1 00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:02,879 Welcome back to Podcast Insider. I'm Mike Dell, 2 00:00:02,879 --> 00:00:04,980 VP of customer relations here at Blueberry. 3 00:00:05,599 --> 00:00:07,940 And I'm Mackenzie Bennett, director of marketing. 4 00:00:08,400 --> 00:00:10,480 And I'm Dave Clements from the support and 5 00:00:10,480 --> 00:00:13,279 media team. Today, we are gonna pull back 6 00:00:13,279 --> 00:00:14,419 the curtain a little bit. 7 00:00:15,035 --> 00:00:16,954 Yeah. We're talking about what we see behind 8 00:00:16,954 --> 00:00:19,054 the scenes here at Blueberry's 9 00:00:19,594 --> 00:00:20,654 hosting company 10 00:00:21,035 --> 00:00:23,214 or any hosting company, I'm sure. 11 00:00:24,394 --> 00:00:26,875 We don't wanna call anyone out specifically, but 12 00:00:26,875 --> 00:00:28,795 we are here to share some patterns we've 13 00:00:28,795 --> 00:00:31,619 noticed after working with thousands of podcasters over 14 00:00:31,619 --> 00:00:32,119 the 15 00:00:32,500 --> 00:00:35,299 years. So don't panic. We're gonna touch on 16 00:00:35,299 --> 00:00:37,140 the good, the bad, the ugly, give you 17 00:00:37,140 --> 00:00:37,799 some insight. 18 00:00:38,739 --> 00:00:41,079 Yeah. When you work at a hosting company 19 00:00:41,140 --> 00:00:43,640 and support, you see a lot of trends. 20 00:00:44,204 --> 00:00:46,945 You see what helps shows grow and 21 00:00:47,645 --> 00:00:50,864 what usually causes them to quit, podcasting. 22 00:00:52,364 --> 00:00:54,064 You're listening to Podcast Insider 23 00:00:54,445 --> 00:00:57,085 hosted by Mike Dell, Mackenzie Bennett, and Dave 24 00:00:57,085 --> 00:00:57,585 Clements. 25 00:00:58,619 --> 00:01:01,500 We're bringing you weekly insights, advice, and insider 26 00:01:01,500 --> 00:01:03,579 tips and tricks to help you start, grow, 27 00:01:03,579 --> 00:01:04,879 and thrive through podcasting, 28 00:01:05,260 --> 00:01:06,939 all with the support of your team here 29 00:01:06,939 --> 00:01:07,599 at Blueberry. 30 00:01:07,979 --> 00:01:09,760 Welcome. Let's dive in. 31 00:01:12,365 --> 00:01:14,784 That first one, why shows stop publishing? 32 00:01:15,325 --> 00:01:17,405 Generally, I mean, you guys are support. You 33 00:01:17,405 --> 00:01:19,165 could correct me if I'm wrong on this, 34 00:01:19,165 --> 00:01:20,445 but I would say a lot of the 35 00:01:20,445 --> 00:01:21,745 time, it's not because 36 00:01:22,125 --> 00:01:23,344 of a tech issue. 37 00:01:23,885 --> 00:01:26,765 No. Not not really. I think tech issues 38 00:01:26,765 --> 00:01:27,265 are 39 00:01:27,920 --> 00:01:30,259 normal. The the more that we use technology, 40 00:01:30,719 --> 00:01:32,420 we understand that things are gonna, 41 00:01:33,200 --> 00:01:35,299 you know, maybe not work perfectly 42 00:01:35,599 --> 00:01:37,060 all the time, every time. 43 00:01:38,479 --> 00:01:41,454 So, no, tech issues usually don't cause people 44 00:01:41,454 --> 00:01:43,295 to quit. You know, they may cause people 45 00:01:43,295 --> 00:01:45,555 to move around and find a different service. 46 00:01:46,174 --> 00:01:47,155 But, usually, 47 00:01:47,614 --> 00:01:50,814 we see people stop primarily because, in my 48 00:01:50,814 --> 00:01:51,314 opinion, 49 00:01:51,694 --> 00:01:52,515 they have 50 00:01:53,349 --> 00:01:54,569 unrealistic expectations 51 00:01:55,030 --> 00:01:56,090 that also cause, 52 00:01:56,549 --> 00:01:59,369 a lack of clear goals that causes burnout. 53 00:01:59,430 --> 00:02:01,769 And that's how I've always dealt with 54 00:02:02,069 --> 00:02:04,569 quitting any shows that I've quit is 55 00:02:04,950 --> 00:02:07,030 it's just kind of layers of all of 56 00:02:07,030 --> 00:02:09,405 these things. Plus, if you have a busy 57 00:02:09,405 --> 00:02:09,905 life, 58 00:02:10,205 --> 00:02:12,125 that's obviously gonna get in the way. So 59 00:02:12,125 --> 00:02:15,004 people who have, you know, busy families or 60 00:02:15,004 --> 00:02:17,245 just a lot going on tend to just 61 00:02:17,245 --> 00:02:18,705 burn out really fast 62 00:02:19,245 --> 00:02:20,224 with their podcasts. 63 00:02:21,020 --> 00:02:22,479 Yeah. You know, and that happens, 64 00:02:22,860 --> 00:02:24,800 you know, when I first got into podcasting. 65 00:02:25,020 --> 00:02:26,860 Oh, I wanna start a podcast about this, 66 00:02:26,860 --> 00:02:28,620 and I wanna start a podcast about that, 67 00:02:28,620 --> 00:02:30,939 and I wanna start another podcast about this 68 00:02:30,939 --> 00:02:33,419 other thing. And, you know, before too long, 69 00:02:33,419 --> 00:02:35,500 you just got way too much going on. 70 00:02:35,500 --> 00:02:36,000 So, 71 00:02:36,305 --> 00:02:36,965 you know, 72 00:02:38,145 --> 00:02:39,125 doing multiple 73 00:02:39,504 --> 00:02:40,004 podcasts, 74 00:02:40,865 --> 00:02:42,085 if you're not 75 00:02:42,705 --> 00:02:44,245 you know, they all take time. 76 00:02:44,625 --> 00:02:46,564 So, you know, be careful with that. That'll 77 00:02:46,705 --> 00:02:49,264 definitely help with the the burnout. You know? 78 00:02:49,264 --> 00:02:51,844 Do do one. Get good at it. Decide, 79 00:02:52,280 --> 00:02:54,620 you know, if you wanna make another one 80 00:02:55,159 --> 00:02:57,319 or or stuff like that. But, you know, 81 00:02:57,319 --> 00:02:57,800 tech 82 00:02:58,120 --> 00:03:00,519 as you guys said, tech issues aren't generally 83 00:03:00,519 --> 00:03:02,780 the reason people quit. It's usually 84 00:03:03,319 --> 00:03:05,580 lack of time and and all of that. 85 00:03:06,594 --> 00:03:09,094 Yeah. I think if you are 86 00:03:09,395 --> 00:03:11,474 that excited about podcasting and you're like, I'm 87 00:03:11,474 --> 00:03:12,835 gonna do a show about this. I wanna 88 00:03:12,835 --> 00:03:14,115 do a show about this. I wanna do 89 00:03:14,115 --> 00:03:15,094 a show about this. 90 00:03:15,794 --> 00:03:16,534 I don't 91 00:03:17,474 --> 00:03:18,599 necessarily trust 92 00:03:19,000 --> 00:03:20,780 you about all of those topics. 93 00:03:22,280 --> 00:03:24,760 You know? Not not so much trust. It's 94 00:03:24,760 --> 00:03:25,819 just, you know, 95 00:03:26,200 --> 00:03:27,960 are you gonna do a good job of 96 00:03:28,120 --> 00:03:29,260 Yeah. Of entertaining 97 00:03:29,800 --> 00:03:31,659 or or educating 98 00:03:32,200 --> 00:03:32,939 or whatever 99 00:03:33,240 --> 00:03:35,854 if you've got everything split into 20 different 100 00:03:35,854 --> 00:03:36,354 directions. 101 00:03:36,735 --> 00:03:39,134 Mhmm. Yeah. Like, I wanna hear you on 102 00:03:39,134 --> 00:03:41,294 your soapbox about something, but I don't wanna 103 00:03:41,294 --> 00:03:43,715 hear it about five different things probably. 