(0:04 - 1:11)
Today on the Podcast Therapist, we're going to be critiquing my first reboot episode since I last recorded. Also, we will be talking about some of those podcast marketing trends of 2024, what they mean for you in 2025, and talk about some of that equipment that is probably hot off on the shelves right now that needs to come off the shelf. All part of the Podcast Therapist episode for December 3rd of 2024.
That's right. Welcome back to another Podcast Therapist episode, the podcast for entrepreneurs, solopreneurs, small businesses, and content creators trying to decode and streamline their podcasting process. I'm your host, Shannon Hernandez, also known as the Shanman radio broadcaster, podcaster, and a podcast producer doing a live recording right now on YouTube live.
But of course, if you're listening to this and you are tuned in on the podcast afterwards after I release it, welcome. I appreciate you guys for tuning on in. And of course, the last episode was two weeks ago.
(1:11 - 1:40)
It was a couple of weeks ago since I recorded anything. I got live on YouTube and I was recording for all of you. I mean, really, the way I say that, I feel like as though I'm just trying to fill time right now, but I'm doing my best.
I'm doing my best. And that kind of leads into what we'll be talking about today. So as I mentioned, we're going to be critiquing some of the things that I experienced in my first reboot episode and what I'm going to be doing as far as improving upon that.
(1:40 - 30:37)
And listening to your own podcast episodes as podcasters, as people who maybe have never been in front of the microphone or have always been a little bit hesitant to get in front of the microphone. There is this fear. There might be this, I don't know, hesitation that comes with just not wanting to get in front of the microphone because you're shy, right? I get it.
And this is actually one of the more popular videos that I have on my YouTube channel is how to speak into a microphone or how to get over the sound of your own voice. And I think that's what the fear is for a lot of people. It necessarily isn't something that I focus on.
I don't focus on the sound of my voice anymore. I focus more on the delivery. The delivery is kind of the more important thing for me.
If I'm not delivering quality content, then I need to go back and I need to figure out what my presentation is going to look like. So with that first episode last or two weeks ago that I had released, there were things that I just did not do like I had wanted to. And this is very common.
This is very common for radio broadcasters. It's very common for people who are jumping back into the podcasting game. I know there are podcasters out there who will just say, no, absolutely not.
I will not listen to myself after I've published the podcast. I will not go back and listen to myself. I will not listen to the presentation at all.
And I think it really depends on the person. It depends on the presentation you're giving, what type of podcast you're doing. It might be the interview style type of podcast.
So it really kind of all depends. But I do recommend that podcasters critique themselves. They go through and they do this critiquing of how they might sound to themselves, how the audience might sound, or I'm sorry, not how the audience might sound, how they might sound to the audience.
So when you do that and you do this self critique, it really makes an impact in the delivery style of your own podcast. So I've written some notes, just real basic notes, and I'm kind of going off of memory. You know, last week I wasn't here because there was a whole other issue that had gone on.
I had a family emergency that was going on. I've recorded a bonus episode about that. If you're interested in the bonus episode, feel free to hit me up in the chat or reach out to me on threads.
The links for that are all in the description below. And yeah, or in the description or in the show notes of your podcasting app. So let's talk about the critique of my last episode.
All right. And it's going to go into I would say my critique is really going to take some time. It's going to take some time for me to reframe, to figure out how I can present myself better to the podcasting audience.
So the very first episode, I got to say, I was nervous. I'm not going to lie. I'm a little nervous on this episode as well.
And just because I haven't I haven't built a rhythm out for myself yet. And the rhythm, I think, is the most important thing, especially with the way that I do podcasts. I present them as though I'm creating a radio program, a radio podcast.
And there are a lot of buttons that I have to kind of deal with. There's a lot of things that I got to remember in the in the back of my brain while I'm doing the presenting. I got to remember to key a certain button.
I got to remember hit something on Ecam. Being a podcaster these days takes a lot more effort and is a little more challenging if you don't have someone who is doing the camera switcher, someone who isn't doing the mixing board itself. If you're a one man band, then it becomes a little bit of a challenge.
So that's really where I'm working, what I'm working on. So some of the things that I really want to focus on, I want to focus on the I want to reflect on my presentation, which I've been doing. I want to talk about the elements of filler words, because I think this is a big thing for a lot of podcasters who are really worried about filler words.
And that is the thing that takes the most time when it comes down to editing a podcast are the filler words. And we'll talk about the technical issues. I've been talking about some of them just now.
And of course, what I can do to change and make better changes for the podcast. So just some of the reflections that I have just off the top of my head, the tone, the pacing, the clarity, I would say that the tone of my podcast last time, you can tell me otherwise, the tone of my podcast really was, it felt a little more relaxed. I felt more relaxed, but to a degree, I knew that I was doing a recording.
I knew I was, I was a little nervous. I knew that I was dealing with a lot more because I was planning out, I was planning out scenes inside of Ecamm. And it kind of affected how I presented the material.
But I feel as though that material still, it's still delivered, it landed. It may have been a messy landing, but it landed. All right.
The pacing I thought was, it was average, it was mediocre. It could be definitely a little bit better. There were a lot of elements or there are a lot of areas where I felt as though I was getting off track.
I've done some of that in this particular episode. And that is the key as far as podcasters are concerned. You want to make sure that you're moving from one topic to the next because the organization of your podcast really plays into your other elements, such as the promotional elements of your podcast, whether you want to promote other things, whether you want to talk about events.
So that really makes the difference in terms of your delivery, your pacing, how you want to deliver it and how organized it can be. All right. So that's just something that I think that you should think about and look into when you're doing it for yourself.
As far as the clarity is concerned and how clear I was in what I was doing, I thought from a programming standpoint, I was pretty clear. You guys knew exactly where I was coming from in terms of the segments, what type of segments there were. You knew that there was an opening segment, there was a middle segment, and there was a third segment, which equaled out to be close to an hour.
And then near the end, there was a Q&A that happened near the end. So I felt as far as the clarity of the program I was concerned, yes, it worked out great. As far as my delivery, as far as the clarity of thoughts, I think I can do a little bit better.
I think we all can do a little bit better. Just as we're doing this right now, I'm thinking about how the element of utilizing something such as Ecamm and trying to incorporate everything in all at once with something like a switcher and a mixing board, that can take your mind off of a lot. It can take your mind off the topic at hand.
Just as I was recording this right now, if you're watching live on YouTube, you would have seen that I had my opening screen, haven't changed it for the past 10 minutes. And because I was focused on the delivery of the content. So I went ahead and I switched it over, and we're now on a welcome screen.
So these are things that I just have to learn for myself. I have to learn to be able to multitask these different areas in terms of my own delivery. So what we call this in radio, we call this, I guess it's a critique of itself, we call this air checking.
And air checking is something that, I'll read it to you as defined by ChatGPT. Air checking is the process of critically reviewing a recorded episode or segment of your podcast to evaluate its overall quality, delivery, and effectiveness. So this is something clearly, you know, I'm borrowing it from radio.
