Good morning, podcasting morning chat. Today is Wednesday, March 26th, 2025. And today... We're unpacking platform shakeups, podcast guesting trends, and the stat that may finally explain why your Apple podcast plays seem way too high. So if you're listening live on Clubhouse, hit the share button bottom left-hand side of the screen and share it however Clubhouse lets you. And if you're listening via podcast, please share this episode with a fellow podcaster. And now...
Give us about 30 seconds and we'll get things rolling. Thanks for being here. Morning again, podcasting morning chat. Thank you for being here. I appreciate it. I am your host, Mark Ronick, and today on stage so far with me. We have producer Ashley Feller, DR Fay, and Alex Baelish. I had just sent out a text right before the music ended to the team with a gif of a cricket chirping.
Wondering where everyone was, but it looks like we're filing in here. Hey, Alex. You said something? Oh, I didn't even hear it because I don't look at text. Oh, you don't? No, I'm kidding. You've retired? No, I really didn't see it, but it's just funny that you put that in there and it like popped up as I was coming in. Well, thank you.
I was going to give you more credit than that, but I appreciate the honesty there. I was going to say Alex saw it and rushed into the room when he saw it. I couldn't wait. I couldn't wait to be talking about, you know. podcast ads and how to get better reach. There you go. That's all I'm thinking about. Yeah, at seven in the morning. Yeah, I hear you. I do that too. So today, yeah, we're going to cover headlines.
And I actually, darn it, I had something I wanted to share with you and I didn't have it prepared. Darn it, darn it, darn it. Okay, I will, maybe I'll try to do it behind the scenes here and then bring it to you. I wanted to start with a LinkedIn post. that I saw that I thought was pretty interesting because I think the opening line said something about forget branding and focus first on, I think it was focus first on community.
And I just found that interesting because yesterday we talked a bit about branding and how important that is. And I still believe it is important, but the gentleman who posted it did make some really good points that I truly believe. So I will try to get that for you here shortly. Oh, and look at that. We've got Amanda Sharp, Jonathan Howard. Welcome.
to the stage. I also noticed Jeff in the audience. I was just thinking about you, Jeff, just like I think it was yesterday or the day before that we hadn't seen you in the room. And I know you're probably traveling on the road. So it's good to have you here. Oh, and he's coming on up. So let's bring him up and give him a moment to say hello. Hey, Jeff, how are you?
Good morning. I'm good. Actually, I have been a little quiet just because the week before last I was very busy. And then last week was my 19 year old college age niece. from oklahoma it was her spring break and i took her on her first snowboarding trip so first flight first snowboarding trip uh first time with real snow and we had a bit of an adventure so
waking up with my phone early in the morning during the trip. So yeah. And then I flew straight to Florida to catch up with her. So yeah, I've been kind of MIA, but you know. tear to the eye i appreciate to be missed yeah absolutely yeah you're it's noticed i noticed when i noticed when you aren't here and that goes for a lot of people that come here regularly for example chris in the audience
When he's not in the audience, I notice because he's always here, usually the very first as well. So that bought me a little bit of time, Jeff. Thank you. Appreciate that. So this was by Lou. I got to say this. You are every high school kid's dream. How so? Live the life. Every kid wants to live. I just love hearing your stories because no matter how much I think you can top it, you can't, you top it every single time. It's like, come on, really? Like, can you, can you make the bar any frigging?
Harder for us, regular people. I mean, come on, dude. I love it. Dude, I'm a regular person. I just, for my niece, the thing with her is, I mean. My family's great, but my niece was valedictorian of her small high school. I'm proud to say she's a freshman now. Oklahoma State, but she's got all A's. But the thing is, there's all of my, and I say my niece, it's all kind of by choice and decisions. It's not biological, but still accurate.
Of the family that she has immediately available to her, I'm the one that went to school. I'm the one that knows how to help her find scholarships. I'm the one that made sure she...
you know, had a computer ready for school. You know, I just, I'm the, I can relate to her on, on a few things that others can't that are, that are around her all the time. So it was just a. fun adventure and honestly the best part of the whole deal is just crossing the bridge with her of where she didn't see the first incarnation of me on tour she is seeing
the second one so granted she gets a little bit of that but honestly the coolest part was just that we crossed the bridge of she and i going on adventures on our own as opposed to it being kind of family-oriented around Christmas and those kind of things, which was fun to cross because I already know that she's already called her grandmother and was telling her about next year's trip.
I haven't heard anything about next year's trip yet. I didn't know there was a next year's trip, but apparently there is. So winning. There you go. We know who the fun uncle is first off. And when you get that, you just go with it, man. I mean, she has you hook, line and sinker. And I love every second of it. Good for you. Thank you, Jeff. Thank you, Alex.
article or the LinkedIn post I saw was by a gentleman named Lou Mangiello, I believe is how you pronounce it. And he, according to his LinkedIn title, is a Disney keynote speaker. And he helps businesses as well. I don't see the full tagline there, so I can't read it all for you. But what he does say is stop building a brand, start building relationships. It wasn't community. It was start building relationships.
