Podcast Pontifications

It’s hard to predict which podcaster will be successful. But it’s fairly easy to see who won’t make it for long just by looking at their actions. Or inactions. Here are some of their bad habits for you to avoid.

Not all of the podcasting habits you develop as you get in your groove are good. In fact, bad podcasters tend to accumulate a collection of bad habits. Bad habits you (and I) would do well to avoid. With that.....

Podcasting is easy. For like five minutes. Then reality sets in. The reality of making great content that people can’t help but share. Podcasting doesn’t come with guarantees. So is it worth it?

Chat with me about growth marketing for podcasts, and it won’t be long before I utter the phrase “Podcasts tend to get the audience they deserve.” Those eight words have become part mantra, part axiom for me...

It’s International Podcast Day! A day when podcasters around the globe celebrate their craft and their journey, regardless if they’ve been podcasting for 17 days or 17 years. Speaking of that last one…

I’m going to break down the +17-year journey of one podcaster—me!—if only to prove that, for many of us, podcasting is quite a tangled path.

My official entrance to podcasting started in October of 2004 with The Dragon Page...

There are those who would have podcasters believe that they have to grind out episodes, day after day, week after week, month after month, and never take a break. I am not one of those. ‘Cuz that’s dumb.

If you’re a brand new or an infrequent listener, this episode is going to sound unusual...

Consistently releasing episodes on a set schedule is a good idea to keep your overall audience happy. But that doesn’t mean that every individual listener is listening to every individual episode. Is that OK?

Last week, I didn't get to listen to any new episodes of any podcasts. Why? Because I was exploring the jungles and beaches of Belize, that’s why! 

After six days of neglect and on the ride home, I started listening again...

You can’t judge a book by its cover. But our podcasts are judged by a single episode—our most recent. It’d be better if we were judged by a collection of our best episodes. But how would we do that?

There are a number of untapped opportunities for podcasters—and podcasting—if we knew the relative popularity of podcast episodes. Here are three quick ones: 

A “Start Here” collection for new listeners...

Some once-exclusive podcasters are challenging the notion that you can never go home again. They assume their audience will be happy to see them. But reality may not line up with those assumptions.

Podcasters who’ve gone exclusive do the calculus on moving back to free and wide distribution by making three assumptions. Assumptions that could do with some challenging.

Assumption #1: My existing listeners will keep listening when the podcast is no longer exclusive...

Conflicting advice plagues podcasters. Be yourself, but also follow this exact format, or you won’t have a successful show. Resolving that conflict isn’t easy. But it starts by trusting your talents. 

Society whispers at us all the time... no one likes a showoff. 

At the risk of offending my late grandmother who was the physical embodiment of that notion, that doesn't really cut it in podcasting...

Worrying about growth, new tech, and other podcasting distractions can cause you to forget that your audience is your audience, not a nameless pool you have to fight for week after week. Lean into them.

I'm not a big fan of the word authentic. It’s become overused and often used incorrectly. But there’s one place where I’ve no issue with hearing the word, and that’s when talking about your authentic self...