June 16, 2026

538. Why Most Podcasts Never Grow (and What Actually Works)

Growing a podcast is harder than most people expect, and there are real reasons why most podcasts never grow. Podcast Hall of Famer Arielle Nissenblatt joins the morning show cast and crew to break down what actually works, from audience development and podcast discovery to newsletter marketing and building genuine connections with listeners. If your download numbers have felt stuck, her perspective might shift how you're thinking about it. Growth rarely comes from one big break or a single clever tactic. It comes from small improvements over time, smarter positioning, and testing things until you find what actually resonates with the audience you're trying to reach.

Episode Highlights:

[09:15] Meet Arielle Nissenblatt

[15:59] The Origins of the EarBuds Newsletter

[21:04] How to Get Press Passes for Events

[28:50] How to Get Featured in EarBuds

[39:19] Audience Growth Myths

[42:49] Consistency vs. Quality

[47:22] How to Audit Your Show

[51:48] Low-Hanging Optimization Opportunities

[53:40] Collaborations and Pre-Pitching Strategies

[56:23] Paid Media Options for Growth

[01:00:18] Objective Feedback and Podcast Audits

[01:05:45] Why Podcasting Is Thriving

Links & Resources:

Connect with Arielle Nissenblatt:

https://www.ariellenissenblatt.com/

Jason Cercone's Podcast:

https://www.bombtrackmedia.com/simplified

Feature Your Podcast on the Podcasting Morning Show:

https://PodcastingMorningShow.com/spotlight

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Join The Empowered Podcasting Facebook Group:

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Book A Free Call With Marc:

https://calendly.com/ironickmedia/freestrategycall

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00:00:05,640 --> 00:00:08,096
Marc Ronick: Good morning,

podcasters.

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00:00:08,096 --> 00:00:14,308
Today is Tuesday, june 16, 2026
and today podcast
audience

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00:00:14,308 --> 00:00:18,000
growth, community building, and
content that
converse with

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00:00:18,000 --> 00:00:21,892
podcast Hall of Famer Arielle
Nessenblatt,
sharing the

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strategies creators can use to
attract listeners and
keep

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00:00:25,335 --> 00:00:28,185
them coming back.
It's been a while, so if you're

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00:00:28,185 --> 00:00:30,660
listening
live on Clubhouse,
hit the share button, top right

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00:00:30,660 --> 00:00:33,573
hand side of
the screen, and
share it however Clubhouse lets

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00:00:33,573 --> 00:00:35,152
you.
And if
you're catching this

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00:00:35,152 --> 00:00:37,735
via podcast, YouTube, etc.
please
share this with a

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00:00:37,735 --> 00:00:40,719
fellow podcaster.
And now, give us
about 30

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seconds and we'll get things
rolling.

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00:00:44,679 --> 00:00:54,060
Thanks for being
here.
The podcasting morning chat is

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00:00:54,060 --> 00:00:57,225
powered by Ironick
Media,
helping podcasters launch,

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00:00:57,225 --> 00:01:01,410
polish, and grow great
shows,
and by Content Creators

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00:01:01,410 --> 00:01:04,560
Accountant, helping creators

build real business behind their

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00:01:04,560 --> 00:01:16,383
content.
Good morning again,
podcasting

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morning show.
Thank you so much for being

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here.
I am
your host, Mark Ronick,

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and currently on stage with me,
we've got a whole mess of

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people here.
We have DR. Fay, Sid
Meadows,

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Ralph Eastep, we have Phil
Better, BC Babbles, and I


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think that's all of the usual
cast and crew, I'm looking in


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multiple places here, so please
forgive me if.. oh, and Jason


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Circon, of course, is here.
Sorry, Jason, I was looking at


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the clubhouse screen and not at
the Riverside screen.

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Good to
have you here, Jason.
Also, Jason: thanks, Mark.

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Marc Ronick: Sorry, Jason.
We
also have, of course, our

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guest, Arielle Nissenblatt, here
as
well.

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Good morning to you, Arielle.
We will give you an
official

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welcome here in just a moment.
First, I do have to say
thank

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you, especially to Ralph Estep
for holding down the fort


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while I was away last week,
volunteering at Camp Footprint,

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a camp that is hosted by the
CMTA Charcot Marie Tooth


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Association.
It's a camp for kids with the

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disease CMT, and,
man, what a
week.

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And I will not share all the
details today,
because, like

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I've said multiple times now, we
have a guest
today, so I'm not

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gonna take the spotlight away,
but I will just
tell you, I

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had a fantastic time.
It is one of the most.. it


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probably is the most rewarding
thing that I do all year long to

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see these kids be able to be
kids for a week without


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thinking, having to think about
who's looking at them, you know,

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who's making fun of them, etc.
They're all there together in it

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together, and it is one of the
most authentic experiences I


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think I've ever been a part of.
So, I will share more with you,

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maybe tomorrow, before we dive
into the news.

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But first, let's
dive into
this show today, and Ralph, why

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don't you go ahead
and
introduce officially our guest,

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Arielle.
Absolutely, good morning


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everybody.
You know, Arielle Nissenblatt is

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a content
strategist, she's a
community builder, and an event

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facilitator based in Brooklyn,
New York.

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She founded Ear Buds
Podcast,
collected one of the

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podcasting's longest running

recommendation newsletters, and

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well, it depends.
Now, that's an
event and

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education company for podcasters
and digital creators.


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Arielle hosts Trailer Park, the
podcast trailer podcast, and


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daily tips that may or not, may
or may not help you.

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She serves
on the board of
governors of the Podcast

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Academy, and here's the
best
part: she was inducted into the

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Podcast Hall of Fame in 2026

She's also a licensed New York

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City tour guide and founder of

Mystery Tours.

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Through speaking, writing,
consulting, and events,


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Arielle helps creators and media
organizations grow audiences and

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build stronger communities.
So, Arielle, let me be the first

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to
welcome you officially to
the show.

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And thank you so much for

joining us.

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Arielle Nissenblatt: Thank you

so much for having me.

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I'm honored to be here.
Happy
morning.

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This is so nice, a morning show.
And also, I just
wanted to say

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that I really appreciate all
reading in my
entire bio.

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That was lovely.
It reminded me of a few things

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that
I have to do, Marc
Ronick: as in maybe update
a

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few things, Arielle Nissenblatt:
or like
host a tour, because

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it's been a while.
Marc Ronick: m Oh, okay, yeah,


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I'm really curious about that,
but I know, Ralph, you had a,


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you wanted to kick us off with
the first question.

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Ralph Estep Jr.: I did, Arielle,

and the first question I have

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for you is, I mentioned you were

recently inducted into the

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Podcast Hall of Fame.
What was
the reaction when you

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got the news to that?
Arielle Nissenblatt: Oh, thank


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you for asking.
Because mixed, mixed reaction.

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Number one, I
felt like, Who
am I to be receiving this award?

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Another
was imposter syndrome,
which I guess is related.

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Another is I'm
too young, this
is a curse.

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What am I going to do with the
rest
of my life?

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What do I have to look up to?
And then another one
was,

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okay, hell yeah, I have done a
lot of cool stuff, and
it's

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nice to, you know, be recognized
by your peers, and
then also

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by the people who are not in the
podcast space,
friends,

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00:05:30,331 --> 00:05:33,005
family, LinkedIn connections
that are not
podcasters.

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I kept thinking maybe they'll
finally understand
that

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podcasts have made it because
I've made Marc Ronick: it, at

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00:05:39,440 --> 00:05:42,510
least maybe
they'll take it a
little more seriously.

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Ralph Estep Jr.: Yeah, and I

love your reaction when I asked

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if you join us on this show.

You're like, 'Hell yeah!

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And I was like, 'That's awesome.
I
love the energy.

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Arielle Nissenblatt: Yeah,

that's who I am.

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Except I will, like, let me just
be
transparent.

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00:05:53,181 --> 00:05:55,676
This microphone is not plugged
in, Marc Ronick: you know?

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I was
going to tell you that,
Arielle Nissenblatt: not


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working.
Marc Ronick: I was going to tell

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00:05:59,913 --> 00:06:01,555

you that.
Yes, and it's okay, we can hear

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00:06:01,555 --> 00:06:03,755
you pretty clearly, so
don't
worry about it.

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No big deal.
Arielle Nissenblatt: It's just I

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think it's because I plugged
it in afterwards, because my I

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have
limited USB-C ports over
here.

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This is a problem in podcasting.



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Yes, okay, Marc Ronick: yes, it
is.

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I Arielle Nissenblatt: need to
be
charging, I need to be

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00:06:18,329 --> 00:06:20,184
charging.
Marc Ronick: Yeah, and even when

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you get one of those, either
those dongles or those USB hubs,

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00:06:24,360 --> 00:06:26,808

sometimes that doesn't work
well either.

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So, yeah, that is
absolutely a
challenge.

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I was Arielle Nissenblatt: gonna
say I
feel like it's me

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00:06:31,470 --> 00:06:34,303
troubleshooting my tech, but let

me make it into a broader

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00:06:34,303 --> 00:06:37,071
issue for the people who are
here
watching, listening.

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It is a problem.
It's a problem.

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It is.

We need better USB-C ports.

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Marc Ronick: I agree.
DR: Well, for me it's always a


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challenge to see how long I
could stay on Riverside before


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my video goes blank.
Marc Ronick: Yes, DR has lots of

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issues with that.
I DR: have one of those strips

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00:06:56,523 --> 00:06:58,905
too
that has every single port
filled up.

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Marc Ronick: Yep.
All right, so
Arielle, you

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discovered podcasts in 2014 as a
listener, from what
I

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00:07:07,850 --> 00:07:12,234
understand, and at what point
did you realize you wanted to


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build a whole career around
podcasting, not just listen to


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podcasts?
Arielle Nissenblatt: 2016 Marc

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00:07:18,679 --> 00:07:20,280
Ronick: okay?
And what
happened in 2016

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00:07:21,570 --> 00:07:24,752
Arielle Nissenblatt: there was a

move across country for me.

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I was living in Mississippi, my
first job out of college, and

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00:07:28,880 --> 00:07:32,390
that's when I started listening
to podcasts, because my all my

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00:07:32,480 --> 00:07:35,360
coworkers were listening to

cereal, and then whatever

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stemmed from cereal, true crime,

investigative reported shows,

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sometimes chat shows here and

there, and I became very

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interested in listening to

whatever was next, and I found

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that I was able to synthesize

information in a way that I

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hadn't been in reading or in

watching TV.

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I really was just able to get
the information and
deeply

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understand it in a way that I
hadn't been able to
before, so

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I felt smarter, I felt more
engaged, I felt more
able to

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00:08:08,406 --> 00:08:10,950
participate in conversations.
It really boosted
my

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00:08:10,950 --> 00:08:15,020
confidence when I became a
podcast listener, and when I


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moved to Los Angeles a few years
after that, I was stuck in the


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car a lot because of traffic,
and I continued listening to


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podcasts, but also to radio, and
I just became very interested in

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the whole ecosystem around it.
Radio, of course, has a lot


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longer of an ecosystem to
understand, and I started going

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00:08:35,059 --> 00:08:41,702
to events that were put on by
89.3 KPCC, 89.9 KCRW, just very

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interested talking to people,
asking them about their careers,

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and at that time a lot of the
radio stations were getting into

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podcasts, making their own or
syndicating radio shows on


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podcast feeds, and this is
around the time that I said to


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myself, I don't want to work in
communications anymore at


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nonprofits because I hate it and
I'm bad at it, and what if I


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could find something that I
don't hate that I'm good at?

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And
it turns out the way my
brain works is as long as I love

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00:09:14,562 --> 00:09:15,930

something I'm pretty good at
it.

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00:09:16,110 --> 00:09:19,436
So I figured out that I wanted

to work in podcasting.

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00:09:19,436 --> 00:09:22,168
I didn't have any experience?
I had
studied geography in

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college, so I didn't ever work
at the radio
station.

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00:09:24,440 --> 00:09:27,572
I didn't work in marketing, I
didn't work in
communications,

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00:09:27,572 --> 00:09:29,582
PR, nothing that was directly
related.

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00:09:29,582 --> 00:09:34,250
So I kind
of had to figure out
my own way in, and I'll stop

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00:09:34,250 --> 00:09:39,696
there, so that you can butt in.
Marc Ronick: Well, all right, so

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00:09:39,696 --> 00:09:43,525

you found your way in, and
what was the first, I'll call

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00:09:43,525 --> 00:09:47,719
it, gig
that you, that you
started as you started this

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00:09:47,719 --> 00:09:49,330
professional
side of
podcasting.

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00:09:50,049 --> 00:09:54,279
Arielle Nissenblatt: Yeah, so

the first gig that I really

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00:09:54,369 --> 00:09:57,000
started occupying was one that I

made up for myself.

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00:09:57,000 --> 00:09:59,765
I still run it.
You mentioned it, Ralph, in


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00:09:59,773 --> 00:10:01,953
the intro.
The Ear Buds Podcast Collective

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00:10:01,953 --> 00:10:05,577
is my weekly
newsletter that
I've been running since 2017 and

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00:10:05,577 --> 00:10:09,353
I started
it because I didn't
have experience elsewhere, so

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00:10:09,353 --> 00:10:11,369
it's
not that nobody would
hire me.

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00:10:11,489 --> 00:10:14,069
I'm sure I could have gotten an
entry-level job somewhere,

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00:10:14,219 --> 00:10:18,779
booking, you know, maybe doing

copywriting at a podcast agency,

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00:10:19,139 --> 00:10:21,889
or marketing associate

marketing, or something like

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00:10:21,919 --> 00:10:23,844
that.
While I was figuring all
that

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00:10:23,844 --> 00:10:27,913
out, while I was applying to
jobs, I also started this


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00:10:27,921 --> 00:10:31,177
newsletter, because I was
listening to a lot of podcasts,

184
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and I was talking to friends
who were listening to podcasts

185
00:10:35,089 --> 00:10:38,433
as
well, but they ultimately
were stuck.

