If Your Podcast Future Proof?

Is Your Podcast Future Proof?

I was asked by one of my editing clients to go back and edit some of their episodes and remove discussions that were about specific events at a specific time. In listening to their episodes there are a couple of strategies you can do to make your show future-proof.

Always Use the Year

The deadline for the question of the month is December 14th, 2020. By adding the year into the discussion, a listener knows that the episode has passed. But what about outdated information? If the episode consists of nothing but information that is outdated you can always delete that episode form your host and within 24 hours it will be removed from most apps. When I watch a movie and one of the characters says, "Why didn't you page me?" I can figure out that the movie is from the 1980's. I don't hold the movie studio responsible for outdated references. (Just my opinion). As always if you are delivering value to your audience, then keep it up and available.

Use Timeless Landing Pages

For example, I could say, "I'll have a link to the question of the month in today's episode at schoolofpodcasting.com/XXX, or just go to www.schoolofpodcasting.com/question.

Every month when I do a question of the month I always have the same landing page. This way if someone goes to answer an older question that is outdated, while they are too late to answer the question from two months ago, they are in the right place to answer the current question.

Another example of this is from Jordan Harbinger. Jordan gets mountains of downloads and makes a living with ads on his podcast. Jordan often has pages on the manufacturer's site such as hostgator.com/jordan but he also mentions that you can find more by going to jordanharbinger.com and clicking on the deals page. Here again, if there was a time-sensitive deal in place for the sponsor it may be too late, but you are now in the right place to find a deal from another sponsor that will help Jordan.

If you're doing webinars you can say something like, "My webinar on the perfect gear is at schoolofpodcasting.com/perfectgear or just see the schedule for all of your webinars at schoolofpodcasting.com/webinars (where you would use your website - not mine.... :)  I realize you might say, "But I only have the one webinar. While this is true TODAY, in the future you might be doing one a week." When Glenn Hebert of the Horse Radio Network started it was a network with one show, but Glenn knew there would be more so he founded the Horse Radio Network.

Reinforce Your Band

By using your website you reinforce your brand, and you keep control of your content. For example, I have a Patreon account that I promote on the Ask the Podcast Coach where you can be an Awesome Supporter. Do I tell people to go to www.patreon.com/davejackson ? No. Why? Because what if something better comes along? Then I have a bunch of podcasts with mentions of a website I don't use. An example of this is web hosting. Over the years I've used Hostgator, Siteground, and Cooler Websites. Did I promote that company by mentioning their website? No, I told people to go to www.schoolofpodcasting.com/hosting, and in the early days of my show that link went to Hostgator, and for years it went to Siteground, and then Cooler Websites. I might direct that at Podpage in the future. While this might confuse someone expecting a Hostgator link, but in the end, if the person is looking for hosting and you direct them to a hosting page, I feel (again an opinion) they should trust you, and if they have questions they can always contact you.

Tools To Make Redirects

If you are using WordPress, you can use the PrettyLinks plugin. There is a free version and the premium version starts at $49/year. It's been downloaded over 2.5 million times. Thirsty affiliates is a very similar plugin for about the same price ($49/year).

If you're using Podpage Pro, redirects are one of the many features. (Check out the free "Learn PodPage" course )

While some people use bit.ly, I prefer Rebandly.

Tools To Help Follow Your Money

And.co

In the past I used Freshbooks, but they charged their pricing (costing more if I had morse customer) and many of their features I didn't use (I just need to create invoices and track income and expenses). I found and.co and this does exactly what I want. There is a free version to allow you to kick the tires, and if you go with the pro plan it's $18/month (you get a discount when you purchase a year in advance). 

I love their "shoebox" feature. When a bill comes into my email, I can forward it to an email at and.co and it adds it to my account where I can easily add it as an expense and categorize it for tax purposes. It is super easy, and I love it. 

Check it out at https://supportthisshow.com/andco (aff link)

You Need a Budget (YNAB)

YNAB is a web-based tool that makes it sooo easy to track every penny you make (and more importantly every penny you spend). You can even integrate it directly with your bank so you don't have to do data entry (I import mine manually). It uses a different philosophy as you give each dollar "a job" so you can see exactly where you money is going. You can set up savings goals, and I attended a webinar to learn the software and was up and running quickly. It's $12/month of $89/year. 

Check it out at https://supportthisshow.com/ynab

Mentioned In This Show

Profit From Your Podcast Book

Join the School of Podcasting

How to Fix a Mistake Episode

My Podcast Reviews

Ask the Podcast Coach

Dave's Patreon Account

Jordan Harbinger's Deal Page

Schedule a Podcast Coaching Call

Join the School of Podcasting

Avoid sounding unprofessional, buying the wrong equipment, and creating content that isn't good. 

The School of Podcasting has step by step tutorials, Live Group Coaching, and a private Facebook group filled with brilliant podcasting minds. 

