Apple has been cracking down on podcasts using lots of keywords in their titles and author tags over the past few weeks. Podcasts have been removed and new podcasts have been rejected when submitting to Apple.
If you are using keywords in your show title or author tags or even subtitles with keywords, it's safer to remove them now rather than have Apple remove them.
Check your inbox because on January 31st, podcasters who submitted their shows to iTunes received an email from none other than Apple Podcasts with a few things they want to make sure you're aware of.
The main points of the email were:
For the most part, the first three were pretty straightforward, but the fourth point is one that will take some getting used to for seasoned podcasters and new podcasters, alike.
I have to admit, I am struggling with my show. (Isn't that an awful thing for a podcast consultant to admit? Ack!)
But it should be noted for anyone doing a show by themselves without outside help that putting all the little things into the podcast they want to do can get daunting. I'll be perfectly honest and say that I'm still trying to find my footing with starting a business and working from home. In fact, I had grand plans to work on episodes of my show today, but decided a blog post was more important.
With technology evolving and more ways to connect than ever before, it can be incredibly easy for someone to find out a lot about you by just searching your name in Google or on social media.
Before you begin a podcast, know that you will be putting yourself out there to the masses and it's a good idea to evaluate what other information you may already have that's easily searchable. And it's a good idea to take precautions sooner rather than later
Is this you? Do you want to get behind the microphone, but aren't sure what kind of podcast you want to have?
Do you even need a topic, or can you get behind the microphone and start a podcast about "anything and everything"? The reason I put that in quotes is because plenty of podcasts use that phrase to describe themselves. I'm not saying it's a bad thing, either. I listen to plenty of comedy podcasts that use that exact phrase.
But I will recommend if you're thinking of using a podcast to boost your brand or business, maybe the "anything and everything" route isn't for you.
A line you might see in articles that seem to come out every few months is the idea that podcasts are "the wild west of media." While I don't necessarily agree with the idea that podcasts are new (shameless plug for my podcast The Story Behind Podcasts), I love the idea that new podcasts are being created and new formats are being experimented on all the time, and it's wonderful.
I get disheartened when I see emerging podcasters lose steam when they see a podcast that's similar to what they are producing or, maybe even worse, not seeing any podcast that sounds like the one they want to produce.
But that's the great thing about podcasting. Could anyone have predicted that following a true crime investigation of a single case for 12 episodes would be a huge breakout hit? Or that a guy in his garage would get to interview the president of the United States? Or that indie shows like a show with the premise of ghost tours for the theater of the mind would surpass 2 million episodes and thrive on being entirely listener-supported? Or that a stack of found letters between two girls and their landlord would become a cult phenomenon?
