Podcastification - podcasting tips, podcast tricks, how to podcast better
Carey Green
Recent Episodes
Remote recording for interviews and the like has always been a bit tricky and the platforms that provide recording of this type are always trying to improve.
2022 brings us a lot of contenders for the title of "best remote recording platform."
This episode is a handful of recordings of me and my right-hand audio-man, Aaron as we test out the top 11 platforms. You're going to hear about...
- Boomcaster
- Cast
- Cleanfeed
- Clearcast
- Iris
- Remotely
- Riverside
- Squadcast
- Welder
- Zencastr
- Zoom
And we also tried Ringr, which has been around for some time but we got so frustrated trying to get it to work that we dropped the attempt. It could have been a bad day (for both of us?) but we made the call not to move forward with that portion of the recording and moved on.
RESOURCES MENTIONED
- Boomcaster - https://Boomcaster.com
- Cast - https://tryca.st
- Cleanfeed - https://Cleanfeed.net
- Clearcast - https://clearcast.io
- Iris - https://iris.fm
- Remotely - https://remotely.fm
- Riverside - https://riverside.fm (affliate link here)
- Squadcast - https://squadcast.fm (affiliate link here)
- Welder - https://GetWelder.com/remote-interview-recording
- Zencastr - https://zencastr.com
- Zoom - https://Zoom.us
I have LONG wanted a Podcast Newsletter that provides content for me — an INDEPENDENT PODCASTER.
I mean, it's OK to have industry news about who moved from what bigwig company to another biggerwig company in a higher profile industry-speak position... no problem there.
But it's not relevant to me at all.
So I've created an Indie Podcast Newsletter FOR Indie Podcasters, BY an Indie Podcaster. Abraham Lincoln would have said something like that if he were a podcaster.
I'm calling it "Podawan" (hat tip to the Star Wars universe).
I LOVE the idea of Podawan Learner... and since we are all bootstrapping, do it yourself kind of folks, we can be Podawans.
Each episode or installment of the Podawan newsletter will include...
An Education section that highlights stuff you need to learn or do better
A Success Stories section that tells of Indie podcasters who have actually done it.
An Industry News section where I frame happenings in ways that matter to you.
And an Editorial section... where I write an opinion piece based on issues within the podcast industry (and shock... it will be RELEVANT to Indie podcasters).
Finally... I'll be taking LETTERS TO THE EDITOR... you can write your input about my opinions, industry stuff, something else. I don't care what it is. Send it to me.
I hope you'll subscribe. It's going to be a fun and RELEVANT ride.
Oh yeah... you can also find some fun, Podawan swag here.
Daniel J. Lewis has been building authority in the podcasting space since 2010.
That’s when the very first episode of his show (a podcast about podcasting) “The Audacity to Podcast.” You can hear it here.
Daniel has already been podcasting for about three years when I first came across his content and I can’t express the number of ways he’s helped me personally, both through his content and via personal email interactions we’ve had together.
He’s a regular guy who is as genuine in real life as he seems on his show.
THIS episode featuring Daniel J. Lewis features the story of how Daniel has used his podcast as a launching pad for SERVICES-based businesses - from website development to plugin development, to podcast consulting, Daniel has tried his hand at a wide variety of things — with varying levels of success. On this episode he shares...
▷ His path into podcasting from a job he loved
▷ How he built authority in a niche that was new to him
▷ Choosing from the wide variety of income models
▷ The power of perseverance in finding what fits you
I hope you take the time to listen. Daniel doesn’t hold back and if you apply what he shares, you’ll move WAY forward in your attempts to monetize your show.
How successful can a niche podcast be?
The answer likely depends on the niche. For example, back on episode 154 of this podcast Glenn Hebert, the personality and power behind The Horse Radio Network said this about his niche:
”(Annually) We are well into five figures, and you know, in our niche, we’ll probably never get to six figures. I don’t see us ever doing that.”
But his comments are about an expensive and specific niche, horses. What about if the niche in question is broader but very popular?
Like Bourbon?
While he was still in college, Kenny Coleman became a fan of bourbon (makes sense) and got into the “Bourbon Culture” from there. His interest became a passion and his passion has turned into a multi-six-figure business, all built on the back of a podcast that happened to become very, very popular.
My theory? Kenny pursued something he loved that many others were growing to love at the same time, and he saw an opportunity to serve people like himself.
Kenny and Ryan started their podcast from scratch, just like the rest of us
Go back and listen to episode 1 of The Bourbon Pursuit podcast (you can find it here). There was nothing super special about it. Just two guys with a mic (maybe two) who were talking about something they enjoyed — bourbon. They set the stage, gave listeners an idea what to expect, and asked for feedback. I love what they said at the end of that episode...