Join worry-free with a 30-day money-back guarantee. 

Go to www.schoolofpodcasting.com/start

 

Download This Episode!

Petrifying Podcast Fear

SPONSOR: Podcastbranding.co

If you need a logo, artwork, a website that makes you look UBER professional then check out PodcastBRanding.co Today on the show I read some of the awesome testimonials from Mark's customers. You can see them by going to www.podcastbranding.co 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

00:01:09 Sponsor: podcastbranding.co 

00:03:17 Black Friday Deal?

00:04:29 Petrifying Podcast Fear

00:14:26 Check Your Universal Power Supply 

00:16:44 Music in Podcasts

00:29:07 Thanks to the Supporters 

00:35:10 $100 Mic and 100 Hours of Research

00:55:27 YouTube Stalkers

Every week Dave Jackson from the School of Podcasting and Jim Collison from the Average Guy Network answer your podcast questions.

This episode 321is part of the Power of Podcasting Network

Download the Episode!

You Can't Buy An Audience If Your Podcast Sucks

Today we talk about the 1.7 billion dollar mistake that was Quibi and how we can learn from their mistake. We also take a look at the power of follow up questions, and the best place to buy gear. 

Table of Contents

01:22 Your Favorite Podcast - Send in Your Answer
02:56 Now That's A Good Question: Howard Stern and Wolfgang Van Halen
06:35 Join the School of Podcasting
07:33 Lessons From Quibi
13:24 They Blew Their Launch
16:12 Big Name Celebrities
19:02 Make It Easy To Share Your Content
21:05 It's Not the Tech
23:28 Clueless About the Competition
29:49 Who is the Audience?
33:29 The Best Place to Buy Gear: Sweetwater
36:07 Your Audience Awaits Exercise

How to Avoid the 1.7 Billion Dollar Mistake that Was Quibi

Quibi is an over-the-top American short-form streaming platform that generates content for viewing on mobile devices. It was founded in Los Angeles in August 2018 as NewTV by Jeffrey Katzenberg (chairman of Walt Disney Studios from 1984 to 1994) and is led by Meg Whitman ( She is a board member of Procter & Gamble and Dropbox. Whitman was previously president and CEO of Hewlett Packard Enterprise), its CEO.

In 2019 Variety reported that Quibi had secured 100 million dollars in advertising before the service had even launched.

On February 2, 2020, they spent $5.6 million for 30 seconds on an ad in the Super Bowl that was seen by a reported 99.9 million viewers.  That is $18 per person if you round up. This for a service where subscribers can get the service for $5 per month with ads, or $8 per month without them.  That $5.6 million was a drop in the bucket.

The commercial was really stupid and didn't really answer or explain what the heck it was. You just knew it was less than 10 minutes. They explained what is was, but not so much why it was or how you would benefit.

It raised $1.75 billion from investors. It had a variety of shows featuring originals with Jennifer Lopez, Chrissy Teigen, Chance the Rapper, Liam Hemsworth, Sophie Turner, Lena Waithe, Nicole Richie, Reese Witherspoon. Quibi offered a 90-day free trial to those who sign up on its website before April 6. Overall, it plans to release 175 original shows and 8,500 episodes in the first year.

Their lineup has a ton of stars, celebrities, etc

It launched on April 6, 2020. It is set to shut down "on or about" December 1, 2020. December 1 is 239 days. That is $7,322,175.73 a day. Here is my thoughts on why this was such an epic fail.

They Blew Their Launch

When you spend $5.6 million dollars on a Super Bowl ad, they should have an idea what you do and what is in it for them. In the event, the ad inspired people to check out the service (it didn't), you should be able to go check it out and not have to wait four months. Yes, you can build buzz, but for me, I never heard from quibi again.

Putting All Their Faith in Celebrities

Here are some of the names that appear on shows:
Jennifer Lopez, Kristen Bell, Nick Jonas, Tracy Morgan, Aaron Rodgers, Yara Shahidi, Gabriel Iglesias, Anthony Davis, Kevin Hart and Karlie Kloss. Cardi B, Chance the Rapper, Dapper Dan, Jay Leno, and Wolfgang Puck (and that's just some).

The people involved had experience Phil Abraham has directed the Sopranos, Madmen, Daredevil, Ozark.

No Compelling Content

Yet, there was no breakout show that inspired the people who had found Quibi to tell a friend about Quibi. Nobody was compelled to tell a friend. They did recaps of the previous days news or sports updates. WOW what revolutionary content!

They Made it Hard To Share

According to Media Analyst Josh Consine there was no sharing capability (no screenshots) which limited your ability to go viral. When it first launched you could only watch it on your phone. There were no apps, not Fire TV, Chromecast. They made it "hard" to consume. They took away choices from the consumer.

