Horse Radio Network’s Glenn Hebert Talks Podcast Segments, Sponsorship, and Community
Episode 4522nd April 2025 • Podcasting Tech • Mathew Passy
00:00:00 00:32:30

Share Episode

Shownotes

If you’ve ever wondered why super-specific podcasts succeed or how a daily Show builds such a loyal, lasting community, this episode of podcastingtech is tailored for you.

Today, Mathew Passy chats with Glenn Hebert, aka Glenn the Geek—founder of the Horse Radio Network and host of Horses in the Morning. Glenn Hebert is a legend in the niche podcasting world. He’s launched over 20 shows covering every corner of the equestrian universe and pioneered the art of segment-driven, community-based content that keeps listeners coming back for thousands of episodes. His story is a playbook for anyone longing to turn a passion into a sustainable, profitable podcasting network.

We dive deep into why ultra-niche shows (even with tiny audiences!) can outpace bigger counterparts in profitability, how segmenting your podcast creates addictive “can’t miss” listening, and the simple but powerful ways anyone can build a vibrant podcast community. Glenn also shares what it’s really like to sell your network to a major media company and why host-listener relationships are the secret power of podcasting.

Whether you’re just launching or scaling up a podcast, this episode will change how you think about audience, content, and community. Connect with Mathew and Glenn on social or let us know what segment you’d add to your podcast after hearing today’s insights!

IN THIS EPISODE, WE COVER:

  • How Glenn started in podcasting, discovering the power of niches—and why “people come for the content, but stay for the host.” (00:02) 
  • The story behind Horses in the Morning and the segment-driven show format that’s kept listeners engaged for thousands of episodes. (03:54)
  • The accident (and brilliance) behind “Really Bad Ads”—and why keeping that viral segment at the end keeps listeners until the last second. (09:00) 
  • Glenn’s method for launching new shows: why finding the right host, a sponsor, and a media partner before starting is always a winning formula. (10:30) 
  • Why ultra-niche shows with small but passionate audiences are easier to monetize, attract loyal sponsors, and outperform generalist content. (15:10) 
  • The real-world process—and the realities—of selling a podcast network to a major media company. (18:00) 
  • Effective podcast marketing strategies: from targeting existing communities to using word-of-mouth and media partnerships. (19:36) 
  • Glenn’s #1 wish for podcast tech: create an “archive vs active” split to make discovery easier for real listeners. (23:29) 
  • The tech gear that changed Glenn’s show production (from the RODECaster Pro to the Zoom P4), plus why gear isn’t the most important thing. (26:31) 
  • Glenn’s must-listen podcasts—and what community-led shows he never misses. (28:12) 

Links and resources mentioned in this episode:

                                                  @GlennHebert - LinkedIn

                                     X (Twitter)

                                     Facebook

                                           Zoom P4 (https://amzn.to/3O1kB64 )




**As an Amazon Associate, we may earn commissions from qualifying purchases of podcasting gear from Amazon.com. We also participate in affiliate programs with many of the software services mentioned on our website. If you purchase something through the links we provide, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. The team at Podcasting Tech only recommends products and services that we would use ourselves and that we believe will provide value to our viewers and readers.**


For additional resources and insights visit podcastingtech.com or follow us on social media:


PODCASTING TECH IS POWERED BY:


EQUIPMENT IN USE:

Transcripts

Speaker:

Welcome to Podcasting Tech, a podcast that equips busy

Speaker:

entrepreneurs engaged in podcasting with proven and cost effective

Speaker:

solutions for achieving a professional sound and appearance. I'm

Speaker:

Matthew Passi, your host and a fifteen year veteran in the podcasting

Speaker:

space. We'll help you cut through the noise and offer guidance on software and

Speaker:

hardware that can elevate the quality of your show. Tune in weekly

Speaker:

for insightful interviews with tech creators, behind the scenes studio tours, and

