I'm Todd Cochran, CEO and founder of Blueberry Podcasting. And I'm Mackenzie Bennett, marketing specialist at Blueberry Podcaster. In this episode, we're gonna talk about some of the features that you may not know about here at Blueberry.
You're listening to Podcast insider hosted by Mike Dell, Todd Cochran, and Mackenzie Bennett from the Blueberry team, bringing you weekly insights, advice, and insider tips and tricks to help you start, grow, and thrive through podcasting, all with the support of your team here at Blueberry Podcasting. Welcome. Let's dive in. Well, you know, Mackenzie, we've been been really, really busy. And I think our stack of stuff has gotten so big that
maybe people have lost track. So I think today, let's go all over the innovations that Blueberry offers. We've got it separated into, you know, some different segments so that people can keep their head on straight. But first and foremost, we offer hosting. We offer podcast hosting and help with publishing. And the we have various plans of podcast hosting, from, you know, $12 month plans that offer standard features that are just kind of, you know, need to have all the way up
to unlimited storage with very advanced tools. And then, of course, there's a couple of layers here, but we're also really famous for our WordPress integration with our PowerPress plugin and really what's allows podcasters to have a WordPress website to power their podcast with PowerPress. And it's completely integrated with Blueberry's production system so that you can basically post upload and publish, and, we take care of the rest.
Of course, within that, there's also folks that are on our dashboard that aren't using WordPress that just want a more simple system. So really there's 2 pieces to that, the WordPress integration and, publishing within the dashboard as far as the, you know, having your own website and and those two options. Well, another way to publish is private podcasting, which we released a couple years ago. It allows podcasters to secure their show and only make it available for designated listeners.
This is really good for, business teams, education, you know, HR teams. We have, like, a bank, I think a police, team that's using this. It's really easy to lock down the content while still making it easily accessible. And on top of private podcast, we've also got Vidapod, which is a relatively new pod a product and, been pretty popular so far. We're pretty surprised with the successes for those that are a video first creator, allows a video first creator to convert their YouTube playlist
into an audio podcast automatically. It's kinda set it up and forget it. Every time you publish a new episode to a YouTube playlist, we, basically generate an audio podcast episode and auto publish it. So it's a great product for those that are willing to or wanting to save time and don't wanna have that
dual that dual publishing mode. Well, another thing that we offer for all of this publishing and, you know, all the varying things that we have for hosting is a way to monetize that content as well. We offer programmatic as well as dynamic ad insertion. So the programmatic will be super easy for any Blueberry customer, any level of Blueberry customer to do. It automatically inserts ads into your show, and then the dynamic ad insertion allows for a more sophisticated
way to go about it. You are adding spots for both new and existing episodes. You're setting up a campaign. You are inserting these spots into previously recorded episodes. So both of those are great ways to monetize. Premium podcasting is one that's, got a full integration with Apple as well. The premium podcasting provides options for ad free bonus content and early releases. So you can do premium not only on the Bluberry side, but auto publish to,
Apple premium as well. And it makes it be able to do have a a kind of a 2 in one type of option there. So, option there. So, you can monetize on the Bluberry side. You can also monetize on Apple Podcasts and, through a single post. It's, it's really, really slick. So premium podcasting is something folks should consider. And value for value is just one of the ways that people can really advance their show with some of this new technology that's around.
Value for value accepts donations in Bitcoin and traditional currency. It's really just a way for your audience to support your show in very small monetary amounts, if they would like on a, you know, regular basis, on a onetime basis. It's really just a simple but advanced way to support audiences. If they are, you know, if they're fans, then set it up for your show and
see what happens. One of our original core products that we built in the very, very beginning, which, matter of fact, we've released some new features in the past day or so, is our podcast statistics where we have detailed analytics, including, geographical data, apps, devices, mapping to, looking at the trajectory of episode launches.
We've got, just a whole host of different, stats that we now provide, including category comparison where if you're on Thrive, you have the ability now to see how you compare to other shows in your category. So the podcast statistics is probably one of our most in-depth products. It's been around for many, many years and continues to get improved upon. But we also, at the same time, integrated audience surveys. The audience survey data is part of the analytics and growth section.
Basically, we allow you to collect demographics directly from listeners by providing a short by providing you the ability to share a link to a very short survey, that, ultimately ties down to even additional product that we'll talk about here in a little bit. So something else that we've always had or have had for quite some time, is our own podcast directory. So you can promote your show in the largest directory out there for podcasts.
It's just a, you know, a sophisticated page that incorporates all of your content. You know, if you don't wanna have your own website, this is a great thing to use for that. Now my cast is one that is not really we don't talk about a lot. But if you're on the directory and you're signed in to your account, you have the ability to add a show to what's called your mycast, and then we provide you a single RSS feed with all of those,
shows into a single playlist. And, basically, it's a the playlist style is newest to oldest. So as each show updates it, that RSS feed that is your private, my cast feed, updates, and you have the ability to subscribe to that or use that in a variety of different ways. But that's something that's kind of buried a little bit, but it is available within the, within the platform itself. Now one of my favorite tools that we have is the media kit.
