January 6, 2020

How to Create a Successful Podcast – Mind Pump

In 2018, 17% of Americans said they had listened to a podcast in the last month
- In 2019, this number jumped to 26%
Over $500 million was spent on podcast advertising in 2018
Tips for creating a successful podcast:
- Be an expert in your space
- Invest in sound quality
- Be authentic and vulnerable
- Be consistent with your release schedule
- Cultivate a community around your audience

Mind Pump consists of Sal Di Stefano (IG: @mindpumpsal), Adam Schafer (IG: @mindpumpadam) and Justin Andrews (IG: @mindpumpjustin)
- The trio have 50 years of combined fitness experience as personal trainers

🎧 In 2018, 17% of Americans said they had listened to a podcast in the last month
- In 2019, this number jumped to 26%
The news gets better: There’s still tons of room for growth
- “Still to this day, 56% of Americans have never listened to a podcast… But 92% of Americans listen to the radio on a regular basis.” – Sal Di Stefano

🎧 “Ad revenue for podcasts in 2018 was well over half a billion dollars. It’s growing exponentially… We’re probably 5 years away, maybe 10 at most, from podcasts being the number one place companies spend money on ads.” – Sal Di Stefano
One of the best parts about advertising on a podcast: The audience is extremely niche
- Compare this to a commercial during a football game – the audience is much, much broader
Typically, advertisers pay podcasters per 1,000 listeners (AKA CPM)
- CPM’s range from $10-15 on the low end to $100+ on the high for podcasters like Joe Rogan and Tim Ferriss
Podcast listeners are an excellent advertising target. Here’s why:
- They’re generally more affluent and educated
- Podcast listeners are more active on social media than the general population
- Also, they’re far more likely to subscribe to things like Netflix and Amazon, which means they’re less likely to be exposed to TV advertising

Steps to Creating a Successful Podcast

With hour+ long episodes, if you don’t know what you’re talking about, it’ll soon become apparent
- To boot, the best way to add value to the listener is to be an expert
“You can get away with bullshitting on a short-form format. I can bullshit an Instagram post, or even a short blog I can bullshit, but try to bullshit an hour-long podcast week in and week out; it’s just not going to work.” – Sal Di Stefano

For more on the best mics and podcast equipment, check out these Podcast Notes
No matter what your podcast is about, even if it’s the most exciting subject in the world, if the sound quality is poor, listeners will turn it off
The mics play part of the role, but the environment in which you record the podcast is probably more important – find a room that doesn’t echo and deadens the sounds
- Do what you have to do – park yourself in a closet, and line the walls/floors with blankets/carpet, or preferentially foam tiles
At the end of the day, improving your sound quality is a small investment worth making

The information/subject matter is essential, but what’s even more critical is authenticity
- Trust is built with the listener through vulnerability
When you’re trying to be something you’re not, it’s going to reveal itself pretty quickly during a long-form conversation

Pick a release schedule and stick to it
- Your core audience will learn to depend on when you release an episode – you’ll absolutely KILL off your avid fans by taking frequent breaks, especially at the beginning
Start small – commit to releasing X number of episodes/week (with X being a number you know you’ll have no problem hitting)

Also, when you release for the first time, drop 3 episodes at once (at a minimum)
- Why? – When you first launch a podcast, Apple only ranks you against other podcasts that launched in the last 8 weeks
  - For your first release, dropping 3+ episodes at once allows you to rank highly

The best way to improve your interviewing skills is through repetition, there’s no way around it
- No matter what, you’re going to suck before you get good (and that’s okay!)

You may not end up creating a podcast that reaches 10s of millions, but with some hard work and a little luck, it’s relatively easy to create a community that provides you with a 6-figure income
- This is similar to Kevin Kelly’s advice in his famous essay, 1000 True Fans
How exactly do you cultivate a community?
- Create a private forum
- Start a Patreon
- Release exclusive episodes for paying members
- Etc.

podcast, podcasting
Notes By MMiller