1 00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:02,899 Welcome back to Podcast Insider. I'm Mike Dell, 2 00:00:03,040 --> 00:00:04,019 the cohost 3 00:00:04,559 --> 00:00:07,779 and the VP of operations here at Blueberry. 4 00:00:08,480 --> 00:00:11,199 And we're going to be taking the month 5 00:00:11,199 --> 00:00:14,259 of April off from producing new shows 6 00:00:14,814 --> 00:00:16,994 while we revamp our format 7 00:00:17,695 --> 00:00:18,594 a tad bit. 8 00:00:19,855 --> 00:00:20,814 So look for that, 9 00:00:21,295 --> 00:00:22,675 sometime in May. 10 00:00:24,254 --> 00:00:27,074 But until then, enjoy this rerun about 11 00:00:27,609 --> 00:00:28,670 just such a thing, 12 00:00:29,130 --> 00:00:31,390 experimenting with the format of your show. 13 00:00:32,250 --> 00:00:34,969 Welcome to Podcast Insider. I'm Mike Dell, vice 14 00:00:34,969 --> 00:00:37,229 president of customer relations at Blueberry. 15 00:00:38,010 --> 00:00:40,729 And I'm Dave Clements, technical support and social 16 00:00:40,729 --> 00:00:42,350 media specialist here at Blueberry. 17 00:00:42,825 --> 00:00:43,325 Today, 18 00:00:43,864 --> 00:00:46,024 we're gonna be talking about how to experiment 19 00:00:46,024 --> 00:00:48,824 with your show format without freaking out your 20 00:00:48,824 --> 00:00:50,204 audience or yourself. 21 00:00:50,585 --> 00:00:53,384 You're listening to Podcast Insider, a weekly podcast 22 00:00:53,384 --> 00:00:56,104 bringing insights, advice, and insider tips and tricks 23 00:00:56,104 --> 00:00:58,409 to help you start, grow, and thrive through 24 00:00:58,570 --> 00:01:00,729 podcasting with the support of your team here 25 00:01:00,729 --> 00:01:03,710 at Blueberry Podcasting. Welcome. Let's dive in. 26 00:01:05,129 --> 00:01:07,549 Yeah. Freaking out the audience is a thing. 27 00:01:07,770 --> 00:01:08,989 Oh, yeah. 28 00:01:09,290 --> 00:01:10,569 People you know, now I 29 00:01:11,354 --> 00:01:14,075 being the king of pod fate, I've tried 30 00:01:14,075 --> 00:01:15,614 every format and 31 00:01:15,915 --> 00:01:17,674 all that, and, you know, none of them 32 00:01:17,674 --> 00:01:20,174 really stuck. So my, you know, my format 33 00:01:20,795 --> 00:01:23,295 changes a lot on my main show. 34 00:01:23,674 --> 00:01:25,774 But on my little daily show, 35 00:01:26,320 --> 00:01:27,540 it's almost 36 00:01:28,240 --> 00:01:29,780 the same every time. 37 00:01:30,400 --> 00:01:33,280 And, you know, it's it's always good to 38 00:01:33,280 --> 00:01:35,140 to mix it up once in a while, 39 00:01:35,520 --> 00:01:36,480 you know, as long as 40 00:01:37,439 --> 00:01:37,939 I 41 00:01:38,320 --> 00:01:40,240 I deal with that a lot too. I've 42 00:01:40,240 --> 00:01:42,144 been doing this for I think this is 43 00:01:42,144 --> 00:01:43,284 officially my 44 00:01:44,064 --> 00:01:47,045 thirteenth year, fourteenth. I don't remember now. 45 00:01:48,064 --> 00:01:49,204 But I know 46 00:01:49,584 --> 00:01:51,664 all the different shows that I've I've done. 47 00:01:51,664 --> 00:01:52,965 I have changed the format 48 00:01:53,825 --> 00:01:54,804 largely because 49 00:01:55,185 --> 00:01:56,084 I get bored. 50 00:01:56,420 --> 00:01:57,859 I'll do it like that for a couple 51 00:01:57,859 --> 00:01:59,379 years, and I'm like, nah. I gotta switch 52 00:01:59,379 --> 00:02:00,039 it up. 53 00:02:00,899 --> 00:02:02,340 Is that kind of the case with you, 54 00:02:02,340 --> 00:02:03,319 or is it just 55 00:02:04,019 --> 00:02:05,799 the show died, you brought it back, 56 00:02:06,340 --> 00:02:08,180 it died, you brought it back? No. And 57 00:02:08,180 --> 00:02:10,180 that's why it's Yeah. With me, it's, 58 00:02:10,580 --> 00:02:12,715 kind of I do a show. I do 59 00:02:12,715 --> 00:02:15,754 an episode, and it's a serious episode. And 60 00:02:15,754 --> 00:02:17,835 then, you know, the next one, well, I 61 00:02:17,835 --> 00:02:20,094 got a different topic. It's not so serious, 62 00:02:20,474 --> 00:02:22,314 and I just change it up. I mean 63 00:02:22,474 --> 00:02:25,194 but my audience sort of expects that. They 64 00:02:25,194 --> 00:02:26,715 never they never know what they're gonna get 65 00:02:26,715 --> 00:02:27,775 when they hit play. 66 00:02:28,080 --> 00:02:30,099 And but, you know, like, 67 00:02:30,479 --> 00:02:33,139 Todd was always saying about Geek News Central 68 00:02:33,199 --> 00:02:35,519 as he would just do one little thing, 69 00:02:35,519 --> 00:02:36,500 you know, like, 70 00:02:37,039 --> 00:02:38,659 he used to do a cold open, 71 00:02:39,120 --> 00:02:40,959 and then he'd play a theme song, and 72 00:02:40,959 --> 00:02:42,974 then he would go into, you know, his 73 00:02:43,135 --> 00:02:44,895 personal stuff, and then he would get into 74 00:02:44,895 --> 00:02:46,115 the meat of the episode. 75 00:02:46,974 --> 00:02:48,455 And and what he would do is he'd 76 00:02:48,575 --> 00:02:50,814 sometimes he'd play the theme first for a 77 00:02:50,814 --> 00:02:51,314 while 78 00:02:51,694 --> 00:02:54,335 and then do the cold open and 79 00:02:54,895 --> 00:02:56,675 or not cold open, just open. 80 00:02:57,259 --> 00:02:59,500 And, you know, just little tweaks like that. 81 00:02:59,500 --> 00:03:01,500 He's, you know, changed up the theme song 82 00:03:01,500 --> 00:03:04,079 and, you know, just that kind of thing. 83 00:03:04,939 --> 00:03:06,780 And, you know, as long as it's not 84 00:03:06,780 --> 00:03:08,560 too abrupt and too ridiculous, 85 00:03:09,500 --> 00:03:11,655 it's not bad. You know? 86 00:03:12,034 --> 00:03:13,794 And, you know, it there are some people 87 00:03:13,794 --> 00:03:16,754 out there that, you know, listeners that will 88 00:03:16,754 --> 00:03:18,754 be offended that, well, you're not doing this 89 00:03:18,754 --> 00:03:20,375 anymore. Why? You know? 90 00:03:20,834 --> 00:03:21,334 Yeah. 91 00:03:21,634 --> 00:03:22,694 Yeah. Yeah. 92 00:03:23,099 --> 00:03:24,479 I think that that's always 93 00:03:24,780 --> 00:03:26,000 that's always what I've 94 00:03:26,539 --> 00:03:28,400 done is little changes. 