How do popular hosts make their podcasts: Learn from Timcast, Tim Ferriss, Joe Rogan, Ezra Klein, and The Daily
With free podcast creation platforms out in the open, you can bring your stories to life any day, any time, from anywhere. You can improve your content’s ranking using Podcastle’s speech to text software and promote your podcast on a variety of social media platforms. Is that all there is? Frankly, there’s a lot that goes into making good quality content and strategic planning of your podcast brand’s marketing. And we suggest learning from the best — Tim Ferriss, Joe Rogan, New York Times’ very own podcast. These guys know how to do it and you might as well check them out before you go on with your own show.
Timcast
One thing you can borrow from Timcast’s notorious host Tim Pool is identifying what people in your niche long for and giving it to them. As he previously mentioned, trust is the #1 most important factor in delivering news. And that’s where he directed a lot of his efforts getting millions of viewers to follow his daily video podcasts.
Pool has built his brand without worrying about chasing the algorithm. While the off-the-wall approach isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, showing a little bit of bravery and individuality should help you build your brand.
The Tim Ferriss Show
Tim Ferris says that his passion for podcasting transformed into a business unintentionally. While there’s nothing wrong if you started out with the latter intention, you should keep the fire burning as for the audience it’s often easy to differentiate a passion project from a money machine.
For Tim it all started with taking a break from his writing and exploring his creativity with long-form audio. With a ‘win even if you lose’ approach, Tim realized that there isn’t much to lose; in the worst case scenario he just gets better at interviewing and nothing else happens. However, that’s not how things went for Tim. Having surpassed 700 million downloads, the Tim Ferriss Show has been ranked #1 on many occasions.
When it comes to monetization, luckily, podcasting isn’t Tim’s main source of income. While having the opportunity to fully monetize his podcast. And that’s his advice to beginners. In the first 3–9 months, it’s best to concentrate on putting out increasingly better work rather than hunt for sponsors. Of course, it’s possible to persuade a few sponsors in the very beginning of your podcasting journey. Yet, if you don’t dedicate enough time to continuously improving your content, it’s very likely that you’ll stay stuck with just a couple of sponsors and a stagnant following.
Ferris doesn’t bombard his audience with sponsored ads and calls to action either. He prefers to not earn a few additional millions rather than burn out his audience. Instead they keep coming back for quality content and stay responsive to not-so-frequent sponsored deals.
The Joe Rogan Experience
Moving onto the next phenomenally successful podcaster, let’s see what American comedian, actor, sports commentator, martial artist, and television host Joe Rogan has to say.
Joining a network can be quite a good decision as most novice podcasters would love the opportunity to have guidance with marketing infrastructure and such. Yet, Rogan, despite having many opportunities to do so, didn’t promote his podcast and let the following come organically. Obviously not everyone can afford dedicating so much time to a passion project and not monetizing it. While this doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t market your podcast or ask for reviews and support, let’s have a look at one of the main factors that helped Joe with his organic success.
Even if you haven’t listened to his podcasts, there’s no way you’re here and haven’t heard about Joe Rogan. And that’s thanks to his buzz-worthy comments and discussions that spread his name way beyond his listeners. Now, eccentricity may not be the image you won’t to go with. Yet, if you are worried about getting into trouble, drawing too much negative attention or such a format simply doesn’t fit your show, there are other ways to sound fresh and present new perspectives. This man’s success comes from breaking rules, rather than following — so it’s really up to you whether you accept or reject his approach.
The Ezra Klein Show
Ezra Klein is another great example of a podcast host that approaches sensitive topics in the most respectful way, yet uses them to his show’s advantage. Ezra balances between bringing his personality to each podcast episode while also staying open to what his guests have to say. He never takes things personally and explores the thought process of his guest without any bias getting into the way.
The Daily
The Daily podcast from The New York Times is a great example of how quality content in a different medium builds trust and brings more people to the parent brand. The New York Times needed to appeal to the younger audience as well and they found the right way. They transformed the existing top-notch works of journalism into audio format providing a more convenient alternative to their readers.
While the podcast is free, the publication successfully directs some of the listeners to their paid content. This way, it’s both an additional source of revenue and a gateway to broader audiences. So, in case you were considering starting a branded podcast for your business, this is your green light.
Some of these successful podcast ingredients are conventional, others are not, yet it’s through error and trial that you can find out which ones work for your podcast. One important takeaway is that while following in others’ footsteps, you shouldn’t forget to embrace your individuality — that’s what will keep YOUR audience coming back.