Here are the most interesting news articles and tutorials for the forth week of January, 2020.

Thanks to Kato, Alexander, and Norman for supporting the show.

1

Apple is Working on Original Podcasts

From Sarah Perez on TechCrunch.com:

In an interview with Forbes, an executive producer of the Apple TV+ anthology series “Little America,” Lee Eisenberg, talks about the benefits of working with Apple — noting, by the way, that the show will have a podcast as well as a playlist featuring music from the series.

Neither of these has yet to launch, but are in line with what Bloomberg claimed Apple has been planning.

The audio programs — basically Apple’s own original podcasts — would help to market some of Apple TV+’s more high-profile shows. “Little America” was mentioned in Bloomberg’s report as one possibility, given the rave reviews it received from critics. Golden Globe nominee “The Morning Show,” which also won Jennifer Aniston a best actress award at the Screen Actor Guild Awards, was another.

Why this matters: It seems that Apple is getting into podcast production. I expect this will convince more than a few companies and brands to start their own shows.

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2

5 Things I Learned Last Year to Survive as a Podcaster in 2020

From Amanda McLoughlin on the Multitude blog:

Here’s where podcasting was on Jan 1, 2019: Gimlet was still an independent company, Spotify just gave us access to listener data, and Podcon2 was right around the corner. It is truly a different world out there, as if the Podcast Hunger Games started sometime in April 2019. Now, legacy media and tech companies are making more acquisitions and VC funds are knocking on podcasters’ doors more than ever.

Three years ago I published a blog post with some of the lessons I learned in my first year-and-a-half of podcasting. My co-hosts and I had learned a thing or two about how to make and grow podcasts and wanted to share with others starting out.

Now, as I enter my second year of podcasting full-time, learning new ways to grow and thrive in this industry is no longer a nice-to-have benefit but a matter of survival. That doesn’t mean you should treat other podcasts or podcast companies as competition. The more demand there is for strong podcasts, skilled professionals, and profitable companies, the better all of us will fare.

So I’m opening Multitude’s playbook to share what we’re doing to keep our business afloat in 2020. I hope these 5 tips help you keep your podcast alive and thriving this year and beyond.

Why this matters: Podcasting is leveling up, and podcast producers will need to level up too. Amanda shares her experience and great advice in this article.

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3

Building Your Podcasting Dream Team: Podcast Editor

Last week I shared an article from the Simplecast blog about how to find a social media manager for your show. This week, Simplecast followed it up with an interview with yours truly about how to find a podcast editor.

When we asked the Simplecast community what their 2020 resolutions were, we heard one response over and over again: Outsource the work they don’t like! We decided to write a few guides to show you exactly how to do that.

We’ve already talked about hiring a social media manager – today we talked with Aaron Dowd about finding a podcast editor. Aaron is the Customer Success Lead at Simplecast, runs the Podcast News, and has done more than his fair share of freelance podcast editing.

Oh hey, that's me!

Why this matters: A great podcast editor will make you sound good in more ways than one, and they can also save you quite a bit of time. If you find yourself enjoying podcasting except for the editing and mixing stage, you'll love having an editor for your show. In this article, I shared what I've learned about being a podcast editor, and what you need to know if you're interested in hiring an editor for your show.

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4

Mic Technique for Podcasters | How to Sound Your Best

From Matthew Boudreau on thepodcasthost.com blog:

Mic technique is a much overlooked part of podcasting. It's easy to assume that if you just buy a good microphone or decent equipment, then your show will automatically sound great.

But it's like anything else. Buying a fancy car won't necessarily make you a great driver. And if you spend half a years wages on a top-of-the-range guitar, that doesn't mean you'll be playing it like Hendrix.

Fortunately for us, learning good mic technique isn't half as complicated as learning to drive, or playing a musical instrument. A lot of it comes down to simple best practices.

And that's precisely the aim of this guide to mic technique for podcasters. Here, we'll run through some tips and tactics for getting the best possible sound for your content.

Why this matters: If you want to really sound good on a podcast, mic technique is an important skill that you'll want to master. The good news is that it doesn't really take that long to get good at once you understand the basic concepts.

One of my top rules for podcasting is that you should always try to get the raw audio recording to sound as good as possible, and good mic technique is a crucial step in getting a recording that sounds good.

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5

content.com/how-long-should-my-podcast-episode-titles-be-95136ffff82b">How Long Should My Podcast Episode Titles Be?

From Dan Misener on Pacific Content's blog:

When you write an episode title, it’s important to keep two different audiences in mind: humans and robots.

Humans will see your episode titles in podcast listening apps, and it’s important to understand the role length plays in how those titles appear. The longer your episode title, the greater the chance it’ll be cut short visually.

This means it’s important to front-load the most important human-readable words and phrases at the beginning of your episode titles.

But don’t forget about the robots. Good podcast SEO involves writing for machines, too. Include relevant keywords and guest names so your audience can find them through in-app search and on the web. But of course, don’t stuff keywords.

At Pacific Content, we recommend episode titles that look, feel, and act like headlines.

Why this matters: With more and more shows launching each week, one of the ways to stand out and be discovered is by writing excellent episode titles. This article has a bunch of great tips and do's and don'ts related to episode titles.

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6

SEO for Podcasts: How To Get Your Podcast Discovered!

There’s a lot of talk in various online podcasting groups about the best ways to get people to listen to your podcast. Other than making sure you have quality content and marketing, it needs to be discoverable. That’s where search engine optimization (SEO) comes in.

Here are a few things you can do to help get your podcast discovered.

Why this matters: You'd like more listeners for your show, right? Then read this article and implement the instructions in it.

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Closing Thoughts

Just got back from Los Angeles: That city really is something else.

Next week's episode will be text only as I'm flying to New York this weekend to spend time with friends. I'll prerecord a short message for the podcast though. No office hours either, since I'll be in the air at 9am on Saturday morning.

Have a great week, and happy podcasting!

Aaron Dowd

If you enjoyed this episode, please take a moment to leave a rating and review in Apple Podcasts, or share the episode with a friend. Thank you! 💙

This show was produced by me, Aaron Dowd.Music and SM7B illustration by Sean McCabe.Hosting and technology by Simplecast.