Monetize This! Where Podcasting Best Practices Come to Die

Willie Blake started his podcast with a phone, a record button, and a simple goal: get better at speaking. No elaborate launch strategy. No expensive microphone. No plan to turn the podcast into a business. And yet, 178 episodes later, the podcast had produced clients, a business partnership, unexpected opportunities, and connections with people Willie never would have met otherwise. In this episode, Willie and David talk about what happens when you stop treating your podcast like a marketing machine and start making it for your own reasons. Willie’s approach is pretty simple: figure out why you’re doing the thing, do what works for you, and leave some room for something unexpected to happen. And maybe, before worrying about monetization, optimization, clips, video, or the perfect podcast strategy, you just need to hit record. Links: Coach Willie Blake (coachwillieblake.com) Monetize This! (monetizethispodcast.com) This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit monetizethispodcast.com

You don’t need a $500 microphone, a sound-treated studio, and enough audio gear to launch a small radio station. Dave Jackson explains why podcasters should stop obsessing over equipment and focus on the one thing that actually matters: making your audio listenable. Get the basics right. Then make the damn podcast. Check out the full episode: This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit monetizethispodcast.com

Dave Jackson has been podcasting since 2005, which means he’s had almost two decades to watch podcasting advice evolve. Or, more accurately, watch the same advice get recycled with increasingly expensive microphones. Dave joins Monetize This! to talk about the podcasting advice industry, and naturally, we find plenty to disagree with. We take a swing at: * “Just start.” * “Just keep going.” * The promise that your audience is just around the corner. * The promise that your podcast can easily make money. * The apparent requirement that every podcast now become a video podcast. * AI-generated shows and whether they can manufacture the human connection that makes podcasting worth listening to. * The endless obsession with audio quality, promotion, growth, and doing everything “right.” Dave also shares some genuinely useful advice about audio, promotion, collaboration, and what he’d do if he had to start a podcast from scratch today. Then we get into what happens when a podcaster has opinions strong enough to make people unhappy. Spoiler: Dave has opinions. And because we apparently hate our own advice, this conversation runs 39 minutes. That’s much longer than our usual episodes. According to podcast best practices, we should probably apologize. We won’t. Links: School of Podcasting (schoolofpodcasting.com) Monetize This! (monetizethispodcast.com) This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit monetizethispodcast.com

Paul and Ellyn Mock didn’t start their podcast with a business plan, a growth strategy, or a monetization funnel. They started with something they actually had: 37 years of marriage, a shared history, and a story worth talking about. In this episode, we talk about what podcast success looks like when you stop measuring everything by downloads, followers, revenue, and growth. Paul and Ellyn share how E Says, P Says came about, what they’ve learned from making the show, the listener feedback that means the most to them, and their encounters with the people eager to sell them podcast promotion. We also talk about learning the craft without spending thousands on courses, finding useful free resources, and the difference between optimizing a podcast and simply getting better at making one. Maybe your podcast doesn’t have to become something else before you can call it successful. Links: E Says P Says Podcast https://monetizethispodcast.com/ This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit monetizethispodcast.com

Podcast awards are supposed to recognize great work. But what are they actually worth to the people who win them? In this episode, we speak with John Leschinski of the Canadian Podcast Awards about what podcast awards are really for, how nominations and judging work, whether winning can actually lead to money or opportunities, and why some awards can start to look a lot like pay-to-play. We also get into celebrity podcasts, popularity contests, the $2,000 course you could apparently create about winning awards, and some surprisingly important advice. And if you’re wondering whether your podcast is “ready” for an award, John has some thoughts on that too. Guest: John Leschinski, Canadian Podcast Awards Learn more about the awards at: https://canpodawards.ca/ Monetize This! is the podcast that takes a contrarian look at podcasting, questions the conventional wisdom, and occasionally admits that the gurus have a point. Find more at monetizethispodcast.com. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit monetizethispodcast.com