6 Cautions When Using Redirects in Podcasting (plus best practices)
May 01, 2024
Redirects come in multiple types. When misused, they can cause some major problems, as even happened to me recently. Here are some warnings to watch for whenever you use redirects.
(As an affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases through some—but not all—of the following links. But I recommend things I truly believe in, regardless of earnings.)
Caution #1: 301 redirects are “permanent” and cached
In podcasting, we throw around the term “301 redirect” or “permanent redirect” often without realizing what that actually means: it is (or at least it's assumed to be) permanent!
I often use the physical mail or US Post Office metaphor when explaining redirects. Think of a permanent redirect as a “change of address” notice sent back to everyone who mails you something.
A 301 redirect is permanent and is essentially telling apps, “This thing has moved to over there. Please stop looking here and always look there instead. So don't look at me again.”
This is great when you actually made a permanent move—or at least intend for it to be permanent. Like when you permanently move homes and change your address!
But if you ever change your mind or—even worse—make a mistake in the redirect, that redirect will be followed and the old URL will stop being checked. So if you make a “/feedback” page that 301-permanently redirects somewhere else, then even if you change where “/feedback” goes, any app that previously loaded “/feedback” will bypass it altogether and go straight to the destination it has saved in its cache.
That cache is sometimes cleared, but you should assume it never will be! (However, this doesn't apply for anyone visiting your redirect for the first time.)
So if you get your 301 permanent redirect wrong and you don't fix it immediately—like within a few minutes—the best thing to do is to also redirect that incorrect destination to the correct one. And, unfortunately, that's not always possible. Thus, I recommend that, if possible, you make your redirect a 307 or 302 temporary redirect first, test it over a few days, and then change it to a 301 permanent redirect.
Caution #2: Your redirect destinations might change or disappear
I thought I could simply re-order it for close to the original $10 price I paid, but no! That specific bottle has a new version I don't like as much, and the original bottle was listed for $45 when I needed it!
Imagine if I had redirected to that product page with a 301 permanent redirect! Anyone clicking through my link might have their hopes dashed just like I did!
This is why I highly recommend that any redirect to any URL you don't control should be a 307 temporary redirect (a 302 redirect is also temporary and works fine, but use a 307 if you have the choice). If I had been smartly promoting that water bottle with something like a “/waterbottle” redirect, I could easily change its destination when the product URL changes, or point back to a page on my own site with a note about the product.
That's easy to do with temporary redirects because they don't get cached. So even if you used my redirect yesterday, then I changed it last night, and you use the same redirect URL today, you would be taken to the correct destination.
I love that Pretty Links Pro has recently added a new feature to monitor all the redirects you create and alert you when any of them point to a broken URL! And that could be really important for both your audience and any kind of affiliate income you hoped to make.
Caution #3: Most redirects bypass content
This is both a caution and a blessing. However your redirect is placed (and I'm not referring to the <itunes:new-feed-url> RSS tag), the redirect will be followed before any of that URL's content is loaded.
So if you redirect an old podcast RSS feed URL to a new one, anything you put in that old feed will be completely ignored.
That's a caution because it means your audience won't get anything you put in that feed, especially not any announcement of the feed change (if that's even necessary). This is why you should put the <itunes:new-feed-url> tag in your new feed if you ever change podcast feed URLs. And yes, the tag should actually point to itself as a sort of confirmation that this feed is the new feed URL.
But it's also a blessing because it means you don't actually need an RSS feed to exist at that address once you're redirecting it. In fact, you can have nothing at that address except the redirect! (That's how nearly all redirection tools do it. You don't have to create pages or posts to redirect, you simply create the redirect.)
So if you want or need to give some information before the redirect, then create a page at that URL you share, and then have the redirect linked from the page.
For example, that's what I've been building for a lot of podcasting tools I frequently recommend. Consider Captivate, for example. If you visit theaudacitytopodcast.com/captivate, you're no longer immediately redirected to Captivate, but you instead land on my page that briefly explains why I recommend Captivate. And then you can click on the button to use my affiliate link to visit Captivate. Fun fact: that button is still a redirect: theaudacitytopodcast.com/go/captivate
Caution #4: You might someday rename your redirect
I've previously shared why you should stop saying brand names in your podcast, unless absolutely necessary. Maybe you heard or read that and decided to change your “/patreon” redirecting URL to a generic “/support” URL (or you had a similar situation).
While that's great that you did that, it still breaks all your past calls to action that used the “/patreon” URL!
For this reason, if you ever want to someday rename your redirect—regardless of whether you've only typed it in your notes or you've also spoken it in your podcast—I recommend that you make a new redirect and point both the new and old redirects to the correct location (and take this chance to ensure they're both 307 or 302 temporary redirects!).
Alternatively, you could actually point one redirect to the other. So instead of always having to change the destination for multiple redirects, you only change the last one. But just don't get crazy with this! I recommend making no more than 2 layers of a redirect. So that could look like this:
“/patreon” (original URL) ➜ “/support” new URL ➜ “final” destination
I put “final” in quotation marks, because it's possible even that URL gets redirected, as happens with many affiliate URLs that bounce through multiple trackers before landing on the actual final destination.
Caution #5: Correcting URLs you said in old episodes is practically impossible
If you do rename a redirect, like switching from “/patreon” to “/support,” don't even think about editing the audio or video with all your past calls to action!
This is why it's important to get it right in the first place and make a future-friendly generic URL you can change whenever you want without breaking past calls to action.
But if you didn't plan ahead like that (and I've made that mistake countless times, too!), make sure all your old calls to action still work. That could be either with a redirect, or a note and the correct link on the resulting destination. So even if you said a “patreon.com” URL in your podcast, you might be able to leave that page up but with a prominent note that your support options have moved and with a link to that new location. (But make sure that link is also a redirect, in case you ever change things again!)
Caution #6: Reusing things you redirected from is a bad idea (my 2024 redirect mistake)
I need to illustrate this point with a story from my own recent mistake.
Several years ago, Blubrry launched Podcast Mirror, a free and much better podcast-focused alternative to FeedBurner.
But with all the features coming from Podcasting 2.0, and the dragging feet of many outdated podcasting tools and hosting providers, Blubrry decided to add more features to Podcast Mirror, which could let you add Podcasting 2.0 features to a feed that didn't already have them. Just like how Feedburner could be used to turn a normal blog feed into a valid podcast feed. (Funny side note: I was actually thinking of launching my own service like this as soon as I learned about Podcasting 2.0, and I even registered a great domain for it, but I never got around to building that product.)
These upgrades were great, but it also meant that Blubrry would stop offering a basic Podcast Mirror service for free—not even their plain feed mirror service. This upgrade to Podcast Mirror went into effect during my few-month podcast hiatus while I doubled down on launching Podgagement in the second half of 2023. So when I published a new episode in January 2024—NEWSFLASH—my feed wouldn't update anymore because I hadn't upgraded to a paid Podcast Mirror subscription! (To be blunt, I think this was a horrible betrayal of trust from Blubrry. But at least all podcasters could easily redirect away from Podcast Mirror.)
Having a tight cashflow, I decided to redirect my Podcast Mirror feed to a FeedBurner feed—doing nothing but simply mirroring or “proxying” my feed for performance reasons. But I very quickly discovered that FeedBurner no longer offers a ping service or a manual refresh button, leaving me with no way to trigger an update of my RSS feed. Consequently, my episodes were not going out to podcast apps for several hours!
Crazy me—I decided to try building my own feed proxy service. But after more than 4 hours into it, I realized I'd wasted more time (and “time is money”) trying to “DIY” it and thus lost more potential income than if I'd just paid the reasonable yearly fee Blubrry now charges for Podcast Mirror!
So I emailed Blubrry on my digital hands and knees, begging them to take me back. We worked out a deal and I'm back on Podcast Mirror now. Hooray!
But here was my big mistake: I insisted on having my original feed URL again.
Why was that bad? Because here's what the 301 permanent redirects looked like:
Do you see the problem? If anything had cached Podcast Mirror's 301 redirect on my feed, it would enter what's called a “redirect loop.” I suspect that is why I saw a big drop in downloads per episode after I changed the redirect. (And this was in February 2024, so it had nothing to do with the over-hyped iOS 17 update!)
I actually made it even a little worse by momentarily redirecting to my PowerPress feed—but a URL that bypasses any redirects from PowerPress. And this made it difficult to actually re-redirect when I wanted to!
In all of this, my feed URL didn't actually matter. Do you even know what my podcast feed URL is? I could have easily added a “2” or “-audio” or anything else to the URL when I rejoined Podcast Mirror and it would have been fine.
So the moral of this long story is that if you ever think you should redirect back to something that was already 301-permanently redirecting, DON'T! Instead, make a new URL as your final destination.
Quick resources for making redirects
I want to end this with a couple of tips for making redirects that won't cause problems in the future.
301 permanent versus 307/302 temporary
With these cautions in mind, my general advice is to choose 307 (or 302) temporary redirects for any destination you don't control. Start with affiliate links, your donation or membership page, your online community, and such.
And for any destination you do control, or you are absolutely certain will not change in the foreseeable future, you can use a 301 permanent redirect.
WordPress plugins for making redirects
If you're looking to make redirects on WordPress, my favorite plugins are Pretty Links Pro and Redirection. I actually use both of them!
Pretty Links Pro (paid) is much easier to use and has a lot of helpful feature, like automatic keyword-linking, shorter link-creation workflows for pages and posts, smart redirects, and more.
The Redirection plugin (free) is more advanced, even allowing regular expressions. And, maybe the handiest feature here, is that you can enable it to monitor your pages and posts to redirect any of those URLs you change. For example, many of my old episode webpages still include the “tap###” code I used to use in my titles. I've already removed those from the titles, but if I change those URLs, the Redirection plugin would automatically redirect that webpage's old URL to the new one.
Other ways to make redirects
If you're not using WordPress, or you want to manage your redirects away from WordPress, look at what your domain or website tools offer, or consider Cloudflare's options.
Some podcast-hosting providers or easier website-builders (such as Podpage) offer their own redirects you can create and manage within your dashboard. This would work from only the domain you set to work with that website.
The options from your domain registrar, your hosting provider, or Cloudflare generally all work before loading anything from your website. So the redirects might continue to function even if your website is down. And these can work without any website at all.
Lastly, there are plenty of third-party URL-shorteners and redirect tools you can use, but some might charge if you want to customize the URL or use your own domain. And even if you can use your own domain, it usually has to be a subdomain or a completely different domain from your normal website.
7,777§ boostagram from Steve Webb on “11 Tips for Sharing URLs in Your Podcast,” saying, “Another great episode with useful, actionable content. Thanks Daniel!”
1,000§ boostagram from Andy Lehman on “11 Tips for Sharing URLs in Your Podcast,” saying, “I tried clicking on your links for this episode in the chapters and it crashed Castamatic. I wonder if it has to do with the anchors.”
Streaming sats from Dave Jackson, Guy Martin (Dwev), and Bryan Entzminger
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11 Tips for Sharing URLs in Your Podcast
Apr 24, 2024
There comes a point in every podcast when it's necessary to say a URL. If for nothing else, at least your podcast's own home on the Internet. (And you should have a domain for your podcast!)
Beyond your podcast website, you might also want to share affiliate links, resources, episode notes, past episodes, sponsors, and more.
Here are 11 tips for how to share URLs effectively in your podcast.
(As an affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases through some of these following links. But I recommend things I truly believe in, regardless of earnings.)
1. Speak as few URLs as possible (per episode)
Every URL is essentially a call to action. That could be where to follow you on social networks, the episode's webpage, your support page, where to send feedback, and much more.
And calls to action are most effective when there are very few of them, but they are reinforced multiple times. This is why you'll hear most ads give the call to action (like visiting a website) at least 3 times.
That's a good practice for your podcast, too. But with all the URLs you might want to share, you'll start overwhelming your audience and making each URL less memorable.
For this reason, I recommend that you say as few URLs as possible—maybe only one!
But don't make it the same URL across all your episodes! For example, if I kept telling you to get the links for this episode at “TheAudacitytoPodcast.com,” that works best only when this is my latest episode. But the more episodes I publish, the more this episode gets shifted down my website's front page, and eventually pushed off the front page.
Thus, I recommend having a unique URL for each episode that will always take your audience to the correct information—whether they listen immediately or 5 years later. This is easy to do on WordPress with my favorite plugin Pretty Links Pro.
2. Defer to your chapters or episode notes
If you follow tip #1, then your single URL should be your episode webpage. There, you can include all the things you want your audience to get or see: images, videos, links, buttons, and more.
Make sure this stuff—at least the links—appear in your episode notes within the podcast apps, too! Because many publishing tools and podcast apps follow different standards, the best thing to do would be to ask the maker of your publishing tool how to ensure your links show in your top podcast apps, and they can give you the right guidance for your situation. But the most universal case is—unfortunately—that a full, ugly URL, like “https://theaudacitytopodcast.com” will work more often than an HTML hyperlink, like <a href="https://theaudacitytopodcast.com/">The Audacity to Podcast</a>.
Check out Knick Knack News for a great example of actionable episode notes (it's also a really fun podcast I highly recommend!). Their notes are not effective for SEO, but they are excellent for engagement inside the podcast apps! The hosts of that fun show, Alex and Anthony, often share things you will want to see or read for yourself. And they do that in very simple and actionable ways in their notes. Here's an example from an episode:
If you're listening along to their podcast, then these simple notes will make total sense to you and the notes don't get in the way of what you want.
Depending on how you're communicating around the URL(s) you want to share, you might also want to use chapters.
Both legacy chapters embedded in your MP3 files and Podcasting 2.0 chapters in a separate episode metadata file (in JSON format) support adding a single URL link per chapter.
In Knick Knack News, Alex and Anthony spend several minutes on each story, so each story would be perfect as a single chapter. And then they could add the relevant URL to each chapter.
But this gets complicated when you have multiple URLs within a single context. For example, if I share a list of my favorite podcast-hosting providers (currently Captivate, Buzzsprout, and Blubrry), I can't add multiple URLs to the same chapter.
So this is where you would want to defer that list of links to your episode notes.
However, I'm pushing hard for Podcasting 2.0 to turn our current podcast chapters into “super chapters” (a term coined by Dovydas from RSSBlue.com), allowing you to use a single chapter to display rich content, including but not limited to a gallery of images, a block of text, a numbered or unnumbered list, videos, and even multiple links for a single chapter. Then, I could make a chapter simply for “My favorite podcast-hosting providers” and that one chapter can link to the multiple options.
However, I urge you to maintain “backwards compatibility,” and that's where your episode webpage comes in.
If you're worried about your audience getting lost in a long episode webpage, you could actually link your chapters to specific sections of your page by adding an “anchor” or ID to each heading in your notes, and then link each chapter to that anchor in the URL. For example, https://theaudacitytopodcast.com/sharingurls#2 links to this section. In fact, each chapter of this episode links directly to its section in my notes. Try it!
3. Never say “https://” or “www.”
It's not the '90s anymore. It has been literally decades since anyone needed to type “http://” or “https://” in their browser.
Also, most websites don't use “www.” at all in their domain anymore. Or if they do (like YouTube still does), you can usually still get to the correct place without including the “www.” (Which, by the way, has to be the worst abbreviation because saying “W W W” is actually more syllables than what's it's an abbreviation for: “world wide web”!)
But you must test this first! I have run into a couple of badly configured sites that needed the “www.” because they weren't even forwarding their domain without the “www.”!
If I hear you say, “www.theaudacitytopodcast.com,” I won't come after you, but don't be surprised if poetic justice comes after you by making your neighbor mow his yard right when you want to record your podcast!
4. Simplify your URLs
If you do speak a URL in your podcast, make it as simple as possible!
I remember a commercial many years ago from Epson—you know, one of the biggest printer manufacturers who should have known better? The only thing I remember about their commercial was because I—as a teenager—recognized how bad their call to action was. I think the URL they spoke was “www.epson.com/what-if-you-could.” And yes, they actually said “dash” for every one!
Don't do that!
I highly recommend that any URL you speak should reinforce your brand. So make it a “/keyword” URL on your own domain. Consider the speakable URL for this very episode: “theaudacitytopodcast.com/sharingurls.”
This not only reinforces your brand, but it also makes your calls to action future-proof because you can redirect that URL whenever you want (especially if it's a temporary redirect) and to wherever you want, even to a completely different brand! Like what if you wanted to stop using Patreon and switch to a membership on your own site?
5. Make friendly URLs that make sense
Whether you're sending your audience to your episode webpage, an affiliate product, or somewhere else, ensure the URL makes sense for that thing.
This is part of why I stopped using episode-number URLs for my own podcast a long time ago. Firstly, I realized that my episode numbers didn't actually matter; and secondly, even I was having a hard time remembering which numbers went with which episodes, so I could assume my audience would have an even harder time.
