What Makes a Podcast “Professional”? (And Does It Matter?) – PCI 456

Speaker 0: Hey there. I'm Mike Dell, VP of customer relations here at Blueberry and a longtime podcaster to boot.

Speaker 1: I'm Todd Cochran, founder and CEO of Blueberry. Great to be with you and a longtime podcaster as well.

Speaker 2: And I'm Mackenzie Bennett, marketing specialist. On today's episode, we're asking a big question. What makes a podcast professional? Long time podcaster.

Speaker 1: Yeah. Well, you know, there's no single answer to this, but we've seen a lot of people miss understand or get discouraged by the word for sure.

Speaker 2: Absolutely. We've seen plenty of hobby podcasters run circles around these so called professional ones. So we're gonna break it down of what it really means and when it matters.

Speaker 3: You're listening to Podcast Insider hosted by Mike Dell, Todd Cochran, and Mackenzie Bennett from the Blueberry team, bringing you weekly insights, advice, and insider tips and tricks to help you start, grow, and thrive through podcasting, all with the support of your team here at Blueberry Podcasting. Welcome. Let's dive in.

Speaker 1: You know, I I think too is we don't wanna get folks confused too much because Blueberry has Blueberry hosting and then we have professional podcast hosting. And really, it's the only difference between those two words are two different plans. But that's what we're not talking about today. We're actually talking about if you're a professional and you have a you're purposeful. So, you know, being professional doesn't necessarily mean making money or having sponsors.

You know, professional podcast really is is pretty simple. It's consistent in its publishing. It's clear in its messaging of purpose. And most importantly, it's respectful of listeners' time and experience, which I think a lot of people often ignore and probably the biggest cardinal sin made in podcasting.

Speaker 0: Yeah. It's more about your intention than your income. You know, plenty of of hobbyists, as we call them sometimes. Podcaster shows are very professional because they're well crafted and very focused and, you know, very on point. They don't drift.

They don't waste your time. They, you know, just keep everything, you know, on a professional level, but not because they're getting paid.

Speaker 2: I would qualify this one in that realm. We're not we don't have any sponsors. We're not getting paid to do this. It's just, you know, the the effort that we're putting into it, and making sure that we are really giving people the best information in the shortest amount of time possible.

Speaker 1: You know, one one thing I found with my personal show is I spend a little bit of time each show just talking about personal stuff and it drives a segment of the new audience crazy because they don't wanna hear it. They haven't established the relationship with me. So what I've had to learn over the years is to condense that really down really, really tight. Otherwise, the new listeners that haven't been around for ten or fifteen years don't get it why I do it. So I've had to make the podcast more on point.

And sometimes it makes me sad because the oftentimes I get asked via email or something, hey, you don't talk about x y and z anymore. How come and so there's times that I'll try to cover that at the end of the show. So people that were expecting us to be on point right from the beginning and go all the way through. I a case in point, there's a podcast that I'm listening to recently. And I'll be honest with you, they go about forty minutes and the first ten minutes they drive me nuts.

They really are, they're talking about memes and the podcast is not about memes. And I'm like, I I don't need to hear about memes. I see that on Facebook all day long. So, let's move along move along. But, you know, I think keeping keeping the listeners on point and not wasting their time is super, super important.

Speaker 0: Yeah. But, you know, there's also things like your show for us long time listeners know that that's what you do. And, you know, maybe it'll take a little while for new listeners. So, I mean, if that is your personality, stick with it.

Speaker 1: But, again, you know, if you, you know, want it to be really tight,

Speaker 0: you know, maybe limit that stuff.

Speaker 1: Yeah.

Speaker 2: I think there's you know, this is where quality comes into play. It's figuring out how do I still incorporate this information but still get you know, put out a quality episode for for everyone listening now. Because you're gonna have those old listeners who are doing something who are who are still enjoying this content. But the growth and the new people, that's not something that they're a 100% interested in. So I think changing the way that you do it and, like, doing it at the end, I think, is is good.

You know? There's a lot of stuff for the quality of the episode overall that comes into play that way.

Speaker 0: Right. Yeah. And we and we covered a lot of this stuff in a episode a couple episodes ago, but, you know, make sure your your recording is clean. You know, make sure you're in a quiet space. You got good mic technique.

