PodCraft by Alitu: Honing the Craft of Podcasting

What does it mean to take a journalistic approach to your podcast content? In this episode of Podcraft, we're joined by Katie, who is the driving force behind our new topical content offerings. Katie explains that a "journalistic approach" involves taking time to research your subjects and using a structured workflow to build stories. Some of the tips and suggestions here include using newsletters...

Video podcasting is no new thing. But it's more talked about than it ever was. YouTube are in the early stages of getting into podcasting, whilst Spotify have finally jumped into the pool, too. But does this mean that everyone should now be creating video as well as audio content? Or has a lot of this stuff been exaggerated and blown out of proportion? Undoubtedly video, if done well, can be an ex...

Podcasting can be a great way to market your business, and add a human touch to your company. But does this mean that every business should be running its own podcast? On this episode, we're joined by Jacob, who's Head of Marketing here at The Podcast Host and Alitu. On this episode we'll cover: - How someone might decide whether or not podcasting around their business is the right move. - Potenti...

Colin and Matthew analyse some interesting data from our Podcast Planner tool. 43% of over 1,500 respondents told us they’d rather host a solo show than create content with other people. So why might this be? Perhaps there's a bit of post-pandemic Zoom fatigue in here where people are fed up with feeling like they are "on a call". There are a lot of positive reasons for going solo, too, including...

Lindsay from the content team helps produce a show called Life In The Ted Lane with her brother, Ted (apparently the name ‘Ted Talks’ was taken, unfortunately). "Ted and his sister Lindsay talk about Ted’s adventures, news from Broadway and Hollywood, Muppet News, and also what it’s like to be autistic." https://lifeinthetedlane.buzzsprout.com/ Joining Matthew on this episode of Podcraft, Lindsay...

The concept is simple: You create the content your target audience is searching for, they find it, and your podcast grows as a result.  But Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) isn't just as straightforward as that, unfortunately. There are nuances, best practices, and stiff competition from rival content creators.  On season 16 of Podcraft we're leaning on the expertise and experience of our team her...

Mike from the Konversations With Kinfolk podcast is thinking about micro-content. He's looking for apps or software that can take small clips (video and/or audio) to create short clips for visibility and promotion. This is a great strategy for podcast growth. Micro-content can be highly searchable, shareable, and doesn't demand a lot of time to hook a potential new listener. It can also be quick a...

Khaled runs the show Curated Advice on Better Living , and wonders how to increase the number of listeners per episode. At time of recording, he's almost hit the 30-episode mark, which is a great point to reflect on what you've achieved so far, as well as revisit your big picture planning. We recommend that Khaled sets up a dedicated website for the podcast, which is a low-hanging fruit these days...

Michael of Night Moodz wonders how to turn casual listeners into subscribers, followers, and even, supporters. This is a question with many layers as the first and most obvious move is simply to ask in your Calls to Action . You might also want to show them how by creating a 'how to subscribe' page on your website. A final and essential piece of the jigsaw, though, is to make folks want to come ba...

How do you get useful analytics to present to potential sponsors and advertisers? That's one of the questions on the mind of Karen from BankTalk Podcast . And, one that we'll try our best to answer on this episode of PodCraft. Your Apple Podcast Connect and Spotify for Podcasters dashboards can give you a good sample of listening patterns. Granted, these won't be the full picture, but, for many po...

Kay is the co-host of the In Da Trenches Podcast and asks about optimising their name, outline, and theme.  Sometimes it helps to take a step back and look at the bigger picture of your podcast, asking questions such as: What’s its purpose? Who’s it for? What does success look like for me? You can then start to work backwards from these. Another very useful exercise is to use our free Podcast Plan...

Laurent of the Puissante Panoplie podcast asks us about breaks between seasons. He feels that these can halt his momentum, and make him feel a bit like a headless chicken, jumping from task to task with no real plan in mind. Once the break is over, Laurent adds, he feels anything but rested or organised going into his new season. On this episode, we talk about ways to better structure your breaks...

Our question this week comes from Teresa of the Homeschool Mama SelfCare Podcast . Teresa's asking us about the optimal position of podcast ads so as to optimise their impact and minimise the chance of them annoying the listeners.  On this episode, we cover: Is there a "right" time to play a podcast ad The difference between pre, mid, and post-roll ads The difference between pre-recorded and host-...

