PodMov Daily: Wednesday, April 20

Episode 629: Your Midweek Update

There Is a Podcast for Everyone. Find It.

There is a podcast for everyone. Finding that show for a person that hasn’t yet heard one may be the best thing you can do for this industry. In Sounds Profitable, Caila Litman explains why podcasts are the ‘it girl,’ and why they deserve to be. “In almost every way imaginable, podcasts fit into our lives.”

Still, podcasting didn’t grow last year. As Tom Webster wrote last week, each of us has to be a one-person solution. For a non-listener, finding an entry is daunting. You, however, know exactly how to find the ‘ultimate ship-in-a-bottle podcast’ to enchant them. If they love that show, they’ll find another, and our work is done.

“In 2022, the average person’s media diet is a colorful and chaotic plate of food,” Litman says. Unlike most media, we don’t consume podcasts to “fit in.” We consume them to reward our curiosity and special interests. Non-listeners don’t necessarily live under a rock, but just in case, there’s a podcast for that.

The Best Podcast Pitches Don't Happen on Twitter

Decent conversation can be tough to find on Twitter, especially if you write a podcast recommendation newsletter. Podcast Gumbo creator Paul Kondo has received pitches there since 2018, and he’s over it. Recently he came up with an alternative: Inviting anyone to schedule a seven-minute video chat.

“I want you to tell me about your podcast face to face, virtually,” Kondo says. The ‘crazy podcast pitch experiment’ began in early March, and the response has sure beat the algorithm. Some of his first chats came from London, Berlin, and Lithuania, before he’d had a chance to consider international calls.

Kondo’s element is an in-person conference. He couldn’t stand seeing random accounts ask for recommendations “and then having a ton of podcasters falling over themselves to tweet about their show.” (Amen.) Instead, have some gumbo: “If you just want to chat about podcasty stuff, that’s cool too.”

Keep Episodes Fresh with Dynamic Content

With Buzzsprout, it’s faster than ever to keep your podcast fresh — and your listeners up-to-date. The Dynamic Content tool lets you easily add and remove short pre-roll (intro) and post-roll (outro) content to your episodes. It's the perfect solution for timely messaging.

Whether you’re promoting a virtual event or giving a special shout-out, Dynamic Content makes it simple to swap, automatically add content to new episodes, or apply it to your existing catalog with a click. Old files are removed and replaced, so there’s no clean-up.

This innovative feature offers more than flexibility. It benefits your audience in more ways than one: Buzzsprout respects your listeners’ privacy. Unlike most Dynamic Ad Insertion, the Dynamic Content tool includes no tracking or targeting. Ready to make the switch?

Here's what else is going on:

• Group chat: Podcasters in Las Vegas, Houston, Austin, and Dallas are in luck. This week’s PM update has the details on upcoming community meetups. In other news, we’ll be running podcast sessions at NAB next week (come say hi!), and May 6 is the deadline for PM22 speaker applications.

• Chapter one: An “Introduction to Audio Fiction” from Radio Boot Camp is coming up on April 25. Producer and director Gisele Regatão (Radiotopia Presents: a hit dog will holler) will lead “a backstage tour” of the professional landscape, process, and fundamentals. $100 registration.

• Power move: “Pro Tools Special Effects” from Dustlight Productions is coming up on April 27. In a hands-on workshop, producer Stephanie Cohn will teach the basics of using plugins, how to better layer sounds and effects, and Pro Tools tricks to make sound designing easier. $75 registration.

• Hot ticket: Applications for the latest Google Podcasts creator program are due this Sunday, April 24. A partnership with PRX, the 20-week intensive training accelerator is open to “mid-career podcasters seeking to level up their productions.” Six teams will participate from June to December.