What is a podcast?

In this episode, I discuss what a podcast means to me. Fun fact, it has nothing to do with the technology.

Follow my newsletter at: https://thepodcastsetup.com

Transcript

Welcome and Premise

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Welcome to episode one of Matt has a podcast about podcasting. What a surprise. I've been doing this now, podcasting that is for I don't know, I think over 15 years. It might even be like 18 years. And I've been wanting to start a podcast about podcasting for quite some time. For those of you that do follow me, you know that I have a career in podcasting, both like personally and professionally, like side hustle with a WP Minute, professionally as a career. I started way back, but I was in three years in the audio biz at Castos and have been for three years hosting a podcast for Gravity Forms. But we'll talk a little bit about my history in a moment. And for episode one, I really want to unpack that age-old question of what is a podcast? At least, what is a podcast to me? My own definitions have changed over time. I think like many of us purists, it's like RSS feed and audio. While I still feel really strongly about that, my definition of a podcast isn't really around the tech side of it. I mean, it is and it isn't. So stick with me as we unpack

Sponsors and Newsletter

SPEAKER_00 1:12

that. I do want to mention that this podcast, especially the video podcast, is hosted on BuzzSprout, um, where they partnered with me to sponsor thepodcastsetup.com. That's my newsletter. That's where I write and pontificate to steal a word from uh one of our podcasting legends uh about podcasting, thepodcastsetup.com. It started covering other people's podcasts in my podcast setup. I still want to do that. If you want to share what your podcast setup is, send me a message. Go to thepodcastsetup.com, sign up for the newsletter. But it sort of has evolved into me just uh sharing my emotional takes on the wonderful world of podcasting, which we'll get into. But Buzzsprout has sponsored that newsletter for about six months. Hey, maybe a little renew it. And they've also sponsored me to make a video about the HLS technology, which sort of parlays in today's conversation, but is a new format of or new technology that Apple is allowing podcasters and podcast hosting companies uh to uh broadcast video on their platforms. So thank you, uh BuzzSprout. They didn't, uh they're not sponsoring this particular episode. This episode is sponsored by the podcast setup, but BuzzSprout did sponsor uh the podcast setup, and I can't thank them enough for that. In this video that I'm recording right now, there'll be a behind the scenes of how I send this up to BuzzSprout, and that'll be the uh sponsored video from them.

Origin Story in WordPress

SPEAKER_00 2:40

All right, let me just really go quickly on my origin story. I know a lot of people don't want to hear the origin story. Hopefully, there's chapters here if I'm not so lazy and you can skip ahead. But we'll start, you know, years and years ago, 2007, going 2007 into 2008, I started a uh what's called a WordPress agency, right? Those of you who have built websites before and know my background, you know it from WordPress. And I started a WordPress agency, started it with my dad. He still runs it today. And the quick of it is is like one of the beautiful things about podcasting, and this is something that as somebody who helps other people launch podcasts, you can never really tell. Like everyone wants to know what the ROI is, how much am I going to make from podcasting? Well, you know, what are my ad revenue gonna look like? How much can I get in sponsors? Can I sell products?

Podcasting as Networking

SPEAKER_00 3:28

One of the most powerful things about podcasting is something that cannot be measured because it comes from your resilience, your pursuit of continuing to do this thing, and that is connecting with other people, finding new opportunity. I would say literally because I started what's known as the Matt Report Podcast, I started that about 15 years ago when I was running the agency. That has opened like literally every professional door for me up until this point. Not only did it evolve into a side business that I have, Matt Report Media, but it has got me like all my jobs along the way, including clients at the agency. Making connections with friends, meeting people in the podcasting community, which is great. And that's what I did. Like I started this WordPress agency. I saw people getting big projects. Now remember, this is 2007-2008 when like people were jumping into the boat of making websites, and WordPress was one of those, one of those things that everyone wanted to use. So I started that podcast because I saw people connecting with big clients that were in the WordPress community. I was like, how did you land that client? You just started your agency, and I found out that the professional network that they had led them to those big clients. So I said, I don't have that professional network. I'm not a developer. I haven't been in this space for so long. How can I build my network? And to fast track this story, it was to start that podcast. And it just snowballed from there. I started interviewing people, started interviewing people in the community, potential customers. It turned into a marketing engine, it turned into a sales engine because it was a perfect way to open the door to places I've never been before and meet new people. And my inspiration came from Mixergy, Andrew Warner. He still runs his podcast today. I was a super fan back then. I wasn't even sure I was going to start a podcast. It was much more of like I might do a blog and interview people, write up some stuff and launch it to the world and see what happens. And I was like, no, I see Andrew doing things in Mixergy, interviewing all these like startup entrepreneurs. And again, back then that was just like the heyday of startups. So it's like, how can I translate that type of story to the smaller world of WordPress? Big world by numbers, but smaller when it comes to how many people are making millions of dollars or hundreds of thousands of dollars selling WordPress stuff or services and agencies. So that's how it started. It started as a way for me to connect with people and build relationships. And that's why I love podcasting. And that is my part of my definition of what makes a podcast less about the technology these days as I get older and wiser, although still important to me, but about those connections and that storytelling. And for me, like I've lived in the WordPress world for so long professionally. And when I got a job in the audio industry, in the podcast industry, when I started to meet many of you who listen and read my newsletter, you know, folks at Pod News, Podcasting 2.0, been on those podcasts before. You know, I think everyone involved who's trying to push podcasting and the RSS feed to its maximum usability. If you check out the YouTube channel, the podcast setup channel, I did a video which was covered by Pod News and how I turned one of my podcasts into a video game. And that kind of thing wouldn't happen without the RSS feed and without transcripts. I mean, it could, but then it'd be more technical, it'd be more closed source. This stuff is really cool. And I feel like there's synergy between WordPress and podcasting.