95 00:03:29,099 --> 00:03:30,400 You know, my first 96 00:03:30,699 --> 00:03:33,039 and what I would call my flagship show, 97 00:03:33,819 --> 00:03:35,439 it was a pop culture podcast, 98 00:03:35,819 --> 00:03:36,319 and 99 00:03:36,925 --> 00:03:38,925 I started out where it was just me. 100 00:03:38,925 --> 00:03:40,544 It was just me behind the microphone, 101 00:03:40,844 --> 00:03:42,844 and I'd talk about a comic book or 102 00:03:42,844 --> 00:03:44,705 a movie or something like that. And then 103 00:03:44,925 --> 00:03:45,905 at some point, 104 00:03:46,444 --> 00:03:47,344 I made friends 105 00:03:47,645 --> 00:03:49,324 with a guy who liked all the same 106 00:03:49,324 --> 00:03:50,604 stuff I did, and I was like, well, 107 00:03:50,604 --> 00:03:52,465 come in as a co host. 108 00:03:53,439 --> 00:03:55,219 And that was a huge change, 109 00:03:55,919 --> 00:03:56,419 but 110 00:03:56,800 --> 00:04:00,180 people really responded to it well. Because, apparently, 111 00:04:00,239 --> 00:04:02,739 I work better in a multi person, 112 00:04:04,239 --> 00:04:05,139 you know, format 113 00:04:05,735 --> 00:04:08,454 rather than a solo format. So people have 114 00:04:08,454 --> 00:04:10,294 always been really happy that it's always me 115 00:04:10,294 --> 00:04:11,275 and somebody else 116 00:04:11,814 --> 00:04:12,314 just 117 00:04:12,935 --> 00:04:14,854 to have that dialogue and and to bounce 118 00:04:14,854 --> 00:04:17,115 ideas and opinions off each other. 119 00:04:17,735 --> 00:04:19,754 But I've changed music and 120 00:04:20,699 --> 00:04:22,860 all kinds of stuff. But, you know, doing 121 00:04:22,860 --> 00:04:24,459 this for as long as we have, we've 122 00:04:24,459 --> 00:04:26,079 had a lot of time to experiment. 123 00:04:26,699 --> 00:04:27,740 Oh, yeah. It's, 124 00:04:28,779 --> 00:04:30,860 you know, it's it's fun. It keeps you 125 00:04:30,860 --> 00:04:33,839 excited, you know, when you're changing things up. 126 00:04:33,899 --> 00:04:34,139 And 127 00:04:34,954 --> 00:04:37,435 but, you know, you also kinda gotta keep 128 00:04:37,435 --> 00:04:39,595 it sort of the same at the same 129 00:04:39,595 --> 00:04:41,115 time. And I know that's weird, but, you 130 00:04:41,115 --> 00:04:42,415 know, adding a cohost 131 00:04:42,875 --> 00:04:45,214 to what was formerly a a 132 00:04:46,634 --> 00:04:47,535 solo show 133 00:04:48,240 --> 00:04:50,160 can add excitement for you, can, 134 00:04:50,720 --> 00:04:52,480 you know, help the audience get to know 135 00:04:52,480 --> 00:04:53,379 somebody else 136 00:04:54,079 --> 00:04:56,639 and all that. We've switched this, this show's 137 00:04:56,639 --> 00:04:58,720 format up a couple of times in its, 138 00:04:59,040 --> 00:04:59,540 history. 139 00:05:00,335 --> 00:05:02,655 And, you know, but we've done really big, 140 00:05:02,655 --> 00:05:05,055 abrupt changes. Probably not the best way to 141 00:05:05,055 --> 00:05:06,975 do it, but, hey. We still got you 142 00:05:06,975 --> 00:05:10,035 listening or whoever is listening. That's good. Right. 143 00:05:10,175 --> 00:05:12,335 But, you know, we've we've you know, we 144 00:05:12,335 --> 00:05:14,850 used to cover, you know, current events and 145 00:05:14,850 --> 00:05:17,169 all that. And, you know, there's enough other 146 00:05:17,169 --> 00:05:20,050 shows out there doing that, so we decided 147 00:05:20,050 --> 00:05:22,389 to focus more on helping you, 148 00:05:22,930 --> 00:05:26,050 you know, with podcasting stuff. That's what a 149 00:05:26,050 --> 00:05:26,550 podcast 150 00:05:26,985 --> 00:05:29,084 about podcasting is supposed to do. 151 00:05:29,384 --> 00:05:31,704 But, you know, we've done minor tweaks to 152 00:05:31,704 --> 00:05:34,024 our format. You know, you'll notice that we 153 00:05:34,024 --> 00:05:36,425 don't have as bit much theme music as 154 00:05:36,425 --> 00:05:37,404 we once did. 155 00:05:38,185 --> 00:05:40,159 You know, used to do a cold open. 156 00:05:40,159 --> 00:05:42,319 Sometimes we do. Sometimes we don't. It all 157 00:05:42,319 --> 00:05:44,019 depends on what Kate's doing, 158 00:05:44,800 --> 00:05:46,560 our editor, and we leave it up to 159 00:05:46,560 --> 00:05:48,180 her. She knows what she's doing. 160 00:05:48,879 --> 00:05:49,379 And, 161 00:05:49,680 --> 00:05:52,000 you know, we're just talent. Well, that's in 162 00:05:52,000 --> 00:05:53,735 big air quotes. But, 163 00:05:54,915 --> 00:05:55,415 anyway, 164 00:05:56,194 --> 00:05:57,235 but, you know, it's, 165 00:05:58,435 --> 00:05:59,875 it's a lot of it's a lot of 166 00:05:59,875 --> 00:06:01,954 fun, you know, changing things up. You know, 167 00:06:01,954 --> 00:06:04,274 test stuff. Ask your audience about it too. 168 00:06:04,274 --> 00:06:06,035 Hey. You noticed we started the show a 169 00:06:06,035 --> 00:06:08,214 little different today. What do you think? 170 00:06:08,589 --> 00:06:10,669 And, you know, I might get some people 171 00:06:10,669 --> 00:06:11,649 talking to you. 172 00:06:12,669 --> 00:06:14,509 Yeah. That was always the big thing that 173 00:06:14,509 --> 00:06:15,410 I ran into, 174 00:06:17,310 --> 00:06:19,550 in those earlier days where I was still 175 00:06:19,550 --> 00:06:20,930 trying to figure it out. 176 00:06:21,254 --> 00:06:23,574 And, you know, sometimes I would prefer one 177 00:06:23,574 --> 00:06:25,975 format over another. And so that would end 178 00:06:25,975 --> 00:06:27,574 up being my call to action at the 179 00:06:27,574 --> 00:06:29,735 end of an episode, which was, hey. Do 180 00:06:29,735 --> 00:06:31,735 you like, you know, this segment that I 181 00:06:31,735 --> 00:06:33,574 added? Do you wish this old segment I 182 00:06:33,574 --> 00:06:35,355 took out was still here? 183 00:06:37,860 --> 00:06:40,120 And that would actually prompt feedback, 184 00:06:40,899 --> 00:06:43,139 because if I didn't hear anything, well, I'm 185 00:06:43,139 --> 00:06:44,899 just gonna keep doing it until I'm bored 186 00:06:44,899 --> 00:06:47,300 with it. Mhmm. And I think it's a 187 00:06:47,300 --> 00:06:49,539 really good way to start to build that 188 00:06:49,539 --> 00:06:50,039 community. 189 00:06:50,404 --> 00:06:52,425 And that's a that's a thing that podcasters, 190 00:06:53,685 --> 00:06:55,525 talk about a lot is, well, how do 191 00:06:55,525 --> 00:06:56,504 I build a community? 192 00:06:56,805 --> 00:06:58,404 I'll play around with your show a little 193 00:06:58,404 --> 00:07:00,504 bit. That's what made my show 194 00:07:01,125 --> 00:07:02,504 bigger for me. 195 00:07:02,899 --> 00:07:03,399 And, 196 00:07:04,500 --> 00:07:06,740 you know, I always got good feedback. Sometimes 197 00:07:06,740 --> 00:07:08,439 I listened to it, sometimes I didn't. 198 00:07:10,019 --> 00:07:10,519 But 199 00:07:10,979 --> 00:07:13,459 I think the the biggest recommendation I could 200 00:07:13,459 --> 00:07:14,519 give is 201 00:07:15,154 --> 00:07:15,654 start 202 00:07:16,355 --> 00:07:18,514 small Yeah. With, you know, what I would 203 00:07:18,514 --> 00:07:19,574 consider tweaks, 204 00:07:20,035 --> 00:07:20,774 and then 205 00:07:21,714 --> 00:07:22,214 experiment 206 00:07:22,915 --> 00:07:24,675 would be your next step, like, move some 207 00:07:24,675 --> 00:07:26,834 things around. And then if you have overhauls, 208 00:07:26,834 --> 00:07:28,454 like adding a co host 209 00:07:28,829 --> 00:07:29,329 or 210 00:07:29,629 --> 00:07:31,810 removing a cohost or whatever, 211 00:07:32,269 --> 00:07:32,769 those 212 00:07:33,310 --> 00:07:36,350 those big things, like, save those till last 213 00:07:36,350 --> 00:07:38,449 once you have feedback from your audience. 