Your North Star: When You Get Kicked Where it Counts
When it rains it pours
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NOTE: This is a double-decker version of the newsletter as you will hear why there was no newsletter last week.
Getting Back Up Again
Life throws your curve balls, and things don’t always go as planned.
Last newsletter, I sincerely asked to hear your feedback. I got a .17% (not 1.7, .17) response. That in itself is feedback. That is a mirror that says (to me), that I’m not connecting with you as much as I think I am. Not the news you want, but it’s information that I can use (and yes that link is still available as I still need your feedback.)
Have you ever wondered how “Lifetime Deals” work? The company gets a bunch of money up front, but years later you’re still getting a service and they are getting nothing. If the company didn’t manage their launch right, you end up in the situation I am in. Adilo is a video hosting company that I paid $425 for a lifetime deal. That was twenty eight months ago. They just announced they are going to either kick me off or charge me $35/month starting in a month.
Yesterday when I logged in, they stuck an upgrade page in front of me. Apparently to get rid of it I triggered a yearly sale of $345, and when I asked for a refund, they said no. I talked to my credit card and will dispute the charge, and when I informed them that the minute the charge goes through, it will be contested. Shockingly, the are working on a refund now.
Then later when I logged in to download my files ( I was going to move them to Bunny.net, but I do love some of the features at Voomly, (I may use their smallest plan for marketing videos). I’ve been using Tella to make videos (It’s like Loom on steroids), and after looking into their plans, I decided to upload my videos there.
My dashboard at Adilo (4 days later) is nothing but a blank white page (luckily I do have backups). I will need to update every tutorial on the School of Podcasting. Not hard. Just tedious and time consuming.
You know it.
I know it.
Sometimes life just sucks.
You have your stories just like mine. We’ve all forgotten to press record at least once.
Back in 2005 (I need to find this recording) I said, “I think podcasting is going to change the world.”
I still do.
That is my “North Star” and why I fire up a microphone and try to help others change their world (one download at a time). It’s good to know your WHY in times like these because life will try to knock you off your course, and stop you from achieving your goals. As Vince Lombardi said, “It’s not how many times you get knocked down. It’s how many times you get back up.”
We all get knocked down, champions get back up. You got this.
If you need, Dr. Balboa has some words for you.
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My Latest Content
School of Podcasting (follow)
Small Audience, Big Results: Making Sponsor Deals Work for Any Podcaster – Heidi Kay Begay
Over Delivering Value: The Secret Sauce for Podcast Success (Defining Value)
Your Podcast Consultant (follow)
Two Tools To Help Come Up With Podcast Names
How to Source Listener Questions Before You Have an Audience
Feeding My Faith (follow)
One Choice at a Time: Escaping the Cycle of Quick Hits and Empty Wins
Stuff That Caught My Eye
Ozzy’s Family Provides an Update
Sharon, Jack, and Kelly give an update and behind the scenes of Ozzy last days through tears. It’s brutally honest, and at times disgusting when you hear how people are using Ozzy’s death to boost their careers. This is so vulnerable, it’s hard to watch.
The Dude From Riverside (Stephen Robles) Left
This will be interesting. Is his channel successful because he was the face of Riverside?
Libsyn Let Elsie Escobar Go
Elsie Escobar is one of my favorite people. Not because we are two peas in a pod, but the opposite. We think a lot different, but she is the kind of person who doesn’t make you feel stupid or ashamed for your thoughts, and then compassionately will share her views. She has and does influence many podcasters (especially those underserved voices).
Libsyn let her go after 19 years. At this point I consider them more of an advertising company than a hosting company. They also shut down their “The Feed” show.
Rob Walch Brings Back Podcast 411
Check out Rob Walch’s Podcast 411 show for news and interviews. I still have friends over there so I don’t want to shoot my torpedoes at the Libsyn boat, and will leave it with, “I don’t understand what they are doing over there.”
Rob’s Presentation at Podcast Movement has some great insights into video (I often quote his Audio outperforms video 15 to 1 stat) See presentation HERE.
Suno AI Music Creation is Much Better
I checked Suno out when it first came out and it was not good. Fast forward a year(ish) and I was amazed the music you can have created. I made a quick video.
What’s Coming In The Future
Whatever you want me to talk about. Just press reply and let me know what you want to hear. I’m serious.
Need Help With Your Podcast?
Whether you’re just starting or a seasoned podcaster, the School of Podcasting can help. Helping podcasters is what I do, and I’ve been doing it since 2005
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If you start now, you’ll be in the right place to take over the world in January!
I've had long-Covid for 2-½years and am back to about 80%, so forgive me. Today was the first time in a loooong time that I've read your complete newsletter.
Clearly, there were reasons.
Aside from everything you said hitting all the right notes for me** I learned about Elsie from you. I've been doing this for 19 years, Dave, and I really believed podcasting (not CorpCasting)—and Libsyn—were the last bastions of a flesh-and-blood, human-based business filled with people who cared about doing their jobs well and being rewarded for it.
HA!
Shame on me.
Personally, I'm still trying to rescue my premium episodes after Libsyn turned off the lights on the dedicated apps and premium content, but this? This is truly a nail in the coffin. You were generous and kind to the company—and I respect that.
I don't know that I will be able to do the same.
**—including how do we fight the subscriptionizing of our lives and get back to @#$& blogrolls instead of ads and algorithms—
I'd like to see strategies for internal podcasts. Is it that different from external facing podcasts?