 

For the Love of God put the good stuff first

There is a reason the news often starts with the phrase "Our top story tonight." Both bands came out with great up-tempo songs to get the crowd engaged.

3. Be Original

Jonny Lang sounded like he was 15 going on 48 when he came out of the gate. He has a voice that is very distinct, and you know its him.

Kings X has a very distinct sound. Did they do something way outside the box? Yes and No. They tune their guitars lower than what is considered standard, and they use a slightly different tuning (for the musicians they tune to C instead of E, and they use Drop D (not C) tuning). So while a little outside the box, all they did was twist a few knobs. These small twists (combined with awesome musicianship) makes them very identifiable. 

4. Listen to Your Audience

During one song Jonny was playing and singing with his guitar. This is called "Scat singing" and it was pretty cool (and I hate scat singing). The crowd really came alive. Sure enough later in the evening he brought it back. 

All night King's X fans were shouting requests (they have quite a few albums). One song is called, "King" and one person kept screaming, "Are you going to play King?" Well, they weren't because I was in the front row leaning on the stage and could read their set list (and I took after the convert). Before their first encore, they swapped added it. 

5. You Can't Make Everyone Happy

One dufas at the Kings X show wrote a note with a song request and was very persistent. Eventually, the lead singer stated they had a set list, and they are prepared to play and some they are not. 

6. Have a Cool Logo if You Want to Sell Merchandise

Jonny Lang's t-shirt was boring. They pictured his latest album cover which has his picture on it. With the music business in a mess, musicians make a fair amount of money from merchandise sales. For those who want to keepsake from the concert, the traditional "Album cover" t-shirt will do. King's X has a cool logo, with the phrase "First Church of Rock and Roll" with the saying "May the Groove be With you" You want to wear this shirt BECAUSE IT'S A COOL SHIRT.

The other thing about having a cool logo shirt, is you can sell it no matter what tour you're on. 

This also means knowing your audience, so if your audience is a bunch if middle aged dudes, you better keep the extra large in stock. 

7. Do No Underestimate the Power Of You, and the Value of Direct Access

With Jonny Lang you can purchase a VIP package with gives you access to the soundcheck, selfie, posters, guitar picks, commemorative laminate, etc for $100. Most of this has very little to do with Jonny. 

8. Don't Lose Your Cool, or Panic

During the first few songs, the lead singer was having an issue with a microphone stand. Eventually, he threw it to the ground. Was he upset? I don't think so. I think he was trying to get the attention of the sound crew. Some "Rock stars" might've walked off the stage.  Doug kept his cool.

King's X Did Something Brilliant

At Disney at end of the every ride you exit through the gift shop. At the end of their show, the lead singer from King's X explained how they were going to towel off, and head over to the merchandise table where you can get pictures, selfies, merchandise, etc. In other words, exit through the gift shop. The AMAZING thing is you didn't have to purchase anything to meet the band. The lead singer explained this as he was leaving the stage, "After all, it's all about you.' 

I was at the very end of the line. I was worried that they would cut the line, but I was told by one of their staff, "No, they stay till everyone has been served." WOW. 

What Was The Result?

Most of the people there got a lot of time to look at the merchandise. To see other buying the merchandise. This was the law of reciprocity in action. They were doing something nice for you (free selfies) in hopes that you would do something nice for them (I bought a $25 t-shirt). Doug did a quick soundbyte for the show. They were awesome. 

Jonny Lang put on a great show. I love his voice, and can't wait for the new album. I do want to comment on something I noticed.

I talked to people at the Jonny Lang show and for the most part people were from the Akron/Canton/Cleveland Area (within an hour of the location). There were a lot of fans of the venue (the Kent Stage), and alot of fans of Jonny. 

Within the first five minutes of standing in line at the Kings X show, I met people who came from New York (7 hours away), Indiana (4 hours away), Columbus (4 hours away). People who had seen them 10, 12, 13 times.With any prodding of the band, the King's X fans bellowed out the song with the singer. This often lead him to back away from the microphone. I was in the front row, I had probably 400 people behind me. To hear a room of people drowning out the amplifiers a few feet from me was a very cool thing. It obviously touched the singer as he was amazed at the enthusiasm of the crowd. So is this enhanced engagement with their audience the result of their "Free" Meet and Greets?" I don't have any facts to prove this, but if I was a betting man, I would guess that to be true. 