214 00:07:39,069 --> 00:07:41,550 Yeah. And, you know, it's getting feedback. It 215 00:07:41,629 --> 00:07:43,569 it's amazing what one email 216 00:07:44,324 --> 00:07:45,625 can do to, 217 00:07:46,485 --> 00:07:47,865 you know, a person that's, 218 00:07:48,324 --> 00:07:50,165 you know, us doing a solo show and 219 00:07:50,165 --> 00:07:51,545 they're not getting much feedback. 220 00:07:52,245 --> 00:07:54,485 You know? Tweak it a little bit and, 221 00:07:54,485 --> 00:07:57,029 you know, invite the feedback. That's the that's 222 00:07:57,029 --> 00:07:59,110 the thing. You know? The listeners will tell 223 00:07:59,110 --> 00:08:01,129 you if you're doing something really wrong, 224 00:08:02,389 --> 00:08:04,069 most of the time, either that or they 225 00:08:04,069 --> 00:08:05,910 just disappear. So if you see your stats 226 00:08:05,910 --> 00:08:07,850 crash, well, you know, well, that ain't working. 227 00:08:08,470 --> 00:08:11,189 Right. You know? But, you know, it's it 228 00:08:11,774 --> 00:08:13,794 it's your show. Do what you like, 229 00:08:14,095 --> 00:08:16,014 and, you know, keep it exciting for you. 230 00:08:16,014 --> 00:08:17,714 Keep it exciting for the audience. 231 00:08:18,095 --> 00:08:20,014 Again, you know, I'm not a very good, 232 00:08:21,454 --> 00:08:24,274 very good example with my personal show because, 233 00:08:24,334 --> 00:08:26,354 you know, one time, it's gonna be 234 00:08:26,879 --> 00:08:29,280 one completely different thing than the the next 235 00:08:29,280 --> 00:08:30,580 episode. And 236 00:08:31,199 --> 00:08:33,360 that keeps it interesting for me. And, you 237 00:08:33,360 --> 00:08:35,440 know, so far, most of my audience kinda 238 00:08:35,440 --> 00:08:36,879 sticks with me, but I do get some 239 00:08:36,879 --> 00:08:39,134 feedback from time to time. And it's just 240 00:08:39,134 --> 00:08:42,014 amazing what, you know, just that one listener 241 00:08:42,014 --> 00:08:44,815 that says, hey. What about this? Or, you 242 00:08:44,815 --> 00:08:46,815 know, why don't you try that? You know, 243 00:08:46,815 --> 00:08:47,634 I had one, 244 00:08:48,654 --> 00:08:50,415 email me. Hey. I I haven't heard you 245 00:08:50,415 --> 00:08:53,820 talk about this particular subject before, and that's 246 00:08:53,820 --> 00:08:55,620 a good idea. So I made an episode 247 00:08:55,620 --> 00:08:56,360 about it. 248 00:08:56,980 --> 00:08:58,200 Yeah. You know, things 249 00:08:58,820 --> 00:09:00,519 like that. But, you know, don't, 250 00:09:00,899 --> 00:09:02,740 you know, don't just go through and just 251 00:09:02,740 --> 00:09:04,420 change it completely. You know? I'm doing a 252 00:09:04,420 --> 00:09:06,340 show about dogs, and then next week, you 253 00:09:06,340 --> 00:09:07,960 come back and do a show about cats. 254 00:09:08,674 --> 00:09:10,855 Well, no. You know, stay in your genre 255 00:09:11,074 --> 00:09:12,995 if you've got if you've picked a genre. 256 00:09:12,995 --> 00:09:13,654 You know? 257 00:09:14,674 --> 00:09:15,174 But, 258 00:09:15,554 --> 00:09:17,235 you know, you can vary that. Even the 259 00:09:17,235 --> 00:09:19,095 subject matter change can, 260 00:09:19,634 --> 00:09:21,954 can can be a a tweak that you 261 00:09:21,954 --> 00:09:23,894 do. You know? Maybe instead of, 262 00:09:24,230 --> 00:09:26,870 you know, diving deep every episode, do an 263 00:09:26,870 --> 00:09:29,670 episode where you're just kinda doing tips and 264 00:09:29,670 --> 00:09:33,290 tricks or you're answering feedback that you've got. 265 00:09:34,230 --> 00:09:36,470 I listened to an aviation show that started 266 00:09:36,470 --> 00:09:37,529 out as a 267 00:09:37,875 --> 00:09:40,615 solo, and he did probably a 100 episodes 268 00:09:40,835 --> 00:09:42,514 as a solo. Then he brought on a 269 00:09:42,514 --> 00:09:44,274 guest that was one of his listeners that 270 00:09:44,274 --> 00:09:45,815 was always sending in feedback, 271 00:09:46,274 --> 00:09:48,035 and he brought them on as a cohost. 272 00:09:48,035 --> 00:09:50,399 And now he has a rotating cast of 273 00:09:50,480 --> 00:09:52,879 five or six cohosts, and you never know 274 00:09:52,879 --> 00:09:55,059 who you're gonna get in that show, but 275 00:09:55,519 --> 00:09:56,500 it really 276 00:09:57,200 --> 00:09:59,720 helped him, you know, get, you know, first 277 00:09:59,720 --> 00:10:01,059 to know other people, 278 00:10:01,680 --> 00:10:02,660 know his community, 279 00:10:03,040 --> 00:10:05,040 and it's really, you know, a pretty big 280 00:10:05,040 --> 00:10:07,514 deal now. You know, they've actually had 281 00:10:07,975 --> 00:10:10,634 meetups in London or in Atlanta 282 00:10:11,014 --> 00:10:14,054 or wherever of, you know, the community for 283 00:10:14,054 --> 00:10:16,215 the around that podcast where they, you know, 284 00:10:16,215 --> 00:10:18,215 maybe record you know, I think he did, 285 00:10:18,455 --> 00:10:21,014 episode 500, and he had a big party 286 00:10:21,014 --> 00:10:21,754 in Atlanta. 287 00:10:22,110 --> 00:10:23,870 And, you know, all of his cohosts flew 288 00:10:23,870 --> 00:10:25,330 in from all over the world 289 00:10:25,789 --> 00:10:27,549 and and, you know, plus he had a 290 00:10:27,549 --> 00:10:28,529 whole bunch of, 291 00:10:29,629 --> 00:10:31,730 you know, whole bunch of other listeners there. 292 00:10:32,190 --> 00:10:33,250 And, you know, 293 00:10:33,629 --> 00:10:35,570 he really, you know, did a community, 294 00:10:36,350 --> 00:10:37,409 around his show, 295 00:10:38,004 --> 00:10:40,084 and that was simply by changing up the 296 00:10:40,084 --> 00:10:40,584 format. 297 00:10:42,245 --> 00:10:43,384 That's really interesting. 