Prologue
What would you do for money? Attention?
I'm not a golfer, but I think the story of LIV Golf is fascinating. The organization is financed by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and many have said it was created by the monarchy to sportswash its corruption and human rights abuses.
They've been great at getting attention. They came on the scene with a ton of money, offering massive paydays to established golfers to get them to step away from the PGA.
Sound familiar? It should, because it's happened (and it's happening) with podcasting.
And like so many podcasting companies, LIV is finding out that getting attention is different than keeping attention. This is something to consider before doing one of these deals.
But that's not why I bring this up.
I bring this up to say, these "deals" are out there and, if you stick around podcasting long enough, you'll probably have the opportunity to participate in one.
So far, I haven't seen anything as controversial as LIV in podcasting, but depending on your morals, there's been a couple that are arguably close. For example, I had a recruiter approach me a couple of weeks ago about working for a top podcasting company that I'd classify as a major producer of "hate speech."
For the record, I walked away. I don't want anything to do with content that hurts the people I love.
But this is when things get tricky ... we have ways of convincing ourselves that companies "aren't so bad" or that "we could do a lot of good with this money."
I'm not a Sunday School teacher. I'm not here to be "judge and jury" when it comes to your content and how you make a living. But I do suggest you get clear on what you're willing to do for money now, before that money is presented to you, because that will make decisions about it so much easier.
In the end, what I'd love for you is to have options, so you never have to take any money you're not 100% on-board with. That's the purpose of this newsletter and the podcast.
If you've got stories of money you took (or didn't take), I'd love to hear them, good, bad, and ugly. Reach out to me via Twitter or Mastodon.
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Podcaster Opportunities
Podcasts on YouTube Are Here!
Watch this video for details on how to set things up. Right now, "podcast" seems to be a different term for "playlist," but this part of the video has a tease for what's coming in the future, so I think it's worth the punt to take a few minutes to set something up, so you can take advantage of that when it happens.
As far as whether YouTube is really getting into podcasting, here are a couple of comments from established podcasters ...
Stargate Pioneer from Better Podcasting says:
The term “podcast” is no longer owned by the true podcast-space with RSS feeds and Apple Music. The public at large thinks “podcast” is synonymous with “show.”
Bandrew from Podcastage says:
For the average consumer podcast is synonymous with long form spoken word content.
Regardless of whether you're interested in putting your podcast on YouTube, I think keeping these things in mind will be helpful when it comes to marketing your podcast.
Podcast Hosting Skills
15 People on the Most Important Question They've Ever Been Asked
The questions in this story are interesting, although probably only a couple of them are things you haven't heard or thought of before. And none of them will work with every guest you interview, so don't think that any are a "magic bullet" that will guarantee you a great interview.
Far more interesting for podcasters is her advice on how to ask great questions.
This process comes down to three things:
- Preparation
- Active Listening
- Anecdotes
Some thoughts on each ...
One of the best ways to prepare for an interview is to do a short phone call a few days before the interview where you introduce yourself to the guest and casually talk about some of the topics you want to cover. By actively listening, this is where you'll pick up a lot of the third thing on this list, anecdotes.
But what happens when a guest doesn't want to do a pre-interview? Here's one solution.
I've got a few pre-interview examples to share as well as advice for how to make sure your pre-interviews happen in the audio edition of this newsletter. Subscribe to the podcast to make sure you don't miss anything.
Podcast Production
Google Joins the "AI Wars"
Google has released it's own version of ChatGPT, Bard, and you can get on the waiting list here.
How they describe it ...
Meet Bard: your creative and helpful collaborator, here to supercharge your imagination, boost your productivity, and bring your ideas to life.
Right now, I think the best AI tools for podcasters are podcast-specific. See Castmagic and SwellAI for two great examples. But definitely get on the waiting list for Bard, just to have something to compare to.
I've had it a few days. It's not bad, and it's still in "experimental" mode, so we haven't seen all of it, but it's no anywhere close to ChatGPT or the other tools I mentioned above when it comes to podcasters simply because the output lacks personality. In short, everything it gives back to you sounds generic, which is the opposite of what you need to make your podcast stand out.
Need some ideas to get you started with AI for your podcast? Here are 7 ways to use it with for episode production.
Podcast Humor
You Paid How Much for a Mic?!
I met a guy last weekend at RocknPod when I saw him talking into an RE20 and, when he was done, told him, "You, sir, have excellent taste in microphones."
He told me he'd found it used for only $200 – less than half of what you'd normally spend,
If you're looking for a good deal on a mic, right now is the time to find one. Like exercise equipment, a lot of people kick off the new year with new gear. But as you know, not every new plan lasts ...
How much did you spend on your main microphone? Have you found any good deals on used equipment? Join the discussion here.
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The Wrap Up
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- Grow your podcast audience.
- Get people talking about your podcast.
- Make more money with your podcast.
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