The listeners are the lifeblood of your show. So shouldn't you spend time thinking about how they interact with your podcast's content? Understanding the listener experience -- and then optimizing that experience -- is often the difference between podcasts that grow and those that fail to thrive.
March 24, 2022
Ways To Make Your Podcast More MemorableWhen people complete your latest podcast episode, what do you want them to do? Reflect on your brilliance? Bask in a sense of satisfaction? Or would simply remembering what you said 5 minutes later be enough?
March 23, 2022
A Glimpse of Podcasting's Voice-Only FuturePodcasting is an audio-first medium consumed on devices that have built-in microphones. Yet the listening experience is reliant on eyes and hands. What would a voice-only listener experience look like?
March 15, 2022
Where's The Churn Rate In Podcasting?Podcasters love regular listeners. And regular listeners love their podcasts. Dependability on both sides has been a driving and differentiating factor for podcasting. But is that still a good thing?
March 7, 2022
Building Reflecting Time Into Your PodcastEveryone leads busy lives, and the smart podcaster doesn't waste their audiences' time. But in your quest to tighten things up, don't forget to build in time to let your audience reflect as they listen.
January 26, 2022
The Not So Sad World Of Podcast Follower RemorseYour podcast is followed by lots of people who don't listen. So is mine. So is everyones. Is that a problem to be solved? Or just a reflection of the complex relationship people have with on-demand content?
January 19, 2022
Solving Your Audience's Problems With Your PodcastWe don't often think of listening to podcasts as problem-solving, but it happens. A smart podcaster knows how to present solutions to their audience, as well as who else is helping solve their same problems.
January 11, 2022
Will We Ever Get Better Podcast Engagement?Few things make podcasters happier than a slew of emails from deeply engaged listeners filled with praise for the latest episode. Good work if you can get it. But should you expect and encourage it?
October 12, 2021
Showcasing The Best Episodes Of Your PodcastYou can’t judge a book by its cover. But our podcasts are judged by a single episode—our most recent. It’d be better if we were judged by a collection of our best episodes. But how would we do that?
August 19, 2021
A Podcast Listening App You Can Proudly RecommendWe know that the podcast listening experience matters. And we know the big podcast apps don’t seem to share that sentiment. It’s time for working podcasters like you to do something intentional about it.
July 15, 2021
Refreshing Your Podcast For A New SeasonWho says you can’t teach an old podcasting dog new podcasting tricks? The start of a new season is a great way to introduce fresh ideas and collaboration opportunities to your podcast listeners.
May 5, 2021
Getting Fickle Podcast Listeners To Listen MoreA little digging into your podcast’s stats will show a good number of your listeners are… well, fickle. Before you can convert them to loyal listeners, you have to get them listening to more episodes.
April 26, 2021
Updating Your Podcast Listener Experience AssumptionsListener expectations are dynamic. Coupled with the sweeping changes to podcasting over the last few years, podcasters can’t afford an outdated view of what we think it takes to build loyal listeners.
March 29, 2021
Taking The Creepy Out Of Personalized PodcastsPersonalization of podcasts is filled with pitfalls, including a well-deserved reputation of being creepy. But the true benefits of personalized podcasting have nothing to do with making ads better.
February 3, 2021
The Gateway Drug To Podcasting Is YouPodcasting may look hot, but it’s still one of the slowest growing mediums ever. As podcasters, we’re partly to blame. Here’s how we can fix that without changing how we make our own shows.
January 21, 2021
Living Up To The Promises You Made With Your PodcastPodcasters often promise the moon if only you’ll listen to their show. Podcasts often deliver on that promise. But sometimes, promises need to be reexamined to keep both podcaster and listener happy.
January 19, 2021
Blending Listener Emotions For A Better PodcastIntentional or not, your listeners have feelings for your podcast. Understanding how your episodes influence their emotional state is key to strengthening their connection to your show.
October 6, 2020
Milking Your Podcast's Popularity For All It’s WorthPodcasters have a myopic view of metrics, often putting the greatest import on statistics that matter the least to the people who matter the most - our listeners. Here’s how to do better for your show.
July 30, 2020
Confronting Your Podcast's Avatar From The InsideIf you make a podcast for everyone, you’ve made it for no one. So you focus, carefully defining your avatar. But in your refinement, you might have left out an important voice by mistake.
July 27, 2020
Solving Podcasting's Linear Listening ProblemPodcasters tend to obsess over “discoverability”. But a bigger problem might be impenetrability, a problem that neither the podcast media hosts nor the apps listeners use are helping to solve. Yet.
July 7, 2020
Is Podcast Listening Too Big Of An Ask?Given what we know about how people use the internet, it’s surprising podcasting works at all. Or perhaps explains why, for many struggling shows, it doesn’t. Today, it’s about trust, timely data, or infotainment.
May 6, 2020
Putting The Simple Back In Podcast RSS Feeds Subscribing to a podcast should lead to frictionless listening. That’s true for present and future episodes, but what about those from the past? It may be time for us to move past our one-size-fits-all approach to feed management.
May 4, 2020
Podcast Episode Management For TomorrowA new listener discovers an episode of your podcast and loves it. They want more but don’t really want (or need) to run backward through 300 episodes. Sadly, it’s all they can do. Today.
March 23, 2020
Why Podcast Listening Won't Ever Return To NormalSobering opinion: The habits people formed around podcast listening are changing and will be forever changed. This isn’t the new normal. Just new. Normal is -- and always has been -- an illusion. #thisisthenew
September 3, 2019
Be Where Today's Podcast Listeners Expect You To BePeople brand new to podcasting are from Mars, while us podcasting veterans are from Venus. No, we can't meet in the middle. We need to get our asses to Mars! (👈 Total Recall reference for the uninitiated)
July 11, 2019
Appeasing The Fickle Podcast ListenerIt should be easy for people who know how to listen to podcasts to listen to your podcast. No education required, right? I agree with you that it should be easy. But only if you’re doing your part, podcaster.
June 17, 2019
Sharing Is Caring (About Your Podcast)Podcasters want to make shows so fantastic our listeners are compelled to share our work. So I’m puzzled when great shows fail to do the basics, making that way too hard on their fans (especially when it’s easy to get it right)! Here’s how to fix it:
June 3, 2019
Podcasters Are Making It Too Hard For New ListenersWe all want more new listeners to our podcasts, and we all want to follow best practices for our podcasts. Ironically, an accepted best practice in podcasting might be getting in the way of new listeners enjoying your show.
May 13, 2019
Is Podcasting Harming Your Brand?A podcast can be a great way to add to the brand you’ve worked hard to build. But a poorly executed show can quickly undo all that goodwill and actively damage your brand irreparably.
September 26, 2019
Are Podcast Apps Part Of Podcasting's Problems?A healthy and varied system of podcast listening apps should be healthy for podcasting. Well... assuming they all provide at least a similar user experience. But in many key ways, they don't. Why is that?
October 30, 2019
Driving Downloads From Drive-BysIt's hard to perfectly integrate your podcast and your website. Yet it's actually quite simple to get the most critical things right on your page or site. In fact, it’s so simple that I will fix it for you over a cup of coffee.
January 27, 2020
Better Podcasting By Living Up To The HypeYour dedicated audience will forgive you for just about anything. But for the new and potential podcast listener, your lack of understanding of how they experience your content for the first time is limiting growth.
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