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They were listening to
their
five favorite shows, and then

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00:10:40,597 --> 00:10:42,590
when those were finished,
they
were like, what do I do next,

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00:10:42,590 --> 00:10:45,699
and there's so many shows
out
there that they felt

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00:10:45,789 --> 00:10:47,829
overwhelmed, and I felt

overwhelmed, and if I felt

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00:10:47,889 --> 00:10:50,559
overwhelmed, that that's a

problem, because I'm already

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00:10:51,159 --> 00:10:55,312
inserting myself as this podcast

person, but my thought was, if

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00:10:55,312 --> 00:10:58,831
I have my five favorite shows,
you
have yours, your friend

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00:10:58,831 --> 00:11:03,299
has theirs, on and on and on, we

could put out a weekly list of

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00:11:03,329 --> 00:11:06,779
podcast recommendations, where

each week is essentially vetted

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by a different person, so it's

five episodes curated by

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00:11:10,319 --> 00:11:13,289
somebody new every single week,
and I've been doing that every

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single week since february 13,

2017 so 10 years coming up, so

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00:11:17,729 --> 00:11:21,229
we're gonna have a big party, so

save the date, and that was my

199
00:11:21,289 --> 00:11:22,599
official, quote unquote, first

job.

200
00:11:22,599 --> 00:11:24,939
Did it pay me right away?
Absolutely not.

201
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Did it take up a
lot of my
time?

202
00:11:27,451 --> 00:11:30,109
Absolutely.
Did it look really ugly at

203
00:11:30,109 --> 00:11:30,913
first?

Yeah.

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00:11:30,913 --> 00:11:34,959
Was I sending it on Gmail?
Did I accidentally cc everybody

205
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one time, and that's when I
said I need to learn how to use

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00:11:39,015 --> 00:11:41,589
an
email service provider.
All of these things are true.

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My first
official, official
job, somebody else paying me to

208
00:11:44,167 --> 00:11:45,579
do something.

Eventually, I did start running

209
00:11:45,669 --> 00:11:49,179
ads, but before I started

running ads, I was able to

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00:11:49,269 --> 00:11:53,199
leverage the newsletter to go to

conferences and to get press

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passes to go places.
So that was
a really cool

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00:11:55,551 --> 00:11:58,489
unlock that I figured out early
on.

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I started
working at a podcast
studio, actually, it was a

214
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co-working
space in Los
Angeles that I really wanted to

215
00:12:06,131 --> 00:12:08,709
have an office
at, but I
didn't want to pay to have an

216
00:12:08,709 --> 00:12:12,446
office there, so I
pitched the
concept of a podcast librarian.

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I wanted to be the
podcast
discussion facilitator at this

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co-working space, so I
said,
What if I curate a list for you

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00:12:20,491 --> 00:12:23,743
guys, and every week,
all the
people who are interested in

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this co-working
space can come
together to discuss it, because

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theoretically, you've got all
these people working at this


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co-working space, they don't
just want to interact with their

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own co-workers, maybe they
want to interact with other

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people.

So that was the idea behind

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this.
This co-working space that
I

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pitched the idea to was like, I
love the idea, can you build


227
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us a studio, though, because
ultimately they wanted to make


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money, and I said, yeah, even
though I had no idea what I was

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doing, so then I naturally
managed the studio for a year


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and a half.
Marc Ronick: So you helped them

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build the studio, you actually
set it all up, and then what


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they just like allowed you to
use that studio however you


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wanted, whenever you wanted,
Arielle Nissenblatt: pretty


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much, and they, you know, I was
in charge of figuring out what


235
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the pricing model was, and how
to bring people in, and what


236
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sound paneling to use, and
really like how we deliver the


237
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files, so that all of that was
very interesting and


238
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challenging, and when I
actually, I haven't said this


239
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out loud, because I haven't
thought about it in a while,


240
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it's the first time that I
started thinking about how the


241
00:13:23,826 --> 00:13:26,110
word producer means different
things to different people,


242
00:13:26,118 --> 00:13:28,714
because people would be like,
"Oh, do you have an engineer?

243
00:13:28,714 --> 00:13:29,988
Do
you have a producer on
site?

244
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And I'd be like, "Yes, and yes.


245
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Question mark, I don't know.
So this is a persistent issue in

246
00:13:35,366 --> 00:13:38,084

the podcast space.
It's a persistent issue in

247
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creator
spaces in general.
So that was interesting, but

248
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yes, they
allowed me to use
the space, and more so they

249
00:13:45,298 --> 00:13:47,250
allowed me to host
networking
events.

250
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So I had a lot of fun just
bringing friends
and friends

251
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of friends and people in the
podcast space
over.

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I hosted a festival one time
with 200 people or so, that


253
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was great.
I hosted a bunch of storytelling

254
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shows, where you
know, the
soft sell was their podcast

255
00:14:02,625 --> 00:14:04,830
about storytelling.

Subscribe to my newsletter, but

256
00:14:05,730 --> 00:14:09,060
overall, yeah, it was a great

way for me to meet more people

257
00:14:09,090 --> 00:14:11,730
in the podcast space, and to be
able to say, come on over.

258
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Marc Ronick: Yeah, yeah.
And I'm
gonna ask a question

259
00:14:14,730 --> 00:14:19,283
that I have a feeling may have
perked BC's
ears a bit.

260
00:14:19,283 --> 00:14:23,834
You mentioned how, when you got
into this, one of
the first

261
00:14:23,834 --> 00:14:26,710
opportunities was that you were
able to get like press
passes

262
00:14:26,710 --> 00:14:29,612
and get into different events
because of that, and I
know

263
00:14:29,612 --> 00:14:33,290
that's an area that BC has been
exploring and working on,
so

264
00:14:33,290 --> 00:14:36,470
I'm curious, and I think other
podcasters are curious how


265
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that works.
So I'm going to jump the line

266
00:14:39,016 --> 00:14:41,290
from all my other
questions
and go there first.

267
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How would a podcaster go about

getting press passes to some

268
00:14:45,940 --> 00:14:48,760
kind of major event?
Arielle Nissenblatt: Yeah, it's

269
00:14:48,760 --> 00:14:50,583
a really great question.
And just for transparency's

270
00:14:50,583 --> 00:14:54,652
sake,
I've decided to remove
the mic that was not doing any.

271
00:14:54,652 --> 00:14:57,088
Okay,
fair.
Do I sound okay?

272
00:14:57,088 --> 00:15:00,342
You sound fine.
Yeah, just not like
beautiful,

273
00:15:00,342 --> 00:15:01,154
right?
Exactly.

274
00:15:01,154 --> 00:15:02,691
Okay.
Sorry about that.

275
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Yeah, so when
I started this
newsletter, I was, you know,

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00:15:06,465 --> 00:15:09,375
making it week
after week, and
I was learning lessons here and

277
00:15:09,375 --> 00:15:13,038
there, and I
had a friend at
the time who ran a website for

278
00:15:13,038 --> 00:15:16,335
music festivals.

He would basically get emails

279
00:15:16,335 --> 00:15:18,645
saying, like, this music

festival is happening, here's

280
00:15:18,645 --> 00:15:21,435
some news from this music

festival, here's some new music

281
00:15:21,435 --> 00:15:25,395
that dropped, and then he would
report on it on his blog slash

282
00:15:25,395 --> 00:15:29,505
website that cataloged all of

these things, and every month or

283
00:15:29,505 --> 00:15:33,195
so he would go to a music

festival in California or

284
00:15:33,195 --> 00:15:36,390
beyond, and I would ask him,

like, how are you able to go to

285
00:15:36,390 --> 00:15:38,760
all these festivals, and he

said, well, I have a press pass,

286
00:15:38,760 --> 00:15:41,760
and I said, What do you mean,

because I'd always heard that

287
00:15:41,760 --> 00:15:44,010
word, I'd always heard press

pass before, and I had no idea

288
00:15:44,010 --> 00:15:46,450
what it meant.
And it turns out
it's just a

289
00:15:46,450 --> 00:15:49,749
free way for you to go if you
report on it, and I'm
putting

290
00:15:49,749 --> 00:15:52,320
"report on" in quotes, really.
You are reporting on it,
you

291
00:15:52,320 --> 00:15:54,978
are there so that you can
experience it, so that you can


292
00:15:54,986 --> 00:15:58,167
write about it, or post about
it, or make a video about it, or

293
00:15:58,167 --> 00:16:01,085

whatever the press is.
But the idea is that the

294
00:16:01,085 --> 00:16:05,175
organizers of
the event trust
you and want you to get the

295
00:16:05,175 --> 00:16:08,099
message out about
this event
to their, to your audience, and

296
00:16:08,099 --> 00:16:11,331
so he was able to
go to all
these festivals and then write

297
00:16:11,331 --> 00:16:14,678
about it on the blog,
and I
said, What does that look like

298
00:16:14,678 --> 00:16:17,041
for podcasters?
Right at
that moment is when I

299
00:16:17,041 --> 00:16:19,376
found out about podcast
movement, which
was taking

300
00:16:19,376 --> 00:16:22,872
place in Anaheim that year, and
if it had been
somewhere else,

301
00:16:22,872 --> 00:16:26,385
I probably would not have been
able to go,
because I was able

302
00:16:26,385 --> 00:16:29,700
to drive, and at the time I was
not down to be
spending my own

303
00:16:29,700 --> 00:16:32,034
money flying somewhere to go to
a conference,
even if the

304
00:16:32,034 --> 00:16:35,790
conference was for free.
So I drove down to Anaheim


305
00:16:35,798 --> 00:16:40,026
with this press pass with a
dream and a backpack.

306
00:16:40,026 --> 00:16:45,117
I really
like, showed up, and
then I just was like going to

307
00:16:45,117 --> 00:16:49,203
every single
session, meeting
people whose names I had heard

308
00:16:49,203 --> 00:16:52,355
in credits,
and really
earnestly shaking hands and

309
00:16:52,355 --> 00:16:54,315
taking business cards
and
things like that.

310
00:16:54,315 --> 00:16:58,031
And let me tell you, the parking
at the
parking garage was $50

311
00:16:58,031 --> 00:17:01,399
a day, and you better believe I
was
like, is there a press

312
00:17:01,399 --> 00:17:06,372
pass for the parking garage?
It was not,
but yeah, I mean,

313
00:17:06,372 --> 00:17:09,498
just to bring it back to your
question, that's
how it worked

314
00:17:09,498 --> 00:17:12,609
for me, but it's going to be
different for each
type of

315
00:17:12,609 --> 00:17:15,768
podcaster, you know?
If you have a podcast and you


316
00:17:15,776 --> 00:17:19,395
podcast about podcasting, yeah,
maybe you can try to get press


317
00:17:19,403 --> 00:17:22,349
passes at different podcast and
media related conferences, but


318
00:17:22,358 --> 00:17:25,374
usually what you're going to
want to do is talk about what


319
00:17:25,382 --> 00:17:28,413
kind of coverage you're going to
do, so for example, Tribeca,


320
00:17:28,421 --> 00:17:31,880
which used to be Tribeca Film
Festival, now they call it


321
00:17:31,888 --> 00:17:34,785
Tribeca Festival because they
have podcasts and they have


322
00:17:34,793 --> 00:17:37,965
games and they have branded
content and all these different

323
00:17:37,965 --> 00:17:41,551
things, so Tribeca Festival now
has Tribeca podcast, Tribeca


324
00:17:41,559 --> 00:17:45,480
Audio, and the application
process for a press pass is


325
00:17:45,488 --> 00:17:48,219
pretty rigorous.
It's you have to talk about the

326
00:17:48,219 --> 00:17:51,105
stories that
you're interested
in covering and talk about the

327
00:17:51,105 --> 00:17:53,676
people that
you want to cover
and talk about the different

328
00:17:53,676 --> 00:17:57,138
sessions that you
have
outlined, and you're going to

329
00:17:57,138 --> 00:17:59,310
show up and you're going to

interview these people, and then

330
00:17:59,310 --> 00:18:00,892
what your coverage is going to

look like.

331
00:18:00,892 --> 00:18:03,268
So, if you get approved on that,
you get a
press pass, you get

332
00:18:03,268 --> 00:18:06,726
to go to as many events as you
want, and
then you're going to

333
00:18:06,726 --> 00:18:09,519
write about it afterwards.
So I'm still, I
still have to

334
00:18:09,519 --> 00:18:12,588
write it, just wrapped up
earlier this week, so
I still

335
00:18:12,588 --> 00:18:16,175
have to write my press, or write
my, you know, recap of
the

336
00:18:16,175 --> 00:18:19,929
event, but that's a really great
way for me to go to one of
the

337
00:18:19,929 --> 00:18:22,935
most amazing podcast festivals
ever, and learn about
all

338
00:18:22,935 --> 00:18:26,949
these new, new shows, or new
limited run series, and that


339
00:18:26,957 --> 00:18:31,383
that's really great, but if you
have a pod, admit that to who do

340
00:18:31,383 --> 00:18:35,371

you, yeah, is it so like part
of it is being a hustler and

341
00:18:35,371 --> 00:18:39,280
like
figuring out over time
who to submit it to, being in

342
00:18:39,280 --> 00:18:43,835
the
social internet space, and
figuring out that this is the


343
00:18:43,843 --> 00:18:47,910
person who runs Tribeca Audio.
This is the person who does


344
00:18:47,918 --> 00:18:49,823
press passes for the general
festival.