Check out both bands (both were great concerts) at www.jonnylang.com and kingsxrocks.com 

 

Other Topic

Nominate the School of Podcasting in the technology category at www.podcastawards.com 

Soundcloud laid of 40% of their employees see http://www.spin.com/2017/07/soundcloud-lays-off-40-of-staff/

 

 

Today I talk with Drew Ackerman of the Sleep with Me Podcast. I met him at Podfest.us and I was amazed at the amount of detail he puts into a show that has a singular goal of putting you to sleep. In the interview you will hear:

• How Drew started his show with not the best of equipment
• His "Let's See What Happens" attitude
• How he picks the not too boring, not too entertaining topics.
• How he pushed through when he thought about quitting
• What inspired him to start the podcast
• How he takes it seriously, but not too seriously.
• What countries just don't get his show. 
• The listener email that left him humbled.
• His massive amount of downloads reported in the Washington Post

Check out Drew's Sleep With Me Podcast at www.sleepwithmepodcast.com

Anchor.fm Trying Hard to Be Everything and Succeeding at....

I took another look at Anchor.fm now that you can create a podcast for free. This is another great example of a company knowing NOTHING about podcasting and jumping into the space. Leading people who are uninformed into situations that they are going to hate in a few months. 

They are going to control your feed if you let them submit your podcast feed "for you" which means later you won't be able to see your Apple stats. 

As a feedback mechanism, it's easy to receive feedback, but impossible to get it off your phone (and if they knew anything about podcasting they would know this). 

For now, I'm going to play with it for a week, but getting these files into a podcast (not using their horrible system) is not easy. 

Ready To Start a Podcast? 

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Even though I asked, "How many strikes do you give a podcast before turning out?" nobody answered with a number. Instead, the answers were "it depends." It sounds that you are going to get more strikes if you are delivering

Contributors to the show

Cliff from www.podcastanswerman.com

Tim From the Sled Dog Podcast

Jenny from Studiochaotic.com (personal journal podcast)

Kyle from Reckoneer.com Reckoneer is your #1 resource for the race promoter who didn't major in business.

Darren from coronertalk.com (thanks for the shirt!)

Haley from Adopteeson.com a podcast where Adoptees talk about the adoption experience

Larry from goinglinux.com

Sean from Slept in Government Class

Dennis from Evil Podcast

The CUB Approach to Podcast Reviews

CUB stands for is it Confusing, Unbelievable, or Boring. If you have any of these, it's time to edit the show.

Because of My Podcast: Ray Edwards

I attend Ray's copywriting Academy and Ray mentioned how he had a client hire him for a $10,000 job from a podcast Ray puts out for free.

This was part two of episode 572, and originated at www.schoolofpodcasting.com/572

July's Question

What has changed about your show since you started, and why did you make the change? Contact me, and be sure to mention 577

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Join the School of Podcasting.com using the coupon listener

We seem to think we don't know what to do, when in truth we don't do what we know. This week I attended Ray Edwards copyrighting academy, and it was pretty cool. I went there as I will be updating the School of Podcasting's website later this year. Also, people that are learning to write copy, probably have a product. People who have a product need customers, a great way to attract customers is via a podcast. So when you hear me say go to where your target audience is, make friends with them, then tell them about your show, I did that repeatedly this weekend. 

Success is sequential, not simultaneous. 

Your calendar shows your priorities or your distractions?

Everyone has a excuse as to way they didn't succeed.

If everything you do is an experiment, then nothing is a failure

If it does everything, it does nothing well. 

Part 2 coming later this week after I take care of my car.

Because of my Podcast: Clay From Fish Nerds

Clay has had some very cool things happen on his Fish Nerds Show including having a touring opera singer invite clay to do a show at a theater. Check out Clay at www.fishnerds.com

The Sometimes Condescending Nature of Radio People Towards Podcasting

There are some really cool people from the radio industry that get podcasting. People like Eric K Johnson from Podcast Talent Coach and the Podcast Review Show, Michael Sharkey from the Talent Show, Jeff Brown From Read to Lead, Tim Sinclair from Ringr and My Worst Interview Ever, and Phillip Keller from Blind Faith live GET PODCASTING. I don't want to lump all radio people together. There are times when someone comes across with a condescending tone of voice. It comes across like "Podcasting is a fad, or not "Real Broadcasting." They seem to think that now that the "Real" broadcasters are here and it's time to step aside and let the "real" broadcasters take over.

