Questions We Don't Know The Answers To

Summary

The Podcast Superfriends – "Questions We Don’t Know The Answers To"

Date: May 6, 2026
Hosts: Matt Cundill, Jon Gay ("Jag"), Catherine O’Brien, David Yas, Johnny Peterson
Theme: A roundtable of podcast veterans tackle difficult (and often unanswered) questions about podcasting, focusing on audience discovery, analytics, feedback, technology choices, marketing, and more.

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Episode Overview

In this episode, the Superfriends come together to address a collection of "not so random" questions about podcasting—many submitted by the hosts themselves, often because the answers are elusive or entirely subjective. The panel explores the perennial mysteries of audience measurement, feedback mechanisms, dynamic audio insertion, production decisions, AI-generated assets, and the cost/roadmap for starting a show. Along the way, they confront industry myths, trade stories, and share practical, lived advice for podcast creators at all levels.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. How Do You Know Who’s Listening?

• Audience Surveys

  • Johnny: Surveys are a classic tool to gauge listeners, but participation can be low, especially with lengthy questionnaires.

    "I don't know if that's the greatest barometer to determine who's [listening]." (01:56)

  • Catherine: Surveys are a 'long game'—keep the link in show notes, build responses over a year or more.
  • Incentives (gift cards, shout-outs, giveaways) can help boost survey participation.

• Relationship-Building & Direct Feedback

  • David:

    "Not everything that counts can be counted." (03:22)
    Encourages building trust so listeners are willing to email or reach out—valuable feedback often comes from ‘superfans.’

  • Johnny: Make your email/DMS available and encourage direct outreach.

• Platform Analytics & Social Data

  • Jag: Don’t ignore analytics from Spotify, Apple, YouTube—there’s real demographic and engagement data.
  • Catherine: Social media is “cheap” and powerful for understanding your audience—Meta/FB/IG analytics are especially strong.

• Indirect Metrics

  • Johnny shares a tip from ChatGPT: Use performance data (completion rates, downloads, social engagement) to infer audience preferences.

2. Making Sense of Analytics

• Completion/Consumption Rates

  • Matt:

    "A nice number is about 80%... 75-80% would be a great target to get to." (09:40-09:59)

  • Johnny: If completion rate is low (e.g. 35–40%), review the show's length and opening segments for engagement drop-off.

• Platform-Specific Data

  • Apple Podcasts "Plays" = unique device + played for more than 0 seconds.
  • "Engaged Listeners" = at least 20 min or 40% of episode in one session.
  • Beware download statistics from automated back-catalog downloads—unique listeners and context matter!

3. Getting & Encouraging Listener Feedback

• Feedback Devices

  • Email (direct and via newsletter lists)
  • Lead magnets (checklists, reading lists, resources) tied to email signup
  • SpeakPipe and similar web-based voice message widgets
  • Leveraging DAI (Dynamic Audio Insertion) to thank individual listeners, insert timely shout-outs, or promote participation

• Personality and Personalization

  • Matt: Personal outreach to targeted subscribers before interviews yields real, relevant questions.

    "Those 50 people who I think really will care, are going to come back with either a question that they write or one that they record." (21:10)

• Text Features

  • Buzzsprout’s text feature lets listeners contact the podcast via SMS, but the panel warns against spammy SMS practices (23:12).

4. Dynamic Audio Insertion (DAI) Without Sponsors

• General Principle:
  • Jag:

    "Only if the content is good. Don't do it to check the box." (24:05)

• Uses:
  • Single, focused call-to-action (Johnny: YouTube podcasters excel at concise, effective asks)
  • Listener shout-outs, reward announcements, guest promos, community-building
  • Running promo swaps with other podcasts in your niche

5. AI & Thumbnails: How to Work Smarter, Not Lazier

• AI Tools Best Used for Enhancement

  • Johnny:

    "You're using AI now to help make something that you have better. You're not using AI to create it for you. And I think there's a really important difference there..." (32:50)

  • Tools: Canva’s background remover, Photoshop, Remini (image clean-up), ChatGPT for creative iteration

• Thumbnails & YouTube Best Practices

  • Differentiate thumbnail text from episode title—use a ‘hook’ or emotional pull.
  • Catherine:

    "They don't make the video until they know what the thumbnail is going to look like and they know what the title is going to look like..." (37:43)

  • AB testing: Host faces (brand recognition) often outperform guests unless the guest is famous.
  • Avoid overly ‘clickbaity’ tactics, but balance with what attracts engagement (shocked faces dilemma).

6. In-Person vs. Studio vs. Remote Production

• Jag: Vet podcast studios! Don’t assume a studio delivers quality (resolution, audio, setup).
• Live mics on stands are suboptimal for non-radio talent—handhelds or lavaliers are better; no rolling chairs!
• Headphones help new podcasters stay on-mic (David).
• Ongoing references to the Blue Yeti and microphone choices—always a popular Superfriends sidebar.

7. Budgeting for Your First Podcast

• Startup Costs (DIY):

  • Good mic recommended: Samsung Q2U (~$50-70), Rode Podmic ($100), Fifine USB/XLR dynamic ($45), alternatives mentioned (53:59–56:18)
  • Cheap/free headphones (not Bluetooth!)
  • Optional: Audio interface (only necessary for XLR or multiple mics), Focusrite Scarlet or MOTU option ($150–$200)
  • Free podcast hosting available (Spotify for Podcasters, RSS.com)

• Professional Editing/Production: $250–$750 per episode for pros (David).

• Video: Your iPhone can be a high-quality webcam ('continuity camera'), plus household lamp for lighting.

"If you're going to shell out on anything...the thing that you need to spend the most on is your microphone." – Johnny (53:40)

8. Are Podcast Awards Worth It?

• Superfriends’ consensus: Most big awards (Signal, Ambies, etc.) are expensive ($200–$800+) and not essential.
  • Catherine:

    "It comes down to a marketing proposition...you need to be willing to run the distance with it and really just make the marketing...get everything you want out of that marketing." (60:09)

  • Alternative: Seek free or low-cost awards, and use nominations for marketing/credibility, if desired.
  • DIY alternative: "The award that you give yourself—that you have done your podcast again and again even when you don't feel like doing it." – Johnny (58:23)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• David Yas (quoting Einstein):

  "Not everything that counts can be counted." (03:22)

• Matt Cundill:

  "Would you rather have a thousand people listen to 30% of your show or 100 people listen to 100% of your show?" (10:20)

• Katherine O’Brien:

  "We're now forever an award-nominated podcast. That, with some people, is a cachet..." (60:09)

• Johnny:

  "The award that you give yourself, that you have done your podcast again and again because you don't feel like doing it, but you know it's the right thing to do." (58:23)

• The Blue Yeti recurring roast

  "We have to work in a Blue Yeti reference in every episode." – Matt (48:02)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Introductions, show premise (00:41–01:37)
• Who is listening? (Audience funnels, surveys, analytics) (01:40–08:49)
• Making sense of analytics & measuring success (08:49–13:26)
• Apple Podcasts metrics demystified (11:27–14:43)
• Devices & approaches for listener feedback (16:40–23:12)
• Dynamic Audio Insertion (DAI) for CTAs/promos (24:05–28:15)
• AI, thumbnails, making video assets for YouTube/Spotify (31:12–42:10)
• Studio versus remote: production pitfalls & best practices (43:02–47:01)
• Budgeting pod gear & recording setups (49:36–58:05)
• Podcast awards: yay or nay? (58:05–62:04)

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Final Takeaways

• There are no definitive answers to many podcasting questions—industry best practices are constantly evolving.
• Real engagement matters more than raw download numbers.
• Invest most heavily in audio quality (microphone, sound treatment) before fancy add-ons.
• Analytics, awards, and feedback tools are aids, not answers on their own—context and creativity are key.
• Community, trust, and relationships are the core of sustainable podcast growth and feedback.
• The Superfriends value transparency and a willingness to admit what they don’t know—a sign of true expertise.

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For more resources, show notes, video versions, and transcripts, visit Soundoff Network's Podcast Superfriends page.

Transcript

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[Matt Kundal]

The band is back together, all five of us, once again. This is the May edition of the Podcast Super Friends. As we go around and introduce ourselves, we'll start in Fort Worth.

[Johnny Podcast]

Hello, I am Johnny Podcast, excited to be back with everybody.