345
00:18:49,823 --> 00:18:53,272
But, yeah, I mean,
truly, I
wish there was a better answer

346
00:18:53,272 --> 00:18:55,818
than just, like, who do I

submit a press pass to?

347
00:18:55,818 --> 00:18:59,007
But it really is like going onto
the
website, friending this

348
00:18:59,007 --> 00:19:01,171
person on LinkedIn, commenting
on some
of their stuff, but

349
00:19:01,171 --> 00:19:03,633
not in a way that's like,
"Hello, I would
like a press

350
00:19:03,633 --> 00:19:06,120
pass, but more genuinely giving
value over
time.

351
00:19:06,120 --> 00:19:09,659
They see that you are somebody
that they want to be in
touch

352
00:19:09,659 --> 00:19:11,841
with, and then I'm not saying it
lands in your lap.

353
00:19:11,841 --> 00:19:14,840
I
work 10 years on all this
stuff, but yeah, it really takes

354
00:19:14,840 --> 00:19:17,171
a
while.
And then, like the example that

355
00:19:17,171 --> 00:19:21,183
I often give is
like, if you
have a podcast about coffee and

356
00:19:21,183 --> 00:19:24,745
you want to go
to a big coffee
conference.

357
00:19:24,745 --> 00:19:28,110
If you pitch them or tell them
that
you're interested in a

358
00:19:28,110 --> 00:19:32,114
press pass, maybe you're going
to
record live podcast

359
00:19:32,114 --> 00:19:36,492
interviews on the on stage or
on, you know,
in a back room,

360
00:19:36,492 --> 00:19:39,508
and you're going to invite some
of their speakers
to join you.

361
00:19:39,508 --> 00:19:42,177
That's pretty valuable, right?
So, a lot of it
is like I

362
00:19:42,177 --> 00:19:44,673
said, hustling and kind of
finding your own way in.


363
00:19:44,681 --> 00:19:47,444
I recently saw that there was a
newsletter conference in New


364
00:19:47,452 --> 00:19:50,031
York, and I really wanted to go
because I've been writing


365
00:19:50,039 --> 00:19:52,533
newsletters for so long.
I love the newsletter space.

366
00:19:52,533 --> 00:19:55,947
The
tickets were like $1,500
for a one-day conference, and

367
00:19:55,947 --> 00:19:57,980
you
better believe I'm not
doing that.

368
00:19:57,980 --> 00:20:01,995
So, I applied for a press.

Past, they had an application on

369
00:20:01,995 --> 00:20:04,125
their website.
Sometimes they
will have that.

370
00:20:04,125 --> 00:20:07,858
Marc Ronick: So, I want to stay
on this topic for a moment.

371
00:20:07,858 --> 00:20:11,122
BC, I know you have a follow-up,
and
since I called you out,

372
00:20:11,122 --> 00:20:12,792
wouldn't be right to just blow
by that.


373
00:20:12,800 --> 00:20:15,190
So, go ahead and ask your
follow-up, and then we'll keep


374
00:20:15,198 --> 00:20:16,690
things going.
BC Babbles: Thank you.

375
00:20:16,690 --> 00:20:19,480
And good
morning, everyone.
So, just a quick add on to that,

376
00:20:19,480 --> 00:20:22,014
I'm
curious whether or not
your colleague that you

377
00:20:22,014 --> 00:20:24,684
mentioned, or
if you at any
point realized you had to, in

378
00:20:24,684 --> 00:20:27,018
addition to being
willing to
go through these rigorous

379
00:20:27,018 --> 00:20:31,852
application processes,
did you
have to also wait to have any

380
00:20:31,852 --> 00:20:37,020
sort of following
weight to be
able to throw around in any

381
00:20:37,020 --> 00:20:41,115
negotiations to
get those
kinds of press passes to these

382
00:20:41,115 --> 00:20:43,065
events Arielle Nissenblatt: I'm
usually
going, whether or not

383
00:20:43,065 --> 00:20:46,867
I get a press pass.
I want to go, and
sometimes

384
00:20:46,867 --> 00:20:50,010
I'm going as a speaker, which is
very helpful.


385
00:20:50,018 --> 00:20:52,971
So that started kicking in a few
years in.

386
00:20:52,971 --> 00:20:57,973
I went to Podcast
Movement
2017 in Anaheim, just press pass

387
00:20:57,973 --> 00:21:03,854
2018 press pass 2019
I started
speaking at the conference, and

388
00:21:03,854 --> 00:21:08,310
I had started
working for Cast
Box, a podcast listening app, so

389
00:21:08,310 --> 00:21:11,700
they sent me.

But 2018 I flew myself, and I

390
00:21:11,700 --> 00:21:14,820
just decided it was something

that I wanted to spend the money

391
00:21:14,820 --> 00:21:16,248
on.
I think a lot of people,


392
00:21:16,256 --> 00:21:18,900
people ask me all the time, I go
to a lot of podcast conferences,

393
00:21:18,900 --> 00:21:21,200

I go to a lot of media
conferences, is it worth it?

394
00:21:21,200 --> 00:21:23,643
Is
it worth it?
Some people even want to jump on

395
00:21:23,643 --> 00:21:26,948
a call and ask
me about the
ROI that they might see, and the

396
00:21:26,948 --> 00:21:30,539
only thing I can
say is it's,
it's what you make of it.

397
00:21:30,539 --> 00:21:33,367
And is it, are you going
to
see a return on your investment

398
00:21:33,367 --> 00:21:34,295
right away?
Probably
not.

399
00:21:34,295 --> 00:21:37,667
Is it going to take six months,
and you might not be
able to

400
00:21:37,667 --> 00:21:38,917
trace it back?
Probably not.

401
00:21:38,917 --> 00:21:41,535
But I think you have to be

okay with that.

402
00:21:41,535 --> 00:21:43,925
BC Babbles: Awesome, thank you.
Marc Ronick: Yeah, all right.


403
00:21:43,933 --> 00:21:46,830
And let's see, let's go.
Oh, DR. You had something, and

404
00:21:46,830 --> 00:21:50,448
then
we'll go to Ralph.
DR: Yeah, so can I get back to


405
00:21:50,456 --> 00:21:52,920
one of your favorite subjects,
your newsletter?

406
00:21:52,920 --> 00:21:57,354
I've been a
subscriber for a
couple years, and I appreciate

407
00:21:57,354 --> 00:21:59,576
that.
So, I
like to ask the

408
00:21:59,576 --> 00:22:02,802
questions that the new
podcasters who are
listening

409
00:22:02,802 --> 00:22:06,270
would ask, and that is, how do
you get in?

410
00:22:06,270 --> 00:22:10,335
If I have
a podcast, how do I
get into your newsletter?

411
00:22:10,335 --> 00:22:14,989
You mentioned
something about
someone curating a list, is it

412
00:22:14,989 --> 00:22:18,608
anyone can curate
a list?
How, how do I get my podcast

413
00:22:18,608 --> 00:22:21,273
into your newsletter?
Arielle Nissenblatt: That's a


414
00:22:21,281 --> 00:22:24,795
great question.
Do you know how to get featured?

415
00:22:24,795 --> 00:22:26,385
DR: I do not.
Arielle Nissenblatt: You don't.

416
00:22:26,385 --> 00:22:28,425

Okay, so that is bad on my part,

417
00:22:28,425 --> 00:22:33,499
because in every single issue I
think that I'm making it

418
00:22:33,499 --> 00:22:36,146
obvious that each week is
curated by a
different person.

419
00:22:36,146 --> 00:22:39,708
Anyone can curate a list.
I have the
curation form

420
00:22:39,708 --> 00:22:43,080
linked in each issue of the
newsletter, I have
it at the

421
00:22:43,080 --> 00:22:45,178
top of my website.
I think I have it.

422
00:22:45,178 --> 00:22:47,862
I think I've
made it so clear,
but, but you're right, that

423
00:22:47,862 --> 00:22:50,195
there's
definitely a messaging
problem here, because a lot of

424
00:22:50,195 --> 00:22:52,857
people, a
lot of people still
email me, and they're like,

425
00:22:52,857 --> 00:22:54,915
"Hey, love the
newsletter,
loved this issue.

426
00:22:54,915 --> 00:22:56,577
Sometimes they'll reply to the

most recent issue.

427
00:22:56,577 --> 00:22:59,247
How do I get featured?
And I'm like, it's
literally

428
00:22:59,247 --> 00:23:02,685
right there, and, like, look,
I'm guilty of this
too, where,

429
00:23:02,685 --> 00:23:07,510
like, I don't read, DR: so I
would have to get
someone to

430
00:23:07,510 --> 00:23:11,730
curate to know in the curation,
Arielle Nissenblatt: and you can

431
00:23:11,730 --> 00:23:12,840

select one of your own
episodes.

432
00:23:13,230 --> 00:23:14,787
DR: Oh, I see.
Okay, and that Arielle

433
00:23:14,787 --> 00:23:16,024
Nissenblatt: is in the

submission form.

434
00:23:16,024 --> 00:23:18,375
So, DR: okay, Arielle
Nissenblatt: if another
thing

435
00:23:18,375 --> 00:23:22,073
that happens is that people, if
they find the
submission form,

436
00:23:22,073 --> 00:23:25,447
it's like it's work to put
together the list,
right?

437
00:23:25,447 --> 00:23:29,082
Because I'm not just asking for
you to drop five
links and

438
00:23:29,082 --> 00:23:31,835
that's it.
You also need to write two to

439
00:23:31,835 --> 00:23:33,980
three
sentences about each
episode that you've selected,

440
00:23:33,980 --> 00:23:36,659
and I
don't want you to copy
paste it from the description,

441
00:23:36,659 --> 00:23:41,195
and I want
there to be a
thoughtfully curated list that

442
00:23:41,195 --> 00:23:44,758
comes together
that naturally
fits your episode into it.

443
00:23:44,758 --> 00:23:48,358
Okay, sometimes I'll
get a
submission form that is five

444
00:23:48,358 --> 00:23:51,885
episodes of that person's
own
show, and I reply, and I'm like,

445
00:23:51,885 --> 00:23:54,324
"Hey, did you read any of
the
directions?

446
00:23:54,324 --> 00:23:58,789
So it is very easy to find ways
to get your
show featured, not

447
00:23:58,789 --> 00:24:02,802
just in my newsletter, but in
others, but
you need to be

448
00:24:02,802 --> 00:24:07,353
willing to look and read and see
what they have
featured in the

449
00:24:07,353 --> 00:24:10,625
past, or see what types of
content they like
to put out

450
00:24:10,625 --> 00:24:13,680
there, and see if you fit into
that, or if you might
diverge,

451
00:24:13,680 --> 00:24:16,638
but in a way that they're
interested in, and I
think

452
00:24:16,638 --> 00:24:21,100
what a lot of people don't do is
give it the time to figure
out

453
00:24:21,100 --> 00:24:24,365
how they can plug in.
Instead, they're like, ah, I


454
00:24:24,373 --> 00:24:26,560
can't get featured because I'm
an Indeed podcaster, or because

455
00:24:26,560 --> 00:24:28,460
of this, or because of that.
Yes, you can.

456
00:24:29,419 --> 00:24:33,739
DR: And is there a cost to the

person who's totally free?

457
00:24:33,739 --> 00:24:36,697
Okay, great.
I would never.. we should


458
00:24:36,705 --> 00:24:38,488
submit.
I mean, Mark, I would Arielle

459
00:24:38,488 --> 00:24:40,360
Nissenblatt: never..

there are ways for you to pay to

460
00:24:40,420 --> 00:24:43,090
get featured in the newsletter,
but the main thing that each

461
00:24:43,180 --> 00:24:44,880
week is curated by a different

person.

462
00:24:44,880 --> 00:24:47,845
Anyone curated a list is free,
will always be free.

463
00:24:47,845 --> 00:24:51,986
I've
now added a sixth episode
slot, so you can pay for that if

464
00:24:51,986 --> 00:24:54,133
you
want.
If you're like, so, for example,

465
00:24:54,133 --> 00:24:58,295
I'm making the next
five
issues of the newsletter, the

466
00:24:58,295 --> 00:25:00,888
topics of them.
That are
upcoming public, so

467
00:25:00,888 --> 00:25:03,688
now you can see that in two
weeks it's going
to be a

468
00:25:03,688 --> 00:25:05,976
history theme, in three weeks
it's going to be politics,
in

469
00:25:05,976 --> 00:25:07,727
four weeks it's going to be
sports.

470
00:25:07,727 --> 00:25:11,137
So, if you have a show
related
to those or an episode related

471
00:25:11,137 --> 00:25:14,867
to those, you can pay to
be
featured, or if you support me

472
00:25:14,867 --> 00:25:19,350
on Patreon for like at the
$10
per month level, then you can

473
00:25:19,350 --> 00:25:21,773
pitch for free.
So, great,
there's a lot of

474
00:25:21,773 --> 00:25:24,518
ways to get featured for free.
I also have a
community

475
00:25:24,518 --> 00:25:26,780
submission form, where, like, if
you have news,
if it's like

476
00:25:26,780 --> 00:25:30,008
you're a 100th episode, or
Jason, if you
actually, all of

477
00:25:30,008 --> 00:25:32,951
you, if there's a podcasting
conference coming
up, then you

478
00:25:32,951 --> 00:25:35,840
can share the news there, or if
you've hit a
milestone

479
00:25:35,840 --> 00:25:38,458
subscriber number, I'll feature
that in the
community notes

480
00:25:38,458 --> 00:25:40,592
section.
And then I also write another


481
00:25:40,600 --> 00:25:44,038
newsletter called Podcast Plunge
that goes out on Mondays, that's

482
00:25:44,038 --> 00:25:47,255

more of an industry news.
So, all of the press releases

483
00:25:47,255 --> 00:25:50,485
that
I've received over the
past week, I reproduce them, the

484
00:25:50,485 --> 00:25:53,581

headline and the first
paragraph in that newsletter, so

485
00:25:53,581 --> 00:25:55,975
that
people can keep up with
what's going on there.