104 00:03:45,375 --> 00:03:47,569 So I would keep that in mind. Yeah. 105 00:03:47,569 --> 00:03:49,569 I I think the big thing that I 106 00:03:49,569 --> 00:03:50,069 see, 107 00:03:50,769 --> 00:03:52,769 even just talking to friends, because I I 108 00:03:52,769 --> 00:03:54,709 have friends that do podcasts. And 109 00:03:55,409 --> 00:03:57,169 while you want to do a lot of 110 00:03:57,169 --> 00:03:59,409 different things, even when you do have it 111 00:03:59,409 --> 00:03:59,909 focused, 112 00:04:00,455 --> 00:04:03,914 you kinda run into that unrealistic expectations because 113 00:04:04,215 --> 00:04:06,794 podcasts are way more mainstream than they were 114 00:04:06,854 --> 00:04:09,495 when our company started. I mean, when the 115 00:04:09,495 --> 00:04:10,555 three of us started 116 00:04:11,495 --> 00:04:13,034 doing work for Blueberry, 117 00:04:13,980 --> 00:04:16,240 podcasting was still pretty small. 118 00:04:16,540 --> 00:04:19,580 Yeah. But now, you know, you you've got 119 00:04:19,580 --> 00:04:21,420 shows that are making a bunch of money. 120 00:04:21,420 --> 00:04:23,899 They're highly produced, and we've talked about this 121 00:04:23,899 --> 00:04:25,120 on previous episodes. 122 00:04:25,660 --> 00:04:27,245 But those unrealistic 123 00:04:27,704 --> 00:04:28,204 expectations 124 00:04:28,745 --> 00:04:31,384 are gonna beat you up every single time. 125 00:04:31,384 --> 00:04:33,384 And even looking through Reddit, which is something 126 00:04:33,384 --> 00:04:35,544 that we're doing more and more now, you 127 00:04:35,544 --> 00:04:36,664 see a lot of people that are like, 128 00:04:36,664 --> 00:04:38,985 well, how do I get successful and make 129 00:04:38,985 --> 00:04:40,604 this my living? And it's like, 130 00:04:41,209 --> 00:04:42,889 why are we starting with this question when 131 00:04:42,889 --> 00:04:44,589 you haven't recorded the first episode? 132 00:04:45,370 --> 00:04:45,870 Yeah. 133 00:04:46,250 --> 00:04:46,810 Yeah. It's, 134 00:04:47,290 --> 00:04:49,370 it's one of those things. You know? I 135 00:04:49,370 --> 00:04:51,449 need to start a podcast. You know, I 136 00:04:51,449 --> 00:04:53,129 got laid off from my job, and I 137 00:04:53,209 --> 00:04:56,495 like, well, podcast isn't actually the fast way 138 00:04:56,495 --> 00:04:57,394 to make money. 139 00:04:57,855 --> 00:05:00,814 It might happen over time, but, you know, 140 00:05:00,814 --> 00:05:02,595 be realistic about it. 141 00:05:03,694 --> 00:05:06,175 The show stopped publishing, but it's generally not 142 00:05:06,175 --> 00:05:08,389 because of the podcast tech. I would say, 143 00:05:08,389 --> 00:05:10,709 if anything, shows are going on for longer 144 00:05:10,709 --> 00:05:12,169 because the tech has improved. 145 00:05:12,790 --> 00:05:15,189 Yeah. The the tech is to the point 146 00:05:15,189 --> 00:05:17,509 now where, you know, you can make the 147 00:05:17,509 --> 00:05:18,410 tech disappear 148 00:05:18,870 --> 00:05:20,625 for the most part. I mean, yeah, you 149 00:05:20,625 --> 00:05:23,504 gotta know certain things to produce a good 150 00:05:23,504 --> 00:05:25,125 audio file or a good video, 151 00:05:25,584 --> 00:05:28,305 whatever. But, you know, as far as that 152 00:05:28,305 --> 00:05:30,485 goes but there are some common 153 00:05:30,865 --> 00:05:31,685 tech mistakes. 154 00:05:33,180 --> 00:05:35,019 So, you know, Dave and I can speak 155 00:05:35,019 --> 00:05:36,939 to this because we're on support all the 156 00:05:36,939 --> 00:05:38,939 time. Mhmm. But, you know, a lot of 157 00:05:38,939 --> 00:05:41,759 support questions come down to just the basics, 158 00:05:42,139 --> 00:05:42,699 you know, 159 00:05:43,180 --> 00:05:44,399 distribution timing. 160 00:05:44,860 --> 00:05:47,019 You know, I published an episode, and it's 161 00:05:47,019 --> 00:05:48,399 not on Apple yet. 162 00:05:48,975 --> 00:05:50,495 And you look at their feed, and they 163 00:05:50,495 --> 00:05:52,194 published twenty two minutes ago. 164 00:05:53,134 --> 00:05:56,115 And, you know, that's just not realistic. Podcasting 165 00:05:56,334 --> 00:05:58,274 is sort of backwards. It's distributed, 166 00:05:58,654 --> 00:05:59,154 syndicated. 167 00:05:59,854 --> 00:06:02,495 Mike likes to say it is a pull, 168 00:06:02,495 --> 00:06:05,399 not a push technology. So you publish, and 169 00:06:05,399 --> 00:06:07,240 then you have to wait for Apple and 170 00:06:07,240 --> 00:06:09,399 Spotify and all of those other platforms to 171 00:06:09,399 --> 00:06:12,279 pull that new information in. You don't just 172 00:06:12,279 --> 00:06:14,360 ping them and go, hey. We're ready. Here's 173 00:06:14,360 --> 00:06:15,195 the other thing. You know, we don't control 174 00:06:15,195 --> 00:06:15,990 Spotify. We don't control Apple. We don't 175 00:06:19,235 --> 00:06:21,975 Apple. We don't control Amazon Music 176 00:06:22,595 --> 00:06:24,675 or any of the other directories. You know, 177 00:06:24,675 --> 00:06:27,314 hosting controls the RSS feed. And if it 178 00:06:27,314 --> 00:06:29,634 goes into the RSS feed, and your RSS 179 00:06:29,634 --> 00:06:30,855 feed is correct, 180 00:06:31,980 --> 00:06:34,220 which it will be from us, we don't 181 00:06:34,220 --> 00:06:36,459 control what the directories do with it. You 182 00:06:36,459 --> 00:06:39,019 know? We can't help you format the show 183 00:06:39,019 --> 00:06:41,180 notes other than we send them the standard 184 00:06:41,180 --> 00:06:43,100 thing. And if they just choose to do 185 00:06:43,100 --> 00:06:44,939 something else with it, you know, it's up 186 00:06:44,939 --> 00:06:45,839 to those apps. 187 00:06:46,485 --> 00:06:47,785 So what can they do 188 00:06:48,324 --> 00:06:50,805 behind the curtain at a podcast hosting provider? 189 00:06:50,805 --> 00:06:52,425 So these common tech mistakes 190 00:06:53,125 --> 00:06:55,925 Yeah. What could they maybe do to, to 191 00:06:55,925 --> 00:06:58,665 avoid those or make your lives easier 192 00:06:59,125 --> 00:07:00,960 with the support team? You You know, people 193 00:07:00,960 --> 00:07:02,259 are gonna have the questions. 194 00:07:03,439 --> 00:07:06,000 As I've said on other shows and other 195 00:07:06,000 --> 00:07:06,500 places, 196 00:07:07,199 --> 00:07:10,639 you know, the when podcasting first started, everybody 197 00:07:10,639 --> 00:07:13,540 was a geek. Listeners, the producers, 198 00:07:13,920 --> 00:07:16,180 the hosts, whatever, everything was geeky. 199 00:07:17,354 --> 00:07:18,414 And over time, 200 00:07:18,954 --> 00:07:21,214 it came up to average. So the average 201 00:07:21,274 --> 00:07:23,854 tech savviness of a podcaster was 202 00:07:24,235 --> 00:07:26,735 along the average of all people. 203 00:07:27,115 --> 00:07:29,034 You know? So you had a little tech 204 00:07:29,034 --> 00:07:29,534 savviness, 205 00:07:29,914 --> 00:07:30,314 but not 206 00:07:30,979 --> 00:07:33,300 you know, you weren't too geeky. And now 207 00:07:33,300 --> 00:07:36,419 I honestly think that there's people that are 208 00:07:36,419 --> 00:07:38,600 below average, and that's not a bad thing. 209 00:07:38,819 --> 00:07:40,740 It just you know, there's people out there 210 00:07:40,740 --> 00:07:43,139 that don't like tech, and that's fine, and 211 00:07:43,139 --> 00:07:44,439 they can still podcast. 212 00:07:45,175 --> 00:07:45,915 But just 213 00:07:46,535 --> 00:07:48,855 know you have to learn a little bit, 214 00:07:48,855 --> 00:07:51,014 and we're happy to teach you, of course, 215 00:07:51,014 --> 00:07:51,514 how 216 00:07:51,975 --> 00:07:53,035 RSS distribution 217 00:07:53,415 --> 00:07:56,615 works and how these directories works, and they're 218 00:07:56,615 --> 00:07:57,915 they're all different. 