And this is a comprehensive overview of your show, that you can showcase to advertisers, to potential guests, anyone you really want to have the inner, information about your show. It includes your statistics, information about your audiences on social media. If you have any of the demographics that you have gathered from your audience surveys as well. Some of that information will be included on here. It's really a great way to show what you have accomplished to someone
who would like to be involved. It's not necessarily for showing to your audience, but it is for kind of the behind the scenes of podcasting. What I love about that media kit is that it's dynamic, and we update it every 24 hours. So, oft, I remember in the old days, I would make a media kit, and then, like, 3 months later, it'd be completely out of date. Now I'd have to pay someone to help me design
it again. And what we've really done here is given you the ability to have a a living media kit, that is really up to date day to day, and it's it's quite the beautiful thing and that you don't have to worry about, you know, updating it or going through and doing new graphics. You know, we've kinda got that covered for you. You know, we've got a whole stack of additional features as well. Obviously, we've launched a bunch of our AI
stuff. Our podcast AI assistant really assists with planning, production, and promotion. We've actually worked pretty hard behind the scenes on the clip creator, trying to get the the prompt right to have a good output. It's basically done. We're just tweaking it a little bit, so that'll be coming soon. So, you know, 4 different pieces to the AI assistant. One thing that we have released,
is the art generator. So now if you are any hosting customer level, and you are having challenges creating your show art, we've got the ability for you now to create, your show art right in the dashboard. And I think that's a cool add on to help folks in in coming up because I'm not an artist. I'd rather try to describe what I want and see if the AI can produce something that I can use and it's been pretty successful so far. So the art creator is part of the AI package but it's
it's something available to everyone. I mean, we just released our first AI tools back in, what, April or May or something like that. So we've only had it for a couple months, but we've been working on this for quite some time to really find out exactly what it is that podcasters need, for their AI tools. And everything is just happening so quickly in that in that industry. So we're looking forward to continuing to, you
know, advance our own AI tools. But with our Thrive bundle, that is enhanced tools, including our advanced stats and ad insertion, for for our podcasters. So all of our AI stuff is included in that Thrive bundle. It's a really, really great combination of tools that that can help podcasters on a day to day basis. And I think the bundle itself, we've continued to add value to it. It is probably the best $10 add on that we have I would agree. Considering all the things that we provide with
it. So, you know, if you haven't looked at the Thryv bundle, this is something you should look at it. Just there's a whole scope of features now that I think we're up to 9 or 10, maybe even 12, additional features now, that you get additionally when you when you purchase Thryv. So, definitely check that out for sure. The pro production side, and this is a service that we partnered with the company that we vetted for a couple of years and, it's can be found at blueberrypro.com.
It's basically a professional assistance for podcast launches and regular publishing. Great team over there. Matter of fact, they the Blueberry Pro team produced this podcast. So if you like how this podcast sounds and the transitions, it's all done by our Blueberry Pro team. So, again, definitely check them out at blueberrypro.com. I I definitely if I was doing a show and not working for a podcast company, I would probably be looking for something similar to pro production
as well as our concierge service. So our onboarding concierge is a full setup assistance for your podcast when you start with Blueberry. Our wonderful, wonderful customer support team, will essentially take care of everything that you need to get your show up and running within your Blueberry account as well as your website. It's it's a valuable asset of, you know, peace of mind of knowing that you are setting things up correctly, and then it's gonna get out to your
audience. I think it's a really good thing to do for people that haven't really found their community yet of people that they that they can ask questions to or they don't feel comfortable, you know, reaching out to a stranger on social media or something like that, as well as perhaps businesses that are doing this. Typically, they have a higher budget or even just a set amount in said budget saying, like, make sure this gets done correctly. Use
this to to get that done. I think it's a really cool service that we came out with, at the end of last year and can be very, very valuable for some people. We were the first company to embrace closed captioning and transcriptions within podcast, and it really makes your podcast accessible. And transcriptions within podcast, and it really makes your podcast accessible.
You know, transcripts of, people have been creating them for a long time, but the way we incorporated is not only is it linked within your metadata of your RSS feed, but also in the Bluberry player. If you've got the transcription service turned on, you have the ability to have closed caption, show up when people play back your, your podcast within the Bluberry player. I think this is a, just absolutely invaluable, service for those that are hearing impaired. It allows you to really kinda be on
the cutting edge. There's still very, very few podcasting companies today that support closed captioning. So, again, this makes your podcast accessible and, of course, with a high quality transcript. And we've, continued to improve transcript quality since this introduction, which is really more than a year ago. Yeah. I would say that's, something that I am really proud of us for getting out, but also I've been team closed captions and for, you know, close to 20 years now.
