I’ve been using Clubhouse quite a bit over the last month. Any predictions about Clubhouse rendering podcasts obsolete are absurd. Yes, they are both audio-based, but that is the end of the comparison.
It would be like saying Twitter would replace novels because they are both text based.
The level of discussion on podcasting on Clubhouse is very very basic. In fact, most “experts” on podcasting never really seem to get beyond preaching to people who want to start a podcast.
To be sure that is a large market, and it is probably one of the reasons why so many shows are abandoned before they even get to the 4th episode.
Almost all the podcasting advice you find online is orientated towards the segment of newbie podcasters.
There is little to nothing out there, beyond warmed-over platitudes, for established podcasters who want to grow their audience.
Most of the podcasting gurus haven’t really grown a very large, successful podcast themselves. If they had, they would be too busy with their podcast and would have time for training new podcasters.
I bring this up because the path to success in podcasting or anything else is pretty simple.
- Try something
- Gather data
- Evaluate data and determine what works
- Repeat what works and try to improve performance. Eliminate whatever does work, or change how you implemented it to get it to work.
That’s it.
I’ve grown a successful blog and six-figure followings on several different social platforms by using this method.
Everyone wants answers handed to them, and it isn’t that simple.
I have traffic goals each month, and each month I’m not really sure how I’m going to achieve them. That’s the point, however. You have to get your hands dirty to figure stuff out, and if you aren’t doing that, you probably won’t find success.
It is only by setting goals just out of your reach that you will figure out how to reach them.
Traffic
March was a solid month. There was no great spike in traffic, but traffic steadily grew.
Total downloads in March 2021 was 73,742 which was a 21.4% increase over February 2021 which had 60,733 downloads.
There are three more days in March than February, so they aren’t really good months to compare on a monthly basis.
February had 2,169 downloads per day and March had 2,379 downloads per day. On this basis, the growth was 10%.
So far my April growth is on pace for around 85,000 downloads, which is about 15% growth over March.
FINANCES
Revenue
I calculate everything on a cash basis, which means I register it when the payment comes in. That means there is some ad that ran in March that I won’t get paid for until April, and there were some payments I received in March for ads that will run in April and May.
Advertising: $3,198. I had one package of total episode sponsorships and some
Patreon: $138. This is my net after Patreon takes its cut and after the cost of shipping merchandise.
Expenses
Podcast Hosting: $22. Monthly Libsyn hosting fee.
Headliner Monthly Fee: $19.99
Advertising: $429
