WEBVTT 00:00:00.080 --> 00:00:03.600 What are the promises that you and your podcast have made to your 00:00:03.600 --> 00:00:08.400 audience? And most importantly, are you keeping those promises? 00:00:14.719 --> 00:00:17.585 Thank you for joining me for The Audacity to Podcast. 00:00:17.585 --> 00:00:18.704 I'm Daniel J. Lewis. 00:00:18.704 --> 00:00:22.945 Over the course of podcasting, we make many spoken outright 00:00:22.945 --> 00:00:26.545 promises to our audience, as well as some things that our 00:00:26.545 --> 00:00:30.829 audience comes to expect because of certain consistencies that we 00:00:30.829 --> 00:00:32.990 deliver. That's not bad. 00:00:33.070 --> 00:00:37.549 But the most important thing with promises is what? To keep them. 00:00:37.549 --> 00:00:41.804 That's something that I remind my son is keep your promises 00:00:41.804 --> 00:00:43.005 always, no matter what. 00:00:43.005 --> 00:00:47.564 The whole point of a promise is to keep it, not to just say I'm 00:00:47.564 --> 00:00:49.484 going to keep it until I don't want to. 00:00:49.484 --> 00:00:52.924 The point of a promise is to keep it even when you don't want to. 00:00:53.460 --> 00:00:57.380 And we might be making some of those promises with our podcasts. 00:00:57.539 --> 00:00:57.859 Yes. 00:00:57.859 --> 00:01:01.859 There are certain circumstances that need to override that, like 00:01:01.859 --> 00:01:06.420 emergency things, family issues, sometimes holidays things, stuff 00:01:06.420 --> 00:01:06.819 like that. 00:01:07.165 --> 00:01:11.164 Our audiences, I think, generally are understanding toward that 00:01:11.164 --> 00:01:13.644 kind of stuff because we're humans. 00:01:13.644 --> 00:01:16.604 And the kind of relationships that we get to build with our 00:01:16.604 --> 00:01:21.739 audiences are really dynamic and intimate on some level. 00:01:21.739 --> 00:01:24.540 So I think our audience can forgive certain things like that 00:01:24.540 --> 00:01:28.619 because they would do very similar things in a similar situation. 00:01:28.859 --> 00:01:32.459 But there are the other kinds of promises that we might make to 00:01:32.459 --> 00:01:36.484 our audience, And I encourage you to try to remember what those 00:01:36.484 --> 00:01:39.605 promises are, look back at the promises that your podcast is 00:01:39.605 --> 00:01:42.805 making, and seek to keep those promises. 00:01:43.125 --> 00:01:46.645 And to help you in that process, I have 3 questions for you to 00:01:46.645 --> 00:01:46.965 consider. 00:01:47.129 --> 00:01:49.930 You can follow along in the notes for this podcast, a simple tap 00:01:49.930 --> 00:01:50.890 or swipe away. 00:01:50.890 --> 00:01:56.090 Look at the chapters or go to the audacitytopodcast.com/promises. 00:01:56.329 --> 00:02:00.170 Question number 1, what might your audience expect? 00:02:00.884 --> 00:02:05.364 Let's take a trip down memory lane back to episode 1 of The 00:02:05.364 --> 00:02:07.524 Audacity to Podcast, which you can still get at the 00:02:07.524 --> 00:02:11.284 audacitytopodcast.com/one. That is the number 1. 00:02:11.364 --> 00:02:16.550 Or you can scroll all the way back inside your podcast app to 00:02:16.550 --> 00:02:22.150 06/17/2010, and that's when I published episode 1 of The Audacity 00:02:22.150 --> 00:02:22.710 to Podcast. 00:02:22.710 --> 00:02:26.310 And I broke many rules that I now recommend that you not do. 00:02:26.310 --> 00:02:27.590 I did many of those things. 00:02:27.590 --> 00:02:29.990 I made many of those mistakes in my first episode. 00:02:30.224 --> 00:02:32.784 Like, I wasted way too much time in the beginning of the episode 00:02:32.784 --> 00:02:34.705 before I actually got into the content. 00:02:34.784 --> 00:02:38.145 And the other mistake was I explained what the podcast is about 00:02:38.145 --> 00:02:39.264 in the first episode. 00:02:39.264 --> 00:02:41.665 I, by the way, don't recommend that you do that. 00:02:41.745 --> 00:02:44.625 I recommend instead you do a trailer, or if you really want your 00:02:44.625 --> 00:02:47.699 first episode to kinda be an introduction to the podcast as a 00:02:47.699 --> 00:02:51.219 whole, weave that in through the content that you're teaching. 