06:13 A peeve is defined as "a source of annoyance or irritation." Today we are talking Podcasting Pet peeves, but not just pet peeves but your TOP pet peeves. When you listen to a podcast and you hear this you reach for the unsubscribe button.
I launched a new show in January for those who want to learn about podcasting in bite-sized chunks. It's called "Your Podcast Consultant" and you can find it at www.podcastconsultant.com you can subscribe to the show in Apple or Google, Spotify
In the past when I created three test shows on Anchor, the only sponsor I was offered was Anchor (so what was described as a way for Anchor to make money, seemed to be yet another way for Anchor to lose more money). I mentioned this in an article and video I created. When I logged into my Anchor Sucks (IMHO) show, I was surprised to see that Squarespace and the Black Tux wanted to sponsor a show that only had 70 downloads. Black Tux is .02 per downloads. Squarespace is .0175 per download and Anchor is .01 per download. If I included all three (which would mean a minute of 90 seconds of ads in my show) I would make almost .05 per download. Assuming an audience would sit through so many commercials. A show with 150 downloads would make $7.13 per episode.
Anchor.fm is a free podcasting platform that makes creating a podcast super easy. That's the good news. In fact, I feed anchor has probably helped create a few meetings at podcast hosting companies to talk about their user interfaces. There is a dark side to Anchor, and that's what I'm here to talk about so you can make an informed decision.
Before we go any further, I need to disclose I work for a competitor for Anchor and that's a shame. I've been in the podcasting space since 2005, and who I work for has nothing to do with this article. It has to do with the people I help move off their platform and are surprised to find out they gave away control of their show to Anchor.
Anchor and Their Free Business Model
Over the years I've seen many companies try to use the free business model for podcast hosting. Here is the plan:
You sign up for free
You grow your audience
The podcast host runs advertisements against your content to pay for the bandwidth
The idea being the podcast host makes money, you get free hosting, and we are all happy. The truth is this is what happens:
You sign up for free
You grow your audience
You move your show to a new host so you can keep the advertising money
Free is Not a Good Business Plan
Companies have come back to this model time and time again. Here is a quick history lesson:
Audiometric.io 11/ 2012 – 8/2014 (21 months before being purchased by panoply and taken off the market)
Opinion Podcasting 11/2015-10/2017 (23 months)
Zcat 1/2016 - 1/2019 (36 months)
That is an average of 43 months. It's even less if we were to removed Mevio who went through 38.8 million dollars.
Anchor was funded in 2015 and purchased by Spotify in 2019 (42 months) who had received 14 million.
I always find it odd that I have to try to convince people that a company that does not charge for their service often goes out business.
Things You Should Know About Anchor.fm Before Signing Up
Other media hosts allow you to add three categories for Apple Podcasts. Anchor only provides one. So instead of being listed in Business, Technology, and Science, your show will just be listed in Business.
Anchor Doesn't Inform Their Customers About their Choices
When you click on the button to “Make your podcast available on all major platforms,” there is no mentioning that clicking that buttons will block your access to additional Apple stats in podcastsconnect.apple.com. There is no pop up that alerts you that it will block your access to additional stats in Stitcher.”
That is not mentioned anywhere. Anchor has control of your show under their Apple ID, and some sort of ID for Stitcher.
Someone who is brand new to podcasting may not understand RSS and how syndication works, and are not likely to know that Apple and Stitcher offer additional stats from your media host.
So does this mean that Anchor is making it "easier" to syndicate your show (which they do), but they are preying on the uninformed? Keep in mind, that all it takes to list your show in Apple or Stitcher is the ability to fill out a short form (so it's not like Anchor is doing heavy lifting here).
iTunes Owner Email
The email listed in your feed for iTunes Owner is not the YOUR email that you entered in your anchor account. The email in your feed is some randomly generated anchor.fm email. I tested mine and sent an email thinking they may forward any email coming to the anchor.fm account to my email listed in my Anchor account. It’s been 24 hours, and I feel it’s safe to say that I’m not going to get that email. This video shows this in more detail.
Things you should know about Anchor.fm before Using
The email listed in your feed is the email address Apple uses to contact you if they want to feature you, or if there is an issue with your feed. It appears I’ll never get those emails.
