When the Truth Scares Your Audience - Now What?

The Case of the Melting Coat

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I think I was four (maybe five) when I went with my big brother to ice skate on a pond. I was so small I couldn’t find skates to fit me feet so I just slid around the pond in my boots. My Mom told me, “Don’t get too close to the heater, it will melt your jacket.”

The heater was five foot tall metal tube where they built a fire and it became a giant radiator. You know how this ends right? With my brother saying, “Mom is going to kill you” as I had a coat on my arms and chest, but the back had melted (luckily without melting me).

So when I see things/companies leading podcasters a little too close to the heater, I’m the one saying, “You might not want to get to close to that…”

The Last Newsletter

In the last newsletter I pointed out a fair number of things that make nervous about the state of podcasting.

Then, in my latest School of Podcasting episode I asked my audience, and some of them as well are worried about AI Slop, The Government, Ad Loads, and more being detrimental to podcasting.

I got some feedback that summarized as “Dave you might not get new students to the School of Podcasting if you keep painting the picture so dark.”

To this I agree with them. But the Mom who says “Don’t stand so close to the heater” may sound like she’s worried about the coat, but in reality she’s more worried about the boy inside the coat.

More Noise Helps to Create the “Discovery Problem”

So when I say, “It’s harder to grow your show with more noise in the air” it’s because I need you to set realistic expectations . We see reports where the number of people stopping their podcast is about the same as the number people starting a podcast. We’d (those who build stuff for podcasters) would like to slow down the exits.

While most people who say there is a “Discovery problem” in podcasting are saying that because their podcast hasn’t been discovered. With more noise, it just means the already poor search in apps will face more strain.

This is why you need to make a “Follow” page with links to your show on different apps. It’s easy to share, easy to use, easy to remember. Then get your audience to share it with this friends.

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Every month I ask my audience a question for the School of Podcasting. Here is this month’s question:

Let's talk remote recording. Many podcasters have made their way through more than one. So which one did you land on? Which ones did you pass on? Would you recommend your current tool to a new podcaster? I need your answer by May 22nd

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The Genre of YouTubers Being Demonetized

An interesting video by Steven Song where he helps define “Inauthentic Content.”

How to Pitch a Podcast Artwork Finalized.

Mark from PodcastBranding.co has finished my artwork (after going through a few options) which you can see in this thumbnail/video. The goal is to have the show live in two weeks. If you want to talk about a bad (or good) pitch you received, go to www.pitchapodcast.com/story

Right Tool for The Job Alban Brooke on Podcraft

(for the record, I can’t link to the episode on Podcrafts site, as they only provide a little player - it’s not a post).

In this episode of Podcraft Alban Brooke from Buzzsprout talks about using YouTube just for discovery (as that is what it does best) he also shares how Buzzsprout is integrating video into their platform.

What’s Coming In The Future

I’ve interview Justin Jackson from Transistor on why he’s so optimistic about HLS Video coming to Apple. I also will be talking about the value of dialogues.

Need Help With Your Podcast?

Whether you’re just starting or a seasoned podcaster, the School of Podcasting can help. Helping podcasters is what I do, and I’ve been doing it since 2005

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