They Put Their Faith in the Tech

One thing that set them apart was a feature called Turnstyle. This meant that if you rotate the phone horizontal to verticle, you would get a different camera angle. Neat? Sure. Something so cool I had to tell my friends? Apparently not as I had never heard of it until I started researching how you blow 1.7 billion and lose. In a nutshell, Turnstyle served you two video streams simultaneously and “stitches them together” with a single audio track.

Since we're talking about the Tech, a company sued Quibi shortly after their launch company called Eko alleged that Quibi stole the technology after Eko demoed it to employees of the company, including founder and chairman Jeffrey Katzenberg. Even when you have billions in funding, lawsuits are expensive.

Clueless About the Competition

They were charging $5/$8 a month for new content. Look at Disney, Netflix, Hul. While they have original content, they all have old favorites as well. They also have a way to add more than one person under your account (so when your kids login under your account your recommendations don't all turn into cartoons). This was not the case to Quibi. It figured each person was watching on their phone. One person per account. This gets expensive and now anyone who wants to see what you're talking about has to use your phone.

It is reported that CEO Whitman repeatedly said "We're not competing with Netflix." Think about that one for a minute. That's like a radio station saying, "All of our songs are under four minutes long. We don't compete with other stations."

Lack Of Focus Group?

In one article that was published right after they launched it stated, "Quibi’s executives have hinted that the company will deliver on a TV experience if customer feedback and data warrant it. " Well they did add support for Apple's airplay and Chromecast, but at the expense of the Turnstyle technology. They did release an app for Roku and Fire TV - the day before they announced were closing down.

It seemed like they didn't understand how people used their phones or consumed content.

Did they think that because the average length of a YouTube video is 11 minutes that making "short" videos would be the key? Meanwhile, TikTok was taking off with all sorts of celebrities making their own channels. TikTok is free. Did Quibi follow the Facebook strategy and buy them or "borrow features" and add them to their platform? No. They were doing something different and nobody cared.

They Didn't Answer the Number Question: WHO IS YOUR AUDIENCE

The idea was people could watch these short clips while waiting in line, or on the bus. When you think of people consuming content on their phone you might think it would be younger people. Yet you're trying to attract those people with Steven Spielberg and Jay Leno? Sure Cardi B appeared in an episode, but they needed to define. If the content is for busy people, who are the busy people and what do they want to watch?

According to an article in Forbes, Katzenberg and Whitman said, "We created a new form of mobile-first premium storytelling."

They did. But the stories weren't any good.

Now That's a Good Question

02:56  Today we listen to Howard Stern ask a great follow-up question to Wolfgang Van Halen. While he started off with a yes/no question, but then asked a few follow-up questions lead to the information you can't get anyplace else, and listen to how Howard shuts up and lets Wolfgang wrestle with a potentially uncomfortable topic. 

Sweetwater is My New Favorite Place to Order Gear

33:29 My co-host for Ask the Podcast Coach Jim Collison ordered something from Sweetwater and told me about their INSANE customer service. I recently saw where they were one of the few people to have the new Zoom Podtrak P4 IN STOCK and I see what he means. I was called to let me know my order had shipped, and to let me know if I had any issues I could call them. So here is why I think they are the best:

• Prices are just as good (and in some cases better) than Amazon
• Free shipping (even on small stuff)
• Built-in two-year warranty 
• Free tech support 
• Payment plans available if needed.

My goal is to build more of a relationship with Sweetwater (as I have a dedicated rep) which should keep me in touch with podcasting technology going forward. In full disclosure, I earn a referral reward (but that's why I ordered something as I wanted to see for myself) 

Your Audience Awaits Exercise

I'm listening to the book Unhackable: The 30-Day Elixir for Creating Flawless Ideas, Leveraging Superhuman Focus, and Achieving Optimal Performance Through Flow its a very interesting book that you can listen/read to one chapter per day. The one exercise was to write yourself an email from your future audience as is these people who are waiting for you to start your show. SO MANY TIMES I hear people worried about having trolls or people say negative things. I say, What about ALL THE POSITIVE that could happen?

Think of going to your inbox and see an email with the title, "Just wanted to say Thank you." You open it and it starts, "Hello, I just wanted to reach out. You may not believe this but due to your podcast.... 

and the listener explains how you made them feel. How they no longer felt alone. How they were taken to a place where the stress of work, life, and more melted away. 

This could happen. But your podcast can't help people if you don't start your podcast. You can't update a show that doesn't exist. Please let me help you, as your audience is waiting. 

Download This Episode!