219 00:07:59,430 --> 00:08:01,290 You know, I did my thing at Podfest 220 00:08:01,750 --> 00:08:02,649 about distribution, 221 00:08:04,230 --> 00:08:06,410 and, you know, it it changes. 222 00:08:06,949 --> 00:08:07,610 You know? 223 00:08:08,069 --> 00:08:10,410 New rules, you know, in different 224 00:08:11,314 --> 00:08:13,495 different apps and directories have 225 00:08:13,875 --> 00:08:15,175 different standards. 226 00:08:16,194 --> 00:08:17,574 And, you know, just 227 00:08:18,834 --> 00:08:20,675 just make sure that, you know, if you 228 00:08:20,675 --> 00:08:23,814 have a question, please please contact your host 229 00:08:23,875 --> 00:08:25,814 or us here, Dave and I, 230 00:08:26,435 --> 00:08:29,230 at Blueberry, and we can we can help 231 00:08:29,230 --> 00:08:31,230 you get it all tweaked the way it 232 00:08:31,230 --> 00:08:33,309 needs to be, and then you should be 233 00:08:33,309 --> 00:08:33,809 good. 234 00:08:35,710 --> 00:08:37,950 Yeah. I think the other thing too is, 235 00:08:40,074 --> 00:08:41,674 just to kinda build off of what Mike 236 00:08:41,674 --> 00:08:42,414 was saying, 237 00:08:43,434 --> 00:08:44,894 a little bit of education 238 00:08:45,914 --> 00:08:48,634 in in how things work can actually go 239 00:08:48,634 --> 00:08:50,894 a really long way for your own patients. 240 00:08:51,514 --> 00:08:53,534 We'll we'll talk to customers that 241 00:08:53,919 --> 00:08:56,639 get really frustrated because, well, I published fifteen 242 00:08:56,639 --> 00:08:58,660 minutes ago. I don't see it on whatever 243 00:08:59,279 --> 00:09:00,259 app I'm using. 244 00:09:00,720 --> 00:09:03,120 And so then there's a phone call or 245 00:09:03,120 --> 00:09:05,679 a ticket. And we totally understand that. We're 246 00:09:06,000 --> 00:09:07,700 you know, we see it all the time. 247 00:09:07,919 --> 00:09:08,899 But I think 248 00:09:09,644 --> 00:09:12,125 if if people could step back just a 249 00:09:12,125 --> 00:09:13,264 little bit and go, 250 00:09:14,125 --> 00:09:16,845 okay. I'm going to just give myself a 251 00:09:16,845 --> 00:09:19,425 block of time. Maybe it's two hours. 252 00:09:20,524 --> 00:09:22,519 And if it doesn't show up, then I 253 00:09:22,519 --> 00:09:23,259 reach out. 254 00:09:23,559 --> 00:09:25,600 There's a lot of times where 255 00:09:26,039 --> 00:09:28,459 especially if you're using PowerPress because, 256 00:09:29,240 --> 00:09:30,699 caching is a bad word 257 00:09:31,240 --> 00:09:32,299 Mhmm. For podcasters. 258 00:09:33,159 --> 00:09:35,319 And, basically, that's just you know, files are 259 00:09:35,319 --> 00:09:37,339 being stored so that they can 260 00:09:37,695 --> 00:09:40,095 load your website a little faster. But the 261 00:09:40,095 --> 00:09:41,394 downside is that 262 00:09:43,054 --> 00:09:45,615 your feed isn't going to update as fast 263 00:09:45,615 --> 00:09:46,995 and show the new episode 264 00:09:47,774 --> 00:09:49,535 so that when Apple and Spotify go to 265 00:09:49,535 --> 00:09:51,294 pull it, they're not gonna see it right 266 00:09:51,294 --> 00:09:51,794 away. 267 00:09:52,470 --> 00:09:55,110 So it's one of those, like, slow down, 268 00:09:55,110 --> 00:09:57,589 maybe give it two hours. And then if 269 00:09:57,589 --> 00:09:58,570 you don't see it, 270 00:09:59,429 --> 00:10:00,809 contact us. Or 271 00:10:01,190 --> 00:10:01,690 even 272 00:10:02,149 --> 00:10:04,409 as simple as is my file 273 00:10:05,110 --> 00:10:05,610 online, 274 00:10:06,134 --> 00:10:08,154 You know, can I listen to that file 275 00:10:08,695 --> 00:10:09,595 in my browser? 276 00:10:09,975 --> 00:10:10,475 Because 277 00:10:10,855 --> 00:10:13,254 we have run into issues where files aren't, 278 00:10:13,254 --> 00:10:15,274 you know, publicly available. 279 00:10:15,894 --> 00:10:17,195 And if you just 280 00:10:17,654 --> 00:10:20,330 go in and, you know, republish the post 281 00:10:20,330 --> 00:10:22,110 or set the file to online, 282 00:10:22,649 --> 00:10:24,110 then it's working, and 283 00:10:24,649 --> 00:10:26,429 there's no need for a support ticket. 284 00:10:27,850 --> 00:10:30,269 And, you know, that's again, that's technology 285 00:10:30,970 --> 00:10:34,084 being buggy sometimes, and you have that. And 286 00:10:34,084 --> 00:10:35,764 I think we're just kind of in this 287 00:10:35,764 --> 00:10:36,664 instant gratification 288 00:10:37,605 --> 00:10:40,345 era where it doesn't work now, so 289 00:10:41,284 --> 00:10:43,204 I panic and throw my phone out the 290 00:10:43,204 --> 00:10:43,704 window 291 00:10:44,404 --> 00:10:46,804 or call someone and or or whatever. So 292 00:10:47,044 --> 00:10:49,079 Yeah. Yeah. Just a little bit of basic 293 00:10:49,079 --> 00:10:51,740 knowledge and patience will take you so far 294 00:10:52,199 --> 00:10:53,819 in in creating your podcast. 295 00:10:54,360 --> 00:10:56,919 Yeah. Exactly. You know, a little education. What 296 00:10:56,919 --> 00:10:58,759 I used to like to say to people 297 00:10:58,919 --> 00:11:00,600 this is, you know, way back in the 298 00:11:00,600 --> 00:11:02,220 day. I know I'm an old fart. 299 00:11:03,639 --> 00:11:05,304 But, you know, I used to say you're 300 00:11:05,304 --> 00:11:06,845 gonna pay either money, 301 00:11:07,945 --> 00:11:08,445 time, 302 00:11:09,384 --> 00:11:10,205 or education. 303 00:11:12,424 --> 00:11:14,664 You know, if you don't wanna learn how 304 00:11:14,664 --> 00:11:16,664 this all works, you're gonna spend a lot 305 00:11:16,664 --> 00:11:17,325 of time, 306 00:11:18,470 --> 00:11:20,790 you know, talking to people about it and 307 00:11:20,790 --> 00:11:22,889 get getting tech support. Or 308 00:11:23,509 --> 00:11:25,509 if you get a little education, that's gonna 309 00:11:25,509 --> 00:11:26,970 save you the time and the money. 310 00:11:27,509 --> 00:11:29,290 Yeah. Because you know? 311 00:11:29,670 --> 00:11:30,170 Yeah. 312 00:11:30,794 --> 00:11:32,714 And here's the other thing that I find 313 00:11:32,714 --> 00:11:34,735 that a lot of lot of, customers 314 00:11:36,075 --> 00:11:36,815 don't understand. 315 00:11:37,595 --> 00:11:40,154 Well, it's on Apple. It's on Spotify, but 316 00:11:40,154 --> 00:11:43,214 it's not a obscure directory that nobody uses. 317 00:11:43,440 --> 00:11:45,279 But that doesn't mean there's a problem with 318 00:11:45,279 --> 00:11:47,440 your feed. That doesn't mean there's a problem 319 00:11:47,440 --> 00:11:50,639 with your service at Blueberry or wherever you're 320 00:11:50,639 --> 00:11:51,460 you're hosting. 321 00:11:52,240 --> 00:11:54,559 That's a problem with that place. If all 322 00:11:54,559 --> 00:11:56,639 the other places are working and that one's 323 00:11:56,639 --> 00:11:58,980 not, then they have a problem, 324 00:11:59,574 --> 00:12:00,074 generally. 