Now, I create redirecting short episode URLs match the content of my episode by making them keyword-focused, like how this episode's URL is “theaudacitytopodcast.com/sharingurls” instead of “theaudacitytopodcast.com/391” (which is the pointless number of this episode).
This is easy to do with Pretty Links Pro! You can make as many temporary and permanent redirects as you want and all using your own WordPress-powered website! Even many third-party website providers (like Podpage or Captivate) let you make such redirects. But what I like about Pretty Links Pro (and specifically the paid version) is that I can create the “pretty link” right in my post or page editor, so it goes live when I publish, reducing how many things I need to do outside of the post or page editor.
6. Say “slash” not “forward slash” or “backslash”
You can call this a pet peeve if you want, but it's simply a “slash,” not a “forward slash.”
“Forward slash” is redundant, like “PIN number,” “ATM machine,” and “please RSVP.”
And it's definitely not a backslash (“\”), either!
7. Slow down and speak clearly
Even though URLs don't have spaces, that doesn't mean you should speak like they don't have spaces!
It can be okay to say your own URL faster when it exactly matches your brand that you've already said several times in your podcast. For example, the website for The Audacity to Podcast is—duh—theaudacitytopodcast.com!
But when speaking any different URL, or especially if speaking that URL in front of a new audience, make sure you say it slowly and clearly enough so they can know what you said.
Check your podcast transcripts, too. This can be a good indicator of whether you're speaking the URL clearly and slowly enough. (And also remember to fix any incorrect URLs in your transcripts!)
8. Clarify or avoid ambiguity
There's the chance that you'll run into some confusion with any URLs you speak. For example, does your domain have the preposition “for,” the spelled number “four,” the numeral “4,” or something crazy like the roman numeral “IV”?
An interesting corporate example of this failure is Fifth Third Bank. Ironically for a bank, the secure URL “https://fifththird.com” doesn't actually work, but “http://fifththird.com” and “https://www.fifththird.com” do. However, the actual website (and redirection destination) is “https://www.53.com.”
And I hope no one types “5th3rd.com” into their browser, because that's a completely different website (“Online since 2000”).
There are three different ways you could avoid sending people to the wrong URL:
Clarify any ambiguity, such as by spelling it when the context doesn't make it obvious. For example, I hear Clinton say this all the time: “Comedy4Cast.com—that's the number 4.”
Create fallbacks to handle other versions—yes, I have “theaudacity2podcast.com”!
Or avoid the ambiguity altogether—such as avoiding any single-digit numbers or ambiguously spelled words like “gray” and “grey.”
9. Be careful with top-level domains that aren't .com
A “top-level domain” or “TLD” is the “.com” part of the domain. You probably also know “.org,” “.net,” “.edu,” and “.gov.” But there are hundreds more! Some of them are full words, like “.photography”!
While it can be fun to have one of these modern TLDs, they might be expensive. And they might be confusing to non-savvy Internet users who probably assume a “.com” for everything (and also probably enter all their URLs into Google!).
Consider That Story Show for example. They have both “thatstoryshow.com” and “thatstory.show.” The host, James Kennison, now speaks the “.show” domain more often, but he still has and uses the longer “.com” version.
The more creative you get, the more it will cost you in both the domain itself and likely how many alternatives you might have to grab to ensure anyone who mishears you still gets to the right website—and it doesn't get stolen and used for malicious purposes!
10. Beware case-sensitivity
Case-sensitivity is still weird on the Internet. It really depends on the server configuration running the website.
When I started my first website, I specifically wanted a Windows server, instead of a Linux server, because I didn't want to mess with capitalization issues that I knew Linux can have!
Domains and subdomains are case-insensitive. So “TheAudacitytoPodcast.com” is handled the same as “theAUDACITYtopodcast.COM.” But anything after the domain could be case-sensitive in a URL. For example, capitalization matters with Bit.ly links, and it matters on some other website servers and hosting configurations, too.
11. Always test your URLs before you share them
Lastly, always ensure any URL you're going to share actually works! Type it with the “www.” and without. Make sure your redirects are functioning. And if your friendly URLs aren't activated until publishing (like all of my “/keyword” URLs from Pretty Links Pro for my podcast episodes), make sure you test the link after publishing your episodes!
Community corner
5-star review for “11 Warnings about Using AI in Content-Creation (including podcasting)” by Rich Bennett from April 19, 2024 on Goodpods: “Thanks for another informative episode Daniel”
1,000§ from Dwev saying, “Yep, you’re pronouncing it perfectly! Thanks Daniel!”
Streamed satoshis from Bryan Entzminger, Dave Jackson, Dwev, and newcomer “garduss”
Engage your audience and grow your podcast!
Do you ever feel like your podcast is stuck? Like you're pouring your heart into your podcast but it seems like no one is listening?
Get speakable pages to simplify engaging with your audience, accept voicemail feedback (with automatic transcripts), track your ratings and reviews from nearly 200 places, and more!
This post may contain links to products or services with which I have an affiliate relationship. I may receive compensation from your actions through such links. However, I don't let that corrupt my perspective and I don't recommend only affiliates.
11 Warnings about Using AI in Content-Creation (including podcasting)
Apr 17, 2024
“Artificial intelligence” (“AI”) has made huge leaps in abilities within a very short time. It was only a few years ago that I felt on the cutting edge teaching how to use AI tools like Jasper (originally called “Conversion.ai” and “Jarvis”), even before ChatGPT was released.
Now, AI has become so prominent, that it's almost surprising if a software company of any size is not offering some kind of AI-based solution.
While inflation has skyrocketed the prices of almost everything, the cost for accessing AI has significantly dropped. When I first started using AI, a good plan with access to only one central AI system cost $99 per month. But now, you can use a tool like Magai to use a whole bunch of different language- and image-based AI tools starting at only $19 per month!
(As an affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases through these links. But I recommend things I truly believe in, regardless of earnings.)
All this potential means we need to quote the line from Spider-Man, “With great power comes great responsibility.”
And thus why I want to share these warnings with you, to advocate for responsible use of generative AI, large language models (LLMs), machine learning, or whatever you want to call it.
This warnings apply to any kind of content-creation, not only podcasting!
(And in case you're wondering, I did not use AI to create any of this content, but I might be using some AI to transcribe or help me market this content.)
Aside: most warnings apply to generative AI, but not repurposing or enhancement AI
Before I get into my list of warnings about using AI, I want to clarify that these are focused using AI to essentially create something from nothing. I still think AI can be a great assistant on your content. For example, processing audio or video, clipping excerpts, suggesting marketing approaches, improving how things communicate, repurposing, and more. All of those things start with your intelligence, and then the AI works from that.
But I see most of these warnings as applying solely to generative AI, or when you start with nothing but a prompt.
Now, on to the warnings!
1. Undisclosed use of generative AI can get you in trouble
YouTube, social networks, and lots of other websites and platforms are starting to require you to disclose whenever you're putting out content generated by AI. And I think this is a good thing to do as it helps the potential audience know what kind of quality to expect.
Even for things like podcast transcripts, it's good to disclose whether AI was used to transcribe the audio. As I mentioned in my previous episode about using podcast transcripts, someone on your podcast might say, “I love two li'l puppies,” but the AI might transcribe it as, “I love to kill puppies.” Sometimes, even omitting a single word can drastically alter the meaning. For example, imagine accidentally omitting the “not” in a sentence like, “I'm not guilty.”
And if you're concerned about how it might affect your reputation if you disclose every time you use AI, then here's a radical thought: maybe don't use AI! (More on this in #11.)
2. AI often “hallucinates” facts and citations
ChatGPT, Claude, Grok, Gemini, and all the text-based AIs we know are also called “large language models” (or “LLMs”). And I think that's a much better term, too, because they're not actually intelligent; they are simply good with language.
This is why you'll often see LLMs write something that grammatically makes sense, but is conceptually nonsense.
In other words, LLMs know how to write sentences.
For example, I sometimes like to ask AI, “Who is Daniel J. Lewis?” Not because of any kind of ego complex, but because I'm an interesting test subject for LLMs since I am partially a public figure, but I also have a name very close to a celebrity: Daniel Day Lewis. Thus, the responses LLMs give me often conflate the two of us (a mistake I wish my bank would make!). I've seen responses that both describe me as a podcasting-industry expert and highlight my roles in There Will Be Blood and The Last of the Mohicans. (And I'm not helping any LLMs scraping my content by just now writing those things together!)
So for anything an AI or LLM writes for you, I urge you to fact-check it! I've even seen some responses completely make up citations that don't exist!
3. AI lacks humanity
From the moment of conception, you have always been a unique being of tremendous value and potential with unique DNA, unique experiences, unique thoughts, unique emotions, and more. Like a snowflake, there will never be someone—or something—exactly like you! Not even an AI trained on all of your content!
AI is not an actual intelligence and I believe it never will be. And AI will never be human.
But you are. You can feel, express, and empathize through emotion. You can question, explore, change your mind, and change others' minds. You can create things of great beauty and originality with no outside prompting.
And it's because of this that I think AI can never replace you. While it might have better skills than you in some areas, it will never beat the quality and personableness that you can offer.
Lest you think this is only outdated models producing bad content, here are some things I've actually seen from current-generation AI image models:
Backwards hands
Limbs that seamlessly merge into the surroundings
Misspelled text that you might not notice unless you try to actually read it
Device parts that disappear into nowhere
Placements that are physically impossible
Broken, slanted, or curvy lines that absolutely should be straight
Incorrect size ratios
Watch out for these things! For any image you generate (or that someone else gives you that they might have generated with AI), look at it very carefully to ensure everything about it makes sense and isn't simply a pretty—but embarrassing—combination of pixels.
For this reason, you might actually want your image AI to make artwork that is obviously not photorealistic.
5. AI is biased because it was fed biased content and programmed by biased people
The following is not to push a particular political or moral direction, but just to expose some facts! Most LLMs lean a particular political and moral direction because they were trained with content that leaned that direction. Thus, even if not intentional, the outputs will often have that same leaning.
Imagine it this way. If the majority of content on the Internet—especially the most popular sites—said that 2 + 2 = 5, then LLMs trained from Internet content would also propagate that fallacy.
Furthermore, many of the companies behind these AIs or LLMs also lean the same political and moral direction as the majority of the Internet, and so they will favor content from the same echo chamber and sometimes even intentionally train the AI to push that agenda.
And that's why there's a market for LLMs that lean the opposite direction.
Even taking out the political and moral leanings, I see LLMs regularly put out “mythinformation”—even in the podcasting space, like saying that podcast ratings and reviews affect your rankings in Apple Podcasts. That's not true! But it's been said so many times on the the Internet, that LLMs think it's true!
6. Content from AI always needs editing
It's because of warnings #2–#5 that I come to this one: edit, edit, edit!
I'd love to hear your opinion on this, too. But I'm starting to think it reflects worse on someone when they put out bad AI-created content than if they put out authentic content with typos or small mistakes. Do you agree?
For example, you might accidentally write about “George Wishington,” but an AI might say that George Washington fought in World War II! In this case, your typo is a human error and your meaning could probably still be understood by your context. But if you put out something that an AI hallucinated, then people have to wonder if you're actually that misinformed (AKA “stupid”).
7. AI-generated content raises copyright concerns
In the United States of America, and some other countries, anything you create is considered immediately and automatically protected by copyright, and thus you reserve all rights to it. (That's why it's really not necessary anymore to write “All rights reserved,” at least most of the time.)
But you also share or forfeit some of your rights when you consent to using some tools or publishing through some platforms. For example, most places have clauses in their terms of service that allow them to use the content you provide (in whatever form it is) in their own marketing materials. This could be as simple as your podcast cover art visible with 999 others on a grid image for an app's homepage. Or it could mean you granted the platform a license to clip your content in an advertisement for their platform.
While most of these terms of service have been safe (despite some fear-mongering), some places are starting to update their terms of service—requiring your consent—and giving themselves a license to use your content to train their AI tools. Even if your content has a registered copyright, you are still granting other places licenses to use your copyrighted content.
However, it's being uncovered that many LLMs were trained on copyrighted material without any license from the copyright holders.
And if you use an LLM to generatenew content from nothing, you might potentially be infringing on someone else's intellectual property rights. And you would be held liable for that. Just like if you hire a cheap “designer” to make your podcast cover art and they steal images from a Google image search, you would be liable for that theft.
Some might argue that this isn't very different from going out, reading all the content yourself, and writing your own conglomeration of your newfound knowledge. But even then, you can be guilty of plagiarism by putting forth something as your idea, when it was actually someone else's.
And the more niche the subject, the less information there was to train the AI, and thus the higher chance of it outright copying other information, or making up something factually incorrect (see #2).
This is probably never a problem when you're using AI on your already-created content.
8. AI might already be “stealing” your intellectual property
I've had my own original content and images plagiarized or directly stolen before. But AI is only making it easier for that to happen and harder for me to catch it.
And because LLMs have been trained on a large percentage of the Internet, it's very possible your own content has already been scraped and used in the training. But you might never know.
Many places are proposing legislation that would require AI companies to disclose their sources, allow people to have their content removed or exempted, or only use properly licensed content for training the AI models. (This is why some AI companies have taken an interest in purchasing publishing companies that own the rights to large amounts of content.) And I think you should have this protection over your content even without having to do the technical processes of blocking all the AI user agents from scraping your website (or transcribing your audio or video content).
And all it takes for social-media sites to do the same is a simple and non-obvious change to their terms of service, which most of us click “I have read and agree” without actually reading what we're agreeing to. For example, Reddit, Zoom, and X-Twitter have used (or continue to use) content on their platforms to train their own AI models—and we've probably given them the rights to do so.
Also watch out for terms of service that allow the AI to train itself from whatever you input into the AI. That's the case for ChatGPT, but supposedly not for any use of OpenAI's GPT models (what powers ChatGPT) through an API (such as what Magai uses).
9. Claiming “fair use” might require a higher standard
I think anyone using AI might face a more difficult time trying to use “fair use” as a legal defense, especially if they haven't properly disclosed their use of AI, like I talked about in warning #1.
One of my favorite things to test on an image-generating AI is giving it the prompt, “Harrison Ford as a pirate.” That's simple innocent fun that I will probably never publish for the public.
But imagine if I used AI to make a realistic photo of Harrison Ford using or endorsing my products. Or maybe using a voice or video AI to make Harrison Ford say something he didn't say.
Indeed, I've seen some intentionally hilarious results with AI. And those kinds of things are often allowed when they don't cause harm and are obviously parodies (this is not legal advice; it's only an observation).
But AI lets things easily get far more complicated. Copying or making a derivative have some clear limitations. But generating something that seems real and uses someone else's likeness or intellectual property might be in a whole different category.
Thus, while I cannot give you legal advice as to what you're allowed to do, I can urge you to not do anything that might get you in trouble! So maybe pretend there isn't even such a thing as “fair use” when it comes to how you use AI to create stuff for you.
10. Affiliate-marketing with AI might get you in trouble
AIs, LLMs, or whatever you want to call them are very good at creating a lot of content very quickly. And that is very alluring to people who want content only for the purpose of promoting their affiliate links. I even saw that years ago when I was among the early users of what's now called Jasper. I would see people frequently ask about what kinds of inputs could be used to get an AI to write a full “review” of an affiliate product.
But remember that thing about how large language models are good at writing sentences? They're not actually good at testing products, sharing experiences, and offering opinions. Thus, using AI to write a “review” could lead to misleading information.
For probably this reason and more, some places will probably start to forbid using AI to create content for promoting their products through affiliate links.
Revised the language in Section 5 of the Participation Requirements to clarify that Program Content and Special Links should not be used in connection with generative AI.
That initially seems like it's forbidding the use of generative AI to promote your Amazon affiliate links. However, the actual points in the operating agreement seem to restrict using AI on the Amazon site content, and especially for training the AI.
2.(e) You will not, without our express prior written approval, access or use PA API or Data Feeds for the purpose of aggregating, analyzing, extracting, or repurposing any Product Advertising Content or in connection with any software or other application intended for use by persons or entities that offer products on an Amazon Site, or in the direct training or fine-tuning of a machine learning model.
…
5. Distribution of Special Links Through Software and Devices
You will not use any Program Content or Special Link, or otherwise link to an Amazon Site, on or in connection with: (a) any client-side software application (e.g., a browser plug-in, helper object, toolbar, extension, component, or any other application executable or installable by an end user) on any device, including computers, mobile phones, tablets, or other handheld devices (other than Approved Mobile Applications); or (b) any television set-top box (e.g., digital video recorders, cable or satellite boxes, streaming video players, blu-ray players, or dvd players) or Internet-enabled television (e.g., GoogleTV, Sony Bravia, Panasonic Viera Cast, or Vizio Internet Apps). You will not, without or [sic?] express prior written approval, use, or allow any third party to use, any Special Links or Program Content to develop machine learning models or related technology.