Good Audio Starts With Good Mic Placement

Every week Dave Jackson from the School of Podcasting and Jim Collison from the Average Guy Network answer your podcast questions.
This episode 320 is part of the Power of Podcasting Network

SPONSOR: Podcastbranding.co

If you need a logo, artwork, website and you want it to look GREAT then check out www.podcastbranding.co

Table of Contents

00:02:53 Power Rant: Bad Advice
00:08:27 Apple Holiday Schedule

November 22 to December 2
December 23 to January 2

00:09:19 Quibi Episode Preview
00:10:31 What Link to Share on Social?
00:14:30 Buzzsprout Stats
00:25:44 Thanks to our Patrons!
00:31:04 Sweetwater Partnership
00:35:32 Online Events

12/9 2 PM ET Podcast Movement Holiday Meetup (Virtual) https://fb.me/e/1IxgEzHtK 12/

11/23 10: AM ET Rode "Ask Me Anything"  http://www.reddit.com/r/pocasting

00:38:35 Wireless Headphones
00:41:29 Are You Speaking at Podcast Movement?
00:44:18 Online Presentations?
00:50:03 Zoom P8 Vs Zoom L8
00:58:19 What is Coming Up?

PATRONS ONLY (Support the show - Become a Patron)
01:00:41 Referomatic.fm
01:11:30 Naked Without Your Phone
01:12:35 Rating And Reviews Have Nothing to Do With Rankings 
01:17:19 Triple Your Downloads?
01:19:19 Master Feeds For a Network
01:23:34 Recording Video on Your Phone in the Car

Mentioned In This Episode

Rating and Review Don't Matter with Paul Colligan

http://www.referomatic.fm

Phone Tripod with Bendy Legs

Siteground Web Hosting

Maple Grove Partners Web Hosting

Cooler Websites Web Hosting

Zoom L8

Zoom P8

Rodecaster

Mixpre-3

Start Your Podcast Today

You can try the private Facebook group, go through the step-by-step videos, and even attend one of the group coaching sessions, and any time in the first 30 days if you're not happy, you can stop and I will refund your money. Go to www.schoolofpodcasting.com/start

Download the Episode!

Because of My Podcast, I Got to Work For Marvel

The show is filled with "Because of My Podcast" stories. We also have a great example of a good question, and a reminder that Apple is going on Holiday soon (very important if you wanted a podcast ready to go in January 20201).

SPONSOR: SCHOOL OF PODCASTING

Ready to start your podcast? Got a podcast and you need to grow it? Join the School of podcasting and get instant access to:

• Step by step tutorials
• Live group coaching
• Access to a private (spam-free) Facebook Group filled with other brilliant podcasting minds
• Premium access to Dave.
• Join worry-free with our 30-day money-back guarantee.
• Go to www.schoolofpodcasting.com/start

Because of My Podcast, I Got a Book Published, that Inspired a Podcast

I was contacted by a publisher to write the book Profit from Your Podcast: Turn Your Listeners Into Livelihood and it took a lot of work, but it's getting very good reviews. This lead David Hooper (author of the book Big Podcast, and host of Red Podcast and Big Podcast) along with Jeff Sanders of the 5 AM Miracle podcast (author of the book with the same name) got together to create a series called Podcast Profits which promotes my book.

The podcast is called Podcast Profits: Make Money (and more) With Your Podcast

Dave called me to let me know what he was planning, and to make sure it was OK to have "Because of My Podcast" stories. As they were talking about me, I was fine with that. I was really surprised that they didn't mention/plug their podcasts or their company Voxphonix until the last episode (and it was very minimal).

Because of My Podcast, Leslie Eiler Thompson Got to Participate in the Iditarod Dog Race in Alaska

05:39
Leslie is a Multimedia Producer & Creator in Nashville, and she shares the story of not only being able to interview one of the top champions in Sled Dog Racing, but she eventually ended up as part of his team and participated in the race.

Rick Coste Interview: Audio Drama Podcast Leads to Bigger Things

Because of His Podcast, Rick Coste Got to Work with Marvel

Rick Coste approached me with a "Because of My Podcast" story. He's got an agent who wants to turn his podcast Evolution Talk into a book. He's been on TV and got to work with Marvel on their This Week in Marvel podcast as well as their Women of Marvel podcast. He does sound design and post-production as well as producing other shows (see https://www.rickcoste.com/podcast-production/ )

His first crack at audio drama the Behemoth is still getting very impressive downloads. Rick shares how he creates his soundscapes, his technology, and insights into sound effects.

17:12 Rick Coste Interview
17:54 When did Rick get into podcasting?
19:39 Getting into audio dramas
20:50 How did you find actors?
22:25 Impressive Downloads
24:10 Getting to work with Marvel
26:40 Tips for Starting an Audiodrama
28:27 What software Rick Uses
28:45 Sound effects resources
29:21 Struggling with perfection
30:53 Giving notes to actors
34:06 Passion Project?