486
00:25:55,975 --> 00:25:58,053
And if you send
me a press
release, you can get featured

487
00:25:58,053 --> 00:26:00,497
there, that's free.
DR: Great, and Arielle

488
00:26:00,497 --> 00:26:02,585
Nissenblatt: all of my
stuff
that we're immunity curated.

489
00:26:02,585 --> 00:26:07,250
Sorry, DR: I assume we have
links to,
yeah, you know, Marc

490
00:26:07,250 --> 00:26:10,380
Ronick: I was gonna say
that,
you know, bad host smacking my

491
00:26:10,380 --> 00:26:13,218
hand right now,
because I
don't have, I mean, I have your

492
00:26:13,218 --> 00:26:16,310
main website, which is
just
your name, right, Arielle

493
00:26:16,340 --> 00:26:20,900
nissenblatt.com but is there

what's the best link to share

494
00:26:20,900 --> 00:26:23,075
with our community.
Arielle Nissenblatt: Oh, I mean,

495
00:26:23,075 --> 00:26:25,096

I need to get my, my S word
together.

496
00:26:25,096 --> 00:26:26,643
May I curse?
This
feels like radio.

497
00:26:26,643 --> 00:26:28,450
I can't figure out, Marc Ronick:
and you can.

498
00:26:28,450 --> 00:26:30,263
It's
okay.
We'll always bleep it if we feel

499
00:26:30,263 --> 00:26:31,877
like we have.
Arielle Nissenblatt: Yeah, I


500
00:26:31,885 --> 00:26:33,164
really need to get it all
together.

501
00:26:33,164 --> 00:26:36,845
I, the website is like
the
closest approximation to the

502
00:26:36,845 --> 00:26:41,015
things, but may I say, Wix is

not the easiest to get in there

503
00:26:41,015 --> 00:26:43,399
and edit, Marc Ronick: agree, so
Arielle Nissenblatt: that's why

504
00:26:43,399 --> 00:26:46,560
that website is lagging.
I would say LinkedIn is where I

505
00:26:46,560 --> 00:26:48,440
post all
my stuff.
Marc Ronick: Okay, cool.

506
00:26:48,440 --> 00:26:51,198
Here's
what I want to do.
We have lots of people wanting

507
00:26:51,198 --> 00:26:54,635
to ask
questions, so I know
Sid wants to ask a question, and

508
00:26:54,635 --> 00:26:58,256
we're
going to go to him next,
and I want to also go to Jason

509
00:26:58,256 --> 00:27:01,250
to see
if he has any
questions, because you guys just

510
00:27:01,250 --> 00:27:05,185
had a great
interview on his
podcast, so I want to see if he

511
00:27:05,185 --> 00:27:07,686
has maybe
either any
follow-ups from that episode or

512
00:27:07,686 --> 00:27:09,299
maybe just from this

conversation.

513
00:27:09,299 --> 00:27:11,819
So, we'll, I'll come to you in a
second.

514
00:27:11,819 --> 00:27:13,625
Jason
Sid, good morning to
you, sir.

515
00:27:13,625 --> 00:27:15,665
Did you have something for

Arielle?

516
00:27:15,695 --> 00:27:16,795
Sid Meadows: Good morning, Mark.



517
00:27:16,803 --> 00:27:17,950
Good morning, everybody.
Welcome back.

518
00:27:17,950 --> 00:27:20,150
Thanks.
I had a comment to
make, but

519
00:27:20,150 --> 00:27:21,953
we've already passed through
that, so which is fine.


520
00:27:21,961 --> 00:27:23,795
No reason to go backwards.
You can keep moving forward.

521
00:27:23,885 --> 00:27:25,705
Marc Ronick: Okay.
Arielle Nissenblatt: Oh no,


522
00:27:25,713 --> 00:27:27,597
bring it.
Marc Ronick: Bring it.

523
00:27:27,597 --> 00:27:29,354
Sid,
Arielle's requesting.
Sid Meadows: Okay.

524
00:27:29,354 --> 00:27:31,362
Good morning,
Arielle.
I just was gonna make the

525
00:27:31,362 --> 00:27:34,730
comment about the press pass

that, and I, you did actually

526
00:27:34,730 --> 00:27:37,382
say it to Arielle.
If you're
interested in going

527
00:27:37,382 --> 00:27:40,790
to a specific conference or

convention, typically that

528
00:27:40,790 --> 00:27:44,900
website will have an area

specifically for press, and you

529
00:27:44,900 --> 00:27:47,630
can apply and fill out the

information, and get the press

530
00:27:47,630 --> 00:27:49,450
pass.
And I think it's important
for

531
00:27:49,450 --> 00:27:52,472
us all to remember that, whether
you call yourself or
not,

532
00:27:52,472 --> 00:27:55,375
because you're creating content
and sharing as a
podcaster,

533
00:27:55,375 --> 00:27:58,930
you are classified as a
journalist, and you know, so


534
00:27:58,938 --> 00:28:02,243
that's really the position I
would take when applying for a


535
00:28:02,251 --> 00:28:05,525
press pass, it does give you
some inside access and stuff,


536
00:28:05,533 --> 00:28:08,143
depending on the conference
you're going to, but you know,


537
00:28:08,151 --> 00:28:10,667
just go with the, I love the
hustle aspect you mentioned,


538
00:28:10,675 --> 00:28:13,763
Arielle, but just go onto the
events website and you'll find a

539
00:28:13,763 --> 00:28:16,325

press area that's going to
have an application for you to

540
00:28:16,325 --> 00:28:19,316
fill
out to get a pass.
Arielle Nissenblatt: The reason

541
00:28:19,316 --> 00:28:22,919
I didn't say that exactly is
because sometimes conferences


542
00:28:22,927 --> 00:28:26,918
don't have everything, like Marc
Ronick: admittedly
empowered

543
00:28:26,918 --> 00:28:29,496
podcasting does not.
Yeah, Arielle Nissenblatt:

544
00:28:29,496 --> 00:28:32,076
right.
So
it's like, if you are a

545
00:28:32,076 --> 00:28:34,588
legit, I mean, not that
empowered
podcasting is not

546
00:28:34,588 --> 00:28:36,220
legit.
If you've been around for a

547
00:28:36,220 --> 00:28:38,886
while
and you know all of the
different scenarios, people have

548
00:28:38,886 --> 00:28:41,670

emailed you about absolutely
everything, you know, then you


549
00:28:41,678 --> 00:28:44,285
have a reaction to that.
Absolutely everything, but I


550
00:28:44,293 --> 00:28:46,865
think when you're getting
started up, you might not have


551
00:28:46,873 --> 00:28:50,690
all that set up, so that's where
the hustle, that's where the


552
00:28:50,698 --> 00:28:52,874
what's the grind comes into
play.

553
00:28:52,874 --> 00:28:55,355
And I think even then,
maybe
you're classified as a

554
00:28:55,355 --> 00:28:57,377
journalist.
I don't necessarily
think all

555
00:28:57,377 --> 00:28:59,987
podcasters should be classified
as journalists, and
there are

556
00:28:59,987 --> 00:29:01,271
podcasters that have said as
much.

557
00:29:01,271 --> 00:29:03,162
There are a lot of
podcasters
who have said as much.

558
00:29:03,162 --> 00:29:07,040
All this to say, I think
even
if you have a show, even if

559
00:29:07,040 --> 00:29:09,200
there is a press, you know,

application form, you still

560
00:29:09,200 --> 00:29:12,050
might need to prove yourself,

you still might need to hustle.

561
00:29:13,700 --> 00:29:15,470
Marc Ronick: Well, let's,

speaking of empowered

562
00:29:15,470 --> 00:29:18,650
podcasting, let's go to my

business partner, Jason Circon,

563
00:29:18,650 --> 00:29:21,890
and yeah, Jason, any questions

for Arielle.

564
00:29:21,980 --> 00:29:25,250
Jason: Yeah, you were saying

about our episode of my show

565
00:29:25,430 --> 00:29:27,860
that comes out next, not this

coming Thursday, but the next

566
00:29:27,890 --> 00:29:29,480
Thursday.
So, I don't want to
bury the

567
00:29:29,480 --> 00:29:31,560
lead with that.
I want everyone to go listen to

568
00:29:31,560 --> 00:29:34,991
that
episode, because it was
just an hour-long master class

569
00:29:34,991 --> 00:29:39,508
on, I
guess, well, absolutely
on newsletter strategy, but I

570
00:29:39,508 --> 00:29:44,030
think
it was also a slight
masterclass on staying on track,

571
00:29:44,030 --> 00:29:47,752
we were
trying, like, because
we both would veer and then

572
00:29:47,752 --> 00:29:49,930
catch
ourselves, like, wait a
minute, we're not here to talk

573
00:29:49,930 --> 00:29:52,363
about
this, because the idea
was to keep the conversation

574
00:29:52,363 --> 00:29:56,659
focused,
but one question I
had about the press pass, or

575
00:29:56,659 --> 00:29:59,945
just the press
aura of going
to these events used.

576
00:29:59,945 --> 00:30:03,788
Started this years ago,
and
now in 2026 we know the event

577
00:30:03,788 --> 00:30:07,906
space has evolved.
Are
they asking more now of

578
00:30:07,906 --> 00:30:12,012
what you do or what you would do
in order
to obtain that pass,

579
00:30:12,012 --> 00:30:15,570
or is it still status quo from
your
previous experience?

580
00:30:16,470 --> 00:30:18,819
Arielle Nissenblatt: You know, I

unfortunately, I know I've

581
00:30:18,819 --> 00:30:21,962
been talking about press passes
this
whole time, I would say

582
00:30:21,962 --> 00:30:25,283
I'm not the best person to ask,
because
I'm not strictly

583
00:30:25,283 --> 00:30:27,743
press.
I go to a lot of podcast

584
00:30:27,743 --> 00:30:31,684
conferences as
a speaker, and
I also cover it as press, so it

585
00:30:31,684 --> 00:30:35,630
is not strictly
- it is not my
only obligation to cover these

586
00:30:35,630 --> 00:30:37,940
events.
I'm also
there to speak on

587
00:30:37,940 --> 00:30:40,936
stage, so have I heard from
other people, and I
would say

588
00:30:40,936 --> 00:30:43,762
it's also very much dependent on
the conference, as
you

589
00:30:43,762 --> 00:30:45,376
mentioned at the beginning,
Ralph.

590
00:30:45,376 --> 00:30:47,580
I run a company called
Well,
it depends.

591
00:30:47,580 --> 00:30:50,323
It's my favorite phrase, I say
it all
the time, because

592
00:30:50,323 --> 00:30:53,221
absolutely everything is
dependent on
something else.

593
00:30:53,221 --> 00:30:57,002
Yeah, and yeah, I mean it's
really going to be a
case by

594
00:30:57,002 --> 00:31:00,055
case basis.
Like Tribeca was a pretty

595
00:31:00,055 --> 00:31:03,660
rigorous process,
podcast
movement, if I remember

596
00:31:03,720 --> 00:31:05,562
correctly, is less so.
Was less
so.

597
00:31:05,562 --> 00:31:08,675
I don't know how things have
changed, but I think it really


598
00:31:08,683 --> 00:31:10,670
depends on the type of
conference and the


599
00:31:10,678 --> 00:31:12,090
infrastructure that they have in
place.

600
00:31:12,990 --> 00:31:15,300
Jason: I asked because of my

previous life, when I was

601
00:31:15,360 --> 00:31:17,670
working in the beer world, we

had done some event planning,

602
00:31:17,730 --> 00:31:20,939
and there were people that would

just literally start a blog

603
00:31:20,939 --> 00:31:23,880
that had, like, maybe one post
on it,
and then they'd submit,

604
00:31:23,880 --> 00:31:26,450
'Hey, I write a blog, I'd like
to come
and cover on.

605
00:31:26,450 --> 00:31:27,630
Oh, really?
A blog?

606
00:31:27,630 --> 00:31:32,780
Like, well, this was back
in
2016 so yeah, that was hip.

607
00:31:33,260 --> 00:31:35,428
No, I mean, Arielle Nissenblatt:
like, oh,
you as the

608
00:31:35,428 --> 00:31:38,087
respondent, you're like, sick.
A blog, okay?

609
00:31:38,087 --> 00:31:41,382
Tell
us about Marc Ronick: it.
Yeah, Ralph Estep Jr.: Arielle,

610
00:31:41,382 --> 00:31:43,765
I
wanted to get into a
discussion now about one of the

611
00:31:43,765 --> 00:31:46,386
reasons I
had you on the show,
is to talk about audience

612
00:31:46,386 --> 00:31:49,500
growth, and
you've been doing
this for a while now, you've

613
00:31:49,500 --> 00:31:52,031
been helping
people find
listeners and help listeners

614
00:31:52,031 --> 00:31:53,938
find podcasts.
What's
the biggest

615
00:31:53,938 --> 00:31:56,586
misconception that you see
podcasters have about
audience

616
00:31:56,586 --> 00:31:58,939
growth right now?
Because I think that's one of


617
00:31:58,947 --> 00:32:01,440
the reasons a lot of people are
joining us today?

618
00:32:01,560 --> 00:32:03,420
Arielle Nissenblatt: Yeah, that
there's one thing that you can

619
00:32:03,450 --> 00:32:06,420
do that'll rocket your show to

the moon, and I'm sure you hear

620
00:32:06,480 --> 00:32:09,225
that all the time.
I'm sorry for
that cop-out

621
00:32:09,225 --> 00:32:12,885
answer, but nothing pisses me
off more than when
people say,

622
00:32:12,885 --> 00:32:16,194
okay, but what really is a good
download
number, and I'll be

623
00:32:16,194 --> 00:32:18,152
like, say it with me, it
depends.

