TRANSKRIP 🔗
Sam Sethi
00:00:14
How can I get the stuff around the audio to help me get discovered by other people?
Sam Sethi
00:00:20
And that's what Podcasting 2.0 does.
Sam Sethi
00:00:22
It provides those extra features that allow you to get discovered by keywords, titles, person tags.
Sam Sethi
00:00:31
All those things are really important for discovery.
Sam Sethi
00:00:34
I get comments and I get that interactivity that gives me that affirmation that somebody out there is actually heard what I said, but not only just heard it, but has taken the time, energy, and effort to come back to me with some positively, hopefully, opinion.
Sam Sethi
00:00:51
And now you as a user can actually give real value back to the podcast that you're listening to.
Sam Sethi
00:00:58
If you want to listen to this show, learn about podcasting 2.0 and you will understand very clearly how this all works, but also more clearly how you can support your favorite podcaster.
Claire
00:01:15
Welcome Back to podcasting 2.0.
Claire
00:01:18
In practice, before we get into the features or tags of podcasting 2.0, basically the things that you can do, I want to focus on why you might want them, how they can help you without going into the details of what they are yet.
Claire
00:01:36
I'm here with Sam Sethi.
Claire
00:01:37
Hi, Sam, how are you?
Sam Sethi
00:01:38
Hey, Claire.
Sam Sethi
00:01:39
Hello.
Sam Sethi
00:01:40
I'm very well, thank you.
Sam Sethi
00:01:41
Yes.
Claire
00:01:42
Good.
Claire
00:01:42
Sam has been helping me a lot in devising this show.
Claire
00:01:47
Before we get into what we're going to talk about today, start by telling me about yourself and your podcasting credentials.
Sam Sethi
00:01:55
Oh, well, I've been in the podcasting industry probably now half a decade or more.
Sam Sethi
00:02:01
Not quite a full decade yet.
Sam Sethi
00:02:03
I started off in radio and then moved into podcasting.
Sam Sethi
00:02:08
And podcasting was really because I wanted to interview some really interesting people outside of my radio sphere because that's very geographic.
Sam Sethi
00:02:17
And when I started getting to podcasting, I had the same problems that everyone had.
Sam Sethi
00:02:21
What mic do I get?
Sam Sethi
00:02:23
How long should the show be?
Sam Sethi
00:02:24
What title?
Sam Sethi
00:02:25
Who's my host?
Sam Sethi
00:02:26
How do I edit this thing?
Sam Sethi
00:02:28
Right.
Sam Sethi
00:02:29
All the same questions that we all have as beginners when we start podcasting.
Sam Sethi
00:02:34
But slowly and steadily, I got my learning curve up.
Sam Sethi
00:02:37
And it is easy once you just dive into it.
Sam Sethi
00:02:40
As I say, go ugly early.
Sam Sethi
00:02:41
Get in, just do it right now.
Sam Sethi
00:02:44
Once I'd got going, Covid hit and I thought I'd really like to do an online podcast festival.
Sam Sethi
00:02:51
And never having done an online podcast festival, I thought, that'll be great.
Sam Sethi
00:02:56
And instead of inviting a few people that I knew that would be nice and safe and easy to do, no, I went and invited Kara Swisher and James Cridland and George the poet and Dan Snow, and I didn't expect any one of them to say, yes, I'll do that.
Sam Sethi
00:03:11
And everyone said, love to Sam.
Sam Sethi
00:03:13
And I went, oh my God, I've now what have I created?
Sam Sethi
00:03:17
So the podcast festival was born.
Sam Sethi
00:03:19
And from that festival I fundamentally learned a lot more about how you could do live podcasting and how podcasting works.
Sam Sethi
00:03:27
And we had an audience and it was great and it was good.
Sam Sethi
00:03:29
And we did two of those.
Sam Sethi
00:03:31
And on the back of that, I pinged James Cridland back and I said, james, hey, I know you do a three minute daily how about a half hour podcast with me and you.
Sam Sethi
00:03:39
And I again, didn't expect him to say yes, but he did.
Sam Sethi
00:03:42
And so what was born was Pod News Weekly.
Sam Sethi
00:03:46
And James and I have been working for probably the last three years doing a weekly show about all things podcasting and podcasting 2.0.
Claire
00:03:56
Brilliant.
Claire
00:03:56
Yeah.
Claire
00:03:57
And it's one of the shows that introduced me to the phrase podcasting 2.0 and had me like thinking, I'll do a little bit more exploration of that.
Claire
00:04:07
So it's interesting that you started knowing nothing, as I did myself, and I had a good content idea and just wanted to get it out there.
Claire
00:04:16
And you and I have spoken in the past about the kind of problems that any podcaster starting out experiences, and we've also talked about the features of podcasting 2.0 that might help those.
Claire
00:04:33
But for now, what do you conceive those main problems for podcasters to be?