298 00:10:43,684 --> 00:10:45,684 Yeah. And so and, you know, he's still 299 00:10:45,684 --> 00:10:48,985 at it. He's retired airline pilot now, and 300 00:10:49,204 --> 00:10:51,549 and, so he he he travels around, and 301 00:10:51,549 --> 00:10:53,710 they still talk about aviation, but he has, 302 00:10:53,710 --> 00:10:54,370 you know, 303 00:10:54,990 --> 00:10:56,850 I think there's, like, six rotating 304 00:10:57,470 --> 00:10:59,710 guest hosts. You know? Sometimes they have four 305 00:10:59,710 --> 00:11:01,409 of them on there at the same time. 306 00:11:01,629 --> 00:11:03,894 It's Yeah. But, you know, it's it's always 307 00:11:03,894 --> 00:11:06,294 a little different, but it's always kinda the 308 00:11:06,294 --> 00:11:06,794 same. 309 00:11:07,975 --> 00:11:08,714 So Yeah. 310 00:11:09,735 --> 00:11:11,914 Another thing you can think about doing is, 311 00:11:12,534 --> 00:11:13,595 looking at the length 312 00:11:13,975 --> 00:11:14,954 of your episodes. 313 00:11:16,454 --> 00:11:17,834 When I was doing 314 00:11:18,259 --> 00:11:19,320 the D and D podcast, 315 00:11:20,419 --> 00:11:21,720 a couple of years ago, 316 00:11:22,339 --> 00:11:24,279 it started out as 317 00:11:25,139 --> 00:11:26,360 they would do, like 318 00:11:26,820 --> 00:11:28,019 oh, jeez. I think we're 319 00:11:28,740 --> 00:11:30,039 they were looking at, like, 320 00:11:33,014 --> 00:11:35,575 two hour episodes Mhmm. Because they would record 321 00:11:35,575 --> 00:11:37,254 for, like, four, and they would cut them 322 00:11:37,254 --> 00:11:39,274 in half. So those were two hours long, 323 00:11:39,815 --> 00:11:40,315 and, 324 00:11:42,134 --> 00:11:42,875 that was 325 00:11:43,815 --> 00:11:46,394 that was not necessarily manageable for 326 00:11:46,950 --> 00:11:47,929 a lot of listeners. 327 00:11:48,470 --> 00:11:48,970 So 328 00:11:49,509 --> 00:11:50,970 after I got involved, 329 00:11:51,750 --> 00:11:53,750 I recommended, well, what if we do one 330 00:11:53,750 --> 00:11:54,570 hour episodes? 331 00:11:55,110 --> 00:11:57,290 Because, first of all, that makes more episodes 332 00:11:57,509 --> 00:11:58,970 for people to listen to. 333 00:12:00,125 --> 00:12:02,045 But, also, it makes it easier on your 334 00:12:02,045 --> 00:12:03,345 editor, and 335 00:12:03,884 --> 00:12:06,125 I think people would pay more attention with 336 00:12:06,125 --> 00:12:07,264 those shorter episodes. 337 00:12:07,644 --> 00:12:09,644 And when we changed to that format, it 338 00:12:09,644 --> 00:12:10,144 allowed 339 00:12:10,524 --> 00:12:12,065 that show to go from 340 00:12:12,399 --> 00:12:13,220 once a month 341 00:12:13,519 --> 00:12:14,019 to 342 00:12:14,480 --> 00:12:16,879 once a week. And I think, 343 00:12:18,480 --> 00:12:21,120 before that kind of took a hiatus, they 344 00:12:21,120 --> 00:12:24,000 were doing, like, once every other week just 345 00:12:24,000 --> 00:12:25,754 for editing purposes. But, 346 00:12:26,315 --> 00:12:28,815 you could consider, like, shortening your episodes, 347 00:12:30,235 --> 00:12:32,235 you know, so that it you could stagger 348 00:12:32,235 --> 00:12:34,075 them out a little bit or, you know, 349 00:12:34,075 --> 00:12:36,095 maybe you're just cutting off fluff 350 00:12:36,554 --> 00:12:39,134 that people don't really wanna listen to. 351 00:12:39,669 --> 00:12:41,210 That's just an idea. 352 00:12:41,669 --> 00:12:42,470 Yeah. That's, 353 00:12:43,190 --> 00:12:44,950 you know, again and, you know, I mentioned 354 00:12:44,950 --> 00:12:47,509 before, you can alternate between, you know, the 355 00:12:47,509 --> 00:12:50,629 really deep episodes and, you know, some quick 356 00:12:50,629 --> 00:12:52,570 episodes. So, you know, even 357 00:12:53,174 --> 00:12:55,735 within the list of episodes, you could have 358 00:12:55,735 --> 00:12:57,414 one that's an hour long and one that's 359 00:12:57,414 --> 00:12:58,554 ten minutes long, 360 00:12:58,934 --> 00:13:01,995 you know, and, you know, maybe alternate those 361 00:13:02,134 --> 00:13:04,554 or have, you know, special episodes. 362 00:13:05,174 --> 00:13:07,095 You know, there's a there's a way in 363 00:13:07,095 --> 00:13:07,595 most 364 00:13:08,539 --> 00:13:11,419 RSS creation tools to mark something as a 365 00:13:11,419 --> 00:13:13,740 bonus episode. So if you feel like doing 366 00:13:13,740 --> 00:13:15,819 something completely different, throw one of those in 367 00:13:15,819 --> 00:13:16,319 there. 368 00:13:16,779 --> 00:13:19,919 You know? Yeah. Always fun. You know? No. 369 00:13:20,620 --> 00:13:21,259 You know, I 370 00:13:22,074 --> 00:13:24,074 my my first show, that went from me 371 00:13:24,074 --> 00:13:26,074 to a single co host to there were 372 00:13:26,074 --> 00:13:28,574 a total of four of us, sometimes five. 373 00:13:29,115 --> 00:13:31,995 And I remember a piece of feedback that 374 00:13:31,995 --> 00:13:34,394 really helped me was we I would just, 375 00:13:34,394 --> 00:13:36,889 like, start the recording and leave a lot 376 00:13:36,889 --> 00:13:38,190 of, like, the super casual 377 00:13:38,730 --> 00:13:41,370 conversations on at the beginning. And I would 378 00:13:41,370 --> 00:13:43,529 get feedback where people are just, like, I 379 00:13:44,090 --> 00:13:46,170 I'm glad you guys are having fun, but 380 00:13:46,170 --> 00:13:47,710 I don't like the fact that 381 00:13:48,195 --> 00:13:50,274 all of the guys are surprised that they're 382 00:13:50,274 --> 00:13:53,235 being recorded. And, like, that makes me feel 383 00:13:53,235 --> 00:13:55,555 weird. And I was like, oh, okay. Well, 384 00:13:55,555 --> 00:13:57,415 I guess we'll just cut that out. And 385 00:13:57,875 --> 00:14:00,134 that actually helped. I saw downloads 386 00:14:00,915 --> 00:14:02,580 go up, believe it or not. 387 00:14:03,059 --> 00:14:05,139 And people just responded much better because they're, 388 00:14:05,139 --> 00:14:07,139 like, instead of you guys goofing off, you're 389 00:14:07,139 --> 00:14:10,100 actually, like, getting into the movie review that 390 00:14:10,100 --> 00:14:11,240 you're doing or 391 00:14:11,540 --> 00:14:13,299 or whatever it was that we were talking 392 00:14:13,299 --> 00:14:14,120 about. So 393 00:14:14,580 --> 00:14:16,980 that was that was, again, going back to 394 00:14:16,980 --> 00:14:17,639 that feedback, 395 00:14:18,975 --> 00:14:20,815 that my audience was like, no. You've got 396 00:14:20,815 --> 00:14:22,654 to cut this part out because it's not 397 00:14:22,654 --> 00:14:24,575 enjoyable to listen to. Put it at the 398 00:14:24,575 --> 00:14:26,575 end or something. You know? You could always 399 00:14:26,575 --> 00:14:28,254 do that, and they can they can bail 400 00:14:28,254 --> 00:14:30,434 after the the good stuff, I guess. 401 00:14:31,615 --> 00:14:33,000 Yeah. You know, a 402 00:14:33,940 --> 00:14:36,100 lot of lot of podcasters, you know, back 403 00:14:36,100 --> 00:14:38,120 in the day okay. I'm an old guy. 404 00:14:38,740 --> 00:14:41,220 Would, you know, have all the fluff at 405 00:14:41,220 --> 00:14:44,039 the beginning and then get into their topic. 