That first part is clearly forbidding using the Amazon API with an AI model to programmatically create content for you. However, it seems to still allow you to use AI to create your content about the product itself, and even use your affiliate links in that content.
But I still think you shouldn't!
I, for one, would love to see a stop to all the AI-generated worthless “reviews” on YouTube and other places. For example, the following video or probably anything from “The Smart Kitchen” on YouTube:
11. Relying on AI can cost your authority and influence
Lastly, but certainly not least, I urge you to consider the intangible cost of relying on any kind of AI as you podcast or create any other content.
I've said for many years that what I love about podcasting is that it allows you to communicate with your own voice, so people can hear your authentic emotions and they can hear how well you communicate your thoughts, even if you do some editing.
Imagine if you used AI to create and communicate all “your” content, and then you're put on a stage in front of a live audience and you have done no preparation. Aside from any stage-fright, could you actually communicate your message authentically, understandably, and memorably?
Several years ago, I was invited to speak in person about podcasting to a Cincinnati business group. And for the first time ever in my life, I completely forgot about it! I remembered only because about about an hour before I was supposed to speak, the organizer sent me a kind message just to say how excited she was to have me and I think to give me a heads up about parking.
The event was about 45 minutes away, so I had only enough time to throw some stuff in my car, and think about my presentation on the way up.
Now imagine if AI was my crutch and most of my content had been created, organized, or even optimized by AI.
Instead, I was able to speak for half an hour and confidently and thoroughly answer 15 minutes of questions, all with no notes except a 5-word outline in my head. And I think I nailed it!
I could do that because I know my stuff! And I don't share this to brag about me or try to make you think I'm amazing, but to point out what a catastrophe that could have been if I was merely a fraud using ChatGPT.
So don't let AI cost your authority and influence.
Certainly, artificial intelligence can be a really powerful tool to help you do many things or save lots of time, but don't trade your value for AI.
Engage your audience and grow your podcast!
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This post may contain links to products or services with which I have an affiliate relationship. I may receive compensation from your actions through such links. However, I don't let that corrupt my perspective and I don't recommend only affiliates.
Should Your Podcast Have Inside Jokes?
Apr 03, 2024
Inside jokes can offer fun potential for your podcast, but also some potential costs. Here are some brief things for you to consider as you engage with your podcast audience.
In my signature fashion, I started preparing a whole list of pros and cons, and some big thinking on inside jokes.
But it's really not that complicated!
An inside joke is some form of callback, trope, catchphrase, or similar that only those “in the know” will get and enjoy. Because of this, inside jokes can be hilarious, but only for those who get them. Inside jokes can be a sort of reward your loyal audience, but alienate your new audience.
I've heard some people advise against inside jokes exactly because your new audience won't get them. But that seems overly focused on the new audience and at the cost of engaging your existing audience and making them feel special.
I think it really comes down to this simple guidance: avoid inside jokes with your cohosts and guests, but embrace inside jokes with your audience.
Where inside jokes come from
First, some examples of inside jokes I've heard from podcasts:
If you've been a loyal follower of any of these shows, then you probably know exactly what these jokes are about, or at least can laugh at them.
So where do these come from?
Some jokes will arise naturally as your audience essentially feeds their growth. That's what I've seen with inside jokes from That Story Show, No Agenda, and Serial. While other things become inside jokes because of how often the host(s) use them, such as the examples from Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend and Pitch Meeting.
It's the audience-feed jokes that I think you should work more to embrace because they will more deeply reward and engage your audience.
What about the new listeners?
There are three approaches I've seen and experienced with podcasts regarding inside jokes:
Letting your podcast audience eventually catch on with your inside jokes (even if they might not know their origins).
Occasionally explaining or pointing to the origins.
Making a glossary of inside jokes—this could even be a supporter-exclusive or email opt-in incentive.
Your goal should be to both engage your existing audience and make them feel special and to create an environment welcoming to your new audience. This comes from having a good balance so that your podcast is not overfilled with inside jokes, but it does mature with loyalty.
Think of inside jokes like extra seasonings for a meal. They can add something special, and especially be appreciated by your “insiders,” and celebrated when your new audience gets in on the jokes.
And I think there is something special, like a sort of “leveling up,” when your audience becomes familiar with your tropes, catchphrases, and inside jokes. Then, they'll feel like one of the “cool kids” when they can throw around the inside jokes, too. And that's a precious moment for them!
Turn inside jokes into swag
When your audience starts using your inside jokes too, or further feeding them, that's a great time to turn those jokes into swag you can sell or giveaway. Consider putting them on T-shirts, posters, stickers, and more (like That Story Show does with several of their inside jokes). If you want to be on the cutting edge about it, maybe you could even turn those inside jokes into NFTs!
Community Corner
Thanks for the streaming satoshis from Dwev, Dave Jackson, and Bryan Entzminger!
5-star review by John Moore from June 14, 2021 on Podchaser: “I’ve listen to just about every episode of this show over the last year. Excellent content and advice. I particularly like his SEO episodes.” There will be more podcast SEO content in the future!
Engage your audience and grow your podcast!
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This post may contain links to products or services with which I have an affiliate relationship. I may receive compensation from your actions through such links. However, I don't let that corrupt my perspective and I don't recommend only affiliates.
Why You Should Put Podcasting P.R.O.F.I.T. First
Mar 27, 2024
Monetization is not the only profit you can get from podcasting! And you shouldn't be the only one to profit, either! Nonetheless, here is why I think you should put P.R.O.F.I.T. first in every aspect of your podcast.
The order of podcasting cornerstones
Before we focus on podcasting P.R.O.F.I.T., I want to revisit how I've taught the 5 podcasting cornerstones for several years:
Content—What your podcast is about
Presentation—How you share your content
Production—The technical side to reduce distractions and increase understanding
Promotion—How you market and grow your podcast
P.R.O.F.I.T.—How you and your audience benefit from your podcast.
Despite the fact that these cornerstones have always had an alliteration problem with no suitable solution, I realized it had an even bigger problem while I was preparing to teach podcasting at the National Religious Broadcasters convention. The problem was the order: P.R.O.F.I.T. should not be last! It should actually be first!
But stick with me and don't click away because you think this doesn't apply to you! Before I can explain why P.R.O.F.I.T. should be first, I want you to understand what it is, and why I keep writing it like an over-obvious acronym (it's actually an acrostic).
The Podcast P.R.O.F.I.T. Paradigm™
Several years ago, I was inspired by a typo I let go to press in an advertisement for my now temporarily retired Podcaster's Society™. As a result of that typo, I wanted profit to stand for something! Not only in the metaphorical sense, but also literally as an acrostic.
Now, it's my Podcast P.R.O.F.I.T. Paradigm, which is a list of whys you can benefit from your podcast:
Popularity—growing a following, being an influencer, becoming known
Relationships—gaining friendships, building community, and finding your “tribe”
Opportunities—opening doors for things like public speaking, travel, testing products before they're released, and such
Fun—simply having a good time, with or without laughter
Income—yes, earning money!
Tangibles—getting things you get to use or keep, which is especially profitable when they're relevant to your podcast topic!
While most people think “profit” means “money,” I challenge you to change your thinking and look at the much bigger ways you can profit from your podcast—especially if you don't even want to monetize your podcast.
The other paradigm shift is that your podcast should not only give you P.R.O.F.I.T., but also offer it to your audience! I'll explain that more in a moment.
P.R.O.F.I.T. is for all podcasters, not only professionals
Lest you think P.R.O.F.I.T. is only for people who podcast for business purposes or to try earning a living, money is only one part of the Podcast P.R.O.F.I.T. Paradigm: the I for income. The other ways could complement income, but there's nothing wrong with podcasting simply for the fun of it!
When I hosted a clean-comedy podcast, the P.R.O.F.I.T. we were after was primarily to laugh and help others laugh, too! Along the way, we also formed relationships, were given fun tangibles from our audience, and we even made a little money on the side.
And if you are podcasting to build a business, don't neglect the other aspects of P.R.O.F.I.T.! It's okay to have fun with professional subjects! And always look for ways to position yourself for opportunities and more!
Your podcast P.R.O.F.I.T. should power your decisions
Why should P.R.O.F.I.T. come first? Because it's actually more important than your content. Consider the cornerstones in this way:
When you start with P.R.O.F.I.T. in mind, then you can pick the right content to share. And the other cornerstones build from there. After you know your “why” and your content, then you can decide on the best way to present it. Then, the best way to produce that. Then you'll have things and methods to promote it.
But when you don't start with P.R.O.F.I.T., you won't know what content to share, and you won't know the best way to communicate it, and you certainly won't know how to produce it, and—frankly—you wouldn't offer much value worth promoting.
Here's a series of questions that follows the Podcast P.R.O.F.I.T. Paradigm to help you podcast the best way:
Why do you want to podcast? What value will your podcast give your audience?
What content best enables your P.R.O.F.I.T. goals?
What's the best way to present that content that moves you toward to your P.R.O.F.I.T. goals?
What's the best way to produce this that leads you and your audience in the right direction?
Whom should you promote your podcast to and what are the best ways to reach them?
Remember P.R.O.F.I.T. for your audience
I've heard some people say, “Podcast for yourself. If you're having fun, that's all that matters.” And I've also heard other people say, “You're podcasting for your audience, so focus on their needs first.”
While these might seem contrary, they're actually complementary and simply different sides of the same P.R.O.F.I.T. coin: both you and your audience need to get value from your podcast in order for your podcast, yourself, and your audience to improve and grow.
But the problem I see most often is that podcasters forget to focus on what value they offer their audience. Instead, they often fixate on the value they want from their audience, or on how they can essentially sell their audience to get value from someone else (like an advertiser).
As Jesus said, “Give and it will be given to you” (Luke 6:38).
Some podcasters also obsess over the production aspects of podcasting, without investing the same time and money into improving the more weight-bearing cornerstones.
It's fine if your podcast makes you popular, but how are you helping your audience to be popular, too?
It's great when you foster or form new relationships because of your podcast, but how are you helping your audience foster or form new relationships, too?
It's great when your podcast opens opportunities for you, but what opportunities do you help your audience find and pursue?
“It's fun to have fun,” as The Cat in the Hat said, but is your audience having fun, too?
Earning income is definitely rewarding! But how are you helping your audience earn more, spend less, save more, or be smarter with what they have?
And it can be exciting to get new tangibles, but what tangible benefits are you helping your audience gain, too?
Podcasting P.R.O.F.I.T. in one word: why?
“Start with Why” indeed!
Why are you podcasting?
Why should your audience keep consuming your episodes?
It's all in what P.R.O.F.I.T. (popularity, relationships, opportunities, fun, income, or tangibles) you pursue and offer!
Community corner:
I just made things easier for me and you with Podgagement! Now, we can easily copy all the text of a review with only two clicks! And you can copy it in plain text, markdown, HTML, or an iframe embed!
5-star review “Why and How Your Podcast Needs Loudness Normalization” by Marshy76 from November 23, 2022 on Apple Podcasts in the United States: “An excellent guide on the importance of Lufs with important links to related software in aiding one to create a well tuned podcast, which I incorporated into my latest “Mister Radio” podcast episode. Thanks for this excellent presentation! But, as I mentioned in my unedited review couldn't this also be done simply by listening and adjusting levels as one is recording, like I used to do when working the board in radio? Now I've got to check out my various DAWS to see if they have something to check my LUFS, besides the cans on my ears! And I did find a meter in Logic!” (I pasted that podcast review with only two clicks and a Cmd-V, thanks to Podgagement!)
Thanks to Allen C. Paul, Jason Pickel, Rich Bennett, D.R., and Julio Fernandez for all the great ratings on Goodpods (all discovered for me by Podgagement!)
Thanks for more streaming sats from Dave Jackson, Allen C. Paul, and Dwev! I believe that totals to 1,716§, which is currently worth about $1.15.
If The Audacity to Podcast gives value to you, I would be so grateful if you put that in a number to give back, either through a one-time gift or streaming sats back. You can do both with a modern podcast app like you can get from Podcasting2.org/apps!
Engage your audience and grow your podcast!
Do you ever feel like your podcast is stuck? Like you're pouring your heart into your podcast but it seems like no one is listening?
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This post may contain links to products or services with which I have an affiliate relationship. I may receive compensation from your actions through such links. However, I don't let that corrupt my perspective and I don't recommend only affiliates.
8 Things You Should Check in Apple Podcasts Connect
Mar 20, 2024
Apple provides a portal for you to submit and manage your own podcast in Apple Podcasts. It's called Podcasts Connect. Plus, countless other podcast apps and podcasting tools rely on Apple's data through their free API. Whether your podcast has been in Apple Podcasts for years, or you're just starting out, I suggest you check these 8 things right away!
1. Check that you have agreed to Apple's terms of service
Apple usually updates their terms of service when they launch major new features. For example, Apple started generating transcripts for all podcasts in February, 2024. And that requires your agreement to their terms of service so that they can make those transcripts, which they won't do until you agree.
Apple makes it easy to know whether you've agreed to the latest terms. Simply log into podcastsconnect.apple.com! If you're let into your account, then you've already agreed to the latest terms. If not, you will be prompted to read and agree to the terms before you're allowed to manage your podcast(s).
2. Check that your podcast is in your Apple Podcasts Connect account
Many podcasters don't actually control their own catalog listing for their own podcast! This is because they either submitted their podcast before Podcasts Connect existed, or they allowed someone else to submit their podcast for them. This might have been a podcast-hosting provider or someone helping them with their podcast.
But at least the process to reclaim ownership is fairly easy!
Make sure you've checked all your possible Apple ID accounts.
Log into the account you want to hold your podcast(s) and contact Apple through this form and select the “Missing podcast(s)” option (which should already be selected with this link).
Fill in all the other form fields completely.
Await and then follow Apple's instructions, which will have you enter a special code somewhere in your podcast RSS feed to verify your ownership or control of that feed.
This is crucial to do with all your podcasts, especially any duplicate podcast listings you might have (which is probably more likely if you've ever switched podcast-hosting providers).
The rest of these items to check require that you have access to your podcast in your own Apple account.
3. Check that your podcast information is correctly loaded in Apple Podcasts Connect
Click into your podcast(s) and look over your the “Show details” information. This includes your title, cover art, artist, descriptions, and more.
You can't change these details in Podcasts Connect! Instead, you would change these in the podcast-publishing tool that is creating your RSS feed. But viewing these details here lets you confirm that everything is properly loading from your feed into the Apple Podcasts system.
And if you're having trouble, the first thing I suggest doing is validating your podcast RSS feed through all of the following tools:
Especially watch for problems with your podcast cover art.
4. Check the optional Apple Podcasts information fields
On this same “Show Information” page are several optional fields that you should populate or verify. Currently, these include:
Update frequency
Content rights
Show contact information (especially important if you've removed your email address from your RSS feed)
This information is proprietary to Apple Podcasts and thus—currently—not pulled from your RSS feed.
5. Check your Apple Podcasts distribution availability (affects other apps)
Switch to the “Availability” page and there are two important options to ensure your podcast can be discovered by as many people as possible:
Countries or Regions: I recommend setting this to “Make this show available in all countries or regions.” You can click into the Edit view to ensure all 175 countries are selected. Despite this option, some countries still block explicit content, and it seems like communist China blocks almost everything anyway.
Distribution: I recommend enabling “Make this show available for distribution.” This ensures that the countless other podcast apps and podcasting tools using the catalog API from Apple Podcasts will be able to see your podcast.
These are the default options for podcasts, but I suggest you verify they're set correctly anyway.
But if, for some odd reason, you do not want your podcast available to as many people as possible, then you can change these options to limit your reach.
6. Switch the transcript default to use your provided transcripts
On this same “Availability” page is a third option that I feel defaults inappropriately. It's the Transcripts option.
For some strange reason, Apple's (current) default is to use only their auto-generated transcripts for your podcast. So regardless of whether you already using Podcasting 2.0 transcripts, I suggest switching this option to “Display transcripts I provide, or auto-generated transcripts by Apple if one isn't provided.”
I think that's the way apps should behave anyway! They should use what you supply first and by default and generate their own transcripts only if you don't provide your own (through the Podcasting 2.0 transcript feature).
But you should also note that there is no way to disable all transcripts for your podcast. That's part of the terms of service you must accept for your podcast to remain in Apple Podcasts. If you really wanted to disable transcripts, you would have to either edit every episode in Podcasts Connect to use a custom episode-specific setting to not use any transcripts, or provide a nearly empty transcript file for all episodes through your RSS feed (you could share this same file for all episodes).
But because podcast transcripts are important for accessibility and usability, I highly recommend keeping them enabled. But just switch this setting so Apple will default to your transcripts if you provide them, and then fallback to their own transcripts if you haven't provided any.
