As the United States celebrates 250 years of independence, I want to celebrate the independence of podcasting.
I named this show The Audacity to Podcast not only because of the software I talked about in the early days, but because of the guts, the courage, the power, the audacity it takes to podcast. And one of the most fun and powerful parts of podcasting is its independence. This applies even if you don't think of yourself as an independent (or “indie”) podcaster. Podcasting has an independence to it, and even the big corporations are recognizing this, which is why so many of them now podcast.
Here are ten reasons to celebrate together the independence of podcasting.
1. Talk about whatever you want
This is the thing that first attracted me to podcasts 21 years ago when iTunes 4.9 came out. I had burned out on all the talk radio, audiobooks, and my own music collection during my long commute to my full-time job back then. Podcasting had already been around for about a year, but that was the first time I'd heard of it.
What immediately drew me in is that I could find podcasts about whatever I wanted to listen to, and only what I wanted to listen to. The tech talk wasn't interrupted by news and traffic. There weren't many commercials back then, and even today the ad load on podcasts is so much lower than a lot of other media.
As podcasters, this is exciting because we can talk about whatever we want. If you want a podcast about water canteens, you can do a podcast about water canteens. A piece of software you love, a hobby, an interest, a food, something you do professionally, or even something you're still learning about. We call those journey podcasts, where you invite your audience along with you because you're not the expert yet, but you're becoming the expert.
There are certainly ideas about what might grow better, and I've covered those in previous episodes. But they're guidelines, not rules. The independence of podcasting means you don't have to follow them. You can talk about whatever you want.
2. Run your podcast however you like
If you want your podcast to be long or short, that's up to you. You don't even have to make every episode the same length.
Radio and TV shows have to worry about the show clock, ad breaks, news, traffic, and what fits into their time slots. They cut really good content to fit, or they stretch content to fill the slot. You don't have to do that. You don't have to podcast every day, or even every week. Weekly is a good schedule, but you can publish more or less frequently.
You can podcast with whatever cohost, approach, and style you want. If you want to be serious and dry, do that. If you want to be hilarious and laughing the whole time, do that too, even about the same things other people treat seriously. Maybe there's space for you to be the podcast that makes people laugh about that thing. That's what's so great about the independence of podcasting.
3. Reach a global audience with your voice
And I do mean your literal voice. Whether you're doing video or audio podcasting, it's your voice that communicates, reaches people where they are, and touches them with your humanity. Audio is easier because you don't have to worry about makeup, lighting, cameras, and your set. It's just you, your microphone, and a hopefully quiet environment.
You can reach a global audience from literally your closet (great acoustics) or your basement, where I'm recording right now, and impact the world for good. Name another media format that lets you do that so easily.
A blog is usually distributed through RSS like a podcast, but people are reading the content with the voice in their own heads. No matter how good a writer you are, the written word will never communicate as personably as your literal voice. Through your voice, people hear your passion, hear how well you know your content, and hear how much you care about them. As I was reminded recently: people don't care how much you know until they know how much you care. You can show that care through your voice far more than through writing.
4. Produce content from anywhere
You don't need a full studio with acoustic panels and expensive equipment. That's what radio and major TV shows do. The technology you need, especially for an audio podcast, is lightweight. It could be a microphone and an internet-connected device so you can publish right from it, like a microphone and a phone or tablet.
That requires some technique to sound better, but you can podcast from anywhere. These days you might not even need a separate microphone. Treat your modern smartphone's built-in mic like a studio microphone: point it at you, be in a quiet environment, get close to it, and avoid plosives. It can sound really good. Set it on the table two feet away and it won't.
I appreciate that Adam Curry from the No Agenda podcast takes his gear on the road and sounds the same everywhere he goes. Or look at James Cridland with PodNews, who often records with background noise from a conference, airport, or restaurant, opening with “from Brisbane,” “from Chicago,” “from wherever,” because he's committed to a daily podcast.
Even if you always record from home, that still counts as “anywhere.” You don't have to go to a professional studio. If you're a super professional podcaster with a real studio, that's fantastic, but many independent podcasters just record from home. You can have cohosts join over the internet and still get studio-quality sound. It's very easy and affordable now to get great audio, and even great video, from portable equipment so you can podcast from anywhere.
5. Host or move your podcast where you choose
There isn't one central place to distribute your podcast from. Podcasting distribution is centralized, but it's centralized wherever you choose. Consumption is decentralized because people can listen in many different apps. And you choose where your RSS feed lives.
Compare that to YouTube, where the only place to get YouTube videos is YouTube. Or Netflix, where the only place to watch Stranger Things is Netflix. Those are centralized in distribution and consumption, and you can't get that content anywhere else. Many creators on those networks are locked into contracts. For a while, Joe Rogan's Spotify contract meant his show was exclusive there. When his contract ended, he could host and move it wherever he wanted.
You have that same freedom. If you're on a bad hosting provider, you can switch to a good one. I won't name who to move away from, but the hosting providers I recommend most often are Captivate, Blubrry, and Buzzsprout.
If one isn't working for you, you can move your podcast somewhere else. Even though your host stores your episodes and statistics and publishes your RSS feed, you can redirect that feed elsewhere and take your audience with you. As long as you're leaving a good host, they'll let you go. The good ones don't lock you in.
For example, Captivate is one of the hosts I recommend most. But if you want a WordPress-focused workflow, my top recommendation is Blubrry. You can move from one to the other and stay connected with your audience through your RSS feed. You're not locked into one place. Your podcast is independent.
6. Monetize your podcast (or don't) however you want
You don't have to have sponsors and advertisers. You can podcast just for the fun of it without worrying about money.