00:02:51.219 --> 00:02:56.340 And in my first episode, I did get 2 unique episode content that 00:02:56.340 --> 00:02:59.699 could be a regular episode on its own, but I also gave some 00:02:59.699 --> 00:03:00.659 introduction before then. 00:03:00.935 --> 00:03:04.854 And part of that introduction was my explaining why I called the 00:03:04.854 --> 00:03:10.294 podcast The Audacity to Podcast, saying that the word audacity 00:03:10.294 --> 00:03:13.014 has a lot of meaning to it. It's not just the software. 00:03:13.389 --> 00:03:15.789 It is the guts, the power, the courage. 00:03:15.789 --> 00:03:20.590 And I said it takes guts and courage and audacity to believe that 00:03:20.590 --> 00:03:24.349 we can take on the big broadcasters, that we can change the 00:03:24.349 --> 00:03:27.549 world, sometimes literally from our closets and our basements, 00:03:27.955 --> 00:03:30.914 that we can have a voice and share that voice with the world 00:03:30.914 --> 00:03:32.115 through our podcast. 00:03:32.275 --> 00:03:37.015 That is, first and foremost, why I called my show The Audacity to 00:03:37.015 --> 00:03:39.395 Podcast. And it has always been that. 00:03:39.395 --> 00:03:43.569 And that's why the tagline has always said, first, giving you the 00:03:43.569 --> 00:03:44.290 guts. 00:03:44.449 --> 00:03:50.050 So I started out my explanation of audacity as a concept and why 00:03:50.050 --> 00:03:51.969 that applies to podcasters. 00:03:51.969 --> 00:03:56.129 And then let's take that trip back so you can hear what I 00:03:56.129 --> 00:03:58.025 actually said after that. 00:04:00.905 --> 00:04:06.104 I know that not many podcasters out there are talking about 00:04:06.104 --> 00:04:07.865 Audacity. Sure. 00:04:07.865 --> 00:04:14.810 There's a episode here or there talking about Audacity, but no 1 00:04:14.810 --> 00:04:17.290 really talks a lot about Audacity. 00:04:17.290 --> 00:04:20.810 Now this show won't focus entirely on Audacity, I'll be talking 00:04:20.810 --> 00:04:24.104 about all sorts of things, not just the software, the hardware, 00:04:24.104 --> 00:04:25.704 techniques, and all sorts of things. 00:04:25.704 --> 00:04:28.904 But when it comes down to editing software, I will be talking 00:04:28.904 --> 00:04:32.665 about Audacity a lot more than most other podcasters are. 00:04:35.144 --> 00:04:39.750 So that explanation came after my saying that the main reason I 00:04:39.750 --> 00:04:42.469 called my show The Audacity to Podcast is because of what the 00:04:42.469 --> 00:04:46.149 word means, audacity, courage, guts, power, all of that kind of 00:04:46.149 --> 00:04:48.629 stuff. And that's why I was so excited about. 00:04:48.629 --> 00:04:53.485 And I did also want to be a podcast that would go in-depth when 00:04:53.485 --> 00:04:56.285 talking about the Audacity software. 00:04:56.604 --> 00:05:01.004 That's what I said, and I didn't promise that I was going to be a 00:05:01.004 --> 00:05:03.084 podcast about Audacity. 00:05:03.245 --> 00:05:06.740 But because of the branding And even Leo Laporte, when he gave me 00:05:06.740 --> 00:05:09.779 my first podcast award, said it would be a podcast about 00:05:09.779 --> 00:05:10.500 Audacity. 00:05:10.500 --> 00:05:14.099 And he thought the podcast was about Audacity, which it has never 00:05:14.099 --> 00:05:16.899 been a podcast about the software Audacity. 00:05:16.899 --> 00:05:19.139 But you heard what I said there in that first episode. 00:05:19.735 --> 00:05:23.654 And I found it funny that back then when I thought there were so 00:05:23.654 --> 00:05:27.895 many other podcasts about podcasting because of the 2 I found and 00:05:27.895 --> 00:05:31.254 I was listening to at that time, I was shocked when I heard 1 of 00:05:31.254 --> 00:05:32.215 them mention me. 00:05:32.295 --> 00:05:35.175 And that was Dave Jackson, now a very, very good friend. 