Hi Reader, With Chartable shutting down at the end of last year, podcasters have been wondering what tool(s) to use to get listener insights, discover similar shows, and track marketing efforts. If you relied on Chartable (or even just dabbled in it), there’s good news - Rephonic is an excellent free tool that can step in and offer even more. I recently shared a video walkthrough of how Rephonic works and why it’s worth your time - here’s the short version. Why Rephonic is a Smart Replacement...
23 days ago • 2 min read
Hi Reader, When was the last time you listened to your podcast trailer? If it’s been a while, you’re not alone. Most podcasters create a trailer when they launch and never touch it again. But here’s the thing: your trailer is one of the most important parts of your podcast. It’s often the first thing new listeners hear. It’s what platforms like Apple Podcasts and Spotify use to preview your show. And it might even be what potential sponsors check out before checking out the rest of your...
about 1 month ago • 1 min read
Hi Reader, When it comes to podcasting, there’s a lot of information out there. I mean, A LOT. How to start Why to start What to buy When to publish How to be a top X% podcaster And more. Like any industry, some of the information is good. While some is just…. well, not. And while a lot of it is well-intentioned, it’s this latter source that can harm not only you as a podcaster. So, let’s redress that balance and look at what helps in this podcasting guide. It’s Not the Gear That Matters,...
about 2 months ago • 5 min read
Hi Reader, For any podcaster looking to grow their show, a key part of that is growing your audience. This means keeping your existing audience, and adding to that with new listeners. Ideally, the best way to do this is have your existing audience recommend your show to potential new listeners, since that kind of recommendation still remains one of the most effective. But oftentimes, podcasters can hinder this through no real fault of their own because they try to appeal to everyone, and keep...
2 months ago • 1 min read
Hi Reader, At the end of last year, Spotify announced their new monetization options for podcasters, Spotify Partner Program. Now, while at first this might appear great news – after all, it might seem tempting to be making money on arguably the largest podcast platform in the world – chances are, for the average podcaster, that’s not going to happen because of their eligibility limitations for the partner program. For example, you need: to be hosted with Spotify for Creators have 10,000...
3 months ago • 1 min read
Take a look online, whether on X, Facebook groups, Reddit, etc, and you’ll frequently come across questions about starting a podcast. From there, many answers share equipment to buy, hosts to use, etc. All well, all good. But what you don’t often see is what you shouldn’t do, and why, based on personal experience and lessons learned. So, while this is in no way an exhaustive list of do’s and don’ts – after all, it’s all subjective to individual needs – here are three lessons I wish I’d known...
3 months ago • 6 min read
Hi there, Oftentimes, when we look at our podcast(s) and whether it's performing as well as we wanted or hoped, we tend to look at the same things. downloads listeners reviews And, sure, while those numbers can and do tell a story they can also give us a false perception of what's actually stunting our growth, because they're primarily internal data points. A great example of this, and a story I've shared elsewhere in the past, is gaming giant Nintendo. The Nintendo guide to sight In the...
4 months ago • 4 min read
Hi there, When I was still on Twitter, I ran a poll that asked what would be the one big thing that stops you listening to your favourite podcast. The choices were Adding ads, change of format, change of frequency, or “other”. The results are below As you can see, it was pretty even between adding ads, and changing up the format. But out of 81 votes, almost 25% said “other”, and those votes primarily shared something all podcasters need to learn and/or remember to do – and that’s give your...
4 months ago • 4 min read
Hi there, There's a famous quote by Henry Ford around the idea of asking his customers what they wanted. The reply was, "If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses." (Sidenote: there's a lot of debate as to whether Ford actually said this or not, but let's go with it for now.) The premise is, if you ask your customers what they want they'll tell you what they think they want, as opposed to what they actually need. It's classic Marketing 101 - when you give...
5 months ago • 5 min read