Again, see the episode two episodes ago. And, you know, basic editing to remove some of the really distracting things. But, I know, Todd, you don't do a whole lot of editing, but, you also keep a pretty tight ship in your original recording.

Speaker 1: Yeah. I I make sure that it's it's very, very clean. And I also do an incredible amount of prep, to make sure that the flow goes well. And, and I spend as much time on prep as I do in the actual show recording. But, you know, one thing that we do help you with here at Blueberry is, we offer media mastering and transcripts that can help polish your content for a more professional feel without over complicating things.

So, be you know, take advantage of that. We put those tools in there because we all use them. You know? This is stuff that we as podcasters find super, super value.

Speaker 0: Yep. And, you know, the one of the questions we have on our notes here is is your podcast for fun or for growth? Well, you know, it it really doesn't you know, you don't really have a wrong answer to that, but you gotta make sure what your goal is. If you're just doing this for fun, that's one thing. If you're doing it for, you know, growing your audience and getting some information out, all of that kind of thing, you know, you have to decide that ahead of time.

What's your goal of your podcast? You know, a lot of a lot of people start podcast because, well, I like playing with microphones and recording stuff and editing and whatever. And maybe that's all you're in it for. But, you know, if you wanna be a more professional type show, you sort of have to tighten that up.

Speaker 1: The goal piece, I think, is something that I find a lot of podcasters have not thought a lot about. So I'm gonna do a show. I'm gonna talk about subject x y z. But then they get a few episodes in or maybe a year in and they're like, well, I really wanted to make money or I really wanted to become an authority or I really wanted to, you know, help with my education. So I think that knowing your goal is really a key piece of being what I would consider professional podcaster.

And, it's really it'll really help you refine your content, in in a big big way a really big way.

Speaker 2: Yeah. The the difference between a goal and a dream. A goal has plans.

Speaker 3: Right.

Speaker 2: Yep. So but professional doesn't have to mean corporate per se. I mean, this is a professional podcast, but I wouldn't call this corporate either probably. It's it's fine tuned.

Speaker 0: We try not to be boring.

Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. It's not a news anchor, 6PM, the same thing over and over and over again, you know, that you're hearing on every news channel type of thing. It's we're trying to make it relevant to the topics that you guys are looking for, easy to follow.

We are all passionate about podcasting, have all been doing this a very long time. So it's it's structured framework, you know, and not necessarily a muzzle on your own show.

Speaker 1: And I think, really, audiences are looking for an authentic voice, someone that they can trust. They can smell a fraud a mile away.

Speaker 2: Yeah.

Speaker 1: They understand when you're passionate about it. So that's why it's important when you're considering a topic for your show that it's something you're truly passionate about. The worst thing you can do is chase a popular category and know nothing about it. I I think that's, you know, I see some people doing that. It's those podcasts generally don't last.

Speaker 0: Well, you you remember the, you know, one very popular podcast a few years ago and, and everybody was trying to copy his formula. And, you know, his formula worked for him, but didn't really work for very many other people. So don't be a copycat either.

Speaker 1: Yeah. And I think too being listener focused and having a show that's easy to follow. So, you know, that easy to follow piece really begins with structure. And don't change too much too fast. You know, if you're if you're looking at your show in segments, every once in a while, I'll make a change.

But I'll just make one change and then I'll get some feedback whether it was good or bad. So, you know, think out your flow of your show and it should be easy to follow. But, again, think of professionalism as a framework. Again, as Mackenzie said, not not a muzzle.

Speaker 2: Yeah. Do you guys have any examples of shows that are not corporate, but you would still consider professional?

Speaker 1: Oh, you know, I few. I listen to a lot, but I think the ones I find the most popular that I that I really listen to are those that were I wanna in be engaged in the conversation where I wanna say, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey. And then where I wanna interject, but I can't. Mhmm. Yep.

You know, and or or oh, yeah. And that's or or really or, you know, it makes me think. I think that's, you know, where I really lean in. Sometimes I go listen to shows purely for information. There's the marketing AI show.