Radio does this with their on-air jocks, their on-air personalities. And you sit down with someone else, it's like a peer review. It's like having a weekly peer review.
We don't do them, at least I don't do one every week anymore. But you can get someone who listens and tells you, okay, well, these are the areas where I maybe have seen some, I don't know, discrepancies and those discrepancies can be improved upon. And I think it's really good that you would go back and you would give it to a peer and have them listen, but you should be listening for yourself.
So for podcasters, this means you have to focus on things such as tone and pacing, whether the content flows from A to B to C, whether that, and it's clear, you're getting the message across fully. So I think that's something that you really, really should think about when it comes down to air checking yourself. Now when you're talking about things like the delivery and the clarity, let's talk about this idea of filler words, because I've done my best to try to not have filler words in my own podcasts, and that is a difficult thing to do.
But you have to also understand, and I bring this up constantly whenever I record a podcast or I'm advising someone or I'm consulting someone, that filler words are almost inevitable. You're going to have them in your episodes and it is okay to have them. Where you fix those filler words is you fix them at the presenter level.
So you have to fix them at the presenter level. You have to have notes. You have to know what you're talking about.
You have to know the direction in which you're going. Will you have filler words somewhere within your presentation at times? Absolutely. I do it all the time.
I tell people all the time, look at late night TV show hosts. They're filled with filler words because you're talking about comedians who are thinking on their feet and they're really doing a form of improv, right? They may have something that is prepared, they may have something that is ready to go, but a presenter such as a comedian will always come up with things at the last second and they may need to use those filler words to get the point across to land the joke itself. So you're going to have some things like filler words, all right? So just kind of be aware that you will have those.
In my opinion, you don't have to edit out every filler word. They're going to exist. The only time that I would ever remove a filler word was if I was reading something like for an audio book and I was doing something, for some reason I would be putting in filler words and I would need to edit those out.
But for a podcast, I look at this like radio. It's very much like radio. Oh, there we go.
I thought I had lost a sound there. The next thing I want to talk to you about is, of course, the technical issues with Ecam and the Rodecaster Pro 2 setup. I've already touched on this briefly, so we don't need to go on this all the time.
But I will just tell you, it does take a little bit of a challenge and it takes a little bit of a talent to be adjusting things within the actual mixing board itself, the switchers themselves, the iPad itself, and that can help you lose or that can contribute to you losing the train of thought. You just got to get into a rhythm. That's all I'm telling you is that you just got to get into a rhythm.
So what do I have planned for myself when it comes down to going into the next episodes? We're talking about this particular episode. Well, I think when it comes down to it, we really are looking at, we're talking about being more prepared. I got to be honest that today I was not as prepared as I thought I would be.
There were some things that I had to take care of in terms of a personal life. There were some things I wanted to take care of on my own website. I'm building out more bonus episodes for the back end of my website that hopefully can help deliver more value for podcasters, solopreneurs, entrepreneurs, and the such and the like.
And so I've been working on those things on my own. And so I already had the topics of what I wanted to talk about today, but I felt as though I wasn't completely or fully prepared, but I feel as though I'm prepared enough to continue and to build out a rhythm. And I think that's the most important thing going into the future and moving forward is to not overwhelm myself, but to build a rhythm out to know that if I'm going to go live every Tuesday, whether that be four o'clock or five o'clock in the afternoon, I need to build out that rhythm.
If I need to change that time and I need to start doing podcasts that are more along the lines of like nine o'clock, 10 o'clock in the morning, maybe I need to readjust, reevaluate. And I think that's all part of the podcasting process. You have to readjust, reevaluate.
Don't beat yourself up too much about this. I talk about this in a bonus episode that I recorded yesterday. You just have to give yourself a little bit of grace.
Just don't beat yourself up about any of this stuff. So going into the following episodes, I will be doing a little bit better. I will try to be a little more clear and I'll try to make the content flow just a little bit more.
So that's just where I'm coming from, what I plan on doing. There was a lot that happened for the last week for me. I mean, I've got to tell you, we had the Thanksgiving holiday that kind of put a wrench in things, but I had a family emergency that I had to attend to.
So that's why I didn't publish a podcast episode. So just know that it is my intention. It is my full intention to be regular with my podcast, to deliver value for podcasters who are looking to elevate their own podcast and what they should be looking out for.
With that being said, we're going to do a quick break. I need a little drink of water, trying to get over all my nerves right now. But we will be talking about in the next segment, we're going to be talking about those podcast marketing trends, the podcast marketing trends report of 2024, what that is going to look like going into 2025.
Coming up next on The Podcast Therapist. The Podcast Therapist. Hey, what's up, guys? It's Shannon, and I want to take a moment to share one of my favorite tools for podcasting and live streaming.
It's called Ecamm. I've been using it since 2022, and it's completely changed how I create my content. Now, when I first started, I used Ecamm for just simple videos.
Even at a basic level, it saved me so much time, letting me record directly to my computer with no need to use SD cards or transferring files to a computer. But as I got more serious about my podcast, I discovered just how powerful Ecamm really is. I can now stream live to my YouTube and record the entire show at the same time, complete with separate audio and video tracks for editing.
I've built custom scenes with animations, graphics and overlays that make my live streams a lot better and a little more professional. Plus, inviting guests is a breeze, and I just send them to a private link and they join me in a virtual green room before going live. Ecamm is hands down the tool that I rely on for every podcast and live stream I do.
And if you're ready to take your content to the next level, check it out by using my affiliate link at thepodcasttherapist.com slash Ecamm or check the link in the show notes below. That means if you decide to give it a try, I might earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. But honestly, I wouldn't recommend it if I didn't use it myself.
Launching a podcast can be overwhelming. You've got your equipment, a Zoom account and a few episodes recorded. But what's next for a successful launch? The biggest mistake podcasters make is not having a proper launch sequence.
Just like building a house requires a solid blueprint to ensure it stands strong, your podcast needs a strategic plan to enter the market successfully. Introducing the Podcast Launch Checklist. Developed after helping numerous clients, this guide ensures your podcast launch is smooth and efficient.
It's a 12-step sequence covering pre-launch, mid-launch and post-launch phases with clear instructions to save you time and prevent mistakes. The checklist provides crucial pre-launch information and includes checklists to ensure nothing is missed. Plus, you'll get access to vetted resources, making your launch more efficient.
Don't wander in the dark. Get the Podcast Launch Checklist today and launch your podcast with confidence. Visit thepodcasttherapist.com slash plc to get 25% off this checklist.
When I first started using Ecamm for my video podcast, everything felt like a juggling act. If I needed to switch a camera or scene, I'd have to pick up my mouse, align it just right, and hope I clicked fast enough to keep things smooth. I mean, it worked, but it was definitely slower and it slowed me down.
How's it going? It's Shannon. And of course, that all changed for me when my friend Jeff introduced me to the Elgato Stream Deck. I started with the Stream Deck MK.2, which has 15 customizable macro keys, and it has completely revolutionized my production workflow.