7. Check your Apple Podcasts ratings and reviews
There is also a “Ratings and Reviews” page that lets you see your Apple Podcasts (and only Apple Podcasts) ratings and reviews. However, this requires you to switch between all 175 countries, before knowing if you even have any ratings or reviews in those 175 countries; it doesn't show your difference of ratings versus written reviews; and you can't search, sort, or filter your ratings and reviews. You also don't get notified whenever you get a new rating or review, so you would have to come back to check all 175 countries. You can download your reviews, but you would have to do that one country at a time.
Cumbersome, right?
That's why you should use Podgagement to engage your audience and grow your podcast! Podgagement not only tracks all these 175 places automatically for you, it also tracks the non-Apple places. Plus, with Podgagement's “Constellation” plan, you can easily collect written or voicemail feedback from your audience, discover podcast-networking opportunities, receive direct reviews from your audience, and more!
I personally created Podgagement for you because I believe engagement with your audience is the most powerful thing you can have with your podcast.
Lastly, but probably most exciting, are the podcast stats you can get from Apple Podcasts!
Remember that these stats measure consumption only in Apple Podcasts. So any numbers you see will be of a smaller subset of your audience. Nonetheless, since Apple Podcasts is the #1 podcast app, I suspect the percentages and engagement levels you see would be close to an accurate—albeit smaller—reflection of your whole audience.
Here are some of the handy (and potentially addictive) data points you can see!
Total followers
Engaged listeners
Average consumption / completion rates
Where your audience skipped or stopped listening within your episodes
Performance comparisons across your episodes
And more!
As I hope you can see, even if you don't use Apple products or dislike their ecosystem, there are still many advantages to keeping your Apple Podcasts account current and especially learning from its data!
Community Corner
Leslie Martin pointed out that 7,777§ is a Stryper boost, not a Rush boost (which would have been 2,112§). As I've said previously, hard rock is not actually my style, so I know nothing about these bands!
1,701§—a number I do recognize as the Star Trek Enterprise!—from Bryan Entzminger, saying, “Ugh! Mythinformation… wow.”
Streaming satoshis from Bryan Entzminger, Dave Jackson, and Dwev
5-star review from Josh Liston, in Australia, saying, “A Perfect Mix of Fun and Expertise in Podcasting. Daniel J Lewis delivers a concrete, and well thought out Podcast about Podcasting. He rarely if ever goes off topic, and always recommends products and gear that work …and not just the products and services that return the most in commissions! DJL also manages to do what many others can't – in making often dry technical subjects a lot of fun – without wasting peoples time. Finally, he is part of the Podcasters' Roundtable core trio, which is quickly becoming my number 1 show about Podcasting!”
Engage your audience and grow your podcast!
Do you ever feel like your podcast is stuck? Like you're pouring your heart into your podcast but it seems like no one is listening?
Get speakable pages to simplify engaging with your audience, accept voicemail feedback (with automatic transcripts), track your ratings and reviews from nearly 200 places, and more!
This post may contain links to products or services with which I have an affiliate relationship. I may receive compensation from your actions through such links. However, I don't let that corrupt my perspective and I don't recommend only affiliates.
Do IAB-Certified Stats Matter for Your Podcast?
Mar 13, 2024
You might have heard people talk about IAB podcast stats, measurement guidelines, compliance, and certification. Here's what all of that means, and whether it even matters!
Who is the IAB?
Once upon a time, podcast measurement was considered the “wild, wild west”: without standards. Everyone measured what was right in their own eyes.
But like most things that start with “Once upon a time,” that was only fairy tale. And yet a fairy tale that many corporate podcasting companies believed.
Many years ago, there was the Association of Downloadable Media (ADM) that included Blubrry, Libsyn, Podtrac, and other podcasting companies. The ADM came up with standards for measuring podcast downloads still in the extremely early days of podcasting.
The ADM eventually dissolved and top podcasting companies improved on the measurement standards within their own proprietary systems. Then along came the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB), involving many of those same original podcast-hosting providers but also large distribution networks like PodcastOne and more.
As its name implies, the IAB is all about internet advertising. And the podcasting industry needed a standard way to measure podcast ad impressions. And thus, the IAB podcast measurement guidelines were born with version 1.0 in September 2016!
What are IAB stats
IAB's podcast measurement guidelines are actually not rigid standards, but mere guidelines for podcast-analytics providers to use.
Like Elizabeth Swan said in Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl, “Hang the code and hang the rules! They're more like guidelines anyway!”
Without getting into the technical details, these guidelines are intended to filter out any kind of invalid podcast download in attempts to get an accurate count of how many people actually downloaded or streamed the episodes (and with the hopes, backed by survey data, that most of the people actually listen to most of those episodes).
(Sidenote: podcast “streams” are also downloads, simply not downloaded until the person presses play.)
These guidelines involve things like the following.
Ignoring all downloads from an IP address blacklist (such as data centers, bot farms, and such)
Ignoring all downloads from known invalid user agents (how a downloading app or service identifies itself)
Ignoring duplicate downloads that look exactly the same within a period of time (usually 24 hours)
Ignoring downloads that don't reach a threshold (one minute of audio)
Whitelisting some IP addresses known to have a lot of users—like public wi-fi, businesses, colleges, and such—and allowing such downloads to be counted separately with the reasonable assumption that it is separate people
The top goal is to count people, not simply downloads. Because it's only people who buy things from ads, engage with the podcaster, and listen to or watch the episodes.
When the IAB guidelines were first released, many in the podcasting industry—including myself—expressed the importance that all podcasting companies that provide audience analytics should not only follow the IAB guidelines, but even get certified to be following them.
But there were also many others who disagreed with the guidelines—some people thought the guidelines were too conservative, others thought they were too liberal.
Because the guidelines are publicly accessible, anyone can build a tool that follows the guidelines. And that's where the term “IAB–compliant” came in. It was companies simply claiming compliance based on how they implemented the guidelines.
Then along came the certification program. This was a costly process—in both time and money—for a third-party organization to conduct tests and review code to ensure the companies were truly following the guidelines, and then certifying them.
Not only does it cost to be certified, it also costs to be a member of the IAB. And it also costs to be recertified, which the IAB was pushing in 2023. And it costs to have updated access to the IAB's whitelists and blacklists of IP addresses. But with the high cost of these things, it seems that several companies are not so concerned about being “certified” anymore. And you can see in the list of certified “podcast compliance” that several companies are still certified only to version 2.0.
Why IAB-certified podcast stats are good
I agree with the premise of the IAB podcast measurement guidelines: to have a consistent measurement “standard” across the podcast industry. The dream of this standard is that no matter who you use for podcast hosting and analytics, the statistics you get will be essentially the same. Put another way, 100 people downloading your latest episode would be counted as 100 downloads on Blubrry, or 100 downloads on Captivate, or 100 downloads on Buzzsprout, or 100 downloads on any other provider.
If everyone is following the same standard, then there wouldn't be the heartbreak and confusion if you switch from one provider to another and see a significant drop in your stats—because there shouldn't be much of a difference if everyone is measuring the same way!
So it's definitely a good thing for a podcasting company to follow the IAB guidelines, and being certified means that a neutral third party can confirm the guidelines are being followed correctly.
But every standard will have loopholes
That dream is, unfortunately, not the reality. The biggest reason is that, going back to Miss. Elizabeth Swan, the IAB podcast measurement guidelines are exactly and only that: guidelines!
As such, some companies will implement those guidelines differently. Or they use different whitelists and blacklists.
And over the years, there have been multiple loopholes found that some companies independently patch even though the IAB guidelines might not account for them, yet. For example, “Twitter bombing” was a problem several years ago. That's where someone would post a direct link to their podcast media file (like an MP3) on Twitter, and then repeatedly post that link all day, every day. Companies like Blubrry and Libsyn caught this behavior fairly quickly and were able to filter it out so those misled (or outright deceptive) podcasters wouldn't have fraudulent stats.
I even caught a podcaster guilty of such a “crime” when they were Twitter-bombing my own guest appearance on their podcast. When I politely tried to share the truth with them, they deleted my episode!
Or more recently, some podcast networks put ads in mobile games where the podcast audio would start playing automatically and enough of the audio would pre-download (or “buffer”) that it would actually get counted as a legitimate download, even for IAB-certified providers!
In my past research for testing the fastest podcast hosting, I also discovered that some hosting providers counted some or even all of my bot downloads. And I didn't even attempt to disguise my bot downloads as real people using podcast apps! (Please note that some or—let's hope—all of those previously guilty companies have probably improved their measurement algorithms since that test in 2019! But probably not Soundcloud.)
Why you don't actually need IAB-certified podcast stats
Does it really matter anymore if your podcast-hosting provider has IAB-certified stats?
I think it's nice to know your numbers are certified, especially if you get paid by advertisers based on your downloads.
But at this point, I think it's safe to assume all the good podcast-hosting providers are following the guidelines and seek to filter out all non-person downloads. They could probably better invest the money it would cost to be certified instead into building better features for their customer: you!
And here is what I think is the even more important approach: do IAB-certified stats matter to your audience?
The answer is most likely a big fat “HUH?” Because your audience probably doesn't know or doesn't care, and they shouldn't have to know or care, either!
Your audience can celebrate milestones with you no matter whether those milestones are certified by an expensive neutral third party. Your audience cares much more about the value you deliver through your podcast than they care about how many downloads you are getting.
In other words, the answer to the audience's “What's in it for me?” is probably “nothing.”
Yes, more downloads could mean more P.R.O.F.I.T. (popularity, relationships, opportunities, fun, income, or tangibles) for both you and your audience, and it can mean a bigger community for your audience to engage with each other. But that comes with the actual people in your audience, not the standard by which you measure them!
I've changed my mind about IAB certification
Thus, because IAB certification really doesn't matter to your audience, I've stopped considering it a requirement for any podcast-hosting provider or analytics tool I recommend. It's nice to have, but not mandatory.
Instead, I'm far more interested in the innovations podcasting companies are making, so that the whole experience can be better for you and your audience. That's why I consider support for Podcasting 2.0 to be my litmus test for podcast-publishing tools, and no longer IAB certification.
New feature: The Community Corner
2,033 sats from “aqualith,” saying, “10k CAN be a lot for someone who doesn't feed their Fountain wallet, or equivalent, with outside funds and not currently podcasting themselves, despite engaging with the app daily. That said, thank you for this episode and this list. I immediately shared it with someone who's setting up their first podcast. Go podcasting!”
7,777 sats from Steve Web on “How to Use Podcast Transcripts,” saying, “GREAT episode, Daniel. While I have been using transcripts for some time on my shows, I wasn’t really sure I was doing it correctly. This episode will help me to make some changes going forward. Thank you, and may God bless you richly!”
333 from Allen C. Paul also on “How to Use Podcast Transcripts,” saying, “Couldn’t help but notice this episode doesn’t have a transcript! lol! but great info.” Allen has also been giving my episodes 5 stars on Goodpods!
“A.J.II” from the United States gave me a 5-star review in Apple Podcasts, saying, “Advice is stellar. His style and topics along with the way he speaks and communicates is terrific.Thanks!”
Get speakable pages to simplify engaging with your audience, accept voicemail feedback (with automatic transcripts), track your ratings and reviews from nearly 200 places, and more!
This post may contain links to products or services with which I have an affiliate relationship. I may receive compensation from your actions through such links. However, I don't let that corrupt my perspective and I don't recommend only affiliates.
Transcripts have long been promoted as ways to make your podcast more findable and accessible. But it's only recently that podcast transcripts have become actually useful!
(As an affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases through some of these following links. But I recommend things I truly believe in, regardless of earnings.)
1. Don't believe the myths about podcast transcripts
For many years, people have been promoting transcripts for the wrong reasons. I've also been pitched by many transcription companies pushing the wrong approach.
While there are elements of truth in these two common myths, the ways people often promote and understand these two ideas are where the information become myth—of “mythinformation”?
Myth 1: “Transcripts are good for podcast SEO”
People have often said that you should publish podcast transcripts on your website to make your podcast findable through search-engine optimization (SEO). But that's not the full truth.
Yes, transcripts are better than nothing or a mere paragraph or list of topics. But transcripts result in a lot of words and actually very little content, resulting in very low quality writing (probably even worse than AI-created text or writing from non-natives of the language).
For example, a two-cohost podcast transcript might look like this:
Jack: Welcome to the our podcast, where we talk about things to help you do stuff! I'm Jack!
Jill: And I'm Jill.
Jack: Before we get into this topic, how are you doing, Jill?
Jill: The weather is sunny today, so I'm great!
Jack: Great!
Jill: Yeah. What about you?
Jack: I'm fine, but I don't know what the weather is, but—
Jill: That's sad.
Jack: What do mean?
Jill: I mean, you're saying that you haven't gone outside or even looked out a window in a while.
Jack: Yeah, but it's okay.
Jill: So anyway!
Jack: Yes! Let's jump into this week's topic.
…
Note that in this fictional example, there are a lot of words, but you've learned nothing from this excerpt!
That kind of back-and-forth is fine in a conversation and can even sometimes be okay in a podcast. But it writing, it becomes worthless.
Compare that to how the same “information” could be written in a way that's valuable:
Actually, that whole exchange could be edited out of the written content because there's little to no value in reading that!
Search engines prioritize high-quality content that is readable, but unless you're a professional speaker performing a refined monologue, transcripts are neither readable nor high quality. So, no, transcripts are not the “magic bullet” to making your podcast perform well for SEO, especially if you're relegating transcripts to a downloadable file or a web page separate from your podcast episode.
Myth 2: “Transcripts make your podcast accessible”
It's true that people with hearing impairments still consume podcasts! Thus transcripts have been lauded as the accessibility solution podcasts need!
But the problem is that most published transcripts are still difficult to read or—worse—are buried in a link or downloadable file that could actually be even less accessible!
It's like putting up a billboard with a QR Code that drivers can scan to watch a video to learn why they shouldn't be distracted while driving!
Good accessibility doesn't help only the hearing-impaired, it can also help memorability or engagement for the rest of your audience. For example, a word or URL that might be ambiguous, such as “to” versus “two” versus “2” versus “too.” This gets even worse if you've made up words!
Here, properly written show notes or an article can make the information far more memorable and actionable than a giant transcription page.
It's only properly formatted and properly published transcripts that make your podcast accessible! And more on that in a moment!
2. (Optional) Use transcripts with podcast-production tools
You can use the power of transcripts immediately after you record your episodes, even if you never publish those transcripts!
While you could pay for someone to transcribe your podcast for you, AI tools have gotten really good at making fairly accurate transcripts!
Yes, AI has become the ubiquitous tool for all kinds of content-creators. I've joked before, “Look, Daddy! Teacher says, ‘Every time a bell rings, an AI-powered app launches on AppSumo!'” But I'm a big fan of using AI on your content you made instead of for making your content.
The way AI-based tools work with your audio or video podcast is by first transcribing your content. Then, you can use that AI to do impressive and time-saving things with the transcript, like summarizing your episode, suggesting episode titles, and even helping you better edit your recording.
Here are my current favorite transcription-based tools to help when your episode is still in this early post-production stage right after you've record:
Each of these tools can make editing your recording as easy as editing a text document! Plus, they can even export the transcript from your finished production that you can use in the following other steps.
You can also upload your read-to-publish audio to some transcription-based tools to get suggestions for titles, chapters, show notes, social posts, keywords, and more! The best tools for that are:
Even if you don't use any transcription-based tools, you can still use a transcript of your recording to help you find places to edit, excerpts for sharing, and reminders of your content. And you can do this without ever publishing those transcripts (but I still recommend that you do)!
3. Make properly formatted podcast transcripts
In order to be actually useful, a transcript needs to have more data with it. At a minimum, transcripts need timestamps for when lines or even words were spoken. But transcripts can also include the speakers' names, formatting, and more.
The most common transcript formats are VTT and SRT, but VTT—specifically WebVTT—is the superior format, but it's not as widely supported as SRT.
In its vanilla state, VTT and SRT will look similar:
00:01.000 --> 00:04.000
Never drink liquid nitrogen.
00:05.000 --> 00:09.000
It will perforate your stomach.
And then WebVTT can add a whole bunch of additional features and formatting over this.
You can get these properly formatted transcripts from the transcription-based editing tools I shared above, or you can generate them through AI or third-party help.
The most important thing here is to get the transcripts in the right format! A big block of text in a PDF or text document is not going to be as useful as the structured data like you get with SRT or VTT.
Easy access to artificial intelligence (AI) tools has made creating transcripts a whole lot faster, easier, and cheaper. The editing tools I mentioned all use AI to generate their transcripts, or you could use other services, too:
(This list might not be up-to-date because these features are coming to more tools quite frequently.)
I like the more modern AI-based transcription tools because they understand language better and are thus able to make transcripts that actually read well and are usually quite accurate. Compare that to transcripts from only a few years ago that transcribed what they thought they heard, even if it didn't make sense.
Most likely any tool that requires Internet access has limits to how much you can transcribe or has pricing based on your usage.