I recently listened to The Sound Off Show with Matt Cundill. In the episode, he was talking about how a recent professional survey company had polled listeners in Canda.Matt asks, "Is the hype on podcasting just a lot of noise and it takes a study like this one to figure out where it really ranks?" What a douchebag. AS if study after study showing podcasting's slow but steady growth, and radio's slow and steady decline aren't enough.

This is what I say "Radio People" with a negative slant. This is what I'm basing my opinion on, and when I say "Some radio people have a bias," this is why.

How Improv Skills Can Help Your Podcast

Today I have Chad Elliot from the Off the Cuff Comedy Improv Podcast, and http://seattleimprovclasses.com/ I appeared on episode 7 and was SUPER nervous as I didn't get this I would be doing improv on his show. I have never done improv. Luckily Chad sent me his book Improv Manifesto: 7 Easy Steps to Confidence, Creativity, and Charisma - Even If You're Shy! (Think On Your Feet Under Pressure with Tools of Improvisational Theater & Improv Comedy.) which helped me get ready. Here are some things I learned.

1. Talk with confidence, even when you're not confident about your answer.
2. You will be amazed at how your brain "Fills in the blank" when you start talking.
3. The key to improv is listening to every word of the person you are working with.
4. If things horrible, it is a learning experience and you will handle it better next time, and will build skills to help get through it better.
5. You can see results when you start doing one improve exercise

What Does This Do With Podcasting?

When you are 100% focused on what your guest/co-host is saying you are better prepared to ask a better follow up question (than if you had a premade lit of questions).

If you have a bad interview, living through this experience shows you that you will survive and equips you to handle it better in the future

You can contemplate different stories to pull from an idea (see The Story Factor: Inspiration, Influence, and Persuasion through the Art of Storytelling by Annette Simmons)

It builds confidence and can get you our of your comfort zone. This way when podcasting opens the doors to new relationships, you will have the confidence to walk through

Face Your Podcasting Fears

Chad had a client who said, "You know what I want to do this because I'm scared of it, but I don't want to do it because I'm scared of it." The pros of podcasting outweigh any negatives and if you can make it through the learning curve, you will be so happy you made it through (see www.schoolofpodcasting.com/start to start your podcast today)

This Month's Podcast Question

How many "strikes" do you give a podcast before you unsubscribe (if you have subscribed) or if you don't subscribe how many strikes do they get before you quit streaming their show. Got to www.schoolofpodcasting.com/contact and use the information there. You can send an email with an audio attachment and put 572 in the subject line. Be sure to mention your show and website so I can put a link in the show notes

Start Your Podcast Today - Risk-Free

The School of Podcasting has a 30-day Money-back Guarantee, so if you sign up and decide podcasting is not for you. Contact me anytime within the first 30 days and get a full refund. Sign up today at www.schoolofpodcasting.com/start

 

 

New Apple Specs Coming

In the future, Apple Podcasts app will support some new features including:

One the podcast level you will have Seasons Serial and Episodic podcast types

On the Episode level  Title, episode number, and season number Summary and episode notes Trailers and bonus content GUID (don’t change it!)

I am worried when I read the text, "New subscribers will receive the first episode in their Library, or the current season if using seasons. " As we don't know what "will receive" means. Does this mean it will automatically download an entire season? We don't know. If it does, I can see people abusing this to get more downloads. There are already people sending old content back to their audience just to juice their download numbers.

They also mention not to change the GUID. The GUID is a unique number that identifies your episode. Changing this number will have the app seeing the episode as new. You should never change this number. Apple is saying "Don't change this." This is kind of like saying "Don't stick that knife in the outlet" to a two-year-old. In my opinion, this is a bad idea to even give people access to this.

New Listener Stats Apple will provide statistics on how many listeners you have, minutes per listener, Abandonment Point, and Average Completion. The statistics are "Launching this year."

The other thing I'm worried about is currently people OBSESS over their podcast numbers. They release an episode, FREAK OUT that it's not in their iTunes listing, and want to know why they don't have download number immediately. This will give podcasters more stats to obsess over. Also, you may not be ready for the shock when you find out that only 48% of your audience is listening to the entire of your episode.

None of This Matters Yet

If I told you there was a new audio format and it was going to sound great and do all sorts of new fun stuff, but there aren't any players that can play it yet the news wouldn't mean anything. You can't experience any of the new stuff until players are available. These new features won't come into play until iOS11 is available (that will have the new Podcasts App). So it's exciting, but the time to celebrate and figure out how to get these new tags into our RSS feeds should be something we worry about later. I'm sure Libsyn, Blubrry, and Speaker (and any other Podcast Media hosts worth anything) will have systems in place shortly.

