Lessons

Lesson Info

Class Introduction

Today we're going to talk about distributing and growing your podcast. But we're going to take a very very broad look at it. We're going to go back to almost the dawn of time of podcast, and we're gonna learn kind of what that does to podcasting today, how it works the way it does and why it's kind of a unique ecosystem. So today, we are going to talk about the growing demand of on-demand audio or podcasting as we know it. We're gonna do a quick history lesson, podcasting 101, we're gonna talk about the host and the analytics and the engine that really powers your podcast. We're gonna talk about the elements that make up a strong show, talk about growing, and how to start small and to focus on that growth. We're going to talk about success. What it truly means to be running a successful show. We're going to look at achievable benchmarks of, as your show grows, things that, again, starting small then growing big. How do I make money with this, 'cause I'm pretty sure nobody is here sitti...

ng going like, I don't, I don't wanna make any money off this, I just wanna do it for fun. And then a final question that comes up a lot in especially the hosting and distribution industry is, who owns my content? And that's just not a podcasting question that comes up a lot with putting video on Facebook and YouTube and things like that, so we're gonna get into that. So as you can see, we have very little to cover today, so we're gonna get started, so we're gonna talk about who is this guy. Today, maybe a little nervous, so I could have problems forming proper sentences, using words, also standing upright. (audience laughs) Things that will help today to get through this class, nodding, that was good, that was good. (audience laughs) Laughing, well, look, we already did that one, it's great. And then if I can't stand upright, call 911. So these are the steps to get us through today and I think it's gonna be successful and fun. So as Kenneth said, 18 years helping creators create. I never really had a trajectory for my career, it just kind of, looking back, turned out to be this way. This, if I could bend space-time, I would go back to September 2nd, 2005 and have me choose a different jacket, but this was actually a photo and I had to phone a friend on this one. This is me recording my first podcast ever on September 2nd, 2005. So figure I would just throw that one in there and I don't really know why I was screaming into the microphone, because it was not a music conference. 2001, I created an early content management system for photographers and individuals to be able to update a website easy, and that was long before do-it-yourself website builders like Wix and Squarespace and all that. And in 2005, I was part of a team, and we built a product called PureVolume, and it was basically one of the early social networks connecting musicians with their fans and creating a community around that. And in 2007, as Kenneth mentioned, I launched a company called Virb. We actually launched that company as a social network for creatives. It was the early days of MySpace and we wanted to focus on musicians and photographers and filmmakers. So we did that for a few years, and then this thing called Facebook came along and kind of, you heard of it, kind of changed the whole landscape for social network, so in 2010, we pivoted Virb into a website builder, again, tailored towards creatives. I then was part of a publication called the Greatness Content, and its purpose was to interview and tell the stories of what it means to be creative, the struggles that come with it, the hardships and the wins. And then we go to 2016, and now I'm kind of doing the same thing again with creators, but this time we are all in on podcasting, and then that takes us to today, which, there you are. There is your little live shot. It's like in Spaceballs where you, when will then be now? (audience laughs) Now. So, lot to cover. We're gonna dive right in. So podcasts, that's what we are talking about today, and the demand of on-demand audio. So this is a chart that I really wanted to show and kind of talk about just quickly the growth, and this chart that you're seeing here is new podcasts created year over year. So you can see all the way back in 2006 when there was that terrible picture of me screaming into a microphone, but from to 2014, it took 11 years for 30,000 shows to be made within one year. In 2015, it took one year for 30,000 shows to be created and published online. In 2016, it took 3/4 of a year to reach 30,000 new shows, and in 2018 alone, 30,000 new shows were launched in the first month alone. So we are seeing a little trajectory here, and a little emoji rocketship, because, why not? (audience laughs) So it's a exciting time, but let's take a step back now and before we get into distributing and growing, like, let's understand the industry, let's understand what's happening and let's talk about kind of why it works the way does. One thing I think is really bolstering the industry right now is never before have we really seen a medium kind of meet hardware at the same time. It's, we have all of these smart speakers coming into the homes, so a lot of screenless technology is being introduced into our homes, into our cars, well, there's a screen there, but you get the idea. Watches that are tethered with cellular connections to your headphones, so again, being able to consume a podcast. The Google Home Mini is I think 30 to $ and you could have one in every single room of your house, so again, audio is really being given an opportunity right now, because it is truly giving people more opportunities to listen in an easier fashion. It's not just tied to these boring supercomputers now that we are so used to just carrying it in our pocket every day. So this explosion of hardware that we are seeing I think is going to continue to help podcasting, going back to that chart, continue to grow and grow and grow. But it's not just the hardware driving the demand. It's helping, but it's not just. One is listeners. So more than 1/5 of Americans will listen to a podcast in 2018. 