00:05:35.709 --> 00:05:40.509 Back in episode 223 of School of Podcasting, near the end, he 00:05:40.509 --> 00:05:43.470 talked about some of the other podcasts about podcasting, and he 00:05:43.470 --> 00:05:46.829 welcomed me to the scene, and he said this. 00:05:47.069 --> 00:05:50.430 His first episode said it was going to be in-depth about 00:05:50.430 --> 00:05:51.149 Audacity. 00:05:51.845 --> 00:05:56.165 I'm up to episode 3, and he hasn't really talked about audacity 00:05:56.165 --> 00:05:56.725 yet. 00:05:56.805 --> 00:06:00.644 What we have is a failure to communicate. 00:06:01.044 --> 00:06:04.420 You heard what I actually said in episode 1, and then you heard 00:06:04.420 --> 00:06:08.180 what Dave expected from The Audacity to Podcast. 00:06:08.180 --> 00:06:10.819 And that's not Dave's fault, by the way. 00:06:10.819 --> 00:06:15.139 That's my fault because I failed to communicate better. 00:06:15.460 --> 00:06:18.404 Nonetheless, and bringing this back to this point, what might 00:06:18.404 --> 00:06:19.685 your audience expect? 00:06:20.245 --> 00:06:24.725 I did set certain expectations because of the name of the podcast 00:06:24.725 --> 00:06:28.404 and the fact that I did acknowledge that I would be talking about 00:06:28.404 --> 00:06:32.370 Audacity in that first episode, but I didn't actually talk about 00:06:32.370 --> 00:06:36.449 audacity or focus an episode entirely on something in audacity 00:06:36.449 --> 00:06:40.210 until episode 5 of The Audacity to Podcast. 00:06:40.449 --> 00:06:45.134 And that was my fault for not communicating better or not meeting 00:06:45.134 --> 00:06:47.775 that expectation right up front. 00:06:47.855 --> 00:06:51.375 You know what I could have done in that first episode is hit the 00:06:51.375 --> 00:06:54.829 ground running, as they say, and given something like, here's the 00:06:54.829 --> 00:06:58.830 number 1 tip to make your podcast sound great in Audacity. 00:06:59.069 --> 00:07:02.509 That would have been a great first episode because there it is 00:07:02.509 --> 00:07:04.670 talking about Audacity from the start. 00:07:04.750 --> 00:07:07.069 So when people come to the podcast thinking this is a podcast 00:07:07.069 --> 00:07:10.564 about Audacity, they listen to episode 1 expecting a podcast to 00:07:10.564 --> 00:07:13.605 talk about audacity. They hear me talk about audacity. 00:07:13.764 --> 00:07:17.925 They get that promise fulfilled, and then they'd be more likely 00:07:17.925 --> 00:07:19.444 to listen to the other content. 00:07:19.685 --> 00:07:23.125 It's just like years ago when I acquired a domain for a Christian 00:07:23.125 --> 00:07:27.259 comedy podcast and forwarded their RSS feed to my then Clean 00:07:27.259 --> 00:07:31.100 Comedy Podcast, I welcomed that audience, and I provided more 00:07:31.100 --> 00:07:34.860 content that would be more targeted to them so they would know, 00:07:34.860 --> 00:07:36.540 yes, we are welcome here. 00:07:36.540 --> 00:07:40.154 This is a completely different podcast, but appealing to some of 00:07:40.154 --> 00:07:43.435 the same interests and humor. And so I welcome them that way. 00:07:43.435 --> 00:07:45.354 I learned my lesson later on. 00:07:45.514 --> 00:07:48.875 But there in episode 1 of the Audacity podcast, I didn't set the 00:07:48.875 --> 00:07:50.875 right expectations for the podcast. 00:07:51.034 --> 00:07:55.330 So you need to look at how is your podcast setting the 00:07:55.330 --> 00:07:56.930 expectations for your audience. 00:07:56.930 --> 00:07:59.730 Not the stuff that you explicitly say yet. 00:07:59.730 --> 00:08:01.250 We'll talk about that in a moment. 00:08:01.410 --> 00:08:04.850 But the stuff that your audience will come to expect because of 00:08:04.850 --> 00:08:08.050 the nature of your podcast or the branding of your podcast or 00:08:08.050 --> 00:08:09.970 anything else about your podcast. 00:08:10.345 --> 00:08:13.944 For example, going back to another podcast I hosted, my podcast 00:08:13.944 --> 00:08:17.704 about the TV show once upon a time. It's over at oncepodcast.com. 00:08:17.704 --> 00:08:20.985 With that podcast, something I tried to remind my cohost 00:08:20.985 --> 00:08:24.105 frequently of, especially when we would watch an episode of that 00:08:24.105 --> 00:08:28.600 TV show that just felt like a time waster episode or filler 00:08:28.600 --> 00:08:31.720 episode that didn't really move the plot along. 