Podcast Pontifications

Politicians get in trouble for flip-flopping on issues. But for podcasters, changing opinions and approaches is a survival tactic. Think about these three questions over the next few months to prep your show for 2023 & beyond. 

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Today I'm sharing with you three challenges on the horizon that will require shifts in your/our ways of thinking. I'm convinced that all of these will leave a mark on podcasting...

Growth and monetization are at the top of every podcaster's wish list. At least every podcaster who's yet to achieve those two things. Or perhaps not at the level said podcaster is happy with for their own show.

Buzzsprout aims to change the growth and monetization question with a new product they've just released called Buzzsprout Ads. And interestingly enough, they're tackling both of those challenges—growth and monetization—with the same solution...

Listening to podcasts is like eating a submarine sandwich. Making a podcast is like making a submarine sandwich. But too many podcasters try to make one like they eat one. Let's fix that.

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Do you eat a submarine sandwich (hoagie) from the middle? Of course not. That would be silly. You start eating at one end. And you keep eating from that same end until you reach the other end...

Podcasters have a lot of jobs. One we don't often think of is being ambassadors for podcasting. But it's an important job if we're to grow the entire podcasting pie. Start by having some IHNIs at the ready.

https://podcastpontifications...

Too many podcasters skip a key step when publishing: the episode details. Or show notes, as you've likely called them. This helpful text isn't optional. It's required. And I'll give you five new reasons why.

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Four years ago, I implored my fledgling audience to spend more time making better episode details. "Stop writing shitty show notes!" I said. 

That's still excellent advice...

Podcast discovery isn't broken. It's just not one thing. And it gets a lot easier to improve podcast discoverability when a podcast listening app specializes in just one type of content. So... how's that going?

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Four years ago, I dreamed of a rather different podcast listening by the year 2026. Since we're at the middle point of that "prediction" (it wasn't a prediction), let's see how my prognostication is trending...

Posting about your podcast on social media without posting ONLY about your podcast can be exhausting. I can't fix that, but I can give you 10 questions to ask yourself that make for great social post ideas. 

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Putting words into print or performing solo in front of a camera are necessary social media skills. But neither often comes naturally to podcasters who are most comfortable behind a microphone.

Still, social media is part of the game podcasters play...

Finding advice on how to make your podcast better is easy. Knowing what advice to take and what to ignore is trickier. Before implementing any advice, take a close look at the agenda behind that advice. 

The agenda you have for your podcast is not the same agenda I have for my podcast. The same goes for every other long-time podcaster or podcast consultant. We all want people to keep listening and tell their friends...

It's almost impossible to make a good podcast without listening to great podcasts. But it probably takes more than listening to get from good to great. The secret is learning those not-hidden secrets.

I recently discovered the secrets to restaurant-quality eggplant parmesan and crave-able Manhattans. Only they weren't secrets. They were just things I'd overlooked or rushed through. Tiny things learned when I (finally) asked people who were better than me...

Podcasting is like crack for your ears, many have said. Listen once, and they're hooked for life, right? Well... wrong. What do we need to do—as podcasters and an industry—to help build listening habits?

It's a harsh reality that most people who listen to podcasts don't keep listening to podcasts. 62% of the US population +12 have listened, but only 26% frequently listen, according to Edison Research's Infinite Dial survey.

I blame the podcast listening app makers...