52% of this group will listen to at least four podcasts every week. Does anybody here listen to more than four podcasts every week? That's a lot, okay. And the great thing is that's still only 52%, and the most exciting statistic here in general with listeners, only 46% Americans don't know what podcasting is. So we have a lot of listeners out there to gain and introduce and get into podcasting and that's one thing that we'll talk about today. Because there is a lot of listeners coming into the market, that means one thing, advertisers get really excited. Fast Company said podcasts are becoming big business not only for creators, but for advertisers. NPR says it's found that 75% of listeners took action on a sponsored message. There is no other medium out there from video to editorial to television to radio where you see a 75% listener activation, so that says that we are part of a growing industry that has a very bright future ahead. Just to look at ad revenue of kind of what's happened just over the past couple of years leading up to 2020, you can even see in like ad revenue alone, we are not talking donations, we are not talking exclusive content, we are talking only ad dollars, you can see that by 2018, 2019, 2020, it's going to close to double what we saw in 2017. So advertisers are getting very excited about the industry, and unlike ever before in any industry, we are seeing something very unique and that is people caring more about the content that they are consuming and maybe not wanting ads. And one way to look at that is looking at the numbers from say Patreon. And this gives you a look from only about the past year and a half, February of last year, to July of this year, you can see the more and more dollars going in from listeners directly to podcasters. These are not ad dollars, these are people supporting creators that they love through a medium like Patreon. Brands are also getting on board. It's not just individuals creating podcast now, we're seeing fashion brands, clothing brands, banks, everybody, I mean, Shopify, Slack, Barneys has a new podcast, I think they're just starting season two, so Nike, just probably a month ago launched their first podcast, so as brands especially get more excited about the medium, it's going to help all of us, because it's going to take podcasting more mainstream. And then for me, one of the most surprising things but also the most exciting is podcasts are finally beginning to internationalize. 95% of podcasts are in English, which is shocking, that is definitely changing, and it's changing fast, so again, that also tells us there is a whole world of listeners out there that we haven't even begun to tap into yet, so the internationalization of podcasting is going to be very very important going forward. Personally, I believe there's a few other things that tie into this. I think podcasting is very unique, because it uses a single sense, I can consume it with my ears, I can be cooking, I can be driving, I can be ignoring somebody that I don't want to listen to, and have a podcast in my ear. It uses a single sense, you don't have a screen. Free of most distractions. You watch a video, you watch something on television, you look at the individual's facial expressions or whatever they're wearing and that that weird hair sticking up. You don't have that with podcasts. You have a voice and a human ear, and I think that is one of the most important things of storytelling via audio. It is a true intimate connection between one human being and another, done only with the human voice, and I think that is something that is very important that we'll get into later of creating a show to create that connection with a listener. So it's an exciting time. And one thing I do wanna preface today with as well is the opportunities ahead in the whole podcasting space are not just for creators. Lot of individuals think, well, if I want to be in podcasting, I need to like make a show, I need to come up with an idea, I need to build something, and that's not the case at all. Let's think back to the early 2000s and there were no do-it-yourself website builders, like you literally had to either learn how to do something yourself or you had to talk to a designer and a web developer and they would do things for you. Podcasting is now having that exact same moment too, meaning if you are an individual and you're like, oh, I don't know what podcast I would make, that's great. What if you were a fantastic editor or a producer or an audio engineer, writer, and so on. So those are some of the other things that we're going to get into today. Not just for the show creators, but there is an entire growing booming industry that is going to have a lot of roles, a lot of jobs, a lot of very exciting jobs, very soon.