The goal of this episode is to help you understand what makes a GOOD podcast, and help you decide if you should also be a video podcast.
As it's the beginning of the year, MANY people will be selling you on how you can quit your job with no effort, no work, and how easy it is to leave the 9 to 5. They rave at how much money you will make, after all, they are on a boat! And you will do it quickly.
I just can't do that. I want people who are fueled by passion, and understand there is a process of
- Plan
- Launch
- Grow
- Monetize
So today we are going to first look at what makes a GOOD podcast, and then what is going on with the Podcasting space with places like YouTube and Spotify.
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Making a Good Podcast
Make sure you are doing two or more of the following:
- Laugh
- Cry
- Think
- Groan
- Educate
- Entertain
If you do NONE of these you are boring your audience. Some other items I mentioned today:
Relevance – When it comes to good content another key ingredient is Relvance. When I heard the phrase ‘overwhelm” at a podcast conference FOUR TIMES I created episode 871 Overcoming Podcast Overwhelm: Three Free Tools and a Strategy.
Authenticity – Be yourself. Authenticity builds a connection with your audience. Don't be afraid to show personality and vulnerability. Don’t let Chat GPT wash your personality out of your show.
Storytelling – We love a good story. How can you make your show more entertaining? Tell a good story.
Research – State your sources when available. We want people to trust us, and when we show the work we put into the show, it can help the listener trust what they are hearing.
Rehearsal: Practice makes perfect. Rehearse your content to iron out any kinks and ensure smooth delivery.
Timeliness: Stay current. If your podcast covers topics that are time-sensitive, make sure to provide up-to-date information. This is one of those, “it depends” topics.
Bert Weiss Boils Podcasting Down to Two Items
In the Book Listenable: The Content and Delivery System to Set Your Podcast Apart
Bert Wiess (Call me Bert I want to interview you) boils it down to this: A podcast is made up of two things:
- Content
- Delivery
One without the other just won't work. I just made bullet points of what I feel is a good podcast.
Delivery could be:
- Audio Quality
- Being in All the Apps (and making it easy to follow the show)
- Organization
- Confidence of words
- Not sounding like you are reading a script when you are.
Podcasting Listening is Going Up
According to Edison research Share of Ear
Podcasting Grew 4% to 83% from 79 or 237 Million people have heard of podcasting
64% have listened to at least one (up 2%)
42% listen monthly up 4%) 120 Million
31% (new high) up 5%) 89 million
Weekly podcast listeners listened to an average of nine podcast episodes in the last week, up from eight episodes in 2022
Podcast Shows are Going Down
The number of shows with one episode in the last nine months (inactive status ) in October 2023 was 252.035.
That same stats in December 2023 had dropped 8%. to 353,035 October 2023 323,299
Podcasting is not over-saturated. According to PodcastIndex.org there are 4,314,790 total podcasts, but only 455,072 (11%) have put out an episode in ninety days. If we shorten that to sixty days the number falls to 9%
How Many Downloads Should I Realistically Expect?
I always use the equation of Value X Smart Promotion = Episodes
According to Buzzsprout Stat's page the median downloads after 7 days is 33
As of this recording, the Podcast Business Journal showed 30 downloads per episode.
According to Libsyn, their media was 139, and their average was 1,346 (use the coupon code sopfree to get a free month)
YouTube And Podcasting
The first thing I want to make sure everyone knows is you do not HAVE to be on video. Audio actually outperforms video 5 to 1. If you don't want to be on video, you can still podcast.
When you add video you now need more equipment (cameras, stands, backdrops, lighting, knowledge about the YouTube Algorithm, Thumbnails, and more).
You can use an app like Camo to turn your phone into a webcam (and save about $800 on a Sony VZ-10 DSLR camera).
You can have YouTube (or other services) convert your audio to video with a still image. If you are doing zero on YouTube this is better than nothing.
You can promote your services, but you can't have outside ads that are dynamically inserted.
If you make a mistake you have to replace the episode and take the original down (losing all your stats)
From what I've seen YouTube Music doesn't recognize the links in your episode description/show notes
You need 1000 subscribers or 4000 watch hours to be able to monetize our channel. According to this research, the average time to reach monetization goals is 254 days.
56% of people who watch a podcast on YouTube say they also listen to the podcast on other apps. Source
CPM on YouTube is $3-5 (although I had $2.89). Source
YouTube will pay them 55% of net revenues (source).
People have cracked under the pressure of the Algorithm see Burn out at 19 and Nasim Najafi Aghdam a 38-year-old Youtube entered their California Campus and opened fire wounding three before turning the gun on themself (source).