With the Stream Deck, I can seamlessly control Ecamm for live streams, video podcasts, and so much more. It also works with platforms like StreamYard, giving you the ability to toggle your microphone, switch layouts, or manage your stream all from the press of a button. It's like having a live production assistant at your fingertips.
And what I love is that I can customize each key with its own thumbnail, so I always know exactly what action I'm triggering, whether it's switching scenes, launching apps, or controlling my live stream. It's incredibly intuitive, and it works on both Mac and PC. In fact, I've even been thinking about upgrading to the Stream Deck XL, which has 32 keys for more functionality.
So if you're ready to level up your podcast or live stream production, check out the Elgato Stream Deck at thepodcasttherapist.com slash Stream Deck, or find the link in the show notes today. That's my affiliate link, so I may earn a small commission if you decide to try it. Seriously, it's one of the best tools I've ever used, and I think you're going to like it too.
If you're trying to grow your YouTube channel, let me tell you about a tool that's made a huge difference in my life. It's called TubeBuddy. How's it going? It's Shannon.
And when I started using TubeBuddy back in 2019, I realized that if I wanted my videos to actually get views, I needed to focus on YouTube SEO. But figuring out what topics would work, which keywords to target, and how to optimize my videos, honestly, it felt completely overwhelming. And that's where TubeBuddy came in and completely changed the game for me.
With their Chrome extension, TubeBuddy gives me a dashboard right inside YouTube that shows me which keywords are competitive and which ones are worth targeting. And it's not just for pre-recorded uploads. I use it for my live video streams too.
And after I finish a live stream, I can go back, tweak the title, add better keywords, and optimize the video so it has a real shot at getting discovered. And here's one of my favorite features. I can revamp older videos that didn't perform as well as I had hoped.
TubeBuddy gives me the tools to update the keywords, descriptions, and even titles so those videos can rank better over time. Now, if you're serious about getting your podcast noticed on YouTube, you got to check out TubeBuddy at thepodcasttherapist.com slash TubeBuddy. Now, that's my affiliate link.
So if you decide to give it a try, I may earn a small commission and no extra cost to you, but I'd recommend it if I wasn't an affiliate. Again, you could check it out at thepodcasttherapist.com slash TubeBuddy or check the link in the show notes of this podcast right now. Are you a small online business owner looking to get a head start in growing your email list and attracting new customers? You've got no time for guesswork.
Hi there, I'm Nadia Solo, and I have been helping small business owners just like you with all things sales funnels and automations on Kajabi since 2020. Click on the link in the show notes to download my Lead Magnet Essential Checklist to find out about a proven 5x5 formula for creating lead magnets, gain a solid understanding of what it takes to create your first or next lead magnet, and start seeing your email list skyrocket. Visit www.solositesolutions.com forward slash tpt to download the checklist now.
No more confusion, just practical steps to elevate your lead generation strategy. Mixdown. It's time for the Mixdown.
I'm your podcast therapist. That's right. Time for the Mixdown.
This is our chance to go ahead and start diving a little deeper into some of those topics that deal with podcasting. Today, we're going to be talking about the podcast marketing trends report of 2024 and what that's going to look like for you going into 2025. So we will break that down for you guys.
That's why we call it the Mixdown. It is a hat tip. If you have ever utilized Adobe Audition and you have ever mixed something down, that's where we get this segment called the Mixdown.
So yeah, let's just jump right into it, right? So we all know that going into 2024, there were some trends that we had to be aware of as far as podcasting. We knew that video podcasting was going to be a huge, huge thing. It already was going into 2024.
Guys like Joe Rogan had popularized it. Of course, he was already doing Spotify. But as the marketers and researchers had started to gain a little more information on what trends in marketing will impact different platforms, they started collecting the data and started doing the research.
And it wasn't just one company that was doing this. We're talking about multiple companies who really have an investment in just not marketing trends for podcasters, but for social media, for email marketing, things like that. And this report really kind of breaks it down.
It boils it all down into just, I guess, one tight PDF of what you should be looking out for in 2024. And I want to talk about the 2024 trends because I think if we're really looking at trends, we have to see what is going to go into 2025, right? Going into 2025. But you have to pay attention to what the trends were in 2024.
Now, in my notes, what I have today, what I'm talking about is that some of the key trends that we had to watch for in 2024 was the rise of YouTube as a podcasting platform. That is very, very obvious. YouTube really starting to take control of the podcasting space as far as they are on their own terms.
Does it mean that they are overtaking all podcast platforms? Absolutely not. They are not taking over all podcast platforms. But it makes sense.
It really does make sense because of the search engine capabilities that YouTube has. And I'm doing my own testing with YouTube and this particular podcast to see what it can do. If I, let's put it this way, if I had seen success utilizing YouTube as a platform for creating video, how different is that from creating content that will be available or ready to distribute on YouTube and utilizing the same strategies that I was creating when I was doing just regular video? So the rise of YouTube as a podcasting platform, I think it's something that we do need to pay attention to.
Does it mean that you have to always do video? No, no. But I mean, I'm doing video, but I'm doing it as like, hey, you get to watch me record the podcast. And then, of course, you get to hear the final product in the very end, right? So that is something that we were looking out for in 2024, the rise of SEO as far as podcast discoverability.
This is a huge thing for podcasters, content creators themselves, when content creators are trying to distribute or try to get more eyes on their content. The SEO is something that I don't know if it necessarily trips up podcasters or it trips up content creators, but it definitely brings forward. It makes it a little more difficult for people to say that they're marketing their podcast and the podcast isn't doing very well.
I mean, that's what podcasters say that my podcast isn't getting great visibility. So the SEO is going to be important. I want to break that down maybe in some bonus episodes at some point and or even do a class on it and share with people how I do podcast SEO.
The effectiveness of short form content as far as according to this marketing trends report of 2024, this was something that was huge to distribute and, of course, get more eyes on your content, YouTube shorts, Instagram reels. You could even throw in TikTok right there. So the effectiveness of this, meaning that it does give more visibility and rise to your content when you're talking about a big pillar piece of content such as video or audio itself, the shorter form pieces of content can lead someone to a longer form piece of content.
Now, whether or not people are consuming those longer pieces of content, such as a podcast, whether they are there, they're on the drive to work or whether they are at a workout or they're cleaning house or on a walk that still remains to be seen. But I also believe and I have my own opinions that that also relates back to the type of demographic, the people that you're targeting itself. So that's just something that you have to think about.
Cross promotion and partnerships for audience growth. That is something that is huge. That is something that I plan on doing going into 2025 is that I will plan on doing cross promotion for right now, just recording the podcast.
For me, it's more about the rhythm and trying to build in the rhythm of, you know, of my own podcast, you know, the rhythms of having to operate the equipment all at the same time because I am a one man band trying to do this all my own. But the cross promotion, meaning that when I'm not recording my own podcast, I am showing up on other podcasts, telling people what I have been doing, what content that I do have, what tools, what resources I can to help them out. And that will not only just I, I am a big believer and strong believer that this works because many years ago when Google Plus was a thing back in the day, they used to have Google Plus live streams.
