Jack

Jack is the creator of the podcast Darknet Diaries and uses this blog to talk about podcasting.

The Quest For Real Time Podcast Stats

It is September 2023. And I finally am able to display up to date download stats for my podcast on my podcast's website. This has been a 5 year project! And I'm so mad at how hard it was to do. Time to rant about what's wrong with real time

How to Launch a Successful Podcast NFT

Summer of 2021 saw an explosion of NFTs. Many artists have earned life changing money during this time. There is no doubt that many podcasts will eventually launch NFTs. But how does a podcast launch a successful NFT project? NFTs Best Explained Some readers might think NFTs are a scam,

Wondering If Now Is a Good Time to Start a Podcast? Yes, It Is!

A lot of people feel late to the game or feel like maybe their idea has been done before. So what? I'm holding the door open for you, get in here. Here are some ways people question themselves on whether they should start or not. But Is My Idea For

The Effects of Being Featured on Apple Podcasts

I have been heavily marketing my podcast for the last 4 years. And in my opinion what has moved the needle the most in terms of downloads is being featured on Apple Podcasts. Let's talk about what that's like. On Aug 30th 2021 my podcast, Darknet Diaries, was featured on

Bake the Pie, Don't Eat It

You podcast to get pie, but what are you doing with it? Are you trying to grab your slice right away and eat it? Or are you trying to help bake it, and not just your pie, but help bake other people's pies too? That's the secret to success. The

My First 45 Days With Apple Podcasts Paid Subscriptions

Last month I set up the Apple Podcasts paid Subscription feature for my podcast. In this article we'll go over how it's been going. What I Offered I create the podcast Darknet Diaries which regularly gets over 300,000 downloads [https://darknetdiaries.com/stats/] an episode. I already have a

Different Ways To Spend Money Promoting Your Podcast

I do not think it's necessary to use money to promote your podcast. Word of mouth is absolutely king. And if you buy ads, the return of money spent doesn't ever feel satisfying enough. Especially if your show is just a hobby. That said, if you're absolutely adamant about spending

Megaphone Is Now On Multiple Blocklists For Tracking Podcast Listeners

Megaphone is a podcast hosting provider. All podcast hosting providers collect listener stats, but that's only seen by the hosting provider and the podcaster themselves. Stats are fine, but Megaphone collects listener data in order to serve targeted ads to listeners. Not only that, they are sharing this data with

Podcast Marketing Tips for Sports Podcasts, or Marketing Tactics We Can Learn From Sports Podcasts

I don't make a sports podcast, but I've got a marketing plan for anyone who does. Top Sports Podcasts Here, come here, let me show you something. This is a table of the top sports podcasts and their Twitter followers and number of Tweets they've posted. TitleFollowersTweetsThe Bill Simmons Podcast

Spotify, Please Stop Buying Podcasts

Spotify, every time you buy the exclusive distribution rights to a podcast and make it available only on Spotify, the world hates you a little more. Please stop it. Interoperability I recently learned about three types of interoperability from an article written by Cory Doctorow. [https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/

Podcast Marketing Strategies That Work

This was a presentation I prepared for Podcast Movement [https://podcastmovement.com/]. In this video I walk you through many of the podcast growth and marketing strategies that I used to grow my podcast from 0 to over 350,000 downloads per episode. It's a lot of hard work and

How To Get Your Per Episode Artwork To Show Up Properly

Some shows have unique artwork for each episode. This post will explain how you can get it to show up properly in podcast players. What it looks like Some players have the ability to show the per episode artwork in the player. Here is what Castbox looks like: Player Behavior

4 Methods for Finding Sponsors for Your Podcast

So your podcast is taking off and you're ready to start adding in ads for your show. Excellent, here are some options of what you can do. First you should know the typical industry rates. Currently things are around $10-$40 CPM. That is for every 1,000 downloads each

If You Want Your Podcast to Go Viral, Know This

A lot of podcasters start a podcast, put it out in the world and hope it catches on, goes viral and spreads by itself. It pretty much never works like that, but I'd like to tell you how it can go viral. The most important part about going viral There

My Stats: Apple Podcasts vs Spotify

This post aims to answer a simple question. Do I have more podcast listeners on Apple Podcasts or Spotify? Industry Experts A lot of articles have come out recently trying to answer this question in whole across the larger podcast ecosphere. Why? Because Apple has been the dominant player since

Critical Mass in Podcasting

When I started out in podcasting I was obsessed with answering this one question. How big does your audience need to be, before it starts to grow all by itself? At some point it has to hit a critical mass, a tipping point, which once you get to, growth is

How to Self-Host Your Podcast

So you want to start a podcast, but you're tech savvy and want to host it yourself? Here's a little guide to help you get it going. Podcast Hosting Providers First let's understand what a podcast hosting provider does. Sites like Libsyn, Anchor, Blubrry, Megaphone, etc will allow you to

How Much Money do Podcasters Make?

This is a common question a lot of people wonder about. And while a lot of this is a big mystery there are some indicators that give us clues as to how much people are making. So let's get into and find out. 99% of all podcasts aren't profitable Let's

15 Podcasters To Be Inspired By

A lot of people start podcasting because they want to make a show like Joe Rogan. But that's a terrible role model, because he was a comedian and celebrity for over a decade before he started podcasting, and on top of that he's been podcasting for 10 years too. So

A Quick Look at Venture Capital, Funding, and Acquisitions in Podcast-land

Podcasting has been around for over a decade. But in the last few years, there has been a big uptick in podcast popularity. And one thing that follows a trend, money. Let's take a look at some of the big money spent on podcasts and podcast apps. Sources: Crunchbase [https:

3 Options For Selling Podcast T-Shirts

So you want to offer some merch for your podcast listeners. T-Shirts seem like a good place to start. But what's the best way to get the shirts made and sell them? There's actually 3 main options you have to choose before deciding on the best method. Full ServiceHybridSelf ServiceLow

14 Reasons Why Your Podcast Needs a Website

If you're a Twitch streamer do you need a website? No. If you're a YouTuber do you need a website? No. But that's because that's the only place you can consume that content. A podcast is consumed on dozens of apps, and isn't in any central location. So having a

Visualizing Crowd Sizes

If you're going to talk in front of an audience it's fun to visualize how big that audience size looks. Like what does it actually look like when there are 150 people in a room? Here are some images of crowd sizes. 50 people 50 people will fill up a

Analysis of top earning podcasts on Patreon

I was curious if any of the top Patreon podcast accounts have commonalities of any kind, so using Graphtreon [https://graphtreon.com] I charted out the top 15 and found some common threads. Name# EpsPatrons/ Per MonthCastbox [https://castbox.fm/home?country=us] Subs/ PlayedPlays per subTwitter Fols/ TweetsPerksChapo Trap

What is a Podcast Network?

Simply put a podcast network is a group of podcasts that all are under the same label, such as Gimlet, Wondery, and Radiotopia. But why should someone join a podcast network? What benefits does it bring? We'll cover all those topics and more. What's the Benefit of Joining a Podcast