“You wanna know the hobbies, they’re part of the psychographics. That’s the lifestyle. And I say this all the time: you’re not going to make any money if you’re a football podcast and you’re marketing yourself to baseball fans. And I say this. You’ve I got people coming to me saying, you know, ‘I have a sports podcast, but I’m not making any money. Why am I not?’ Well, what sports are you talking about?” -- Bruce Chamoff

This episode’s guest is a web developer, musician, marketing visionary, and the CEO of the successful World Podcast Network. His passion for music started at the tender age of six, and his journey since has been nothing short of inspirational. He’s also a pioneering podcaster, having started his podcast network to promote both his own music and local musicians from Long Island, New York.

Podcasting has seen a remarkable evolution over the years and he’s been a consistent part of it, adapting and thriving amidst the changes. He shared how the pandemic led to an explosion of new shows on his network, pushing it close to a thousand. With the ever-increasing number of social media platforms, streaming services, and podcast hosting sites, the competition is fierce, but he’s undeterred. He emphasizes the importance of targeted marketing, and understanding your audience

His name is Bruce Chamoff, and he has a lot of advice to share, whether you’re a podcaster, a musician, or just looking for better ways to get your message out into the world.

As always, if you have questions for my guest, you’re welcome to reach out through the links in the show notes. If you have questions for me, visit audiobrandingpodcast.com where you’ll find a lot of ways to get in touch. You can also join regular Clubhouse chats in The Power of Sound House every Wednesday (check the schedule for times). Plus, subscribing to the newsletter will let you know when the new podcasts are available, when new audio rooms are scheduled and what they'll be about, and it'll give you access to a resource called The Studio with lots of interesting sound-related mp3s, videos, educational pdfs, and exclusive discounts from previous guests. If you’re getting some value from listening, the best ways to show your support are to share this podcast with a friend and leave an honest review. Both those things really help – and I’d love to feature your review on future podcasts. You can leave one either in written or in voice format from the podcast’s main page. I would so appreciate that.

(0:00:01) - Musician’s Journey

As the episode starts, Bruce talks about his earliest experiences with music and how they helped shape his career in sound. “I’m a songwriter and musician,” he says, “so I played piano starting at six years old and used to airplay the piano to Elton John songs... the music just moved me enough to want to be a musician and write music,” We talk about the birth of podcasting and how Bruce’s longtime dream of being a DJ and sharing the music he loved with others, found new life as a podcaster. “That desire stayed with me for years,” he explains, “and then, when podcasting came out in 2005, I decided ‘let me build a network and include as many podcasts as I can’ – and that’s how it was born.”

(0:05:42) - Podcasting Success and Industry Changes

We also talk about podcasting before and after the pandemic, and how the shift to virtual meetings and working from home helped podcasting explode into the mainstream. “Before the pandemic,” he notes, “the podcast network had only about 200 shows. Now we’re almost close to a thousand.” We also talk about monetization, what steps a podcast should take toward it, and how you know when it’s the right time to make the jump. “I think any podcast can monetize,” Bruce tells us, “but the first thing they have to do is grow their audience. You can’t monetize to an audience that you have not grown.”

(0:18:47) - The Importance of Targeted Marketing

“Let’s say that you’re an 18-year-old and you’ve got a great podcast going,” Bruce says, “but you’re marketing yourself to 55-year-olds. Do you think you’re going to make any money? Probably not.” We talk about demographics, psychographics, and the importance of knowing your audience and making sure that you’re speaking to them about the things they care about. “What are you into?” he explains. “What kind of sports you into? What kind of food do you like? Right? What age are you? And if you can figure all that out, then you can probably also sell your episodes to that target market.”

Episode Summary

• Bruce’s early memories of sound and reflections on his twenty-year journey.
• Navigating streaming platforms, strategies, and the secret to podcasting success.
• How audience psychographics can help you effectively market content.

Tune in next week as we talk about key strategies for monetizing your podcast, tips for soundproofing and optimizing the recording environment on a budget, and Bruce’s perspective as a streaming musician on how Spotify’s algorithms meant the end of the album as we know it.

Connect with the Guest

Website: https://nycpodcastnetwork.com/

Connect with Bruce Chamoff on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brucecwebdesign/

Follow Bruce Chamoff on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bruce.chamoff/

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Editing/Production by Humberto Franco - https://humbertofranco.com/