And of course, YouTube Live was a spinoff of that. Of course, they were doing a lot of testing back then. And Google, you know, on that social network, you would see every week, every Friday, there would be a live stream and many groups of people just showing up.
And anytime that person or the person, the host was hosting a podcast or hosting a YouTube video, or I guess it would be called a Google Live. I forget what it was called. But they were also inviting guests because it was very easy to invite a guest.
And of course, there was someone that was sharing their expertise. And that expertise really resonated with some people. And that was where I saw the majority of my growth.
I saw the majority of my growth was by showing up on other people's programs and directing them back to what I was doing as far as trying to build out a business. And so, you know, I still believe in that. That is a strategy that works in radio.
That is a strategy that continues to work no matter what you're doing. So trying to piggyback off and cross promote, do partnership, audience growth, partnerships, that's a huge, huge thing. Monetization strategies were a part of this marketing trends report of 2024.
And I think it continues to be something that you'll look at going into 2025. So you'll want to look at free options, also tiered memberships as a podcaster. All right.
So what are some of the things that you can do going into 2025? How do you implement some of these for growth? Well, we can get into that. We can really dive deep into that. I'm just going to kind of leave it to, I guess, just a few things.
You know, I did mention a couple things, you know, getting on other people's podcasts. But I think one of the things that I'm going to continue to drive home for most podcasters is that what you have to do is you have to set things up on the back end. What I've been doing, at least as far as the reboot of my own podcast episode, is setting a lot of the website stuff on the back end.
Whether I'm going to create a podcast that's going to have bonus episodes and, you know, building in a strategy that just sets me up for the future. And I think that's what is important. And I think that's what you as a podcaster should do is you should be setting yourself up, not just with the podcast, but just with your website, how you are pushing people back to you.
So if you're going to show up on other programs, make sure that you have a backup plan or you set up a plan to where people can be captured on your end so you can start building out this audience itself. All right. So that's something that that's one thing that I think you really, really need to do.
As far as the technical parts are concerned, we can save that for another episode or maybe we do it for, you know, a workshop day where we will do that. So that is a big thing that I think we should do. Now, as far as this podcast marketing trends report is concerned, I want to talk to you about this and I want to dive a little bit deeper into it.
And of course, this is the report that I'm holding up into the camera. If you're watching on YouTube, this is the report and it was done by Quills and Carney. And I believe it was, I can't remember when it was released, but these are just the trends that we have to look out for.
And I want to break down going into this segment and it might be a little bit longer of a segment, but I think it's important to kind of identify some of the statistics, the observations that we've seen. And those are the things that I think will play directly into 2025. So when we look at this guide, though, it's a guide that focuses on other, on different areas of marketing, whether that be email marketing, whether that be social media marketing, whether that be podcast marketing, YouTube marketing, these are all, it's all in this guide.
(30:37 - 31:38)
All right. So they parse them out by each and every different type of platform. Okay.
So we're looking at the different types of platforms. The one that I want to focus on specifically will be for podcasts. Now, as they have defined it in this guide, they have defined it as a branded podcast and branded podcast as defined by this guide is a podcast series owned or brought to listeners by a company to benefit the brand.
In the study by BBC, it was uncovered that podcasts that mentioned a brand deliver an average of 16% higher engagement compared to the surrounding content. So that's something that you have to be aware of when it comes down to a branded content podcast. Now, branded content, what does that look like? That looks like maybe a company starting a podcast, or maybe you are a person who is, you know, who's starting their own side hustle and they want to become their own brand.
That's branded content. At least in my eyes, that's what branded content looks like. All right.
(31:38 - 50:42)
Some other things that I have highlighted in here is that in 2024, I'm sorry, in 2014, only 30% of Americans had listened to a podcast. Now that number has more than doubled to 64%. So that is a huge jump in podcast consumption.
82% of marketers plan to continue the same amount or increase their investment in podcasts or audio because they see there's such a value in it. I've just always looked at it as another form of radio. It's just another form of radio to me.
That's the way I see it. And people still live lives. They still have to commute.
They still have to exercise. They still clean house. I mean, these are the things that at least I do.
And when I consume podcasts, when I do consume them, at least I think now these days, the only podcast consumption that I'm really doing is I'm editing other people's podcasts because there's only so much time in the day, right, to consume a podcast. But if you can make the content that much better, then it really will be something that is impactful. Now, here's a quote that came from Edison Research.
That's in the guide. You can see it for yourself. And the quote is saying, for the first time, for the first time, Americans are listening to more on-demand audio like podcasts and music services than live audio like radio.
Now, I do want to say that when you're getting this and this research coming from Edison Research, you have to be very careful about the type of research that you're consuming. You have to be very careful about what... You have to think of it this way. You have to take it with a grain of salt because there's research that comes from different agencies, different companies, and they all report on something that is a little bit different.
One week, you might see that, oh, video podcasting is not the thing, and more audio podcasts are really becoming more popular. And then you might see the next day or the next week where the total opposite is returned. Oh, video podcasts are the big thing, and audio podcasts are starting to go down in popularity.
So be aware of where you're getting the information and just kind of take it with a grain of salt because it depends on the questions that the researchers are giving and how they extrapolate that information, all right? Now, as far as best practices are concerned, we'll kind of go into that. Best practices for audio podcasts in the Marketing Trends Report for 2024, content repurposing was something that I saw that was a big thing, using AI tools, AI tools helping convert your podcast into blog articles, reports, social media posts, audiograms, graphics, and so much more in minutes. I mean, that's directly from this report itself.
As far as I'm concerned, and my own podcast, the transcriptions, that is a huge thing that I think for me as a podcaster and a video creator, the transcriptions are huge because that used to be something where you could farm that out to Rev, and you'd actually have a human that was, you know, that was actually typing it out for yourself, right? Or they're typing out for you. And now AI just does that for you, right? AI does it for you, and it does it fast. And so I use tools like Descript.
You could use tools like TurboScribe to do this, but the AI really does a lot of the work for you. So that's just something that I think you need to look at. Omnichannel Marketing Within Podcasts, that's in this report, that's what they have it titled as.
Omnichannel Marketing Report. What is Omnichannel Marketing? It means your podcast does not exist in a silo. It means that it should exist beyond the scope of what you have as far as delivering that content on a podcast or a video podcast.
It needs to go beyond that into blogs. It needs to go into social media posts. It needs to be just a part of every part of your marketing, newsletters, videos, repurposing it and utilizing the AI that can help you do that.
Some of the people that I know that do this, and he's in this live stream right now, I believe he's still in this live stream, is Chris Stone. Chris Stone and the Dealcasters Podcast. He does a really good job of repurposing a lot of his content to promote his own content.
So my friend Jeff See does the same thing. And you see other brands that are doing this. You see sports brands doing this.
I have a friend of mine who does the Score North Podcast, and there's a whole network that they just talk about sports, and they're utilizing all these tools to get the word out about their podcast. All right. Now we can talk about how we... In this report, they talk about defining the ideal listener profile.