Speaker:

strategies for podcasting success. Head to

Speaker:

podcastingtech.com to subscribe to this show on YouTube or your favorite

Speaker:

podcast platform and join us on this exciting journey to unlock the full

Speaker:

potential of your podcast. Very

Speaker:

special guest on the show today, someone who, if you've been

Speaker:

to podcasting events, especially Podfest, you probably know who he is. He's

Speaker:

he's always there, and he's always has a big presence. It is

Speaker:

Glenn Hebert aka Glenn the Geek, founder of the Horse Radio Network,

Speaker:

and host of Horses in the Morning. Glenn, thank

Speaker:

you for joining me tonight. Well, I'm glad to be here. And, you know, I

Speaker:

don't know why we haven't done this sooner. I think we've known each other ten

Speaker:

years at this point. It's a long time. Right. There's no reason why you shouldn't

Speaker:

have been on before. It's funny because I it's a lot of people, they'll

Speaker:

ask me about podcasting and advertising and niches

Speaker:

and I always tell the story, when you and

Speaker:

I first met or, you know, we were we were sitting down chatting at Podfest

Speaker:

one year and you were talking about shows that are successful and

Speaker:

levels of success. And I always remember, you know, horses in the morning, obviously,

Speaker:

massive audience, big download numbers. But I always remember you telling me

Speaker:

that you have that carriage horse racing show or you had that carriage horse

Speaker:

racing show, and that actually had, like, bigger margins or was

Speaker:

technically more profitable even though it was a really tiny audience. And I I took

Speaker:

that to heart, and I always share that with people, you know, as far as,

Speaker:

like, why niches are important. And I definitely wanna come back to that some more.

Speaker:

But first, just real quickly, you have an interesting foray

Speaker:

into podcasting, in particular into

Speaker:

podcasting about all things horses. Tell us how you,

Speaker:

you know, got started with horses in the morning and and eventually launched the

Speaker:

network. Well, I, I was a performer for a long

Speaker:

time. A matter of fact, I have a picture up here above my head that's,

Speaker:

an acting company that I owned for ten years, and we did medieval

Speaker:

feasts. We kinda did a Benny Hill version of a medieval feast. So it

Speaker:

was fun. It was improv. It was we did 450 shows.

Speaker:

And I got out of that, got into doing business stuff. I was

Speaker:

in finance for a long time and, owned some companies and sold some

Speaker:

companies. And then, I just needed an outlet

Speaker:

for for the creative side again, you know, for the performer side.

Speaker:

And my brother said, hey. There's this thing. I listened to Twit. I listened

Speaker:

to Leo Laporte's Twit, and this was back in 02/2006.

Speaker:

And he said, I think they called a podcast. You ought to check it out.

Speaker:

Maybe that's something you could do. And that's and that's how it started.

Speaker:

I, I did my first show in 02/2006, which was an immense

Speaker:

failure because none of us knew what we were doing and nobody knew how to

Speaker:

listen. And it was way ahead of where I should have been in the horse

Speaker:

world. And then in 02/2008, I tried it again. Technology

Speaker:

had caught up a little. Smartphones were just starting. You know, it was a little

Speaker:

easier to listen to a podcast and then started

Speaker:

a Stable Scoop show with my good friend Helena. And I knew I always wanted

Speaker:

a network. So we started one show on the horse radio network.

Speaker:

And I called it radio back then because nobody knew what a podcast was, but

Speaker:

I could tell them it was online radio and they would kind of get it

Speaker:

right. That's why it was radio network and not podcast

Speaker:

network because, you know, back then, nobody knew. We barely

Speaker:

knew. So people struggling today. Yeah. And then we started

Speaker:

more shows. And then I always wanted to be a morning

Speaker:

radio show guy, but I didn't wanna go to work.