00:08:31.879 --> 00:08:35.639 It did some weird things with the story, maybe rehash things that 00:08:35.639 --> 00:08:38.039 we already saw, and it was just kind of like the monster of the 00:08:38.039 --> 00:08:41.365 week sort of thing without really progressing the serialized 00:08:41.365 --> 00:08:45.125 storytelling that we were used to and eager to learn more about. 00:08:45.524 --> 00:08:50.725 What I reminded my cohost is as podcasters talking about this TV 00:08:50.725 --> 00:08:53.605 show, we are curators of fandom. 00:08:54.129 --> 00:08:59.649 And so we need to remember, we are talking to people who love the 00:08:59.649 --> 00:09:00.209 show. 00:09:00.449 --> 00:09:05.169 They are coming to our podcast because they love this TV show. 00:09:05.250 --> 00:09:09.184 And so when they come to the podcast, they are expecting to have 00:09:09.184 --> 00:09:14.384 that love fulfilled in some way or celebrated or reinforced and 00:09:14.384 --> 00:09:19.904 supported and fed. They want their fandom curated for them. 00:09:20.065 --> 00:09:25.570 So even when we are having a bad day or if we have a bad episode, 00:09:25.809 --> 00:09:29.649 we need to remember that we are curators of fandom. 00:09:29.809 --> 00:09:34.129 Our audience expects us to bring positive light to them through 00:09:34.129 --> 00:09:37.134 the podcast even if it's a bad episode. Yes. 00:09:37.134 --> 00:09:40.975 We can acknowledge this wasn't a great episode of the TV show, 00:09:40.975 --> 00:09:43.934 but let's make a great episode of the podcast for the audience 00:09:43.934 --> 00:09:46.415 that wants it. And so that's what we did. 00:09:46.575 --> 00:09:48.340 We would praise the show. 00:09:48.340 --> 00:09:51.059 We would, yes, criticize the show when it needed it, but we 00:09:51.059 --> 00:09:52.899 didn't beat down on the show. 00:09:53.139 --> 00:09:56.740 Some of the other podcasters about the TV show did that, and I've 00:09:56.740 --> 00:10:00.179 heard other podcasts about TV shows that also beat down on the 00:10:00.179 --> 00:10:01.139 show that they were watching. 00:10:01.475 --> 00:10:04.595 And it would often leave me as an audience member asking the 00:10:04.595 --> 00:10:07.475 question, why are you even doing this podcast? 00:10:07.715 --> 00:10:11.394 If you hate this TV show so much or you're coming across like you 00:10:11.394 --> 00:10:14.274 hate it episode after episode after episode, it's not meeting 00:10:14.274 --> 00:10:17.075 your expectations. Why even bother doing this podcast? 00:10:17.450 --> 00:10:21.529 Unless you want to ridicule the show, then maybe change your 00:10:21.529 --> 00:10:25.129 branding to make that point that you're making fun of the show or 00:10:25.129 --> 00:10:27.370 criticizing it because of how much you hate it. 00:10:27.370 --> 00:10:28.570 It's your hate watch. 00:10:28.970 --> 00:10:32.970 So what might your audience expect from your podcast? 00:10:33.335 --> 00:10:37.174 Not that you have explicitly promised, but due to the nature of 00:10:37.174 --> 00:10:41.335 your podcast, the branding, the ideas that your podcast talks 00:10:41.335 --> 00:10:45.975 about, and the content that you present, what might your audience 00:10:46.294 --> 00:10:46.535 expect? 00:10:47.029 --> 00:10:50.549 This doesn't mean you need to meet every single expectation of 00:10:50.549 --> 00:10:54.309 your audience and be at the whim of their every demand, but you 00:10:54.309 --> 00:10:58.790 should take it into consideration what they expect so that you 00:10:58.790 --> 00:11:03.144 can try to give them the content you are excited about that also 00:11:03.144 --> 00:11:08.184 helps fulfill their expectations because that is somewhat of a 00:11:08.184 --> 00:11:10.585 promise relationship with your audience. 00:11:10.904 --> 00:11:13.785 Number 2, what does your description promise? 