“If we suck, let us know, if it’s good, let us know. If you think something else would be cool, let us know. We just want to learn and grow as we go.”
That is KEY: Ask for feedback
No matter what your niche is, you won’t be able to serve your audience well until you know what they want. So figure out ways to ask them...
- What do they want to learn?
- Who do they want to hear from in the niche?
- What kind of skills do they need?
- What are the pains they feel related to the niche?
These days Kenny and Ryan do that through a community that is managed, run, and kept alive by members of their Patreon supporters. But back at the beginning, they had to figure out ways to do it. Annual surveys were a tool they used. Soliciting listener feedback episode to episode helped. And little by little, they were able to dial-in their demographic and know how to serve their audience better.
Quality matters, both technically and in skill level
Kenny and Ryan started their podcast about bourbon back in 2015. Bourbon back then was NOT the thing it is today. Today it’s cool, hip, trendy, etc. , but back then, it was just a hobby for enthusiasts. But that began to change. More bourbon-related podcasts started showing up and Kenny (the Executive Producer of the show) realized he’d have to figure out ways to make their show better than all the rest.
So he up-leveled the equipment they used. He improved their interviewing skills. He shot for higher-level guests and topics listeners said they wanted to hear.
And the podcast continued to grow.
Burnout happens to all podcasters at some point
There was a turning point when Kenny felt he was going to have to give up the podcast. He was working a full-time job, was married, and had a child, and he felt that he was being pulled in too many directions. Between his job and the podcast he was working 80 hours a week and knew that without any payoff coming from his efforts, it didn’t make sense to keep making the kind of sacrifices he was making.
He was open about the situation on social media and a fan reached out and suggested they start a Patreon. Kenny didn’t even know what it was. If you dont, here’s the nutshell: Patreon allows fans to support you on a donation level. You can set it up in a way they donate monthly, or per-episode you produce, or anything else. It’s a cool idea. Another great platform like Patreon that is built especially for scenarios where the creator wants to produce audio as a “thank you” perk to those who support their show, is called Supercast (affiliate link). I use Supercast for one of my projects and LOVE it.
The Patreon started slow but showed encouraging signs of potential. Over time it grew and Kenny was able to hang on long enough to make his participation in the show pay off tangibly. Today (February 2022) the Bourbon Pursuit Patreon brings in almost $15,000 per month and includes a Bourbon Barrel Club. See the resources below to learn more about it.
Could your niche be successfully monetized?
Kenny believes that whatever you’re interested in, there is an audience out there that is also interested in it. Your job (should you choose to accept it) is to take the time and do the work required to find out what that audience wants... and give it to them.
That idea is the foundation of all entrepreneurial endeavors and every business. Contrary to what those capitalism-haters out there believe, business is about meeting needs and serving people. Your podcast can succeed by meeting needs, too. It just takes work to figure out how to do it and how to gradually slide into that place.
Listen to hear how Kenny and his team have scaled from episode 1 (bad audio quality and all) to an amazing team of 6 people, multiple sources of monthly revenue, and the launch of their own bourbon brand.
RESOURCES MENTIONED:
Bourbon Pursuit Podcast (all 3 weekly episodes):
Bourbon Pursuit Collection: https://seelbachs.com/collections/bourbon-pursuit-collection
Barrel Club (Patreon): https://www.patreon.com/bourbonpursuit
Kenny on Twitter: https://twitter.com/KendrickColeman
Kenny on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kendrickcoleman/
Do you EVER have issues coming up with new topics to cover on your podcast?
If not, it’s only a matter of time. Every podcaster runs into the issue eventually - asking the question, “What ELSE am I going to talk about on my podcast?”
It doesn’t matter if you’re just starting out or if you’ve been podcasting for a long time. It WILL happen to you.
What then?
How are you going to move forward and continue to serve your audience?
I’ve got a content development exercise you’re going to LOVE!
On this episode, I want to teach you a process I’ve implemented time and time again that enables anyone to have 10 to 15 interesting, helpful, immediately usable topics that can be recorded for individual podcast episodes, in JUST 30 MINUTES.
If it sounds too good to be true, just listen. You’ll see the magic (but it’s NOT magic, just common sense) of taking this approach.
It’s tapping into the knowledge you already have inside that noggin of yours and putting it to work for the sake of your audience.
Ready? Hit the play button!
If you’d like to take the DEEP DIVE into this approach, you can find it outlined in detail on this blog post: https://podcastfasttrack.com/podcast-workflow-step-2-generate-topics-bulk-record/