Acnhor.fm email listed in my feed instead of my email
Another example: I was playing with Radio Public’s new Podcast Website tool. I put in my Anchor RSS feed and it sent a link to the anchor email to verify the account. I never got the email and consequently couldn’t play with the tool. Again, Anchor is controlling my options.
When I emailed their support they were able to update my email (four day turn around on the email) but why is it set that way in the first place? Again, a brand new podcaster won't know this, and won't be getting their email.
They Change Your File Format
If you upload an mp3, your file will come out as an m4a. That's fine, and I understand that. This doesn't seem like a big deal. However, if you leave your media host and try anchor for two months creating eight episodes. If you feel you've made a huge mistake, and you try to go back to your old media host (which has your old mp3 file still) they won't be able to pull in your information from your feed without issues.
The files won't match up, and instead of just importing the episodes you did on Anchor, it will duplicate all of your past episodes. I've said it before, what I upload is what I want to download. I understand that if they insert ads they are going to change the file name and format.I'm talking I uploaded an mp3, and an m4a came down. Call me nit-picky, but I want the file I uploaded to be the one that downloads.
Their Podcast Litter Is Getting in the Way of Good Shows
In a recent story by Daniel J. Lewis, he mentioned how 57.7% of Anchor users had three or fewer episodes, and 41.7% had no published an episode in three months.
As anchor has made it easier to start, and because it's free, many people jump on the Anchor bandwagon thinking this is the road to making money only to find making money quickly in podcasting is very hard.
Consequently, these people quit podcasting. If this was a paid media host when you quit your files would be removed, and your feed would become invalid. This would lead Apple (and other apps) to remove the show from their directory.
As Anchor is free, their podcast stays there potentially until someone at Anchor decides to remove it (if ever). This means that while Anchor may brag about having the most new podcast in Apple, they are also creating a substantial amount of "Podtrash" which are shows that quit and just stink up the place.
Their Players Point Back To Anchor
If you embed an Anchor player on your website, if someone clicks the share button on the player it creates (for example) a tweet but the link is back to your Anchor website (not your website). So your driving more traffic back to Anchor - not to your website.
Example of a tweet generated by an Anchor player with a link back to Anchor
Their Service Staff is Hit or Miss
In adding the ability to earn money from podcasts, I looked into Anchor's monetization tools. They use stripe. I already had a stripe account. Anchor wanted me to create a new stripe account. I emailed their support and got the typical automated answer (that's fine), but then I got another automated answered that said, "You asked a question about Stripe try these links for answers." I appreciate the automated effort, but the links didn't answer my question and I never heard from an actual person (and figured it out - when you try to add stripe, stripe will realize you already have an account and tie your current stripe account to Anchor)
If you want to leave their service, their tech support is good at adding the "301 redirect" to your show. This allows you to bring your audience with you (but if you had them submit your show to Apple and Stitcher you don't have access to the additional stats on that platform).
When I sent an email about the email being wrong in my feed, it was resolved in four days from the original message.
Anchor Stats Are Very Basic
I Understand that I'm not paying anything for their service but their stats are basic. It shows you the number of downloads and if that is all you need that is fine.
Stats breakdown in Anchor
Just know that other companies show you what countries your audience is in, and what apps they are using.
Libsyn Stats Showing User Agents
Currently, as more and more podcast hosts are becoming IAB compliant (the industry standard) there has been no comment on if Anchor will pursue this certification. W
You Can Get a Sponsor
It is true Anchor provided a sponsor for my test show. This may have your thinking Anchor has a business model. However, when I started my test shows on Anchor the only sponsor available was Anchor.fm.
So what was supposed to be a way for the company to make money is another way for Anchor to lose money.
Anchor is paying $10 for every 1000 downloads. That calculates to .01 per download. According to Libsyn.com one of the largest media hosting companies the median number for podcasts is around 170 downloads per episode. So you will make $1.70 per episode.
While $1.70 is better than a poke in the eye (most things are), this is not enough to buy a 20 Oz bottle of mountain dew at my local gas station. You're going to need to build an audience for this to create any kind of serious income.
They Take Credit For Things They Don't Do
When anchor launched their website stated they would submit your show to places like Overcast and Pocketcast apps. Both those apps pull from the backend of Apple Podcasts. This happens automatically and Anchor has nothing to do with it.