And he goes on to say, we're in the middle of a big shift. Business isn't just about products, posts, and promotions anymore. It's about people. I believe that no matter what you do, offer, or sell... you're in the relationship business. And again, this is coming from Lou, although I happen to agree. He goes on to say, it's about showing up, being present, and building real meaningful relationships. If you want to grow your business, start here.
So I'll share these three points with you. This was a post he shared yesterday. One, he says, check in with your community every day. I'm gonna... ding myself when I know if I do these things. I do it every day. Right here in the morning is how I connect. And I try to post to social media daily as well. with the exception of weekends, most weekends. He says the action step for this one is block out 15 minutes today. Reply to every single comment and person. Ask questions, bring value, be human.
Be helpful. Give no expectation of anything in return. Number two, community beats collaboration. The action step here, he says, is make a short list of three people you'd love to connect. or create with. Send that DM, open that door. And number three, he says, audit your content. The action step is reread your latest post. Are you talking to and with your audience?
Or at them. I really like that one. That's not an angle that I have used myself. And I think I might start. Because I think that's a great way to check to... check in and see if this post didn't do particularly well for you. How was I speaking to my audience? Was I talking to or with them or am I speaking at them? And I think that when...
when you are posting something like, new episode alert, I think that those types of posts are more talking at them. And if you're talking with them or to them, you're jumping into what... value you're bringing or what value that episode is bringing to your audience. That becomes a conversation where you're talking to or with your audience. And then you can share about...
where they can get the episode and learn more about what you're discussing in that social media post. He said, we all fall into the trap of chasing metrics, but numbers don't build loyalty. Relationships do. So what's one relationship you'll invest in today? And if anybody wants to play along and answer that question, if you felt any kind of inspiration or motivation from that post, I'm happy to hear it.
So if you've got a relationship that you may invest in today, what or who may that be? Okay, let's do it. Let's get into... the news. And I'm going to remind you, please share this room. Share this show. If you're listening live, share it. Get some people in here. And thank you to those of you here. Good to see Billy and Jen and Alexandra, Sid, Chris.
Thank you. And Dan's joined us on stage. Jeff, do you have something or are you just waving to everybody? Well, if you're wanting commentary on what you just said, I had a thought on that. Somebody that I work with or have worked with in the past and I wound up not working, you know, kind of went as far as it could go. I took note of the fact that. He has recently started doing some podcasting things. And I was looking at some of his Instagram.
teasers that are supposedly teasers from his podcast interviews. I was looking at it because I've been trying to, I'm preparing to kind of up my social game and be more diligent about posting clips from my own activities because we've got a bunch of new content coming. So I initially was looking at his in the context of what you said, relationships is about people, which I think has always been true. I don't think that's anything new.
i was looking at his interviews and initially i was like okay he's got clips out there he's you know that's a good thing i need to take my lesson from him recognize that that's a reminder to me that i need to be doing that but when i
looked at his clips, it was so apparent to me that whoever was editing them or choosing them, he had guests in all these interviews, but all the clips were him espousing his wisdom to the guest and you know he was on the top part of the screen and the guest was on the bottom part of the screen and
It was just the guest kind of listening. It was the host talking, the host sharing his message, and then the guest just kind of listening. And maybe he knows his audience, but... i took it as a big ego move now granted i know the character so but in the context of it being about people and about relationships it made me realize okay that when i do my clips i'm very much focused on
Did the guest have a good story to tell in that clip? Was the guest the highlight of that clip? Or was it about something that I wanted to make sure that I shared? And I'm using the guest as a backboard or as a sounding board, not in a negative way, but just it made me realize that you can go both directions. And in either case, it's about the people.
Is it just about that other person or am I making it about myself? And that was kind of the thing that I was thinking of as you were mentioning, it's about people, but I think it's always been about people. Ultimately, anything that lasted was about people. Yeah, I'm with you there that it's always been about relationship building. And I think maybe what really the message is there is that I think over the past however many years now, we've gotten away from that.
And maybe that's due in part to things like social media. Even though social media is about connecting people, I think that the way in which businesses and brands had been using it and it changed the perspective. from relationship building to something else that I'm not even sure I can define. But I think you're right. I think most importantly, it's about the opportunity and then the actual word in the dictionary, selfie.
Yeah, exactly. And I do want to say, I can't fault this person that you're sharing for putting out clips. of himself sharing his knowledge, wisdom, etc. I think that's important depending on what your goals are for your podcast, because there is a trap I think that we can fall into that we're always spotlighting the guests. But our goal is to drive more community to us or drive more business to our products or services. And we're not showcasing us and our brand and our messaging.
