👏 Well said Matt!
Many of the features suggested in Michael's piece are already being explored as a part of the https://podcastindex.org/ project.
But more importantly, Spotify seems particularly hungry to be the "centralized platform" for podcasting. They want discovery, consumption, and monetization can happen in the same place. That desire serves no one but Spotify and their shareholders.
One centralized platform = bad for creators. (I discuss this in more detail here: https://justinjackson.ca/podcasts-and-capital).
I have many friends at Spotify, and support their work, but I am not a fan of them attacking the open-standard.
It’s been years since I’ve published anything on Medium. (Hi, it’s me, Justin Jackson).
But (somehow) I’ve accrued nearly 6,000 followers here?!
Since I stopped writing on Medium, I’ve been focused on building a startup called Transistor.fm (with my co-founder Jon Buda). It’s a podcast hosting and analytics platform.
We started in early 2018 and built it from $0 in MRR, to over $550,000 in ARR today.
I’ve been sharing our progress in this bootstrapping series:
https://justinjackson.ca/bootstrap
And on our podcast:
https://saas.transistor.fm
If you’re on a bootstrapping journey, you might like those too. 👌
Cheers,
Justin Jackson
PS: if you’re looking to start a podcast in 2020, I just published this guide for you.
Podcasting is the best way for your brand to build trust with an audience. It takes time to develop a show, and build an audience, but it’s worth it! Here are my top tips for starting your own podcast.
What podcasting equipment should you buy?
Best podcasting microphone
🙅♂️ Many people recommend the Blue Yeti USB microphone. However, this is a condenser microphone that will pick up a lot of room noises (especially any thumps or bumps you make while recording). Don’t buy it!
👍 Here are better microphone options:
- Samson Technologies Q2U ($60 USD) — this dynamic microphone can plug into your computer via USB or you…
When people hear that Joe Rogan is making $25 — $50 million a year from his podcast, they take notice.
However, most folks forget that Joe started his podcast back in 2009. “The Joe Rogan Experience” was one of the first comedy podcasts, and he did it for years before it made any money. It took him ten years to achieve that success.
So, don’t expect to get into podcasting and make tons of money overnight!
However, if you’re patient, you can earn a reasonable amount of income from your podcast. Here are some ideas!
Get listeners to support you on Patreon
Patreon is a 3rd-party platform…
Thousands of dollars were pouring into my account. And I was miserable.
It was 10pm on a Friday night. I was sitting at my kitchen table with my laptop open. I was watching hundreds of Stripe payment notifications come through.
A year previous, I’d launched a new subscription product called Tiny Marketing Wins.
People loved it. I’d received tons of good reviews.
But now it was renewal time. And I started getting emails:
Due to circumstances, I wasn’t able to take full advantage of TMW last year. This year, I have laid out plans to go from working “in” my…
When you don’t move, the world grows up around you.
What happens in Vegas is supposed to stay in Vegas, but I’m going to tell you about a crazy experience I had.
(Note: this is the third issue of my newsletter for independent makers. Subscribe here.)
I was recently in town speaking at a conference.
The first night, there was a party for attendees. I got talking to the bartender. He was an older gentleman in his 70s. He told me some history about the Tropicana hotel: how it had opened in 1957 and had links to the famous mobster, Frank Costello.
I asked him how long he’d been there…
How to achieve success with digital products
Note: this is the second issue of my newsletter for independent makers. Subscribe here.
Adam Wathan has always been passionate about learning new things. This past year he discovered how he could earn an independent living doing it.
His book and video course, Refactoring to Collections, teaches PHP programmers how to apply functional programming principles to write clean, maintainable code.
This is my interview with Adam about his $100,000 book launch.
Pssst… this is a long one. If you’d rather listen to it, check out the audio version here.
Hey Adam! What’s your background? What’s your work history?
I just went full-time on products. Previously, I was working as…
A revenue breakdown on my various projects
Note: this is the first issue of my new newsletter for independent makers. Subscribe here.
My friend Suzanne Nguyen asks:
“How do you make your money? Do you offer many products for different markets? What’s the breakdown of revenue between the various projects you do?”
Suzie has developed a reputation as the “go-to” person for Snapchat. Plus, she’s built a sizeable audience there. Now she’s looking for a sustainable revenue stream. She is considering a few models (membership platform, online events, etc…)
Below is my advice for Suzie. I’ve based this information on my experience, which means “these are the…
Your guide to attending the conference for self-funded startups
Going to Las Vegas for MicroConf 2018? Here are my best tips on travel, hotels, taxi, and my guide for getting the most out of this conference for bootstrapped entrepreneurs.
Pro tip: add yourself to this Who is coming to MicroConf 2018 list and connect with people ahead of time!
The brainchild of Rob Walling and Mike Taber, this event bucks the startup trend: it’s not for venture-funded companies.
“MicroConf is a great place to meet like-minded people who are self-funding their businesses. It’s one of the best places to make friends with other people in the same situation as…
Justin Jackson
Co-founder of transistor.fm, Twitter: @mijustin