I know patience is not a characteristic of some podcasters, but for now, know things are going to get better later this year.

Here are the details from Apple.

Becuase of My Podcast: I Got a Gig as an Audio Editor

Jeff Perry has had multiple version of shows about podcasting. He has really enjoyed editing them into different forms. He recently landed a job working for Emerald City Productions as an audio editor. Check out Jeff's show at https://podcastingspark.com/

Great Follow Up Questions Make Great Podcasts

Your homework for today is to reach out to a podcast you listen to, and let them know you enjoy their show (I call this "putting gas in their tank). For me I did this after listening to Lee Silverstein on Podcast Junkies

What Podcasters Can Learn From Kevin Hart

I remember watching the comedy special I'm a Grown Little Man and he was hilarious as he shared stories about his family. At the end, he said, "I want to show you why I do this," and brought out his two little children. It was touching, and transparent. I've seen copier salesmen drag their kids around as a gimmick. This just seemed genuine. I've seen every one of his specials since then, and when his book came out, I instantly got the audio version (read by Kevin) on Audible. (you can get it for free if you're new to audible).

I always if you can make me laugh, cry, think, groan, educate, or entertain me I'm in. This book did all of that, but the things that podcasters can take away from this story is Kevin's relentless pursuit of getting better at his craft. You also see how those "hard times" that we have often come back to life in a way that you are thankful that you had them. Here are some of the things that jumped out of the book:

Kevin's Father is crazy. He did things to his children that were cruel. One time he stole a bike and tried to give it to Kevin as a present. His Mom knew it was stolen, and instantly made Kevin give it back. He "borrowed" a neighborhood dog and gave it to his children, only to have the neighbor come back and get the dog. Kevin soon realized, his father wasn't going to win any medals for "Father of the year."He accepted it, but instead of hating his father, he forgave him.

Kevin got a mentor after making it "big" in Philidelphia and wanted to takes grow his career. He drove from Philidelphia to New York City (according to Google Maps that is one hour and forty-five minutes one way). He would then sit and watch his mentor perform a numerous clubs. He wouldn't get to sit at the table with all the comedians. He was building a relationship with his mentor, and eventually would be able to do five minutes of stand-up. To boil this down, he spent three hours in a car, three or four times a week, to perform for five minutes.

His career starting taking off. He started getting some acting roles. He was in a movie called Fools Gold (it tanked) and later was in Soul Plane. Soul plane has historical relevance as one of the most bootlegged movies in history. People were watching a DVD of the movie before post-production was finished. Consequently, when it came out nobody went to see it. Kevin had worked so hard to get this point, but with two flops under his belt, nobody would cast him in any movies. So what did he do? Sink into oblivion? Instead, he decided to build his career up so much, that they HAD to put him in a film. So once again, he went back to working on his craft. He wanted to be good. He did this for seven years.

Seven years. 

There is no practice in comedy. This is why big comedians play smaller venues. They want to test their material. The only way to get better is to do it. The only way to get better is to increase you stage time. It is the same with podcasting. You can read all about it. You can watch videos, record episodes, but you don't know if it's any good until you let someone not named Mom listen to it.

Kevin got deals that lead to nothing. He figured out that the reason why things weren't working with TV is other people were writing for him. So he creates a sitcom. Then it got turned into a pilot, and YES, it got picked up. They filmed the show, and he was flown to New York to this big event to meet all the people at the networks and he is ready to walk on stage and tell the world who he is and tell them about his show. He is on the side of the stage when the stage manager tells him NOT to go on stage. Instead, they send the cast of another show onto the stage to promote their stuff. Wait, what? What was going on? Seconds before Kevin was to go on to a stage and introduce himself to a nationwide audience, he is informed his show was dropped. Can you imagine?

Growing up Kevin's mother was BEYOND strict. There was a lot of "NO" in Kevin's childhood. There was a fair amount of embarrassment in his childhood. In all case, Kevin would shrug his shoulders, say, "OK" and go back to making his stand up better. To quote a famous comedy manager Barry Katz, "If you are undeniable, you won't be denied."

Kevin as a Brand

Kevin had some people helping him. One person was threatening people when it came time to pay Kevin. He was very assertive and people didn't' want to work with him. Kevin always focused not on just his jokes, but what was the experience like. He wanted a nice theater. He wanted people to have fun, and not worry about getting into fights, etc.

Kevin Listened

When Kevin was a child his mother was strict. He didn't agree with the rules, but he followed them. All those "No's" from his Mother help prepare Kevin for the movie business where you go on audition after audition.