00:11:14.199 --> 00:11:17.720 Look at your description in your favorite podcast app and see 00:11:17.720 --> 00:11:20.839 what is your podcast actually saying that you will deliver, and 00:11:20.839 --> 00:11:22.519 are you delivering that? 00:11:22.600 --> 00:11:26.360 Think back to my example of episode 1 of The Audacity to Podcast. 00:11:26.360 --> 00:11:30.214 If my podcast description said, this is the only podcast that 00:11:30.214 --> 00:11:34.375 talks exclusively about Audacity for podcasting, which my podcast 00:11:34.375 --> 00:11:37.095 description did not say it, but if it did, then that would 00:11:37.095 --> 00:11:41.014 definitely make a promise to my audience that this is what my 00:11:41.014 --> 00:11:43.799 podcast is about. This is what I'm going to talk about. 00:11:43.799 --> 00:11:47.240 You can expect that episode after episode after episode, with 00:11:47.240 --> 00:11:50.519 very few exceptions, will be about this thing. 00:11:50.919 --> 00:11:53.240 That is the promise you make to your audience through the way 00:11:53.240 --> 00:11:56.554 that you describe your podcast, as well as your branding, the 00:11:56.554 --> 00:11:59.914 episode titles too, and the episode descriptions, you need to 00:11:59.914 --> 00:12:04.075 make sure that you deliver on that promise that you are making 00:12:04.235 --> 00:12:05.595 through your descriptions. 00:12:06.075 --> 00:12:10.154 I see this way too frequently with YouTube videos, especially 00:12:10.154 --> 00:12:14.100 when you get into the AI space because there are a lot of AI 00:12:14.100 --> 00:12:19.059 focused YouTube channels that are basically republishing or 00:12:19.059 --> 00:12:21.220 revoicing AI slop. 00:12:21.460 --> 00:12:27.075 Either the video is completely AI voiced and AI, even an AI 00:12:27.075 --> 00:12:33.875 avatar on there, or they are reading an AI generated script that 00:12:34.115 --> 00:12:37.394 is still basically AI slop. 00:12:37.794 --> 00:12:42.580 And the titles and the images of these things, the word, by the 00:12:42.580 --> 00:12:48.179 way, that now bothers me so much every time I see it is insane. 00:12:48.259 --> 00:12:49.620 Like, there's 1 particular channel. 00:12:49.620 --> 00:12:52.419 I ended up unsubscribing from the channel because it bugged me so 00:12:52.419 --> 00:12:55.605 much how much AI slop that they put out. Yes. 00:12:55.605 --> 00:12:58.404 They would occasionally have a genuine video of the person 00:12:58.485 --> 00:13:01.365 actually there looking at the camera, their actual face, not 00:13:01.365 --> 00:13:02.804 their digital avatar. 00:13:02.804 --> 00:13:06.725 It seemed like 4 out of 5 of their videos, and they would publish 00:13:06.725 --> 00:13:11.410 a lot of videos, about 4 out of 5 would have the word insane in 00:13:11.410 --> 00:13:14.529 the title or the screenshot. 00:13:14.529 --> 00:13:17.889 It would be like, such and such update is insane. 00:13:18.210 --> 00:13:20.769 Opus 4.7 is insane. 00:13:21.009 --> 00:13:25.804 And other things too, like weird things that just to me screams 00:13:25.804 --> 00:13:30.445 of you're using AI to write all of this for you, and you're 00:13:30.445 --> 00:13:32.845 letting it write these titles for you. 00:13:32.924 --> 00:13:35.004 And these titles are falling into a pattern. 00:13:35.004 --> 00:13:37.970 That's something that AI can do, by the way, is that if you keep 00:13:37.970 --> 00:13:41.809 something going in the same conversation, AI can start to fall 00:13:41.809 --> 00:13:45.490 into a pattern because AI is really good at recognizing patterns. 00:13:45.490 --> 00:13:48.610 And when it looks back at what it's already done, if you haven't 00:13:48.610 --> 00:13:52.254 corrected what it's already done, it will often end up repeating 00:13:52.254 --> 00:13:54.495 itself and following that same pattern. 00:13:54.575 --> 00:13:59.294 So I think that's why there's a lot of insane stuff out there in 00:13:59.294 --> 00:14:01.214 the world of people talking about AI. 00:14:01.294 --> 00:14:06.610 But when those titles for your episodes say something like how to 00:14:06.850 --> 00:14:10.450 do this thing, then does your episode actually deliver on that 00:14:10.450 --> 00:14:12.529 promise of how to do that thing? 