325 00:12:01,174 --> 00:12:03,975 And, you know, if it's really that big 326 00:12:03,975 --> 00:12:05,674 a deal, contact them. 327 00:12:06,695 --> 00:12:09,095 But as I've I've said in in all 328 00:12:09,095 --> 00:12:11,495 my talks is really if you're in podcast 329 00:12:11,495 --> 00:12:11,995 index, 330 00:12:12,419 --> 00:12:15,799 Spotify, and Apple, you've covered 95%. 331 00:12:15,860 --> 00:12:18,419 Any of the other ones are yeah. They're 332 00:12:18,419 --> 00:12:19,799 kinda cool to be in, 333 00:12:20,500 --> 00:12:21,000 but 334 00:12:21,379 --> 00:12:23,159 don't lose any sleep over it. 335 00:12:25,764 --> 00:12:27,524 You know, it's not not a big deal. 336 00:12:27,524 --> 00:12:29,605 You know, a little little knowledge will prevent 337 00:12:29,605 --> 00:12:30,825 some stress there. 338 00:12:31,684 --> 00:12:34,565 That that absolutely leads us into the next 339 00:12:34,565 --> 00:12:37,144 thing we wanted to talk about was stats 340 00:12:37,284 --> 00:12:37,784 misconceptions, 341 00:12:38,404 --> 00:12:40,259 and that stress and, 342 00:12:41,299 --> 00:12:41,799 losing 343 00:12:42,820 --> 00:12:45,720 sleep. Yeah. Stats is definitely on that list. 344 00:12:46,340 --> 00:12:48,039 People can get discouraged 345 00:12:48,340 --> 00:12:49,080 quite quickly 346 00:12:49,860 --> 00:12:50,179 and, 347 00:12:51,634 --> 00:12:52,294 you know, 348 00:12:52,835 --> 00:12:55,735 maybe maybe don't understand the the full 349 00:12:56,274 --> 00:12:59,095 spectrum of how podcast stats work. But, 350 00:12:59,714 --> 00:13:02,375 usually, we see them upset by, you know, 351 00:13:02,674 --> 00:13:03,495 some unrealistic 352 00:13:04,409 --> 00:13:06,669 ideal number in their head. Yeah. 353 00:13:07,129 --> 00:13:09,850 Yeah. That and, you know, another thing that 354 00:13:09,850 --> 00:13:13,549 was stats is people watch it so closely, 355 00:13:13,769 --> 00:13:14,830 and they obsess 356 00:13:15,289 --> 00:13:16,589 about it. And, 357 00:13:17,304 --> 00:13:18,665 you know, I had one guy. I think 358 00:13:18,665 --> 00:13:19,965 he had eight downloads 359 00:13:21,304 --> 00:13:23,004 on an episode, and 360 00:13:23,465 --> 00:13:25,965 six of them were from New York state. 361 00:13:26,504 --> 00:13:28,345 And he was like, wow. That that's gotta 362 00:13:28,345 --> 00:13:30,105 be a bot or something in New York, 363 00:13:30,105 --> 00:13:32,264 or this just doesn't seem right. You know? 364 00:13:32,264 --> 00:13:34,639 And it's like, well, you're getting way ahead 365 00:13:34,639 --> 00:13:36,660 of yourself. You're just starting here. 366 00:13:37,200 --> 00:13:38,820 Mhmm. You know. And 367 00:13:39,679 --> 00:13:42,019 the other thing is, you know, people will 368 00:13:42,399 --> 00:13:44,720 freak out when they get a bump in 369 00:13:44,720 --> 00:13:46,554 their stats. You know? I I think I 370 00:13:46,554 --> 00:13:49,355 get just as many complaints about low stats 371 00:13:49,355 --> 00:13:51,134 as I do high stats. 372 00:13:52,315 --> 00:13:54,794 Oh, is this real? I got, you know, 373 00:13:54,794 --> 00:13:58,014 2,000 downloads, and I normally get 500. 374 00:13:59,429 --> 00:14:02,629 And, well, yeah, somebody shared it or something. 375 00:14:02,629 --> 00:14:04,230 I don't know. You know? I'm looking at 376 00:14:04,230 --> 00:14:06,230 it. There there is ways to look at 377 00:14:06,230 --> 00:14:08,570 it to see if it is bot activity, 378 00:14:08,870 --> 00:14:11,370 but we filter that stuff out pretty well. 379 00:14:11,830 --> 00:14:14,475 Mhmm. You know? Yeah. I I think if 380 00:14:14,475 --> 00:14:14,975 people 381 00:14:15,274 --> 00:14:15,774 would 382 00:14:16,394 --> 00:14:19,195 again, like, I think patience is key, because 383 00:14:19,195 --> 00:14:20,634 I don't want us to just come off 384 00:14:20,634 --> 00:14:22,514 sounding like we're just growing beer all the 385 00:14:22,514 --> 00:14:22,554 time. 386 00:14:24,315 --> 00:14:26,095 But I think there's a lot of 387 00:14:27,769 --> 00:14:29,690 people don't always know how to use the 388 00:14:29,690 --> 00:14:31,690 tools that they're given. I mean, even me. 389 00:14:31,690 --> 00:14:33,230 Like, I've been doing support 390 00:14:33,769 --> 00:14:35,950 for six, seven years 391 00:14:36,330 --> 00:14:39,450 now, and I've been podcasting for twice that 392 00:14:39,450 --> 00:14:39,950 long. 393 00:14:40,365 --> 00:14:43,245 And I still have problems understanding some of 394 00:14:43,245 --> 00:14:45,004 my stats. Like, where in the world did 395 00:14:45,004 --> 00:14:47,644 this bump or this dip come from? And 396 00:14:47,644 --> 00:14:49,825 especially, like, the bumps. You know? 397 00:14:50,284 --> 00:14:51,345 Where where 398 00:14:51,884 --> 00:14:54,125 I'm used to seeing a couple 100 downloads 399 00:14:54,125 --> 00:14:56,579 for a certain show that I'm doing, and 400 00:14:56,579 --> 00:14:57,959 then all of a sudden, it 401 00:14:58,339 --> 00:15:00,759 it goes really high. And to a degree, 402 00:15:00,819 --> 00:15:02,579 you can you can try and narrow that 403 00:15:02,579 --> 00:15:04,819 down. Like, if they're coming from a country 404 00:15:04,819 --> 00:15:05,959 that you have never 405 00:15:06,500 --> 00:15:09,000 ever seen in your stats dashboard before, 406 00:15:09,414 --> 00:15:11,495 okay. Well, then that is a reason to 407 00:15:11,495 --> 00:15:13,894 get in touch with us. But sometimes, like 408 00:15:13,894 --> 00:15:16,215 Mike said, maybe you were shared somewhere. I 409 00:15:16,215 --> 00:15:19,035 know we had a somebody wrote an article 410 00:15:19,095 --> 00:15:20,715 about the show I was doing, 411 00:15:21,095 --> 00:15:22,075 had no idea, 412 00:15:22,615 --> 00:15:23,115 and 413 00:15:23,820 --> 00:15:25,980 they contacted us, like, a week later. And 414 00:15:25,980 --> 00:15:27,580 they're like, just so you know, we did 415 00:15:27,580 --> 00:15:29,500 write a an article about you, and we're 416 00:15:29,500 --> 00:15:33,259 like, oh, that's where those extra, like, 400 417 00:15:33,259 --> 00:15:34,399 downloads for, 418 00:15:34,860 --> 00:15:37,279 you know, a handful of episodes came from. 419 00:15:37,420 --> 00:15:39,625 And it was great, but we just didn't 420 00:15:39,625 --> 00:15:40,904 know it. And so there's a little bit 421 00:15:40,904 --> 00:15:42,745 of a panic. But you can figure that 422 00:15:42,745 --> 00:15:43,485 stuff out 423 00:15:43,945 --> 00:15:46,024 whether you look for it or, you know, 424 00:15:46,024 --> 00:15:48,105 sometimes people will reach out to you and 425 00:15:48,105 --> 00:15:49,865 tell you, hey. Yeah. You know, we're talking 426 00:15:49,865 --> 00:15:51,865 about you. That that's why I don't panic 427 00:15:51,865 --> 00:15:52,350 about your 428 00:15:52,829 --> 00:15:54,029 stats. Yeah. And I've had a, 429 00:15:54,669 --> 00:15:55,970 speaking of spikes, 430 00:15:56,350 --> 00:15:57,409 that I've been able 431 00:15:58,110 --> 00:15:59,169 to tell them why, 432 00:16:00,029 --> 00:16:02,829 is I had a a person that had 433 00:16:02,829 --> 00:16:05,870 200 and something episodes, and they were all 434 00:16:05,870 --> 00:16:07,169 available in their feed. 435 00:16:08,054 --> 00:16:08,554 And 436 00:16:09,495 --> 00:16:10,634 they got, like 437 00:16:11,174 --> 00:16:14,134 their their normal downloads were, like, 50 or 438 00:16:14,134 --> 00:16:16,535 something. I forget exactly what it was, but 439 00:16:16,535 --> 00:16:18,535 it was pretty low. And they were okay 440 00:16:18,535 --> 00:16:19,274 with that. 441 00:16:20,070 --> 00:16:20,570 But 442 00:16:20,950 --> 00:16:23,450 on one day, they got 300 and something 443 00:16:23,509 --> 00:16:25,370 episodes or downloads. 