So, alternatively, consider these two fantastic apps you can install on your computer to generate the transcripts without the Internet or usage fees or limits. These use OpenAI's free and open-source Whisper model.
MacWhisper Pro (macOS, free and paid versions)—this is what I used and usually get really good results from
Because these apps run everything on your computer, you'll get much faster results on a more powerful computer. For comparison, MacWhisper Pro's largest language model on my M1 MacBook Pro can transcribe a 30-minute podcast episode in only a couple of minutes. But my maxed-out Intel iMac takes much longer to process the same audio with the same app.
With the launch of iOS 17.4 in March 2024, you now download the transcript Apple automatically generates for you through your Podcasts Connect account!
4. Edit your podcast transcripts
Regardless of whether you transcribe your podcast with AI or with a person, the transcript will most likely need some editing.
Some automatic transcription tools will smartly break lines at logical points, like on punctuation or at the end of sentences. But that's not mandatory.
The best thing to do would be to read your entire transcript to edit for accuracy. I think it could even be okay to edit for clarity. For example, if the speaker said, “There are 5 ways—I mean 6 ways—to do this,” you could edit the transcript to simply “There are 6 ways to do this.”
Pay close attention to anything that could cause you legal trouble, too! For example, your guest might have said, “I love two li'l puppies,” but your transcript might incorrectly say, “I love to kill puppies.” YIKES!
But this is where I notice the good modern transcription tools (like Whisper or Gemini Pro 1.5 and later) that use updated large-language models (LLMs) can often do a better job because they seem good at combining what they think they hear along with what makes grammatical and contextual sense.
But if you're in a hurry, here's the quick hack for editing your transcripts: double-check all proper nouns and URLs.
For example, one transcription tool I tried would always transcribe “Podcasting 2.0” as “podcasting 2 point oh.” Or even MacWhisper Pro sometimes transcribes “theaudacitytopodcast.com” as something like “the odacity2podcast.com.” For these things, I've made a list of the common errors so it's easy for me to run a find-and-replace operation on them. MacWhisper actually has that built in! And some transcription tools let you enter terms that are important to get right. For example, I might enter “Podgagement” since that's a made up trademark and the AI models might not understand it, yet.
But I've also been surprised, especially by Whisper, how often it not only gets the spelling right but even the capitalization!
5. Put the podcast transcripts in the right places
Now that you have an accurate transcript in a good format (SRT or VTT), we've had a standard place to put that in podcasting for a couple of years now, and even Apple Podcasts is now on board!
You only need to upload the transcript somewhere online (if it's not already publicly hosted for you) and link to it in your Podcasting 2.0 <podcast:transcript> tag in your RSS feed, which your podcast-publishing/hosting tool might do for you.
This makes the transcript visible to a growing list of Podcasting 2.0 apps, and now even Apple Podcasts supports the Podcasting 2.0 transcript!
Even if Apple Podcasts generates the transcript for you, the app will use your transcript if you provide it through the transcript feature in your RSS feed. This is so much better than how Spotify, Google, and Amazon currently do it!
Putting your SRT or VTT transcript in the right place also exposes it for other apps and services to use. As this becomes more popular, more podcast apps will use these transcripts to learn what your episodes are about and help expose your podcast in more relevant searches. For example, even if you keyword-stuff your title, author, and description tags with something like “real estate investing,” if you're not literally talking about real estate investing in your episodes, your podcast probably won't rank well for that term. What makes this podcast SEO different from the SEO myth I shared above is that this Podcasting 2.0 method exposes your transcript in a specific structure that make it easy for applications to read and process. You don't get that when you dump the whole transcript on your website (or in a download).
But if you really want to publish a transcript in a readable format, you can convert your SRT or VTT transcript into formatted text and offer that through your website. Just don't expect much to come from it!
6. (Optional) Use your podcast transcripts for promotion
I'm not a fan of creating new content with AI (also called “generative AI”). I think the results are cheap, unoriginal, and in a legal gray area because most generative AI models were trained with copyrighted content and without the content-owner's permission.
Putting aside those potential legal and ethical implications, I do love artificial intelligence as a different “AI”: assistive intelligence. So instead of creating new content for you, the AI analyzes the content you created and helps you describe it, improve it, repurpose it, and more.
And this all starts with a transcript of your podcast!
My favorite AI tool right now is Magai because it includes multiple models (not just ChatGPT) and you can now easily upload your entire podcast transcript to then work with inside Magai. For example, you could ask it to write a promotion for the episode in the first-person tone of your guest so you can send that to him or her to more relevantly share their appearance on your podcast.
Castmagic, Capsho, and Buzzsprout's Cohost AI also have features like this built in. For example, Castmagic (which I use, too) automatically recognizes separate speakers in the audio and can also automatically generate a whole bunch of different content from my content. This includes social posts, titles, X-Twitter threads, engaging questions, outlines, and more.
So even if a tool can't transcribe your content for you, yet (as is the case with Magai), you can still give it your transcript to analyze and use for many more purposes!
It all starts with the transcript of your content. (Or in my case, since I write such thorough articles for my podcast episodes, I frequently give Magai my published webpage URL instead of uploading a transcript.)
(And in case you're wondering, the entirety of this article and podcast episode were created solely by me. And even though some people might call my intelligence “artificial,” I didn't use any AI for this episode!)
You can also use a tool like Descript, Headliner, or Opus Clip to find good excerpts from your episode to share as clips, like I'm doing for this very episode! This, too, starts with your transcripts, and you'll probably get even better results if you can edit or provide a more accurate transcript.
Get speakable pages to simplify engaging with your audience, accept voicemail feedback (with automatic transcripts), track your ratings and reviews from nearly 200 places, and more!
This post may contain links to products or services with which I have an affiliate relationship. I may receive compensation from your actions through such links. However, I don't let that corrupt my perspective and I don't recommend only affiliates.
Top 5 Podcasting 2.0 Features You Should Try
Feb 14, 2024
Podcasting 2.0 is revolutionizing podcasting for podcasters, audiences, and developers. Here are what I think are the best features you should try now, if you can.
When I recently attended Podfest Multimedia Expo, I was talking with a woman interested to know more about Podcasting 2.0. She lit up with excitement over two things: cross-app comments and live streaming.
The vision of cross-app comments is simple. Imagine being able to comment on an episode you're listening without leaving your podcast app! Even better, others can reply to you from their different podcast apps!
This is what cross-app comments will allow: audience comments from multiple podcast apps but all going into the same stream of activity so you and others can engage from preferred apps.
While I think this is the most exciting feature for everyone, it's also proving to be the most complicated to implement. Developers have to think about performance, data portability, authentication, and giving you moderation control. But when these features are all solved, this will be a dynamite feature!
And the best part is that this engagement can occur completely without leaving the podcast app! (But there will be other systems to let you monitor and engage with your audience. For example, I'll be building this into Podgagement whenever the development issues are resolved.)
2. Live streaming
When I spoke with that woman at Podfest, the other thing she was most excited about was the ability to live-stream with live engagement directly into her audience's podcast apps.
That's what the “live item tag” (or sometimes called “LIT”) is designed to do!
Live-streaming isn't a good fit for all podcasts or podcasters. It presents a whole new layer of complexity and multiple distractions. But when you can manage it well, live-streaming is a fantastic way to engage your most loyal audience in real-time.
Podcasting 2.0's live feature will let you live-stream directly into the modern podcast apps. You start by scheduling your upcoming event, and your audience will see that in their apps. When you go live, you audience can receive push notifications and then jump to listening or watching live. There's even the potential to have your chat room there, too!
Best of all, this is all right inside your audience's podcast app! They won't have to leave to listen or watch on a separate page, they can engage without leaving their preferred podcast app!
Apps can even do smart things like automatically marking the later downloaded episode as played if the audience already played it live.
Don't let the “micro” part of “micropayments” make you think they're small and worthless!
Podcasting 2.0 enables you to receive financial support in any amount from your audience by leveraging the power of Bitcoin, specifically through the faster and cheaper Lightning Network. This is most commonly measured in Satoshis (abbreviated “sats” or “§”), which are 100 millionth of a Bitcoin. Here's the quick hack (at least for US Dollars) to understand the value. Every 1,000§ is worth the current value of Bitcoin in cents. So if Bitcoin is $45,000, then 1,000§ is worth 45¢.
This allows your audience to give as little as a few pennies to as much as they value your podcast—thus why this feature is called “Value for Value” and uses the <podcast:value> RSS tag.
But it doesn't stop there! Your audience can set their podcast app to stream the payments to you for every minute they listen to your podcast! So even something that seems as small as 100§ per minute would be 3,000§ for a 30-minute podcast. If Bitcoin is worth $45,000, that streaming payment would convert to $1.35—and that's 54 times as much as that one listener would be worth to an advertiser paying the common $25 CPM!
These kinds of “micropayments” would be nearly worthless or even impossible with common payment methods like PayPal or credit cards, who usually take a flat fee around 50¢ plus around 3% of the transaction!
Shoutout to Dovydas from RSSBlue.com for coining the term “super chapters,” and I love it!
We've had chapters in podcasting since 2005, but they've always been very limited. They could only contain a title, a optional link, and an optional image. They were also embedded in the media file, so updating your chapters would mean replacing your media file. And that limitation meant that none of your audience who already downloaded the episode would be able to see anything new in the chapters.
Podcasting 2.0's “super chapters” build on these legacy features and move the chapters into an external metadata file.
Simply by being in an external file, you can now update the chapters anytime. And modern podcast apps are smart enough to check for updated chapters when your audience engages with your episodes.
The optional chapter images are also external URLs, allowing you to swap out the images anytime, or even do cool things like dynamically generated images with promotions, countdowns, dates, and more!
At this time, Podcasting 2.0 chapters still support only the same title, URL, and image fields like legacy chapters. But that will change soon with support for image galleries, videos, blocks of text, polls, and more!
5. Transcripts
I've long seen that transcripts were mostly a waste in the podcasting space. Transcripts are usually low-quality written content and thus are difficult to read and perform very poorly for search-engine optimization (SEO). Some podcasters would even relegate their transcripts to a separate download through their website, making them even less accessible for anyone who might actually need the transcripts for accessibility!
And the big surprise of 2024 was that Apple announced official support for Podcasting 2.0 transcripts starting with iOS 17.4! This is huge because it's the first Podcasting 2.0 feature Apple has supported! And since Apple is still an industry leader and trendsetter in podcasting, you can expect to see a lot of other popular apps start to support the same podcast standard. And that could also open the floodgates to much broader Podcasting 2.0 support!
Get speakable pages to simplify engaging with your audience, accept voicemail feedback (with automatic transcripts), track your ratings and reviews from nearly 200 places, and more!
This post may contain links to products or services with which I have an affiliate relationship. I may receive compensation from your actions through such links. However, I don't let that corrupt my perspective and I don't recommend only affiliates.
Best Podcast Hosting Providers (2024)
Feb 07, 2024
Get the latest top recommendations for the best podcast-hosting providers, whether you're just starting or you're wanting to upgrade your podcasting tools!
You need good podcast hosting to help you distribute your show, keep it online, and understand your reach. Now, podcast hosting can help you with much more, too!
How podcast-hosting has changed
As the podcasting industry is innovating and there are new ways to engage, grow, and monetize, podcast-hosting providers have to keep up!
Years ago, all we needed from a podcast-hosting provider was storage, bandwidth, stats, and maybe their RSS feed (because you might want to generate it separately). And if your show was big enough, you might have a chance at getting a sponsor through your hosting provider.
But today, podcast hosting includes innovative new features, like dynamic content insertion; automatic processing for audio, images, and video; content-creation assistance; marketing tools; engagement outlets; and even built-in ways to monetize your podcast directly from your audience.
This is why I've taken some time to reconsider my recommendations.
And as you'll quickly notice, there is no single best podcast-hosting provider because it really depends on your needs. Thus, I hope the following help you make the choice that's right for your podcast.
(As an affiliate for many providers, I earn from qualifying purchases through most of these following links. But I recommend things I truly believe in, regardless of earnings.)
Best all-inclusive podcast hosting (also for multiple shows): Captivate
I call Captivate the “Apple of podcast hosting” because their design and features are truly innovative. They show your stats in ways that are easy to understand, they offer beautifully designed sites, and they even sync with WordPress!
Reliable, IAB-certified stats
Distributed media hosting for fast downloads
One price for unlimited shows and unlimited uploads
Captivate's podcast hosting has been revolutionary! They offer the most extensive range of features—not merely the typical media-hosting and analytics features, but even features to help you manage your content and monetization!
Their dynamic content insertion tool, AMIE, is—in my opinion—the best in the industry! Yes, you can use it for inserting ads, but you can do so much more with it, like using it for any kind of content! Plus, AMIE makes it quick and easy to prepare old episodes for dynamic content, or even replace old ads like painting over them!
You can also monetize your podcast directly from your audience through Captivate's membership system, donations, exclusive content, and more!
And if you have multiple shows, Captivate lets you run your whole podcast network with a single subscription, and the cheapest plan already supports up to 3 shows at no extra cost.
Pricing is primarily based on the size of your audience, either for downloading or the membership subscriptions.
On top of this, Captivate has the best Podcasting 2.0 support in the industry right now!
There's so much more I could say about Captivate, but I don't want this whole episode/article to be about one provider!
Captivate is my top recommendation for most podcasters!
I had the honor and pleasure of serving on Captivate's advisory board until Captivate was acquired. I don't recommend Captivate because I was an advisor, I accepted that role because I liked what Captivate was doing! I had even previously called Captivate the “Apple of podcast hosting” because of their attention to detail and innovative developments.
Honorable mention goes Transistor, who offer many of the same features as Captivate but actually allow unlimited podcasts on every plan. However, Transistor reserve some features for higher plans.
Best WordPress-based podcast hosting: Blubrry
If you're running a WordPress website, Blubrry's hosting integrates seamlessly with PowerPress—the #1 podcasting plugin for WordPress.
While all my other podcast-hosting recommendations require using their publishing platform to manage your podcast RSS feed, Blubrry is my top recommendation if you want to manage your own publishing platform with WordPress.
WordPress lets you do almost anything with your website! Consider TheAudacitytoPodcast.com. Here, I publish articles, sometimes with interactive charts; I sell video courses, a WordPress plugin (with auto-updates), and even ID3 Editor licenses; I created multiple recommendation pages; I have countless redirects and automatic links; and I designed the site to look exactly how I wanted. All this extra functionality is powered WordPress's extensibility with plugins and themes.
Blubrry's podcast hosting connects seamlessly to all of this through their free PowerPress plugin, which I've used since I think 2007. While Blubrry supports the community so much that they've provided this plugin for free for many years, the best way to use it is pairing it with Blubrry's podcast hosting. Then, instead of going to another website to manage your podcast and possibly having to copy and paste a lot of stuff to your WordPress site, Blubrry integrates it all right in your normal WordPress workflow!
Simply create a post like you normally would in WordPress, and then upload your podcast episode and enter your episode information directly within the same post editor!
Blubrry is also leading the charge on including Podcasting 2.0 features—even some of the experimental ones!
And if you want to get on the bleeding edge of experimentation, you can even extend features of PowerPress yourself with the right tools!
Blubrry's top goal is to help you build your own platform, a platform that you own and fully control. No one else integrates as well with WordPress as Blubrry does!
Plus, PowerPress has become such a standard for podcasting with WordPress that many podcast-ready themes (like my favorites from SecondLine Themes) have built-in support to enhance the podcast players for your website audience!
If you use my link to try Blubrry, make sure you enter my promo code “NOODLE” to get a free month!
Best easy/simple podcast hosting without compromises: Buzzsprout
Buzzsprout is the easiest-to-use podcast-hosting provider but without compromising features!
Reliable, IAB-certified stats
Distributed media hosting for fast downloads
Pricing based on hours of audio per month
Free migration
Highly responsive support
Branding-optional, embeddable, responsive player
Podcasting 2.0 features
Sell premium subscriptions and exclusive content to your audience
Magic Mastering (upgrade) for automatic audio enhancement
Cohost AI (upgrade) for AI-powered help with titles, notes, and more
So far, my recommendations have been feature-rich and all about giving you total power over every aspect of your podcast.
But with great power comes great anxiety!
Thus, I present the oasis of podcast hosting: Buzzsprout!
Buzzsprout has always been one of the easiest-to-use podcasting platforms. But don't let the whitespace and simple looks fool you! Buzzsprout has jumped into my top recommendations because they also provide impressive extra features to help you podcast better, but still without compromising their simplicity!
They offer three impressive features on top of their already great podcast hosting features:
Magic Mastering: Automatically process your podcast audio for clarity and ideal loudness!
Automatic dynamic content: Their AI will find the ideal places to place ads within your content, and even offer ways to grow your own podcast or grow your wallet through these opportunities!
Cohost AI: Get AI-powered suggestions on titles, notes, chapters, and more, right from your podcast-publishing workflow!