[Katherine O'Brien]

Hey there everybody. My name is Katherine o' Brien in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. What a pleasure to be with the Podcast Super Friends.

[David Yaz]

Hi, It's David Yazz, pod617.com up here in Boston, the Boston Podcast Network. In Pod We Trust Man John Gay,

[Jag Podcast Productions]

Jag Podcast Productions outside Detroit, Michigan.

[Matt Kundal]

All right, we're all together again and we sort of put it out to tender. What should we talk about? And it turned out that we were have all been thinking about a lot of different things, so I thought we would put this together in an episode called not so Random Questions. So we're just gonna pop them up on the screen and we'll just go around as they pop up here. I've ordered them so they're not really. Again, they're not so random. Right?

[Jag Podcast Productions]

Do you say put them on Tinder, Matt, or did you say something else?

[Matt Kundal]

No, I said I put them. I don't remember what I said. Totally editing that out. I thought this question from Johnny was, was very good. And what are the best ways to audience funnel and find out who is listening?

[Johnny Podcast]

And, and I didn't pose this question because I feel like I know all the answers. I'm genuinely asking this, I genuinely want to know this because I feel like over the years what we've done is like the, the, the big one that we always put out is the audience survey. And it's like, okay, well you know, you need people to actually participate in that and if you want to know who's listening, you want really detailed responses. And so now you're asking your listeners, hey, not only do I want you to take the survey, it's going to be like 25 questions. And it's just, I don't know if that's the greatest barometer to determine who's.

[Katherine O'Brien]

Because.

[Johnny Podcast]

Because what a lot of my clients come to me with is they go, I don't. We don't really necessarily care so much about having a hundred thousand downloads, but I need to know that it's like the right people, people are finding the show.

[Matt Kundal]

Yeah. So I had this from the advertiser side. I had somebody say, listen, you've got a podcast about broadcast and podcasting. So, you know, for my product, I really only need 12 people in North America, the right 12 people leaders in this particular industry, to listen to your podcast in order for, you know, to convert a sale. So how can you prove to me that any of those 12 particular VPs or presidents or people who are buyers are listening to your show? Oh, you want me to answer that?

[David Yaz]

We're calling someone.

[Johnny Podcast]

Yeah.

[Matt Kundal]

So who wants to give that a try?

[David Yaz]

Well, I'll give it a try. So in the words of Albert Einstein, not everything that counts can be counted. So gets to the kind of heart of what we're talking about here is, if not sheer download numbers, then what? And to offer an answer that unfortunately is maybe a non answer is, I think you got to ferret that out anecdotally. Customer client survey, client survey, listener survey can be great. But like Johnny said, if it becomes a choreography, who are the people that are going to be answering the bell? Right. So I think you can judge by a combination of. Now there are some demographic information that Spotify does, Apple does, but it's probably. And some other independent sources, but it's probably not going to satisfy really what you want. It's just a tricky thing. So I think you develop it through developing relationships with your listeners and getting meaningful, you know, emails. Yeah. Give out an email address every episode and you at least get a degree. And. And once your audience trusts you, then you will start to hear both constructive criticism and huzzahs. So, yeah, so those are my thoughts.

[Johnny Podcast]

Yeah, I think email list is probably the best way because. And then, you know, to. To revive my slaughtered audience survey idea. I think that that's sort of. I think the audience survey is sort of the long game. So it's something that's always in the show notes. You call it out occasionally, but it's always something that's there and it's just sort of a running list that you're building up over the course of like a year. I don't think it's something that you can totally build out over the course of maybe like a month or two months, maybe one to two years. That's how you're building, you're building that audience survey out. But yeah, I think email collection, this one sounds kind of cheesy but Audi like a giveaway to get people to give you their emails. Or like what David said originally is giving out your email as the host and being like reach out to me, talk to me, tell me what you want to hear. Like DM us here on this social platform and that way you're at least finding out who the super duper fans are on the show.

[David Yaz]

Yeah. And in addition to the I like the giveaway because you do kind of need some incentive to get them to speak. So it could also be a shout out on the podcast or if you're doing a travel podcast, you could say tell us the favorite place you ever visited and we'll give you a shout out on the pod if you take a few minutes to do our survey.

[Jag Podcast Productions]

I have a client that does a fairly detailed survey every year and she does an Amazon gift card. She'll draw one random survey respondent and give them an Amazon gift card. So there's a little bit of a carrot there. I also think that you know the native apps that will only first back off the your host will give you analytics on your on where your people are. But Apple and Spotify and YouTube have pretty detailed information about their users. I wouldn't gloss over that too. There's definitely information to be gleaned from going into your Spotify for creators platform, your Apple podcast connect, your YouTube studio. There's definitely data there that shouldn't be overlooked.

[Katherine O'Brien]

And to step off on that Jag, I think that too this is an area where social media can be very helpful if you're doing the kinds of promotion that you need to do to post about your episodes. Hopefully you're getting people engaging with you on social media and then that is where you can get the more detailed who what where what are their interests and especially we all know that meta has gotten so good at being able to identify the likes of their of the people that are clicking on your ad or or even just merely hovering over over your post and using that information I think is really helpful as well and it and really there too. It's cheap. You could, you could very easily just for you know, $50 get to know a little bit more about the who's engaging with you on social media another way.

[Johnny Podcast]

I asked our buddy ChatGPT while we were talking. I said I just, I just asked.

[David Yaz]

I needed to.

[Katherine O'Brien]

You went to the real source.

[Johnny Podcast]

I needed to know who is listening to my podcast? What do I do?

[Jag Podcast Productions]

And gave.

[Johnny Podcast]

You gave a bunch of options. A lot of the stuff that we already talked about, surveys, interacting with the audience, et cetera. But the one that I found really interesting that I think doesn't actually require you to ask of anything from anybody is, you see, it says you use all of the data that you have to determine what episodes are performed, performing the best completion rates, which episodes are getting the most downloads and the most listens, the most comments and the most interactions on social media. From there, that gives you much more of a picture of. Okay, these are the type of people, based on. This is how they're. This is getting the most reaction, this type of content. Therefore, I can make the assumption that these are the type of people that are listening.

[David Yaz]

That's a great point. And, you know, you will see patterns. You know, if you do. I have a couple podcasts where they'll do a regular episode and then alternate with like a mini episode. And right away you can notice which one does better. It's probably not going to be the mini episode because the listeners probably want the real quote, unquote, the real thing. But, but by. By topic, by. By the type of guest you have, you will notice patterns.

[Matt Kundal]

So what we've spoken about right now, we could lead into one of the next two questions that was provided. I'm going to choose this one right here. And so how does one make sense of analytics and measure success?

[Johnny Podcast]

Matt, you have a number, right? You're the. You're our numbers guy of completion rates. I feel like is the one that you hit on a lot. But what is, like the app like? Because I just got a question about this today. One of the shows started using AI to put together sort of weekly analytics deliveries. And one of the hosts called out, they said, the completion rate of each episode seems low.

[Matt Kundal]

What was the number average?

[Johnny Podcast]

Like 35 or 40.

[Jag Podcast Productions]

Low.

[David Yaz]

Low.

[Johnny Podcast]

Okay, slow.

[Matt Kundal]

So either the show is too long.

[David Yaz]

Okay.

[Matt Kundal]

Or it's too boring, or you're having trouble getting into the show to keep people listening.

[Johnny Podcast]

Okay.

[Matt Kundal]

So probably the first five minutes of the show needs to be examined. So play the rodeo game and listen to it and see when you would jump off as a listener or give it to someone else and see how long it would take before they bail on the show. Yeah, a nice number is about 80%. That's. I mean, that's a really good number.

[Katherine O'Brien]

That's a really good number.

[Matt Kundal]

Yeah, that's a good number. 75. 80% would be a great target. To get to.

[Katherine O'Brien]

I mean, is it. One of the big selling points of podcasts in general is that people will last, like 50% was not unheard of, but it is for other types of media presentations.

[Jag Podcast Productions]

Yeah. More engagement.

[Katherine O'Brien]

Yeah.

[Matt Kundal]

I should clarify, though, that that's a podcast listening number target. I think on YouTube, the numbers are going to be a little bit lower because there's more visual distractions out there and people tire of watching things just a little bit faster. That's just human nature. But here's like a. Would you rather. Would you rather have a thousand people listen to 30% of your show or 100 people listen to 100% of your show?

