Your Podcast Consultant: Podcast Tips To Avoid Podcasting Mistakes

70% of people have impostor syndrome. This is where you feel you are a fraud. You have opportunities that land in your lap and you feel underqualified. You feel it's just a matter of time until you are found out.  This results in crippling fear or overworking/perfectionism. Here are some things to consider: You feel like a fraud because of this huge opportunity that has been put in your lap. Maybe...

I get this question alot, "Do I NEED a website for my podcast?" This is usually from a person who feels they are not a "technical" person and they fear making a website. They feel you need to be a "nerd" to create a website. Well, fear not, you don't need to be a nerd, but you do NEED a website. Here is why How is Google going to find you? When you publish an episode with text describing what is i...

You've ended up with an interview that is a real stinker? How do you save your interview? Acknowledge it's your fault Turn it into a narrative style podcast Remove it, or don't publish it.  What and How Can I Edit My Podcast? Never forget it is YOUR Show.  For more interview tips see http://schoolofpodcasting.com/interviewtips Schedule a Strategy Call Today Go to www.podcastconsultant.com/schedule...

I get this question on an almost daily basis. The answer is: it depends. After all YouTube is quite popular. 2 billion people log into YouTube Each Month 1 Billion hours watched daily In 2019 it was reported that 500 hours of video were uploaded to Youtube every minute It's the #2 Search Engine Source If you're not doing  anything on YouTube - Yes If you already have a YouTube channel with real vi...

A Niche is a group of people. Some people call it your target audience. The bottom line is "everybody" CAN'T BE YOUR TARGET AUDIENCE.  Three Tools To Niche Down Demographics (age, sex, location) Business (what is the topic the show is about) Level of Expertise (Beginners, Intermediates, Experts) EXAMPLE: I want to do a show about: Being more confident Being a more confident parent Being more confi...

Back in episode 90 I talked about some of the  really bad  advice for new podcasters that I see in Facebook groups and today I want to talk about batch recording and when it's OK to do it, and what are the negative side effects.  WHAT IS BATCH RECORDING Batch recording is when you record a bunch of episodes in one sitting. For example, if you do a show that publishes Monday through Friday, you mig...

As someone who works in tech support for a podcast media hosting company, I get to see a wide view of the podcasting space. With this in mind, I want to help you get your podcast questions answered quickly.  Tip 1: Write down your login name and password.  There are times when we don't post an episode for a while and when we fire up the microphone we forget how to login. I use a tool called LastPa...

Way back in episode 37 I said the easy way to get your show into an Amazon smart speaker (Alexa) I said you could use Tunein.com (which was true and still is) but it's much easier (and works well) if you add your podcast to Amazon Music.  Another Reason to have your show listed in Amazon Music/Audible is your show will start to appear in Amazon search results.  How often do you go to Amazon a day?...

Saying a big launch is the key to a successful podcast is like saying having a big wedding is the key to a happy marriage. In both cases, the real work is just starting.  Schedule a Strategy Session If you need help with your podcast and want to tap into my 16 years of experience, I'd love to help (my background is in teaching/education). Go to www.podcastconsultant.com/schedule I saw in a Faceboo...

I see people mesmerized by the new Clubhouse App. It's interesting and has 10 million people on it. Here are some other interesting tidbits: It's on iOs only. So 70% of THE WORLD can't use it. They are using FOMO (fear of missing out) like a jedi marketer.  Have you ever listened to "no screener" talk radio on the radio? It's pretty bad when "everybody gets a microphone." Over the years podcasting...

When we start to panic, we make bad decisions. Consequently, when your show isn't growing as fast as you want, you might upgrade your equipment (when you didn't need to), or move to a different media host (thinking it will help you get more downloads.  In full disclosure, I work for Libsyn.com (who does make it easy to syndicate your show - use the coupon code sopfree to get a free month - as Libs...

Your podcast is your brand, and while your guests might not be as nerdy as you are with as nice as gear as you have, that doesn't mean we give them a pass when it comes to audio quality.  In movies, plays, television, people audition to get a part and be seen. You should be no different. You don't have to set the bar super high, but the bottom line is it that it is YOUR show and how it sounds refl...