Sam Sethi
00:04:40
Well, apart from the ones I said earlier, which is what, Mike?
Sam Sethi
00:04:43
What editing tool?
Sam Sethi
00:04:44
And those are things that you learn quickly.
Sam Sethi
00:04:47
But once you've got your podcast edited and recorded and published, you then go, well, how does anyone find my podcast?
Sam Sethi
00:04:55
Big problem, right?
Sam Sethi
00:04:56
There's 4 million podcasts in the index.
Sam Sethi
00:04:58
Pick or choose a couple of hundred thousand, depending on whether you're Apple, Spotify or Podcast Index.
Sam Sethi
00:05:04
So you're just one of many.
Claire
00:05:07
Hi listeners, it's future Claire here.
Claire
00:05:10
Sam mentioned the Podcast Index.
Claire
00:05:13
Now, this is an open database of podcasts that was established in 2020 with the purpose of preserving, protecting and extending the open, independent podcasting ecosystem.
Claire
00:05:26
If you're a podcaster, your distribution host will probably have given you the option to distribute your show to the Podcast Index.
Claire
00:05:33
And there are other podcast apps that use the Podcast Index to find their content.
Claire
00:05:39
We will
Load full transcript
be talking about this in more detail in a future episode.
Claire
00:05:44
So you can either retain that information, park it, or just forget about it altogether until further along in the course.
Claire
00:05:52
Back to Sam.
Sam Sethi
00:05:54
Well, of course you're going to tell every one of your friends, you're going to tell anyone else you can get in your social media link and you're going to hope that they listen to it and spread the word.
Sam Sethi
00:06:03
Word of mouth is still one of the most effective methods of getting your podcast discovered.
Sam Sethi
00:06:09
But if that's the only way of discovery and you don't have a multimillion pound marketing budget, then you're probably only going to end up with half a dozen people listening to your podcast.
Sam Sethi
00:06:19
And the big problem is people get what I call the Joe Rogan effect.
Sam Sethi
00:06:23
Oh, my God, I'm going to start my podcast and everyone's going to listen and a million people are going to be listening to me, and then I'm going to get advertisers, and then I'm going to make millions of money and retire to my beach.
Sam Sethi
00:06:33
And sadly, that is not the way it works.
Sam Sethi
00:06:36
So for the majority of us, you know, we do get half a dozen friends.
Sam Sethi
00:06:40
I say to people, if I stuck you in a room with 12 people or 20 people just listening to you, you'd be very happy on a weekly basis.
Sam Sethi
00:06:48
So don't dismiss the numbers that you as, oh, there's only a couple of people listening.
Sam Sethi
00:06:54
Well, they're interested, and if they're repeat listening, they really are interested.
Sam Sethi
00:06:58
So that's good.
Sam Sethi
00:07:00
That's the step one.
Sam Sethi
00:07:01
You are not going to be Joe Rogan, so don't try.
Sam Sethi
00:07:06
But step two, Discovery is about how can I, for want of a better word, podcast SEO?
Sam Sethi
00:07:13
How can I get my titles right?
Sam Sethi
00:07:15
How can I get the things that go into describing my podcast?
Sam Sethi
00:07:20
The show notes, the descriptions, maybe as we talk about later, in the future, things about chapters and transcripts, but how can I get the stuff around the audio to help me get discovered by other people?
Sam Sethi
00:07:32
So that's step one, and that's what podcasting 2.0 does.
Sam Sethi
00:07:36
It provides those extra features which we call tags, that allow you to get discovered by keywords, titles, person tags, who's the host, who's the guest.
Sam Sethi
00:07:48
So all those things are really important for Discovery.
Claire
00:07:51
Yes, discovery.
Claire
00:07:53
Of course it is.
Claire
00:07:54
Half of the work is actually making the show, and the rest of the half of the work is trying to find people who want to listen to the show and tell people, look, my show is brilliant.
Claire
00:08:03
Come and listen to it.
Claire
00:08:06
Another thing we've talked about is, and I have heard this from other podcasters that I know is the interactivity.
Claire
00:08:15
Like, it's difficult to actually get a relationship with your listener.
Claire
00:08:19
Now, hopefully the listener has a relationship with you as the Host.
Claire
00:08:22
But as the host, how do you know who it is that's listening and what they like and don't like about the show?
Claire
00:08:29
Can that be helped along the way with any of the podcasting 2.0 features?
Sam Sethi
00:08:34
We've all listened to radio, and as I said, I started off in radio, and one of the things with radio was you're talking into the abyss.
Sam Sethi
00:08:41
You're in a studio with a mic and you're just broadcasting out, and you have no idea who listens.
Sam Sethi
00:08:47
And then one day, suddenly, someone phones into your show or they write in just as excited as the person is.
Sam Sethi
00:08:55
Did they just mention me on the radio?