His jokes, in the beginning, were funny, but any comic could have told those jokes. There was very little about Kevin in the act. Some of his stories were made up. His mentor kept saying, your life is funny. Talk about you.

Kevin had a stage name. George Carlin, Richard Pryor, none of the great comedians had a stage name (Kevin's names was Lil' Kev the Bastard). He changed his name. He Listened.

His name is his brand. At one point he was offered to play a very large comedy event in Canada. This is a launching pad for many comedians. His manager told him he wasn't ready. He wasn't happy, but he listened. When he was invited back the next year, he was ready. It worked, and it began his come back."

The bottom line is Kevin's attitude is AMAZING, and we can learn a lot about how to handle adversity in your life based on his attitude.

Summary

Being told no over and over build endurance

When you have "Downtime" use it to work on your craft

It's better to forgive than to hold a grudge

Make sure people have a good experience consuming your content

Always strive to do more, but have an attitude of gratitude for the things you have.

Get the book at Amazon

Get the Audio Book for Free

Get a Free Month of Hosting a Libsyn.com using the coupon code sopfree

Start your podcast today, join the School of Podcasting risk free

 

Understand Before Being Understood

About a month ago I left a comment on the Spreaker Live show, and this comment resulted in a response from the host that in a conversation he had with me was "Disproportional." So after we both hissed at each I set up a time when we could talk about this and see how we pushed each other's buttons. We did and it was a great interview. The bad news is my SD Card ran out of room, and my backup (mp3 skype recorder) didn't get it either. I could call Alex back on, but at this point, so much water is under the bridge, I thought I would just paraphrase what really happened.

1. In my comment, there were times when I used ALL CAPS to make a point.
2. Alex is used to dealing with comments from YouTube which are much crueler, and personal that the average podcast comment
3. This was the first time he had been challenged on the podcast side of this content (vs the YouTube side) and it caught him off guard.

He apologized for calling me a schmuck, and I explained that when he made a joke about me not having any listeners (because I don't use Spreaker), and that I wasn't up front with people about the fact that I work for Libsyn, and we chatted about that. I explained how I wasn't trying to push his buttons, and then we did something that most people miss out on.

We had some cool conversation about topics we have in common. For example, Chris Cornell had just died. Neither one of use quite gets while World Trade Center Tower Number 7 went down.

In the end, I look forward to meeting Alex at Podcast Movement. If I had not taken a second to step back, and wonder if there was something I DID to create such a reaction (instead of just condemning the other person) then I would've lost out on an opportunity to learn something (be careful using caps in comments), and Alex wouldn't have been able to see his reaction. Lastly, I think we both gained a new friend. So instead of being so set on proving somebody wrong, instead maybe ask, "Why did you say that?" or "What were you feeling when you said that?" and try to understand before being understood (Which is a lesson I learned from the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People)

Seriously, How Do I Grow My Audience?

Devlin Wilder posted in a Facebook Group, "Please, for the love of all that's good and pure, someone please help me WITH REAL INFO on how I get the numbers. I don't want to hear I need to have my show out for years or I need to get to 200 episodes or what not. And I've had no luck with Fiverr. I need to know the real deal"

This is like saying, "I want to know about making a baby, but I don't want to hear about ovaries, sperm, or having to wait 9 months."

THERE ARE NO SHORTCUTS 

In her book Beyond Powerful Radio Radio Consultant Vallerie Geller states, "in my experience, with few exceptions it takes about three years to build a talk station." She points out that the original Star Trek Series was canceled after three seasons and it was re-runs where the audience found the show. Jerry Seinfeld has framed a memo stating that his show has a poor supporting cast, and most people who saw the test pilot would not watch it again.

Gary Vaynrchuck says nobody watched his show for the first 19 months

Rand Fishkin tells about his wife, Geraldine, and her travel blog, Everywhereist. For two years she never broke 100 visitors a day (she does a blog). Five years later she gets 1000,000 visitors a month. Source

Success comes from feedback, and the ability to look at yourself and ask "Can I Improve This?"

Growing up I had a basketball hoop in my backyard. Every time I shot a basket and it bounced off the rim and back at me.... that was feedback.  I watched Kareem Abdul Jabar and his sky hooks shot. It was unblockable. I practiced my skyhook over and over and over. Eventually, I could shoot it with my eyes shut. That took time.