Speaker:

So that's when I put out a call for a cohost

Speaker:

to start horses in the morning, which would be a daily show an hour an

Speaker:

hour and a half every day, five days a week. And we started that in

Speaker:

02/2010 with Jamie, my cohost, who came out of morning radio in

Speaker:

Atlanta. She was in top four 40 morning radio in Atlanta. You know how

Speaker:

the morning radio shows always have two guys and the girl, the token

Speaker:

girl? Well, she was the token girl. You know? So, you know, she was that

Speaker:

person, but she had, you know, done very well there and moved and

Speaker:

decided she wanted to talk about horses. So we started horses in the morning,

Speaker:

and now we're at 3,600 episodes fifteen years later.

Speaker:

Incredible. Yeah. I I'm I guess

Speaker:

what what made the show you think

Speaker:

attractive to people? You know, like, you're you're doing this

Speaker:

morning radio thing, but you're also keeping the focus on horses. Do you think

Speaker:

having that focus helped in the success rate finding that

Speaker:

specific niche, that specific filter to go through what's happening in your

Speaker:

lives and what's happening in the world, was, you know, able to

Speaker:

help you grow your audience? No question. I mean, horse people are addicted

Speaker:

to horses. They spend all their time and money on horses, period. There's nothing else

Speaker:

in their lives. So so we had that going for us. So it

Speaker:

was a good niche. And there wasn't really any other podcast out there

Speaker:

for horses. The Daily Show, I think I think

Speaker:

the reason it well, it's what I always say. They come for the content, but

Speaker:

they stay for the host. And that's true for podcasts or YouTube channels.

Speaker:

If you think about all the YouTube channels you watch and subscribe to, subscribe

Speaker:

to, you're subscribed because you like the presenters. You like the host. You like the

Speaker:

people that are doing the show. There's a million travel shows out

Speaker:

there. We subscribe to four or five different YouTube channels because we like

Speaker:

them. So we would watch whatever they did. And, you know,

Speaker:

and that's true of especially true of podcasts. So

Speaker:

I think that, people came, tried out horses in the morning. It's a

Speaker:

commitment to subscribe to a show that's gonna take five hours of your

Speaker:

week. Right? That's a commitment because it's an hour every

Speaker:

day. And they subscribe because they like me. They

Speaker:

like Jamie. They especially like Jamie. She's probably my most popular cohost.

Speaker:

But it's because we're vulnerable. We're out there. We talk about our lives. The show

Speaker:

initially started to be about our guests, and now the biggest complaint we

Speaker:

get is we have too many guests. And it's not enough for us

Speaker:

because the show really has become about us and our lives in the horse world

Speaker:

and how it relates to horses because everybody we're just average horse people. I'm a

Speaker:

horse husband. I wasn't even, you know, a horse guy to start with. She's a

Speaker:

trainer. So it it really we have that kind of I

Speaker:

asked the dumb questions. She asked the intelligent questions. But that

Speaker:

kinda works. Right? And now now fifth you know,

Speaker:

6,000 interviews later, I probably know more about horses

Speaker:

than most horse people, but that's just because of doing the

Speaker:

show. But I think that's why people hung around. They got invested in us, and

Speaker:

I think that's why our Patreon community is there and so addicted. And

Speaker:

it's why it works, is because

Speaker:

we were like them. Now we and we do some good interviews, and, you

Speaker:

know, we have some fun along the way. It's a comedy show, first and foremost.

Speaker:

It's entertainment. And and I think the other thing is I was the first

Speaker:

one to really start the segment instead of doing just

Speaker:

a long interview show. We will have four or five

Speaker:

segments in the show. So our interview is never more than ten to

Speaker:

fifteen minutes, and then we're done with the interview and moving on to a

Speaker:

different segment. So there was all if you weren't interested in that guest, you

Speaker:

just fast forward fifteen minutes, and you were at something else. If you didn't like

Speaker:

the something else, fast forward fifteen minutes, you were at something else. So we always