Check Out Rick at:

https://www.rickcoste.com/

https://modernaudiodrama.com/

Now That's a Good Question

08:53
This is a new segment I am adding today. While I hear people say "That's a good question" when IT'S JUST NOT. So now, when I hear an actual good question, I thought I would spotlight it.

This example is from an interview by Lars Ulrich (the drummer for Metallica) who is interviewing Noel Gallagher (of Oasis) and Lars asks him how he feels about doing some of the older songs that were mammoth hits in the 90's when he has his own solo songs now. Noel starts to answer the question on how it makes his audience feel, Lars interrupts and asks, "But what do they mean to YOU."

Lars then does something brilliant and Noel takes a deep breath. He shuts up and lets him think. The longer he lets him think - the better the answer. Eventually, Noel explains how those songs mean the world to him. Noel wasn't really answering the question, and Lars pointed him in the right direction. Catch the who interview on YouTube

Thanks to Wayne Henderson of mediavoiceovers.com for his awesome tones.

Podcast Rewind: Where I've Been

13:58 I appeared on The Author Inside You Podcast talking about listening to your audience and the book Profit From Your Podcast

16:26 I appear on Podcasting Experiments talking about the book Profit From Your Podcast

What Is Your Favorite Podcast and Why?

Every year the last episode is you answering the question, "What is your favorite podcast and why." Now I want to know about your show as well, so if I answered the question it would sound like this:

Hey this is Dave Jackson and I host the School of Podcasting show where I help you plan, launch, and grow your podcast. You can find me at schoolofpodcasting.com. My favorite show is (name of show ) at (their website address) where they (what they talk about on their show) and the reason I love it is (as a detailed answer as you can provide).

I need the answer by December 14th.

Apple Holiday Schedule

10:40
The door to have a show ready on all the platforms come January 2021 is closing. Dont' forget Apple goes on holiday twice between now and then. Here is their holiday schedule:

November 22 to December 2
December 23 to January 2

Which means you should submit your show to them almost immediately. If you have questions, let's schedule a coaching call.

Mentioned In this Podcast

Profit from Your Podcast: Turn Your Listeners Into Livelihood

Dave on the Business of Podcasting Show Part 1, Part 2

Leslie Eiler Thompson

Check out Leslie on the Podcast Review Show

Big Podcast

5 AM Miracle podcast

Voxphonix

modernaudiodrama.com

Join the School of Podcasting

Download This Episode!

Avoid Being Nickel and Dimed

 

Hey Look it's November, and all those great deals you got last year are "this close" to renewing at their regular pricing. 

 

Table of content:

00:01:10 SPONSOR: PodcastBranding.Co If you want to look professional, go talk to Mark. Both Jim and I plan on using Mark and his service the future.

00:02:12 Dave is Investigating Podpage for Networks

00:07:18 Nickle and Dimed to Death

00:15:50 Dave Got an Amazon Halo

00:17:30 Jim's Echo Flex

00:27:18 What would you use a VA for if you could afford it?

00:29:33 Our Awesome Supporters

00:33:14 House Update

00:36:14 We Need More Cowbell

00:38:06 Programming Your Audience

00:43:15 Podcast Listening in China

00:46:41 Networking with Online Events

00:52:07 What if you don't like a potential sponsor?

00:55:40 Results from Being on the Radio

00:59:54 Rodecaster Marker

FOR AWESOME SUPPORTERS (join)

01:01:00 Podcast Superstack

01:07:59 Mac OS Updates

01:12:34 iPhone Updated

01:14:43 Companion Apps In The Future

01:17:52 New Artwork Not Working When Sharing

01:20:39 Apple Vacation Schedule November 22 to December 2 December 23 to January 2

01:22:31 Release Schedules

01:25:09 Jim's Crunchy Coffee

01:26:30 Lawnmower?

01:27:32 An Awkward Moment With Jim

01:30:20 No Breaks Over the Holidays

Every week Dave Jackson from the School of Podcasting and Jim Collison from the Average Guy Network answer your podcast questions. This episode 319 is part of the Power of Podcasting Network

 

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

You Need a Budget YNAB

Monster Insights

Adam's YouTube Channel

Siteground

motomo stats

Amazon Halo

Echo Flex,

Kasa Plugs

Profit From Your Podcast Book

Download the Episode!

Podcasting is Closer to Cable Television Than Radio

I had someone ask me about starting a podcast. They wanted to "Stand Out" without "Niching Down." The easiest way to stand out is to Niche down. When you do a show like We Have Cancer, Adoptees On, or the Chameleon Breeder, you get providing information that people can't get anyplace else. You end up with a smaller audience size, but a more engaged audience.

Podcasting is Closer to Cable Television Than Radio

In this clip of "The Loudest Voice," you will hear actor Russel Crowe as Roger Ailes explains how he doesn't want a wide audience. He's is going to purposely make content for a demographic that is being underserved. Roger went on the grow Fox news which dominated cable news for decades.