624
00:32:18,152 --> 00:32:21,320
And then,
oh, what is.. but
what does it depend on?

625
00:32:21,320 --> 00:32:23,876
Many different
factors that I
need to intimately know about

626
00:32:23,876 --> 00:32:27,594
your show
in order to tell you
why you may or may not be

627
00:32:27,594 --> 00:32:29,734
growing.
I'll say
I'm currently

628
00:32:29,734 --> 00:32:33,494
mentoring four people for an
event or for an
organization

629
00:32:33,494 --> 00:32:37,172
called the Association for
Independence and
Radio Air

630
00:32:37,172 --> 00:32:41,724
Media, and what I find is that
it feels like they're
looking

631
00:32:41,724 --> 00:32:44,230
for permission.
It feels like they, whatever I

632
00:32:44,230 --> 00:32:47,350
tell them,
even though I think
I'm giving them the

633
00:32:47,350 --> 00:32:50,976
infrastructure to grow
their
own show, I'm telling them about

634
00:32:50,976 --> 00:32:54,370
the philosophies behind

marketing and audience

635
00:32:54,400 --> 00:32:57,460
development and audience

engagement, and I'm giving them

636
00:32:57,610 --> 00:33:00,210
practical things that I've tried

that have worked, that clients

637
00:33:00,210 --> 00:33:03,180
have tried that have worked and
I'm giving them resources and

638
00:33:03,210 --> 00:33:06,930
tools and pitch forms and email
addresses to journalists that

639
00:33:06,960 --> 00:33:10,500
they can pitch to and best

practices for pitching to apps

640
00:33:10,830 --> 00:33:15,750
even then the question is okay

but what should I do first or

641
00:33:16,590 --> 00:33:20,550
how long should my pitch letter
be or and the answer is always

642
00:33:20,610 --> 00:33:23,240
it depends, and it's all about

guessing and checking, but more

643
00:33:23,360 --> 00:33:27,920
so it's about figuring out

what's right for you at that

644
00:33:28,010 --> 00:33:30,470
time, or what's right for the

journalist that you're pitching

645
00:33:30,530 --> 00:33:32,840
to, or what's right for the app
that you're pitching to.

646
00:33:32,840 --> 00:33:35,820
So many different factors go
into this,
and I think a lot

647
00:33:35,820 --> 00:33:38,948
of people, what it feels like to
me, the
misconception is that

648
00:33:38,948 --> 00:33:42,168
if they do the exact right thing
at the
exact right time, their

649
00:33:42,168 --> 00:33:46,232
show is going to boom, and that
could be
true for one or two

650
00:33:46,232 --> 00:33:48,037
people.
It could be true for a lot of


651
00:33:48,045 --> 00:33:49,363
people.
You might be able to strike

652
00:33:49,363 --> 00:33:52,936
lightning, but more
likely
you're going to have to try a

653
00:33:52,936 --> 00:33:54,842
million different things
and
not fail.

654
00:33:54,842 --> 00:33:58,396
I don't really see it as
failure, but you're going
to

655
00:33:58,396 --> 00:34:01,820
not see growth a lot, and that
has to be okay, and you
have

656
00:34:01,820 --> 00:34:04,746
to be in it for the long haul,
of course.

657
00:34:04,746 --> 00:34:08,949
There are, and
I really like
one of my another pet peeve,

658
00:34:08,949 --> 00:34:11,391
another thing that
that boils
my blood.

659
00:34:11,391 --> 00:34:14,670
There's so many phrases for this
that I'm
sure I'll share, is

660
00:34:14,670 --> 00:34:18,132
that you know, I really don't
like to
give like general

661
00:34:18,132 --> 00:34:20,806
blanket advice that is not
specific, so we can
get into

662
00:34:20,806 --> 00:34:23,552
specifics in a second, of like
things that do work, or
things

663
00:34:23,552 --> 00:34:26,719
that you can try, but I always
want people to keep in
mind

664
00:34:26,719 --> 00:34:31,045
that even if I tell you 50
things and 50 of them could be


665
00:34:31,053 --> 00:34:35,300
really helpful for you, even if
you try them and you quote


666
00:34:35,308 --> 00:34:38,719
unquote do them right, you might
not grow your show right now,


667
00:34:38,728 --> 00:34:41,462
and that's not my fault, and
that's not your fault, that's


668
00:34:41,469 --> 00:34:44,290
just like circumstances, because
there are so many variables that

669
00:34:44,290 --> 00:34:47,395

go into everything, that go
into why a listener chooses to

670
00:34:47,395 --> 00:34:50,330
listen
to something, that goes
in, go into why a listener

671
00:34:50,330 --> 00:34:52,456
continues to
listen to
something, why a listener then

672
00:34:52,456 --> 00:34:54,760
likes you so much
that they
become a paid subscriber, but

673
00:34:54,760 --> 00:34:57,700
then you have to
keep them as
a paid subscriber, so Ralph

674
00:34:57,700 --> 00:35:00,383
Estep Jr.: Arielle, one of
the
things that I hear a lot of co.

675
00:35:00,383 --> 00:35:02,874
Just talk about was just be
consistent, Marc Ronick: yeah.

676
00:35:02,874 --> 00:35:05,199
And I Ralph Estep Jr.: hear so
many
podcasters that said I've

677
00:35:05,199 --> 00:35:08,220
been publishing consistently,
Rafa,
my audience isn't

678
00:35:08,220 --> 00:35:10,950
growing.
Where do you go when you start

679
00:35:10,950 --> 00:35:13,452
to hear
that conversation when
somebody's saying that to you?


680
00:35:13,460 --> 00:35:15,795
Because it just drives me crazy.
It's like you can consistently


681
00:35:15,803 --> 00:35:18,015
be doing the wrong things and
you're not going to get


682
00:35:18,023 --> 00:35:19,082
anywhere.
That's what I always tell

683
00:35:19,082 --> 00:35:20,534
people.
I'm a finance guy,
that's

684
00:35:20,534 --> 00:35:23,562
where I make my money, and, and
I was telling you, you
can

685
00:35:23,562 --> 00:35:25,715
consistently be making bad
decisions for your business, and

686
00:35:25,715 --> 00:35:27,740

you could be consistent,
you're just going to go broke.

687
00:35:28,700 --> 00:35:31,490
Arielle Nissenblatt: Yeah, you

can make a consistently shitty

688
00:35:31,580 --> 00:35:35,180
podcast for 1520 years, you can
do whatever you want.

689
00:35:35,180 --> 00:35:39,203
I think the issue that I have
with the
consistency, the

690
00:35:39,203 --> 00:35:42,268
consistency advice is not, I do
think it's
great to be

691
00:35:42,268 --> 00:35:45,492
consistent, but don't put out
content for the
sake of

692
00:35:45,492 --> 00:35:49,445
putting out content just because
you think you need to do
it

693
00:35:49,445 --> 00:35:52,965
weekly, forever.
I usually, I mean, for a while I

694
00:35:52,965 --> 00:35:55,690
was like,
not just be
consistent, quote unquote, but

695
00:35:55,690 --> 00:35:58,765
be consistent,
sure, and if
you need to take a break for a

696
00:35:58,765 --> 00:36:01,450
week, or for a
month, or you
know, if you're going to drop a

697
00:36:01,450 --> 00:36:04,656
bunch of feed
drops in with an
intro from you that explains why

698
00:36:04,656 --> 00:36:07,314
you're away,
but this is a
really great episode to listen

699
00:36:07,314 --> 00:36:10,250
to while I'm
gone.
Great, be transparent with your

700
00:36:10,250 --> 00:36:12,980
audience about where you
are.
You don't have to give all the

701
00:36:12,980 --> 00:36:15,180
details, of course, but you

know, like you did, Mark, like

702
00:36:15,270 --> 00:36:18,164
you were away last week, you let

us know why.

703
00:36:18,164 --> 00:36:21,200
You, we are with you on that.
We want to know how
it went.

704
00:36:21,200 --> 00:36:25,504
I think a lot of this, a lot of
it is about your
trusting or

705
00:36:25,504 --> 00:36:28,868
letting your listeners be
excited by building
a

706
00:36:28,868 --> 00:36:34,066
relationship with you, and if
you need to make a change, or if

707
00:36:34,066 --> 00:36:38,330

you need to say goodbye to one
of your co-hosts for whatever


708
00:36:38,338 --> 00:36:40,660
reason, letting people know why
that happened.

709
00:36:40,660 --> 00:36:43,315
Of course, like I
said before,
you don't have to go into all

710
00:36:43,315 --> 00:36:46,714
the details, but
just being
when you can't be consistent, be

711
00:36:46,714 --> 00:36:50,554
transparent, and
I think
there's also an element here of

712
00:36:50,554 --> 00:36:54,880
it's okay to not
publish, or
it's okay to put out a shorter

713
00:36:54,880 --> 00:36:57,880
episode that is
quality rather
than a longer episode that is

714
00:36:57,880 --> 00:37:01,508
not good, it's
okay to kill an
episode where you had a guest

715
00:37:01,508 --> 00:37:04,524
come on who was
just bad, they
promoted themselves the entire

716
00:37:04,524 --> 00:37:06,743
time.
It's
okay to say, I am not

717
00:37:06,743 --> 00:37:08,428
publishing that.
I have standards.

718
00:37:08,428 --> 00:37:13,182
I also
will say, for the past
year or so, I worked with a lot

719
00:37:13,182 --> 00:37:15,516
of
businesses, solo
entrepreneurs, small companies

720
00:37:15,516 --> 00:37:19,269
that wanted to
start podcasts,
or were, you know, continuing to

721
00:37:19,269 --> 00:37:22,370
make their
own podcasts, and,
you know they had heard the same

722
00:37:22,370 --> 00:37:23,540
advice.
I
need to be consistent

723
00:37:23,540 --> 00:37:24,920
forever.
I need to put it out forever.


724
00:37:24,928 --> 00:37:28,310
That's how I'm going to grow.
Content in and of itself does


725
00:37:28,318 --> 00:37:30,900
not help you grow.
It's marketing the content that

726
00:37:30,900 --> 00:37:33,830
helps
you grow.
The show has to be good also,

727
00:37:33,830 --> 00:37:35,720
right?
The show has
to be good.

728
00:37:35,720 --> 00:37:37,715
People forget this.
You can't just put something


729
00:37:37,723 --> 00:37:39,229
out.
You don't deserve an audience.

730
00:37:39,229 --> 00:37:40,874
Nobody deserves an
audience,
right?

731
00:37:40,874 --> 00:37:42,700
You're not entitled to anybody's
time.

732
00:37:42,700 --> 00:37:46,060
You
have to work for it.
I lately have been telling

733
00:37:46,060 --> 00:37:49,844
people, if
you're a business
that has a podcast or a solo

734
00:37:49,844 --> 00:37:53,119
entrepreneur
that wants to
start a podcast, you have to

735
00:37:53,119 --> 00:37:55,596
decide why you're
making the
show, other than downloads and

736
00:37:55,596 --> 00:37:59,336
dollars, and that
there could
be so many reasons for that.

737
00:37:59,336 --> 00:38:02,331
It could be, it could
be as
shallow as I want to interview

738
00:38:02,331 --> 00:38:04,705
these people, so that
I can
make clips, so that I can post

739
00:38:04,705 --> 00:38:07,671
them on social, so that
people
see that I'm associated with

740
00:38:07,671 --> 00:38:09,708
this person.
That can be a
reason.

741
00:38:09,708 --> 00:38:12,287
It could be I love playing
around with technology.


742
00:38:12,295 --> 00:38:15,555
It could be I like sharpening my
interview skills, because I also

743
00:38:15,555 --> 00:38:18,744

like to speak on stages.
It could be it makes me look

744
00:38:18,744 --> 00:38:21,998
tech
forward to have a podcast
in my industry, so I want to

745
00:38:21,998 --> 00:38:25,568
have a
podcast, and you don't
have to be an every week, every

746
00:38:25,568 --> 00:38:29,120
day,
whatever your cadence is,
you don't have to be doing that

747
00:38:29,120 --> 00:38:30,851
forever.
If you have one big interview

748
00:38:30,851 --> 00:38:34,289
per month with
somebody that
you really want to have on your

749
00:38:34,289 --> 00:38:36,788
show, you can ride
the clips
wave forever.

750
00:38:36,788 --> 00:38:40,600
You could even have a situation
where you interview people

751
00:38:41,290 --> 00:38:44,920
literally just when they say yes

to you, and maybe the majority

752
00:38:44,980 --> 00:38:47,650
of your show lives on social,

and yeah, sure, you also

753
00:38:47,740 --> 00:38:51,340
distribute via RSS and YouTube,
but you don't owe anybody

754
00:38:51,400 --> 00:38:52,955
consistency, you have to decide.



755
00:38:52,963 --> 00:38:55,360
I just grind my gears, that's
another one.