We're showcasing somebody else's. So I would encourage, at the very least, if that's his goal to ultimately get business or build a community, I would say, sure, keep putting out those clips, but I agree with you too. It's also important to show some variety. And if you have a guest on, I'm sure that guest is probably dropping some wisdom and knowledge that, yeah, you should be able to showcase that as well. I think it's about...
finding a balance, finding a good mix. All right, let's do it. Let's dive in to the news, shall we? Let's start with what I like to generally start with is the podcast data. So for yesterday, as of yesterday, number one podcast on Apple and Spotify is not the Joe Rogan experience. It's not Mel Robbins. It's called Good Hang with Amy Poehler. on both platforms. Amy Poehler, former Saturday Night Live, also Parks and Rec, and countless movies as well. Great comedian.
I don't know why. If anybody knows why her show has hit the number one spot, I have no idea. It's because she's Amy Poehler. Her first one was she interviewed Tina Fey, and they're like best friends. Yeah. Is this a new podcast? It is. And there's a lot of reminiscing about the old days of SNL. And I happen to be an SNL kind of freakazoid.
That is right up my alley. Did you enjoy the 50th anniversary episode? I am saving that. I haven't watched it on purpose and I'm saving it to actually view it when I have time. Ah, okay. Well, I enjoyed it. I thought it was great. Although it feels like they do these anniversary shows now all the time, but it was cool and great to see so many of the old schoolers there, including Chevy Chase.
It was cool to see Chevy Chase there. Yeah. I think it's interesting when they go to a shot of the audience of who's sitting in the audience. Louis, you know, Louis, Louis, Louis Dreyfus and, you know, all the. old timers and people who have not been in the cast, all these stars. So that's what I find so interesting. Yeah, that was cool. Well, let me know when you watch it.
Also, over the last week, 197,305 podcasts published at least one new episode, which is down over 2%, 2.1%. I wonder if those... New Year's resolution podcasts are starting to fade. Dan, did you have something? Go ahead. I have two things now, actually. Good morning to everyone. Number one. I think that that means that there's tremendous opportunity, but I also have to wonder if they're only counting audio podcasts because of the large push to do video.
And many people ignoring the audio side or the RSS side, which I think is what's counted. So that's intriguing. The other thing was Amy Poehler's podcast. I did a quick chat GPT search to get some more answers. And notice that there's one thing that they did successfully, which was promotion. Because Amy went on shows like The Today Show, where she discussed the podcast's intent to provide lighthearted entertainment.
Not only did they have Tina Fey as well, they also had people like Martin Short. So the fan base was there as well. So just side notes. Yeah, both great points. And that first point, yeah, I wonder if this... down or this drop in podcast publishing. I wonder if that does have to do with some video coming to the scene. But I'd like to think, and I don't have this, I can't say this is a step, but I'd like to think...
that most podcasters, if they're doing video first, they're still putting out audio. I'm sure there, I know there are exceptions to that, but I'd like to think that the majority are at least acknowledging that there is still an audio audience out there and quite strong for that matter. And it's, in my opinion, it's just a way to please all the different modalities that are out there in which we like to consume content, whether that's visually, audibly, etc.
Why not make it available so that more people can hear it or see it? And DR, do you have some top fives for us? I do. Okay. So we already talked a little bit about Spotify, but I'm going to count from five on up. So number five is the Midas Touch podcast, which has been number one before we have talked about them.
Number four is Diary of a CEO with Stephen Bartlett. Number three, it's been a long time since it's been number three, Joe Rogan Experience. I can't even remember the last time it was number three. Number two is the Mel Robbins podcast. And we've already talked about Good Hang with Amy Poehler, which is number one. Now, the chart of the week, the random chart of the week is the arts.
And this is so interesting to me. So number five is a show called Food Theory. Number four is The Magnificent Others with Billy Corrigan. And he's been kind of in the news lately. And I'll get to that. Number, where am I? Number three is the Summer I Turned Pretty audiobook. And number one. I'm sorry. Number three. Number two. I hit the wrong button. Darn it. Number two is Nick DiGiovanni. And number one. Boom. Boom. Boom. Okay. Magnus.
archives so i want to backtrack just a little bit so number five the food theory i'm going to read the description hello internet welcome to food theory we hope you brought your appetite because we're serving up some tasty theories with just the right amount of spice now that's this is in the arts okay and number two was nick di giovanni And the description is Nick DiGiovanni is the world's top food content creator who is redefining what it means to be a chef, a master chef finalist.
And New York Times bestselling author, Nick is known for pushing culinary boundaries, breaking world records, cooking with some of the world's biggest stars. And sorry, it said more and it kind of went. And more food creativity and a whole lot of fun. So there are two cooking things in the top five of the arts, which is really interesting.