406 00:14:44,259 --> 00:14:44,759 And 407 00:14:46,315 --> 00:14:48,634 as it went on, they would kinda get 408 00:14:48,634 --> 00:14:50,315 rid of the fluff or put the fluff 409 00:14:50,315 --> 00:14:53,115 at the end or or maybe just not 410 00:14:53,115 --> 00:14:53,774 do it. 411 00:14:54,875 --> 00:14:57,115 Again, it's all about your audience. Some some 412 00:14:57,115 --> 00:14:59,320 of your audience really don't care what the 413 00:14:59,320 --> 00:15:01,420 subject are. They just wanna listen to you. 414 00:15:01,879 --> 00:15:03,320 Believe it or not, there's a lot of 415 00:15:03,320 --> 00:15:05,000 that going around. I mean, I listen to 416 00:15:05,000 --> 00:15:06,840 a show that I really could care less 417 00:15:06,840 --> 00:15:08,679 about the subject matter. I just like the 418 00:15:08,679 --> 00:15:09,179 person. 419 00:15:09,879 --> 00:15:11,320 You know? That's cool. I might be a 420 00:15:11,320 --> 00:15:12,779 little weird about that, but, 421 00:15:13,240 --> 00:15:13,875 you know, 422 00:15:14,674 --> 00:15:16,754 it's it's just, you know, not not something 423 00:15:16,754 --> 00:15:20,294 I'm super interested in, but there that person's 424 00:15:20,355 --> 00:15:20,855 personality 425 00:15:21,235 --> 00:15:23,634 and take on the subject, it is somewhat 426 00:15:23,634 --> 00:15:24,134 interesting. 427 00:15:24,674 --> 00:15:26,399 And, you know, it's it's something I can 428 00:15:26,399 --> 00:15:28,399 listen to while mowing the lawn or something. 429 00:15:28,399 --> 00:15:29,839 You know? It's not not that I have 430 00:15:29,839 --> 00:15:32,079 to pay super attention to the actual subject 431 00:15:32,079 --> 00:15:32,579 matter. 432 00:15:33,839 --> 00:15:36,639 But, you know, that and you're gonna find 433 00:15:36,639 --> 00:15:39,200 all kinds of audience members. Preferences are, you 434 00:15:39,200 --> 00:15:40,259 know, gonna vary. 435 00:15:40,605 --> 00:15:42,924 You you do something, somebody's gonna get mad 436 00:15:42,924 --> 00:15:45,184 about it or somebody's gonna really love it, 437 00:15:45,245 --> 00:15:46,945 and it could be the same thing. 438 00:15:47,725 --> 00:15:48,384 You know? 439 00:15:49,084 --> 00:15:51,904 So don't don't don't be afraid to experiment 440 00:15:51,964 --> 00:15:52,784 a little bit. 441 00:15:53,820 --> 00:15:56,220 Mhmm. Again, you know, it's it's your show. 442 00:15:56,220 --> 00:15:57,680 Do what you want. And, 443 00:15:58,460 --> 00:15:59,120 you know, 444 00:15:59,500 --> 00:16:01,440 now for shows that are more 445 00:16:02,300 --> 00:16:05,019 subject oriented where, you know, you've got a 446 00:16:05,019 --> 00:16:07,120 definite niche and you're definitely 447 00:16:07,644 --> 00:16:08,924 talking about this every time, 448 00:16:10,524 --> 00:16:12,924 you know, then maybe, you know, tighten it 449 00:16:12,924 --> 00:16:13,904 up a little bit. 450 00:16:14,684 --> 00:16:16,924 But, again, like like this show, we, you 451 00:16:16,924 --> 00:16:18,784 know, we do a little fluff in here 452 00:16:18,845 --> 00:16:22,299 sometimes, and sometimes we don't, and we've changed 453 00:16:22,299 --> 00:16:24,059 up formats and all that. I don't think 454 00:16:24,059 --> 00:16:26,240 we're gonna do any major changes this year. 455 00:16:26,779 --> 00:16:29,440 We had talked about it, but I think 456 00:16:29,659 --> 00:16:31,419 I think we're gonna stay about what we're 457 00:16:31,419 --> 00:16:34,459 doing now and, rotate between Mackenzie and Dave 458 00:16:34,459 --> 00:16:35,120 and I. 459 00:16:35,534 --> 00:16:37,634 And sometimes we're gonna have all three, 460 00:16:38,495 --> 00:16:39,794 but, nothing, 461 00:16:40,174 --> 00:16:42,034 you know, nothing jarring, I hope. 462 00:16:42,815 --> 00:16:44,674 Might change might change the artwork. 463 00:16:46,334 --> 00:16:48,495 Yeah. Sometimes that's jarring enough. I mean, that 464 00:16:48,495 --> 00:16:49,954 is something you can talk about. 465 00:16:51,120 --> 00:16:54,340 You know, I, over the years, have changed 466 00:16:54,399 --> 00:16:56,559 artwork because I get sick of looking at 467 00:16:56,559 --> 00:16:59,200 it. Yeah. This was of course, when I 468 00:16:59,200 --> 00:17:02,580 was doing it, that that was before episode 469 00:17:02,639 --> 00:17:04,740 artwork was a thing. Yeah. So 470 00:17:05,244 --> 00:17:07,644 I would change out, like, maybe a couple 471 00:17:07,644 --> 00:17:09,964 times a year, and then I would get 472 00:17:09,964 --> 00:17:11,024 feedback. Oh, 473 00:17:11,404 --> 00:17:13,244 I like the blue artwork, and you have 474 00:17:13,244 --> 00:17:15,505 red now, and that was, like, too much. 475 00:17:15,724 --> 00:17:17,884 Okay. So it's back to the blue. And 476 00:17:18,284 --> 00:17:18,784 Yeah. 477 00:17:19,319 --> 00:17:21,500 You know, those are those are changes that 478 00:17:22,039 --> 00:17:23,720 you may not think about. I we've been 479 00:17:23,720 --> 00:17:25,339 talking about format a lot, 480 00:17:25,640 --> 00:17:28,299 but you literally could go through and, 481 00:17:29,159 --> 00:17:30,839 you know, if you have episode numbers at 482 00:17:30,839 --> 00:17:32,779 the beginning or, like, in your titles, 483 00:17:33,154 --> 00:17:34,755 you could put those at the beginning. You 484 00:17:34,755 --> 00:17:36,034 could move them to the back. You can 485 00:17:36,034 --> 00:17:37,335 get rid of them altogether. 486 00:17:37,714 --> 00:17:39,894 I know that there are some people 487 00:17:40,434 --> 00:17:43,174 who just don't care about episode numbers. 488 00:17:43,714 --> 00:17:45,634 It used to be a sticking point for 489 00:17:45,634 --> 00:17:48,180 me because I wanted to know like, that 490 00:17:48,180 --> 00:17:48,680 was 491 00:17:50,140 --> 00:17:50,640 a, 492 00:17:52,420 --> 00:17:53,720 that was a point of 493 00:17:54,180 --> 00:17:56,900 measuring my own success. Oh, look at this. 494 00:17:56,900 --> 00:17:59,320 I finally hit episode 30. 495 00:17:59,700 --> 00:18:00,759 Yep. And, 496 00:18:01,285 --> 00:18:02,644 you know and it was cool, like, when 497 00:18:02,644 --> 00:18:05,365 episode 100 came around, and that was a 498 00:18:05,365 --> 00:18:08,085 nice fun episode to to record and be 499 00:18:08,085 --> 00:18:10,105 able to note that it was episode 100. 500 00:18:10,164 --> 00:18:12,664 But most people were like, I don't know. 501 00:18:13,045 --> 00:18:15,865 You talked about that Krampus Christmas movie. 