[Johnny Podcast]

100%.

[Matt Kundal]

There you go.

[Katherine O'Brien]

Yeah.

[David Yaz]

Yeah.

[Katherine O'Brien]

And I think, Johnny, to your point earlier, you and I have talked before about just noticing how podcasters are. The preamble is starting to be dropped from people's podcast routines. That so many more big podcasts are just getting right to the good stuff. There's none of the intro, none of the teaser, none of that. We're getting to the good stuff. Right. As soon as we can. And I think that probably that trend is leaning towards what you're doing, what you're experiencing here is that people want it. They don't want to have all the. The buildup. They want to get to the good stuff as soon as they can.

[Matt Kundal]

Yeah. I think once you dive into consumption metrics, downloads look pretty boring after that.

[Jag Podcast Productions]

Yeah.

[Katherine O'Brien]

Yeah.

[David Yaz]

What about can. This is a question I genuinely don't know the answer to. On Apple Podcast, there's a statistic for plays, and I don't. I'd love to know how that differs than downloads.

[Johnny Podcast]

It's not like they played it for. With at least 30 seconds.

[David Yaz]

Is that what that means? Well, because the number. On you go, Catherine.

[Katherine O'Brien]

No, no, no, no. I was interrupting.

[David Yaz]

Okay. So the. Like. I'm looking at a podcast I have, and on my. It's. It's on Podbean, that's the host, and it'll show something like 500 downloads or so, but on Apple Podcasts, it'll show 1300 plays. And so anyone know what that's all about?

[Matt Kundal]

Yeah, I think I might be able to decipher that. And I'm only doing it by going into Apple right now and reading it to you. That's the number of plays on unique devices where the play duration is greater than 0 seconds. So somebody went in and touched it and that was it.

[Jag Podcast Productions]

You beat me to it, Matt. I was jumping in there to look also.

[Matt Kundal]

Oh, good.

[Katherine O'Brien]

Okay. Petition to Rename this episode Questions we don't have the Answers.

[Matt Kundal]

I was going to write that down because it's twice that it's come up.

[Johnny Podcast]

Absolutely.

[David Yaz]

I was glad Johnny came clean, because a couple of questions I submitted were questions that I wanted the answer to, but don't necessarily have.

[Matt Kundal]

Are we done with this one?

[David Yaz]

By the way?

[Johnny Podcast]

Any.

[Matt Kundal]

Any other metrics that.

[Jag Podcast Productions]

One quick tangent here, since we're in the Apple ecosystem, to dovetail off what Dave asked. Engage listeners is a good metric here. The number of unique devices that played at least 20 minutes or 40% of an episode in a single session. So if they got the 20 minutes or 40% of an episode, they are an engaged listener. That is a better metric to look at than people who hit the play button.

[Matt Kundal]

That's an excellent point.

[David Yaz]

I would go along with that, but. Okay. I'm looking at an episode of one of my podcasts. It's got only 86 engaged listeners. It's got more than 1300 plays. The average consumption is 92%.

[Katherine O'Brien]

Huh.

[David Yaz]

So if 13 people clicked on it and 92% of them, you would think the engaged listeners would be a lot higher.

[Jag Podcast Productions]

It does say engage listeners in a single session. So the. Unless the numbers are wonky and Apple is putting the wool over our eyes yet again, perhaps they are consuming over multiple sessions is the only thing I can come up with off the top of my head, Dave.

[Katherine O'Brien]

Interesting.

[Johnny Podcast]

Yeah. I mean, how do you factor into that? Because if you play it into the average, because I'm looking at these numbers of the show that I mentioned, and the highest one on Apple analytics is 70% is the highest average consumption for this slate of episodes for since January. It's all like 47, 51, 55, 61, 70, 54. All of these episodes are about 50 to an hour and 15 minutes long. If the average commute is like 35 minutes.

[Jag Podcast Productions]

There you go.

[Johnny Podcast]

Does that factor in? Like, how do we know that they're not listening to the first half on the way to work, listening to a little bit at work and then finishing it up on the way home?

[Matt Kundal]

Did someone read the definition for engaged listeners on Apple yet?

[Johnny Podcast]

Yeah, Jack just did.

[Matt Kundal]

Okay, thanks.

[Johnny Podcast]

Yeah, pausing or stopping an episode does not count as starting a new session. Oh, interesting. So that answers the question right there. But that's for the engaged listener. That doesn't necessarily count for average consumption.

[Matt Kundal]

Jag. That's an excellent point about unique listeners. If you have the ability to find out what the unique listeners are, Take a look. I've seen some people go oh, I had 500 downloads yesterday. Yes. You have 500 episodes of your show, and one person downloaded it somewhere else on the planet.

[David Yaz]

Right.

[Matt Kundal]

So that's one unique listener and 500 downloads. Many ways to count.

[David Yaz]

Oh, is that because if you. Would that be a thing that occurs? In other words, if you discover a podcast and then you subscribe to it and you have your download automatic downloads on. Is that what happens?

[Katherine O'Brien]

You can do that?

[Matt Kundal]

Yeah. So that used to be the way itunes worked back in 2018. And so you'd wake up one morning and have all these wonky numbers. I know Apple's gotten a grip on that. I think if you hit, you know, follow it will download just the last two episodes if you agree to it. I think most apps have it under control now, but it's still possible. I still see people coming in and downloading entire catalogs.

[David Yaz]

I still see unusual spikes that I think that this is too good to be true. It's not like 300 random people just discovered the podcast, you know?

[Matt Kundal]

Yeah, I didn't want to get into it, but Good morning, Vietnam. I'm finding. I just. The whole network has, like, all, like, Vietnam is now the number three country for downloads across the entire network. I don't know what's going on. If it's vp, I. Again, I'm not going to ask the question because I don't even know who could possibly answer it. So we'll just move on. Right. And I think, David, you threw this one in. What devices are best for listener feedback?

[David Yaz]

I did. So I suppose I have to try to answer it.

[Matt Kundal]

You don't have to answer it, but you can ask it in a. Why did you want this answered?

[David Yaz]

Well, we've already covered a little bit of it, but it's not only is listener feedback a good way of learning about your audience, but it's a great way of keeping you motivated to do your podcast. Because if you've ever launched a podcast, and then you. Oftentimes I'll do one and I'll create an email saying, if you have questions for attorney Jones here, please email us at whatever. And then you try to create a segment which is, you know, ask the hosts this. And so. And I'm blown by my old radio friends. I don't know if this ever happened, but if you don't get any, you make up a couple to kind of.

[Jag Podcast Productions]

Oh, God, yes.

[David Yaz]

Yes. Okay, so. And then it can be discouraging when you don't get any, but then you start to get them, and that's when you know, it lends texture to the show. It. So that's, I think, it. And creating that loop, it's more than just getting emails and giving a little feedback. Creating a loop where you can shout out listeners and it sort of perpetuates itself. People will hear that other listeners are getting shouted out and they'll be like, oh, well, maybe I'll make a comment. Maybe they'll just. They'll mention me on the podcast. So. But, but that's. But I don't know if anyone has had success with other things like contests, like surveys. Like, you know, will. You know, you're doing a movie podcast and you want to count down the top 10 action movies of all time according to your listeners. You know, that's a good way of doing it. That's kind of a fun way to inject something into the pod. But if anyone has other devices, I'd love to hear them.

[Johnny Podcast]

The only ones I've done personally are the surveys. And with. Those were something that we just left kind of in the show notes for the. For every episode for, like I said earlier, like over the course of like a year or two years. And they, they start to build up over time. If you're calling them out often enough and they give you really, really great data feedback. There were questions in there about like, what do you want to hear more of? What do you want to hear less of? Those answers weren't so valuable. I think as much as it was about getting more data on who the listener was,

[Katherine O'Brien]

I have two examples. One is just a. I had a client who was using the podcast for lead generation or to build an email list. So we had, we created a lead magnet that was exclusive to the podcast. So that was an easy way. We've got a little simple. You know, most of the email platforms can. You can do a simple landing page. They give you your email, they get the checklist. I will say this very simple lead magnet can be very effective. So, you know, you're trying to give something directly to your target audience, something that you know that they will appreciate. Even if it's just something simple like a reading list, like a top top books you recommend, whatever. It can be a very simple lead magnet. And just tracking how many people opt in and give you the email. That is always a great way to do it. Again, I've had clients be very successful at that, especially since we all know that people still buy from email. They. That is a great way to do if you're in any kind of sales that the email list is gonna be a big boon for you. And then the other one is, I know I've shared this on the podcast Super Friends before is that we kind of already discussed it is there's a way in the show notes of one of my clients to email the host, and she gets an email at least once a week from people giving feedback or, you know, saying some things that they appreciate about the show or having a question. And that has been really just a. A very happy surprise that so many people would be willing to move their bodies and do something to connect with the host. So I always say, like, if you. If you have any kind of call to action, make sure that you give them a pathway to actually do the thing that you're wanting them to do.

