PodMov Daily: Thursday, August 27

Episode 273: Your Thursday Podthoughts

Allyson Marino: Curating “the Best Female Voices” in Podcasting

When Allyson Marino started her career in podcasting, she “really couldn't help but notice the huge hole in women's perspectives.” That was 2013. Now, her company Lipstick & Vinyl represents over two dozen top-ranked shows. Marino tells Forbes’ Steve Baltin about how competition has changed within independent media.

Lipstick & Vinyl handles distribution and advertising sales for handpicked podcasts. “We curate the best female voices that are experts in a variety of subjects and parts of life,” Marino explains. It's all about the right fit. “[Creators are] all across the board in terms of what they are experts in and where they've built their following.”

“Anyone who is behind a microphone has the platform to tell a story and change the perspective that we have on the world, can change our priorities,” Marino says. “[Women podcasters] need strong business support behind the microphone to give them every opportunity available to succeed and make money.”

The Podcast Strategy Powering Slate's Subscription Business

In June, Slate CRO Charlie Kammerer revealed that podcasts pull in 50% of the company’s revenue. Subscriptions for bonus and ad-free content have been strong. What’s evolving? John McCarthy of The Drum takes a look at Slate’s marketing strategy, namely “its own Patreon-styled podcast platform,” Supporting Cast.

Its standout feature is dynamic subscriber messaging, McCarthy explains. In a nutshell, “Podcasters can record and deliver audio to specific audience segments before each show.” Supporting Cast founder, Slate executive David Stern, emphasizes the efficacy of “connect[ing] in more personal and timely ways with listeners.”

It’s a cohesive approach, McCarthy observes. “This intimate relationship is where Slate’s putting in extra time to improve the sell, leaning on the ‘persuasive power’ of the hosts, whether that’s to sell an advertiser’s product or a subscription product.” As Charlie Kammerer put it simply back in June, “People trust us.”

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Here's what else is going on:

• Money tree: According to RAIN News, the UK-based Podcast Radio is raising a round of funding using the Seedrs crowdfunding platform. The network's campaign emphasizes revenue streams, claiming a company value of £2.3 million and offering 4.16% in equity from the round.

• Full clearance: The new Indian podcast company Sochcast was built to archive women's thoughts. (Soch means “thoughts” in Hindi.) Founder Anil Srivatsa: “Anything a woman wants to speak about in any language to be heard via this medium qualifies to be carried.”

• Friendly experts: The Podcast Host presents its 10 most popular articles from nine years of podcast writing. Guides from the “mini-roundup” range from basic (What's a Good Number of Downloads for a Podcast?) to granular (Can You Record With 2 USB Mics Into 1 Computer?).

• Welcome home: The Dubai-based podcast network Finyal Media has announced an Arabic-language podcast competition. Tapping into “a vast amount of fantastic Arabic storytelling talent,” the company is open to any regionally relevant topic. Applications are due September 14.