So when you start to send your podcast to YouTube, if you want to be a serious YouTuber, you will need to understand the algorithm, and thumbnails (although thumbnails may not be as important as they once were).
In the video Genius YouTube Advice for 30 Minutes Straight you hear major YouTubers like Mr. Beast talk about making amazing content to grow your show. Others mention that when they started they didn't have the pressure of monetization because they were doing it for fun, and because they had a passion for their subject.
Avoiding PodcastBurnout
When you start a podcast avoid trying to monetize quickly. It takes nine months to make a baby, so why are you trying to monetize after seven episodes? Focus on growing your show. Focus on making the next episode better than the previous one. Watch your completion rate. Work on mastering your craft. When you have 500 (others say 1000) downloads per episode, you should be able to monetize (not retire) your podcast. As always, your mileage may vary.
When you add the pressure of video and/or monetization, you are focused on the time you put into the episode, and the lack of money coming out. This leads to frustration, and resentment, and burnout.
If the goal is to make money within a few weeks or months, that is highly unlikely (and I would just say, find another hobby, unless you are bringing THOUSANDS of people from a mailing list).
How YouTube Became The Number 1 Podcast App
The TikTok Problem
US TikTok ad revenues are projected to reach $6.83 billion in 2023 (representing 36% growth from 2022) and are estimated to hit $8.62 billion in 2024.
US TikTok ad revenues per user also look set to increase this year, rising 31% up to $70.00, before climbing again to $85.55 in 2024.
This year, TikTok will make up 2.5% of the total US digital ad market, 1.8% of the total media ad market, and 9.6% of the total social ad market.
Those billions of advertising used to go to Facebook and YouTube. YouTube needed people to keep talking about YouTube as TikTok grew at a record pace.
They decided to add “Podcasts” to YouTube and YouTube Music by having Youtubers check a box. YouTubers started to refer to their channel as “the podcast.”
In the same way that rock musicians were selling fewer albums than country artists, they all put on hats and boots and “turned Country” to get back on the radio. So country lost its twang and sounded more like AC/DC with a fiddle or banjo. See Michael Sweet's song “Radio” for more examples.
Consequently, the definition of “Country Music” now had a very WIDE definition, so that genre is not outselling other genres hand over fist.
YouTube is #1 For “Podcasts” ???
So YouTube is now the “#1 Podcast App” pointing you to content that technically is not YouTube. We are all talking, and arguing about YouTube. I'm sure they are very proud.
My issue is now when we see reports on Podcasting on YouTube, about 30% of those shows can be found in other apps (which means they are technically podcasts).
We need to consider the source when people say, “You HAVE to be on YouTube (as in full video) to have a podcast.” No, you don't.
I won't ignore that if you start with video you can multipurpose your content like no other format. So if you have the time to learn the ins and outs of YouTube as you learn the ins and outs of audio podcasting, and you have the budget for more equipment, then by all means be a Youtuber and a Podcaster. Just don't deprive the world of your content that would work as an audio-only podcast because you don't want to have to wear makeup.
Podcasting Is NOT Dead
Spotify was paying shows 10X a break-even level for their shows resulting in them (shocking ) losing money. That left them in raising the price of their service, raising the price of their advertising, or laying people off. They chose to lay people off a few weeks before Christmas (don't forget that. These people are backed by the recording industry which is not known for their compassion).
When Spotify and a few other popular shows (who had giant teams who were more than well-paid) took a turn for the worse in December, people talked like ALL of podcasting was Dead. This is like a football team giving away all their draft picks to get a superstar quarterback out of college to only have this person be awful. Now with this ONE TEAM in a pickle, you don't say, “Oh man the NFL is dead.” Spotify is only ONE PART of podcasting.
To Spotify's credit, I loved their AI DJ, and the addition of audiobooks. I can't help but notice those are all things around listening. They should stick to listening, and avoid leaning into video (I have 9 episodes on Spotify and have a total of seven plays for ALL of those episodes. So seven TOTAL – two have no plays at all).
Meanwhile, we have YouTube trying to get people to listen. Go figure.
Brand Safety – AM I Missing Something?
There is an industry being formed to stalk podcasters on and off their show. Everyone needs to be “Brand safe.” This may be too simple, and may not work. Couldn't a podcast say, “The views and opinions of this episode do not necessarily represent the sponsors of this show?” Wouldn't that be enough of a safety blanket so when the angry mobs come to cancel the podcast.
Mentioned In This Episode
Join the School of Podcasting Community
Episode on Launching a Podcast Step-by-Steps
Camo App Turns Your Phone Into a Webcam
Full show notes at www.schoolofpodcasting.com/912