[Matt Kundal]

I have a little bit of a grip on my community. There's a thousand people on my email list. If I know that I'm who I'm going to be interviewing, I will reach out to people on the list I know who know this particular guest, and I will send them a personal email to say, hey, I've got so and so coming up on the show. I'm recording it Friday. Would you be able to submit a question?

[Katherine O'Brien]

Oh, that's great.

[David Yaz]

Right?

[Matt Kundal]

So one of. And I could, by the way, send it out to a thousand people. 950 are not going to care. But those 50 people who I think really will care, are going to come back with either a question that they write or one that they record. And if they write it, I'll say, oh, by the way, can you record this? And you don't have to have the audio recorded before the show. I could just ask the question. I can put the audio in later. So it's something that you really can manufacture. I look at something like, I can't

[Johnny Podcast]

remember what it's called.

[Matt Kundal]

Speak pipe. And a lot of websites will have a microphone on the side where people can ask a question, but they don't know who's coming up in the show. They don't know what you're talking about next. They maybe, you know, you can get them to, you know, comment on last week's show, but did they get to the end of the show? And, you know, I think you really need to. To. It's kind of like this thing if you. You've got to brow people, browbeat people into. Coerce them into doing it by asking them personally. I know that's a stretch in a long way, but it works.

[Katherine O'Brien]

And how personal. That's so cool. I think that's a great idea.

[Johnny Podcast]

And the call out of, like, 950 people aren't going to care. But those 50 that do care, like, those. Those are the people you want to hear from anyways. You know, it all. It all really comes back to, like, who actually really loves listening to the show. And then there are also those people that just. They're just not going to engage. They just enjoy listening to the podcast. And that's as far as the extent of the know, as the relationship goes. I know with the podcast that I listen to, I don't respond to any call to actions. I just listen to the podcast because I'm getting my free content and that's what I'm there for, and that's that.

[Matt Kundal]

Has anybody used the text feature through buzzsprout?

[David Yaz]

No.

[Johnny Podcast]

And immediately upon hearing that, I would advise people not to do that because we've all gotten spam texts over the years, and I don't know a single person that likes getting those.

[Matt Kundal]

All right, well, you can text the host.

[Jag Podcast Productions]

Yeah, it's the other way, Johnny. They text you.

[Johnny Podcast]

Okay, then I. I rescind my comment.

[Jag Podcast Productions]

That was a. That was an instant reaction. That was.

[Johnny Podcast]

Especially when, like, election time comes around. Like, you're just getting text on and on.

[Jag Podcast Productions]

I get text from four states I don't live in anymore about local elections.

[Johnny Podcast]

Well, what's really fun is responding to them with the exact opposite of they want what they want to hear. And they just go. They just opt you out for you. They just go, you've been up. You've been unsubscribed from this list. I go, what? I thought we were starting a dialogue.

[Matt Kundal]

Come on, Jag you. The Louisiana ones, you can just forward them to Catherine.

[Katherine O'Brien]

Oh, thank you.

[Jag Podcast Productions]

Yes.

[Katherine O'Brien]

This is why you don't give out your number.

[Matt Kundal]

I think this one goes next. This one also came from David. And if I have 0 sponsors, should I still be using Dai for promos or anything else?

[Jag Podcast Productions]

Only if the content is good. Don't do it to check the box.

[David Yaz]

Well, give us an example.

[Jag Podcast Productions]

Something that your audience cares about, something coming up on the show, not just, you know, drop it in the middle. Hey, if you're enjoying the show, you should follow and subscribe and send me an email. Something, Something compelling, something that your audience is really going to care about, or like an announcement you've got coming up, a big guest you've got coming up.

[Johnny Podcast]

I think if it's one call to action, I think that's what you should use it for. If you're not already doing it. Like Organically, within the show, making that call to action, which I don't think a lot of podcasts do, of at least the ones that I listen to, they're not making that organic. Hey, make sure you're subscribed on YouTube. Make sure you follow the show. Whatever the ask is, I think you can do that one ask and put it in there. Because one of the things I see on YouTube a lot when I'm watching videos and trying to see what, you know, they're doing is a really common theme that I hear is they will drop something in. And with video, it's easier because they can just add that in as they're editing the episode is, hey, by the way, our statistics show us that 70% of people are just watching the video and they're not subscribing. All you have to do is press that little subscribe button and it is free. It takes no effort. And it would really, really help me and help other people find this video. And then they go right back to the. To the video. I think having that one ask, if you're asking, like, subscribe, comment, send me an email, yada, yada, yada, like the 7 asks and it's like, you know, you're killing me here. Text me one the one is. Text me the one. I think the one ask I think is fine. I think everyone should utilize DAI for that reason if. If no other.

[Jag Podcast Productions]

Yeah.

[David Yaz]

And, you know, it's good to hearken back to some of the other devices we've already been talking about. It's. It's great for that if you are like, you've got some gimmick. Like we decided on our podcast, we're going to decide what is the greatest candy bar ever. And we need you guys to vote. Right? So something like that is at least different and hopefully people get a kick out of it depending upon what your podcast is about. I don't know if the podcast about candy or whatever, but it's powerful to be able to use DAI to drop that in because then they'll hear it. And also once your candy bar survey is over, you can just remove it, of course. So I think that's a decent example of it.

[Matt Kundal]

So we're going to roll back a question or two because one of the ways I use DAI is also as a device with listener feedback. So a number of people went onto my LinkedIn and they made comments. They said nice things about me. They share to post all that stuff. I thank them in my show using dai. Hey, just before we start the show, I want to thank all these people and I listed them all by name for helping me out with this post, for supporting, for, you know, reposting and sharing. And that's going to run for I guess, two weeks on the show. So I'm communicating with people, other people are going to hear it and know that I'm amiable to communicating and feedback. And DAI is actually one of the better devices for, for listener feedback. Hey, you know, if they, somebody sends you five bucks, thank them in the dai. If somebody, you know, even just so much as just likes your post. How, like what if they, if they hear their name or somebody else says, hey, I heard you on this podcast. You know, it's all part of community building.

[Johnny Podcast]

I've heard people do that with their, oh crap, the platform is blank Patreon. Part of the tiers is, you know, if you're paying 15 for the highest tier per month, you will be listed in the show as an executive producer and they'll put your name in the show notes or your username or whatever. And it's a fun way to, you know, make people feel like they're part of it.

[Matt Kundal]

Other uses for DAI that we have not talked about, I would actually say dai, by the way. I would call it Dynamic Audio Insertion. And if you think of it that way, you don't need to have ads and sponsors in there.

[Jag Podcast Productions]

True.

[Johnny Podcast]

I guess promo would be the other one. Like, we have an amazing guest coming up next week. It's going to be so and so. Or a brand new episode just dropped yesterday featuring so and so. Please go check it out. Getting people to go from one episode to the next.

[David Yaz]

It occurs to me, Matt, I think I'm repeating what you just said. Maybe slightly different, but it could be pretty powerful to. Yeah, you go to your Facebook page, you pick three comments that just hit that week or your LinkedIn page or wherever you're gathering listener feedback and you record a 60 second thing. Just. Hey, some great people chimed in this week. It's Sandy from Oklahoma had this to say about the recent whatever. And that's kind of cool because when we do listener feedback on other podcast and it's part of the podcast episode, I wonder whether we might lose some people. You know, I think it's nice to do when people hear it, but you're not talking about them, you know, so maybe it's, it's a little bit of a different change of pace for you to hear it as a, as a break in the show. So I like that idea.