Speaker:

had segments, in the show, and some of them are recurring

Speaker:

segments every week, some are once a month, you know, and some are

Speaker:

just one offs. But they always knew that there's gonna be something new

Speaker:

in about ten, fifteen minutes. I the

Speaker:

idea of segments is so interesting. One of the shows that I've been listening to

Speaker:

podcasting forever is Wait Wait on Tommy, and that is a highly

Speaker:

structured show. Now, of course, it started as a radio show, so it made

Speaker:

sense where they had to fit to the clock, but they've kept that structure

Speaker:

all along the way. And it's interesting because I I like

Speaker:

listening. I feel like a comfort in listening. And anytime they break

Speaker:

the mold, right, they do a best of show or they do something else. I'm

Speaker:

always just a little bit uncomfortable listening. And so, like, did

Speaker:

you have that thought about the familiarity of segments, or

Speaker:

was it just something that you felt like it worked and you just kept wanting

Speaker:

to come back to it? I stole the none of these are new

Speaker:

ideas. Right? Nothing we do is new. So I stole the idea from

Speaker:

a morning syndicated radio show called Bob and Cherry. And I've become good

Speaker:

friends with them now since then, by the way. But they were

Speaker:

on for years, and I listened to them for years. And I was like, I

Speaker:

wanna do a segmented show like they do because they had regular guests,

Speaker:

one guy that came on did movie reviews, and I so look forward to him

Speaker:

coming on. So I knew if we could get regular guests that would show up

Speaker:

once a month, that people would look forward to that too, and they would look

Speaker:

forward to the segments that we do. The most popular thing we do, hands down,

Speaker:

is on Fridays. The last thing we do on a Friday, and

Speaker:

I knew I needed something that was gonna keep people to the last thing on

Speaker:

a Friday show, right, before they head into the weekend to ride their horse,

Speaker:

is we do something called really bad ads. And that's where listeners

Speaker:

submit bad Craigslist and Facebook ads for horses for sale. And

Speaker:

we just make fun of them. Basically, we just make fun of them.

Speaker:

And it's our most popular thing we do. We get hundreds of people submitting every

Speaker:

month. And then we got sponsors that wanted to give away prizes. So we

Speaker:

give away prizes every month. We randomly pick three of the

Speaker:

people who submitted bad ads, and we give away 4 or $500 worth of

Speaker:

prizes every month for people who submit bad ads. And

Speaker:

so, you know, that was that was just that happened by

Speaker:

accident, and it was one of the all the good segments we do now happen

Speaker:

by accident along the way, and we just followed them. I love that.

Speaker:

Just kinda follow what works, try different things, and you just

Speaker:

gotta kinda trust your gut. And I love that idea that you save

Speaker:

it for the very end. Lots of folks are always, you know, wondering, how do

Speaker:

I get people to listen to the very end of the show? And it's like,

Speaker:

you have to have a hook. You have to have something that people

Speaker:

wait for. And and there are lots of shows that do this really

Speaker:

well, but I think the way you just described it is brilliant that you were

Speaker:

really conscious of that thought. So so what happens next? You, you know, you

Speaker:

did the first show, The Stable Scoop, then you do Horses in the Morning. Where

Speaker:

does it go from there in terms of growing the network? Well, I I

Speaker:

I knew that we had we had identified a ton of niches in the horse

Speaker:

world that we could do shows about. My thing

Speaker:

was always finding the right host. So my first goal was to

Speaker:

find the right host, and I did that usually by doing

Speaker:

interviews on one of the shows. So we'd have them a guest on one of

Speaker:

the shows, and I'd go, that person may would make a good host. And then

Speaker:

we would I'd figure out what niche they really were good in

Speaker:

or competed in or whatever, And then I would approach them, and that we always

Speaker:

started with the host and then built the show. And

Speaker:

so, you know, we built, 20 plus shows over the

Speaker:

years, and I would never start a show unless they

Speaker:

had a sponsor either. So the two things I had to have was a good

Speaker:

host, a good sponsor, and a good marketing partner.