Actually, I think they changed their name now to just the AI show. And I go to that show purely for news and what's trending and it's more or information. I don't go for their personalities. I go for the I go for the information they, impair. So I really think it's based upon the topic.

And they do a really professional show, but it's structured too. I also know what to expect. They do, like, three main topics and then they do rapid fire at the end. So I kind of know the pacing on where that show is going. So again, I think when you hear it, you know it.

It's, again, easy to follow. You know? I know what's coming. I know how much time. I don't even have to look at the, at my phone to know that there's six minutes less.

I know they're near the end when they're in rapid fire.

Speaker 2: Yeah. One of my favorites, that I listen to all the time is Song Exploder, which is from NPR. So it's corporate in that sense. But my favorite part, is that, like, the the host always does, here's the episode that we're gonna go over today. Here's, like, a very quick intro about the artist, that, you know, did this song.

And then they bring the actual artist or producer or writer or something onto the show. And the the artist will give their spiel, say, like, oh, we came up with it because of this, or we were working on this, and we didn't like it, so we changed it to this. And then at the end, then they play the entire song. And it's great because, like, it's always less than a half hour, which is my sweet spot right now, and I know what's gonna happen. I know the host is gonna be there for a second.

I'm gonna get twenty minutes with the artist and then I'm gonna listen to the full song that I like at the end. It's great. I know what to expect.

Speaker 1: I also know that for my personal show, there was in the beginning, it was seventy minutes, seventy minutes, seventy minutes, seventy minutes. And then I went to sixty minutes. And, the audience reacted to that in a favorable way. And now today, the show is anywhere between 40 and about forty seven minutes. And if I go much longer than that, I'm already in my head saying, hey, I gotta wrap this up.

I know that, I'm not I don't wanna waste the listeners time. So I try to make sure that I stay kind of in that in that range and the audience actually kind of knows now, you know, when I'm getting close to the end. I don't let them know I'm getting close to the end until the I mean the last moment before because I don't want them dropping. And, I can drop the the exit on them kind of as a hammer and just comes in. Okay folks.

That wraps it up for today. And then we're and then I'm out of there, and it's it's kinda helping tighten the show up a lot.

Speaker 0: One of mine, is one of our newest clients here, Airplane Geeks. And those guys have a really good format. They, you know, they do their personal stuff at the beginning. They usually have a guest, and then they talk about a particular topic. And, I mean, it's very formulaic, but it it's very familiar.

It just, you know, just feels like they've got it together, whether they do or don't. And, you know, that's another sort of example of a show that's not a professional show. What I mean is they're, you know, they're not making money on it or anything like that. It's a hobby thing, but it's a very professionally put together show. And, you know, and they have multiple hosts and lots of guests and everything.

And, you know, I I just think, you know, they they just have it together.

Speaker 1: Now one thing to remember here is is that, you know, the tools that we've built here at Blueberry had been built by podcasters for podcasters. So I think you need to understand that this this company's DNA was built on creators. And we're one of the few companies that have active, podcasters that are not only using the product but are actually recording shows. So I think it's, even can be a bit nerdy at times. And, again, if if if your niche is news, narrative, if you're nerdy, we we've got you covered.

And, these tools were built for a purpose and, we're always looking for new ideas. You can always send us emails that I wish you had this. We've always loved those types of feedback. But, yeah. Professional again doesn't mean corporate, but, I hope we've kind of aligned you a little bit on what a professional podcaster is.

And in our hearts, we're all professionals. Right?

Speaker 2: I like to think so. Yeah. That's a wrap on today's episode. We encourage you to lead with curiosity, use storytelling over promotion, and let your passion do the talking.

Speaker 1: And remember, talking about your podcast doesn't mean turning into a used car salesman. Just me and if you're a used car salesman, no offense, but some of you guys and ladies, it just means sharing something you care about in a way that connects with people. Thanks for joining us.

Speaker 3: Come back next week. And in the meantime, head to podcastinsider.com for more information.

Speaker 1: To subscribe, share, and read

Speaker 3: our show notes. Check out the latest suite of services and learn how Blueberry can help you leverage your podcast. Visit blueberry.com. That's Blueberry without the e's because you can't afford the e's.