00:14:12.690 --> 00:14:16.129 Or if your episode description says something like, follow these 00:14:16.129 --> 00:14:21.054 steps to 10 x your growth or 10 x your success and whatever focus 00:14:21.054 --> 00:14:24.654 area that is that your podcast is about, does the information you 00:14:24.654 --> 00:14:28.174 provide actually do that? And can you quantify that? 00:14:28.174 --> 00:14:32.570 Can you show that, yes, this has 10 x the results for someone 00:14:32.570 --> 00:14:36.169 else, and therefore, you could follow these to probably 10 x for 00:14:36.169 --> 00:14:37.210 yourself too? 00:14:37.529 --> 00:14:41.370 So what are those promises that your podcast is making through 00:14:41.370 --> 00:14:45.209 the podcast description as well as your episode descriptions and 00:14:45.209 --> 00:14:48.634 your episode titles and how you promote the podcast. 00:14:48.875 --> 00:14:50.394 Look at those things. 00:14:50.875 --> 00:14:56.634 And number 3, what have you actually said in your podcast that is 00:14:56.634 --> 00:14:57.995 basically a promise? 00:14:58.154 --> 00:15:01.835 Have you said things like, get a new episode of the podcast every 00:15:01.835 --> 00:15:05.840 week or joining me as always, my cohost. 00:15:05.920 --> 00:15:08.960 Well, is your cohost always there? 00:15:09.120 --> 00:15:13.680 That is a form of a promise to say things like always and every 00:15:13.680 --> 00:15:16.475 week, and it will always be out there. 00:15:16.475 --> 00:15:19.595 Look for those times where you're using those words that 00:15:19.595 --> 00:15:23.995 communicate a promise of some sort, and try to refine your 00:15:23.995 --> 00:15:24.955 language there. 00:15:25.035 --> 00:15:28.795 If you said, we'll have a new podcast for you every Tuesday 00:15:28.795 --> 00:15:32.120 morning, then make sure you keep that promise. Yes. 00:15:32.120 --> 00:15:35.080 Your audience will be understanding if certain things come up 00:15:35.080 --> 00:15:38.840 and, like, there's a family emergency, it's a holiday time, that 00:15:38.840 --> 00:15:40.040 stuff aside. 00:15:40.279 --> 00:15:43.205 And I really do think audiences will understand that, especially 00:15:43.205 --> 00:15:46.165 if they've been listening to you for a while because we tend to 00:15:46.165 --> 00:15:49.764 build relationships with our audiences since podcasting is a bit 00:15:49.764 --> 00:15:53.445 more of an intimate medium versus many other forms of Internet 00:15:53.445 --> 00:15:54.245 content. 00:15:54.404 --> 00:15:56.804 So your audience will understand when something comes up like 00:15:56.804 --> 00:15:57.125 that. 00:15:57.125 --> 00:16:00.039 But if you're just being lazy, you just didn't get around to it, 00:16:00.039 --> 00:16:03.960 you just didn't feel it in the moment, and you skip an episode, 00:16:03.960 --> 00:16:05.320 then you've broken your promise. 00:16:05.639 --> 00:16:09.799 And that's convicting to me because I know I've broken my promise 00:16:09.799 --> 00:16:10.360 too. 00:16:10.440 --> 00:16:13.074 There have been things I've said that I would do with the I'd ask 00:16:13.074 --> 00:16:14.674 you to podcast that I didn't do. 00:16:14.754 --> 00:16:17.634 There are times that I said I would be there. 00:16:17.634 --> 00:16:21.714 Look at how many times. What would you call it? 00:16:21.714 --> 00:16:26.879 Like, not a pod fade, but a a pod false start or something like 00:16:26.879 --> 00:16:27.200 that. 00:16:27.200 --> 00:16:30.879 But how many times after I went through my painful and unwanted 00:16:30.879 --> 00:16:34.559 divorce, but how many times I said, The Audacity to Podcast will 00:16:34.559 --> 00:16:36.879 be back or it is back now? 00:16:36.960 --> 00:16:43.195 I came out with several episodes and then disappeared for months. 00:16:43.514 --> 00:16:49.674 And, yes, there was major stuff happening each time and some 00:16:49.674 --> 00:16:52.394 personal things that I don't need to get into right here. 00:16:52.394 --> 00:16:55.399 But it was basically where I thought certain things were stable 00:16:55.399 --> 00:16:58.759 enough that I could get back to podcasting again, and then 00:16:58.759 --> 00:17:00.440 something blindsided me. 00:17:00.519 --> 00:17:03.799 And that's the way it was for several years. 