The other interesting little tidbit about number four, The Magnificent Others with Billy Corgan. You know, right now, the gossip mill, the pop culture kind of gossip. is the weird connection between him and comedian Bill Burr. They are stepbrothers that are estranged. Apparently, Bill Burr's father had another life with another woman, and Billy Corgan was born.
And if you think about it, they look, they look actually alive, you know? And in recently on a podcast, surprisingly the host brought both of them on was going to interview. bill burr and oh by the way we have a surprise for you and out came billy corrigan that next to him and just completely blindsided him yeah sounds like yeah
Yeah. And, you know, the host thought, who's the comedian that used to put the glove on his head and breathe with five fingers of the rubber glove? That's Howie Mandel. Howie Mandel. This was Howie Mandel's podcast. Howie Mandel did this, too. Yeah. And you can look it up. It's on YouTube and everything. You should see Bill Burr's expression and how he handled it. But anyway, I mean, that's why he's in the news.
But it's interesting to me that, because I'm a foodie, and it's interesting to me that two food shows, two food podcasts are in the top five. Yeah, that's it. That is fascinating. And thank you for that. Backstory, too. That's really interesting. And I see, Yvonne, you've joined us on stage. Are you coming to hang out or did you have something specific? Speaking of charts, I had a question.
What does anybody know about Feedspot? Hmm. Feedspot. Yeah. I don't know anything about Feedspot, really. Does anybody else have any insight? And tell us a little bit more. How did you come across this? And what's your interpretation of it? What is it all about? Yeah, I'm not really sure. I haven't gone super deep dive into it, but it came up twice in the past week. I was invited to join a... a podcasting collaboration group of women who are all producing podcasts in the same area as mine.
And one of them, she's been around for a really long time with like 600 episodes or something. And she mentioned that she was on the feed spot top. I don't know, top 10. I think she's like number three or something like that. I was like, wow, that's amazing. So that came up the first time. I didn't look into it at all. And then another woman posted to LinkedIn and said she's in the top.
Same list, same category. And I was like, oh, that's interesting that that's come up twice for me now. What the heck is Feedspot? And I went over and looked at it and then I was like, I don't know. It looks like you have to list yourself there. And so I was like, okay, this start, like I started looking at the whole list of things and I was like, well, why am I not there?
and I started thinking well maybe it's because I don't have midlife super prominently in my it's not my title you know, or maybe I need to work on my keywords and what I'm doing with titles and headings and topics and all the things.
But then I saw that there was this thing where you list yourself with them. And I thought, oh, my goodness, is it paid? Is it not? What is this thing called Feedspot? So I just started wondering about it and wondered if you guys knew it. Yeah. So here's what I was able to get. It allows the idea of it, it has content aggregation. So it allows us to subscribe to and read or...
consume our favorite blogs, podcasts, news websites, magazines, YouTube, etc., etc., RSS feeds, all in one place. And it says that... their media contact database. It provides access to over 250,000 influential bloggers, podcasters, et cetera, across 1,500 niche categories.
It's facilitating outreach for sales, marketing, PR, journalism, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera, or guest interviews. It says for publishers, it enables bloggers, podcasters, and more content creators to list their content on feed. for free, enhancing visibility and attracting new audiences. And then it also, it says it has podcast PR software. It offers access to
2 million podcasts with direct email contacts of hosts and producers aiding in the PR campaigns. Additional tools that they have, brand monitoring, tracks... mentions, and discussions about brands across various platforms, combined newsletters. It allows users to create newsletters that combine content from multiple sources. It provides...
an embeddable RSS widget and tools to combine multiple RSS feeds into one, and it facilitates scheduling and management of social media posts. So it's kind of this all-in-one feature. that does, it seems, to cater to both the end user and the creator. From surface level, I'd say, if it's free especially, why not just throw your hat in that ring and see what happens? Sounds like it could help.
I have no idea. But I find, I do find it interesting that you've never heard of it considering, you know, what you do and all the news and everything else. So is, is it valuable? You know, my first question, if you don't even know about it. Right. I mean, it sounds valuable. I would, of course, investigate a little bit more. And if it's free and sounds promising.
I'll sign up for it. I'll dig in a little bit more. Why not? Yeah. Yeah. Thanks for bringing that. I appreciate that. Let's see here. Okay. So DR, we did your top five and let's talk about some events, shall we? Okay. Today, we've got YouTube is hosting, and we'll put all these links in the show notes. And Ashley, if you can maybe share them in the chat, that would be awesome. Decoding the YouTube algorithm.