If you want to quit your job in six weeks, I would recommend that you not even start podcasting. This is like someone wanting to lose 40 pounds in six weeks. You soon learn that six weeks is not that long, and 40 pound is not that small.

The Answer is There is No Answer

There are so many factors that play into this

Are you working full time? What market are you in and how crowded is it? How unique are you? Your Web Design

It's Not Who You Know, It's Who Knows You

Podcast Movement is coming up in August, and DC Podfest is coming up in November. I will be at Podcast Movement, and I plan on being in DC Podfest. Do these cost lots of money? Just the travel alone can be expensive based on your budget. That is the key, what is your budget? If you don't have the budget, don't be stupid, don't go. I'm saving money as we speak for Social Media marketing world. I have to plan. I have to put money in my budget. If you have a family with a spouse and kids, don't be stupid.

Is It Worth Going to An Event?

I have a podcast group for people in Northeast Ohio. I rarely get more than five people in attendance. One of those people (Matt from theauthorinsideyou.com) helped get me on a local TV show.

I met Gary Leland, Paul Colligan, and Rob Walch at one of the fire New Media Expos. Rob was the person I called when I found myself out of a job and looking to work in the podcasting industry (I now work for Libsyn).

I met Ken Blanchard at an event and I haven't stopped laughing yet.

I met Jared Easley and Dan Franks at the New Media Show. Later they would start Podcast Movement and I've been blessed to say I've spoken at every single one in one capacity or another.

I met Eri kK Johnson and came up with the idea of adding him to the Podcast Review show at an event.

I met Mike Russel of Music Radio Creative at the New Media Show

I met Glenn The Geek At Podcast Movement. Glen got me involved with Chris Krimitsos and I was able to speak at Podfest.us That lead to me helping with the Messengers Podcast about their documentary. That lead to me being the closing keynote at podfest.us this year. One person, one contact.

Last year I met a whole bunch of people at DC Podfest including Matthew from Podtopod.com.

Most of those I paid for (events post-2016 I typically can expense out).

When I was a musician, I once drove four hours after getting off work at 8 PM to drive to Cincinnati and hangout with a bunch of indie musicians for three hours before turning around and driving home (I was probably 20). One of the relationships I start at that meeting was a guy who went to another event and learned about podcasting.

Whooshkaa Free Media Hosting

For those who are new to me reviewing media hosting, I have some criteria.

1. Don't mess with my file. What I upload is what I want people to download. 2. Give me the ability to have an unlimited back catalog (unlimited storage) 3. Don't limit my audience size (unlimited bandwidth) 4. Don't control my feed, and make it easy to leave if I choose to do so. I need to be able to put in an iTunes redirect script. 5. Give me support. 6. Charge me for your service so you can stay in business 7. Give me stats so I can see what's working. It would be nice if they were accurate

Whooshkaa is doing something that has been tried by audiometric.io and before them podango.com. This is where you give free hosting so you can see advertising on the podcast. Do Whooshkaa meet my criteria? No, but there is an asterisk.

They mess with your file (as they put code into the mp3 file to alert when to play an advertisement), so they keep most of your ID3 tags, but they ditch you image (so if someone downloads your show to their computer and plays it, the dreaded gray music note of death appears on a windows machine). They also change your file name. They don't change your file format, but by nature, they HAVE to change your file to stay in business.

Their support was quick and very helpful. Their stats are very similar to what everyone else provides (number of downloads, geographic, operating system, the technology used, etc). They do offer how long someone has listened. Unless they have cracked a new code, this is typically a wasted stat. The only way they can get that information is if you are using their player. To this, I point out that over 80% of podcasts are listened to on a mobile device (so this stat is kind of a "Corinthian leather" feature, sounds good, but in the end not that accurate).

They have a built in "Clammr" feature, called highlights. Clammr.com is the first service that allows you to make snippets of a show and share it on social media. With Clammr you can share a snippet of the show and when they click on the snippet they are taken to a place where they can listen to the rest of the episode. You can see how many people listened to your "Highlight." For me, I thought the design could be adjusted to make it go from easy to SUPER EASY to hear the rest of the podcast.

They do have a weird "Sign up for our newsletter" when you send people to an episode on Whooshkaa. The problem is that for the Whooshkaa email list (not yours).

Getting Paid

As the code in the mp3 file has the word "Triton" I'm guessing that they are using Triton for their advertisements. This means that podcasters can probably expect 1 to 2 cents per download. So if I had my Weekly Web Tools on their platform I might make $12 for the month (at 1200 downloads a month). That is if you are lucky enough to have advertising.

