Our Best Podcasting Lessons from 2019
As 2019 comes to a close, we wanted to gather up some of the most important things we've learned from a year of podcast creating, listening, and innovating. We asked the Simplecast team, plus members of our community for their biggest takeaways from the last year of the 2010s!
Sarah Frisk, Simplecast Senior Front-End Developer
Since I started at Simplecast near the end of 2018, 2019 was a year filled with podcasting discoveries. I've been really branching out in the type of podcasts I listen to, and it's been fun discovering more podcasts . Along with another delightful year of Simplecast-hosted podcast, ComicLab, I enjoyed podcasts on other topics such as Bag Man with Rachel Maddow which discussed about the events surrounding Spiro Agnew's removal from the Nixon administration, and Trials and Trebuchets–a Dungeons and Dragons podcast that takes place in a school for adventures and the hijinks the characters get up to.
From a technical perspective, I've been really fascinated by the different data there is about podcasting, and how to visualize that, and I've had a lot of fun working on coming up with tools to help creators I enjoy get more feedback about their podcast audience.
Chad Parizman, The Antigen
Podcasting marketing is still hard and messy. Lack of attribution is difficult to explain when other digital marketing efforts have so many metrics
Jeanine Percival Wright, Simplecast COO and CLO
This year, I loved seeing the ways that creators are rapidly changing and expanding what people normally think of as a "podcast"–usually either an interview show, investigative reporting or story telling. Podcasting can be anything delivered via audio, from fiction to quiz shows to short form poetry to comedy, and everything in between.
Ari Shapero, Who's Your Therapist?
I’m planning to launch the first episode next week and I’m learning as I go! So far the biggest take away is–waivers! Get 'em done! I’ve had to backtrack for my first handful of guests and it almost all went smoothly.
Aaron Dowd, Simplecast Customer Success Lead
2019 was the year that I really started to understand just how challenging podcasting can be for people who are just starting their podcast journey.
There's so many different skills needed to start and grow a podcast (content planning, graphic design, audio recording and editing, websites and RSS feeds, social media marketing, etc). I learned that all the things I've learned over the past 10 years and now take for granted can be a huge struggle for someone with less experience with audio and technology and marketing.
I know there's always more for me to learn, but I've been struggling less with feeling like an imposter and am finally feeling like I know a thing or two about podcasting and have something valuable to share with people who want to learn.
Jeff Mann, Sleep Junkies
Choosing guests is an art and a science. We're an interview show, and when I started off, I used to choose guests, based on how popular or famous they were. Mistake! Being recognized in your field does not always make you a great conversationalist! One particular guest I interviewed was extremely knowledgeable and well known, but his delivery was so dull and lifeless that I had to scrap the whole episode. On the contrary, our most popular episodes so far have been from relative unknowns.
Charlene Norman
1. Never underestimate the power of a good technical podcast host, distributor and analytics partner. 2. Be clear about whether you are in it to play or in it to win. Realize winning is a longer-term game with no shortcuts. 3. Like everything else good in life, it is all about YOUR focus and commitment.
Shawn Hopkins, Future Lens
Podcasting is so much more interesting and engaging than I would have ever expected, and working with a creative team in this format has been the most fulfilling of any job I've ever had.