444 00:16:26,470 --> 00:16:28,550 And they're like, why is this big spike 445 00:16:28,550 --> 00:16:29,769 on this one day? 446 00:16:30,309 --> 00:16:33,190 Well, somebody discovered your show and downloaded the 447 00:16:33,190 --> 00:16:35,595 whole thing. It happens sometimes. You know? They'll 448 00:16:35,834 --> 00:16:38,315 Yep. You'll you'll get a super fan, and 449 00:16:38,315 --> 00:16:39,914 they're, oh, I'm gonna download all of these. 450 00:16:39,914 --> 00:16:42,894 And they downloaded 200 and whatever episodes 451 00:16:43,355 --> 00:16:46,075 Mhmm. That day plus the normal downloads, and 452 00:16:46,075 --> 00:16:48,414 it made this really neat spike in the 453 00:16:48,480 --> 00:16:50,879 in the stats. And and I said, well, 454 00:16:50,879 --> 00:16:52,879 just go to the episode section, and you 455 00:16:52,879 --> 00:16:55,679 can see, you know, this week, you got 456 00:16:55,679 --> 00:16:58,100 one download on every one of your episodes, 457 00:16:58,159 --> 00:17:00,100 even the ones from four years ago. 458 00:17:00,559 --> 00:17:02,320 Yeah. You know? And and so that kind 459 00:17:02,320 --> 00:17:03,299 of stuff happens. 460 00:17:03,634 --> 00:17:05,795 The the the key with stats is we 461 00:17:05,795 --> 00:17:07,654 can tell you what happened. 462 00:17:08,035 --> 00:17:09,714 We might not be able to tell you 463 00:17:09,714 --> 00:17:10,214 why. 464 00:17:12,115 --> 00:17:13,015 Yeah. You 465 00:17:13,394 --> 00:17:15,394 know? No. You kinda just have to let 466 00:17:15,394 --> 00:17:16,295 go some stuff. 467 00:17:16,690 --> 00:17:18,049 Yeah. And you might be able to figure 468 00:17:18,049 --> 00:17:20,690 it out. You know? Again, you know, it's 469 00:17:20,690 --> 00:17:23,250 it's not a complete mystery, but, you know, 470 00:17:23,250 --> 00:17:24,789 stats can only do so much. 471 00:17:25,890 --> 00:17:27,890 You know, we can tell you what what 472 00:17:27,890 --> 00:17:28,390 happened. 473 00:17:30,450 --> 00:17:31,670 Maybe not why, 474 00:17:32,365 --> 00:17:33,964 but we can, you know, usually tell you 475 00:17:33,964 --> 00:17:34,865 what and when. 476 00:17:35,964 --> 00:17:36,284 So 477 00:17:37,644 --> 00:17:39,105 Yeah. And I I mean, 478 00:17:39,804 --> 00:17:41,565 we've we've all been doing this long enough. 479 00:17:41,565 --> 00:17:43,164 I don't think that I would panic too 480 00:17:43,164 --> 00:17:45,724 much at a a rise or a dip 481 00:17:45,724 --> 00:17:46,704 in your statistics 482 00:17:47,484 --> 00:17:47,984 unless 483 00:17:48,420 --> 00:17:50,340 all of a sudden it just plummets, and 484 00:17:50,340 --> 00:17:53,140 it's like, well, I was getting 50 downloads, 485 00:17:53,140 --> 00:17:55,720 and now I'm getting two, and it's consistent 486 00:17:55,779 --> 00:17:57,619 over the course of, like, two weeks or 487 00:17:57,619 --> 00:18:00,119 something like that. Yeah. Then maybe you panic. 488 00:18:00,355 --> 00:18:02,774 Yeah. But Or or if you get zero, 489 00:18:02,835 --> 00:18:04,554 you know, then that might be a surprise. 490 00:18:04,755 --> 00:18:07,315 Look into something. Yeah. Yeah. For sure. If 491 00:18:07,315 --> 00:18:09,494 it's a drastic dip, you definitely 492 00:18:10,115 --> 00:18:11,315 wanna check into that. 493 00:18:11,714 --> 00:18:14,595 But, you know, more more times than not, 494 00:18:14,595 --> 00:18:15,815 you're going to see 495 00:18:16,330 --> 00:18:18,670 kind of a gradual rise or a plateau. 496 00:18:19,210 --> 00:18:22,170 I don't think people's shows fall off until 497 00:18:22,170 --> 00:18:23,230 they just stop 498 00:18:24,250 --> 00:18:25,869 producing content. Yeah. 499 00:18:26,730 --> 00:18:29,289 And, you know, what what'll happen is you 500 00:18:29,289 --> 00:18:31,825 might saturate your market. I mean, if you're 501 00:18:31,825 --> 00:18:34,484 doing a show that is super niche, 502 00:18:35,585 --> 00:18:36,325 you might 503 00:18:36,625 --> 00:18:39,184 have already reached anybody that might wanna listen 504 00:18:39,184 --> 00:18:41,184 to it, and it may not grow, 505 00:18:43,279 --> 00:18:45,599 you know, without some sort of change in 506 00:18:45,599 --> 00:18:47,440 in your focus. But then you might lose 507 00:18:47,440 --> 00:18:49,279 some of the ones you had. So, you 508 00:18:49,279 --> 00:18:51,279 know, just do your show. We'll tell you 509 00:18:51,279 --> 00:18:52,019 what happened. 510 00:18:54,319 --> 00:18:56,480 Yeah. We've been doing stats a very, very 511 00:18:56,480 --> 00:18:57,839 long time. That's one of the first things 512 00:18:57,839 --> 00:18:59,884 we've ever done as a company 513 00:19:00,505 --> 00:19:03,404 that, you know, when this started in 2005 514 00:19:03,785 --> 00:19:05,724 is stats. So Mhmm. 515 00:19:06,105 --> 00:19:08,184 You can believe the information that we are 516 00:19:08,184 --> 00:19:09,005 giving out. 517 00:19:09,384 --> 00:19:11,305 Yeah. So Dave and I recently did an 518 00:19:11,305 --> 00:19:13,244 episode all about monetization, 519 00:19:15,419 --> 00:19:16,880 But, you know, some people 520 00:19:17,659 --> 00:19:19,440 don't exactly understand 521 00:19:19,740 --> 00:19:22,000 that, it's more than just ads. 522 00:19:22,539 --> 00:19:24,399 There's other ways of monetizing 523 00:19:24,859 --> 00:19:27,555 your show. Yeah. For sure. There's a different 524 00:19:27,715 --> 00:19:29,075 way that you can do it. You can 525 00:19:29,075 --> 00:19:30,755 do different types of ads. You can do 526 00:19:30,755 --> 00:19:33,015 affiliate program stuff. You can do 527 00:19:33,315 --> 00:19:34,615 selling your own courses. 528 00:19:35,394 --> 00:19:35,894 There's 529 00:19:36,674 --> 00:19:38,674 a variety of things that you can do, 530 00:19:38,674 --> 00:19:40,695 but we don't want you to 531 00:19:41,279 --> 00:19:41,779 undervalue 532 00:19:42,240 --> 00:19:44,559 maybe your niche audience of whatever show it 533 00:19:44,559 --> 00:19:46,960 is that you have. There's this story that 534 00:19:46,960 --> 00:19:48,880 we've told at the company that it's you 535 00:19:48,880 --> 00:19:49,779 know, we had 536 00:19:50,160 --> 00:19:53,220 a neurosurgeon that had a show that was 537 00:19:54,000 --> 00:19:54,660 a very 538 00:19:55,394 --> 00:19:55,894 small 539 00:19:56,275 --> 00:19:56,775 audience, 540 00:19:57,474 --> 00:19:59,315 in the grand scheme of things, but they 541 00:19:59,315 --> 00:20:01,474 were making bank off of this because they 542 00:20:01,474 --> 00:20:03,634 were the only show talking about this specific 543 00:20:03,634 --> 00:20:05,955 topic. And the people that were listening were 544 00:20:05,955 --> 00:20:06,695 other neurosurgeons. 