When I enquired about their CPA, they responded, "We don't have any information on the CPA for ads.  We generally only work with our larger podcasters/media companies for ad injection." When I wanted to know how many downloads you need to get a sponsor, a support person lets me know, "Generally more than 10k per month before we approach a podcaster for ads. Some of our current partners monetising include News Corp, Fox Sports, Sky News, Bauer and a few large Australian Sporting organizations.

When I pointed out to them that others had tried this model, they responded, "We support the podcast ecosystem with free hosting, while making ad revenue from the top 5%.  At the end of the day, the cost of hosting a podcast with small downloads is negligible.  We hope that some of the smaller podcasters turn out to be the next Ira Glass or Alex Blumberg :)

It's super easy to pick a spot where you want your advertising to be placed. By default, they want to add three advertisers (I chose one). I believe you will be contacted when you reach certain milestones for advertising as there is nothing in the dashboard (that I can find, and nothing in their help section) about getting paid (i.e paypal, direct deposit).

Conclusion

Call me weird, but building your podcast on a host that doesn't charge is risky business (again, podango, audiometric.io) but if you're in a boat and have zero budget (they do redirect feeds if you want to leave) then I would recommend Whooshkaa over another free service Pinecast if you're looking for a free service with all the trimmings. If you asked me which one will be in business in five years between Pinecast and Whooshkaa, I would put my money on Pinecast as their free service motivates you to upgrade to their paid service. With Whooshkaa they are hoping that people with 10,000 downloads per episode take their advertising, and don't leave for another host. I notice in their terms of service it states, "If you are a Commercial User/Channel Partner, this may be altered by any specific agreements we hold with you."

Podcast Rewind

Podcraft on New and Noteworthy

Podcaster's Roundtable on Finding Your Audience

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Steve Stewart Podcast Editor 

Jeff had a blog that didn't get traction (for every 2000 blogs there is ONE podcast), he wants his show to be perfect (if you miss perfect you land on really good), is it viable to spend more money (we spend money on bowling, golfing), and what about Web Hosting? I like Site Ground and Cooler Websites. For media hosting use Libsyn and use the coupon sopfree to get a free month

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Podcasting Microphone Shootout

Microphone 1 - Audio Technica ATR2100 $59 (Here is Bundle with Boom arm) Microphone 2 - Audio Technica ATR2005 $79 Microphone 3 - Samson Q2U $54 (with headphones) Microphone 4 - Knox Dynamic USB Microphone $39 (here is a bundle with boom arm) Microphone 5 - Audi Technica 3035 $179 Microphone 6 - Heil Pr40 $327

Engage, Listen, and Grow Your Audience with Jonathan Oakes

Jonathan Oakes has been producing the Trivial Warfare for two years he has had some great adventures with his audience including participating in some really big trivia contests. Jonathan has always had a love for trivia. He participated in those TV shows where high school teams go against each other. He has taken on entries bars of people (AND WON). Jonathan's audience loves to learn, and love the ability to show their memory skills. You can find his show at www.trivialwarfare.com Today in episode 567 we hear:

How Jonathan worked with his co-hosts to set expectations when it comes to dividing any money.

He brought on co-hosts that brought in different viewpoints

He listened to what his audience wanted (to be on the show) and found a way so that both the show and the listener benefit.

He has incorporated giveaways into his Patreon to increase patron in the higher support tiers

He uses a Facebook Group to gather feedback on ideas to

Check out Jonathan's Show at www.trivialwarfare.com and check out his Patreon Account at https://www.patreon.com/TWA

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Mentioned in This Show

Jonathan's Appearance on "Harry's Show" Podcast Junkies

Jessica Kupferman's JKM Agency helps podcasters get sponsors

Podcasting 101

Because of My Podcast: Lee Silverstein

Lee Silverstein is the man behind the Colon Cancer Podcast and the Color Cancer Network was able to get press passes to a very cool event in his area.

Cool Image Tools For Your Podcast

I've been working on rebuilding PodcastingResources.com and in the process finding that some resources are gone, and other have been updated. Also in the process of moving items, I've had podcaster inform me of new sources. Today I want to talk about some resources you might know and a few might not when it comes to creating graphics and images.

Canva.com

Canva.com was my favorite tool for a simple but powerful tool. It included photographs you could include for free, or in some cases $1. It has a set of tutorials to get you up to speed and you can create some great looking images for free (or next to fo free)

Pixlr.com

Pixlr.com is another graphic program in the cloud. It doesn't have access to photos and such, but it can edit the photos you have, and it's a great tool if you need to resize an image, especially if your artwork for Apple Podcasts is the right dimensions, but the file size is too big as you can have pixlr.com compress it.