And this is something as a podcaster, you have to really focus on. You have to focus on the listener profile. You can call it an avatar.
You can call it demographics. You can call it the listener profile. Whatever you want to call it.
Fine. That is completely fine. However, you should be able... You should be defining that profile of that person.
You should be identifying the demographics of who you are trying to reach. And this should not be complicated as a podcaster. It should not be complicated as a content creator.
What it should be is that you should be able to identify whether you want to write it down, what they do. But the components of these demographics should be, you know, who are you trying to reach? What age are they? What do they fear the most? What is their budget? Gender. What is their socioeconomic status? These are all things that are listed in this guide itself.
I'll make sure to leave a link in the show notes and description of this particular podcast episode in your podcast player or on YouTube. If you're watching this on YouTube or you're listening on YouTube, it'll be in the description. So you'll be able to find this report whenever I decide to go ahead and release this podcast.
But there are all these list of profiles and what you should be looking for. These are all listed in this guide. All right.
Some other things in the Podcast Marketing Trends Report of 2024, and I highlighted a whole bunch on this page, was that the title of this says why your brand should consider podcasting in 2024. And I think going into 2025, you should still think about this. Even when I'm looking up on threads or I'm looking in LinkedIn, there are people doing active searches for starting a podcast.
They have something they want to say. So why should you consider doing a podcast in 2024? And I would say, why should you do it in 2025? So you could showcase your brand story. And I'm just reading these directly from the report.
These are not my ideas. These are from the report. You can showcase your brand's story.
So this is something that you can do. You can share the brand story. And I think that's something that I try to do is I try to showcase my own brand story, you know, the challenges that I face and how I'm willing to work on those challenges, right? You can highlight your expertise, something that I try to do.
Level partnerships with collaborations. This is something maybe you do have a collaborator, you have a partnership that would really work well with your podcast. That's when you should go ahead and do this.
But this is something that I went ahead and I starred and I thought was very interesting for this report, was that podcasting, if you're considering podcasting in 2025, or at least for this report, 2024, but going into 2025, it increases conversions. Now, when we talk about conversions, we're talking about whether it's converting, you know, more people to come to your blog, whether it's converting to, you know, buy a product, things like that. So what it has, what it says here, it says it increases conversions.
Podcasting holds a conversion rate of 34% compared to print, which is 2.4% and TV, which is 3.1% plus podcast interview traffic converts 25 times better than blogs, which is, I found was very interesting because I'm such a blog dude. I like to read blogs. I like to kind of digest what was, what's going on.
But I also realize the world that we live in. And I realized what my own habits are. I tend to spend all my day at home and I can read things.
I'm not really listening to the podcast the way I listen to them. I'm listening to them from a producer or, you know, a creator standpoint, right? Another reason why you should want to go ahead and start your podcast is that you would connect with your target audience. I think that is something that is a huge thing as well.
You connect with a target audience here on YouTube. I'm always encouraging people to go ahead and leave comments in the section below. I'll try to answer them at the end of the podcast, things like that.
I'm always asking people to reach out to me on threads, things like that. So that's why you probably should start your own podcast or think about starting your own podcast. Because these are things that I think if they resonate with you and you feel as though you have something to say, you can really build around that.
Now, here's some other things in this report. It says how branded podcasts can fit into your brand's goals. Well, it creates brand awareness, right? I think that is a huge thing, especially if you're doing, whether it's a YouTube video or a podcast, it brings brand awareness.
And if you're not building that brand awareness, you're not building out the consistency, or you're not allowing people to see that there is a frequency of how you're showing up and you're showing up every week. And with that frequency, they're seeing that you have resources available. They see that you have podcasts available, YouTube videos, YouTube shorts, TikToks, Instagram reels.
And each one of those pieces of content can really push and lead people down to becoming a loyal listener or a loyal customer at some point in time. And that leads me to the next point they have listed in this guide, lead generation. I highlighted it, so I wanted to read it.
So this is direct from the report. It says, by leveraging the popularity and intimacy of the podcasting medium, sales teams can enhance their sales strategies and drive meaningful results. If there's specific, I'm sorry, if there's a specific lead that you've had your eye on, or whether it be an individual or brand, invite them into your podcast or to be a guest on their own podcast.
So it can definitely lead to lead generation. As I mentioned earlier, doing those Google Plus live streams, that was a huge thing back in the day when I was showing up on other people's Google Plus live streams and I was getting leads from that. And in fact, I got many leads from that.
And every time I posted onto Google Plus, I was able to lead them into a funnel or an email marketing funnel. And at some point, at one point, I was able to sell a product. And that product was basically how to use Google Plus to develop and build leads.
There were people who were way more qualified than I was, but I would say that was my first time I ever made $1,000 and it blew my mind. It blew my mind away. So utilize podcasting as a lead generation tool for yourself, all right? You can also leverage this as being a person who is in thought leadership, or you can utilize it as internal communication.
I've had this come up every now and again. What is internal communication podcasting? Well, it's just podcasting for companies themselves. It is not distributed to the public.
It is like a private podcast feed, but it is just for the company itself to keep people aware of what's going on in the company and what the plans are for the company. So that's just something to think about. So the last part of this report, and we'll wrap it up at least as far as this segment is concerned, how can we optimize your branded podcast, your podcast going into 2025? Well, these for 2024 is that, and these are just things that have been, they've been said since the dawn of time, I've been saying this since the dawn of time, is that you should not rely on vanity metrics.
And what do we mean by vanity metrics? My friend Mia would say, you're pretending to be a size queen, saying that you have so many downloads of a podcast episode, but did someone actually listen to the episode? Because you can have a number of people who are getting your podcast, but are they listening to the podcast? Now, I don't want to be too critical and say whether or not yes or no, that someone is listening to a podcast episode. But I will say this, I think as we go into 2025 and based on this report for 2024, that the metrics are, they're a little more granular. We have to look at them as a granular metric.
And what do I mean by granular metric? It's not just whether or not the person listened or downloaded the podcast, it's whether they listened to the podcast and whether they listened to the podcast, knowing that you had the intention to bring them into your fold for your own brand. So you should not rely on the vanity metrics, how many downloads I got. You should be relying on the metrics that matter, the actionable metrics.
I highlighted a bunch of stuff on this page right here. One of them being saying, while high download numbers might catch the attention, they don't indicate whether listeners are genuinely, genuinely engaged, or if they continue to follow your content. Instead, you should look at a podcast metric like an average consumption rate, audience demographics, and B2B analytics.
Now, if I were to break that down a way we look at that, in radio, the way we look at that, we look at that as time spent listening. So obviously radio is broadcast on public airwaves. We now do a lot of streaming on radio, but what we look for is we look for the quarter hour.
We look for at least the quarter hour, how long someone listened for a quarter hour, because the average listening time, I can't remember what that number was, but let's just say I think it was around the 10 minute mark. They listened for about seven to 10 minutes, and then they're tuned out, right? It's not very, it's not as focused, right? There's things that happen. Your daughter spilled a glass of milk.
