Chapter 2. What the Pros are Doing

IN THIS CHAPTER

• Popular Podcasts

• Podfading

"Podcasting grants me the terrifying freedom to make something as well as I know how. There's no excuses.

No editors, no production executives, no advertisers, no English teachers telling me what I can and can't do. It's just my voice and my words and a microphone. If it sucks there's no one else to blame. And that's terrifying.

But there's also no one to hold me back. And that's liberating. I CAN GET IT OUT THERE."

Patrick McLean, The Seanachai

One of the first questions a new podcaster asks (right after, How can I make money?) is, What makes a podcast popular? It's a topic that can seem nebulouseither you've "got it" or you don't. But the podcasters who have thousands of listeners must be doing something right, and many of them use the same techniques, even if their podcast topics are as different as Bill Cosby and Andrew Dice Clay.

In this chapter, we study the most popular podcasts and their recipes for success. Don't copy them; the world does not need another Dawn and Drew clone. However, if you study what they do right and apply it to your own idea, then odds are good you'll grab the listeners.