Just in a loud household, that was kind of what happened when watching TV. And then we saw it slowly adapt to YouTube and videos and Instagram and TikTok, and it just it absolutely makes sense to include it. So I really appreciate having that one. But one of our other additional features is media mastering. This was also something I would have appreciated, back in 2015 when you when, Todd, you sent me on course to do the company show
by myself. And I had done editing before for content, before that show, but it's not my favorite thing. And, you know, trying to record in an office an open office, back then was was challenging. So media mastering will professionally mix your final episode to level it out, make everything sound a little bit more polished. And it's a really, really great, add on that you can include with your hosting and just takes care of it when you are already
in your publishing process. You know? When you upload your file to whether that is PowerPress or the publisher, it just takes care of it right then and there, and then you just continue to post as usual. It's really useful. And, you know, many folks don't have the budget to
have a professional editor. And, you know, I think we all can handle the basics of editing a podcast, take the umms and ahs out, but when it comes time to do the leveling and get everything right to curiosity, especially if you're doing an interview and there's 2 different levels for 2 different people like we're doing today, ultimately, what will happen is this audio processing will level everyone out, put it at the right levels, DS,
take out any noise it finds. It's really a fantastic product and it's actually processed by a company called Auphonic. I've been using Auphonic literally since the they came into existence many, many years ago. So really, really happy to have them as a partner here doing the media mastering for us. One of the things that we're really proud of is our Podcasting 2.0 support. Podcasting 2.0 is an initiative to expand features, within podcasting. And I think today, we've enabled close to 26 or 27
features. Some of them you won't even really know that it's a podcasting 2.0 feature. You go through the dashboard, you'll see, okay, well, you know, where's my show located? Or, you know, what is the medium of my podcast? And these type of settings that you're you set throughout the dashboard and in PowerPress. And these are really just features to help enhance on the listening end through apps that are supporting, the Podcasting 2.0 [email protected].
But Blueberry is proud to be the number one podcast hosting company for supporting Podcasting 2.0 features. And you can see some of this at podcastindex.org. But the most important piece really here as a podcaster is as you're digging through our settings, and you see something you say, oh, I wonder what that is. Read the info button if there is 1 or some is just self explanatory. You should be able to set up and, make the settings correct, and you basically become podcast 2.0 enabled.
Yeah. I I had no idea that we were up to what number did you say? 27? I think 26 or 27. Yeah. That that is amazing. And it just goes to show, like, yeah, we wanna to do this episode to give people who are just, you know, maybe new or haven't really taken a look in the past year or 2 what we have and what we offer. But when you put it like that, it just it just goes to show that we are constantly trying to put out new things and keep up with this industry.
Not only keep up with the industry, but continue to innovate and provide things that we don't see other podcast hosting companies providing. You know, so one of the cool things that we just recently added was something called alternate in closure. And alternate closure was really designed to be able to have 2 types of media within a single podcast post. But because some folks have YouTube channels, the alternate enclosure actually allows you to link a YouTube episode
as the alternate enclosure. And then, for apps that support it at podcastapps.com, when people go to play your show, they'll have the choice of listening or watching if you're doing video. So they'll actually be able to see the YouTube embed or listen to the audio only. So that's one of the small little tweaks to alternate enclosure that we did, that is starting to be adapted by other apps. So it's just these little tiny little
features here and there. And, folks who are listening to the show definitely need to read the prepper on podcasting 2.0 that we have in Blueberry that list all of these features now. Because there's so many, it'll probably take you 5 minutes to get through the whole stack just to kinda get a handle on,
what this stuff is. But ultimately, our goal has been to offer robust set of tools and services to support you from inception of your show, monetization and growth, giving you actual information and making it a comprehensive platform for both new and experienced podcasters. And as always, we're looking to add new
things. One of the the new statistics that we added with the category comparison was purely from phone calls that I've had with podcasters saying, Todd, how do I compare to other podcasts in my category? And we have the ability to answer that question. And that's why we released that new feature in stats for our Thrive customers. And it gives people a really good kind of a thumbprint to say, okay, my show is averaging, let's say, 600 downloads an episode, I'm doing 3 episodes a month. And
I can look at that chart. I say, here's the other shows in my category that's doing 3 episodes a month. Here's the average number for them and it really gives you kind of a an an eyeball on where your show compares to others in the space. Sometimes that news is gonna be great news. Sometimes that news is gonna be maybe we need to work a little harder, but at least you have actual information for your
show. And everything that we add to the Blueray platform is trying to fill holes that you have in your production process and helping you helping you grow. And many of the ideas that we have come directly from you. So keep those ideas continuing to come to us. Please. Please. Please. If you have questions about these services or any issues that arise, please contact our support team. They would love to help you out and get you set
on the right path. And there's your wrap up of Blueberry products and services for mid 2024. Thanks for joining us. Come back next week. And in the meantime, head to podcast insider.com for more information. To subscribe, share, and read our show notes. Check out the latest suite of services and learn how Blueberry can help you leverage your podcast. Visit blueberry.com. That's Blueberry without the e's because it can't afford the e's.