Someone knocked at the door. You got to put something on pause. Someone honked at you in traffic, and you're cussing them out, whatever that may be.
So we have to look at the average consumption of what we're doing, and within that consumption, are you capturing the audience? Podcasting is a little bit different. People tend to listen a little bit longer because they want to get that information, all right? So what you're going to want to track is you're going to want to track not just downloads, but you're going to want to track, I would call, I would say you're going to want to track conversions, and by when I mean conversions, you are setting up the areas on the back end of your website for someone to become a part of your community, whatever that may be, all right? I want to read this highlighted part. Downloads represent, I'm sorry, let me start that over again.
Downloads represent the total count of plays lasting at least 60 seconds. Every instance a listener engages with your content, regardless of whether it's a first-time experience or a repeat play. Conversely, unique listeners offer a distinct count of individual audience members tuning into your show.
If a listener revisits your podcast multiple times, it registers as a single unique listener, making this metric much more accurate and an accurate representation of your listenership. So that's something that you really should be thinking about is making it and turning it into something that is of value, but knowing that when they're listening, you should be looking deeper. You shouldn't be looking at the download.
You should be looking deeper at the programming part of it. How are you going to get them to not just only hit the follow button, the subscribe button, whatever that may be? What are you doing to try to get them to go down to the show notes of your podcast episode? Things like that. Now, the last point I want to make on here is that from this report, and again, thanks to Quill and Carney for creating this report.
You can find it yourself. When I go ahead and put these in the show notes, you'll be able to find it and you can read the entire report yourself. Focusing on providing value to customers.
I talk about this all the time is that you have to create value for your customer. All right, your podcast listener is your customer because your podcast listener is not just your supporter. They're not just your listener.
They are your customer. Whether you're deciding to go ahead and sell merchandise, whether you're selling a membership, whether you're selling a course, whether you're getting, it doesn't matter what you're doing. They are your customer.
That's how I've looked at it in radio. That's how you should look at it as a podcast. Of course, keep in mind that the way I do podcasting, that's how I look at it.
It's like a radio show. I look at it as a customer. There are different styles of podcasts that exist out there.
So you have to remember these things. These are things that are very important when you're breaking it down. There are storytelling podcasts.
There are branded podcasts. There are podcasts that are like radio shows. There are sports podcasts.
Depending on what type of podcast you're creating, you have to understand that there is going to be a level of value that you have to give. With a storytelling podcast, you're mainly telling a story. But are there points in time or there are points in the podcast where you can create a call to action that will allow people to remind them, hey, this person has more content on their website or this person has, or this podcast has something of value that I might need.
Those can be implemented into a storytelling podcast. So again, when you're looking at the value of your podcast, you've got to address the needs of your podcast for a branded podcast, address the needs of your audience, cater to their preferences, and leave them with something more, whether that be education, food for thought, or entertainment. I certainly hope that I have done that for you in this particular podcast because that is my goal for trying to build out my own platform, to try to build out something that is of value, to distill things down so it makes more sense for you as a content creator so that you can build a better podcast and you can leverage your listener to becoming a customer.
I hope this was valuable for you. Hope it was very, very valuable for you. I'm going to take another quick break.
Stick around because what I'm going to go ahead and do is I'm going to talk about some of the things I wanted to talk about last week I didn't get to because of Black Friday and, well, because of the Thanksgiving holiday. I didn't get to it and it was Black Friday, Cyber Monday this week. And then, of course, I had a family emergency I had to attend to and I wanted to talk about this.
Before then, I wasn't able to do it, but I still think it's relevant. We'll talk about some of that equipment I think you should be getting into the holiday season coming up next on The Podcast Therapist. The Podcast Therapist Are you ready to master the art of podcast interviews? Introducing Mastering Podcast Interviews by Shannon Hernandez, a comprehensive ebook designed to help you conduct exceptional interviews from preparation to promotion.
(50:42 - 1:10:34)
Whether you're just starting out or looking to refine your skills, this ebook provides practical advice, tips, and techniques to enhance your interviewing prowess. Learn how to set clear objectives, research your guests, and craft engaging questions that resonate with your audience. With over 20 years of experience in the radio industry, Shannon Hernandez shares his insights on building rapport, maintaining conversation flow, and ensuring a smooth post-production process.
This ebook also includes essential checklists and reflective prompts to help you continuously improve. Don't leave your interviews to chance. Use Mastering Podcast Interviews to elevate your podcasting game and create compelling content that stands out.
Get your copy today and it will be delivered to your inbox immediately. Visit thepodcasttherapist.com slash interviews to get your copy now and start mastering your podcast interviews. Hey, what's up? It's Shannon.
And if you're tired of spending too much time and money on podcast transcriptions, let me tell you about Descript. Now, before Descript, I spent a fortune on other services to transcribe my 40-minute to hour-long podcast and even some of my YouTube videos. But now I just upload my audio to Descript and it handles the rest.
The transcriptions are super accurate and they capture every word. The app even lets me remove the filler words so my transcriptions can look clean and professional on my website for the transcription section. And Descript is also a game changer for video content.
After recording, Descript provides a transcript of your audio and then you can edit your audio just by editing the text. Simple cut, copy, and paste just to make precise edits. I'll take it.
You don't even need advanced audio editing skills for this. Plus, Descript has all kinds of other amazing features like eye correction for video, creating audiograms for social media, the overdub feature for making corrections, and real-time collaboration if you have a team. So stop wasting time and money on other services.
Check out Descript at my affiliate link at thepodcasttherapist.com slash getDescript. Or if you can't remember the address, check the link in the show notes of your podcast player for this episode. Give it a try.
You'll see how Descript will change the way you create podcasts and videos. A few years ago, I got a gift from my sister that honestly, I wasn't sure I'd ever use. It was called a Rocketbook.
And at first I thought, it's just a notebook, right? But once I started using it, I realized how wrong I was. Now, as a podcaster, staying organized is everything. You know this.
And Rocketbook, it's been the game changer for me. It's a reusable notebook that works with special friction pens. You write in it like you would with regular paper.
But here's where it gets really cool. With the Rocketbook app, you can scan your notes and send them straight to your cloud storage, Google Drive, or Dropbox, and share them with people that you trust. I've used the Rocketbook to map out podcast episodes, organize meeting notes, and even keep track of tasks.
And thanks to the icons at the bottom of each page, I can instantly send my notes to the right folder without lifting a finger, just using the app. And I know you might be asking yourself, what happens when the notebook is full? Well, you're able to just go ahead and wipe it clean and start fresh. Rocketbook has been a huge part of rebooting The Podcast Therapist, and it keeps me organized without wasting paper or losing track of ideas.
So if you want to stay on top of your projects and keep everything in one place, check out Rocketbook at thepodcasttherapist.com slash Rocketbook. Or you can find the link in the show notes of this particular episode today. And just to note, that is my affiliate link, so I may earn a small commission if you go ahead and decide to try it.