When you turn on cable, you get channels on cooking, animal sports, outdoors, and none of the channels will get anywhere near the audience of the major networks. However, you will have people like my ex-wife who watch HGTV like her life depended on it.

COVID Took Natalie Kennedy's Job - Podcasting Delivered Her Dream

Today I talk with Natalie Kennedy who is the host of the Anxious Love Podcast. The podcast is where Natalie covers relationship anxiety, ROCD, and upgrading love partnerships-- how to go from DOUBTING your relationship to LOVING it and gushing about your man. You can see where she already has gone from the wide topics of relationships and she niched down. Just like a cable channel. 

The show is for women.

The show is for women having an issue with their relationships.

The show is for women who are doubting their relationships and worried about commitment.

Today you will hear:

00:58 Podcasting is Closer To Cable TV Than Radio
06:09 Natalie Kennedy Interview
07:13 Natalie Knows Her Niche
09:53 How She Picked Her Niche
11:07 Natalie's Transparency and how she describes her services
12:03 Dealing with Impostor Syndrome
13:37 Proof Of Concept - She had people asking for her services before she offered them.
15:45 Starting Her Podcast
16:41 How Many Episodes Does She Have? - This all happened really fast.
16:55 Is the Podcast Bringing in Clients? - ( spoiler - yes it is !)
17:21 Coaching Insights - How she gets people to open up.
18:45 You Don't Have to Know Everything - Just more than your clients.
19:37 How is Her Business Doing?
20:19 Pivots Don't Kill You 
21:00 When Your Message Differs From Mainstream ( this is how you stand out). 

Find Natalie at https://www.anxiouslovecoach.com/

 

23:05 Apple Holiday Break 

November 22 to December 2
December 23 to January 2

Mistakes Breed Confidence

24:20 If you wait until things are 100% perfect, you'll never launch. Mistakes (are still something we want to avoid) leave to growth. I just moved, and the house is old, and I learned how to fix holes in walls. I hired a contractor who makes a mistake. Did I freak out? No. My experience with fixing previous holes help me stay calm, and I knew what to do. When you make a mistake, realizing you are growing as a person (or you can hire a mentor to help you avoid them, and learn that way).

How Long Does it Take To Make Money with a Podcast?

25:22 I get this question all the time. In my travels, I started seeing an answer that start to appear, and reappear over and over. That answer is three years. Obviously Natalie today beat that record. Why do I tell people three years? I started making snippets every time I hear that answer. I forgot to write down who the first clip is. The other three are from

Content Heroes Podcast. (Alex Nerney episode)

The Business of Podcasting (Gert Mellak interview )

Dave from the Cigar Authority, on Ask the Podcast Coach. 

Dave's book David VS Goliath

What To Do When You are Face to Face with Your Audience

28:33 Just a quick clip showing that I practice what I preach, and when you have a listener in front of you take advantage.

Zoom Podtrak P8 Follow Up

30:23 I talked about the Zoom Podtrak P8 in my last episode. I had mentioned that there was an issue with a noise in the headphones. That is definitely an issue. Also, there is no timer count down for the jingle buttons. This makes "talking up" any kind of music a real challenge.

Join the School of Podcasting Worry Free

33:20 You can try the private Facebook group, go through the step-by-step videos, and even attend one of the group coaching sessions, and any time in the first 30 days if you're not happy, you can stop and I will refund your money. Go to

www.schoolofpodcasting.com/start

Natalie's Top Relationship Tip
33:22 I asked Natalie what she sees the most when it comes to her clients in regards to relationship issues. She has a really, really good answer.

Coming Attractions

36:15 I will be showing you how to convert your RSS feed into an Excel Spreadsheet on my YouTube Channel

I will be interviewing Rob Coste who ended up working with a MAJOR company that will make you say WOA!

Download This Episode!

Power Rant Hat Trick: Pitches, Links, and Anchor

Jim is holding a meetup and has a "smoker cam" going on his back porch and Dave shares some things that are getting under his skin. 

VIDEO VERSION 

SPONSOR: Podcastbranding.co if you need a logo, artwork, website, and want to update your brand to be more professional. Go to talk Mark and tell him Dave and Jim sent ya.

 

TOPICS:

00:00:58 Podcast branding.co Sponsors the morning Pour

00:02:27 Jim's Meetup and Smoker Cam

00:06:43 Advice on Moving Your Podcast

00:10:01 Playing with the Zoom Podtrak P8 

00:11:26 Jim is Stalking the Motu M2 

00:13:41 How upgradable is the Podtrak P8?