Sam Sethi
00:08:57
Oh, my God, that's brilliant.
Sam Sethi
00:08:58
The host, actually, I promise you, gets just as excited when they hear that someone's actually listening to their radio show.
Sam Sethi
00:09:05
And that is the same feeling that podcasters have.
Sam Sethi
00:09:07
We go into whatever room that we have our podcast set up and we record and we go.
Sam Sethi
00:09:13
I don't know if anyone's listening to this, but here we go.
Sam Sethi
00:09:15
And then suddenly, now you're beginning to get feedback loops, which means that I get comments or I get.
Sam Sethi
00:09:24
Which we will learn later are called boosts, but I get comments and I get that interactivity that gives me that affirmation that somebody out there has actually heard what I said, but not only just heard it, but has taken the time, energy, and effort to come back to me with some positively, hopefully, opinion.
Sam Sethi
00:09:42
Now, we all have the Apple and Spotify ratings and reviews.
Sam Sethi
00:09:46
They're great as well.
Sam Sethi
00:09:47
That's another form of interactivity.
Sam Sethi
00:09:49
But comments is a great way to also give that feedback loop to you as a host.
Sam Sethi
00:09:56
And again, that's part of podcasting 2.0.
Claire
00:09:59
Yeah, brilliant.
Claire
00:10:00
And the other thing, and I'm not going to go into a great detail of this, but monetization is something that you've already mentioned.
Claire
00:10:09
Don't expect to retire to the seaside.
Claire
00:10:11
A challenge, or perhaps something that people expect to achieve when they start a show through things like, I'm assuming, sponsorships and adverts and stuff, which is all very valid.
Claire
00:10:25
But I believe that there are some elements of podcasting 2.0 that can give you a different aspect of a kind of monetization model.
Sam Sethi
00:10:35
Yeah, let's.
Sam Sethi
00:10:36
Let's break this down.
Sam Sethi
00:10:38
So monetization in today's podcasting, as you said, Claire, is sponsor driven.
Sam Sethi
00:10:45
Host read.
Sam Sethi
00:10:46
Advertising driven.
Sam Sethi
00:10:47
Right.
Sam Sethi
00:10:47
And if you.
Sam Sethi
00:10:48
If you are lucky enough to get a sponsor, well done, you.
Sam Sethi
00:10:52
Right.
Sam Sethi
00:10:52
Congratulations.
Sam Sethi
00:10:53
Because that's still hard to do.
Sam Sethi
00:10:56
Host red ads are effective because they are based On a trust model, the listener trusts the host.
Sam Sethi
00:11:03
That's generally why they're listening to their podcast.
Sam Sethi
00:11:06
So the host then reading out an advert, hopefully, is not just endorsing something that they, you know, just do for money.
Sam Sethi
00:11:13
But there is some authenticity to reading out that ad.
Sam Sethi
00:11:17
Now, given all of that, again, the chances of you getting a host read ad given to you is very low as well, because most people want big numbers.
Sam Sethi
00:11:26
They want thousands of people listening to your podcast.
Sam Sethi
00:11:28
And that's the trouble with most podcasting monetization.
Sam Sethi
00:11:33
Now, it's a numbers game.
Sam Sethi
00:11:34
And unless you've got thousands or tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands, even most advertisers aren't coming to you either.
Sam Sethi
00:11:43
How do you make Money?
Sam Sethi
00:11:44
So podcasting 2.0 has come up with pay what you want or pay as you go.
Sam Sethi
00:11:49
And that model really is for fans, let's say, to begin with, now, today, and maybe in the future it'll change.
Sam Sethi
00:11:57
But today it's really for your hardcore fans who, who want to support you to stop you pod fading.
Sam Sethi
00:12:03
You've done episode five, you're excited still, episode 10's come out and now you're going, I wonder if anyone's listening.
Sam Sethi
00:12:11
I wonder if this is worth me spending an hour a day recording or whatever time, and then an hour editing, and you're suddenly going, I give up, I just give up.
Sam Sethi
00:12:20
And actually, you have got an audience, but they haven't got a way to give you any monetization.
Sam Sethi
00:12:26
Now, if we step back very quickly.
Sam Sethi
00:12:29
When I first started in technology, I worked for a company called Microsoft and then Netscape.
Sam Sethi
00:12:34
But at Netscape, the original browser company, we didn't create a monetization for the web.
Sam Sethi
00:12:41
So you have PayPal, you have credit cards, but there was no web system for making money.
Sam Sethi
00:12:49
And so in the absence of that, Facebook, Twitter, and the Web 2.0, companies created hearts likes, thumbs up, which are great.
Sam Sethi
00:12:58
They're an affirmation of feedback from your listener.
Sam Sethi
00:13:03
In the case, it was more blogs and posts.