Hey there, podcast lovers. Do you ever find yourself at a crossroads struggling with life's big decisions? I'm Adam, and I know exactly how you feel. I've been there, faced with overwhelming choices and uncertainty, not knowing where to turn or who to trust.
That's why I created The Decision Hour, a podcast designed to guide you through life's toughest choices. In The Decision Hour, we dive deep into real life stories, offering expert advice and practical tips to help you make those tough choices with confidence. But that's not all.
We also feature interviews with inspiring individuals who have faced similar challenges and have come out stronger. Plus, you get to access our exclusive community, where you can share your experiences, get support, and connect with like-minded people. So if you're ready to take control of your life and make decisions that truly matter, tune in to The Decision Hour.
Visit our website at thedecisionhour.com to start your journey today. Remember, the power to make great decisions is just one click away. Hey guys, it's Shannon.
And when I decided I wanted to go ahead and start creating content all those years ago, I knew I needed a trusted website platform. I was managing multiple services, setting up API keys, and tracking all the costs became super overwhelming. Then I discovered Kajabi.
Kajabi started helping out content creators like me and you sell courses, but they've grown into so much more than that. They're an all-in-one platform that lets you build a website, manage your email marketing, set up sales funnels, and of course, host all of your courses in one place. But they also allow you to host your podcasts, including paid or hidden ones, for members who want to be a part of your own community.
Plus, Kajabi offers an integrated community, just like Facebook groups, but within your own website. They give you detailed analytics and even a branded app. Using Kajabi has simplified my workflow and it's boosted my own productivity.
If you want to learn more, you can use my affiliate link at thepodcasttherapist .com slash Kajabi, or you can find the link in the show notes of your podcast player for this episode to go ahead and get started. Kajabi, it's the perfect tool to elevate your content creation and reach more people who are passionate about your work. Welcome back to The Podcast Therapist.
And I appreciate those people who are sticking around on YouTube live, watching. I got to say hi to Chris Stone once again, who is in the chat. And if you're, of course, in the chat and you haven't commented, you're more than welcome on your phone.
You should be able to see and tap on the YouTube. There should be like a little drop down arrow. And then, of course, you can jump right into the chat and you can say hi.
So engagement is always welcome. While I might not respond right back right away, I will see and I, of course, will comment back whenever I go into my little commercial breaks. So I will see you for sure.
And I appreciate the support that you guys are giving. It means a lot to me, especially doing a live show. And, of course, doing it at this time.
It's a little bit different, right? Doing a live show right now around it's almost 6 p.m. Arizona time. And I know that people are getting home from work or whatnot. And for me, I'm really just kind of testing out this time.
It's really more about the time. Where am I going to see people come in and listen? But really, that is like a secondary thing for me. Recording the podcast is more of a primary objective for me.
So we'll do that. And, of course, just so you know, I am working on some other elements of my website right now. I've mentioned it in the past hour that I will be creating an ad-free version of this.
And I will be creating just not ad-free, but there will be bonus episodes that will be coming with this. And it's coming up here real soon. So I don't know how soon, but it is something that I've been building out.
I spent all Thanksgiving break just kind of working on this, despite the fact that there were some challenges that I had to face with a family emergency. I keep bringing that up, and you're wondering what that family emergency was. It was a family emergency.
It was not a major alarm, but it was just something that I had to travel out of town and I had to go see my parents. And so that was really kind of where it was. So that's why I didn't release a podcast episode last week, because I had left on a Tuesday.
I had left on Tuesday at, I believe, 2 p.m., and I had to get out of town. So that's why I didn't have an episode. So my apologies for that.
But stick to threads, because that's where I do let people know where I'm going to be. At least that's my communication platform right now for letting people know what is going on with me. But just as you get a little bit older, you got to start paying attention to some of the things that are important.
And family is something that is very important to me. And that's where I was. So it kind of put a wrench, though, in the things that I wanted to talk about, because I wanted to really capitalize on the Black Friday, Cyber Monday deals that were happening.
And yeah, it was just something that was not able to happen. And it bummed me out. And I was a little sad about that.
But it's okay. It's okay, because I really don't have anything that I wanted to share in terms of affiliate links, even though if you want to get this equipment, I have an essential equipment guide for starting a podcast that is available for people to go ahead and download on my website. That is available.
But we will talk about some of the items that I think that you should get as we are in the holiday season. I know some of these companies are extending their sales so they can get the sales to going into the holiday season. But the things that I think that I think are really more along the lines of what I think are essentials that you should get, and they're listed in my essential equipment guide on my website.
The link is down in the description of this YouTube video. And of course, in your podcast app player, whether it be Spotify or Apple, Overcast, whatever it may be, you'll see those links for the essential equipment guide available for you. And at some point, I'm gonna end up inviting Chris Stone in to do a podcast with me so we can talk about this equipment.
Because if you're gonna talk about equipment, the name Chris Stone and equipment are synonymous. So I think he needs to come in and he needs to talk about this stuff because I think he's a big gear head, I think. And if you've seen his setup, it's just phenomenal.
It's phenomenal. So let's just talk about some of these things real quick. I think before we jump out of here, some of the essential equipment that I think that you should be looking out for, it's gotta be equipment and software.
Obviously comes in handy, hand in hand, I'm sorry. And the equipment that I think that I get asked about the most, I get it in emails whether someone is subscribing to the essential equipment guide and they're wondering, I just got an email the other day from someone out in Massachusetts asking me, hey, what is the best camera that I can get for my podcast? I wanna start a video podcast. And this is really kind of a subjective choice.
Depending on what you want. This person told me that they really liked my camera, but my camera is okay. But I am using personally a Logitech Brio camera and I only need it just for what I'm doing here.
So the Logitech Brio camera works really well with my Mac Studio. So kind of keep in mind with what I'm doing as far as my setup is concerned, you gotta remember that I'm using a Mac Studio and I'm just a Mac person all around. That's really just, that's just me.
That's what I do. So I think that's something that you have to kind of keep in mind of. So I just, I'm using a Mac.
Also, I think what you should do is you should also get the microphone of your choice that's gonna work for you. If you want a better quality microphone, you can pick anywhere between a Heil microphone, a Shure microphone. There's just a number of them that are out there.
So the one that I use is the Shure SM7B microphone. That's the microphone that podcasters like Joe Rogan use. A lot of podcasters use this.
Comedians use it nonstop, nonstop. The software though, I think, you know, from jumping around, the software that you're gonna be using if you're doing a podcast, video podcast is you're going to need some type of software. Now I know there's PC users, there's Mac users.
I'm obviously Mac, so I'm using the Ecamm software. And of course, again, I'll do a little plug for Ecamm right now. If you want to get started with Ecamm and use it for your Mac, the link is in the show notes of this podcast.
That is my affiliate link that you can go ahead and check out. I will probably earn a little commission off that, but I will use Ecamm. If you wanted to do something else, you could use StreamYard.