756
00:38:55,360 --> 00:38:58,341
The idea that you,
you have to
do something because some

757
00:38:58,341 --> 00:39:02,530
SEO-laden blog told you
that
you had to do it, you do what

758
00:39:02,530 --> 00:39:04,905
you want.
Marc Ronick: Yes, yes, you're


759
00:39:04,913 --> 00:39:08,684
fitting right in here, Arielle.
Yeah, and all right, so let's


760
00:39:08,692 --> 00:39:13,492
keep stay on this a little bit.
If somebody, a podcaster, has a

761
00:39:13,492 --> 00:39:17,918
great show, but they're saying
they have a small audience,


762
00:39:17,926 --> 00:39:21,340
whatever, however they're
defining that, what are the


763
00:39:21,348 --> 00:39:25,098
first things you think that they
should focus on Arielle

764
00:39:25,098 --> 00:39:26,570
Nissenblatt: first?
I
would want them to do a self

765
00:39:26,750 --> 00:39:31,340
audit of their own show, but in
order to do that, they need to

766
00:39:31,790 --> 00:39:34,670
plug into the ecosystem, and I

think that's a mistake that a

767
00:39:34,670 --> 00:39:37,340
lot of people make, is they

don't listen to podcasts

768
00:39:37,340 --> 00:39:40,270
themselves, or they don't

actively make an effort to stay

769
00:39:40,390 --> 00:39:43,960
up on podcasts in their niche,

or even podcasts outside of

770
00:39:43,960 --> 00:39:46,305
their niche.
So, usually what I
recommend

771
00:39:46,305 --> 00:39:49,978
is make a list of other shows,
and it can be there
should

772
00:39:49,978 --> 00:39:52,608
probably be a few within your
category and a few outside
of

773
00:39:52,608 --> 00:39:54,934
your category.
You can go to Apple and Spotify

774
00:39:54,934 --> 00:39:58,186
and search for
your category,
choose a few big ones, choose a

775
00:39:58,186 --> 00:40:01,110
few small ones,
go to the.
There's a really great website

776
00:40:01,110 --> 00:40:03,965
that I'm sure
you've mentioned
on the show, called Rephonic.

777
00:40:03,965 --> 00:40:07,774
Yes,
rephonic.com/graph
There's a few websites nowadays

778
00:40:07,774 --> 00:40:10,194
that are
popping up that are
helpful here.

779
00:40:10,194 --> 00:40:13,214
Million podcasts.com makes

really specific lists.

780
00:40:13,214 --> 00:40:15,450
Player FM makes really specific
lists.

781
00:40:16,000 --> 00:40:19,085
Marc Ronick: Hey, how long has

that Million Podcasts site been

782
00:40:19,148 --> 00:40:21,304
out?
Because I feel like I'm
just

783
00:40:21,304 --> 00:40:23,531
seeing it, Arielle Nissenblatt:
because
it's a little.. can I

784
00:40:23,531 --> 00:40:25,730
be real with you?
I don't understand it.

785
00:40:25,730 --> 00:40:28,156
Marc Ronick: Yeah, me neither.
Arielle Nissenblatt: Okay, I'm


786
00:40:28,164 --> 00:40:30,891
doing some investigation, so
I'll get back to you on that.


787
00:40:30,899 --> 00:40:34,129
But for now, the lists are
there, so if you are straight up

788
00:40:34,129 --> 00:40:36,878

there to look for other shows
to potentially collaborate with,

789
00:40:36,878 --> 00:40:40,614
or
to listen to, or to..
I don't know, do some landscape

790
00:40:40,614 --> 00:40:43,909
tracking, you can use that.
They also have a paid service,

791
00:40:43,909 --> 00:40:46,190
so I
don't know exactly what
they're offering.

792
00:40:46,190 --> 00:40:50,150
Is you don't need to
take part
in that, so just use it for the

793
00:40:50,150 --> 00:40:52,370
listings for now.

That's the example that I'm

794
00:40:52,424 --> 00:40:55,587
giving, is you know, you can

use, you can go to Google and

795
00:40:55,642 --> 00:40:58,805
search, like podcasts about

niche topic player FM, podcast

796
00:40:58,859 --> 00:41:02,077
about niche topic, million

podcasts, podcasts, and then you

797
00:41:02,132 --> 00:41:03,978
can find lists of these things.


798
00:41:03,986 --> 00:41:07,032
They're usually generated by a
backend system that they have.


799
00:41:07,040 --> 00:41:10,504
That's a really great way to
just find out what other shows


800
00:41:10,512 --> 00:41:13,782
are playing in your arena.
You can listen to them, you can

801
00:41:13,782 --> 00:41:17,090
find
out what you like about
them, you can find what you

802
00:41:17,090 --> 00:41:19,753
don't like
about them.
Maybe they discuss things in

803
00:41:19,753 --> 00:41:22,797
your topic area that
you
really disagree with, look at

804
00:41:22,797 --> 00:41:25,210
that, that's a pulse, you,

that's a pulse check.

805
00:41:25,210 --> 00:41:28,056
You can disagree with them
publicly, you
can start some

806
00:41:28,056 --> 00:41:31,378
beef in a nice way, you can at
them on social
media and

807
00:41:31,378 --> 00:41:34,129
invite them to be on the show to
disagree with you.


808
00:41:34,137 --> 00:41:37,734
All of this just kind of puts
you in conversation with your


809
00:41:37,742 --> 00:41:40,650
audience, their audience, and
also the larger landscape that


810
00:41:40,658 --> 00:41:43,730
you're a part of.
But that's one thing I would do,

811
00:41:43,730 --> 00:41:47,027
is self audit,
try to figure
out where your show stands, how

812
00:41:47,027 --> 00:41:49,211
your cold opens
compare to
somebody else's.

813
00:41:49,211 --> 00:41:52,573
Do you need a cold open?
That's
another thing about

814
00:41:52,573 --> 00:41:54,424
consistency.
I'm sorry, Jason, you spoke


815
00:41:54,432 --> 00:41:57,571
about being on track.
You don't have to have a cold

816
00:41:57,571 --> 00:42:00,498
open for
every single episode
just because you've decided that

817
00:42:00,498 --> 00:42:03,836

that's how you open your show.
If there's not something cold


818
00:42:03,844 --> 00:42:06,113
open worthy, do not have a cold
open.

819
00:42:06,113 --> 00:42:09,254
I think people don't
realize
this, like don't put a shitty

820
00:42:09,254 --> 00:42:11,854
cold open for the sake of

putting a cold open.

821
00:42:11,854 --> 00:42:15,115
Okay, so anyway, all of this
kind of goes
into the audit

822
00:42:15,115 --> 00:42:18,679
process of like, is your show
actually good, is
it actually

823
00:42:18,679 --> 00:42:20,945
worthwhile.
Another part of this is pick one

824
00:42:20,945 --> 00:42:23,758
or two
people that leave
comments on your posts and ask

825
00:42:23,758 --> 00:42:27,282
them if you
can have a phone
call with them and see what they

826
00:42:27,282 --> 00:42:30,776
like about
your show and what
they don't like about your show.

827
00:42:30,776 --> 00:42:32,438
Ask them
very specific
questions.

828
00:42:32,438 --> 00:42:35,602
There is an article from 2023
written
by Tom Webster of

829
00:42:35,602 --> 00:42:38,682
Sounds Profitable, called What
We Talk
About When We Talk

830
00:42:38,682 --> 00:42:41,620
About Podcasts, and in it he
outlines
five questions that

831
00:42:41,620 --> 00:42:44,638
you can ask to do a mini
listener survey,
one of them

832
00:42:44,638 --> 00:42:48,240
is, is my show too long or too
short, and you'll
notice that

833
00:42:48,240 --> 00:42:51,454
the question there is not, How
do you feel about
the length

834
00:42:51,454 --> 00:42:54,735
of my show, because often when
you ask people a
question like

835
00:42:54,735 --> 00:42:57,877
that, it'll be like, oh, it's
good, but if you
give them a,

836
00:42:57,877 --> 00:43:01,198
is it too long or is it too
short, you get one
answer or

837
00:43:01,198 --> 00:43:04,290
the other, you can ask them, How
would you describe my
podcast

838
00:43:04,290 --> 00:43:07,703
to a friend or a family member?
So, what do other people


839
00:43:07,711 --> 00:43:11,028
perceive this show is about?
All of that stuff will be very


840
00:43:11,036 --> 00:43:14,143
helpful, and I would say pay
somebody to audit your show, but

841
00:43:14,143 --> 00:43:17,599

if you don't want to, you can
audit your own show, but you do

842
00:43:17,599 --> 00:43:19,703
need to put a lot of work into
it.

843
00:43:19,703 --> 00:43:22,453
Okay, so that's one thing
that
I would do to start.

844
00:43:22,507 --> 00:43:25,507
Another thing I would do is

there's a bunch of like low

845
00:43:25,561 --> 00:43:27,229
hanging fruit that I would

check.

846
00:43:27,229 --> 00:43:29,286
So, what's the name of your
show?

847
00:43:29,286 --> 00:43:32,051
Does it accurately
reflect
what your show is about?

848
00:43:32,105 --> 00:43:33,977
Is your cover art terrible?
Is
it ugly?

849
00:43:33,977 --> 00:43:37,932
Is it - does it give the wrong
impression of what the
show is

850
00:43:37,932 --> 00:43:39,508
about?
Because, again, what you're

851
00:43:39,508 --> 00:43:42,769
doing when you are
presenting
your show, is you have your

852
00:43:42,769 --> 00:43:45,958
title out there, you
have
your, you have your artwork out

853
00:43:45,958 --> 00:43:49,334
there, you have a
description
of your show out there, you have

854
00:43:49,334 --> 00:43:52,320
a few visual
elements that
people are clocking as they're

855
00:43:52,320 --> 00:43:55,834
deciding
whether or not to
listen to your show, and you get

856
00:43:55,834 --> 00:43:59,260
to figure out
over time, you
will figure out if people are,

857
00:43:59,260 --> 00:44:01,992
you're promising
somebody
something based on the artwork

858
00:44:01,992 --> 00:44:04,991
and the title, are you
then
delivering on it in each

859
00:44:05,045 --> 00:44:08,317
subsequent step that somebody

makes as they become a fan, or

860
00:44:08,372 --> 00:44:10,676
not?
So, a big part of this is
the

861
00:44:10,676 --> 00:44:12,081
trailer.
Does your trailer accurately

862
00:44:12,081 --> 00:44:15,332
reflect what's in the
actual
first episode of the show?

863
00:44:15,332 --> 00:44:18,352
If not, if your trailer is

where you spent all of your

864
00:44:18,407 --> 00:44:21,679
production budget and you've got

sound effects and music and

865
00:44:21,733 --> 00:44:25,005
whatever, and then the first

episode sounds terrible, that's

866
00:44:25,060 --> 00:44:28,441
very confusing for the listener,

so making sure all of that is

867
00:44:28,496 --> 00:44:31,550
consistent and makes sense from
one to the other is very

868
00:44:31,604 --> 00:44:34,931
important to do, that's another
thing that I would check out,

869
00:44:34,985 --> 00:44:38,094
same with your titles, your

episode title conventions, do

870
00:44:38,149 --> 00:44:41,366
they make sense, not only do

they make sense, are they, are

871
00:44:41,421 --> 00:44:44,747
they actually what people search

for when they're looking for

872
00:44:44,802 --> 00:44:47,058
your show.
Yes, this is SEO, but
even

873
00:44:47,058 --> 00:44:50,253
without getting into the nitty
gritty of it, just the
because

874
00:44:50,253 --> 00:44:53,333
I think SEO sometimes can be
scary, but really it's
like

875
00:44:53,333 --> 00:44:56,593
when people search for a show
like yours, what search
terms

876
00:44:56,593 --> 00:44:59,389
are they using?
That's SEO, so those are a few.

877
00:44:59,389 --> 00:45:02,443
Things
that I would do.
Another thing I would do is, I

878
00:45:02,443 --> 00:45:05,730
mean, the way
that I operate
when I'm working to grow a show

879
00:45:05,730 --> 00:45:08,143
is, I make a huge
list of
other podcasts, other

880
00:45:08,198 --> 00:45:11,579
newsletters, other publications,

influencers that we should be

881
00:45:11,634 --> 00:45:14,906
collaborating with or getting

front of in some way, and then

882
00:45:14,960 --> 00:45:18,014
the work is to find contact

information for that show or

883
00:45:18,069 --> 00:45:20,608
newsletter, or whatever.
Find an
angle, so sometimes

884
00:45:20,608 --> 00:45:24,466
it's I want to be a guest on the
show to
talk about this aspect

885
00:45:24,466 --> 00:45:27,041
of coffee farming.
If I'm a coffee
podcaster,

886
00:45:27,041 --> 00:45:29,708
sometimes it's there's a
newsletter, and a
newsletter

887
00:45:29,708 --> 00:45:33,045
about coffee, and in each issue
they feature a piece
of media.

888
00:45:33,045 --> 00:45:36,393
Can I be that piece of media?
Is it there's an
influencer

889
00:45:36,393 --> 00:45:39,499
who goes and reviews different,
I'm just making this
up, so

890
00:45:39,499 --> 00:45:42,683
it's going to be a weird thing.
Different movies where
coffee

891
00:45:42,683 --> 00:45:46,189
is like a main protagonist, or
like there's an
iconic coffee

892
00:45:46,189 --> 00:45:48,925
scene in the movie.
Can I sponsor that
segment?

893
00:45:48,925 --> 00:45:52,464
So, coming up with interesting
ways to get in front
of these

894
00:45:52,464 --> 00:45:55,401
people's audience in a way that
respects those people's


895
00:45:55,409 --> 00:45:58,686
audience and also respects the
fact that you've actually done


896
00:45:58,694 --> 00:46:02,435
your research to find out what
this show is about or what this

897
00:46:02,435 --> 00:46:04,763
newsletter is about, and how
you can plug in.

898
00:46:04,763 --> 00:46:08,006
A lot of people
ask, how do I
actually get a yes from this

899
00:46:08,006 --> 00:46:09,326
person?
How do I
pitch?

900
00:46:09,326 --> 00:46:11,772
How long should my pitch be?
Blah blah blah.