On this new season of PodCraft we're going to be answering your podcasting questions. Here's how to submit yours ! This time around, we have a question from Brooke of Let's Talk Art With Brooke . Brooke has been podcasting for six years and as well over 200 episodes, but is concerned with lack of audience growth. This is a big question in and of itself (so big, in fact, that we actually wrote a bo...

It's part two of our dive into the Podcaster Cares Survey data. This time around, we're talking NFTs, measuring success, social media, loudness, and bitrates. We also take a look at some interesting differences between podcasters of five years or more, and folks who've been doing it less than five years. Podcasters of 5 years or more have stronger opinions on Apple Podcasts and RSS Feeds 67.5% of...

The more podcasting grows, the more people talk about it. Some of it is genuine news, and some of it is gossip or clickbait. Rather than waste your time with articles about irrelevant topics, we want to know what the average podcaster cares about most. So, we put up a survey and invited our entire audience to take part through the blog, email and social. We offered a few prizes to say thanks, incl...

Welcome to Pocket-Sized Podcasting, brought to you by Alitu: The Podcast Maker. And on this episode, we’re talking about choosing a format for your episodes. The format you choose is really personal, and depends on who’s involved. If it’s just you, you’re not doing a co-hosted show any time soon, for example. None of this is set in stone, either. So whilst it’s good to have an ‘average’ format, so...

Welcome to Pocket-Sized Podcasting, brought to you by Alitu: The Podcast Maker. And on this episode, we’re talking about niches (nitches?) and narrow topics. There’s a bit of a misconception in podcasting that, the wider and more open your topic, the bigger your audience will be. I know, it makes sense because covering lots of ground means there's loads more people who might be interested in your...

Welcome to Pocket-Sized Podcasting, brought to you by Alitu: The Podcast Maker. And on this episode, we’re talking about giving your audience a no-brainer reason to listen. This, my friend, is all about supplying value in your very own unique way. But what does that actually mean? Well, let’s take the example of our personal trainer, I mentioned last time. If they’re serving up content that helps...

Welcome to Pocket-Sized Podcasting, brought to you by Alitu: The Podcast Maker. On this episode, we’re asking a big question: Who are you making your podcast for? The thing is, unless you know exactly who you’re making your show for, and why you’re doing it, you’ve got no chance of growing an audience. Let’s imagine a personal trainer who’s making a health and fitness podcast to market their busin...

Welcome to Pocket-Sized Podcasting, brought to you by Alitu: The Podcast Maker. And on this episode, we’re asking the question “Why?” Why do you want to make a podcast? Are you a freelancer?  A business? Or working for a company? Whatever you do, you'll know that podcasting's a great way to build trust and authority. Plus, of course, give your customers or your audience a whole bunch of valuable a...

Daily podcasts are a lot more common than they used to be. You might find the thought of running one appealing but also think to yourself "there's no way I'd have time to podcast every single day". Well, the good news is that you don't have to.  You can actually create a short sharp 1-2min episode a day podcast in only a few hours a week. We've found that the scripting, recording, production, and...

We talk a lot about audience growth in our articles. In fact, promotion and growth is the number 1 thing podcasters struggle with, according to our recent podcaster problems survey .  One of the tips we've recommended for years is to see the other podcasters in your space as collaborators, rather than competition. Cross-promotion is a great example of the old saying "a rising tide lifts all boats"...

There's no shortage of things to focus on when it comes to planning, launching, and running your own podcast.  From buying the right mic and choosing a hosting platform, to coming up with a show name and sorting out your cover art, these all fall under the umbrella of "podcasting". But all podcasting tasks aren't created equally. Some of the things you do can have a huge impact on your show's succ...

In this episode of Podcraft, Matthew and Colin talk about podcasting and parenting. They discuss the joys of being a new dad, from early morning buggy walks, to "having a good moan" about one's kids. Brought to you by Alitu: The Podcast Maker and The Podcast Host Planner Parents always think they’re organized and resilient. The same's true for podcasters. Kids are unpredictable , and podcasting ca...