Do you REALLY have a top 5% podcast?
Hey Pod Pals!
This newsletter was lovingly curated (without the use of any AI) in real time on Thursday morning at 8:46am CST.
It is hot as hell here in Missouri, so I had to get my morning routine going early!
I knocked out my AM brisk walk, breakfast with the kids, and now the cold brew coffee is starting to work it's magic.
It's newsletter time!
📈 Today we are going to talk about something that might sting a little...at first....but in the long run it will be helpful.
A frustrated podcaster recently approached me saying:
"Adam, my podcast editor told me I have a top 5% podcast but I'm only getting 47 downloads per episode....make it make sense!"
and this is what inspired my newsletter content for today Pod Pals!
We are going to make this all make sense...buckle up!
If you have a statement like the one below in your social media bio or the about page of your website...
"Top 5% podcast!"
....we need to have a little chat!
➡️ Problem #1: This statement lacks context...as in top 5% of WHAT?
Let's use a sports comparison.
If your favorite NBA player states "I'm a top 5% basketball player!"....you are going to need some more info.
Are we talking about:
-Points scored?
-Championships won?
-Total games played?
-Total salary earnings?
So if you are a podcaster saying "I've got a top 5% podcast"...we also need to add some context.
Are we talking about:
-Downloads?
-Income earned?
-Total episodes released?
➡️ Problem #2: When most podcasters are calling themselves a top 5% podcaster they aren't referring to downloads, income earned, or total episodes released....they are talking about their Listen Notes Score.
The typical scenario is as follows:
Podcast editors, producers, coaches like to pump up their clients (which is GREAT).
They are celebrating all kinds of benchmarks with their clients and one of them is usually a fancy sounding number from Listen Notes.
If you've never looked up your show on Listen Notes go ahead and do it right now so you can see what I'm talking about with the rest of this newsletter.
So, what exactly is a Listen Score?
Here's the explanation from the Listen Notes website:
"The Listen Score is a metric that shows the estimated popularity of this podcast compared to other RSS based public podcasts in the world on a scale of 0 to 100. Podcasts that that publish episodes regulary over long periods tend to score higher."
When I search for Podcasting Business School I see that I have a Listen Score of 47 and then it says Global Rank: Top 1%.
My top 1% Listen Score has a lot to do with the fact that I've put out 628 weekly episodes (volume + consistency).
Now...here's where most podcasters mess this up...
They rush to social media and proclaim "I've got a top 1% podcast!!!!!"
When, in reality, they've got a top 1% Listen Score...BIG difference.
To put this into perspective, if your show is in the top 1% according to downloads per episode, you would be doing well over 20,000 downloads per episode.
Now, I'm not saying don't be proud of your Listen Score!
You should celebrate every single WIN you achieve on your podcasting journey.
What I AM saying is be as ACCURATE as possible with the information you are sharing....or it will lead to our next problem.
➡️ Problem #3: Top 5% podcasts are becoming the new "Best Selling Author".
About 10 years ago I was in a Facebook Group that was all about a strategy to help everyone game the system and become a "best selling author".
The system was as follows:
1. Publish your book on Amazon.
2. Price it at $1.00
3. Buy 1,000 of them yourself (to give away to your friends for the rest of your life...LOL) and encourage others to support you by buying your book as well.
4. BOOM....you are an Amazon Best Selling Author....but you can go ahead and drop that "Amazon" off of the front end and just call yourself a Best Selling Author.
Once people caught onto this game it really cheapened the term Best Selling Author.
I don't want that to happen in podcasting!
So, I've got a simple proposal for all of my Pod Pals!
🎯 Here's my solution: Let's just add some context when we share out podcasting WINS.
Here are a few examples:
✔️ If you've got a top 1% Listen Notes score....be proud of that and share it out:
Accurate 👉 According to my Listen Notes score, my podcast is in the top 1%!!!!
❌ Misleading: I've got a top 1% podcast!
✔️ If your podcast gets over 125+ downloads per episode you are doing better than 50% of all podcasts....share it out:
Accurate 👉 Based off of my average downloads per episode, I'm doing better than 50% of all podcasts!
❌ Misleading: I've got a top 50% podcast!
✔️ If you've released 100+ episodes of your podcast that is something to be really proud of because only 5% of us get there....share it out:
Accurate 👉 Based off of total episodes, my show has gone farther than 95% of all podcasts!
❌ Misleading: I've got a top 5% podcast!
So, to wrap this one up, I just want to emphasize that I think that podcasters should be loudly celebrating ALL of our WINS.
We just need to celebrate them with accurate statements so that we can help our industry continue to build momentum and legitimacy in the content creation space!
📌 Last thing for today:
I've officially launched my new community on the Skool platform.
It's a FREE community that I've built specifically for podcasters that want to grow their audience past 1,000+ downloads per episode and start earning meaningful income.
If that's YOU, I'd love to have you join for free!
We've already got over 100+ podcasters in there diving into the discussion threads, courses, resources, and live training with me.
I've also included a couple of low ticket paid upgrade tiers if you want more training time with me and extra courses/resources.
➡️ I'd highly recommend checking out the $9/month Premium tier because I'm going to bump up that price on August, 26th (my birthday!).
Talk to you next week!
Your Pod Pal,
Adam
⭐️ P.S. Here's the scoop on my podcast episode this week!
🎙️ Podcasting Business School EP 628: Should you start a Skool community for your podcast?
In this episode my Pod Pal Shannon Boyer came on the show to help me decide if I should start a Skool community.
She helps me map out the PERFECT community launch strategy.
If you have ever considered monetizing your podcast with a Skool community this episode is for you!