00:16:16 The Zoom P4 

00:16:53 Starting a Sports Themed Podcast

00:24:25 How Many Tries to Get to a Yes

00:25:44 Power Rant 1: Another Bad Pitch

00:28:07 Pay Me What I'm Worth

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00:35:32 The Awesome Supporters

00:37:50 Smoker Check

00:40:41 Apple Search Still Sucks

00:41:49 Power Rant 2: Third-Party Link Tools

00:44:59 Power Rant: Anchor Submissions

00:48:43 Qu'd Up Podcasting 

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The Zoom Podtrak P8 Vs Rodecaster Pro

Your Podcast is A Steam Train

I often say that when you start out, your show is rolling slow. As it keeps moving, it gets faster and faster. It just takes time, consistency (of schedule, and value). Kim Kajci of Toastmasters 101 pointed me toward this YouTube video from Box Angeles. This video shows Mellisa Hunter who has a hilarious series of Adult Wednesday Adams and how one video in that series went viral and her back episodes starting taking off with the original video. 

More Cool Podcast Gear For Podcasters

One of the great things about podcasting getting more and more popular, is more and more products are coming to the marketing Specifically for podcasters. Zoom Recently came out with the Podtrak P4 (for me this is THE go-to piece of equipment). Now they've come out with the Podtrak P8 which is a direct competitor of the Rodecaster Pro from Rode.

Neither one of these units is a bad purchase. They both make it easier to create great sounding podcasts.

Who Is This For?

The Zoom Podtrak P8 (and the Rodecaster Pro) allow you to:

Record up to six people in the same room.

Report a remote interview via SB

Connect and record a smartphone

Play live sounds via touch buttons.

Comparing Different Features of the Units.

For me, I am always connected to my computer via a USB cable. This is for zoom calls, or recording directing into software. Keep this in mind when I talk about different tests. I do one live show on Saturday morning where I record to the internal card, or if I'm doing an interview (I use it as a back up). 

Power

Both the Zoom and Rode can be operated via batteries (The Rodecaster has an optional DC-USB-1 cable that enables you to plug in a USB battery). The Zoom P8 uses double-A batteries or can be powered via a USB cable. So with the Rode, you will have a USB and a power cable. With the Zoom P8, you can power it with just your USB cable. Advantage Zoom P8

Price

The Rodecaster Pro currently lists for $599.
USB Power Cable for RODECaster Pro $20
Total: $619

The Zoom P8 is listing for $499.
Zoom BTA-2 Bluetooth Adapter $49
Total: $548

Advantage Zoom P8

Input Channels

ZOOM P8

This is an interesting one, as the Zoom P8 has six XLR inputs. It has a dedicated channel to the phone input.

This means you have a total of seven inputs. The USB interface on the zoom is used in place of one of the XLR inputs. You could have five XLR inputs, one USB, and One phone.

Rodcaster Pro

The rodecaster pro has four XLR inputs. Then it has a dedicated channel for a phone. It has a dedicated channel for the USB interface. It has another channel for Bluetooth.

This means you have a total of seven inputs. You could have four XLR, one USB, One Phone and one bluetooth.

Comments: The blue tooth is built into the Rodecaster, and the P8 has the ability to have one more XLR input. Advantage? Tie.

Number of Outputs

The Zoom has six headphone outputs, and a stereo output. The Rodecaster has four headphone outputs and a stereo output. The plugs are on the back of the Rodecaster where the inputs on the Zoom are on the face. Advantage: Zoom.

Marker Feature

Both units have the ability to add markers. Advantage? Tie

Normalization

While there is no normalization in the hardware of the Rodecaster, using the additional software on your computer you can have the files normalized with multiple settings with presets for Apple, Audible. The P8 has a normalizing feature built into the unit. There are no details on if this is peak normalization or loudness normalization. It appeared to be peak. Advantage Rodecaster

Recording Mode

Both units provide each individual tracks along with a stereo mixdown of the whole recording. The Rodecaster provides the ability to turn off the individual track recording and just provide the stereo mixdown. This enables you to not have a ton of extra tracks when you don't want them, which doesn't take up as much storage on your storage card. Advantage: Rodecaster

Effects

Both units provide effects for each track.

Zoom P8: The Zoom provides bass and treble controls. It was one combination compressor/De-esser. There is also a limiter and low cut.

Rodecaster: Each track has Aphex effects built-in. This includes a de-esser, compressor, big bottom (bass), and aurel exciter (treble), high pass filter (low cut), reverb, and what my favorite feature - a noise gate.

Neither unit provides the full slate of effects to the USB channel (which is frustrating).

Advantage: Rodecaster (by far much more control).

File Management

Zoom: The zoom uses an SD Card and allows you to delete and rename files on the unit. Both units have a card slot on the back of the unit. The Rodecaster uses a microSD card. In my case, I have to put the microSD card into an adapter to insert it into my computer.