A Guide to Video Discovery. Again, hosted by YouTube, so I think this is one that will probably, hopefully, deliver some value to those of you who are looking to crack the YouTube algorithm. I've tried. Yeah, it is interesting. I'm going to skip one and save it because I think we'll have some discussion around it. Evolutions, Podcast Evolutions is coming March 31st. I feel like a lot of you are attending. I wish I could attend with you, but not in the car.
for me this year. That's in Chicago, March 31st. The Ambys, March 31st as well, 12 p.m. to 10 p.m. Eastern. That's a long ceremony. It's hosted by the Podcast Academy. I see Dominic has joined us. Dominic, are you nominated? I can't remember if we've asked you. Do you have any nominations for an AMB?
Good morning, everybody. Hope everybody is well. You know, it's extremely interesting. The answer is yes. The answer is two times over. Okay. The answer is also in the same category. Ah, I think I remember this now. Yes, go ahead. So obviously, Black is, not obviously, I don't want to be presumptive. Black is America is nominated for Best DIY Podcast at the Ambies, but also the B Word.
is nominated for Best DIY Podcast. So we're basically in the same category. Yeah, and that's Dominic's wife, and I guess you also produce it for her. Correct. Yeah. Correct. So it's an interesting last week here, you know, competing against one another. So it should be fun.
It should be fine. Dominic, I love you. I think you are one of my closest friends in this podcast industry. And I'm going to pull. I'm pulling for Kenda. Hey, listen, I'm pulling for Kenda too. And all of my friends are pulling for Kenda. It's like we are unanimous in that front, so it's fine. Totally get it. Are you going to be there in person? Yeah, we're both going to be there. We're going to fly out Sunday morning, and we'll be there.
And we have our nice red carpet fits and stuff like that on. So we're looking forward to it. You should be excited. That's awesome. Congratulations to both of you. And yes, we will be cheering you guys on with maybe a little more focus on Kenda. That's okay. Totally fine by the way. Let's see, what else do we have for you? Empowered Podcasting Conference, the second year in a row. And if you get my newsletter, which you can subscribe to at ironicmedia.com.
We announced it Monday officially, and I know we announced it to you officially last week, but 9-26, September 26th through the 28th, that's the weekend of International Podcast Day. We're back in Charlotte. We will be announcing our speaker call within the next 7 to 10 days. We'll do the official, official announcement next week, but...
The speaker announcements will come for sure within the next 7 to 10 days. So start thinking about it. We would love to see a lot of you there speaking on stage. I think... A lot of you did it last year and got a lot out of it. And I think that was one of the number one pieces of feedback that we received from our attendees was the quality.
of speakers and the presentations that were given. So yeah, and we're looking to add something on Friday during the day, something different, not just presentations, because I feel like we'll have plenty of those all day Saturday. So we're looking to create... Maybe a space for creating some content, some networking, some workshopping, etc. So that would be probably on Friday. And then we do our kickoff party that...
Friday night, and then we have the full day on Saturday of all sorts of presentations, helping you with your either starting your podcast or growing it. And then Saturday night, we have a... party, and Sunday, hopefully, we're working this through right now, we'll have some kind of brunch to send everyone home. So keep that in mind, Charlotte, the weekend of September 26th.
We would love to have you there. And the last event I wanted to share with you, I told you, I think I've mentioned this, I was nominated for the 50 Over 50 Podcaster Awards. And the live event, which will be streaming via YouTube, happens March 28th, this Friday, starting at 7 p.m. Eastern time. And I would love... to host. We have to figure out the details. Could be right here again on Clubhouse Friday evening, or we may stream it on multiple platforms.
But I'd love to do a watch party. And I would love for you all, if you are not doing anything Friday evening, to come join support as I hopefully receive one of these awards. I would love to have you guys come there. So much fun. Did you say this Friday? This Friday. Oh, okay. If I can, I will. Okay. You're kind of dipping into my tipsy jeopardy time, but I'm definitely into the whole virtual watch party thing. Okay, cool. Cool.
And yeah, if anybody else is willing to do that, put it in the chat. If you're willing to join me, I would love the support. Because yeah, even though these are awards and some people may say, oh, it's just an award. It's been a spell since I've received an award. I'm trying to look around here for the one award that I've actually applied and won. I can't find it. Where did I put it?
Trying to put up more stuff on my walls and now I don't know where I put it. It was probably over 10 years ago for Best Fantasy Sports Podcast and also Best Fantasy Sports Website. But that was... probably over a decade ago. So it's about time. And look, I'm going to be honest. I'd like the recognition. I feel like I've put in my dues and it would be nice to get some kind of recognition. So I'll have a little bit of nerves that evening.
And would love your support there. So I will share more information. But if you're willing, let me know. Put it in the chat if you're willing to come join me Friday evening around 7.15, 7.30. We'll probably... do it for like an hour, maybe 90 minutes or so. So yeah, keep me posted. And just to go ahead and remove the pressure right out of the gun, if and when you win. I really don't want to be mentioned by name. All the little people. I'd like to thank all the little people. Yeah. Yeah.