[Katherine O'Brien]

You know, people respond to rewards. You know, the people like people, they like to hear you shouting out. And I think that that leans into a lot of the things that people like podcasts for. Is, you know, Matt is not some untouchable out there guy. He's, you know, responding to posts on LinkedIn. LinkedIn, he's seeing what people are doing with the podcast. There's not.

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[Katherine O'Brien]

Shouting into the void. All of those things are relational and connection building. I think that's all really good.

[Matt Kundal]

Promo swaps. I know promo swaps are. They can be tough to manage, but if somebody's got a show like yours, you give them your promo, they give you theirs, run them and you know, share your audience.

[David Yaz]

It's a great way to use it for sure.

[Katherine O'Brien]

Yeah, that's cool.

[Matt Kundal]

David, what's the name of your show again?

[David Yaz]

They mean my music.

[Johnny Podcast]

I post a couple.

[Katherine O'Brien]

I was going to come up with a lead in there.

[David Yaz]

I think the music podcast you're talking

[Jag Podcast Productions]

about is called Past tens, a top 10 time machine.

[David Yaz]

I didn't bring it up.

[Johnny Podcast]

You guys did.

[David Yaz]

Inventing other podcasts that don't exist like movies and candy.

[Matt Kundal]

So if you're listening to this and you have a music podcast, reach out to David, share your promos, swap the promos and promote each other, would you?

[David Yaz]

It's a great idea. And please do david617.com.

[Jag Podcast Productions]

We love that you're listening to the podcast Super Friends.

[Johnny Podcast]

You can watch the show on YouTube

[Grainger Announcer]

at Johnny podcasts and at Sound Off Media.

[Matt Kundal]

This one is submitted by Johnny. I think some ways using AI to help not do everything make your thumbnails as Apple Podcast rolls out videos.

[Johnny Podcast]

Yeah, so Spotify for video is already out and if you're not familiar with that already, definitely consider it. But it's coming to Apple as well. And on I have all my shows on Megaphone. When you upload a video podcast, it offers you an option to put up a video thumbnail as well, which is the same as YouTube. So if you're already making the thumbnail, if you're already doing the video, you Might as well have it on YouTube. Might as well have it on Spotify. The thumbnail is more important for YouTube, but it's good to have on your video for Spotify as well. Just to keep the continuity, just keep everything on brand. Everything is the same across all platforms. With that being said, it is really hard to add that to your production list. Creating great thumbnails is probably one of the hardest things to do. How do I make something that is clickable that is not like clickbait? E. It's in line with our brand, but it gets people excited. It gets someone who's randomly scrolling by to click on it with and then, okay, now I gotta hire an artist. There are people that create thumbnails. Do I want to learn Photoshop? Do I want to use canva? AI is an amazing tool for it. However, it is very easy to spot AI created things right now. I'm sure that'll change in three months and it'll all be indistinguishable and all five of us will be out of a job. But use AI to help you. So a real life example that I'm using is on one of the shows that I work on, I had ChatGPT creating the hosts as characters because all the hosts were not using 4K cameras to be able to create pull great thumbnails. And I didn't want to use their business website headshots every single time. So it's exactly the same. Every single time you look at a video, it's the exact same picture. So we need to use either create. Use AI to create characters that are like animated a little bit to give a little bit of life, or what is really nice is you can use AI to clean up these screenshots of somebody from the video that you're, you know, you've recorded and you've produced. So like if you took a screenshot of the all five of us, you can upload it to chat, GBT or cloud or whatever and you say clean up everybody's photos, make it look really photorealistic or add little filters, make it look like a comic book drawing, a pencil sketch. Very artistic. There's a gazillion different routes you can go to. You're using AI now to help make something that you have better. You're not using AI to create it for you. And I think there's a really important difference there to where it kind of one side is lazy, the other side is taking the extra effort to try and get that click from somebody.

[Jag Podcast Productions]

Canva Premium has a Remove background feature that I've used a lot. I'll take a headshot or I'll take a screenshot of video and remove the background, and then you can do all kinds of funky things with it.

[Johnny Podcast]

Yeah, it's at the background creator is. Is in. Or the background remover is great in Photoshop as well. There's a ton of great tools out there. I think the most important thing for what the average person is doing it for is the background removal. Because you don't want just this back there. You need to make something else. Not their office. The other one is cleaning up the image. And what I would recommend to a lot of people is called Remini R E M I N I. It takes basically a screen grab of anyone's. Any picture, and it cleans it up and it's beautiful. And I think I've sent it to everyone here in this group. It's 10 bucks a week. I don't know why they charge it by the week, but so that, you know, comes out to like, 40 bucks a month, unlimited usage. I use it every single day on every thumbnail that I make. It's incredible.

[David Yaz]

Really.

[Jag Podcast Productions]

Like the. The actress Leah Remini.

[Johnny Podcast]

Yeah, I don't know who that is, but.

[David Yaz]

Yes, of course you don't, because she too.

[Johnny Podcast]

Or she from the 1700s.

[David Yaz]

She's from the King of Queens.

[Jag Podcast Productions]

Right.

[David Yaz]

J. The King of Queens and my Scientology story by Leah Remi, which is very good documentary, by the way. I do that sometimes I use Chat GPT. Sometimes I use Grok Elon's AI agent there. And for example, I have a podcast. The hosts are three women, and the name of the episode was Can One Bad Apple Spoil the Tree? And so I took a photo of them in my studio and punched it through AI And I get an image of them all holding an apple and kind of looking quizzically at the apple and, you know, with appropriate headline added and all that. So, yes, it's AI slop. But I think viewers, I think, would accept, are a lot more accepting of, like, an image like that, you know, dressed up with the headline and everything for an. For a YouTube thumbnail than they are for something like, you know, a moving video. I think sometimes we're getting sick to our stomachs of seeing a video and going, oh, wait a minute, this is AI, you know, but for the. For that purpose, I think that's part. And part of what you're saying, Johnny, is, you know, it works.

[Johnny Podcast]

Yeah. Can you use AI to. To just elevate this? Can you make it 10% better than what it was before when I'm just using it. And then one last thing, Catherine, before you jump in is the thumbnail text is critical too. That has to be different than the title of whatever your video is. A lot of things that people, A mistake that a lot of people will make is that the text on the thumbnail is the exact same as the title of your YouTube video or the title of your episode. It's be to going gotta be something different. Why it's gotta. Because you can see them right there. Like I, I can already read what's on the thumbnail and I can read the title right below it. So I don't wanna see that duplicate. What is that extra hook of a sentence somebody said or something outlandish or something that just makes you go, whoa. What? Click.

[David Yaz]

Yeah, tip. It's a great tip.

[Katherine O'Brien]

So I went down a little bit of a YouTube rabbit hole. And to your point, David, I. The one of the things, the, the person that, that I was listening, they don't like it. But when they make the shocked face, like some sort of gasping big eye, that they get more clicks for their video. And I think that all of us see, I've seen, you know, I've seen exactly. What he's describing is that if they look some sort of like extra very big emotional response, that is what is getting people to click the video. And there's a part of it where I want to rebel from that because,

[Johnny Podcast]

oh, I do too.

[Katherine O'Brien]

I don't like it. But they're getting. That is what people are clicking to get to the video. So do we set aside our personal feelings and just do what works? Maybe. Maybe the answer is yes to that. Yeah. And that I forgot the second point, but that was really. It is that, oh, I'm. So that's what it was. He was also saying, and this is not. I've heard this from several YouTube creators. So these are people who are YouTubers. They don't make the video until they know what the thumbnail is going to look like and they know what the title is going to look like because that is a refining process that is crystallizing it. It doesn't matter to put all their effort and their time and their hopes and dreams into a video if they know people aren't going to click it. So they actually start with the thumbnail and the title first because they know that's going to give them the direction to actually make the video. And I think actually podcasters could learn something from that.

[David Yaz]

Wait to Make. When you say video, you mean the actual episode of the podcast?

[Johnny Podcast]

It Sounds like it's YouTubers, not necessarily podcast.

[Katherine O'Brien]

These are you. Yeah. So I'm saying podcasters should take a page out of some YouTubers book because there's plenty of room for podcasters to be successful on YouTube. And what they're saying is that the. Of paramount importance is the thumbnail and the title. And I, I said, I know this because I went to the Johnny Podcast school of podcast super friends. Yeah, I mean, this is not the first time we're hearing this, but YouTubers, they won't even start to make their video until they have those two assets locked because they know everything flows from that. That's. That's really the point there.