Advantage (due to ease of use): Zoom P8

Sample Rate

The Rodecaster Pro has a sample rate of 48 khz

The Zoom P8 has a sample rate of 44.1kHz

For me, this is no big deal, but if you're doing video it probably is (video people love a sample rate of 48 khz)

Advantage: Rodecaster

Transfer Speed

I took a wave file and put it on both cards. It was 557M and then copied and pasted it to my computer. The Rodecaster tool one minute 14 seconds, the Zoom P8 took one minute two seconds so it appears to be slightly faster.

One thing I do like more on the Zoom is when you put it into transfer mode, it doesn't make you confirm. I do not understand this on the Rodecaster as you have to somewhat hunt to get to it, so why do I have to confirm it (both on and off).

Advantage: Zoom P8

PreAmps

The specs show that:

Rodecaster: 0dB – 55dB

Zoom P8: 0 – +70 dB

I recorded on both units and found the difference in noise was almost nonexistent. If you have to listen that hard to see if there is noise, you're fine.

Advantage:

Footprint (Dimensions)

Rodecaster Pro: 350 x 275 x 82 mm (13.8 X 10.8 X 3.2 inches)

Zoom P8: 295 × 248  × 61 mm  MM ( 11.6 X 9.7 X 2.4 inches)

The big difference here is the XLR inputs are on the face of the Zoom P8 and on the back of the Roadcaster. This extends the height to by 2.5" (64 mm). Likewise all the headphone/output jacks also on the back s0 the Rodecaster does take up more space on my desk.

Sound Pads

With the Rodecaster you have to use the free additional software to bring your files on to the Rodecaster. With the Zoom P8 you can drag them on to the card and bring them into the unit. It even converts the files if needed. The Zoom had 9 pads where the Rodecaster has 8. Both allow you to scroll through the screen to switch between multiple pages.

Advantage: Zoom P8

Quality of Outputs/Headphones

In going back and forth between the two units, I did notice more noise in the headphones when using the Zoom P8. This noise wasn't on the recording, but a bit of a bummer when what you're hearing is not what you're recording.

Advantage Rodcaster

Noise Gate Vs Noise Reduction

One of the KEY features of the Rodecaster is the ability to add a noise gate to channels (sadly not the USB). The Zoom has a feature called, "Noise Reduction" When multiple mics are being used to record sound, the noise reduction function of the P8 suppresses background noise to a constant level by automatically reducing the levels of the mic inputs not being used by people. Sadly, I tried to test this, but living alone, I couldn't really put the Noise Reduction into practice and Zoom doesn't talk about it much in their videos.

Advantage: Rodecaster (as a gate is better than reduction)

Mic Modeling

This is a feature only available on the Rodcaster. For example, you can use presets for the Rode Podmic, EV RE20, and with a push of a button, your channel is set to your microphone (video).

Combining Files / Editing

You can combine files into one, you can trim files, add fade-ins and out. (Basic editing without a computer). This is only available on the Zoom P8

Summary:

When you look at the features I covered:

Power: Zoom P8
Price: Zoom P8
Input Channels: Tie
Number of Outputs: Zoom P8
Quality of Outputs: Rodecaster
Marker: Tie
Normalization: Rodecaster
Recording Mode: Rodecaster
Effects: Rodecaster
File Management: Zoom P8
Sample Rate: Rodecaster
Transfer Speed: Zoom P8
PreAmps: Zoom P8
Sound Pads: Zoom P8
Noise Gate/Reduction: Rodecaster
Mic Modeling: Rodecaster
Combining/Editing: Zoom P8

There are 17 items and the Zoom Podtrak P8 had eight of these, with two ties and the Rodecaster having an advantage in seven of them. You can see that its very close, but for some, they may argue as the areas where the Rodecaster comes out on top is on boosting the sound (the Aphex Processing) and in that area, the Rodecaster is much better. HOWEVER, keep in mind that you can use something like the Schepps Omni Channel plugin on sale for $69 (and sometimes even less) and you can all this processing in post-production.

So Again, It Depends

So if you're doing a ton of live streaming, you may want the extra processing (and noise gate) to keep things sounding great as you go live. However, if you have large fingers and hate having to take out that tiny MicroSD card and having to deal with adapters and confirmation prompts, the ease of use of the Zoom Podtrack P8 may provide you a better experience than the Rodecaster.

Conclusion:

As I said at the beginning if you are having (Let's pretend there is no COVID) multiple people in the studio with you, both of these machines make it easy. The P8 gives you two more mic inputs (which, for me is a lot of guests for one podcast). If you like ease of use, and are not going to obsess about your sound then the Zoom P8 is a good fit for you.

If you don't mind having to do a bit more searching through menus to find what you are looking for (to enable you to sound better) then the Rodecaster might be the way to go.

Mentioned In This Episode

Join the School of Podcasting

Rodcaster Pro from Rode

Zoom Podtrak P8

Zoom Podtrak P4

Electrovoice RE20

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