It is important to note that some of these features come at upgraded costs. But they can be worth it in the time and brain cells they save you!
I get it. Maybe podcasting is so much your hobby that you can't even afford the relatively low monthly fees for podcast hosting. While I still want to remind you that you will get what you pay for, RedCircle is the only free podcast-hosting provider I recommend.
Their feature offerings aren't as advanced as my previous recommendations, but RedCircle's dynamic-content insertion tools are quite nice, giving you opportunities to pay for your hosting with ads (and earn some money yourself, too).
While I still suggest that you invest in your podcast hosting, if you absolutely need something “free,” RedCircle is the way to go!
Dishonorable mention: Spotify for Podcasters (formerly “Anchor”). Do not use them! Spotify's actions make it seem like they hate the podcast industry because they keep arrogantly ignoring innovations, develop only proprietary features, and are more interested in having you build their platform than providing ways for you to build yours. Because of this and more, I think the true cost of Spotify for Podcasters is too high.
Honorable mention goes to Buzzsprout, but their free plan is limited to only your latest few episodes.
Best video podcast hosting: Libsyn
Regardless of where you host your website (or the CMS you use), Libsyn provides a stable RSS feed with your media, in addition to automatic crossposting to other platforms.
Video podcasting is not nearly as popular as it was in the couple of years before YouTube stole the show. And don't believe the misinformation (maybe even “disinformation”) from corrupted surveys claiming that video podcasting is back or that most audiences prefer video podcasts. All those surveys I've seen are using invalid questions, allow invalid answers, and draw or have led to radically invalid conclusions.
All that said, if you do want a true video podcast, I recommend Libsyn.
Libsyn is the original podcast-hosting provider. And while they haven't innovated nearly as much as I wish (at least at this time), they still offer the best bandwidth bang for your buck, which is crucial for a video podcast!
But it's not only about value, I recommend Libsyn for video podcasting primarily because of this huge feature: integration with YouTube.
Because YouTube is where most people go for independent video content, I suggest everyone who makes a video show to also publish on YouTube! And if you want that exact same show to be both on YouTube and as a real podcast, Libsyn is the way to go!
Libsyn allows you to publish only once and then they will automatically upload your video to YouTube.
On top of that, I believe Libsyn is still the only provider to also bring your video stats back from YouTube and display them with your normal podcast download stats! So none of this checking your stats in two places or publishing your video in two places stuff! Libsyn makes it easy to do both in one place!
Use my promo code “NOODLE” to try Libsyn free for the rest of this month plus all of next month! (That's actually how my promo code always works, because Libsyn always bills at midnight GMT on the first day of the month.)
The best podcast hosting is the one that meets your needs
You can probably tell I rarely recommend a single option and that's because, in many areas, I think there is no single “best” that does everything for everyone. Like most things, my goal is to provide you with the information to make the right choice for yourself.
Engage your audience and grow your podcast!
Do you ever feel like your podcast is stuck? Like you're pouring your heart into your podcast but it seems like no one is listening?
Get speakable pages to simplify engaging with your audience, accept voicemail feedback (with automatic transcripts), track your ratings and reviews from nearly 200 places, and more!
This post may contain links to products or services with which I have an affiliate relationship. I may receive compensation from your actions through such links. However, I don't let that corrupt my perspective and I don't recommend only affiliates.
Exciting News: Podcast Award, Podgagement, and Podcast Hall of Fame
Jan 10, 2024
The Audacity to Podcast is back! And before jumping back into the content to help you grow and improve your podcast, I want to share three things I'm really excited about!
You MUST Disclose Whenever You’re Compensated!
Apr 19, 2023
There are many ways to earn income through podcasting: affiliates, sponsorships, sales, and more. Disclosing when you get compensated is not only the law, but it's also a good way to earn your audience's trust!
Are Podcasting 2.0 Micropayments Actually Worth It?
Mar 29, 2023
Podcasting 2.0 introduced a new way for your audience to support your podcast by sending micropayments. This is usually measured by satoshis (abbreviated as "sats"), which are one hundred millionths of a Bitcoin. As such a small portion of cryptocurrency, many people might wonder whether the effort is even worth the return.
I've teamed up with Dave Jackson, from School of Podcasting, to discuss the future of podcasting! We seek to inform you about trends, Podcasting 2.0, and more to help you make your podcast better for yourself and your audience, and we work to explain things in an understandable way.
Best Audio-Editing Apps for Podcasting in 2023
Mar 01, 2023
Whether you're just starting your podcast or you've been podcasting for a while, you might find some things easier by using better tools. Here are the audio-editing apps I recommend most for podcasting in 2023.
This Is the BEST Link to Share Your Podcast
Feb 08, 2023
Whether you're a guest on someone else's podcast, you're promoting your latest episode on social networks, or you're making marketing materials for your podcast, you might be wondering which link you should use to share your podcast.
Should You Include Episode Numbers in Episode Titles?
Dec 14, 2022
If your podcast uses episode numbers, you have multiple options for how to display them. Here's some guidance to help you decide! But I'll give this warning: it's, unfortunately, more complicated than it should be!
Your podcast episodes don't have to "expire" once the next episode is released. With some strategy, you can use your old episodes to continue growing and engaging your audience!
Why Does Your Podcast Need Its Own Domain?
Nov 16, 2022
Where do you tell your audience to go for the actions you want them to take? I suggest that should almost always be based on your podcast's own domain name.
6 Free Ways to Podcast Better by Communicating Better
Nov 02, 2022
Presentation is one of the 5 cornerstones of podcasting (content, presentation, production, promotion, and P.R.O.F.I.T.), and how you communicate in your podcast can make the biggest difference in whether people enjoy and benefit from your content.
Audacity Is Improving Fast! Here Are the Top New Features to Try
Oct 26, 2022
The Audacity software is popular among countless podcasters at all levels of production! at some point! It's a free, cross-platform audio-editing app, so almost anyone can use it. But Audacity has historically lagged behind other audio-editing apps until now! So here are some of my favorite new features that I think warrant giving Audacity another try.
When to Use Trailer, Full, and Bonus Episode Types
Oct 19, 2022
A while back, Apple introduced the RSS tag to let you mark individual episodes as "bonus," "full," or "trailer" types. Here's what each type means and how you should use them in your podcast-publishing tools.
Stop Saying Brand Names in Your Podcast! Do These 5 Things Instead
Oct 12, 2022
We use many services in the process of podcasting and engaging our audiences, like Patreon, Buy Me a Coffee, SpeakPipe, and more. But saying these brand names in your podcast can overwhelm or confuse your audience and—even worse—break their ability to properly engage with your podcast!
How Proxies and iOS 14.5 Affect Your Podcast
Oct 05, 2022
In summer 2021, iOS 14.5 introduced a major change to Apple Podcasts with implications many podcasters may still not realize. With that update, your audience on Apple Podcasts is no longer getting your podcast directly from your RSS feed, but from a proxy. And that has some potentially bad implications!
What Is Podcasting 2.0 and Why Does It Matter?
Sep 28, 2022
The podcasting industry has grown a lot since its birth in 2004, but the core of what a podcast could be and what it could do hasn't changed much. Now, Podcasting 2.0 revolutionizes the industry with highly requested innovations that will help everyone on all sides of the RSS feeds.
Premium Subscriptions and More Coming to Apple Podcasts
Apr 21, 2021
In Apple's live-streamed presentation on April 20, 2021, they announced several new products and offerings. But in only a couple minutes, Apple CEO Tim Cook mentioned Apple Podcasts with announcements that will affect the whole industry.
7 Ways to Improve Your Podcast and Promotion with Jasper AI
Mar 28, 2021
Do you want to improve the content on your podcast? Jasper (formerly known as “Conversion AI” or “Jarvis”) can help! It uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to generate blog post ideas, headlines, phrases, captions for images, and more. How good is it? That first paragraph was generated using Jasper's “Blog Post Intro Paragraph” template!...
7 Kinds of Podcast Images for Marketing and Branding
May 05, 2020
Even though podcasting is usually an audio-only experience, attractive images can enhance your podcast branding and help you promote your podcast better!
On Friday, April 17, 2020, Apple Podcasts surpassed 1 million valid podcasts in their catalog. So have we reached "peak podcast"? Is it too late to start a podcast? Will your podcast only be lost in the sea of over 1 million other podcasts?
There Are Now More than 800,000 Podcasts, and More Industry Stats
Dec 17, 2019
On December 10, 2019, Apple Podcasts surpassed 800,000 valid podcasts! Here's some more information and statistics on the podcast industry, with data from My Podcast Reviews.
Should You Use the Gutenberg Editor on Your WordPress Website?
Nov 05, 2019
Switching to the Gutenberg Editor was probably the most controversial change in WordPress's history. I'll help you decide whether you should start using Gutenberg for your podcast's WordPress website.
How to Conquer Your WordPress Design with a Page-Builder
Oct 29, 2019
If you're frustrated by your WordPress theme's limitations, you don't know how to or don't want to write custom code, or you want a lot more flexibility in your website, you might want to consider a page-builder plugin for WordPress.
These Are the New Best WordPress Themes for Podcasters
Oct 22, 2019
Podcasters need a WordPress theme designed with features and flexibility to support podcasting. Here's why I think SecondLine Themes are your new best choice!
Why You Should NOT Publish “Fake Video” Audio Podcasts on YouTube
Nov 21, 2017
Many podcasting tools offer the ability to automatically crosspost your audio podcast to YouTube. Here are eleven reasons I think you shouldn't do that.
Working with other podcasters can be energizing, but it can also feed your inner troll. Here's how you can build friendships instead of enemies in podcasting.
Why Feed Hits and Monthly Downloads are Meaningless Podcast Stats
Nov 07, 2017
Feed hits and monthly downloads are two podcast stats the may confuse or mislead podcasters. Here's why you should never rely on these meaningless numbers.
Journey inside the podcasting business with this new daily podcast
Nov 03, 2017
Inside the Podcasting Business gives you a behind-the-scenes perspective on the decision, strategies, tools, and more in a business built from a podcast.
Should You Launch a Podcast with Multiple Episodes?
Oct 31, 2017
A podcast launch can be fun and jumpstart momentum for growth. Starting your podcasting with multiple episodes is often advised, but is it right for you?
Podcasting Lessons from a Binge-Listener
Oct 17, 2017
Podcasting is a time-shifted media. Some fans will binge on all your content, which can reveal some areas to improve your podcast. Here are 12 lessons.
Why iOS 11 Is Great for Podcasts and Podcasting
Sep 26, 2017
Apple released iOS 11 on September 19 for iPhones and iPads. It brings many new features to support podcasting and improve podcast consumption! Here's what I think you should love.
Should you podcast alone, or get a cohost? Cohosts can make some things easier, some things harder. Here's help you to pick what's right for your podcasting.
Best Podcasting Gear for Event Interviews
Aug 22, 2017
Recording audio or video podcasts at an event can present many challenges. Here's the onsite podcasting equipment I recommend to make your production great!
How to Get Press Access for Your Podcast
Jul 11, 2017
Press access can get you sneak peeks, free trials, and more value for your audience. Here are 11 tips to help your podcast get these special media privileges.
The Powerful Independence of Podcasting
Jul 04, 2017
While Americans celebrate their independence on July 4, we podcasters can celebrate our independence with every episode! Here's what makes the independence of podcasting so powerful.
Apple’s iOS 11, Podcast Analytics, and Podcasting Spec Update
Jun 20, 2017
At the 2017 Worldwide Developer Conference, Apple announced several big changes that will help podcasters and podcast-consumers. Here's what you need to know.
6 Ways to Make Your Content Live Longer
Jun 06, 2017
"Long tail" is when a podcast has a long life of relevance and consumption. Learn how to keep your old episodes alive and use them to grow your audience.
Why and How Your Podcast Needs Loudness Normalization
May 30, 2017
Loudness normalization conforms audio to a perceived loudness level. Learn why that's important in podcasting and how to make your podcast meet the standard.
How to Move Podcast Hosts and Your RSS Feed
May 23, 2017
Moving podcast hosting companies and keeping your subscribers doesn't have to be complicated. Here's what you need to know, especially to avoid losing your entire audience.
Is There an Ideal Length for Podcast Episodes?
May 16, 2017
Episode length is sometimes a heated discussion in podcasting. There's helpful data from different sources. But what's right for your podcast? I'll help you decide!
Preparing for and Learning from Your First Podcast Episode
Apr 04, 2017
To celebrate 300 episodes of The Audacity to Podcast, I'm drawing lessons from this show's first episode to help you launch your podcast better, or learn how you can improve.
8 Ways to Use People for Automation in Podcasting
Mar 21, 2017
People can be wonderful parts of your podcasting team and be so skilled that you simply assign a task and they return amazing results—it's like automation!
13 WordPress-Based Automation Tools for Podcasting
Mar 14, 2017
WordPress is powerful for running your podcast website and it can be the base for automating your podcasting workflow. Here are 13 WordPress plugins to help your podcast automation!
9 Windows- and macOS-Based Automation Tools for Podcasting
Feb 28, 2017
PCs (Windows or macOS) are powerful podcasting tools and ideal for automation. Here are 9 tools for automating many computer-based podcasting workflows.
Regularly evaluating and critiquing your own your podcast, especially from your audience's perspective, will help you improve and grow the podcast. Here are four steps to get you started.
How to Continue Podcasting When Your Life Is Unpredictable
Feb 14, 2017
Life can get crazy and unpredictable. It can be joyous moments like a birth or marriage. It can be sad moments like a death or job loss. It can be trying moments like a move or transition of any kind. Here are 10 tips for keeping your podcast going, despite life's challenges.
7 Ways to Stay Connected with Your Audience During a Podcast Hiatus
Dec 06, 2016
Whether you're planning a holiday break, a seasonal hiatus, or need some time off, here are ways to stay connected with your audience so they will anticipate your show's return.
Should Your Podcast Take a Holiday Break?
Nov 29, 2016
Christmas, New Year's Day, and many more holidays affect people differently. Learn whether you should keep podcasting or take a break during a holiday.
10 Ethical Tips to Monetize Your Podcast with Affiliate Marketing
Oct 11, 2016
Whether podcasting for business or pleasure, affiliate marketing can be a great way to monetize your podcast. Here are 10 tips to help you use it effectively.
What Makes Podcasting More Intimate than Other Media
Aug 30, 2016
Podcasting connects with people in more personal—even more intimate—way than blogging, radio, video, and more. Here are 8 things that make podcasts different.
How to Fix Common Podcast Interview Problems
Aug 16, 2016
Interviews can create good content and share powerful stories across all media. Podcasting is full of interviews with problems, here's how to fix them.
WordPress is the best platform for blogging and podcasting, but it can break sometimes. Here is how to fix the most common problems you may face with WordPress.
How to Fix Common Podcast Recording Problems
Jun 14, 2016
Recording problems can result in noisy, corrupted, or missing audio. Test before anything important! Here are solutions to these common podcasting problems.
How to Fix Common iTunes Podcast Problems
Jun 07, 2016
iTunes is the largest podcast directory and it powers many podcast apps. Here's how to fix the most common podcasting problems you may face with iTunes.
Should You Host Your Own Podcast RSS Feed?
May 24, 2016
Where you host your podcast RSS feed is crucial for ownership and control. Here are some things to consider for whether you should host your feed yourself.
How to Shrink Your Podcast RSS Feed and Why It Matters
May 17, 2016
RSS is the core to distributing your podcast. Here's why the RSS size matters, what affects the feed size, and how to reduce the size of your podcast RSS feed.
Should You Rebrand a Podcast, or Launch a New Show?
May 10, 2016
When changing directions in podcasting, should you rebrand your existing podcast and keep your audience, or launch a new podcast and start over from nothing?
Overcoming the Hardest Things You May Face in Podcasting
Apr 26, 2016
Effective podcasting can be hard work. When hard things come, you may feel like giving up. Here are the hardest things you may face, and some tips for overcoming them.
How to Help the Podcasting Industry Grow
Apr 19, 2016
Don't wait for your friends, family, and people you meet to discover podcasts on their own! Here are six tips to get more people listening to podcasts.
What Good Are Podcast Ratings and Reviews?
Apr 05, 2016
Podcasters often ask for ratings and reviews, and I created My Podcast Reviews to get all your reviews and more. But do ratings and reviews actually matter? Here are 7 ways ratings and reviews are important for your podcast's growth and success.
5 Powerful Ways to Grow Your Podcast’s Audience
Mar 22, 2016
Nearly every podcaster wants a bigger audience. Simply promoting your podcast isn't good enough, you need to actually grow your audience. These five methods will give you the best podcasting growth!
8 Guaranteed Ways to Increase Your Podcast’s Downloads (and Why You Shouldn’t)
Mar 15, 2016
Podcasters often focus on increasing downloads for better stats. These tongue-in-cheek ways will boost your podcast download but not grow your audience.