Today I talk about something that happened on my live Saturday show Ask the Podcast Coach. We asked a few people "Where can we find your podcast?" and few people answered the podcast correctly.  ENOUGH WITH THE LINK TREES WHY would you (in some cases) PAY to promote someone else's brand? This baffles me. If you're new to link trees, here is a definition.  A link tree allows you to create a persona...

You can't find a podcast and you've decided to make the podcast YOU want to listen to. Here are the steps to launch a successful podcast. 00:54 Why are you starting a podcast? 01:14 Who is your audience? 01:34 What will you talk about? 01:52 Pick a format 02:13 Order Your Equipment 02:32 Practice and Learn Your Gear 02:51 Identify Your Intro and Outro 03:48 Record an Episode 04:04 Get HONEST Feedb...

You get an email asking you to join a network. You're flattered. You need to think about this. Do I need to change my feed? Talk to someone who is on the network and get before and after numbers How do they select new network members? What gets your fired? Who owns the content if you decide to leave? Will they redirect your feed if you decide to leave? Full notes and bonus video at  www.podcastcon...

Today we are going to talk a little about Podcast SEO - (Search Engine Optimization) There are types of players that media hosts provide that are often called: Show Player (instead of an episode player) Podcast Juke Box Binge Box There are WordPress plugins like Simple Podcast Press and Fuse Box but I'm also talking about the players you get from our media host. Especially one that provides multip...

First things first, let's explain  technically what a podcast is: A program delivered via RSS. This can be audio (typically mp3), video (typically m4a), or a pdf file. So  technically YES, you can have a video podcast  NOT ALL APPS WILL PLAY IT Google podcasts and pandora won't do anything with it, while apps like Overcast and Stitcher will play the audio, but not show the video, and Apple Podcast...

How many subscribers does my podcast have? Just this morning, I've had three people email me this question this morning (and I heard it on my last coaching call).  The answer is: you can't. There's no actual way to get that number. YouTube Vs Podcasting Everybody bring up subscriber counts because of YouTube. Realize YouTube is centralized. If you're watching YouTube, you're watching it on YouTube...

I had one of my editing clients as me if I could edit an episode from a few months ago. In the episode, they had talked about a webinar that they were doing that month. Now that the webinar was long past, they felt it just didn't make any sense. That is how I got the idea for this episode. Future Proof Your Podcast Anytime you mentioned a date be sure to include the year (as some people may hear t...

I was working with a client, I'll change things up a bit. Let's say they were interested in help people "Do More," or "Be More Productive." Who could use that content? College Students Parents There are many more, but let's limit the list to the two above.  You Need to KNOW your WHY? There are many reasons to start a podcast. These include: Being seen as an expert Getting to talk to people you nor...

I was in a Facebook group and someone asked, "What are your tips for getting more listeners to your podcast?" and the very first comment was, "Marketing.. Facebook ads" and while there were other decent suggestions, many of the suggestions were BUYING promotion (Facebook, Google Ads, etc).  It wasn't until I left a comment that someone brought up making sure your content is good. Here is what I wr...

Supply and Demand The "law" of supply and demand is this: The more demand there is for a product, the more you can charge for it. There are many things that lead and boost demand, and that is outside the scope of today's show. In general, you are delivering value (or perceived value) If you raise the price more and more, the demand may go down (as it doesn't deliver as much value for the price). ...

Oscar Trimboli asked me, "Hey, do you have anything about doing an Ask me anything sometimes called AMA's. That type of episode?" Well, there are a couple of things to think of number one, for this to work you need an audience. So this is the first thing you need is an audience. The next thing is the tools, and I always recommend that you have your website's setup to accept any kind of input. So I...

Think of it Like a Store Front One of my hobbies is music. I remember as a young child going into or walking by a music store, and there were a few different guitars in the front window and I was like, Wow, look at those guitars! Those are awesome. And then I walked through the door into the store, and there was wall to wall guitars and I was like, holy cow. Look at this. Now, you might be saying,...

ID3 tags were much more important back in 2005ish. All the portable media players and tools used ID3 tags.  What is an ID3 Tag? An ID3 tags is information stored  inside your mp3 file. You can't see them, but some (few) apps use this information.  This (currently) only happens when your file is removed from your feed and is not used by an app.  EXAMPLE: Someone downloads your file to their compute...