Speaker:

So I'll give you an example. We started a show. There's a there's a very

Speaker:

boring and I'm not everybody knows how I feel about this. There's a very

Speaker:

boring but very popular, competition in the horse world called

Speaker:

dressage. It's kinda like dancing. You know? And it for horse

Speaker:

husbands, it's boring. My wife did it, so I had to watch it. So,

Speaker:

I, you know, I can speak from spirits. But we've the Dressage

Speaker:

Federation in The United States was, we approached them about

Speaker:

being a a media partner for that show. So now and making it the official

Speaker:

podcast for that for, Dressage.

Speaker:

So twelve years ago, we started that show, and they were a marketing

Speaker:

partner. What that got us was an audience. There was no money exchanged

Speaker:

hands, but they promoted the show. So it brought an audience in.

Speaker:

And here we are twelve years later. That show is still one of our most

Speaker:

popular shows, and we're still the official show of the of the federation.

Speaker:

So it was media partners, sponsors, and

Speaker:

the right host. I I'm I'm envisioning you

Speaker:

at these events, you know, sitting at a table almost like dodgeball

Speaker:

with Jason Bateman and what's his face, you know. You know, talking about the

Speaker:

Ocho and, you know, like, just having fun, like, watching people do it is. Do

Speaker:

you go to the events and kind of broadcast from there as well?

Speaker:

Not as much. We've been we get invited to 10 events a month.

Speaker:

And the problem with that is every time you leave the house, it's

Speaker:

$1,500. You know, it's funny because I would I

Speaker:

would tell people that and they don't believe you, but when you figure it out,

Speaker:

if you take everything into consideration, every time I leave the house to go to

Speaker:

an event, it's at least $1,500. So we knew we couldn't cover everything

Speaker:

and be able to afford it and be able to sustain it, so we didn't.

Speaker:

We just didn't. We went to key a couple key events every year to shows

Speaker:

every year. But the one thing we never missed was the

Speaker:

wholesaler show with wholesalers and retailers in the horse world. There

Speaker:

was two of those every year. I've been to almost 40 of them

Speaker:

now. And we went to those, one, to highlight new products that were coming out

Speaker:

because our listeners love hearing about new products, but two was to find sponsors. It's

Speaker:

at those in person events where we found 80% of our

Speaker:

sponsors. Because when you're face to face with someone, you got their

Speaker:

attention. And if you give them something and then approach them

Speaker:

about sponsoring, so we give them an interview where they could highlight their new product,

Speaker:

put it on a show, and follow-up with them, They would see a

Speaker:

result from the interview. They the you know, that talking about that new

Speaker:

product, they see sales coming in, and then we had their attention, and we'd go

Speaker:

after them for sponsors after that. So it was that in person

Speaker:

wholesaler meat retailer show where we and then eventually

Speaker:

by the way, we do their podcast now, the Wholesale Show's

Speaker:

podcast. And we go there now and do shows. We actually

Speaker:

record shows at at the event in Dallas. But, you know, it

Speaker:

was always finding a marketing partner. And I, you know, we we got we

Speaker:

were the first ones to have press passes at an event like this because nobody

Speaker:

ever did that. And then, you know, I just approached them and said, why don't

Speaker:

you do your own show? And that show has a smaller audience,

Speaker:

maybe five to 700 a month, but it's targeted to the

Speaker:

retailers, you know, where the wholesalers meet the retailers. So that's a very

Speaker:

targeted show and very effective that way. But

Speaker:

yeah. So we do their show now too. It's all about partnerships.