502 00:18:16,910 --> 00:18:18,269 That's that's what it is. I don't know 503 00:18:18,269 --> 00:18:19,630 what number it is. So I ended up 504 00:18:19,630 --> 00:18:20,929 moving episode numbers 505 00:18:21,230 --> 00:18:21,970 out of 506 00:18:22,349 --> 00:18:24,289 my titles, and I never mentioned them 507 00:18:24,829 --> 00:18:27,150 in the actual episode itself. Yeah. I I 508 00:18:27,150 --> 00:18:28,750 do the same thing now. I used to 509 00:18:28,750 --> 00:18:29,390 put them in the, 510 00:18:30,065 --> 00:18:32,144 at the end of the title of the 511 00:18:32,144 --> 00:18:34,724 episode, and I've cut them out. 512 00:18:35,025 --> 00:18:37,845 I do put them in the file name 513 00:18:38,304 --> 00:18:39,744 for the m p three just so I 514 00:18:39,744 --> 00:18:40,804 can keep it straight. 515 00:18:41,105 --> 00:18:43,025 Yeah. But I, you know, I don't make 516 00:18:43,025 --> 00:18:44,704 a big deal about you know, unless it's 517 00:18:44,704 --> 00:18:47,769 a a you know, like, I I crossed 518 00:18:47,769 --> 00:18:48,589 400 519 00:18:48,730 --> 00:18:51,049 sometime last year, and I made a big 520 00:18:51,049 --> 00:18:52,029 deal out of that. 521 00:18:52,490 --> 00:18:55,049 But, otherwise, you know, I don't make a 522 00:18:55,049 --> 00:18:57,210 a deal about what episode number is. I 523 00:18:57,210 --> 00:18:59,464 always, you know, announce the date at the 524 00:18:59,464 --> 00:19:01,784 beginning because, who knows, somebody might be listening 525 00:19:01,784 --> 00:19:04,265 to this, you know, fifteen years from now. 526 00:19:04,265 --> 00:19:05,005 Who knows? 527 00:19:05,544 --> 00:19:06,524 So I, you know, 528 00:19:06,904 --> 00:19:08,744 I might, you know, throw the date in 529 00:19:08,744 --> 00:19:10,044 in the in the intro. 530 00:19:10,900 --> 00:19:12,660 But, you know, in something like what we're 531 00:19:12,660 --> 00:19:14,980 doing here, you know, somebody could listen to 532 00:19:14,980 --> 00:19:15,480 this 533 00:19:16,019 --> 00:19:18,519 five years from now, and it's still relevant. 534 00:19:18,660 --> 00:19:21,079 So the date really doesn't matter. 535 00:19:21,460 --> 00:19:23,319 You know, when we were talking about news 536 00:19:23,380 --> 00:19:24,759 and and topical 537 00:19:25,914 --> 00:19:26,974 things on this show, 538 00:19:27,275 --> 00:19:28,634 you know, we used to mention the date 539 00:19:28,634 --> 00:19:30,015 and the episode number, 540 00:19:30,394 --> 00:19:32,394 you know, just so people had a context 541 00:19:32,394 --> 00:19:34,315 if they did happen across it five years 542 00:19:34,315 --> 00:19:36,795 from now. Oh, this was back in 2025, 543 00:19:36,795 --> 00:19:37,934 you know, or whatever. 544 00:19:38,750 --> 00:19:40,750 And, you know, so, you know, experiment with 545 00:19:40,750 --> 00:19:42,690 that kind of thing too. Also, 546 00:19:43,070 --> 00:19:45,150 your show notes. You know, how robust do 547 00:19:45,150 --> 00:19:46,769 you want your show notes, and 548 00:19:47,390 --> 00:19:49,410 do people actually notice that? 549 00:19:50,269 --> 00:19:52,430 You know? We we do fairly robust show 550 00:19:52,430 --> 00:19:53,730 notes for this show, 551 00:19:55,154 --> 00:19:55,654 whereas 552 00:19:56,194 --> 00:19:58,294 on some of my other shows, I don't. 553 00:19:58,595 --> 00:20:00,755 You know? I do just enough to let 554 00:20:00,755 --> 00:20:03,015 you know what it's about, and that's it. 555 00:20:03,474 --> 00:20:05,954 And maybe throw relevant links or something in 556 00:20:05,954 --> 00:20:08,355 there, but I really don't, you know, do 557 00:20:08,355 --> 00:20:11,789 this extensive show notes anymore because I really 558 00:20:11,789 --> 00:20:13,549 don't believe a lot of people want or, 559 00:20:13,549 --> 00:20:16,029 you know, read them. Now with us, this 560 00:20:16,029 --> 00:20:18,430 goes on our company blog as well as, 561 00:20:18,430 --> 00:20:19,570 you know, this podcast. 562 00:20:20,269 --> 00:20:22,769 So people do come to that blog, 563 00:20:23,154 --> 00:20:24,994 podcastinsider.com, 564 00:20:24,994 --> 00:20:26,214 just in case you're wondering. 565 00:20:27,394 --> 00:20:29,875 And, they, you know, they do read these 566 00:20:29,875 --> 00:20:32,454 posts even if it is a podcast episode. 567 00:20:35,170 --> 00:20:37,430 Yeah. So that's something that you could experiment 568 00:20:37,490 --> 00:20:39,170 with is, you know, how how much show 569 00:20:39,170 --> 00:20:40,470 notes do you wanna do? 570 00:20:41,809 --> 00:20:43,029 Yeah. I mean 571 00:20:43,809 --> 00:20:46,529 yeah. Like, we we have customers that they 572 00:20:46,529 --> 00:20:48,289 love their show notes, and they want them 573 00:20:48,289 --> 00:20:51,044 formatted this specific way, and they want them 574 00:20:51,044 --> 00:20:52,804 to appear in a specific way. And that's 575 00:20:52,804 --> 00:20:54,724 cool. We do everything we can to make 576 00:20:54,724 --> 00:20:55,625 sure that they 577 00:20:56,164 --> 00:20:57,865 that they get what they want. 578 00:20:58,565 --> 00:20:59,784 But then you have 579 00:21:00,164 --> 00:21:02,644 some people like Mike, you know. It's like, 580 00:21:02,644 --> 00:21:05,460 here's two sentences. I talked about a Coney 581 00:21:05,460 --> 00:21:07,559 dog this week, and Yeah. 582 00:21:08,179 --> 00:21:10,339 That's all people care about. Okay. Cool. 583 00:21:10,900 --> 00:21:12,660 I just saw the little description in my 584 00:21:12,660 --> 00:21:15,720 podcast app, and I move on. So 585 00:21:16,019 --> 00:21:18,179 I I think, you know, you're gonna know 586 00:21:18,179 --> 00:21:20,785 if you messed your show up when people 587 00:21:20,785 --> 00:21:24,065 start contacting you and they're yelling at you 588 00:21:24,065 --> 00:21:25,525 or if you see your your, 589 00:21:26,224 --> 00:21:28,865 your numbers drop. Yeah. You know? Yeah. You 590 00:21:28,865 --> 00:21:31,105 know? And but the thing with the numbers 591 00:21:31,105 --> 00:21:32,085 are you know? 592 00:21:32,384 --> 00:21:34,484 And this is just a theory of mine. 593 00:21:35,059 --> 00:21:37,240 But if you have a bad episode, 594 00:21:38,099 --> 00:21:40,679 that bad episode probably is gonna get downloaded 595 00:21:41,299 --> 00:21:42,900 as many times as the good ones because 596 00:21:42,900 --> 00:21:44,440 they don't know what's in the episode 597 00:21:45,140 --> 00:21:48,119 until they download it and play it. But 598 00:21:48,825 --> 00:21:50,664 the next episode is the one you wanna 599 00:21:50,664 --> 00:21:52,744 look at. So if you get a serious 600 00:21:52,744 --> 00:21:54,984 drop in numbers, look at the episode prior 601 00:21:54,984 --> 00:21:55,804 to that one. 602 00:21:56,345 --> 00:21:58,825 That's Yeah. That's, you know, not not so 603 00:21:58,825 --> 00:21:59,865 much that one because 604 00:22:00,549 --> 00:22:01,750 you know and and if you get a 605 00:22:01,750 --> 00:22:04,390 big bump in an episode, what that could 606 00:22:04,390 --> 00:22:06,470 be is everybody's going, hey. Look at this, 607 00:22:06,470 --> 00:22:08,549 and sharing it with friends and stuff. So, 608 00:22:08,549 --> 00:22:10,150 you know, you look at the current episode 609 00:22:10,150 --> 00:22:11,430 if you get a bump. You look at 610 00:22:11,430 --> 00:22:13,609 the past episode if you get a drop. 611 00:22:14,345 --> 00:22:16,285 That's just my theory. 