Sam Sethi
00:13:05
But again, the same idea is there.
Sam Sethi
00:13:09
I really like what Claire wrote.
Sam Sethi
00:13:11
I really love what Sam said there.
Sam Sethi
00:13:13
Thumbs up.
Sam Sethi
00:13:15
Well, that's lovely, but take that to the bank and see what your bank manager says.
Sam Sethi
00:13:18
Right?
Sam Sethi
00:13:19
I've got a million thumbs up.
Sam Sethi
00:13:20
Well, visit the door fast.
Sam Sethi
00:13:23
So the reality was, if you then wanted to get a credit card out and pay 50p or a pound or some micro payment, the credit card company or the PayPal Gateway company would take 30% or some percentage.
Sam Sethi
00:13:42
So suddenly that 50p is 20p.
Sam Sethi
00:13:44
That 20p is 10p.
Sam Sethi
00:13:45
It's just a waste of time.
Sam Sethi
00:13:46
Let's not bother.
Sam Sethi
00:13:48
So fast forward to today and the podcasting 2.0 community have come up with a mechanism for you to get a wallet, get some funny money tokens, and we'll talk about them probably in later episodes.
Sam Sethi
00:14:01
They call SATs.
Sam Sethi
00:14:02
But Claire, you can explain them later.
Sam Sethi
00:14:05
And I can make micro payments so I can leave a comment with a small micro payment so I can leave a comment saying, claire, love your podcast.
Sam Sethi
00:14:15
Here's Tempe.
Sam Sethi
00:14:16
Claire, loved what you did there.
Sam Sethi
00:14:19
Here's another Tempe.
Sam Sethi
00:14:20
Or I'm going to listen to your podcast and stream payments to you as I listen.
Sam Sethi
00:14:25
So pay as you listen and I'm going to pay you.
Sam Sethi
00:14:28
I don't know, the equivalent of a penny a minute.
Sam Sethi
00:14:31
Right.
Sam Sethi
00:14:32
And that micro payment capability is what podcasting 2.0 has done.
Sam Sethi
00:14:38
And now you as a user can actually give real value back to the podcast that you're listening to if you want to.
Sam Sethi
00:14:46
It's not a.
Sam Sethi
00:14:47
I have to do this to listen.
Sam Sethi
00:14:49
Now.
Sam Sethi
00:14:50
There's a lot of hurdles in there.
Sam Sethi
00:14:52
Terminology is the biggest, biggest hurdle.
Sam Sethi
00:14:55
I talked about Netscape.
Sam Sethi
00:14:57
Now cast your mind back to when you first came to the web.
Sam Sethi
00:15:00
You had to learn what an HTTP was.
Sam Sethi
00:15:03
You had to learn what a URL was.
Sam Sethi
00:15:05
Why did it start www.
Sam Sethi
00:15:07
What is a browser?
Sam Sethi
00:15:08
Right.
Sam Sethi
00:15:09
All of those things were terminology that you overcame.
Sam Sethi
00:15:14
And once you overcame those hurdles, the web's pretty basic to everybody now.
Sam Sethi
00:15:20
Then fast forward to today and when I tell you it's called a wallet and they're micro payments called sats, and you do peer to peer payments.
Sam Sethi
00:15:29
You're looking at me.
Sam Sethi
00:15:30
What are you talking about?
Sam Sethi
00:15:32
But I promise, you listen to this show, learn about Podcasting 2.0, and you will understand very clearly how this all works, but also more clearly how you can support your favorite podcaster.
Claire
00:15:47
Well, that's the perfect ending sound bite.
Claire
00:15:49
Support your favorite podcaster.
Claire
00:15:51
I have planned this course for that very reason, like I'm partly learning it.
Claire
00:15:58
I have been in the position of knowing nothing about it.
Claire
00:16:01
So we are going to take those elements, those things that we've talked about there, and we're going to explain things, things very slowly.
Claire
00:16:08
So we're going to back up what we've talked about here.
Claire
00:16:10
I'm going to relate that to what we talk about in the future.
Claire
00:16:13
So listener, you're going to understand it and we're going to take it really slowly and step by step.
Claire
00:16:19
Thank you so much, Sam, for explaining that and giving us a really good introduction as to why podcasters and listeners should continue listening to this show and be aware of what this modern technology can do.
Claire
00:16:33
So thank you so much, Sam.
Sam Sethi
00:16:35
Pleasure, Claire.
Sam Sethi
00:16:36
I look forward to the rest of the episodes.
Claire
00:16:38
Thank you.
Claire
00:16:40
Visit creativityfound.co.uk podcasting to find out more about my guests and access lots of useful podcast resources.
Claire
00:16:50
If you'd like to get in touch, you can send a boost, but if you haven't got to that lesson yet, feel free to reach out to me on my Instagram accountcasting 2.0.
Claire
00:17:00
In practice.