545 00:20:07,555 --> 00:20:10,275 And so they had amazing advertisements just because 546 00:20:10,275 --> 00:20:11,660 of that. Mhmm. 547 00:20:12,920 --> 00:20:15,180 Yeah. I think that's that's that, 548 00:20:15,720 --> 00:20:17,320 yeah, it plays into stats a little bit, 549 00:20:17,320 --> 00:20:19,640 but going, oh, my audience isn't big enough 550 00:20:19,640 --> 00:20:22,200 or whatever. No. No. You could you can 551 00:20:22,200 --> 00:20:22,700 literally 552 00:20:23,320 --> 00:20:23,820 provide 553 00:20:24,914 --> 00:20:25,975 good enough content 554 00:20:26,355 --> 00:20:27,815 to that niche audience 555 00:20:28,355 --> 00:20:30,595 that you can start selling to them at 556 00:20:30,674 --> 00:20:31,174 or, 557 00:20:31,795 --> 00:20:33,715 you know and that's that's if you're running 558 00:20:33,715 --> 00:20:35,075 a business. Even if you're not running a 559 00:20:35,075 --> 00:20:37,075 business and you're just doing it for fun, 560 00:20:37,075 --> 00:20:39,480 you can have a Patreon that you have 561 00:20:39,480 --> 00:20:42,119 just diehard fans that are like, yes. I'm 562 00:20:42,119 --> 00:20:44,119 more than happy to give you some of 563 00:20:44,119 --> 00:20:46,279 my money. There is another word I wanted 564 00:20:46,279 --> 00:20:48,359 to use. But, you know, the the whole 565 00:20:48,359 --> 00:20:50,919 value for value thing. You know? Time, talent, 566 00:20:50,919 --> 00:20:53,595 or treasure. You know? You get a lot 567 00:20:53,595 --> 00:20:55,795 of participation or you get maybe a little 568 00:20:55,795 --> 00:20:57,015 money. You get, 569 00:20:57,555 --> 00:20:59,875 you know, maybe somebody will do some artwork 570 00:20:59,875 --> 00:21:01,894 for you. You know, there's all kinds of 571 00:21:02,275 --> 00:21:04,994 ways people can contribute to your show. Money's 572 00:21:04,994 --> 00:21:05,970 being one of them. 573 00:21:06,369 --> 00:21:09,169 Yeah. Yeah. So build the audience and build 574 00:21:09,169 --> 00:21:11,009 it to where they are just as dedicated 575 00:21:11,009 --> 00:21:12,690 to you as you are to them, and 576 00:21:12,690 --> 00:21:13,990 it becomes a reciprocal 577 00:21:14,609 --> 00:21:16,710 thing. And, you know, monetization 578 00:21:17,169 --> 00:21:18,710 will grow from that naturally. 579 00:21:19,384 --> 00:21:22,205 Yeah. That and also, you know, the forcing 580 00:21:22,265 --> 00:21:22,765 things 581 00:21:23,065 --> 00:21:25,625 on your beloved audience, especially if they are 582 00:21:25,625 --> 00:21:28,045 small and loyal, treat them with respect 583 00:21:28,424 --> 00:21:30,505 with any type of monetization that you are 584 00:21:30,505 --> 00:21:32,445 doing. You know, they are listening because 585 00:21:32,759 --> 00:21:33,500 they obviously, 586 00:21:33,880 --> 00:21:35,720 in some way, value the content that you 587 00:21:35,720 --> 00:21:38,140 were putting out. So You mean a GEICO 588 00:21:38,200 --> 00:21:39,900 ad doesn't fit every show? 589 00:21:40,359 --> 00:21:41,740 You know, maybe 590 00:21:42,039 --> 00:21:44,440 someone thinks that it does. Maybe the CEO 591 00:21:44,440 --> 00:21:47,099 of GEICO thinks that is the case. Everybody 592 00:21:47,240 --> 00:21:48,299 else does not. 593 00:21:48,815 --> 00:21:50,974 Right. You know? And, you know, that's that's 594 00:21:50,974 --> 00:21:52,575 the thing too. You know, make sure if 595 00:21:52,575 --> 00:21:55,615 you take advertising that you broker that it's 596 00:21:55,615 --> 00:21:58,894 something that you believe in because you're you've 597 00:21:58,894 --> 00:22:00,914 got that relationship with your audience. 598 00:22:01,535 --> 00:22:04,299 And if you're selling them snake oil, that's 599 00:22:04,299 --> 00:22:05,599 not gonna go over well. 600 00:22:06,140 --> 00:22:09,019 Yeah. They'll remember that. If you feel any 601 00:22:09,019 --> 00:22:09,759 type of 602 00:22:10,059 --> 00:22:11,519 embarrassed, not about 603 00:22:11,900 --> 00:22:15,019 advertising in general, because, like, that might just 604 00:22:15,019 --> 00:22:16,940 feel like an imposter syndrome type thing. You 605 00:22:16,940 --> 00:22:19,019 know, it's okay to monetize your own content. 606 00:22:19,019 --> 00:22:19,815 That is just 607 00:22:20,774 --> 00:22:22,075 how things work nowadays. 608 00:22:22,534 --> 00:22:23,835 But if you are 609 00:22:24,534 --> 00:22:27,254 in any shape or form embarrassed by the 610 00:22:27,254 --> 00:22:27,754 specific 611 00:22:28,134 --> 00:22:28,634 advertiser 612 00:22:29,734 --> 00:22:32,855 and feel like, oh, this this is making 613 00:22:32,855 --> 00:22:35,014 me a little bit uncomfortable, that's when you 614 00:22:35,014 --> 00:22:35,789 don't do it. 615 00:22:36,670 --> 00:22:39,809 Right. If you are not, like, happily bragging 616 00:22:39,950 --> 00:22:42,190 about this sponsor that you have, then don't 617 00:22:42,190 --> 00:22:43,170 sign with them. 618 00:22:44,269 --> 00:22:46,190 That would be my biggest thing. Yeah. And 619 00:22:46,190 --> 00:22:49,404 what's cool about that sometimes depending on what 620 00:22:49,404 --> 00:22:51,404 it is you're advertising, you might get a 621 00:22:51,404 --> 00:22:52,545 sample for free. 622 00:22:53,325 --> 00:22:56,305 Yeah. Exactly. You know, it's if it feels 623 00:22:56,924 --> 00:22:58,065 gross on the inside, 624 00:22:58,765 --> 00:23:00,285 it will come off as gross on the 625 00:23:00,285 --> 00:23:00,785 outside. 626 00:23:01,460 --> 00:23:03,059 Yeah. You know, I know I I watch 627 00:23:03,059 --> 00:23:04,820 a lot of YouTube and said that 100 628 00:23:04,820 --> 00:23:05,320 times. 629 00:23:06,420 --> 00:23:09,160 A lot of the YouTubers will have factor 630 00:23:09,299 --> 00:23:12,259 or one of those meal delivery things. Oh, 631 00:23:12,259 --> 00:23:13,460 yeah. Of course, I'll send them a case 632 00:23:13,460 --> 00:23:14,980 of the stuff, and they get to eat 633 00:23:14,980 --> 00:23:16,519 it on camera, whatever. 634 00:23:16,994 --> 00:23:18,674 You know, make sure it's something that you 635 00:23:18,674 --> 00:23:21,954 believe in, though, because people can smell BS 636 00:23:21,954 --> 00:23:23,174 from a mile away. 637 00:23:23,795 --> 00:23:24,775 And, you know, 638 00:23:25,394 --> 00:23:27,555 like, you know, if Microsoft came to me 639 00:23:27,555 --> 00:23:29,095 and said, hey. I want you to 640 00:23:29,394 --> 00:23:29,714 to, 641 00:23:30,559 --> 00:23:31,859 talk about Windows, 642 00:23:32,799 --> 00:23:35,359 operating system. Well, first off, I don't use 643 00:23:35,359 --> 00:23:35,859 Windows. 644 00:23:36,400 --> 00:23:38,240 Not that I don't hate Windows. I just 645 00:23:38,240 --> 00:23:39,299 don't use it. 646 00:23:39,839 --> 00:23:42,160 And it would be very fakey to my 647 00:23:42,160 --> 00:23:42,660 audience 648 00:23:43,434 --> 00:23:45,835 if I'm bragging up Windows when I'm sitting 649 00:23:45,835 --> 00:23:47,214 here in front of a Mac. 650 00:23:49,115 --> 00:23:51,134 And have been for many, many, many years. 