901
00:46:11,772 --> 00:46:15,421
I always say
the first thing
that you should do, and I feel

902
00:46:15,421 --> 00:46:18,412
pretty
comfortable saying you
should do this, even though I'm

903
00:46:18,412 --> 00:46:21,953
usually
not about the shoulds
and the musts and stuff, is you

904
00:46:21,953 --> 00:46:24,915
can
always email people or
message people and say, hey, I

905
00:46:24,915 --> 00:46:28,135
love what
you do, I would love
to send you information about my

906
00:46:28,135 --> 00:46:31,383
show, or
I'd love to pitch
myself as a guest, but first,

907
00:46:31,383 --> 00:46:35,097
before I do,
are you open to
pitches, and if so, what do you

908
00:46:35,097 --> 00:46:38,284
like to receive
in a pitch?
That's warming them up, it's a

909
00:46:38,284 --> 00:46:41,559
pre-pitch, and I
think that's
a great way to just get them to

910
00:46:41,559 --> 00:46:43,200
not hate you right
off the
bat.

911
00:46:43,200 --> 00:46:46,537
Marc Ronick: Yeah, all right.

So, I know that we have a couple

912
00:46:46,605 --> 00:46:48,495
more people that have questions.



913
00:46:48,503 --> 00:46:52,747
I'm gonna go to Phil Better,
who's over on Clubhouse first.


914
00:46:52,755 --> 00:46:56,068
Phil, good morning to you.
Good to see you.

915
00:46:56,068 --> 00:46:59,544
What did you want to
ask
Arielle after that build up?

916
00:46:59,613 --> 00:47:03,172
All right, sorry about that.
Phil: Sorry, couldn't find the


917
00:47:03,180 --> 00:47:04,350
unmute button.
Marc Ronick: That's okay.

918
00:47:04,350 --> 00:47:07,877
Phil: You think a podcaster

would learn how to unmute a mic,

919
00:47:07,943 --> 00:47:10,232
but no.
Arielle, thank you very
much

920
00:47:10,232 --> 00:47:13,260
for being here.
But you touched on earned media

921
00:47:13,260 --> 00:47:17,341
and
owned media in your, in
your talk, and if people aren't

922
00:47:17,341 --> 00:47:21,467
sure
what that means, it's
owned as your social media, or


923
00:47:21,475 --> 00:47:25,093
newsletter, or the podcasters,
the specific podcaster, and then

924
00:47:25,093 --> 00:47:28,587

earned is going on other
podcasts or getting on


925
00:47:28,595 --> 00:47:30,934
newsletters.
What is your suggestions to

926
00:47:30,934 --> 00:47:34,663
podcasters who
want to use
paid media to grow their

927
00:47:34,663 --> 00:47:36,495
podcast?
Arielle Nissenblatt: Yeah, so I

928
00:47:36,495 --> 00:47:39,429
have a few tools that if you
decide you want to spend some


929
00:47:39,437 --> 00:47:42,604
money to grow your show that I
trust, but first I would say


930
00:47:42,612 --> 00:47:46,768
figure out why you want to grow
your show in the first place,


931
00:47:46,776 --> 00:47:50,248
and figure out what, how you
want to grow it, because there


932
00:47:50,256 --> 00:47:52,347
are some.
Yes, you could pay for placement

933
00:47:52,347 --> 00:47:56,490
in a newsletter, yes,
you can
pay for placement on, you can

934
00:47:56,490 --> 00:48:00,072
buy an ad on a podcast,
but
you can also buy on apps, you

935
00:48:00,072 --> 00:48:03,330
can buy to get featured on a

podcast listening app like Cast

936
00:48:03,360 --> 00:48:06,330
Box or like Pocket Casts or like

Player FM.

937
00:48:06,330 --> 00:48:09,570
There's many others that allow
you to buy and some
that

938
00:48:09,570 --> 00:48:11,930
don't.
And I would say first and

939
00:48:11,930 --> 00:48:14,916
foremost, figure out
why you
want to grow, like ultimately,

940
00:48:14,916 --> 00:48:17,636
and it shouldn't
just be
because I want a bigger show, it

941
00:48:17,636 --> 00:48:20,416
should be because I
want more
clients or because I want to

942
00:48:20,416 --> 00:48:23,405
grow my social, like,
have a
reason that you want to grow

943
00:48:23,405 --> 00:48:26,780
other than I just want to
grow
vanity metrics.

944
00:48:26,780 --> 00:48:29,576
Then figure out how you want to
grow,
because, like I said

945
00:48:29,576 --> 00:48:31,888
before, you could buy subscriber
uplift.

946
00:48:31,888 --> 00:48:34,478
You
can buy guaranteed
subscriber uplift.

947
00:48:34,478 --> 00:48:36,627
There are a bunch of,
there
are a bunch of services out

948
00:48:36,627 --> 00:48:38,870
there that will say, I will

get you this many downloads, no

949
00:48:38,960 --> 00:48:40,458
matter what.
That's not usually
a good

950
00:48:40,458 --> 00:48:42,661
thing to do.
I know it sounds tempting, but

951
00:48:42,661 --> 00:48:46,795
yeah, that
means that they're
gonna probably be getting you

952
00:48:46,795 --> 00:48:49,796
some
lower quality subscribers
that aren't actually all that


953
00:48:49,804 --> 00:48:51,945
interested in what you're
putting out into the world.

954
00:48:51,945 --> 00:48:55,960
Then
there are some places
that will allow you to buy based

955
00:48:55,960 --> 00:48:58,668
on
impressions, which sounds
not great, right, because it's

956
00:48:58,668 --> 00:49:01,376
just
being impressed upon
people and they need to decide

957
00:49:01,376 --> 00:49:03,906
what action
to take, but
theoretically the people that

958
00:49:03,906 --> 00:49:07,190
are going to be
interested are
going to opt in, and they're

959
00:49:07,190 --> 00:49:09,249
interested in your
show, so
they're going to listen to it,

960
00:49:09,249 --> 00:49:10,852
maybe they stick around,
maybe
they don't.

961
00:49:10,852 --> 00:49:13,610
That's where the "your show has
to be good"
comes into play,

962
00:49:13,610 --> 00:49:18,399
but I'll say there's a lot that
you can do
for free to grow

963
00:49:18,399 --> 00:49:21,908
your show that I would pull all
of those levers
before you

964
00:49:21,908 --> 00:49:24,490
start spending money, especially
if you're an
independent

965
00:49:24,490 --> 00:49:26,570
creator, you know.
And I shouldn't be saying I


966
00:49:26,578 --> 00:49:28,199
would, I would, I would, I
would.

967
00:49:28,199 --> 00:49:31,250
That's what I would do.

Yeah, independent creators can

968
00:49:31,280 --> 00:49:33,680
make their own decisions.
If
you're at a network, you

969
00:49:33,680 --> 00:49:37,406
have less decision-making power,
so
it might be, you know, this

970
00:49:37,406 --> 00:49:40,608
is the, this is how we're going
to
spend our budget, and you

971
00:49:40,608 --> 00:49:43,780
might be getting placements on

podcasts or in newsletters that

972
00:49:43,840 --> 00:49:46,030
don't necessarily make sense,

but they need to spend that

973
00:49:46,090 --> 00:49:48,850
budget, so even if you do end up

eventually spending money,

974
00:49:49,540 --> 00:49:53,470
please make sure that you're

also running these non-paid

975
00:49:54,190 --> 00:49:55,540
marketing campaigns

simultaneously.

976
00:49:55,540 --> 00:49:58,420
If you do want to spend money,
there's..

977
00:49:58,420 --> 00:50:01,475
I
really like.. there's this.
Service called Introcast,


978
00:50:01,483 --> 00:50:06,486
introcast.io It allows you to
pay for feed drops on other


979
00:50:06,494 --> 00:50:11,151
people's podcasts, but it goes
into the second episode slot, so

980
00:50:11,151 --> 00:50:14,490

it's very interesting,
inobtrusive, slow growth, but


981
00:50:14,498 --> 00:50:17,574
slow, meaningful growth that
actually compounds over time.

982
00:50:17,574 --> 00:50:19,500
So
that's one that I
recommend.

983
00:50:19,530 --> 00:50:21,590
There are a few others that I

recommend, but for the interest

984
00:50:21,620 --> 00:50:24,160
of time, I will pause.
Marc Ronick: Awesome, thank you.

985
00:50:24,160 --> 00:50:25,680


And, DR, you had something.

986
00:50:25,680 --> 00:50:29,904
DR: Yeah, by the way, I am now

one of your paid subscribers on

987
00:50:29,977 --> 00:50:34,910
Podcast Plunge.
Alex: Wow, that's such a shock.

988
00:50:34,910 --> 00:50:37,069
Marc Ronick: There's Alex Alex:
off the road.

989
00:50:37,069 --> 00:50:39,760
Sorry, I had
to just stick
that in there.

990
00:50:39,760 --> 00:50:43,054
Marc Ronick: And just so you

know, Arielle, Alex is referring

991
00:50:43,122 --> 00:50:47,034
to just the fact that Air, that
DR. is quick sometimes to

992
00:50:47,103 --> 00:50:50,260
subscribe to things.
Yeah,
there's gonna be an

993
00:50:50,320 --> 00:50:53,929
Alex: intervention soon.
It's
gonna be Ralph and the

994
00:50:53,929 --> 00:50:57,049
rest of the crew, since Ralph is
the
money guy, because we're

995
00:50:57,049 --> 00:50:58,660
gonna have a huge intervention
on
page.

996
00:50:58,990 --> 00:51:02,025
DR: Yeah, intervention.
Anyway,
that's Alex: a side.

997
00:51:02,025 --> 00:51:04,230
I'm sorry, I
didn't mean to
conversation.

998
00:51:04,379 --> 00:51:08,643
DR: So I want to talk about when

you were talking about self

999
00:51:08,720 --> 00:51:12,376
audit as a producer.
Probably my
biggest pain point

1000
00:51:12,376 --> 00:51:17,265
is that when people come to me,
they've
usually lived with

1001
00:51:17,265 --> 00:51:21,858
their podcast in their head for
at least a
year, maybe two

1002
00:51:21,858 --> 00:51:26,428
years before they even come to
me, and trying
to get them to

1003
00:51:26,428 --> 00:51:29,131
guilt.
The fact that you know Joe

1004
00:51:29,131 --> 00:51:33,765
Blow's podcast
is probably
going to be passed up is a hard,

1005
00:51:33,765 --> 00:51:38,371
is hard to do,
because they've
lived with it for so long in

1006
00:51:38,371 --> 00:51:42,497
their head,
they've lived with
the image of what they want

1007
00:51:42,497 --> 00:51:46,959
their, their
cover art to be
in their head, and I'm trying

1008
00:51:46,959 --> 00:51:51,645
to, you know, pry
them away
from from that and have a little

1009
00:51:51,645 --> 00:51:56,244
bit more of an
open mind.
It's tough when you ask them to

1010
00:51:56,244 --> 00:51:58,182
self audit that.
Arielle Nissenblatt: Yeah, the


1011
00:51:58,190 --> 00:52:00,557
only reason I'm giving that
recommendation is because I


1012
00:52:00,565 --> 00:52:04,158
don't want to outright be like
you should pay me to audit your

1013
00:52:04,158 --> 00:52:06,340
show.
I mean, I think that there is a

1014
00:52:06,340 --> 00:52:08,932
lot you can do to be

objective, but you can also pay

1015
00:52:08,986 --> 00:52:12,011
other people to be objective for

you, or.. and you'll see

1016
00:52:12,064 --> 00:52:15,196
sometimes on like communities,

podcast creator communities,

1017
00:52:15,249 --> 00:52:18,433
like anybody want to do an audit

swap, and I think even that

1018
00:52:18,486 --> 00:52:20,694
you're still kind of

incentivized to be nice.

1019
00:52:20,694 --> 00:52:24,099
So I'm not saying I'm mean, I'm
just
saying I'm, I'm like,

1020
00:52:24,099 --> 00:52:27,801
here's what's not working.
DR: Yeah, you know, we do audits

1021
00:52:27,801 --> 00:52:32,480

here on this show every now
and then, and we have got that


1022
00:52:32,488 --> 00:52:36,911
finesse, we've got it down that,
you know, compliment sandwich,


1023
00:52:36,919 --> 00:52:41,272
where you give a give a great
kudo, and then an opportunity,


1024
00:52:41,280 --> 00:52:43,618
and you back it up with another
kudo.

1025
00:52:43,618 --> 00:52:46,750
Yeah, so yeah, there's a
way
to do it.

1026
00:52:46,810 --> 00:52:48,400
Arielle Nissenblatt: There's a

way to do it, and people need to

1027
00:52:48,430 --> 00:52:52,253
hear it, because ultimately you
need to decide why you make

1028
00:52:52,253 --> 00:52:55,255
your show, right?
Is it just to
stroke your own

1029
00:52:55,255 --> 00:52:57,032
ego?
Because if so, that's okay, but

1030
00:52:57,032 --> 00:52:58,900
you need to
know that it may
not grow.

1031
00:52:59,680 --> 00:53:01,370
Marc Ronick: Fair enough,
Arielle Nissenblatt: if you can

1032
00:53:01,370 --> 00:53:04,080
admit it, Marc Ronick: and by
the way,
again, it's Arielle

1033
00:53:04,144 --> 00:53:08,176
nissenblatt.com and we're going
to put a link in our show notes

1034
00:53:08,240 --> 00:53:12,016
as well, if you want to learn

how to get in touch with her,

1035
00:53:12,080 --> 00:53:15,984
and also I want to, you know,

we're short on time, and I want

1036
00:53:16,048 --> 00:53:20,080
to ask you about new podcasts,

right, so if we're launching, if

1037
00:53:20,144 --> 00:53:22,878
you were launching a new podcast

today.