RSS Portability Matters

SPEAKER_00 7:15

And that synergy is going to help us get into my definition of podcasting, at least as it stands in mid-ish 2026. I love WordPress because it's portable. If I don't like the web host that I'm on, I can move it. If I don't like the theme that I'm using, I can change it. If I don't like some of the plugins that I'm using or the costs go up, I can swap them out. If I don't like the way WordPress works, I can modify that. I can see under the hood. And that sort of like portability and that open sourceness, to me, you need that in a podcast. And the essence of that portability and that movement is the RSS feed. Under the hood, it is the RSS feed.

Video Podcast Reality Check

SPEAKER_00 8:03

And I'll tell you, like, I'm not anti-video. I'm doing a video. You probably won't be amazed by it, and we'll talk about that in a little bit. But when people talk about video largely in the podcasting world, although HLS support with Apple, they're throwing that, I guess throwing that carrot, putting that carrot, that's probably not the right metaphor, but they're making a jab at YouTube. Because mostly when people say, hey, I'm going to make a video podcast, they're really talking about YouTube. They're making a YouTube channel or a YouTube show. And that is not portable. Sure, you could like save all your video files as you make them and publish them to YouTube, of course. But in the moment where you want to move, where you want to add to that experience or build your own experience or cultivate a community around it, that is a lot harder than what RSS gives you. Now, there could be another technology, you could approach it a different way. Heck, even with what we can do with AI, one of the things I want to experiment on is building my own YouTube for my own brand. Obviously, not on YouTube, but my own video gallery that's searchable. You can subscribe to it, you can comment. These things are a little bit more in our reach these days if you if you have some of the technical knowledge. So I feel like when you say, Do I have a podcast? It is something that you own audio or video. Uh yeah, it's going to hook you to the RSS feed because I think that's the oldest, best technology that we have. So that matters to me. YouTube is great for discoverability and searchability, but it is not the thing that you should start with if you truly want something that gives you that flexibility in the long run, right? Open distribution in any app, etc. etc. I'm consulting with somebody right now. He's starting a podcast, a local podcast to where I live. And he had some experience in the radio, so it was kind of easy. It's not fair because it was kind of easy for me to say, hey, let's just do an audio show. But we did film the first two episodes to use as marketing material, right? And I think that's a perfectly viable thing. If you plan on having an audio-only show, then you don't need to invest in all the video stuff. And it's not even about the equipment. Like this shot right here is roughly with all the equipment I'm using, including the microphone, the Rode X interface that I'm using to rec that this mic is plugged into. That Sony A7 IV camera with Tamron lens, a $100 light, which isn't even that great. This is like a $4,000 shot right here, which is ridiculous, right? Just to do this. I'm not saying you have to spend it, but that's what this is. And some people can, you know, you can swap it in and out. But I think a lot of people get caught up in, oh, I must spend all this money. And then once you spend all this money, are you gonna leverage it to its you know maximum? Luckily, I get paid to do this stuff, so it's it's worth it for me, but might not be worth it for everyone. And a lot of people get bogged down in that.

Indie Audio Storytelling

SPEAKER_00 11:24

I do, I want to talk about like what it's like to be an indie podcaster because that's truly what I feel like. And I do a podcast with a producer friend of mine that I work closely with at Castos, and now I work at Rocket Genius at Gravity Forms with. And we built a uh we're building a podcast and trying to get it funded. We have now for a couple of years called Our Beloved Medium, which you can you just search for Our Beloved Medium, you can find it in your favorite podcast app or on the web. And this is something that is an educational show, like it's pulling out, it's an ode to radio, and it's pulling out all the most important moments in human history around radio. And we start with World War II and how radio was extremely important back then as well, propaganda and as communication, as like the leading sort of like medium to do those kinds of things. But we, you know, we interview people that have covered this historical moments, right? Other historians and other reporters and a whole you know slew of people. But we also do this in the context of a fictional world. And it's the fictional world of WFYZ broadcasting the last, these are the last stories of radio and humanity, and WFYZ is trying to get purchased by a large streaming company, oddly named Opus, which is what we called it back then, not knowing where Anthropic would go with their model namings, but it would be a film. It would be a feature film or TV series, because we have voice actors, we have worlds that we're creating, uh, we have these different plays on segments and stuff. We would we couldn't produce this if it weren't for theater of the mind and audio. It would just be way out of reach, it wouldn't be possible. So audio isn't dead and audio isn't dull compared to video, it's just different. And I think a lot of people, you know, mix that up. And especially for the indie podcaster, and that's where I want to transition, you know, talking to.