651 00:23:51,275 --> 00:23:52,974 Exactly. You know? So, 652 00:23:53,355 --> 00:23:55,515 you know, there is there is that kind 653 00:23:55,515 --> 00:23:57,515 of thing. So just make sure it aligns 654 00:23:57,515 --> 00:23:59,929 with, a, your audience, and, b, you. 655 00:24:00,390 --> 00:24:03,529 Yeah. Yep. Both are important. Yeah. So 656 00:24:03,910 --> 00:24:05,609 there's some growth myths 657 00:24:05,910 --> 00:24:06,569 out there. 658 00:24:07,910 --> 00:24:09,289 And I don't know the motivation 659 00:24:09,910 --> 00:24:10,569 of it, 660 00:24:11,644 --> 00:24:14,304 but there's a lot of pressure for podcasters 661 00:24:14,444 --> 00:24:16,144 to add video or 662 00:24:16,924 --> 00:24:18,464 oops. Start with video. 663 00:24:19,164 --> 00:24:19,664 And 664 00:24:20,684 --> 00:24:23,565 it's not always a great idea. You know? 665 00:24:23,565 --> 00:24:26,464 Audio is much easier to to do 666 00:24:27,019 --> 00:24:27,919 than video. 667 00:24:28,539 --> 00:24:30,460 And there's nothing wrong with video. Don't get 668 00:24:30,460 --> 00:24:32,460 me wrong. We're we're all for it. 669 00:24:32,859 --> 00:24:35,419 But if you don't wanna do video, don't 670 00:24:35,419 --> 00:24:36,159 do video. 671 00:24:37,740 --> 00:24:39,579 Same thing with, you know, you gotta be 672 00:24:39,579 --> 00:24:41,039 on every single platform. 673 00:24:41,804 --> 00:24:44,444 Well, yeah. No. I mean, the three I 674 00:24:44,444 --> 00:24:44,944 mentioned, 675 00:24:45,325 --> 00:24:45,825 yes. 676 00:24:46,444 --> 00:24:48,384 The rest of them might as well. 677 00:24:49,004 --> 00:24:49,984 You know? But 678 00:24:50,444 --> 00:24:51,345 you don't absolutely, 679 00:24:51,724 --> 00:24:53,804 positively have to be on Amazon or your 680 00:24:53,804 --> 00:24:54,865 show's gonna fail. 681 00:24:55,180 --> 00:24:57,180 Mhmm. Or you're not gonna grow because you're 682 00:24:57,180 --> 00:24:59,039 not on Amazon. Well, Amazon, 683 00:24:59,740 --> 00:25:02,940 on average, doesn't get very high listenership of 684 00:25:02,940 --> 00:25:04,859 podcasts. I mean, there are some that do 685 00:25:04,859 --> 00:25:06,559 pretty well there. Believe me. But, 686 00:25:07,180 --> 00:25:09,339 it's it's not gonna make or break your 687 00:25:09,339 --> 00:25:09,839 show. 688 00:25:10,375 --> 00:25:10,875 Right. 689 00:25:11,654 --> 00:25:13,815 You know? And then my my favorite one, 690 00:25:13,815 --> 00:25:14,954 the shiny object 691 00:25:15,894 --> 00:25:17,914 or use every new tool. 692 00:25:18,534 --> 00:25:19,194 You know? 693 00:25:19,494 --> 00:25:20,775 That used to be the big thing. You 694 00:25:20,775 --> 00:25:22,775 know? What microphone do you use? That that 695 00:25:22,775 --> 00:25:25,194 was a huge topic of of conversation. 696 00:25:25,494 --> 00:25:28,559 And, you know, I I'm on a $400 697 00:25:28,559 --> 00:25:29,059 microphone. 698 00:25:30,000 --> 00:25:31,840 Mackenzie's on a $300 699 00:25:31,840 --> 00:25:32,340 microphone. 700 00:25:32,799 --> 00:25:34,900 Dave might be on a $50 microphone. 701 00:25:35,840 --> 00:25:37,840 I have been before. I'm not now, but 702 00:25:37,840 --> 00:25:39,920 I have been. Well, what I'm saying is 703 00:25:39,920 --> 00:25:41,380 is, you know, spending, 704 00:25:42,205 --> 00:25:43,565 you know, $400 705 00:25:43,565 --> 00:25:44,865 more for your microphone 706 00:25:45,325 --> 00:25:47,285 than the one you were using, as long 707 00:25:47,285 --> 00:25:48,225 as it's decent, 708 00:25:49,244 --> 00:25:51,164 isn't going to gain you a whole lot 709 00:25:51,164 --> 00:25:53,184 other than, yeah, I got this fancy microphone. 710 00:25:53,244 --> 00:25:54,605 You know, I'm kind of a gear head, 711 00:25:54,605 --> 00:25:56,845 so I have fancy microphones because I I 712 00:25:56,845 --> 00:25:59,059 just you know, I like that stuff. But 713 00:25:59,220 --> 00:26:02,259 Yeah. It doesn't make me sound $400 714 00:26:02,259 --> 00:26:02,759 better. 715 00:26:03,380 --> 00:26:03,880 No. 716 00:26:04,660 --> 00:26:06,820 No. No. That's actually funny. We we went 717 00:26:06,820 --> 00:26:07,960 to a music store 718 00:26:08,420 --> 00:26:09,640 this weekend, and 719 00:26:10,605 --> 00:26:11,265 my youngest was like, 720 00:26:12,285 --> 00:26:15,164 holy cow. There are microphones that expensive, dad. 721 00:26:15,164 --> 00:26:16,684 And I was like, yes. You don't need 722 00:26:16,684 --> 00:26:17,184 them. 723 00:26:18,845 --> 00:26:19,825 Typical iceberg. 724 00:26:20,204 --> 00:26:22,625 I I got started on super cheap microphones. 725 00:26:22,765 --> 00:26:23,505 But, like, 726 00:26:23,839 --> 00:26:26,720 you know, just talking about using every tool, 727 00:26:26,720 --> 00:26:29,039 like, it's not just, like, the actual physical 728 00:26:29,039 --> 00:26:31,380 gear. I see a lot of people going, 729 00:26:31,519 --> 00:26:33,839 oh, yeah. Like, oh, well, I have to 730 00:26:33,839 --> 00:26:34,339 use, 731 00:26:34,799 --> 00:26:37,680 you know, this editor and use this AI 732 00:26:37,680 --> 00:26:39,140 tool and, like, 733 00:26:39,515 --> 00:26:41,595 you know, 500 different things to craft a 734 00:26:41,595 --> 00:26:44,154 single episode. And it's like, no. You're just 735 00:26:44,154 --> 00:26:46,634 gonna bog yourself down. Like, sure. Play with 736 00:26:46,634 --> 00:26:48,335 things. Does it help you? 737 00:26:49,035 --> 00:26:49,535 But, 738 00:26:49,995 --> 00:26:51,455 you know, at the end of the day, 739 00:26:51,515 --> 00:26:54,335 don't don't try everything because at some point, 740 00:26:54,555 --> 00:26:57,670 you're you're gonna burn yourself out, and you're 741 00:26:57,670 --> 00:26:59,430 gonna just stop doing it because you don't 742 00:26:59,430 --> 00:27:00,009 really have a 743 00:27:00,470 --> 00:27:01,529 pattern. So 744 00:27:01,910 --> 00:27:03,430 so that that's a big one for me 745 00:27:03,430 --> 00:27:06,230 because I am the shiny object. Oh, this 746 00:27:06,230 --> 00:27:08,390 is cool. This is new. Let me play 747 00:27:08,390 --> 00:27:09,130 with that. 748 00:27:09,829 --> 00:27:12,845 Yeah. Yeah. And I just, like I mean, 749 00:27:12,845 --> 00:27:15,744 we've been talking about, you know, video stuff 750 00:27:16,525 --> 00:27:19,164 for the company, and I've been going through 751 00:27:19,164 --> 00:27:21,265 and looking at different tools. And 752 00:27:21,644 --> 00:27:23,244 I'm like, at some point, I just kinda 753 00:27:23,244 --> 00:27:25,539 have to stop and go, okay. Which one 754 00:27:25,539 --> 00:27:27,539 do we want to use? Let's see how 755 00:27:27,539 --> 00:27:28,200 it works. 756 00:27:28,740 --> 00:27:29,240 And 757 00:27:29,859 --> 00:27:31,779 if we get good results, we'll keep that 758 00:27:31,779 --> 00:27:33,539 one. If we get okay and we could 759 00:27:33,539 --> 00:27:35,379 do better, well, then we'll try something else 760 00:27:35,379 --> 00:27:36,359 and move on. 761 00:27:37,125 --> 00:27:38,964 So Well, we don't have to to use 762 00:27:38,964 --> 00:27:40,884 everything. We we did that a lot with 763 00:27:40,884 --> 00:27:44,005 this show, you know, our recording platform because, 764 00:27:44,005 --> 00:27:45,144 you know, we're all remote. 