Apple’s Podcasts Connect and Other Changes for Podcasters (Early 2016)
Mar 01, 2016
In early 2016, Apple launched Podcasts Connect for podcasters to manager their shows in iTunes and the Podcasts apps. Here's more on these podcasting updates.
5 Ways to Optimize Your Podcast Website
Feb 23, 2016
Does your podcast website accomplish what it needs to? Here are five ways to optimize your podcast's site for goals, mobile, SEO, speed, and accessibility.
14 Features Your Podcast Website Needs
Feb 16, 2016
How your website functions is highly influenced by the features you add with plugins and coding. Here are my general recommendations for podcast websites.
6 Needs for Your Podcast’s Website Design or WordPress Theme
Feb 09, 2016
Ensure your podcast website is designed with these six things to help grow your audience, engage better, and build your authority. These will help you whether you're hiring a designer, choosing a WordPress theme, or using a website-builder.
5 New Year’s Resolutions for Podcasters
Dec 29, 2015
It's the new year and this is a time for many New Year's resolutions. Here are five podcasting resolutions I suggest for your podcast in the coming 365 days.
8 Things to Make Easier for Your Podcast Audience
Dec 15, 2015
Discovery may not be the biggest problem you face in growing your podcast. It could be that your podcast isn't easy! Here are 8 podcasting tips to help you reach your audience better.
Addressing Controversy in Your Podcast with “LAURA”
Dec 08, 2015
There are controversial issues in every industry, including those covered by podcasting. Remember "LAURA" when you need to discuss controversy in your podcast.
How to Optimize Your Podcasting Studio for Good Video
Oct 20, 2015
Recording video (for podcasting, YouTube, etc.) adds several layers of complexity over audio. Here are 6 tips for getting better video from your studio.
How to Optimize Your Podcasting Studio for Good Audio
Oct 13, 2015
Whatever space you use for podcasting might need a little work on the acoustics to help your podcasts sound better. Here are 6 tips to get you started improving your "studio" for audio.
Podcasting costs money. Before you spend more money on podcasting gear and other podcast resources, learn how to create a podcasting budget and stay within it.
How Creation vs. Evolution Theories Affect Your Podcasting
Sep 29, 2015
This is not a debate between scientific theories and interpretations of evidence, but it's about your approach toward expectations and efforts in growing your podcast.
10 Tips for Streaming Live Shows - TAP236
Sep 22, 2015
Periscope and Blab have brought fresh attention to live-streaming. These tips will help you host a better live show regardless of what technology you use.
How Podcasters’ Society will help you grow your podcast from average to amazing
Aug 25, 2015
I'm thrilled to announce the launch of Podcasters' Society—an exclusive podcasting community for podcasters like you to equip and encourage you to improve your podcasts.
When to Upgrade Your Podcasting Tools
Aug 18, 2015
Microphones, mixers, software, and more podcasting tools can help you podcast better, but here are 5 ways to decide when it's worth upgrading your podcast equipment.
What Is Your Biggest Lesson from Podcasting?
Aug 04, 2015
Hear great podcasters share their biggest personal, business, and other lessons they have learned from podcasts and podcasting. Recorded live at Podcast Movement 2015.
How to Get the Most from Podcasting and Social-Media Conferences
Jul 28, 2015
Conferences are wonderful for networking, learning, and presenting. Here are 21 tips for getting the most from any kind of podcasting or social-media conference or event you may attend.
Your WordPress website is crashing, slowing down, or your PowerPress podcast RSS feed is broken. Try these 11 tips to diagnose and repair the most common problems for bloggers and podcasters.
5 lessons from 5 years of professional podcasting
Jun 16, 2015
The Audacity to Podcast is now five years old. These are the biggest five lessons I learned from taking podcasting seriously and professionally for the last five years.
The Future of Podcasting (keynote from Podcast Midwest 2015)
Jun 09, 2015
The future of podcasting is more than "more": more podcasts, more podcasters, more money, more Android/iPhone, etc. I presented this as the opening keynote for Podcast Midwest 2015 in Chicago. Big thanks to Dan Franks and Jared Easley for inviting me to speak.
8 tools for collaborating with podcast guests and cohosts
May 19, 2015
Collaboration is important when podcasting with guests or cohosts. These free and premium tools will help your plan your episodes and show notes better!
Are you podcasting as an amateur, professional, hobbyist, or entrepreneur?
May 04, 2015
It seems that podcasts split themselves into two sides: "amateur" and "professional." But are these really the right labels? How should this affect how you podcast?
Thoughts from Podcast Awards, NMX, and NAB Show 2015
Apr 28, 2015
There were many great topics, podcasting gear, video equipment, and conversations at New Media Expo (NMX) and the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) Show. Here are my biggest thoughts and takeaways.
Celebrate Audacity's 15th birthday early with version 2.1.0! This introduces real-time effects previews, better monitoring meters, a new and improved noise-reduction effect, support for Mac OS X 10.10 Yosemite, and more!
How to make your podcast mobile-friendly
Mar 23, 2015
People are listening to, watching, and subscribing to podcasts more on mobile devices than anything else. Here are nine things to make your podcast mobile-friendly.
What to do when your podcast isn’t going well
Mar 16, 2015
Whether a single podcast episode or a whole podcast series, there will be moments when something isn't going well. Here's how you can rescue your podcast.
Podcasting attracts all kinds of individuals: purists, hobbyists, marketers, traditional broadcasters, wannabe entrepreneurs, and more. Some get into podcasting specifically to make money, some hope just to cover expenses, and some have no plans to monetize and may even believe the art should remain free of cost and advertising. Thus, we raise the question, should we even try monetizing a podcast?
3 approaches to podcasting that could make or break your success
Mar 02, 2015
Whether you're already podcasting or about to start podcasting, how you approach your show could contribute to success or failure. Here are three approaches you can take, and how to work best with each of them.
12 ways to use an iPad or Android tablet with podcasting
Feb 17, 2015
Podcasting with an iPad or Android tablet is possible, but have you consider adding a tablet to your current podcasting workflow? Here's how to use a tablet with your podcast!
How ethical are your podcast promotion, profit, promises, and pride? This is a free-flowing episode where I share my genuine thoughts on these issues, after being an "innocent accomplice" to unethical Twitter-bombing.
The 4 cornerstones of a great podcast
Jan 26, 2015
Content, presentation, production, and promotion. These are the four cornerstones for a great podcast. A lack of quality in these could hurt the growth of your podcast. But improve these cornerstones and you will grow your podcast.
How to set and achieve SMART goals for your podcast
Jan 05, 2015
What goals do you have for your podcast? Are they specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-based? Learn how to set and achieve your goals with your podcast!
Achieving massive success through podcasting (with John Lee Dumas)
Nov 24, 2014
To celebrate the 200th episode of my podcast about podcasting, I talk with John Lee Dumas about his massive podcasting success and pull tips and tricks we can use to grow our own podcasts.
13 Ways to Use an Email List for Your Podcast
Nov 11, 2014
Email lists aren't just for marketing. They provide a direct and highly actionable connection with your audience. I now recommend that all podcasters have an email list, and here's how you can use it!
8 household items to help you podcast better
Nov 03, 2014
Before you spend money on expensive podcasting gear, you may already have things in your home or office that can improve the quality of your podcast. Add you own suggestions and stories in the comments!
The 5 PowerPress podcast feeds and when to use them
Oct 28, 2014
The Blubrry PowerPress podcasting plugin gives five methods for creating your podcast RSS feed from WordPress. Here's what each one means and when you should use them.
How to brainstorm future podcast topics
Oct 21, 2014
Your podcast needs a plan if you hope to reach any success. I often suggest making a list of topics for podcasting, and here are 4 ways to plan your upcoming podcast topics—whether you're already podcasting or just launching your podcast.
9 podcasting news highlights from September, 2014
Oct 06, 2014
September was a big month for podcasting (and also seen as the 10-year anniversary). Here are the nine podcasting news items you should not have missed!
What Can You Accomplish with a Podcast?
Sep 29, 2014
Podcasting is an amazing tool by which anyone can use their voice to change the world! In celebration of National Podcast Day, I'll share four amazing things you can accomplish with a podcast.
Podcast cover art is often a potential subscriber's first impression of your podcast. Here are the technical specs and ten elements of great podcast artwork.
How to Deal with Negative Podcast Reviews (and Other Negative Feedback)
Sep 15, 2014
The more popular you get, the more likely you'll receive some negative feedback: a scathing 1-star iTunes review, a nasty email, or mean comments. Here are 10 ways to deal with this negative feedback toward your blog or podcast.
How to use a text-expander for faster podcasting
Sep 08, 2014
A text-expander lets you type a few characters and then expands out to full text. Here are ten ways to use TextExpander for OS X or PhraseExpress for Windows to podcast faster.
How much time does it take to podcast?
Sep 02, 2014
Happy Labor Day! In celebration of this American holiday, I'll share how much you should expect podcasting to take, how to speed up your workflow, and how I work with my podcasts.
10 ways to use YouTube with podcasting and growing an audience
Aug 11, 2014
YouTube is not a podcasting platform, but podcasters can still use YouTube WITH podcasting. As another point of distribution, YouTube can help with search-engine optimization (SEO), growing your podcast audience, and complementing your platform.
25 free podcasting tools as good as their paid alternatives
Aug 04, 2014
Popular, free podcasting tools you can use to create, host, and grow your podcast without buying the premium alternatives. Audio, video, website, and more tools to help you be a successful podcaster without having to be rich.
Should you podcast under your real name, or a pseudonym?
Jul 22, 2014
Some podcasters will consider using a fake name for themselves to protect their identity while podcasting. This also applies to blogging and making YouTube videos. Learn more about when a pseudonym is a good idea and when it would be the wrong decision for your blog, podcast, YouTube channel, or any online branding.
Are you really a “podcaster” and should you really be podcasting?
Jul 14, 2014
Is "podcast" really the right label for the content we produce? Can just any audio or video content on the Internet be a podcast? And is podcasting really the thing you should be doing for your hobby or business?
Does your podcast NEED interaction or an email list?
Jul 07, 2014
Interaction often sets podcasting apart from traditional media. Podcast listeners have learned that hosts are generally responsive and feedback is often included. But do you need to interact in order to have a successful podcast?
Marketers are always talking about the importance of building your email list. Many will even cite their list (usually a very big one) as being the source for millions of dollars in sales. Do you really need an email list for you podcast?
Is iTunes really THE place for podcasts? Do you NEED a mobile app?
Jun 30, 2014
Most podcasters will consider iTunes as the podcast directory. But should you stop there? Or should you even bother with iTunes and get a mobile app for your podcast instead?
Does SEO really matter in podcasting?
Jun 23, 2014
Everyone talks about your search-engine optimization (SEO) with _every_ platform on the web. But does SEO really matter if you host a podcast instead of blogging?
Do you REALLY need audio/visual branding or promos for your podcast?
Jun 10, 2014
You've probably considered your branding and promos as tools to grow your podcast audience, or to look and sound better. But are these worth the costs, or might there be better ways to reach these podcasting goals?
Should you launch your podcast with Episode 0? Does iTunes New and Noteworthy REALLY matter?
Jun 02, 2014
"Episode 0" is a common strategy to help you launch your podcast in iTunes and help you get into "New & Noteworthy." But do either of these actually matter for starting your podcast?
Does audio/video quality ACTUALLY matter? Is a dynamic mic REALLY the best?
May 19, 2014
The quality of your podcast production may be a criterion people use for choosing their podcasts, but how much does it really matter? Dynamic microphones are also praised as the best microphones (with the Heil PR40 being the "golden standard"). But is this really the kind of microphone you should consider?
Do you REALLY need passion? Is consistency THAT important?
May 12, 2014
Passion and consistency are two qualities that most podcasters herald as requirements for podcasting. But do you really need these qualities to succeed with your podcast? Let's challenge this podcasting assumption and find out!
Does audience size REALLY matter? Should you REALLY monetize?
May 05, 2014
It seems every podcaster wants a big audience and wants sponsorships. But do you really need either of these to be successful? Can you make money with a small audience? Should you really try to get sponsors with a big audience?
Do you REALLY need podcast stats or media hosting?
Apr 28, 2014
Stats help you measure your audience and performance. Media hosting moves your podcast files away from your website server. But are either of these services really necessary for podcasting?
Do you REALLY need a website and WordPress for podcasting?
Apr 21, 2014
I usually recommend self-hosted WordPress for podcasting from your own website, and so do many other professionals. But is this really the best option for running your podcast and creating your podcast RSS feed?
How to host multiple podcasts on a single website
Apr 14, 2014
How to setup WordPress and PowerPress to let your one website host several podcasts. Learn about custom channels, category podcasting, and third-party providers. This topic was requested by Jonathan Downham from The Critical Care Practitioner Podcast. Consider before you start another podcast Starting another podcast can be fun, but also stressful. I previously shared 16 things...
5 steps to pick what you should podcast about
Apr 07, 2014
Choosing the right topic for your podcast can seem difficult. Here are five questions to ask yourself with picking the right ideas for your future podcasting.
10 super-simple tricks for speeding up your podcasting workflow
Mar 24, 2014
Imagine publishing podcast episodes faster! These simple hacks will improve your podcasting workflow in the little details. Each of these may take only a few minutes to setup and may not seem to save much time. But even saving 30 seconds per day adds up to more than two hours per year.
6 P’s for a Proven Podcasting Workflow
Mar 17, 2014
How do you podcast from nothing to a finished, publicized episode? Here are six main steps with key implementations to make a podcasting workflow like the professionals!
Should your podcast be audio, or video?
Mar 04, 2014
Whether you're a new or experienced podcaster, you may face the decision of whether to be in audio or video podcasting. Here are the pros and cons of each format, and things you should consider.
11 web pages your podcast needs and how to create them
Feb 17, 2014
Your podcast website should house more than just your episode archive. Here are eleven pages to make your website better for you, your audience, and even sponsors! I recommend tools (some free, some premium) for making these pages.
Back to basics! This isn't a detailed process for how to edit episodes, setup your website, or get into iTunes. These are the core 10 principles for starting a podcast, even if it's not your first time!
Should you cover the same niche as someone else?
Feb 03, 2014
It's great to be the first person in a niche. But don't be discouraged if you're not. Consider the following seven points to help you embrace your differences, despite the existing "competition," or find a better niche for your blog or podcast.
Don't get discouraged when something goes terribly wrong and you're ashamed to release something you've recorded. Try these five tips for handling these potentially embarrassing mistakes in podcasting.
Sickness hits almost everyone at some point. Consider these five questions before you press record. (Remember that I can't give medical advice, so these are things for you to consider and decide for yourself or ask a doctor.) 1. Would it hurt your recovery? Rest is one of the best ways to treat almost any...
Your Podcasting Successes in 2013 and Goals for 2014
Jan 14, 2014
Recorded live from New Media Expo 2014, today's episode talks about a lot of feedbacks from the Podcasters themselves about their podcast success in 2013, as well as their goals for this year. It was definitely great hearing people say, “I'm podcasting now!” George Jackson from The Sci-fi Super Friends Podcast 2013 success: Learned and build a...
Top 10 podcasting news highlights from 2013
Dec 30, 2013
Podcasting continues to grow and 2013 is no exception. Here is a 2013 podcasting year in review. Sponsored by: Dropcam.com watch life High-Def streaming of your home or anywhere. Ongoing podcasting growth 2013 showed many areas of podcasting that continue to grow. These aren't unique to 2013, but they all show that the podcasting industry...
Being serious and professional about your podcast will help you get sponsors (and make money!), grow your audience, and strengthen your authority—even if you're a hobbyist podcaster! Learn how to podcast like you mean it!
Whether you're on the edge of podfading, or you just want some more excitement in your podcast, injecting some fun can help reignite the passion. Here's how to podcast and have fun doing it, too!
9 considerations for podcasting headphones
Nov 18, 2013
Headphones can help you record and edit your podcast better. Picking the right headphones is a highly subjective process, but here are nine things you should consider before buying headphones for your podcast.
A podcaster’s biggest mistakes and how you can avoid them
Nov 11, 2013
Since I first learned how to podcast, I've made my own share of mistakes (we were all newbies at one point). In celebration of my 150th episode, I share my top mistakes, and how you can avoid making the same mistakes, or fix them if you're too late. Get ready, because this is a long episode!
10 email and web addresses every podcast needs
Nov 04, 2013
Successful podcasting isn't just about what you share in your episodes, but also what makes the entire experience easy, professional, and effective. Check out my ten suggestions for the email addresses and webpages your podcast needs.
What to do when you’re out of podcast hosting space
Oct 14, 2013
Podcast hosting can be a valuable asset, especially when you have a limited upload plan (as with most media hosts). When you fill up your monthly media upload limit, you still have a few options.
Should you script, ad-lib, or outline your podcast episodes?
Oct 07, 2013
Whether you're launching your first podcast, or thinking of reformatting the one you have, you should think a lot about how you will present your content.