Go ahead and mark that off your list. You need to include somebody else still free. I'll understand. Okay. Yeah. You know, they'll be playing the... playing the music, playing you off if you name all of us. You'll be walking off the wrong way and have to double back. I appreciate everybody sharing the vision of me actually winning this award. I think that helps.
all the visualization, but I haven't won it yet. So let's see first, and then I'll decide how to handle that speech if I'm lucky enough to win. We'll see. All right. Let's get into some other headlines. around the world of podcasting. A big congratulations are in order for the team over at Quill. They just snagged the number one spot on the globe and... the Globe and Mail's first ever ranking of the top-growing women-led companies. And get this, they clocked in with...
4,186% growth over the last three years. I don't even know how that's possible. Is it a typo? I don't know. Maybe you can go verify that for me, DR, as I continue to share here. And no, you know what? The next line is that's not a typo, but I still want you to go and check it out. That's serious momentum, if it's true. If you're not familiar with Quill, they are a branded podcast agency doing some really strong work in the space. They also own Co-Host, which is their podcast hosting.
and analytics platform. So they're not only producing shows, they're building infrastructure to support those shows. Very cool. Kudos and congratulations to them. And this one caught my eye. And then I'm going to check in with UDR. YouTube might be gearing up to roll out dynamic ad insertion. So those of you who use Buzzsprout and some other platforms as well, and we talked a little bit about dynamic ads, I feel like it was yesterday, you can pre-record an ad or promotion.
and then insert it into your podcast and then remove it whenever you see fit. So it's not baked in for eternity. It's really helpful if you, say, have made a deal with a brand. And it was for a specific number of shows. Guys, is that just me or Mark? Have you gone into a hole? Oh, you guys can't hear me. No, I can hear you. Nothing's changed. Okay, good. Okay.
So yeah, YouTube, as I was saying, they're adding this dynamic ads. You can insert it and it's great for when you make a deal with brands because then you can say, okay, for X number of shows, you get that ad spot. And then you can... remove that, as opposed to if you just bake it in and add it into the regular format of your show, that's going to live there forever unless you go in, edit it out, and re-upload that file. So YouTube is talking about doing this.
And that's at least from what a report says from Semaphore. The idea is that creators could have their host-read ads swapped in and out of YouTube videos dynamically and...
For the record, YouTube hasn't made any official announcement, so we're not going to make big plans just yet. And while they mentioned that Spotify is already offering this kind of dynamic ad, that's actually not... entirely true from anything i've been able to see they don't do dynamic ads on videos as far as i know and if you upload a video episode there it fully replaces the audio version
So no dynamic ad wizardry is going on behind the scenes. But the bottom line is it's a cool potential update from YouTube. I'd like to think if somebody is going to put out there publicly that... They've heard that this is coming, and it's from a company like YouTube. I got to think that they've got to... It's not just to try to get you to read it. I got to think that they know if they're going to...
provide some false information, they're going to hear about it if they're talking about a company like YouTube. So we'll see. We'll see if this is a thing or not. But I think that could only help content creators utilizing YouTube. All right, DR, what do you got for us? Okay, so 427,000 podcasts from members of the PSP, which is Podcast Standards Project.
Now use additional podcasting 2.0 features. According to a new update in a blog post, the group encourages cooperation between podcast hosting companies and podcast apps. The post is the first since August of last year, and it acknowledges the difficulty of making progress and asks for, quote unquote, killer features to help move the project forward. Mark and I have talked about having the subject of podcasting 2.0 as a topic for the day. And we just, we have not gotten around to it.
This podcasting 2.0 is something, it's the brainchild of Adam Curry, who is usually known as the podfather. Adam Curry was... help develop this whole podcasting yeah he was technically what people say is he was the first person to put out a podcast so it's very complicated there are like teams team 2.0 and then team not to i don't know what you would call that team but it is they have like a not a manifesto but they have some talking points so 2.0 is preserving podcasts open nature
which traditional podcasting is based on open RSS feeds, meaning anyone can subscribe, download, and listen using any app. Podcasting 2.0 wants to keep it that way, resisting closed. platforms like spotify's walled garden approach another one is expanded rss features podcasting 2.0 introduces a new namesake as a set of tags for RSS feeds with enhanced capabilities like chapters, which we already have, transcripts, which we already have, location tags.
useful for travel or local interest pods and funding. Here's where it is. Funding and value tags linking directly to donation platforms. or enabling value for value. That is a phrase that is very prominent throughout the whole explanation of what podcasting 2.0 is value for value payments. And that means using Bitcoin. So the value for value payments are V4V.