You could monetize through affiliates: things you recommend that earn you a portion when people buy through your links. If you sign up for Captivate or Blubrry through these links, I receive a commission, and I'd love it if you would. You simply talk about products you like and use, and point people to your affiliate links in your notes, blog posts, and chapters.
There was a time when the Amazon affiliate program paid enough that I could cover my mortgage purely from what I earned through it. It pays less now for several reasons, but it's still something to look at. It doesn't have to be Amazon, either. You might work out a referral program with something completely relevant to your podcast and audience.
Or you might get into business for yourself, on the side or full-time, like I've done for 15 years. My business has changed radically over that time: web design, then consulting, then courses and membership, then a podcast network, and now a podcast software business, with Podgagement and PodChapters as my main products. That's how I earn money for my business and my little family.
But you don't have to monetize if you don't want to. If you do, you can do it however you want, including through cryptocurrency or support from your audience. Don't call it “donations,” because that's a specific technical thing, but you can let your audience support you. And if your audience starts asking for a way to support you, make it possible for them to do that the way they'd really like to.
7. Publish on your schedule
Yes, there are guidelines about weekly or daily publishing, and consistency is an important one. But ultimately it's up to you. If you want to publish every other day, every three days, or on some unusual schedule, you can, with a few things to keep in mind.
The example so many of us point to is Dan Carlin with Hardcore History. Each episode is like an audiobook, and he doesn't have a consistent schedule. That's fine. Do the books you love have a consistent release schedule? Probably not. They're available when they're ready, and people love his episodes because they're so good.
You can publish on the schedule you prefer. Even with a weekly show, you don't have to publish on Tuesdays or Wednesdays. Publish on the day you want. There are guidelines to consider around your content and audience, but it's ultimately your decision, because you're independent with your podcast.
8. Build your own audience
You're going to find other people podcasting about the same or similar things. That's okay. Don't let it stop you. You might have a completely different approach.
When I started The Audacity to Podcast, I was listening to the two other podcasts about podcasting that existed then, Dave Jackson's School of Podcasting and Cliff Ravenscraft's Podcast Answer Man, and I thought the space was already saturated. (By the way, Cliff has brought Podcast Answer Man back, so if you've missed him, go resubscribe.) Each of us has our unique take. Now there are dozens of active podcasts about podcasting, and each person is building their own audience.
You listen to this podcast for reasons unique to you and for things that are probably unique about me. Maybe it's the way I go in-depth, the passion behind certain subjects, my sense of humor, or just that you like me as a person. Whatever it is, you follow this show, and I'm very grateful. I've built my own audience, and you can build yours, even on a topic other people cover.
Back when I hosted a fan podcast about the TV show Once Upon a Time, there were about a dozen other podcasts about the same show. They had their own theories and their own audiences, with different demographics and presentation preferences. I tried to be friends with all of them, and once a season we'd get together for a roundtable, bring our unique perspectives, and cross-publish the episode to our separate feeds. Many people listened to more than one podcast about the show because they loved it that much. You can build your own audience. That's the power of the independence of podcasting.
9. Distribute to any podcast app
Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, and every other app where the name tends to include “pod” or “cast.” You can publish your podcast in a way that can be consumed in any of these apps.
That's the decentralized side of podcasting. You're the source of truth through your RSS feed, so distribution is centralized, but consumption is decentralized because people listen in their favorite app.
Can you watch Netflix in a different app of your choosing? Can you watch YouTube or Amazon Prime in a different app, legally? Generally, no. When alternative apps pop up, the companies with lots of lawyers tend to get them shut down. That doesn't happen in podcasting, because of its independence.
I don't like the phrase “wherever you find your podcasts.” I'd rather say “in your favorite podcast app.” It's more personable and more direct, and it reminds the audience that they can have a favorite. Right now my favorite is Overcast, even though it doesn't yet support a lot of the Podcasting 2.0 features, because it's my favorite overall experience. Others love Fountain, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, AntennaPod, and hundreds more, each with its own opinionated design and its own user base. Your podcast can be consumed in any of them.
10. No algorithms (yet) between you and your audience
In honor of my friend Todd Cochran, who is now gone, maybe we should say “algorithms” and set the pronunciation debate aside.
In podcast apps, the consumption experience is very different. Yes, there are recommendation and ranking algorithms. But when someone follows a podcast, it's easy for them to jump straight to your latest episode or right back into the one they were listening to.
On YouTube, the experience is so different. Most people land on the homepage, which mixes subscriptions with whatever the algorithm thinks they'll like. Even on the subscriptions page, which is what I use, I see everything, I can't easily mark something as played to make it disappear, and I can't simply jump right back into what I was watching. YouTube is now trying to push algorithms into the subscriptions page too, and I dislike it so much that I block that “for you” section with my ad blocker. I want to see only the latest videos from the channels I follow and then decide what to watch.
Even paid streaming services like Netflix and Amazon Prime have a better consumption experience than YouTube, because if you're following a show, they automatically take you to the next episode you haven't watched. That's generally not how internet consumption works. There are algorithms everywhere. But in podcasting, you don't have to worry so much about them.
When your audience follows your show, they're connected to your RSS feed. (Not exactly “directly” anymore on Apple Podcasts since iOS 14.5.) But for all intents and purposes, you're mostly directly connected with your audience. They get your podcast from you in their app, and when they open it, they can jump right back into your episode or to your next available one without sifting through algorithms. That's the beautiful independence of podcasting, at least not yet.
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Disclosure
This post may contain links to products or services with which I have an affiliate relationship. I may receive compensation from your actions through such links. However, I don't let that corrupt my perspective and I don't recommend only affiliates.
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