Blue Collar Podcaster Mindset

SPEAKER_00 13:29

I I think when you listen to a pod news or other industry news, there are celebrity podcasts or highly produced podcasts that are are there just like a movie. It's to make money, it's a product to make it's and people make money from it. Whether it's a celebrity hosting some kind of you know talk show, like uh the Kelsey Brothers or insert your favorite celebrity podcast, it's a vehicle for them to sell advertisement. It's I envision the typical Hollywood pitch. I've got an idea for a show, I'm a celebrity. If I spend X amount of hours here, how much is this studio going to pay me? And how many ads can they sell against this? Uh, and it's the studio has to make the decision whether they're going to make money, lose money, break even, and does it draw to their portfolio the rest of their work? It's business. And then I think that even the industry, the podcast industry, the audio industry will often say things like, Oh, we're we're here to support indie podcasters. To me, like when I hear air quotes, the industry talk about indie podcasters, it's really people without an agent. They could still be a celebrity, they could still be very wealthy, they could still be in that Hollywood-ish mix. I think that there's like a blue-collar podcaster like myself who makes a fun side business out of creating podcasts that don't get a lot of listens compared to what the industry considers an indie podcast. Like, I've heard people say like an indie podcaster is getting like 50,000 downloads a month. I would make 20 times the amount of money I make if I had 50,000 downloads a month of the audio podcast that I produce for WordPress. But I focus in on a very niche target audience and I build a strong sense of trust with that audience. And sponsors align with that, and they say, we're willing to pay you X amount of dollars that are far outside, like far and above what the industry average would pay for, let's say, a thousand downloads per month. But they're willing to spend their money with me because they trust me. They know I have a strong audience of buyers in a demographic that they want to go after. And I do more than just audio. It's audio, video, the newsletter, the blog, the community, live events, that kind of thing. So as an indie podcaster, I'm doing everything I can around the show, but the nucleus is the podcast, the audio podcast. Like that spawns everything. And I think it's very important that I relay that message to you because that's how I, that's my I guess that's the flair that I bring with Matt has a podcast about podcasting. Like I look at myself as an indie podcaster, but maybe it should be a blue-collar podcaster. I'm just thinking out loud. Uh as I, you know, I have show notes that I'm looking at here, but that's sort of like the angle I come from. And maybe you can resonate with that. I know, I know many of you do, which is great. So as this podcast evolves and as we create more episodes, I'll do interviews. Again, if you have a podcast setup you want to talk about, I would love to interview you. Trying to keep these podcasts fairly short. We're at the 20-minute ish mark right now.

Practical Starting Advice

SPEAKER_00 17:04

So we'll just talk about some practical advice. If you're just getting into podcasting and you're just, you know, tuning in to me. You know, I think that when I start a podcast, again, going back to my definition of a podcast, I look to create a podcast that either informs, educates, or entertains, or hopefully maybe a mix of all three. I don't care if it's audio or video for you to start it. I would tell you that audio is way easier and way less money. But you want to be uh you want to be passionate about it. I know everyone says that. And you know what? Let's just throw the word passionate out, and maybe this would be a topic for another, another uh another episode because even when I said it, I was like, ugh, I can't believe I just said that. Passionate sometimes means crazy, stupid, ignorant, unwilling to change. And maybe that's more like it. Like I have not given up podcasting about WordPress for 15 to 18 years because it keeps me in my career. And it doesn't get an insane amount of downloads, but it keeps, it does bring in money and it does put food on the table. So you want to love what you're doing. If you're getting into it because I'm just there for the downloads and I just want to calculate times a thousand downloads, how much I'm going to be making per month. Am I going to be a celebrity podcaster just like this person? I'm not saying you can't, I'm not saying you should, but if you lead with how much money can I make with something, chances are we've already lost. You want to be able to wake up and do it without regrets. Hell, even with regrets. Uh, and it's just like sticking through it to continue to have it be the thing that you're proud of. At least you are proud of. So we'll have more practical advice as we go on with Matt has a podcast about podcasting. Um, but I just wanted to share that with you. That's what uh that's one of the things that we're what we would cover.

Wrap Up and Subscribe

SPEAKER_00 19:09

So let's just close out the show. I want to have a nice episode one to uh welcome you to this podcast, me to you, uh, the new RSS feed. Uh, I've not used Buzz Sprout before, uh, but happy to dive in and experiment with their podcast tech stack. Um, again, go to thepodcastsetup.com to subscribe to the newsletter. Wherever you're listening or watching this, there'll be a link there, uh, hopefully. And uh search for Matt has a podcast about podcasting wherever you listen to podcasts. If you have a podcaster in your life uh that should listen to another podcast about podcasting, uh let them know about thepodcastsetup.com. Thanks for watching. If you're listening, have a great day. If you're watching, thumbs up, subscribe to the channel, leave a comment below, and we'll see you in the next episode.