[David Yaz]

I suggest that we focus on making excellent podcasts. I know you're not suggesting otherwise, Catherine.

[Katherine O'Brien]

Right.

[David Yaz]

But, you know, come up with a great product, a great episode video and audio, and then we can sacrifice some of our ideals to sell out for the thumbnail, you know, to make the thumbnail. Really?

[Johnny Podcast]

Yeah, yeah. And, yeah. And you don't have to, you know, go, okay, well, I'm starting my podcast on YouTube. I need to do exactly what Mr. Beast is doing or, you know, any of the other big youtubers look at the big business or not look at the big podcasts on YouTube. What are they doing? What are their thumbnails look like? What are their titles look like? What are their shorts look like? And go from there.

[David Yaz]

1.

[Jag Podcast Productions]

One thing that caught my attention that Katherine said a moment ago is that gasped look that might get you some clicks that might piss off your guests. If, if you're using. If they see the thumbnail themselves, like,

[Johnny Podcast]

or your host, if you're. If you're in the producer's chair. That's came to mind. That's the thought that came to mind when Katherine said that, because it's true. But also, like, if the host that is you're working with is trusting you to put all this together for them and you're making them. I feel stupid looking at this. Like, I feel like a. You know, I feel like a jerk seeing myself making that face. I always opt for the smile or the laugh. That's what I always. I always opt for them.

[Jag Podcast Productions]

Circus freak. Did you make me into.

[Johnny Podcast]

Yeah, exactly. And then that comes with the clickbaity titling, you know, like pissing off your guest. Like, this guy said something like. It's just, you have to be really careful with that kind of stuff.

[Matt Kundal]

You will be shocked.

[Jag Podcast Productions]

Then they Photoshop in an Electrical outlet and have them sticking their finger.

[Johnny Podcast]

Yeah. Guest embarrasses themselves. On my podcast,

[Matt Kundal]

has anybody used the ab testing feature for the thumbnails?

[Johnny Podcast]

Yes, it's fine. I so, okay, so I did it where the hosts have name and face recognition, but the guests don't. And so thumbnail A was everybody on the thumbnail hosts and guests. Thumbnail B was just the hosts. People clicked on the one with the

[David Yaz]

host

[Johnny Podcast]

because I don't know who these people are. So maybe it was a titling error on my end. I, maybe my title could have been better or how I pitched the thumbnail could have been cooler and better and more fun and more clickable. But the data showed that we, the audience liked seeing these people.

[Jag Podcast Productions]

So we're clicking on this tangentially from one of the panels of podcast movement last summer was when you're talking about SEO for your podcast episode titles is if you don't have a famous guest, don't necessarily use their name in the title.

[Matt Kundal]

Also, people are coming to your show for you. They're probably not coming for the guest.

[Johnny Podcast]

And that shows to this show in particular is not a guest driven show. This is a host driven show. The two, the hosts that are on there, they're the ones that carry the majority of the audience. They don't always have guests on.

[Katherine O'Brien]

You can also do ab testing on the actual titles too. That is something that you have available to you. And I have started for one of my clients to use the. I don't have enough data to report yet, but the quizzes that you can have a little quiz for on YouTube, on the YouTube videos for just a, you know, a quick question for the, for the audience.

[Jag Podcast Productions]

Have you had any anecdotal data on that, Katherine? That's looked good.

[Katherine O'Brien]

I, I just have started doing it, just rolling it out. So not, not enough to tell yet.

[Matt Kundal]

Jack, you had a post on LinkedIn earlier this week and this is about getting to know the people who are, who are doing your videos.

[Jag Podcast Productions]

Yeah. So the, the TLDR version of it is. I have a new podcast client, wonderful client. She wanted to do her first episode interview in person and she went to a local podcast studio and she actually really. They did record in Riverside from the studio. So I'm like, great. Just, you know, I'll get, I'll log into your account, I'll grab the files. And the dimensions were all off. They weren't, they weren't 1920 by 1080. They weren't, you know, 12 even 1280 by 720 they were just oddly square dimensions. So I had to create backgrounds and get a little creative in both a two shot and a one shot of each participant in the show. And, and also they were sitting at a table together. And I think it was, it was. I had to crop it a little bit differently to get the flow going a little bit better. And my point in the LinkedIn post was it's not TLDR at this point, but my point in the LinkedIn post was vet your podcast studio. Because if you Google podcast studios near me, anybody with a thousand bucks can put together the equipment for a studio, say, hey, can you show me some, you know, some, some finished products you created for clients, whether that's audio or video or both. Just because you've set up a studio does not mean that you know exactly how a podcast should look and sound. You know, I, I have not seen this, but I'd imagine it's a podcast studio somewhere with blue Yeti microphones. You know, you never know what you're gonna get. So please, please do a little bit of research. Aside from what's the easiest, you know, studio. Neck near me with the, the.

[Johnny Podcast]

What's the cheapest? Yeah, cheapest.

[Jag Podcast Productions]

And where I got blowback on the post was I said I'd rather you do it virtually in Riverside than use a bad studio. And some pushback I got was, are you kidding? You need to use a studio and have a high end podcast. Well, sure, if you got a great studio and you've got the resources to pay for and you've got a team for production, great. But for John Q. Podcaster, who might be on a limited budget, in a lot of cases, it might be better to just record it with a high quality platform like Riverside as opposed to spending the money on studio time.

[Katherine O'Brien]

I really did not understand some of the responses you were getting to that you were totally reasonable. And people took. Really seemed like that triggered a lot of people's personal pet about podcasting. It was very, very weird to me.

[Jag Podcast Productions]

I think you might have seen more of the hate than I did.

[David Yaz]

Well, but Jag was the. Sorry, was the host. Was the guest remotely connected to the.

[Jag Podcast Productions]

No, they. They were both in the same room together. She wanted that in person feel for the podcast, which I totally get. But they actually recorded. They had microphones and two cameras. I think they were independent, independently connected to Riverside. And so I had a feed from both, although the feed, you know, to get even more in the details some of the. A couple times the audio was on the opposite track. So I In Some bleed and things like that. So please make sure the studio is set up well if you're going to use it.

[David Yaz]

Yeah. I had one where a client sent me someone. They recorded a studio in la, and the microphones were on the table, and the two of them were, like, in comfy chairs, leaning back, almost nowhere near the table. They weren't. You could barely hear them over the microphones. I was like, wasn't there someone there that told you to talk into the microphones? It's like, oh, no. They just.

[Jag Podcast Productions]

Side note, anytime I've done. I've done some live podcast recordings for folks, and I learned very quickly, microphone on the stand is no good for your average person. Just put it on a cord and have them hold it. Have them hold it. Other. Otherwise, you know, you're gonna get this and it's not gonna sound great.

[Johnny Podcast]

Yep. And don't let them sit in chairs with wheels, because when they're. When they have wheels, then. Exactly. I've experienced that so many times where they just.

[Katherine O'Brien]

They just now retreat. Yeah.

[Jag Podcast Productions]

Johnny's the Homer fading into the bushes meme all of a sudden.

[Johnny Podcast]

But when. When we swapped out chairs with wheels with static chairs, the problem went away immediately because you can't. You can't physically pick up the chair and move it back.

[Katherine O'Brien]

But what about our rocking back and forth, our dramatic stiff chairs?

[Johnny Podcast]

Comfy, stiff chairs. They don't lean back.

[Jag Podcast Productions]

They don't do anything with seat belts.

[David Yaz]

Yeah. Well, that's why I recommend people. Some people come into my studio and they're like, do we have to wear the headphones? And I'm like, you don't have to, but let me explain why I recommend them. And then sometimes they're like, oh, I still don't want them, but I don't. I mean, we're all podcast people, so if I start talking like this, I noticed right away. Oh, my God. What? I stepped away from them. I shifted away from the microphone because I can hear myself, but different strokes.

[Matt Kundal]

David, you didn't use Jag's line.

[David Yaz]

What's that?

[Matt Kundal]

If Tay Tay can wear headphones on a podcast, you can too.

[Johnny Podcast]

That's right.