I haven't used StreamYard in a couple of years, but I do know that it is PC friendly. So you could use it that way as well. Now the question of whether or not you should get software like Adobe Audition, that's gonna be really up to you.
I personally use Adobe Audition because I'm still editing podcasts for clients. So that's something that I'm still doing and still using, but it's gonna be up to you. You still can use Audacity.
You can still use GarageBand, just depends on what you want to use. But I'm using Adobe Audition because when I go through and I finish the recording of these podcasts, I'm able to do a little bit more processing and it makes it easier for me to develop not only the podcast and process the audio better, but it allows me to create the commercial free versions a lot faster. So it's gonna be up to you, but look out for the deals on that.
I use Lume Cube lights for my lighting. So I have the desk lights that just shine on me. So that's something that you should look into.
As far as headphones are concerned, you should just get the headphones that work for you. I like to use headphones, headphones, real headphones, just because of how I do my podcast, there's commercials. Everything here sounds as though I'm running a radio program.
So the headphones really work well for me and it allows me to isolate sound into my ear so that I can understand what I'm saying, how I'm saying it and hear the sound effects because everything that I'm running through the RODECaster Pro 2 mixing board can be heard here. And they're just sound effects that are not feeding back into my speakers on my desk. So yeah, it gets headphones.
I mean, if you wanted to get like in-ear headphones, those work too. I think the technology is now advancing. I think Chris Stone uses in-ear headphones too.
So you don't have to get molded ones, but you gotta get some that aren't gonna feed back into the microphone. Also, that's just a pro tip, don't have your headphone microphone tuned up all the way because you will get feedback. That just isn't a RODECaster Pro 2 thing.
That is a radio station thing too. If you don't have good headphones, you're going to end up feeding back into the microphone. You can hear it through the microphone.
So that's just something that you should look into. And then of course, I have the Soundboard app for iPad. That never goes on sale ever.
So it's never on sale, but it is worth it. I will tell you right now, it is very, very worth it to have it. If you are a Mac user and you have an iPad user, you see here on YouTube how I'm manipulating the iPad so that I can go ahead and record my podcast episodes and I'm utilizing and using the Soundboard app on the iPad so that I can create my commercials.
And there is a purpose of why I have these commercials. I mean, all of them are affiliate links. And I mean, I just don't think, I don't think you can limit, you have to limit yourself.
You have to do follow the rules based on YouTube, Apple, all that. You have to follow the rules, especially when it comes down to YouTube. If you have ads that are paid promotions, you have to signify that.
You have to signify that inside of the YouTube studio for your particular episode to let people know that there is a paid partnership there. So that's just something that, you know, pro tip that you should get. But going back to the Soundboard app, I do see that Chris Stone has made a comment in the comment section.
He says, wait, Soundboard app for iPad. Yes, it is called Soundboard. I will leave a link for that in the description so you can get it.
You know, you can buy it. You can get it for your iPad. You can get it for, I believe, I can believe you can get it for your iPhone.
No, it's just for iPad. And it's also for your Mac. You can also get it for your Mac too and have hotkeys for your Mac too.
So it's worth it. It's worth spending the money and you don't have to spend, you don't have to spend like however much money it costs for each individual device. You can spend one, it's one time price and then you can load it on all your devices.
So that's just something that you should use. Some of the software you should get, Descript, I use that for not just, I don't use it for audio editing. I use it for transcripts and building out promotional pieces, right? Promotional pieces such that will go on Instagram Reels or as I'm working on those things, that's where I need to have that software.
And I've been recently using, if you don't wanna use Descript for all the capabilities because it can be a little bit more expensive, but I recommend it. That's something that I use. The description for that is in, or the link for that is in the description below.
But you can use it and it'll make your life a lot, lot easier, all right? If you don't wanna spend that money, you can use something called TurboScribe. They still transcribe your podcasts, do it really fast. I think it's like 20 bucks a month, something like that.
So just kinda keep that in mind. As we reach near the end of the year, there's a lot of things that you can invest in and you can get right now because they are on sale. So just kinda look at that and think about what you're doing as far as going into 2025, how you're gonna start your podcast or how you're trying to level up your own podcast.
The gear is going to be important. The microphone is gonna be important. If you're looking to upgrade from different microphones or different soundboards, now is the time to do it.
Now is the time to strike while the iron is hot. And I always try to remember, or I always try to remind podcasters or content creators that even though the equipment is expensive, as far as equipment is concerned, I'm not talking about software, I'm talking about equipment. Even though the equipment can be expensive at points in time, you have to remember that it is a one-time purchase.
It's a one-time purchase if you plan on utilizing it the way it is intended to be used. So just keep that in mind because you only spend it once, but after that, you can recoup the cost and you can make that money back by creating a great program. As far as the software is concerned, the software is software.
The way the models are these days, the model of the software is that we're creating software on a subscription model. I think it's a model that a lot of people at content creators need to be following anyway, as content creators. You need to have some type of subscription model lined up if you have not implemented something like that as another line of income.
So with that being said, I think what we're gonna do, yeah, I think we're gonna go ahead and just close things out here. I'm just trying to figure out what the right music bit I should use. There we go.
How about this one? I like this one a lot. This is my closing bet. We'll make this one my closing bet.
So just to recap real quick. So for next week, we'll be coming back. We'll be doing another podcast, but for you, the podcaster, I want you to take this into account for going into the next week.
If you're doing podcasts or you're afraid to do podcasts, start doing some air checks. Record yourself, do some air checks, listen to yourself, and listen to where you can improve. I'm doing it.
You can do it for yourself. That is something that I think that is going to be important for you in the future of your own podcast. Also, take a look at that 2024 Podcast Marketing Trends Report.
You can not only just look at the podcast marketing trends, but look at the trends for all platforms. That really can make a difference in how you start promoting your podcast. All right.
So if you want to check out other episodes, of course, you can find them on the feed right here. I also have bonus episodes that I will be working on. If you want information on how to get those bonus episodes.
I talked about a good one yesterday and explaining the challenges that I'm facing as far as a podcaster. And I really dive deep into what I faced last week when it came down to being absent from my podcast. So if you want information on that, feel free to reach out to me here on YouTube, on threads, on email, info at theshaman.com is where you can get a hold of me.
And of course, if you need to start a podcast or you're trying to get that equipment, the essential equipment guide is available for you in the show notes or the podcast launch checklist. If you want to streamline your podcast launch, that guide will also help you out as well. So I want to thank you guys for listening this week on the podcast therapist.
Again, we'll be back next week. Whole new set of topics. We'll break down things for you.
Hopefully make things a little bit easier for you. I appreciate your support. I appreciate those who are on the YouTube live and being here like Chris Stone and whoever else was hiding behind the scenes.
I like to say Chris Stone because he was the one that had he had the balls to come forward and comment in the live stream. So in the meantime, you guys have a great rest of your week. I will talk about some release schedules of how I will be releasing these podcasts as I start to fine tune or refine things.
In the meantime, you guys have a great rest of your week. Enjoy the holiday season and we will talk to you next time.