765 00:27:45,445 --> 00:27:47,765 Oh, yeah. That was back and forth so 766 00:27:47,765 --> 00:27:49,924 much for a while there. Yeah. And then 767 00:27:49,924 --> 00:27:52,025 we finally decided, well, you know what? 768 00:27:52,509 --> 00:27:54,990 Good enough is good enough. We already use 769 00:27:54,990 --> 00:27:56,210 Zoom for everything. 770 00:27:56,750 --> 00:27:58,669 Why not use Zoom? I mean, it's got 771 00:27:58,669 --> 00:28:02,029 recording capability and, you know, with Kate's help, 772 00:28:02,429 --> 00:28:05,230 it's decent. And that's really all you're going 773 00:28:05,230 --> 00:28:08,055 for. You don't have to go completely crazy. 774 00:28:08,115 --> 00:28:10,375 And, yeah, again, convenience 775 00:28:10,674 --> 00:28:13,394 sometimes. You know, like, Descript is very convenient 776 00:28:13,394 --> 00:28:16,115 for people to edit episodes on because they 777 00:28:16,115 --> 00:28:17,875 can go in there and, you know, just 778 00:28:17,875 --> 00:28:21,150 cut words out, and it does a decentest 779 00:28:21,849 --> 00:28:22,250 decentest 780 00:28:23,049 --> 00:28:24,269 is that a right word? 781 00:28:24,570 --> 00:28:26,329 That's not a word. It's not. It's an 782 00:28:26,329 --> 00:28:26,829 okay. 783 00:28:27,849 --> 00:28:28,990 It's an okay 784 00:28:29,769 --> 00:28:30,269 edit. 785 00:28:30,570 --> 00:28:32,650 You know? But if you really wanna get 786 00:28:32,650 --> 00:28:33,930 in there and, you know, get in the 787 00:28:33,930 --> 00:28:36,255 weeds, you do something like audition or Hindenburg 788 00:28:36,394 --> 00:28:38,234 or whatever, and you could really get in 789 00:28:38,234 --> 00:28:38,894 the weeds 790 00:28:39,355 --> 00:28:40,815 and edit. But 791 00:28:41,195 --> 00:28:42,414 you don't have to. 792 00:28:42,795 --> 00:28:45,134 Just use the tool that's gonna make you, 793 00:28:45,355 --> 00:28:46,255 like, consistent. 794 00:28:46,634 --> 00:28:47,695 You know? Yes. 795 00:28:48,075 --> 00:28:49,440 That's the I think, 796 00:28:51,200 --> 00:28:53,599 that's what you should focus on. If you're 797 00:28:53,599 --> 00:28:55,139 like, I know this. 798 00:28:55,599 --> 00:28:57,359 I don't want I don't have the time 799 00:28:57,359 --> 00:28:59,440 or mental energy right now to figure out 800 00:28:59,440 --> 00:29:01,679 a whole new program, then don't get a 801 00:29:01,679 --> 00:29:04,275 whole new program unless something is, like, completely 802 00:29:04,275 --> 00:29:04,775 broken 803 00:29:05,154 --> 00:29:06,295 and is, like, 804 00:29:06,674 --> 00:29:07,734 bringing you down. 805 00:29:08,434 --> 00:29:10,914 If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Yeah. 806 00:29:10,914 --> 00:29:13,414 You know, the and and the tools 807 00:29:13,795 --> 00:29:15,474 that are that are out there, you know, 808 00:29:15,474 --> 00:29:16,934 yes, there's better tools, 809 00:29:17,380 --> 00:29:18,839 coming out all the time. 810 00:29:19,779 --> 00:29:22,259 Do you need them? Probably not. We wanna 811 00:29:22,259 --> 00:29:24,440 play with them? Sure. Go for it. But, 812 00:29:24,579 --> 00:29:25,079 again, 813 00:29:25,460 --> 00:29:26,519 you're not going 814 00:29:27,779 --> 00:29:29,079 to grow your audience 815 00:29:30,714 --> 00:29:33,674 or anything like that just because you switched 816 00:29:33,674 --> 00:29:35,674 to a different tool. You might save yourself 817 00:29:35,674 --> 00:29:38,654 some time, you you know. But but remember, 818 00:29:38,714 --> 00:29:41,034 every tool out there, no matter whether it's 819 00:29:41,034 --> 00:29:43,615 hardware, software, whatever, there's a learning curve. 820 00:29:44,109 --> 00:29:46,049 Mhmm. So it goes back to that education 821 00:29:46,109 --> 00:29:48,109 thing. You know? Learn about it. You know? 822 00:29:48,109 --> 00:29:50,429 I got a Roadcaster here, and it took 823 00:29:50,429 --> 00:29:52,829 me a really long time to get the 824 00:29:52,829 --> 00:29:54,769 get the idea how it all worked. 825 00:29:56,125 --> 00:29:58,125 And but I put in the time to 826 00:29:58,125 --> 00:30:00,284 do it. So now I understand how the 827 00:30:00,284 --> 00:30:02,625 thing works, and I haven't had any Roadcaster 828 00:30:02,845 --> 00:30:04,704 failures lately. Knock on wood. 829 00:30:06,204 --> 00:30:07,184 And and mostly 830 00:30:07,484 --> 00:30:08,224 with Switchology 831 00:30:08,765 --> 00:30:09,585 on my part. 832 00:30:11,049 --> 00:30:13,690 Essentially, what we're saying is don't necessarily change 833 00:30:13,690 --> 00:30:15,930 things up because you feel the pressure to 834 00:30:15,930 --> 00:30:16,589 do something 835 00:30:17,049 --> 00:30:19,049 for that growth. There's a time and a 836 00:30:19,049 --> 00:30:19,549 place, 837 00:30:19,930 --> 00:30:21,849 and usually, you'll figure it out yourself as 838 00:30:21,849 --> 00:30:24,269 opposed to just watching everyone else. 839 00:30:24,654 --> 00:30:26,815 So I guess the the the big picture 840 00:30:26,815 --> 00:30:28,835 here is, you know, most 841 00:30:29,295 --> 00:30:29,795 podcaster 842 00:30:30,174 --> 00:30:32,994 challenges come down to just, you know, unrealistic 843 00:30:33,775 --> 00:30:34,275 expectations, 844 00:30:35,535 --> 00:30:36,434 over complications, 845 00:30:37,615 --> 00:30:39,315 compare yourself to others. 846 00:30:39,710 --> 00:30:41,569 That's usually not a great thing. 847 00:30:42,109 --> 00:30:43,569 Yeah. The, the solutions, 848 00:30:44,190 --> 00:30:44,849 some patience, 849 00:30:45,309 --> 00:30:46,049 the consistency, 850 00:30:46,750 --> 00:30:48,289 and I think mental clarity. 851 00:30:48,829 --> 00:30:50,990 If you recognized yourself in any of these 852 00:30:50,990 --> 00:30:52,849 things, you are not alone as a podcaster. 853 00:30:52,910 --> 00:30:54,829 Remember, you are never actually alone as a 854 00:30:54,829 --> 00:30:55,329 podcaster. 855 00:30:56,005 --> 00:30:57,304 No. Yeah. We 856 00:30:57,845 --> 00:30:59,304 we have all, 857 00:31:00,644 --> 00:31:03,684 at some point in doing this, hit every 858 00:31:03,684 --> 00:31:05,765 single one of these phases. We've all got 859 00:31:05,765 --> 00:31:07,684 caught up in it. So, yeah, don't don't 860 00:31:07,684 --> 00:31:08,184 panic. 861 00:31:08,680 --> 00:31:10,920 Yep. And, you know, just focus on the 862 00:31:10,920 --> 00:31:12,859 fundamentals and build something 863 00:31:13,160 --> 00:31:13,660 sustainable. 864 00:31:14,359 --> 00:31:16,759 That's the best way to go. Alright. That's 865 00:31:16,759 --> 00:31:19,080 all for today. Thanks for listening to Podcast 866 00:31:19,080 --> 00:31:21,315 Insider. We'll see you next week. Thanks Thanks 867 00:31:21,315 --> 00:31:23,234 for joining us. Let's meet up next week. 868 00:31:23,234 --> 00:31:25,554 And in the meantime, for more information, to 869 00:31:25,554 --> 00:31:26,054 subscribe, 870 00:31:26,355 --> 00:31:28,514 share, or follow, check out the show notes 871 00:31:28,514 --> 00:31:30,354 at podcastinsider.com. 872 00:31:30,674 --> 00:31:32,594 To check out our latest suite of services 873 00:31:32,594 --> 00:31:34,434 and help Blueberry can help you leverage your 874 00:31:34,434 --> 00:31:36,274 podcast, visit blueberry.com. 875 00:31:36,274 --> 00:31:38,214 That's Blueberry without the e's.