The Rebirth of Podcasting: Insights, Ideas and Inspiration with Thom Luter

Today Christina talks with Thom Luter, who runs the Progressive Podcast Agency. Thom has been working with hosts and producing podcasts for more than 5 years now and there’s nothing he doesn’t know about podcasting!

They discuss all things podcasting and Thom gives his insight into the industry, including current trends, the many benefits of podcasting and tech too! An incredibly informative episode, perfect for those thinking about starting a podcast as well as those seasoned content creators out there!

KEY TAKEAWAYS

We’re still only in the opening phase of podcasting and audio as a content medium. If you haven’t already, now is the time to get started in the podcasting space.

Podcasting has been around a long time but it hasn’t had the backing in the same way other social media and content platforms have. Such as sharing with friends and a particular company pushing its use, it’s has been very decentralised up until now. But the tide is changing, Spotify and Apple are now both trying to ‘own’ and monetise podcasts now.

Podcasting is far more unique than it is often given credit for and it has its own set of challenges. You have a much steeper learning curve but if you manage to overcome these challenges the rewards are greater.

When people first start their podcast, they often procrastinate a lot. Thom feels this is probably because it feels more finished and permanent than other mediums as it takes a bit more effort to produce it and get it out there. But it’s a false perception, it’s actually far easier to amend and remove content in podcasting than on somewhere like Facebook. Generally, the first 30 episodes are the hardest, it then become easier.

Consistency is key to podcasting, this is how you get your listenership. Producing a weekly podcast is the best way to become successful, you are trying to ‘steal a bit of someone’s week’ so they know when the episode will be, how long it will be and that it fits into their schedule.

In podcasting, future decisions help your previous and old content, this is pretty unique to the platform. You get a lot of long term leverage and it has a lot of efficiency.

You want your content to be what people are looking for (e.g titles, descriptions) but the host needs to be charismatic, interesting and passionate so that they come back. Most people will come for the content but stay for the host.

It’s easy to get caught up on numbers and downloads but forgetting the quality of the relationship and strength of the listenership in podcasting. If you had 50 people stood outside your house to listen to you speak for an hour every week you would find that incredible, so why do many hosts feel like that is a low number?