Conclusion
If you are happy with:
Giving up access to your stats in podcasts connect
Giving up access to your stats in stitcher.com
Having very basic numbers
A company that hasn't made any profit
A company changing the format of your file
A company that stops you from receiving email
Is not always forthcoming with information
Then, by all means, use Anchor and have fun creating you podcast. I just wanted you to go in with your eyes open. For more information on what I look for in a podcast media host see www.podcastmediahosting.com
As valentines was this week so we have a special edition of "Because of My Podcast," and speaking of finding things, today we talk about some tools to help you be found in Google.
I appeared on the Podcast We Listen To podcast talking about my show and the early days of podcasting. This podcast also has a great Facebook group filled with podcast listeners, but it's NOT A PLACE TO PROMOTE YOUR SHOW (this group does that).
I Was Wrong About M4a Files
13:57
I published an article on the Podcasting Busines Journal website and mentioned how mp3 files are more reliable then m4a when it comes to pressing play. In the past, I've seen m4a files just spin and spin and not play in Apple Podcasts. When I went back to see if this is still true, it's not.
Free SEO Tools To Help You Be Found in Google
18:11
As the search in the podcasts app chokes on the huge amount of shows coming into the podcasting space, there are times when it seems you just can't be found. So if you've done all there is to do, another strategy is to make sure you can be found in this other tool that helps people be found called Google.
I've come to the conclusion that I can't continue (or in this case bring back) the Alexacast. This is a show about the Amazon world, and especially what is happening with Alexa. If you'd like to take this show over, please contact me. You'll need to pay for your media hosting and web hosting. I prefer you host it at www.coolerwebsites.com
Podcasting For Fun
34:00 Just a reminder you can podcast for fun. You do NOT have to make money with a podcast.
Today Dave Jackson from the School of Podcasting is joined by Jim Harold who has been podcasting since 2005, he's an author and full-time podcaster. Check him out at www.jimharold.com
3:00 Dave gets a potential book deal after having someone saw his book More Podcast Money
4:00 Jim shares book and publishing tips from his experience as an author
8:00 What does the day look like for a full-time podcaster
16:00 What does a full-time podcaster do for health insurance?
17:25 Nervous about the first interview, especially when it's with a "big" guest.
20:30 Jim got to interview Ed Asner
25:25 Thanks to our Awesome Supporters
27:35 Jims insights into Membership sites and his transition into the "My Libsyn" platform
30:00 Any worries about YouTube cracking down on conspiracies
31:2o Congressional dish talks about a bunch of Facebook pages that got removed
34:40 Jim's Gear He uses an EV RE20 and the importance of getting better (not so much better gear). Mentioned: Samsonq2U Package
47:50 When people try to start a fight for publicity
49:30 the Rode Podmic is making its way into the public, and Rode embracing podcasters.
Win 150,000 worth of Rode equipment at www.myrodecast.com
53:55 Genesis Themes and a lack of podcast themes. Secondline Themes make
56:46 Jim has moved to Pair.com for his website, and Dave talks about his experience with Siteground. For inexpensive Wordpress see www.coolerwebsites.com
POST SHOW
01:12:00 Making a show that you want to listen to and reboots of In Search Of
01:05:02 The "Discoverability" issue is that what I keep finding it crappy
01:07:00 A Kid on Youtube who reviews toys is making millions - enjoy what you have
01:10:00 Don't underestimate your download numbers
01:11:00 Jim's promotion strategy
01:14:00 toneden.io
01:20:00 Chartable and Apple Terms of Service
01:24:00 mp3 vs m4a file format
01:26:00 Pandora VP of podcasting doesn't know when Podcasting started
Spotify bought Gimlet and Anchor. Does this have any effect on "Joe Independent podcaster?" not immediately, but it is a big company, with big pockets, who will spend money to promote podcasting (and that's is a good thing). As for Anchor, I will be making a video to explain the many things wrong with that system in the future. Spotify my want their money back.
She Almost Quit Her Podcast
8:39
For nearly two decades, Carolyn Cole was a Fortune 100 and Fortune 200 Senior Company Trial Attorney. In that role, she worked with over 10,000 clients, witnesses, and experts, for over 25,000 collective hours. Today, Carolyn make the case on behalf of your life, business or career dreams – happiness too.