[David Yaz]

Jag, where were you?

[Jag Podcast Productions]

Come on, have me on speed dial.

[David Yaz]

Dave.

[Matt Kundal]

I think, by the way, but nice, nice. Shout out to the blue Yeti Jaguar. I think.

[Jag Podcast Productions]

I think we have one behind me for hahas.

[Johnny Podcast]

I've got one over there, too.

[Matt Kundal]

We have to work in a blue YETI reference in every episode.

[Jag Podcast Productions]

We have to reference Dave's podcast Top Tens, and we have to.

[Matt Kundal]

And how Much. We dislike the Blue Yeti.

[Johnny Podcast]

Their intern that they hired to scour the Internet for blue Yeti. Hate is just seething right now.

[Jag Podcast Productions]

I actually, we're keeping them in business.

[Matt Kundal]

I had this happen with a client last week. I called and I said, well, what's. What's different with your recording? What's going on? And, you know, I'm just. Everything's the same. Everything's the same. I said, well, what's the microphone? And she showed it to me, and then I, like, she saw my face die inside. It was a blue Yeti and there was plosives all over the audio and

[Johnny Podcast]

echo in the room and talking into the wrong side.

[David Yaz]

That's a big one right there.

[Matt Kundal]

Yep.

[David Yaz]

For the. If anyone's watching this podcast for the first or listening for the first time, we're not mike snobs, but this is how you become a true podcaster, when you mock the Blue Yeti because you've got.

[Johnny Podcast]

Well, let's. Let's punch. Let's punch in the other direction, too. One of the things that really gets going about. Yeah. One of the things that really makes me mad about the MV7 is that touch bar right here. I don't have one on this one. I cannot tell you how many times. I cannot tell you how many times I jump on to do an audio check before a recording, and this is what I see from the guest.

[David Yaz]

Well, because there's a. There's a button that automatically mutes it. Is that what.

[Johnny Podcast]

It's a touch bar right here on the lip. And if you. If you pick up your mic and move it like this to readjust it, it turns red and it's muted. The microphone, you can't see it. You have to be looking right at it like this. And I swear it happens like, seven times a month.

[Matt Kundal]

That's something to keep in mind, by the way, because we're going to pivot to this one, which is what should the budget of a podcast look like if you're starting out by yourself? David asked this one. He genuinely doesn't know the answer to it.

[David Yaz]

Well, I might not, but I'll volunteer to go first. Really quick. The maybe overarching lesson you should take away if you're starting your own podcast and you're thinking about a budget, is it's probably more work than you think, especially to maintain a consistent podcast on a regular basis, which is critical for success. So just for.

[Johnny Podcast]

If.

[David Yaz]

If you're thinking of going, like, completely DIY route, you're still going to want to spend you know, a few hundred dollars for, you know, a good. You can get a good mic for less than a hundred dollars. I learned that from Jag and Johnny. They're voluminous list of equipment, which is. Which we can share. But then at some point, you're probably going to want to a. What do we call the mini mixing

[Johnny Podcast]

boards, Some sort of device, A USB audio interface.

[David Yaz]

USB audio, that's right.

[Johnny Podcast]

Yes.

[David Yaz]

So if you want to do a podcast, right. Microphone is probably absolute tops. And listen, you're going to end up spending probably a ballpark of, you know, 300 on equipment up front, and then hosting fees and other fees for things you might use to support the podcast. You can get that for 30 bucks a month or less. And so that's that. But I'm curious to hear what others think. If you go the route of hiring one of us, you know, it can cost you anywhere from $250 to $750 an episode, depending upon length, complexity, whether you're doing audio and video and things like that. But I'll shut up.

[Jag Podcast Productions]

Looks like treatment. I had a. I did a podcast presentation a few months ago, and I called it how to Start a podcast for under 100 bucks. And it was, you get that Samsung Q2U microphone, which depending on the day of the week and the hour and minute of the day, could be 50 bucks, it could be 70 bucks. It kind of bounces around on Amazon. If you get, if you use the headphones that you get for free on a Delta flight or that come with your smartphone, you don't have to pay. I mean, you can spend a hundred bucks to wear the headphones that we're all wearing on this podcast, but if you're doing on a budget, 60, 70 bucks for the mic, nothing for the headphones or dollar store headphones or.

[Johnny Podcast]

Everyone owns, everyone owns headphones. It can be, it can be Bluetooth. They can be plug in.

[Jag Podcast Productions]

Ideally not Bluetooth, but. But anything if you're doing remote. Well, yeah, but anyway, you got, you got headphones for free. You got a microphone for 60 bucks. Your podcast host will probably be 15, 1 5amonth. And then if you need either remote recording software or, you know, and, and you do all the math and you come out to roughly 100 bucks a month, not adjusted for inflation.

[Matt Kundal]

I would put the podcast hosting at zero. There's a number of places that offer free podcast hosting, including RSS.com and as well, what used to be known as Anchor, which is now Spotify for podcasters. I know with some of These free hosts, they'll only give you about six or seven episodes. That's fine. Once you hit six, you're in it to win it. At that point, you can then move over to a paid service.

[Johnny Podcast]

Jumping into my gearhead corner. So Matt said the Scarlet Focus, right, is a great, it is a great option. There is a less expensive option. I would say it's within, you know, five to ten dollars. But I recently just set up one of the guys I work with with. It's called a Motu M O T U M2 USB C audio interface. It's 200 bucks on Sweetwater. It is a wonderful piece of equipment. Plugs your XLR right into it, back end, plugs USB C into your computer. You have excellent sounding audio. I think what all of this comes down to is if you're going to shell out on anything, even if you're doing like the super reduced budget for your podcast, the thing that you need to spend the most on is your microphone. That's. That is the high ticket item. Whether it's 70 bucks, whether it's 400 bucks, whether it's 50 bucks. The audio is critical because that is the thing, that is the way you're getting your message from me to you. That has to be the best thing.

[David Yaz]

Sorry. You go, Matt. You go, Matt.

[Matt Kundal]

Everybody mention one budget friendly microphone now that they would recommend to somebody. You only get to pick one Q2U.

[Johnny Podcast]

I gotta look it up.

[Matt Kundal]

Samsung Q2U.

[David Yaz]

Samsung Q2U is the one that Jag turned me on to and I still buy it for all my clients. I, I do it as like a welcome gift because it's affordable. You know, it's typically 70 bucks, or if it's on sale, it could be as low as 50. But Jag, you had a, a different one that you like. Audio Technica.

[Jag Podcast Productions]

It has been discontinued.

[David Yaz]

Really? Okay.

[Matt Kundal]

All right, 2100's done.

[Katherine O'Brien]

Yeah, but you can, well, you can still find them used. That's. They're pretty common. I'm going to say the rode podmic $100, very solid mic.

[Jag Podcast Productions]

Is that the one you're on now, Catherine?

[Katherine O'Brien]

It is the one I'm on right now.

[Jag Podcast Productions]

It looks fantastic.

[Katherine O'Brien]

Thanks.

[Johnny Podcast]

That sounds fantastic.

[David Yaz]

And to be clear, the Focusrite thing that we're talking about, you can probably get away without that if you're the only. If you're the.

[Johnny Podcast]

You can get away without it if

[David Yaz]

you're the only one talking to your computer. But if you're doing it with a co host, if you're going to do it with a co host that's in the same room as you. You will drive yourself nuts trying to do it without.

[Jag Podcast Productions]

Yeah, you need an audio interface. You need audio interface. If you have two or more microphones, you need an audio interface. If you have an XLR3.3 pin mic that you need to go between that and into a computer.

[David Yaz]

Right.

[Johnny Podcast]

I have a microphone for 45 on Amazon that I like the sound of. It's called the fifine F I, F I, N E is a USB and XLR dynamic microphone. I recommended it to many people. It sounds great. And the way that it differentiates, I think in a more positive way than the Q2U IS, it is not a handheld mic. It has one of those little stands built into it. But, Johnny, then it's sitting on my desk, seven feet away from my face. You've got 25 books that you haven't read in 15 years. Stack four of them up on your desk. Set that microphone right there. Boom. It's right in front of your face. Now you're saving yourself 60 bucks on getting a microphone arm.

[David Yaz]

Catherine, is the PodMic XLR US or USD XLR?