00:17:03.879 --> 00:17:05.559 And then there was all kinds of guilt. 00:17:05.640 --> 00:17:10.144 And beyond that, you heard from my first episode how I described 00:17:10.144 --> 00:17:14.144 what some of the episodes would be about, and that was making a 00:17:14.144 --> 00:17:18.704 promise, which as you could see from how Dave Jackson took that, 00:17:18.890 --> 00:17:21.450 I didn't keep that promise right from the beginning. 00:17:21.450 --> 00:17:24.090 Even though I didn't explicitly say every episode will be about 00:17:24.090 --> 00:17:26.329 audacity, still he was expecting it. 00:17:26.490 --> 00:17:31.130 And I said I would focus on audacity multiple times, and I didn't 00:17:31.130 --> 00:17:32.730 do that for several episodes. 00:17:33.265 --> 00:17:37.264 So think about those things that you have said in your podcast. 00:17:37.585 --> 00:17:38.944 You've promised your audience. 00:17:39.184 --> 00:17:42.464 It could be topics that you're going to cover in an upcoming 00:17:42.464 --> 00:17:43.105 episode. 00:17:43.105 --> 00:17:46.240 It could be an event you're going to do, something you're going 00:17:46.240 --> 00:17:50.240 to promote, a way that you're going to help someone, or something 00:17:50.240 --> 00:17:52.639 that you're willing to do for certain people. 00:17:52.880 --> 00:17:56.319 What are those promises that you have explicitly said? 00:17:56.400 --> 00:17:58.559 I will do this. That is a promise. 00:17:58.815 --> 00:18:02.974 You don't have to say, I promise to do this and pinky swear and 00:18:02.974 --> 00:18:05.294 all that kind of stuff, spitting your hands and shaking hands 00:18:05.294 --> 00:18:06.734 with each other, anything like that. 00:18:06.734 --> 00:18:09.294 You don't have to do that to be making a promise. 00:18:09.454 --> 00:18:13.214 Just think about every time you say, I will. 00:18:13.750 --> 00:18:16.149 That is a form of a promise. 00:18:16.309 --> 00:18:19.749 So what have you said in your podcast as a promise? 00:18:19.990 --> 00:18:21.429 Look back at these things. 00:18:21.750 --> 00:18:24.309 Look at what your audience might be expecting from your podcast 00:18:24.309 --> 00:18:27.109 and the kind of podcast that you have, the topic that you talk 00:18:27.109 --> 00:18:27.589 about. 00:18:27.669 --> 00:18:31.164 Look at the descriptions around your podcast, your podcast 00:18:31.164 --> 00:18:34.044 description, your episode descriptions, your episode titles. 00:18:34.044 --> 00:18:37.084 Look at what you are saying in your podcast. 00:18:37.244 --> 00:18:40.364 Look at all of these types of promises that you're making. 00:18:40.605 --> 00:18:44.190 And, yeah, it could be convicting to realize some of them, you 00:18:44.190 --> 00:18:47.549 might not have kept. And, yeah, that is a failure. 00:18:47.789 --> 00:18:52.269 But you can make things right, or you can set new expectations 00:18:52.269 --> 00:18:55.950 and new promises and correct things from now on. 00:18:56.255 --> 00:18:58.974 And that's up to you how you want to handle that. 00:18:59.134 --> 00:19:02.975 But I hope that these questions have inspired you to look at some 00:19:02.975 --> 00:19:07.134 of these things, consider those promises so that you can not just 00:19:07.134 --> 00:19:09.454 remember them, but keep them. 00:19:09.455 --> 00:19:13.329 Because that is the whole point of a promise is to keep the 00:19:13.329 --> 00:19:14.690 promise that you make. 00:19:14.849 --> 00:19:18.529 1 of the promises I make is to be constantly improving and 00:19:18.529 --> 00:19:22.369 building onto Podgagement and Pod chapters, and I am fulfilling 00:19:22.369 --> 00:19:26.734 that promise with a big feature that I had said would be coming, 00:19:26.815 --> 00:19:30.335 and that is in Podgagement, the SEO tracking feature. 00:19:30.414 --> 00:19:33.694 This took a while to make because I hit several roadblocks and 00:19:33.694 --> 00:19:37.054 obstacles along the way, so it got a bit more complicated than I 00:19:37.054 --> 00:19:37.535 expected. 