612 00:22:17,144 --> 00:22:19,224 Yeah. That's that's always a good thing. I 613 00:22:19,224 --> 00:22:20,904 know when people get in touch with you 614 00:22:20,904 --> 00:22:21,565 and I, 615 00:22:22,424 --> 00:22:24,445 we that's one of the first things that 616 00:22:24,585 --> 00:22:27,065 we'd we check on our side, but then 617 00:22:27,065 --> 00:22:29,299 we also have them look and go, 618 00:22:29,680 --> 00:22:31,600 well, you know, what what was your previous 619 00:22:31,600 --> 00:22:33,940 episode about in this date range? 620 00:22:34,240 --> 00:22:36,400 Can you think of anything that you might 621 00:22:36,400 --> 00:22:38,500 have changed or did you show up somewhere 622 00:22:38,880 --> 00:22:41,144 that would cause that to spike or dip? 623 00:22:41,464 --> 00:22:43,964 So, yeah, you just look at trends and 624 00:22:44,825 --> 00:22:47,305 you you eventually, you'll find your answer. It's 625 00:22:47,305 --> 00:22:48,045 not usually, 626 00:22:48,585 --> 00:22:50,845 oh, there's, you know, some 627 00:22:51,545 --> 00:22:54,205 random group of people from Mongolia that are 628 00:22:54,345 --> 00:22:56,424 listening to my episodes now, and that's why 629 00:22:56,424 --> 00:22:59,039 it spiked. Yeah. That that can happen, but 630 00:22:59,039 --> 00:23:00,099 it's pretty rare. 631 00:23:01,279 --> 00:23:02,079 You know, it's 632 00:23:02,640 --> 00:23:04,000 you know, we had one guy, 633 00:23:04,960 --> 00:23:07,140 not too long ago talking about stats. 634 00:23:08,000 --> 00:23:09,940 He says you know, he had, like, 635 00:23:10,454 --> 00:23:13,174 20 downloads per episode was you know, so 636 00:23:13,174 --> 00:23:15,595 he was just, you know, not not really 637 00:23:15,654 --> 00:23:16,714 getting a lot of 638 00:23:17,015 --> 00:23:18,394 plays, a lot of listens. 639 00:23:19,095 --> 00:23:21,275 And he was really curious why 640 00:23:21,815 --> 00:23:24,474 15 of the 20 were in New York. 641 00:23:25,960 --> 00:23:26,859 I don't know. 642 00:23:27,400 --> 00:23:29,019 It's just random happenstance, 643 00:23:29,400 --> 00:23:31,259 I guess, but, you know, 644 00:23:31,880 --> 00:23:34,059 you don't wanna watch it that closely. 645 00:23:35,960 --> 00:23:38,200 But you do wanna you know, if, say, 646 00:23:38,200 --> 00:23:39,900 your episode gets 647 00:23:40,454 --> 00:23:41,194 50% 648 00:23:41,255 --> 00:23:43,734 of what you normally get for an episode, 649 00:23:43,734 --> 00:23:45,015 look at what you did on the last 650 00:23:45,015 --> 00:23:47,575 one and see if you mighta ticked somebody 651 00:23:47,575 --> 00:23:48,315 off, or 652 00:23:48,694 --> 00:23:51,494 you you mighta done something stupid or you 653 00:23:51,494 --> 00:23:53,575 know, not stupid, but, you know, you you 654 00:23:53,575 --> 00:23:55,034 tried something that didn't work. 655 00:23:55,640 --> 00:23:57,240 I guess that's a better way of putting 656 00:23:57,240 --> 00:24:00,039 it. Yeah. Or, you know, the opposite. Maybe 657 00:24:00,039 --> 00:24:01,019 they did jump. 658 00:24:01,319 --> 00:24:01,980 You know? 659 00:24:03,079 --> 00:24:05,579 So that's that's where stats can come in 660 00:24:05,640 --> 00:24:07,500 and be be of interest. 661 00:24:09,424 --> 00:24:11,984 I think some other things that are maybe 662 00:24:11,984 --> 00:24:15,204 not blueberry centric, but, like, if you are 663 00:24:15,744 --> 00:24:17,365 sharing things on social 664 00:24:17,825 --> 00:24:19,984 Mhmm. You you can check your engagement there, 665 00:24:19,984 --> 00:24:22,224 like, your replies and your you know, if 666 00:24:22,224 --> 00:24:24,884 you're doing reviews on podcast 667 00:24:25,509 --> 00:24:27,210 directories and things like that. 668 00:24:28,390 --> 00:24:30,329 You know, just kinda see how that works. 669 00:24:30,470 --> 00:24:32,650 And those aren't always one to one. 670 00:24:33,269 --> 00:24:35,509 I think I can't even remember. There is 671 00:24:35,509 --> 00:24:37,990 a percentage of people that will interact with 672 00:24:37,990 --> 00:24:38,490 you, 673 00:24:39,704 --> 00:24:40,765 on social media. 674 00:24:41,464 --> 00:24:42,365 But yeah. 675 00:24:42,744 --> 00:24:44,585 Yeah. I get a lot of my my 676 00:24:44,585 --> 00:24:46,444 reactions from Facebook, 677 00:24:47,384 --> 00:24:48,285 weird weirdly. 678 00:24:49,944 --> 00:24:51,880 But, you know, then I can post the 679 00:24:51,880 --> 00:24:54,700 exact same thing on x and get nothing. 680 00:24:55,160 --> 00:24:57,180 And, you know, I don't use Instagram 681 00:24:57,559 --> 00:24:59,099 yet. Probably will. 682 00:24:59,559 --> 00:25:00,059 But, 683 00:25:00,599 --> 00:25:02,359 you know, it's one of those things. I 684 00:25:02,359 --> 00:25:04,119 can only do so much. I I don't 685 00:25:04,119 --> 00:25:06,434 wanna add yet another inbox to check. You 686 00:25:06,434 --> 00:25:06,934 know? 687 00:25:07,554 --> 00:25:08,054 Right. 688 00:25:08,434 --> 00:25:09,335 But Yeah. 689 00:25:09,714 --> 00:25:10,835 People know how to get a hold of 690 00:25:10,835 --> 00:25:11,894 me if they listen, 691 00:25:12,355 --> 00:25:14,914 so that's good. And, you know, and always 692 00:25:14,914 --> 00:25:16,434 mention that too. You know? 693 00:25:17,075 --> 00:25:18,674 You know, I'm gonna go back a little 694 00:25:18,674 --> 00:25:21,255 bit in our little show notes here, but, 695 00:25:21,380 --> 00:25:24,019 you know, always explain stuff to your audience. 696 00:25:24,019 --> 00:25:24,680 I mean, 697 00:25:25,220 --> 00:25:26,980 you know, there's no no harm in saying, 698 00:25:26,980 --> 00:25:28,980 hey. I'm change I changed this up. Did 699 00:25:28,980 --> 00:25:30,360 you notice? What do you think? 700 00:25:30,820 --> 00:25:32,519 You know, let them know what to expect 701 00:25:32,660 --> 00:25:33,880 rather than just 702 00:25:34,259 --> 00:25:35,640 shocking them with stuff. 