This is a core philosophy. Instead of relying on ads, podcasters can receive micropayments directly from listeners in real time using cryptocurrency, usually Bitcoin. It's about creating a direct connection between creator and audience. And in my opinion, I think this is one of the reasons why there's been such a drag. of people getting on board with it because you get into satoshis and value for value. It's just...
hard to grasp that several thousand Satoshis is like 52 cents, if even that. I like what Billy said in the chat. This is basically all just fancy speak for membership. Which I agree with. And I don't know. I feel like, yes, of course, Bitcoin and cryptocurrency is popular. I'm not going to try to take that away from anyone. And I feel like...
If that's a primary feature of Podcasting 2.0, I think it's going to continue to be challenging to get more people on board. Because now you've got potentially... You have to convince somebody to both get into podcasting, because not everybody is consuming podcasts regularly, and then you have to potentially get them into cryptocurrency. I just think it's creating a challenge, an unnecessary challenge, if that's going to be a big point of podcasting 2.0. Yeah, it's interesting because...
Rob, not Greenlee, the other one. What's his name? Rob from Lipson. Rob, you know who I'm talking about. Yeah, I forgot his last name. I feel bad now. Sorry. I think it also begins with a G, but I'm not sure. Rob and Adam are in two sipper camps when it comes to this 2.0. Is it Rob Walsh? It is Walsh. It doesn't begin with a G. It begins with a W. Sorry. But they are in two separate camps, and it's interesting to hear both sides. Yeah. All right. Well, thank you, DR. And if anybody here...
has any more information or wants to share about Podcasting 2.0, reach out to me. Let me know because I do want to dedicate a day, a morning to learning more about Podcasting 2.0. Yeah. So let us know, or if you know somebody, that would be great too. Also, by the way, we've talked a bit about what a play is as far as Apple Podcasts goes. And according to the folks over at Bumper...
They're a podcast growth agency. They've done some digging, and they say that every time someone hits the play button in Apple Podcasts, it registers as a play. For example, hit pause. say to answer a call or go deal with the kids or something, and then hit play again, there's two plays. Pop out your AirPods to order some coffee, then pop them back in. That's two more.
We saw that on Pod News. Their episodes... Was it Pod News? I don't know. I can't remember now. I'm going to skip that because I don't want to misquote anything. But the stats... showed up in a really helpful way from Bumper about merging audio and video podcast data across platforms. And speaking of platforms, YouTube, again, still no idea how they define a play.
But I'm curious if that might have something to do with it also. It's literally just pressing the play button. And so that's why sometimes I think when you're looking at a podcast platform, say you're on Buzzsprout. and the numbers look wildly different than when you go look on Apple Podcast Connect, that could be a reason why. Because Apple is just counting every single time that play button is pressed.
And I think that's misleading. I mean, not intentionally maybe, but I think it may mislead a lot of podcasters who don't quite connect or understand all of those analytics. Right. And that's even more of a reason to, if you really want those core analytics to go to your host, your host should be the all knowing, all seeing. Now, unfortunately, most hosts.
don't do consumption don't do like retention of how right you know how far into the most hosts don't do that so you do have to rely on apple for some of these other some of these other staff which is bad yeah Exactly. And hosts equaling hosting platforms equals Buzzsprout, Libsyn, etc. Captivate, yeah. Captivate, yeah, all of those. So, all right, so let's keep it moving.
There is a guest spot goldmine. This is a 2025 state of podcast guesting, reveals some strategic shifts. So let me explain. This is from an... from Interview Valet Report. And the report offers real-time insights based on Interview Valet's proprietary database tracking shifts in podcast guesting trends.
So the fastest growing areas in guesting trends, business and entrepreneurship remain dominant. Those types of podcasts, I suppose, have the most guests. Health, wellness, and personal development are seeing strong growth. Video podcast guesting is also gaining traction, not surprising. And this is an interesting stat. The guesting timeline, the average timeline...
From when the guest and host have their introduction to one another to the episode going live has become streamlined through some verticals and it's now faster than others. They say that it takes 83 days from the time you are connected with that guest to when the episode goes live. That's the average. That's an interesting stat. Yeah, yeah. And we'll get back to that in a second. They also say, here's a shocker, video is rising.
Video podcasting is now, according to them, a must-consider part of the guesting strategy. I would argue that. I don't think video podcasting makes it a must. But yes, we can't deny that video podcasting is on the rise. Also, it says here, guesting on video platforms, YouTube, LinkedIn, etc., increases visibility and long tail discoverability.
And the top goals for guesting is to boost visibility, establish authority, drive qualified leads, and build trust. And I would say those three goals apply to most guests and hosts. creating that relationship, creating that episode, that collaboration with a guest. I think the guest has very similar priorities as the host. And I'm curious, does anybody find that 83-day number on Target?
