In this short update on the "Can I Make A Hit Podcast" project, I explain what is currently happening with the show and website.

Only today I was reading a comment on a podcast forum that said if your goal is to make money from your podcast you will fail.   And based on the enthusiastic "likes" the comment got, you would think it was a proven scientific fact.    But that doesn't seem to be the case and.. here is why.   If you would like to know more head to https://www.CanIMakeAHitPodcast.com

Can you grow a podcast audience using Amazon's business model? In this special "short" episode I look at that very question. 

Before you even start producing a podcast or recording anything, the best thing to do is to put all your equipment away and get out your laptop instead. From my research there are around eight questions which help you determine how to make a successful podcast.  The first of these is probably the most important. It's the question "why?" Why are you doing this? Before you rush off thinking, "I know that!!!" pause for a moment. Is the reason for doing it that you have in your head something to do with marketing or promotion? The remainder of the details and the show links can be found on the website the website here.

6 stories this week that reveal how we can build and promote our podcasts. From YouTube videos, to audience feedback, to developing your personality, to guests. It's all covered.

Dissecting how one top podcaster does it plus, how to hyper target a specific audience, one secret of turning a podcast into a public talk and the latest on Clubhouse.

Podcast news you can use this week. Should you be on Clubhouse? It is time to give up pre-recorded podcasting? How Google could help reach more people and getting media coverage for your show

Could you turn your podcast into a great public talk? This week we find out how to do it from event organiser and speaker, Patricia Curty from "Gallery of Ideas".

Can I deliver a pitch to conference organisers that is good enough to get an opportunity to speak?

Can I deliver a pitch to conference organisers that is good enough to get an opportunity to speak?

I'm still digesting this episode. There was so much in it. Basically "real world" proven ways to get listeners and also what not to do.

Can I promote my podcast with public speaking? Will it work? I'm testing it.

Can I get better and better guests? Mike Fisher is an awesome podcaster and so I invited him on my new thread "Cracking the Podcast Code" to pick his brains about explains what he's learnt going from no podcast to a show with "great" guests in such a short time.

Can I avoid podfade? You know where people give up after making only 8-10 episodes? How do you avoid that. Mike Winter has been going for years. I pick his brains to find out how.

The test: Can you get people to listen to your podcast using Facebook ads on a limited budget? Yes or no?

I've set a goal to increase my podcast listenership by 50% with advertising. But will advertising achieve that or is advertising a total waste of time after all? As always, I'm letting the data decide.

Update: Research into alternative ways to make podcast moneys and whether a news format could boost your listenership

Can I use the techniques of international advertising firms to promote our podcasts. I'm giving it a go this week.

Your podcast is under threat. Not from independents but celebs. So how do you ensure your show doesn't disappear. I've been looking at 3 ways to stop it

How do you get your podcast signed up by a big company? I wanted to know so I did some research.

Is "Guesting" the best marketing? If it is I need to do it right. In this episode I look at what I need to do to start appearing on other people's shows.

Can you get make your podcast reach more people buying advertising? I wanted the hard facts, not opinion so I did a test LIVE and this is what happened.

How can you turn 5 hours of audio into a hit show without burning yourself out? I need to find out and I start uncovering some great techniques in this episode.

I'm diving much deeper into the topic of podcast "topics" this week and how to pick them. Once again I'm shredding up my own show and applying the lessons of the big podcast companies in an attempt to emulate their success.

Can you make a podcast show that is so appealing that people have to click play on it? How do the big names do it and can you use their techniques to build a new show or "repair" a show which should be doing better?

In this episode I try to do 4 hours of guest interviews in a week and learn a lot of things along the way. One thing is that it is you and not your guest who will make or break a guest interview. If you get it wrong, your whole podcast could be a waste of time.

A final push for "landmark" podcast guests throws up some pretty crucial lessons about efficiency and podcast guest booking. If you want good guests, this is a must listen.

Where will you be after 110 podcast episodes? Mike Winter has done it. What's his secret of longevity? How come after 5 years he's still making Wisecrackin' with Winter?

There's no getting away from it. Without good time management the chances of making a hit show is looking unlikely. But instead of saying it's all too much work, I go in search of solutions to this problem. Can you use time management techniques for podcasting? Well take a listen.

Can you get exceptional guests easily or does it take plain and simple hard work. I put it to the test.

People are interested in appearing on the new show but will any of them be able to deliver what we need to make the new show a HIT show? Well let's see.

Can I actually reach "good" podcast guests? How do I do that? This is the first part of the quest to find the perfect guests for the new show.

It's easy to book a guest for a podcast right? Pick up the phone, join a guesting group or send out a tweet perhaps and it's done right? That's what I thought. But then I realised that getting the wrong guests could be a huge waste of time and turn what could have been a hit show into an "also ran" show. So what is the "right" guest? In this episode I look at why I spent two weeks working on this issue before even approaching a single person. Hope it helps you too.

How do you record a remote podcast interview? The first thing podcast guests are going to ask is where and how are we going to record this interview? As an independent podcaster with no budget who is trying to compete with the big podcast companies I've got to find another way. What I need is a system which will allow me to record guests in high quality remotely. In this episode I test out some of the top systems to record remote podcast interviews and let you hear the results to decide.

If I'm to make (and market) a hit podcast, I've got to work out how to do social media right? From what I've been looking at there is a lot of very un-engaging social media. Some of it on the other hand is very good. So this week I want to go off at a tangent for one week and look at "podcasting and social media".

It's all about the power of story in Episode 8. I'm looking at what Gimlet Media suggest and what they actually do plus I look at the problems of making a story too without losing all the spontaneity.

It's all well and good Gimlet Academy telling us how to make a hit show but when are we ever going to find the time to do what they suggest? In this episode I look at the problems and a tool to help solving one of these straight away.

One of the biggest podcast production companies (Gimlet media) have revealed their secrets in a podcast series. What's the secret?

How do podcasters hook you into listening to their episode. The principle is much like a sales pitch. So how do they do it and what are their techniques. In this episode I take a look. (Click to listen)

Don't listen to what I say, look at what I do. It's a mantra that we should all pay attention to. Instead of reading advice, analyse what others are doing. That's what I did to try and find out the type of podcasts which would become hits by analysing what other big production companies were making.

Stop stop. Don't record anything until you've listened to this because I've realised this week that a podcast logo is almost more important than the audio. The thing is if people don't get attracted to your podcast by the artwork they may never even play your episode. So how do you make sure they do? What lessons can we learn this week?

Drink coffee, set big goals, small goals? Think big, think small? How do you make sure you don't quit podcasting. I was about to yet again as I explained last week. This is week two where I test out techniques to avoid podcast on myself and here's the thing... the techniques are working? If you are a podcaster facing podfade or thinking of quitting, or you are about to set up a podcast, then these techniques could make the difference between success and failure. Let me explain in 13 minutes which techniques I've found actually work.

The reality is if you start a podcast, you are likely to stop after 8-10 episodes. Don't think it'll happen to you? Then just check the statistics. So how do you stop it? I'm on a mission to make a hit podcast which is sustainable along with a full time job, with no production company or support. Can it be done. In this episode I'm starting with tackling a problem I've dealt with myself multiple times. I want you to avoid podfade. Join me as I start to investigate the solution.