A while ago Carolyn contacted me for some one on one coaching. She was ready to quit. She had heard that the way to have podcast success is to launch with a boatload of episodes, ask people for rating and reviews, and get into New and Noteworthy. She had followed the "recipe" but it hadn't worked and she was ready to quit. I told her not to quit, that podcasting takes time to build up her audience. It's a marathon - not a sprint. She didn't quit.
How she almost missed an opportunity with Steve Harvey How her show and tagline have changed since she started How she used her podcast to boost her business How networking with your local chamber of commerce can help you How 250 Devoted people can work. How "being small" allows you to do things "bigger" shows don't do. Behind the scenes of working with larger companies The Lessons of editing your own stuff How her audience has changed over the years Why Millenials should be podcasting There is no such thing as a "small" podcast The best and worst parts of podcasting The book "How to be a Power Connector" help to change her life
Rode Is Giving Away 150,000 in Podcasting Prizes
43:41
Submit a 2-minute podcast and enter a chance to win 150,000 worth of podcast equipment. Check it out at www.myrodecast.com
Question of the Month: What is Your TOP Podcasting Pet Peeve?
Record your answer and email it to dave@schoolofpodcasting.com Or go to my contact page (please put "February Question" in the subject line). I need your answer by February 22nd, 2019.
Last week we spoke about making sure you have great content, today we have tips on building your community.
Because of My Podcast - I've Got press Passes to the On Air Festival
On-AirFest is advancing the culture of audio. We bring together an expansive range of emerging and established voices to explore the creative possibilities of sound.
Across multiple spaces in Brooklyn's Wythe Hotel, over 100 talent will share innovative ideas and showcase new work. Join us for a weekend of intimate conversations, performances, art installations, listening parties and live podcasts.
FEB 28-MAR 3 2019 BROOKLYN, NYC
Building Community - Starts Slow, Takes Work, and Then You Have 1000 Members
Jeremy Enns is the Storyteller In Chief of podcast agency Counterweight Creative, fearless leader of the Cut The Bullshit Podcasting Community, and creator of the Podcast Power Pack. He loves the outdoors, long distance cycle touring, and will always look back on the day he finally saved up enough money to buy the Millennium Falcon Lego set as one of his proudest achievements.
Is there BS in the podcast Space? How do you grow your community? There hasn't been much moderation needed in his group Set rules and ensure people follow them He was working with Women's health world and noticed how well this niche networks together
Podcast Power Pack
A collection of 20_ contributors who are combining all their products and selling them at 90% off on February 25th - Friday, March 1
The Podcast Power Pack is a collection of some of the best online courses, eBooks, membership communities, digital products, and software.
The pack is designed to help you refine your process and grow your podcast in 4 key areas.
Today Dave Jackson from the School of Podcasting is joined by Josh Rivers from Podcasting Experiments to talk about the following topics:
3:29 Shane from tourpreneur.com has a question about Gimbles 8:09 Osmo Mobile 2 Smartphone Gimbal another popular one is Smooth-4 Smartphone Gimbal (Black) 9:04 Thanks to our top supporters 9:55 What earbuds? 12:51 Rode Giveaway and Dave is part of it. How? 14:39 New Media Hosting? 19:25 Podcast Websites Support is Awesome 23:50 Free Royalty Music and podcasting for free 29:55 Dave's Criteria for Media Hosts 31:17 Anchor is creating litter in the podcast space 38:54 Are Podcasts Open to Constructive Feedback 47:50 I Soundcloud worth paying for? I'm using the free version 52:26 What is up with Josh's show?
Life without the Internet 57:50 The Night Before Podfest 58:44 Josh has attended Podcast Movement 59:33 Dave is still kind of shy and prefers to not share a room 1:01:06 You need to come out of your shell (that is Dave's slack dinging in the background....) 01:03:56 Moose can be scary 01:05:13 Josh's kids 01:06:13 Joined by SP of betterpdocasting.com and shows off the DJI Osmo Mobile 2 Gimlet 01:11:41 Charoll.com $20 plan is what we are using 01:14:00 SP has a case story coming to a future episode 01:16:00 Deverb Discussion
