Episode 20: Where Should I Put My Podcast

Where and how you post your shows no longer comes with a huge dark cloud. Put away your fears and out of control wonders cuz the golden age of swapping thoughts in a box has reached a new level.
For years I’ve called podcasting the undiscovered next big fad. The only people doing it were angry individuals seeking to be heard, comedians, actors, radio wanna-be’s and millennials tired of hearing the same six songs on the radio. Since the very beginning it’s been a one on one connection to listeners demanding content.
It seemed to be the life. You were giving yourself permission to create fun, informational and affective radio. Several things have always stood in the way for radio people to participate. No money. No energy to keep up with the pace of booking, recording and posting and in reality because of company contracts some jocks were stapled to an agreement that kept them off the platform. You know, you belong to us and only us. Which I ran into a couple of years ago and I’m still not over the battle required to protect my junk.
In 2012 I became a podcast hider. I didn’t want decision makers to know what I was doing. The goal was to help create a stronger product that I could take to them so advertisers could leap all over it like a weekend party dog discovering a fresh plate of BBQ.
Why podcasting? When I first fall off radio’s right and left speaker there was no place to go. I needed to burn off a huge chunk of fat! I didn’t want to be any jock on the air. I was sick of being someone else’s entertainer only talking about station events how many songs we played an hour and the morning show.
My only creative outlet was in a production room on a mission to bring forward the almighty dollar by way of writing and producing commercials. That’s not a creative stage. It’s how others make a ton of money off your gift. The payoff was experience which means what when you’ve been wired to create and design full feature shows?
The good news is many Podcaster’s are no longer hiding. No I mean that! The big boys are in the game and they’re grasping for every idea to see if it’ll lure advertisers into the process of future success. Does that mean more radio people are spitting out episode like popcorn shells? Kinda. About three times a week I’ll run into a radio or television person and ask them where their podcast is and its always the same ole answer “Yeah I’ve been meaning to get around to that.”
Without jumping into my Superman Underroos I continue to be one of the ambassadors. I mean why not? Holy crap we can do anything we want without program directors. It’s for all people and all ages. It’s a smart move for those truly wanting to graduate beyond blogging and or hosting a liner card driven radio show.
Here’s where the story’s gonna change. You have a podcast. But where do you put it? The show is no longer the only character on the journey. There are new podcasting platforms popping up every day! Find out who they are and get your voice and performance out there! Wait wait wait. There’s some history in those words. It’s not always been this way. Five to ten years ago the platform wasn’t so easy to access. Mainly because to get a podcast up meant you had to spend money. A lot of it. Which I thought was pretty unfair because those controlling the servers to host the episodes knew nobody was making money. So what the hell? The new age took several hits because thinkers and doers would quit. There was no true payoff.
Well it’s not so much that way anymore. Things are evolving extremely fast. Almost to the point of information overload. Almost two years ago a little bit of profit sharing began reopening doors. It wasn’t much but being a radio prostitute I was happy to pick up three pennies on Monday and another penny by Friday. It fed the ego.
In the past six months a powerful boom boom pow for the podcaster has been put into play. Make the pennies without having to shell out huge bucks to be on a platform. Anchor.fm latched onto my attention right away. So much so I did a frickin endorsement commercial for them! On July 30 2019 Spreaker created an explosion of excitement by introducing Spreaker Prime. No charge. 5,000 shows a month downloads.
Now comes the biggest problem of all. Mike Rowe, Ryan Seacrest, Steve Harvey and Bobby Bones are gonna continue taking over the planet. The huge broadcasting companies play by one rule: You don’t have to have a great podcast our investment is in “your” name. Shaquil O’Neil hosts a show. Well sort of. He’s there but with four or five other guys talking sports. It doesn’t matter. The scent of his breath makes money.
So what’s the moral of the story? It’s safe to say that now’s a really good time to grow with your podcast. Start thinking about it as being a bigger connection to people. Spreaker and Anchor.fm know the way through the dry desert and although it may never turn into the full luxury of the promise land, it gets your bump in the road out there further than terrestrial radio with its twenty year habit of cutting and pasting stories to their website.
The energy you put into this little monkey of a project is how Justin Bieber became a monster of a musician. That little boy from Canada didn’t let anything get in the way of his love for music. Cold nights and sweltering days he spent countless hours playing his guitar on city sidewalks and parks. Then one day the little dude put up a video on YouTube and planet began to tilt.
Spreaker and Anchor.fm are giving you a chunk of hell that has frozen over. Who saw this coming? If you let this opportunity sit on the shore like a fish trying to get back into the water you’re gonna miss out. Yes podcasting is work. Nobody knows the true way to walk. Those of us who are talking about the journey have lived a trail of trials. We’ve not won every battle but damn if the payoff this week wasn’t Spreaker Prime. I started with Spreaker in 2012.
The glory right now is knowing your voice can be everywhere. Put it on every platform out there. I thank God for Mark Maron every day. That man along with a fist full of others stepped onto this stage several decades ago and prepared a new generation of content seeking listeners to keep searching for more. I’ll never get over the fact that some people like to call it a hobby. Maybe it’s because podcasting is fun. You can either laugh a lot or dive into subjects that truly affect those who’ve chosen to listen.
On Demand listening works.