Why Combining Shows is a Recipe for Disaster
I saw on Reddit where someone was potentially making the classic blunder of podcasting: mixing unrelated shows into one feed.
You know, like if you went to a restaurant for a burger but ended up with sushi on the same plate. I point out that our buddy Joey has a bi-weekly podcast that covers both video games and TV shows. With a measly two downloads per episode, Joey's mixing it up like a bad cocktail.
The main takeaway? Split those shows!
Seriously, if someone clicks on a gaming episode expecting a deep dive into Mario Kart, they don’t want to suddenly hear about the latest Netflix binge. We’re all about giving the audience choices here, folks.
Keep it simple, keep it focused, and let them pick what they want to listen to. It’s like letting them pick their own adventure instead of forcing them to read the whole book. So, if you’re in this boat, don’t wait for a big audience to fix it. Tweak it now, while the stakes are low.
Trust me, you’ll thank yourself later when you’re not scrambling to split your shows down the line. And with the right media host, like Captivate or Transistor, you can have multiple shows without breaking the bank. Why wait until it’s a mess?
Takeaways:
- Don't make the rookie mistake of merging unrelated podcast topics into one show, just don't.
- Split your podcast episodes into separate feeds to give listeners their power of choice, ya know?
- Tuning your podcast like a guitar should happen when you have fewer listeners, not a packed house.
- Using the right media host can save you from the headache of splitting up your shows later on.
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00:00 - Untitled
00:00 - Introduction to Podcasting Mistakes
01:20 - Splitting the Show for Better Audience Engagement
02:09 - The Importance of Audience Engagement
03:25 - Transitioning Between Shows and Media Hosts
Someone has made, in my opinion, one of the worst podcasting mistakes.
Speaker AAnd today I'll talk about how to fix it and why.
Speaker BWelcome to your podcast consultant.
Speaker BSmall lessons with big value.
Speaker BWith more than a decade of experience and millions of downloads, this hall of fame podcaster is a featured speaker, author, and mentor to thousands.
Speaker BNow he wants to work with you, Your podcast consultant, Dave Jackson.
Speaker ASo Joey asks.
Speaker ALook, I'm doing a bi weekly pod.
Speaker AI really hate when people call it pod.
Speaker AFor the record, I don't know why.
Speaker AWith one other person, we talk games on Tuesday and shows on Friday.
Speaker AWe're already 16 episodes in, and not including YouTube, we average about two downloads per episode.
Speaker AI would get some feedback on your show, and I would also make sure you're in Apple and Spotify and all the other places too.
Speaker AIs a giant red flag that something here is wrong?
Speaker AMy question is if we should split the show in the RSS feed or keep it the way it is.
Speaker AIs it affecting the SEO?
Speaker AAnd so my first reaction is, number one, split the shows, especially if they're not related.
Speaker ASo if you're talking about games and it's, whatever, Mario Kart, and on Friday, you're talking about tv, Well, I kind of tuned in to hear about how to get to the next level in Mario Kart.
Speaker AAnd so for me, that's not really related.
Speaker AAnd I would split them now.
Speaker AAnd some people are like, well, you're trying to grow your audience.
Speaker AYou should keep it together.
Speaker ANo, no, no, no.
Speaker AFix it now while nobody's listening.
Speaker ADo you want to tune your guitar now when there's only two people in the audience?
Speaker AOr do you want to tune your guitar when you have 3,000 people in the audience?
Speaker ANo, let's do it now.
Speaker ALet's fix the mistake.
Speaker ABecause I've seen people do this when I worked at Libsyn, a media host, and it's a pain to split a show into a second show because you have to tell the people that are listening, hey, if you liked it when we talked about Mario Kart, that's over there now.
Speaker AAnd you have to resubscribe.
Speaker ASo keep that in mind.
Speaker AAnd I mean, people in Reddit were like, no, no, just keep it together.
Speaker AWhat if you had to watch every show on Netflix to get to the one you wanted?
Speaker AYou want to put the power of choice in.
Speaker AInto the hand of the audience.
Speaker AIt may turn out that, look, you got these two topics, and nobody really wants topic number one.
Speaker AThey all go to topic number two.
Speaker AWell, hey, guess what?
Speaker AYou can stop doing that and Save your time and put all your effort into making that one show amazing.
Speaker ABut that is one of the worst things, because I've seen people, they're like, hey, I've got 316 episodes and I need to take 87 of these and put them into another feed.
Speaker AIt's not a fun activity at all.
Speaker AIt's one of those things that the whole time you do it, you go, what was I thinking?
Speaker ASo, yeah, if you have two shows, this is where media hosts like Captivate and Transistor come into play.
Speaker ABecause with both those, you can have as many shows and as many episodes as you want.
Speaker AThe only time you, your bill goes up is when you go over a certain amount.
Speaker ASo with Captivate, which is why they're my number One choice, it's 30,000.
Speaker AWith Transistor, it's 20,000amonth.
Speaker AAnd if you're getting 30,000 downloads a month, you should be able to monetize that to help pay for the additional cost.
Speaker ABut you can start out with 20 or, I'm sorry, 30,000 downloads a month for $19 a month.
Speaker AIt's a great deal.
Speaker AThis show is on Captivate and I have a lot of shows that I started in the past.
Speaker AThey did for a few years and I then moved to another show.
Speaker AAnd they're still on Captivate.
Speaker AThey're still alive, even though I'm not actively producing more episodes because it doesn't cost me any money to create a second or third or fourth or fifth show.
Speaker ASo keep that in mind.
Speaker ASo never put two shows on the same feed.
Speaker AYou want to keep the power of choice in the hands of your audience so that you can figure out what's working and what's not.
Speaker ANow, if you need help with your podcast, I would love to help you.
Speaker ASimply go over to schoolofpodcasting.com and use the coupon code listnr when you sign up for either a monthly, quarterly, or yearly subscription.
Speaker AAnd of course, that comes with a 30 day money back guarantee.
Speaker AI'm Dave Jackson.
Speaker AI help podcasters.
Speaker AI've been doing this almost 21 years now and I can't wait to see what we're going to do together because I want to be your podcast consultant.