00:19:37.535 --> 00:19:41.559 But I finally broke through those things, and the SEO feature is 00:19:41.559 --> 00:19:42.679 actually ready. 00:19:43.000 --> 00:19:47.079 But don't tell anyone yet because it's not completely officially 00:19:47.079 --> 00:19:48.279 launched yet. 00:19:48.599 --> 00:19:52.039 Nonetheless, if you are a Podgagement user, you can go over and 00:19:52.039 --> 00:19:53.799 sign up to try that out. 00:19:53.799 --> 00:19:58.924 And in fact, if you're on my email list, then you will get a 00:19:58.924 --> 00:20:03.164 special little promotion because for a limited time, and this 00:20:03.164 --> 00:20:05.884 might already be passed by the time you're hearing this, but for 00:20:05.884 --> 00:20:09.005 a limited time, I want to make the SEO tracking feature available 00:20:09.289 --> 00:20:13.450 to all Podgagement users, even though it will be a Constellation 00:20:13.450 --> 00:20:14.729 exclusive feature. 00:20:14.809 --> 00:20:17.289 So that's for the higher tier membership over there at 00:20:17.289 --> 00:20:21.369 podgagement.com. But I want more people to just try it. 00:20:21.369 --> 00:20:23.565 I want more feedback on how does this look? 00:20:23.565 --> 00:20:25.484 What are you expecting from this feature? 00:20:25.565 --> 00:20:27.085 How are things operating? 00:20:27.085 --> 00:20:30.204 Because I can only do so much testing on my own podcast. 00:20:30.204 --> 00:20:33.565 I want others to test with their podcast, their ideas of what 00:20:33.565 --> 00:20:35.484 they want to track for their search ranking. 00:20:35.484 --> 00:20:40.519 But the way that the feature works is really cool, and I think it 00:20:40.519 --> 00:20:44.120 might even be working better than what anyone else does and more 00:20:44.120 --> 00:20:46.200 accurate than anyone else does. 00:20:46.279 --> 00:20:49.640 In fact, 1 of the things that Podgagement can now track with the 00:20:49.640 --> 00:20:55.214 SEO tracking feature is how your episodes are performing for 00:20:55.214 --> 00:20:58.974 certain search terms, not just your overall podcast, but your 00:20:58.974 --> 00:21:00.494 individual episodes. 00:21:00.494 --> 00:21:03.855 Which of them are showing up in the search results in Apple for 00:21:03.855 --> 00:21:05.454 those search terms that you want to enter? 00:21:05.799 --> 00:21:08.359 So that's over at podgagement.com. 00:21:08.359 --> 00:21:11.240 I would love for you to try it out to track your ratings, your 00:21:11.240 --> 00:21:14.839 reviews, your charts, your helping you get feedback, written 00:21:14.839 --> 00:21:17.319 feedback, or voice mail feedback from your audience. 00:21:17.320 --> 00:21:20.519 You can track your ranking across nearly 34,000 charts. 00:21:20.785 --> 00:21:24.944 Now you can track how you're ranking in search results inside 00:21:24.944 --> 00:21:28.144 Apple Podcasts and other podcast apps to be supported soon. 00:21:28.305 --> 00:21:31.505 And you can generate images from your ratings and reviews with 00:21:31.505 --> 00:21:32.464 just a few clicks. 00:21:32.464 --> 00:21:35.424 You can embed those images and reviews on your site. 00:21:35.819 --> 00:21:39.579 And you can do so much more to engage with your audience as well 00:21:39.579 --> 00:21:43.500 as network with other podcasters who have crossover audience with 00:21:43.500 --> 00:21:43.899 you. 00:21:43.899 --> 00:21:47.019 Podgagement is built around the idea of helping you to 00:21:47.019 --> 00:21:50.299 supercharge your engagement with your audience. 00:21:50.474 --> 00:21:52.474 That's why it's called Podgagement. 00:21:52.474 --> 00:21:55.514 Please check it out over at podgagement.com. 00:21:55.515 --> 00:21:58.075 And now that I've given you some of the guts and taught you some 00:21:58.075 --> 00:22:01.595 of the tools, it's time for you to go start and grow your own 00:22:01.595 --> 00:22:04.970 podcast for passion and profit. I'm Daniel J. 00:22:04.970 --> 00:22:08.330 Lewis from theaudacitytopodcast.com. Thanks for listening.