703 00:25:36,224 --> 00:25:37,904 Or, hey. Next week, I got a new 704 00:25:37,904 --> 00:25:39,825 theme song I wanna try out on you. 705 00:25:39,825 --> 00:25:41,105 You know, and that might get them to 706 00:25:41,105 --> 00:25:42,244 come back to hear it. 707 00:25:43,184 --> 00:25:45,605 Just all kinds of stuff like that. But, 708 00:25:46,224 --> 00:25:46,964 yeah, it's 709 00:25:47,744 --> 00:25:49,105 but you you you you know, if you 710 00:25:49,105 --> 00:25:50,484 do something that that 711 00:25:50,990 --> 00:25:53,950 really causes a stir, either positive or negative, 712 00:25:53,950 --> 00:25:56,350 you will hear about it. Oh, yeah. And 713 00:25:56,350 --> 00:25:58,190 that's good. You know? You wanna hear about 714 00:25:58,190 --> 00:25:58,850 it. Though. 715 00:25:59,230 --> 00:26:00,850 Yeah. I don't I would also recommend, 716 00:26:02,590 --> 00:26:03,224 you know, 717 00:26:03,785 --> 00:26:04,684 stick with 718 00:26:05,144 --> 00:26:05,644 the 719 00:26:06,345 --> 00:26:09,065 feel of your show. Yeah. Don't you know, 720 00:26:09,065 --> 00:26:10,605 if you have a very professional 721 00:26:10,984 --> 00:26:11,484 show, 722 00:26:11,785 --> 00:26:13,164 don't do anything wacky. 723 00:26:13,785 --> 00:26:15,865 You know, if if you use music, don't 724 00:26:15,865 --> 00:26:18,730 change the music to some circus music or 725 00:26:18,730 --> 00:26:19,710 something like that. 726 00:26:20,569 --> 00:26:22,490 You know, kind of stay in your lane, 727 00:26:22,490 --> 00:26:22,990 but 728 00:26:23,289 --> 00:26:26,349 but play within those confines a little bit. 729 00:26:27,130 --> 00:26:28,349 You know, I've I've 730 00:26:28,730 --> 00:26:30,730 not seen too many shows do this, but 731 00:26:30,730 --> 00:26:32,329 I have seen a couple of shows. I've 732 00:26:32,329 --> 00:26:33,345 even done it myself 733 00:26:34,464 --> 00:26:35,924 where you go, well, 734 00:26:36,865 --> 00:26:39,345 my personality is, you know, I like I 735 00:26:39,345 --> 00:26:41,525 wanna have a little bit more fun. So 736 00:26:42,544 --> 00:26:44,384 then you end up making a change that 737 00:26:44,384 --> 00:26:46,804 just doesn't fit the feel of your show, 738 00:26:49,000 --> 00:26:52,299 and that's usually not good. But, yeah, just 739 00:26:52,359 --> 00:26:54,359 just a random thought I had there. You 740 00:26:54,359 --> 00:26:56,039 know, try and try and stay in your 741 00:26:56,039 --> 00:26:56,539 lane. 742 00:26:56,920 --> 00:26:57,980 Try not to be, 743 00:26:58,440 --> 00:27:00,619 you know, the podcast for all people. 744 00:27:01,515 --> 00:27:04,414 Yep. As they say, a podcast for everybody 745 00:27:04,475 --> 00:27:06,095 is a podcast for nobody. 746 00:27:07,355 --> 00:27:09,195 You know? You gotta niche down a little 747 00:27:09,195 --> 00:27:10,414 bit in most cases. 748 00:27:11,035 --> 00:27:12,809 You know? There are some 749 00:27:13,450 --> 00:27:15,390 celebrities out there that could probably, 750 00:27:15,930 --> 00:27:18,110 read the phone book and and do alright. 751 00:27:18,330 --> 00:27:19,289 So Probably. 752 00:27:19,690 --> 00:27:20,750 You never know. 753 00:27:21,370 --> 00:27:21,870 But, 754 00:27:22,490 --> 00:27:24,570 anyway, yeah, just, you know, here's kind of 755 00:27:24,570 --> 00:27:26,970 the takeaway. You know, experimenting with your format 756 00:27:26,970 --> 00:27:29,904 doesn't mean starting from scratch. It doesn't mean 757 00:27:29,904 --> 00:27:32,384 throwing everything away and starting over, or it 758 00:27:32,384 --> 00:27:34,304 might. You know? And if that's the case, 759 00:27:34,304 --> 00:27:35,284 start a new show. 760 00:27:35,984 --> 00:27:38,304 But Mhmm. Basically, you know, change one thing 761 00:27:38,304 --> 00:27:40,704 at a time. Make sure you're communicating with 762 00:27:40,704 --> 00:27:41,444 your audience, 763 00:27:41,825 --> 00:27:42,224 and, 764 00:27:42,704 --> 00:27:45,250 you know, check the data and the feedback. 765 00:27:49,069 --> 00:27:50,910 Anyway, you don't have to blow it up 766 00:27:50,910 --> 00:27:52,609 to make it better. Yeah. 767 00:27:52,990 --> 00:27:55,869 Think of, you know, tuning or tweaking and 768 00:27:55,869 --> 00:27:56,609 not rebuilding 769 00:27:56,990 --> 00:27:58,529 everything every week. 770 00:27:59,735 --> 00:28:02,134 Yeah. Your your listeners are gonna be a 771 00:28:02,134 --> 00:28:02,795 lot more 772 00:28:03,095 --> 00:28:03,595 adaptable 773 00:28:04,455 --> 00:28:06,934 to to the changes that you make than 774 00:28:06,934 --> 00:28:07,835 you might believe. 775 00:28:08,295 --> 00:28:08,795 So 776 00:28:09,174 --> 00:28:11,015 just make sure you bring them along, put 777 00:28:11,015 --> 00:28:13,494 them in the passenger seat with you, and, 778 00:28:14,740 --> 00:28:17,299 you know, they're gonna love watching your show 779 00:28:17,299 --> 00:28:18,519 grow and change, 780 00:28:19,460 --> 00:28:21,059 and stick around for the long haul. We 781 00:28:21,220 --> 00:28:23,140 I know we do. I love talking to 782 00:28:23,140 --> 00:28:24,279 customers that have, 783 00:28:24,819 --> 00:28:27,619 you know, been doing their podcast for eighteen 784 00:28:27,619 --> 00:28:28,865 years and 785 00:28:29,164 --> 00:28:30,384 and things like that. 786 00:28:30,845 --> 00:28:31,345 So, 787 00:28:33,325 --> 00:28:35,325 yeah, if you want any more advice from 788 00:28:35,325 --> 00:28:36,765 us, you know how to get in touch 789 00:28:36,765 --> 00:28:38,785 with us. You can go to blueberry.com 790 00:28:39,005 --> 00:28:41,664 and, podcastinsider.com 791 00:28:41,830 --> 00:28:42,490 in order 792 00:28:43,190 --> 00:28:44,809 to reach us, whether it's support 793 00:28:45,190 --> 00:28:48,470 or, you know, contact the show. Right. And, 794 00:28:48,470 --> 00:28:51,350 you know, of course, podcastinsider.com, 795 00:28:51,350 --> 00:28:53,670 you can read our extensive show notes. Thanks 796 00:28:53,670 --> 00:28:54,330 to Mackenzie. 797 00:28:55,875 --> 00:28:57,955 Thanks for joining us. Let's meet up next 798 00:28:57,955 --> 00:28:59,975 week. And in the meantime, for more information, 799 00:29:00,275 --> 00:29:02,914 to subscribe, share, or follow, check out the 800 00:29:02,914 --> 00:29:05,575 show notes at podcastinsider.com. 801 00:29:05,623 --> 00:29:07,543 To check out our latest suite of services 802 00:29:07,543 --> 00:29:09,383 and how Blueberry can help you leverage your 803 00:29:09,383 --> 00:29:11,223 podcast, visit blueberry.com. 804 00:29:11,223 --> 00:29:13,083 That's Blueberry without the e's.