Do they feel like it doesn't take them nearly as long? I'm just curious. How long does it take? I have questions. Yeah. So are they talking about, first of all, how do they know this? And where is that number coming from? But is it from the time you first maybe hop on a discovery call with somebody? Is it the first time? Somebody emails another person and you start. That's the way it reads. I think it's when it's basically the way I interpret it. It's first contact.
It's when the host reaches out to the guest and the guest responds, yes, I'm interested or vice versa. Yes, I would say that might be in the ballpark for me. I talk to people and I record. usually pretty far in advance, that's an interesting number. I'd say it's in the ballpark, maybe. Yeah, so you think it takes you a little over two months from when you first connect with a guest?
It varies, but if you were to average it out, I would, because sometimes it's longer than that before I'll put somebody, you know, from first point of contact. And even from the time I interview sometimes. Like I interviewed Dominic. Gosh, when did we talk Dominic? And his episode is not going to go out until May because I'm timing it with mental health month. Yeah. So it depends on how somebody fits into my planning slot. Yep, that makes sense to me. Dan, what do you got for us? No.
Thank you. Okay, next person. No, go ahead. Yeah, absolutely. I'm thinking back on all the interviews that I've done over the past few years, and I don't think any of them took. an average of 83 days. In fact, I'd say most of them were less than 45 days. Okay. Okay, that's fair. And I think it has to do with also your style and how you do your podcasting. In other words, maybe you batch record. I'm not saying you personally, Dan. I'm saying to anyone listening. Maybe you do batch recording.
I know a friend of mine who she usually does like three or four interviews in a day and then spreads those out. over time and still has to produce them, edit them, do all the things with them too. So I would be willing to bet she would say it's probably closer to that 83-day mark. But if you're somebody who is a little more spur of the moment, I mean...
I just did that last week. I had several guests cancel on me to do my special episode for Asheville. And I last minute, I turned that episode around when I... finally did get a guest in like two days. Sid, good morning. Welcome to the stage. Did you want to add to this conversation? Yeah, good morning, everybody. I would say that this is on par with me. In fact, I might even push mine to 90 days. I just looked at my schedule.
You're talking about this and I have contacted and or already scheduled all the way recordings all the way through the end of July. So I think it's kind of on par for, at least from my planning perspective, I have notes like, hey, I need to schedule this, but I've reached out to them. They've said yes. So to me, it seems on par with what I'm currently doing at this time.
All right, there you go. And Dominic's going to chime in as well. Go ahead, Dominic. I was just going to chime in from the standpoint of their kind of like genre. Top genre list of guests or whatever. I think entrepreneurship was one and wellness and health was like two. Right. Have I heard that? Yeah. So I used to work with interview valet.
you know, when I was doing my business show, the startup life. And so it's like, I understand like, that's what their proprietary charts are, but it seems on par with their business model as well. So. I don't know if those numbers are as kosher as they're coming off. I just wanted to put that out there and add that caveat, I guess. I'm curious. What do you mean by that? You said something about it.
in line with their business so unless they change their business model they had an aspect of their business model where they were like an interview uh interview guesting model where they would people would pay them and the interview ballet would find a podcast to put them on kind of like pod match, if you will. Yeah. And so most of their clients are business entrepreneurship. And I would.
Yeah. And second would be like health and wellness. And so when I was working with him, those were the top two genres that I got guests from, from them. Okay. Gotcha. You get what I'm saying? It seems kind of self-serving, if you will. But it could be kosher. I don't know. I don't work there. So just wanted to put that out there, though.
Yeah, and whether or not it's completely accurate, I mean, we're hearing from people now that are saying it's somewhat in line with what they are doing. And I found it an interesting statistic to chat about it. I don't think... I don't think there is a right or wrong answer here. And I think to Yvonne's example...
She did a recording with you, Dominic, just a couple, probably a month or two ago now, because I remember when she told us it was happening and still waiting until May. And sometimes that's just done strategically. So yeah, I just found that cool. Okay, so what we're going to do, because we are short on time, I wanted to get to some of these top podcasts, specifically celebrity podcasts. There was some... studies done or some reports showing who are the tops in
different categories, specifically celebrities. Maybe we'll start tomorrow's show talking a little bit about that before we dig into our main topic. And I know Jeff is going to bring a question tomorrow about his podcast. So we'll answer that question for Jeff tomorrow as well. And a reminder, if you don't mind, go leave us a review. If you're enjoying the podcasting morning chat, go to Apple.
Leave us a review. Go to Spotify. Give us a five-star rating if it's worthy of your five stars. We would appreciate it. And remember that we are here for you every Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. Eastern, live on Clubhouse, which you can get the link in the show notes, or... If you miss us live, you can always catch the replay via podcast on your favorite podcast platform. Until tomorrow, make it a great day, everybody. Take care.