Vectr.com

Vectr.com is a new program to me, and from I've seen is the most powerful graphics program that is 100% free. It works on any platform, and it also has a cloud version. As it is super powerful there is a bit of a learning curve, but if you took the time to go through the tutorials (and they have quite a few) you could make some great looking graphics.

Adobe Spark

Adobe Spark is my new favorite tool. It has one drawback that I will hit on in a minute. You simply click on what you are trying to make (twitter, facebook, Instagram, etc) and pick a design, choose some colors, spin a wheel to scroll through some fonts, and share your image. So what is the one drawback? Most of these other tools allow you specify custom sizes, but from what I've seen there is no way to specify a file size. So what I do is if I need a square image, I go into adobe spark, create an Instagram image, and then resize it using Pixlr.com

  New Twists on Old Tools

Ecamm Call Recorder is a great tool for Recording Skype, they recently launched Ecamm Live which is meant to record Facebook Live broadcasts that costs $29.95 and has some of the same features as wirecast (but that costs $500). This cost $29.95. Here is a tutorial.

A New Podcasting Microphone For Half the Price

I've been a huge fan of the Audio Technica ATR2100 microphone. It sounds great. It has both USB and XLR inputs (so it can plug directly into the computer or into a mixer) and it has a lifetime warranty. As I write this, that microphone is $67 the ATR2005 is a slightly more stylish version for $79

Well SP on the Better Podcasting Show found the Knox Cardoid USB Microphone for $40. This microphone looks and sounds very much like the 2100/2005 (it looks like a 2005 with the 2100 switch). There is even a bundle where you get the microphone and a boom arm for $69.

When You Step on A Listener's Toes

In my twelve years of podcasting, I may have had someone send a nastygram once or twice. This is why I was so surprised to get a nasty email calling me a piece of garbage, and another podcaster resorting to name calling and saying how I had no listeners and other false statements.

So what do you do?

1. Well, you could load up your anger and hurt and go out attitude a blazin'. From my experience, this typically does not end well.  or
2. Reach out to them and attempt to get an understanding of how your words offended them.

Realize this is NOT saying they were wrong for feeling hurt or offended. Everyone is allowed to feel what they feel. Many times when two people are involved in a conversation and someone gets offended chances are the person who did the offended didn't know what they said was so lethal.

My Offensive Words

On my Logical Weight Loss podcast, I was reading a story about how Americans are giving up on trying to lose weight and accepting being fat. In the article, it mentioned how American Doctors feel they can tell their patients about the dangers of being overweight as they might be accused of "Fat Shaming." This to me makes no sense and stated that if your doctor can't talk about your weight than who can say anything negative. I asked, "What is there no Slut Shaming, no Thief Shaming? What if you have relations with a goat? Is that OK?  To this, I got an email. The subject of the email was F*CK YOU. Here was the message:

In your latest podcast, your comment about "slut shaming" and comparing it to "thief shaming" was absolutely disgusting. FUCK YOU, go to hell you piece of garbage. To this I replied:

Thank you so much for your feedback. My point was if we don't allow anyone to say a negative thing about anything, isn't that the doorway to anarchy? I would love to have a dialogue about this with you. Can we get on skype? The response I received was simply:

GO TO HELL

To that, I replied, "Too bad. As a former teacher, I always feel there is room for improvement, and obviously, there is room for me to improve. Good luck with your weight loss journey."

If You Stay Open - You Leave the Door Open to Knowledge

I appeared on the Podcast Survival Guide podcast with Josh Liston (who is from Austalia) and he explained that while "Slut" is not a great word in America, it is a really, really bad word in Australia ( on the same level as C*NT in the US).

In both cases, my remarks on the Logical Weight Loss podcast were somewhat based on my frustration with political correctness (fat people are now horizontally challenged) and what I said was off the cuff, in a slightly over the top manner to make a point. One might guess that Alex's comments were in the same manner.

Conclusion

In the end with different countries, cultures, languages, etc we are going to inadvertently step on each other's toes. All you can do is apologize that someone feels a certain way, and pursue a dialogue to learn from the experience.

Podcast Rewind

I appeared on the Podcaster's Survival Guide Podcasters Roundtable Talking Podcast Consumptiontalking a bit more in depth about upsetting your listeners, and I also appeared on the in 2017

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