[Katherine O'Brien]

Well, I'm. I'm using a Focusrite right now, so let me look.

[David Yaz]

I just wonder.

[Katherine O'Brien]

Just. Xlr. I think they have one. I think Roadhouse.

[Matt Kundal]

They do have one, but this is just Roadhouse. Okay.

[David Yaz]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Matt Kundal]

I haven't tried this one out yet, but somebody recommended this one to me, so it's. I don't even know how to pronounce that. It's a PD300X dynamic microphone. It's got XLR and USB capabilities. And I will be trying that out in the next little while.

[Johnny Podcast]

And129 on Amazon.

[David Yaz]

Can you put it. Please put it back on the screen, Matt.

[Johnny Podcast]

Sorry about that.

[David Yaz]

That's all right. Just for a couple minutes. Okay, thank you.

[Johnny Podcast]

You can get the 200 wireless podcast microphone.

[Matt Kundal]

No, no, no, no, no.

[David Yaz]

But.

[Katherine O'Brien]

But then Jag and Matt have put their feet down.

[Jag Podcast Productions]

Anything that connects wireless or Bluetooth gives you one more fail point. And also a tiny fraction of a second delay in the headphones or the microphone, which on a conversation, particularly virtually, can mess your world up.

[Matt Kundal]

Big mistake. Do not do that. No wireless anything. Plug in.

[Johnny Podcast]

Other things would be video. Video is a huge. It's. It's just part of the conversation. Now we have to talk about video. Majority of people listening to this probably have an iPhone, probably have a MacBook. You can use your iPhone as a wireless webcam. It looks great.

[Jag Podcast Productions]

Continuity camera feature.

[Johnny Podcast]

It's called continuity. Camera should be very. It's. It's much more streamlined now that it's a more popular thing. Should be very easy to set up. Just get a little camera mount, lean it up against one of those books again that you haven't read, and. And then you've got your video lights. Use the lamp. I'm using a household lamp right now. Put it behind the camera. Boom. You've got good. You know, you've got passable lighting.

[Matt Kundal]

We're coming up on time. I only have one more question. I think that's kicking out, kicking around out there, and that's what podcast awards are worth submitting to.

[David Yaz]

I also. Another question. I don't know the answer to that.

[Johnny Podcast]

I said there is one. There is one that's worth submitting to.

[David Yaz]

Tell me. Do tell.

[Johnny Podcast]

It's the award that you give yourself, that you have done your podcast again and again and again because you don't feel like doing it, but you know it's the right thing to do.

[Matt Kundal]

It comes in the form of a gold star, and you go pick it up at your local mall.

[Johnny Podcast]

Yeah.

[Jag Podcast Productions]

What's a mall?

[Johnny Podcast]

Or one of those trophies that they used to make that they used to give kids for sports participation.

[David Yaz]

Yeah.

[Matt Kundal]

So get any of those, Johnny?

[Johnny Podcast]

No, I was an elite athlete, so first. Second place.

[Jag Podcast Productions]

You know, they told him. He was.

[Johnny Podcast]

This is the first place one. Here you go.

[David Yaz]

Do I take it that the Super Friends agree that submitting to a podcast award that can cost the major ones anywhere from 300 to $800 with no guarantee that you're gonna get win or get nominated is a waste of time? That was a run on sentence.

[Matt Kundal]

So I'll say yes to what you just said, but I will also say that the late Todd Cochran had an award show and he wouldn't charge very much at all. It was like 25 bucks. And it was really just admin numbers. And he was quite upfront about it. I always thought that was worth. Worth entering just to have one. The other one, I would suggest, and this is Canadian only, is the Canadian Podcast Awards. Those are free.

[Jag Podcast Productions]

I got burned submitting to the Signal Awards and was out a couple hundred bucks and never again.

[David Yaz]

Yeah. So that's one of them that I'm constantly getting peppered with notices for the Signal Awards. And I mean, I. Listen, we could have someone on the Signal Awards come on here and defend themselves, but to submit $285 and then just.

[Johnny Podcast]

You never hear anything again.

[Jag Podcast Productions]

And that's not unique to our industry. There are a lot of industries are pay to play for these awards, but I just don't see the, the value. And I think we all agree on that, Katherine.

[Katherine O'Brien]

So I'm, I'm going to be a little slightly contrarian to the rest of the podcast super friends. I think like with many things in podcasting comes down to a marketing proposition. So if you're, if you're going to spend $300, there are some awards that you, just by paying that entry fee, you are going to get some kind of recognition. If you're do, if you do that, then you need to take that and run with it and squeeze all the marketing juice out of it that you can. There are, I have work, I have, I've made this suggestion to some of my clients. We are now forever an award nominated podcast. That with some people is a cachet or it's just, it is just a credentialing. You know, it is just something that sets you apart from other people. I don't necessarily think that there's anything wrong with that, but you just, you need to know that going into it, you need to be willing to run the distance with it and really just make the marketing get, you know, get everything you want out of that marketing. Look at it as a marketing opportunity and get everything you can out of that marketing opportunity.

[Johnny Podcast]

It would, it would be a personal resume thing too. Like I won't give away the name of the award or the host just for privacy reasons, but one of the people that I work with, they won an award for their podcast hosting. Not necessarily the show itself, but the work that they were doing in their industry was recognized elsewhere by it. So it doesn't necessarily have to be a podcast award, but maybe there. It's similar to like the conference thing that we've talked about before. Like do you need to go to a podcast conference or you need to go to a social media conference? Like, is there something around there? And again, it's like you said, Catherine, it's all credentialing, it's marketing, it's, it's credibility. There's a lot of reasons to do it. I don't know that I would, you know, clear out your bank account just so that you can put three or four badges on your podcast website.

[David Yaz]

Badges?

[Jag Podcast Productions]

We don't need a stinking badges.

[Matt Kundal]

Yeah, it's funny you mentioned that, Johnny, because the question we are not going to deal with today is what conferences are worth attending.

[David Yaz]

So, yeah, great, Matt, I'll see you

[Jag Podcast Productions]

in London next year.

[Matt Kundal]

I'll be there Next year we are

[David Yaz]

going to New York, aren't we? When is that?

[Jag Podcast Productions]

Oh, well, I actually that's an offline conversation, Dave.

[David Yaz]

All right.

[Matt Kundal]

Yeah, I had, by the way, I did. I do keep a running list of events and they are running across the bottom of the screen. For those who are listening, I will put the. Well, if you're listening, just go find them on YouTube. It's all crawling across the bottom.

[Johnny Podcast]

Just go, you're there.

[Matt Kundal]

Just go to podnews.net events. I ripped half of them off from there.

[David Yaz]

See you in New Zealand. Right, man.

[Matt Kundal]

That's right. I will be, by the way, at the Soundwave Summit, which is going to be this weekend in Toronto. So. And next time we get together, I'll report back on that.

[Johnny Podcast]

Canada has, it seems like Canada has a POD freaking podcasting conference every day. Uda.

[Matt Kundal]

Well, there's three of them that are listed up here. There's one in Calgary in October. There's one in Halifax. I found out that's going to be in June. Halifax is beautiful for anybody who wants to come. A beautiful city. And there's the one this weekend in Toronto at the Soundwave Summit.

[David Yaz]

Pitter patter.

[Matt Kundal]

Yep, I guess that's it for us. Let's go around and say goodbye. We will start this time in Detroit.

[Jag Podcast Productions]

John Gay, Jag Podcast Productions from lovely Berkeley, Michigan. Thanks for joining us today.

[David Yaz]

David Yaz pod617.com the Boston Podcast Network in Pod We Trust.

[Katherine O'Brien]

This was a lot of fun everybody. Thank you. My name is Kathryn o', Brien, Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

[Johnny Podcast]

Thanks for listening. Please follow the show.

[Matt Kundal]

Matt Kundal from the Soundoff Media company located Citadel, Quebec.

[Johnny Podcast]

Thanks for listening. For show notes, transcripts and the video

[Jag Podcast Productions]

version of the this episode, check out the podcast super [e-mail].

[Matt Kundal]

That's the sound that unites everyone who loves music and the stories behind it. The theme song for records and rock stars, the podcast born of the radio show. I'm Jeff woods inviting you to come listen as I shine a light on music and the rock stars who make it. Join me for records and Rockstars on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. [e-mail].

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