1038
00:53:22,878 --> 00:53:25,917
What content strategy would you
focus on first?

1039
00:53:25,917 --> 00:53:29,596
Give
me one specifically one
content strategy you would focus

1040
00:53:29,596 --> 00:53:32,024
on first.
Arielle Nissenblatt: I would


1041
00:53:32,032 --> 00:53:35,600
really be playing a game of
optimizing everything,


1042
00:53:35,608 --> 00:53:40,784
sharpening all of the messaging
around the show, so I really


1043
00:53:40,792 --> 00:53:45,130
want to make sure that the cover
art accurately reflects the rest

1044
00:53:45,130 --> 00:53:49,180

of the show, that the title
reflects the rest of the show,


1045
00:53:49,188 --> 00:53:52,230
that the title is what people
search for, maybe also with


1046
00:53:52,238 --> 00:53:55,070
something cutesy thrown in
there, because yes, SEO is


1047
00:53:55,078 --> 00:53:58,326
important, but writing for
humans is also important.

1048
00:53:58,326 --> 00:54:02,547
I
would make sure that I'm
thinking strategically about


1049
00:54:02,555 --> 00:54:07,230
each of my guests, and I think
that means sometimes if you


1050
00:54:07,238 --> 00:54:10,260
interview somebody and it's not
a perfect interview, maybe you


1051
00:54:10,268 --> 00:54:13,596
don't have to kill the interview
entirely, but you instead


1052
00:54:13,604 --> 00:54:18,084
release parts of it on YouTube,
and maybe not necessarily on the

1053
00:54:18,084 --> 00:54:21,190

podcast feed, depending on,
you know, which is your primary

1054
00:54:21,190 --> 00:54:24,050
feed
there, which for me,
YouTube is more experimental at

1055
00:54:24,050 --> 00:54:26,358
this
moment.
For some creators, it, that's

1056
00:54:26,358 --> 00:54:29,330
that's their main thing.

I also think a YouTube strategy

1057
00:54:29,540 --> 00:54:32,210
is important, and that doesn't

necessarily mean that you need

1058
00:54:32,240 --> 00:54:35,660
to be full on video, it just

means that you need to be taking

1059
00:54:35,690 --> 00:54:39,170
advantage of all that YouTube

has to offer, which means you

1060
00:54:39,170 --> 00:54:41,106
know your RSS feed can live in

YouTube.

1061
00:54:41,106 --> 00:54:43,710
There's a, there's a place where
you can submit your
RSS feed,

1062
00:54:43,710 --> 00:54:45,760
and then your podcast is
available as an audio-only


1063
00:54:45,768 --> 00:54:47,795
podcast.
And I don't think a lot of

1064
00:54:47,795 --> 00:54:50,145
people know that.
I don't
think a lot of podcast

1065
00:54:50,145 --> 00:54:52,186
creators know that.
They think to be on
YouTube,

1066
00:54:52,186 --> 00:54:55,270
you need to be full on video.
So strategies that I
would

1067
00:54:55,270 --> 00:54:58,560
use, or that I would be
implementing, those are some of

1068
00:54:58,560 --> 00:55:01,340
the things that I.
I am interested in, but I think

1069
00:55:01,340 --> 00:55:04,575
for a
lot of people who are
new or who are getting started

1070
00:55:04,575 --> 00:55:08,418
back up
after a while, please
plug into the wider podcast

1071
00:55:08,418 --> 00:55:10,560
space.

Listening to this show is a

1072
00:55:10,590 --> 00:55:12,305
great idea.
Finding out what's
the news

1073
00:55:12,305 --> 00:55:16,032
out there, how you can use that
news, news you can use.


1074
00:55:16,040 --> 00:55:18,226
Read pod news every day, read
sounds profitable.

1075
00:55:18,226 --> 00:55:20,876
Find out what
people are
saying, what people are doing,

1076
00:55:20,876 --> 00:55:24,116
what's working, what
research
studies are out there that you

1077
00:55:24,116 --> 00:55:27,018
can leverage.
Think
about the trust that you

1078
00:55:27,018 --> 00:55:30,810
build with your listeners, and
think
about how you can use

1079
00:55:30,810 --> 00:55:34,954
that to your advantage, and not
in a
sketchy way, but really

1080
00:55:34,954 --> 00:55:37,338
just trying to figure out, like,
all
of the different ways that

1081
00:55:37,338 --> 00:55:40,810
you can plug into this ecosystem

that you're a part of is a

1082
00:55:40,870 --> 00:55:44,320
really great way to just make

sure that you're doing it for

1083
00:55:44,380 --> 00:55:46,615
the right reasons, Marc Ronick:
yeah.

1084
00:55:46,615 --> 00:55:49,243
And all
right, I'm going to
ask you one final question to

1085
00:55:49,243 --> 00:55:51,349
wrap up.
As
you're looking at

1086
00:55:51,349 --> 00:55:55,920
podcasting today, we hear a lot
of people
worrying about some

1087
00:55:55,920 --> 00:55:59,770
of the negative things that are
happening in this space, but I

1088
00:55:59,890 --> 00:56:02,490
want to hear from you, what

gives you the most optimism

1089
00:56:02,850 --> 00:56:05,606
about podcasting today?
Arielle Nissenblatt: Oh, I've


1090
00:56:05,614 --> 00:56:07,775
said this for 10 years, and I
will continue to say it.

1091
00:56:07,775 --> 00:56:09,420
We're
in the golden age of
podcasts.

1092
00:56:09,510 --> 00:56:12,054
There's so much good stuff out

there that's free.

1093
00:56:12,054 --> 00:56:16,746
You could be entertained 24/7
all the time,
constantly.

1094
00:56:16,746 --> 00:56:20,510
There's so much good stuff to
the point that there's
no way

1095
00:56:20,510 --> 00:56:23,150
you're gonna be able to listen
to all of it, but, and
that's

1096
00:56:23,150 --> 00:56:25,788
from a, from a listener
perspective, I just really


1097
00:56:25,796 --> 00:56:29,408
think, oh, you have homework,
sure, and that homework is to


1098
00:56:29,416 --> 00:56:32,649
listen to the best podcast ever.
Okay, that's so sucks for you,


1099
00:56:32,657 --> 00:56:36,336
but no, that's what I would say,
from, from a consumer


1100
00:56:36,344 --> 00:56:40,280
perspective, from a creator
perspective, I mean, I just


1101
00:56:40,288 --> 00:56:44,062
really think podcasters are
getting smarter about hype


1102
00:56:44,070 --> 00:56:46,468
cycles.
You know, there's a lot of hype

1103
00:56:46,468 --> 00:56:48,098
out there.
You got to do
everything with

1104
00:56:48,098 --> 00:56:50,108
AI, you got to do everything
with video.

1105
00:56:50,108 --> 00:56:54,670
I
think there is still so much
value in audio focus content.


1106
00:56:54,678 --> 00:56:59,794
And last year was definitely a
year that I was hearing a lot of

1107
00:56:59,794 --> 00:57:02,568

like, and I'm still seeing
emails that are like, if you're

1108
00:57:02,568 --> 00:57:05,514
not doing video, you're not
taking your podcast seriously,


1109
00:57:05,522 --> 00:57:09,418
which pisses me off, but yeah,
it's really ridiculous.

1110
00:57:09,418 --> 00:57:12,512
I know
it's meant to sell
courses and all that kind of

1111
00:57:12,512 --> 00:57:14,812
stuff, but I
know that
creators are getting smarter

1112
00:57:14,812 --> 00:57:16,899
about being like, no,
that's
not right for me.

1113
00:57:16,899 --> 00:57:20,990
So figuring out what makes sense

for them at the stage that

1114
00:57:21,020 --> 00:57:24,044
they're at, creators are getting

better at that.

1115
00:57:24,044 --> 00:57:27,530
Advertisers are also the hype
cycle will
overcorrect,

1116
00:57:27,530 --> 00:57:30,923
meaning you know, at first we're
not going to
advertise on

1117
00:57:30,923 --> 00:57:32,522
podcasts that don't also do
video.

1118
00:57:32,522 --> 00:57:35,220
Guess what, the
people that
watch videos don't watch videos

1119
00:57:35,220 --> 00:57:37,814
for as long as the
people that
listen to podcasts listen to

1120
00:57:37,814 --> 00:57:40,520
those podcasts, and
that is
starting to become evident in

1121
00:57:40,520 --> 00:57:43,536
research studies, so
I have a
lot of, and I'm not saying video

1122
00:57:43,536 --> 00:57:44,512
is not something
you should
do.

1123
00:57:44,512 --> 00:57:46,300
If you want to make video, you
should make
video.

1124
00:57:46,300 --> 00:57:49,195
If you want to go into a studio
and make really beautiful


1125
00:57:49,203 --> 00:57:52,485
video, you should do that.
But also know that the people

1126
00:57:52,485 --> 00:57:56,350
that
listen to your show love
you and want to stick around,

1127
00:57:56,350 --> 00:57:58,926
and
usually are higher
earners, which means that

1128
00:57:58,926 --> 00:58:01,560
they're going
to spend more on
ads, which makes them not to

1129
00:58:01,560 --> 00:58:05,286
speak about
people in terms of
the dollar values that are over

1130
00:58:05,286 --> 00:58:08,312
their
faces, but that's
there's so much value in audio,

1131
00:58:08,312 --> 00:58:11,022
and it's
also fun.
Marc Ronick: I agree with you.


1132
00:58:11,030 --> 00:58:12,756
Yes, and I'm glad you said that.
Thank you.

1133
00:58:12,756 --> 00:58:16,720
Before we wrap up, I
know that
you and Jason, I know I teased

1134
00:58:16,720 --> 00:58:22,326
earlier that you, you
were on
his show, or actually will be on

1135
00:58:22,326 --> 00:58:25,810
his show, podcasting
strategy
simplified, but Jason, you guys

1136
00:58:25,810 --> 00:58:27,350
have another project
that's
coming up, right?

1137
00:58:28,080 --> 00:58:30,961
Jason: Yeah, and I'm honestly

going to pass the microphone to

1138
00:58:31,014 --> 00:58:33,948
Arielle for this, because I,

this will be my first time

1139
00:58:34,002 --> 00:58:35,470
venturing into uncharted

territory.

1140
00:58:35,470 --> 00:58:39,244
We're gonna go live on Substack
next Monday, so we
get to hang

1141
00:58:39,244 --> 00:58:42,325
out again, and I'm looking
forward to that, but
Arielle,

1142
00:58:42,325 --> 00:58:45,576
what does everybody have to look
forward to when
they join us

1143
00:58:45,576 --> 00:58:46,943
on that?
Arielle Nissenblatt: Yes, we're

1144
00:58:46,943 --> 00:58:50,323
speaking on the 22nd I think
it's at 9:30am Eastern time, and

1145
00:58:50,323 --> 00:58:52,351

we're just talking about
podcast events.

1146
00:58:52,351 --> 00:58:54,472
So, what events should
people
go to?

1147
00:58:54,472 --> 00:58:56,841
We're going to talk about
Empowered Podcasting.


1148
00:58:56,849 --> 00:59:00,293
We're going to talk about how
these events come together.

1149
00:59:00,293 --> 00:59:04,328
What
I'm very curious about
is, and I, what I know a lot of

1150
00:59:04,328 --> 00:59:07,827
creators
are curious about, is
how do you make the most out of

1151
00:59:07,827 --> 00:59:10,823
your time
at a conference?
You're spending money to go

1152
00:59:10,823 --> 00:59:13,837
there, you're
spending time.
How do you network with people?

1153
00:59:13,837 --> 00:59:16,341
How do you
follow up on that
networking?

1154
00:59:16,398 --> 00:59:17,964
What sessions should you go to?


1155
00:59:17,972 --> 00:59:20,657
Is it worth it to wander the
expo hall floor?

1156
00:59:20,657 --> 00:59:23,630
Yes, there's a
lot of good
swag, and so much more.

1157
00:59:23,630 --> 00:59:24,800
Marc Ronick: Very cool Jason: to
it.

1158
00:59:24,800 --> 00:59:27,423
Marc Ronick: Yeah, yeah, I'm

looking forward to seeing that.

1159
00:59:27,479 --> 00:59:29,490
Arielle, thank you so much for

joining us.

1160
00:59:29,490 --> 00:59:33,127
And I know this is a maybe a
cliche term, but I would
love

1161
00:59:33,127 --> 00:59:36,597
for you to keep coming back
whenever you can, because I feel

1162
00:59:36,597 --> 00:59:39,966

like we're, we're all, we're
very similar in how we think


1163
00:59:39,974 --> 00:59:43,268
about podcasting, and I would
just be great to have your voice

1164
00:59:43,268 --> 00:59:45,163

be a part of this whenever
possible.

1165
00:59:45,163 --> 00:59:47,410
So that's an open
invitation
for us.

1166
00:59:47,410 --> 00:59:47,826
Arielle Nissenblatt: Thank you.


1167
00:59:47,834 --> 00:59:49,120
I had a lot of fun.
Thank you for having me.

1168
00:59:49,300 --> 00:59:50,618
Marc Ronick: Yep, thank you.

You're welcome.

1169
00:59:50,618 --> 00:59:53,632
All right, so we are back
tomorrow with all
things

1170
00:59:53,632 --> 00:59:57,030
podcasting news, so come join us
for our news and comment


1171
00:59:57,038 --> 01:00:00,680
episode that we do every
Wednesday, 8am Eastern, you can

1172
01:00:00,680 --> 01:00:04,290
learn more at Podcasting
Morning show.com/join us.

1173
01:00:04,290 --> 01:00:09,670
So, until
tomorrow, make it a
great day, everybody.

1174
01:00:09,670 --> 01:00:10,350
Take care.