How to Back Up Your Podcasts, WordPress Website, and More
Sep 16, 2013
You never realize how important quality backups are until you desperately need them. Here are several ways you can (and should) backup your podcasts, website, and even personal computer.
7 Audacity features you’ll miss in Adobe Audition
Aug 26, 2013
I don't regret moving from Audacity to Adobe Audition for podcast editing. But there are several Audacity tools I wish expensive Audition had or worked as well as Audacity's.
Should you use profanity in your podcast?
Aug 12, 2013
Profanity is a controversial subject in podcasting. If you're the type to use foul or explicit language, consider several important things before you include this in your podcast.
8 ways people consume podcasts and how to make a better experience
Jul 22, 2013
Podcasts are watched or listened to in a variety of ways and places that you may not expect. Forgetting these things could make you podcast difficult to consume and thus annoy your audience.
5 WordPress plugins for faster blogging and podcasting
Jul 16, 2013
Speed up your blogging and podcasting workflow with these five great WordPress plugins. They'll reduce your steps, optimize your site, and save lots of time.
No matter how you podcast, it needs to be hosted somewhere. You should have web hosting and media hosting that will grow with your podcast. I'll suggest your best options to consider.
How to Prevent Podfading and Podcasting Burnout
Jul 01, 2013
Podcasting is supposed to be full of passion. But what happens if you feel burned out and want to quit, or you can feel that coming? I share 10 tips to prevent the podcasting burnout, or save yourself from it.
Apple recently previewed the upcoming version of its mobile operating system, iOS 7. This version is a radical redesign from previous versions, but comes with some things that affect podcasters.
4 reasons podcasters should be blogging (with Ms. Ileane)
Jun 10, 2013
If you're focusing on only podcasting, you could be missing huge potential to grow your audience! My guest Ms. Ileane from BasicBlogTips.com will inspire you to add blogging to your podcast strategy.
5 reasons your podcast audience isn’t growing
May 20, 2013
Podcasters always want to know how to get more listeners or viewers. But you should also consider what you may be doing that is preventing you from growing your audience.
How to Change Your Podcast Information in iTunes/Apple Podcasts
May 13, 2013
Everything about how your show is listed in the iTunes podcast directory (and many other podcast directories) is pulled directly from your RSS feed. Here's what you need to know to change the information.
When should your podcast have its own forum?
Apr 22, 2013
You've probably thought about starting a forum for your podcast. This can often be an amazing thing for your podcast. Consider these things before you launch a forum for your podcast.
Niche podcasting for 100s of episodes, with Dave Jackson
Apr 15, 2013
As the original podcaster about podcasting, Dave Jackson has seen a lot of change in the industry. We talk about his experience, where podcasts are going, how to make money podcasting, and share some podcasting tips.
10 cheap accessories every podcaster should have
Apr 08, 2013
It's fun to talk about the big equipment podcasters use: microphones, mixers, software, cameras, and so on. But having a supply of these small accessories will keep you sane when you try to podcast.
How to extract audio clips from movies and TV shows with Audacity
Apr 01, 2013
Audacity can't edit videos, but it can edit the audio from videos. It's easy to import audio into an audio-editor for grabbing sound clips. I found this to be better than my previous analog recording workflow.
See and hear the difference between popular microphones for audio and video podcasting: Heil PR40, Audio-Technica ATR2100-USB, Nady SP-1, and the Giant Squid Audio Lab lavalier.
6 best online communities for podcasters, plus etiquette tips
Mar 18, 2013
Podcasters like to hang out with other podcasters and get help, learn about the tools, and share their experience. I think these are the best forums for talking about podcasting.
How to add or change your podcast cover art
Mar 13, 2013
Apple recently emailed podcasters to remind them (again) about the requirements for being featured in iTunes. The language is very specific for easily misunderstood. I'll explain this for you and tell you how you can change your podcast cover art or add some if you don't already have it.
20+ podcasting tools worth paying for
Mar 04, 2013
Learn recommendations for audio equipment, software, plugins, and other podcasting gear that are worth spending money to get. These will improve your podcast!
Having a regular cohost in your podcast can make your podcast more conversational, personal, and more thorough with alternative perspectives. These tips will help you to podcast with others.
16 things you should consider before launching another podcast
Feb 12, 2013
There comes a time in every podcaster's life when he or she wants to start another podcast. These questions and tips will help you determine whether it's right for you, and how to start well.
Podcasting News: Audacity 2.0.3, PowerPress update, patent lawsuit, SpeakPipe, and New Media Expo
Jan 28, 2013
Hear the latest about Audacity's update, an important security update for PowerPress, the "podcasting patent" from Personal Audio, SpeakPipe's new paid plans, New Media Expo, and more in this "eleventy-first" podcast episode.
4 ways to create community—not competition—with other podcasters
Dec 17, 2012
"Peace on earth" is great, but podcast rivalry or antagonism can be painful and counterproductive. Instead, use these tips to build community among others podcasting in your niche.
How podcasting breaks and frequency affect subscribers
Dec 10, 2012
Sometimes, you need a break from podcasting, whether planned or unexpected. Here are some tips for handling this with the least negative affect on your viewers or listeners.
7 reasons I’m switching from Audacity to Audition (and why you shouldn’t)
Dec 03, 2012
Audacity is free and Adobe Audition is $349. Are there really benefits to Audition that are worth the big price tag? I share why Audition may be best for my podcasting workflow, but why you probably shouldn't switch.
Podcasters and bloggers love feedback from their audience, but are you providing enough or the right ways for your listeners/readers to share their opinions?
Learn eight options you can add for your community to share their perspective with you.
A behind-the-scenes look at complicated podcast episodes
Oct 21, 2012
Hear from the inside and hindsight of how Daniel planned and organized the massive 100th episode, and hear tips for working with any other complicated podcast with lots of feedback, notes, and ideas.
Top 5 reasons to use an external recorder for podcasting
Oct 08, 2012
External audio recorders provide many benefits and greater reliability over recording into PCs. Although recording directly into a computer can often be fine for podcasting, here are five reasons you may want to podcast with an external recorder.
Snapping in Audacity, podcast frequency, ending a podcast, and MP3 file sizes
Oct 01, 2012
Get podcasting answers on how to turn off selection snapping in Audacity, whether podcasting less than weekly hurts, how to end a limited-episode podcast and not be removed from iTunes, and how to reduce MP3 file sizes.
How to leave FeedBurner [in-depth audio]
Sep 25, 2012
Bloggers and podcasters are panicing that Google could be shutting down FeedBurner. I don't believe that will happen, but these steps will explain how you can move anyway.
How to organize audio/video podcast projects
Jul 30, 2012
Recording into Audacity can be fun and easy. But organizing the projects, especially if you have many episodes, can seem overwhelming. Here are several tips to help you organize your thoughts, files, and editing software.
Is FeedBurner still necessary for blogging and podcasting?
Jul 23, 2012
Is FeedBurner still relevant and useful to bloggers and podcasters? I share 8 things FeedBurner can do, and 8 things it can't or shouldn't do, and let you decide based on your needs.
4 steps to make every podcast voicemail feedback better
Jun 25, 2012
Podcasters know how exciting it is to receive a voicemail! With some basic editing, these voicemail messages can also be enjoyable for the rest of your listeners.
All of these ideas and tips will apply in any audio-editing software, but I focus on Audacity's specifics in the audio podcast, so make sure you listen to hear all the details!
New iTunes specs for podcasting and PowerPress 4.0
May 28, 2012
Learn about Apple's new podcast specs for iTunes, what this means for podcasters (especially the new cover art recommendation), and how PowerPress 4.0 meets these needs and adds new features.
5 tips to sound great with ANY microphone
May 21, 2012
Simple mic technique can fix your podcast from sounding cheap and amateur to far more professional. Apply these five simple tricks to sound better podcasting!
Turning a podcast into a business (with Gordon Firemark)
May 07, 2012
Want to earn money, get tax benefits, or gain press access with your podcast? Then you need these legal answers with Gordon Firemark. He also shares what to do when you get a lawyer letter.
Why you need your own privacy policies, disclosures, and releases for blogging or podcasting
Apr 30, 2012
How to easily make a privacy policy and what it should contain, how to get releases for your cohosts and guests, necessary disclaimers and disclosures, and how to avoid defamation. Legal answers with Gordon Firemark.
Trademarks for Bloggers and Podcasters (with Gordon Firemark)
Apr 23, 2012
Show you claim something as a trademark? Do you have to register trademarks? How can we protect trademarks in social media? And more trademark questions answered by entertainment lawyer Gordon Firemark.
Copyright laws for bloggers and podcasters
Apr 16, 2012
Can you use copyrighted material in your personal podcast? What about "fair use"? And more copyright questions answered by entertainment lawyer Gordon Firemark.
7 free and easy ways to give your podcast new life
Apr 09, 2012
It may feel like your podcast is dying. That doesn't always mean it's time to quit. Sometimes, your podcast just needs a bit of new life! If you have extra money to spend, I also include some bonus tips.
This is more than just finding content for your podcast, but bringing new inspiration and flavor to what is still your passion.
New SEO for Google, Audacity 2.0, New iPad, Mobile-Friendly [podcasting news]
Mar 19, 2012
Is your blog or podcast ready for Google's new algorithm? Should you update to Audacity 2.0? What the new iPad means for podcasters. Becoming mobile-friendly.
How to Use PowerPress to Setup Your WordPress Blog for Podcasting
Mar 12, 2012
Learn how to setup Blubrry's PowerPress plugin for WordPress, including feed and iTunes settings, category podcasting, channels, and how to attach podcast episodes.
Top Podcast Directories and How to Get in Them
Feb 20, 2012
The worldwide web is a big place and having your podcast on just your website will prevent you from growing an audience—or getting one in the first place.
Podcasting Stuff You MUST Get Right the First Time
Feb 13, 2012
Podcasters don't have to be perfect, and it's easy to fix most of our mistakes. But here are thirteen things that you can't fix later if you don't get it right when you start podcasting. Most of these apply to blogs, too.
11 Ways to Use Twitter to Promote Your Blog or Podcast
Feb 06, 2012
Twitter can be a tool to find, grow, and mature your audience, as well as a great way to promote your blogging and podcasting. Here are eleven ways to help you succeed!
Live calls, chatrooms, Audacity plugins, and podcast cards [Feedback]
Jan 30, 2012
How to take live phone or Skype calls, managing Audacity plugins, effectiveness of podcast cards, live-streaming a Skype conversation, how to get a chatroom, and multiple USB mics/inputs on Windows.
The contestants: Audacity's built-in compressor, Chris's Dynamic Compressor, C3 Multiband Compressor, and Levelator. I was personally surprised by the winner.
11 Ways to Improve Your Blog or Podcast in 2012
Jan 02, 2012
While everyone is making New Year's Resolutions in their personal lives, think about how you can improve your blogging and podcasting passions in 2012. Here are eleven suggestions.
9 Tips for How to Grow Your Audience by Attending Social-Media Events
Oct 24, 2011
In-person social-media events are a lot of fun and can be opportunities to grow your audience. Learn 9 tips for taking advantage of these events without being a spammer.
How to Setup and Use Feedburner for Blogging or Podcasting
Oct 11, 2011
Feedburner provides useful subscription stats and powerful overrides that any blogger or podcaster can use. Learn how to setup Feedburner with your WordPress website for your blog or podcast.
Productivity Tips for Podcasters, with Stever Robbins (@GetItDoneGuy)
Aug 29, 2011
Stever Robins has 180,000 listeners to his personal-productivity podcast. He shares several tips and tricks for podcasters to be productive in their podcasting.
9 must-haves for a live-streaming page
Aug 22, 2011
Your podcast's live page shouldn't be merely another page on your site. This page needs special content and optimization to be effective. Learn nine things you should include on this page.
How to Podcast Live: 5 Reasons, 4 Cautions
Jul 18, 2011
This is the launch of a miniseries about live-podcasting. Before we get into the "how to podcast live" specifics, it's best to answer why you should podcast live.
WordPress Plugins for Podcasting (or Blogging)
Jul 11, 2011
My favorite WordPress plugins that enable me to effectively podcast. This is not just another list of plugins that all do the same thing, but each plugin has a special purpose and all work together.
10 Tips for How to Keep Audacity from Crashing
Jun 27, 2011
I have almost never had problems with Audacity, except when I did something stupid. If you'd like similar success, try these and share any suggestions and experience you have.
5 Ways to Make Money from Your Podcast or Blog
Jun 14, 2011
Whether you have a small or large podcast, you can make money from it. While this is not an exhaustive list, Daniel J. Lewis shares his top five ways to monetize the content you're posting on the Internet in your podcast or blog.
5 Steps to an Effective (Podcast) Website
May 17, 2011
Your website is the Internet home for your podcast. Here are several easy things you can do to make your website appeal to gain more listeners and make it easier for current subscribers.
3 Ways to Record Multiple Onsite Podcast Hosts
May 03, 2011
Learn how to effectively use three ways of recording more than one person in a podcast, and how to avoid ineffective ineffective applications of the same three ways.
What’s New in Audacity 1.3.13 (with screenshots)
Apr 19, 2011
I share the full list of changes in Audacity 1.3.13 and personal experience with several of them. Ron Eastwood shared a fun special effect in Audacity.
How to Have an Effective Podcast Intro/Opening
Feb 03, 2011
How you open your podcast episodes could be turning people away from your podcast. I share eleven potential elements of an opening/intro, examples, and my suggestions for an effective podcast opening.
Sports Sounds Pro, Giving Back to Podcasters, and Making Friends [Feedback]
Jan 12, 2011
I comment on feedback regarding another sound cart manager (soundboard), friends made through podcasting, listeners giving back to podcasters, and a podcasting goal for 2011.
Audacity tip: importing M4A (AAC), WMA, FLAC, and other special audio files.
How to make your podcast shownotes easy to get to
Dec 08, 2010
The accessibility of podcast shownotes is important, but forgotten by most podcasters. Learn how to make short, easy-to-use URLs with Pretty Link for each of your podcast episodes.
How to Insert Background Music or Sound Effects in Audacity
Dec 02, 2010
I focus completely on Audacity in this episode! This time, I share a brief explanation of copyright laws for podcasters, where to get music and sound effects, and three ways to work with background music or sound effects in your podcast.
6 Tips for Picking a Good Domain for Your Podcast or Website
Nov 03, 2010
Your domain is one of the most-important parts of your branding, and it’s how people will get to your website from anything other than a hyperlink. I share six tips for creating your domain.
New Feedburner, Facebook RSS Graffiti, GarageBand ’11, and More
Oct 26, 2010
Google updated Feedburner with mostly real-time stats, Apple released GarageBand '11, easily get your podcast into Facebook with RSS Graffiti, TechPodcasts Network, Podcast Awards, and a fellow podcaster launches Podcast Starter.
Audacity tip: finding answers in the Audacity Wiki.
How to Prerecord Episodes with Audacity and WordPress
Oct 06, 2010
During my honeymoon, I had several episodes of the Ramen Noodle and The Audacity to Podcast automatically post. How can you prerecord and schedule your episodes to magically post while you are away? I share some tips for workflow, Audacity, and WordPress.
This week's Audacity tip is the power of the pause button.
Podcasting without Passion, Organization, or Dialog?
Sep 25, 2010
I'm back from my wedding and honeymoon, but still settling in with my wife. This is another prerecorded episode that started with a question about podcasting without passion.
Interview with Fred Castaneda of Struggling Entrepreneur, Part 2
Sep 16, 2010
While I'm on my honeymoon, I have a two-part conversation with Fred Casteneda, a podcasting machine! We talk about his passion, organization, and dialog in his podcasting empire. This is part 2 of our previous conversation.
Interview with Fred Castaneda of Struggling Entrepreneur, Part 1
Sep 09, 2010
While I'm on my honeymoon, I have a two-part conversation with Fred Casteneda, a podcasting machine! We talk about his passion, organization, and dialog in his podcasting empire.
Noise is probably the most-common problem in amateur podcasts. Professional podcasts sound great not just because of the equipment, but also because of techniques. Learn some ways to reduce noise before and after you record.
Website Stats and Feedburner’s RSS Subscriber Stats
Aug 05, 2010
You have probably heard a lot of false things about stats, especially Feedburner's RSS stats. I'm here to tell you the truth! Make sure you listen to the episode because I explain everything in much more detail than I'm writing in the shownotes.
Stop making crappy MP3s with Audacity and LAME! I tell you how to encode MP3s the way LAME was designed to, so you get a great audio quality and small file size.
Live-Podcasting Questions and Answers
Jul 08, 2010
After several live podcasts at PodCamp Ohio, I hosted a panel with most of the podcast hosts as we discuss our equipment and workflow for live-podcasting.
Don't think that you have to spend thousands of dollars to launch your podcast! I give you some tips for podcasting decently with the cheapest equipment.
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