Speaker:

It's all about who you meet. And, you know, it it's all about who knows

Speaker:

you, not who you know, but who knows you. That's the most important

Speaker:

thing. Do people know you? I I'm I I

Speaker:

wanna go back to this idea of the wholesalers at the interview

Speaker:

and talking to them. And but real quickly, let's go back to that idea of

Speaker:

the the, you know, the super niche. Right? The CaraTaurus racing or

Speaker:

dressage. Like, what did you find when you

Speaker:

were creating these extremely niche shows

Speaker:

with these wholesalers or, you know, all these very specific topics. Like, how did

Speaker:

those compare to the more general day to day, you

Speaker:

know, talk show format that focused around horses but

Speaker:

wasn't, you know, as super niche as some of these other ones? It was easier

Speaker:

to find sponsors for the niche shows because, you know, a lot of

Speaker:

your sponsors our sponsors in our world are medium to

Speaker:

smaller companies. A lot of them, you know, they have three or four employees,

Speaker:

but they target they target that niche. They have saddles or bridles or

Speaker:

whatever for that specific discipline. So it

Speaker:

was actually easier to target them and have them come

Speaker:

aboard and actually have them do well. So, you know, we're doing this

Speaker:

because we want them to sell stuff. You know, we're our goal is to help

Speaker:

them sell stuff. So we were never looking for the large companies, the

Speaker:

ones with ad agencies, because they weren't looking at us either. Right? They don't wanna

Speaker:

be bothered. So we always we always talk to the

Speaker:

medium to small companies because I can do I could help them grow. Our first

Speaker:

sponsor years ago, fifteen years ago now, is

Speaker:

still our biggest sponsor today. And she says, you

Speaker:

know, over the last fifteen years, she's gotten more direct response from

Speaker:

our shows than any other advertising they do, and they do a lot, like, you

Speaker:

know, well into 6 figure advertising. But she said, I hear more

Speaker:

from your people who say I listened to you know, I heard you on the

Speaker:

show. I I have this question for you about my horse. She

Speaker:

said, that's who I hear from. I don't hear from somebody that says I saw

Speaker:

a magazine ad. You know? Because our advertising is so

Speaker:

personal. It's you know? I I can say, hey. Look. I use Kentucky

Speaker:

performance products with my pony, and this is why. That's

Speaker:

much more personal than seeing a magazine ad. And, you know, I'm owned

Speaker:

now by a company that owns 10 magazines, so they love when I say

Speaker:

this stuff. But I'm sure they do. I

Speaker:

have to imagine too that being part of that magazine, allows them

Speaker:

to sell, like, big bundled advertising. They do. Is right. Like Yeah. And now

Speaker:

and, you know, we sold I sold the network, to

Speaker:

almost three years ago now and to, one of the largest

Speaker:

media companies in the horse world. And they they didn't have an audio

Speaker:

side. They had magazines. They had video. They owned some

Speaker:

companies as well, some production companies, but, they didn't have the audio

Speaker:

side. So they wanted that tripod, and they were missing the audio.

Speaker:

So that's why they took a look at buying us. And, it took about six

Speaker:

months of negotiations. Fortunately, I had a very good lawyer.

Speaker:

And, you know, we made the deal, and, my deal was that I would

Speaker:

continue on for three years after running the network. And that very

Speaker:

seldom works out with principals. They usually last six months, and

Speaker:

either they're fired or they leave. It never works out, actually.

Speaker:

You know that as well as I do. It just doesn't work. People say they're

Speaker:

gonna do it, but here I am because they've been very good to me, and

Speaker:

I've tried to continue doing my job to my best ability. And then

Speaker:

hopefully, continuing on after October, I'll I'll just be hosted

Speaker:

horse hosting horses in the morning, and then somebody else will be running the

Speaker:

network. That's the goal. Very nice. Yeah. I have some experience. I I

Speaker:

stayed on for six months with the company when when it was sold in a

Speaker:

totally consulting role, right, just helping them out as much as I could, very amicable.

Speaker:

But, yeah, a lot of people when I was approached about the sale said, don't

Speaker:

try and stay on. It it never works out, so I understand. Well, you

Speaker:

know, it's different though with podcasting because if you think about it, you know, I

Speaker:

host, you know, one of the most popular show on the network. You

Speaker:

can't do that because that show then goes away. You know?

Speaker:

It was my relationships with these sponsors and all of that that

Speaker:

was built. So I think they were smart enough to realize, hey. This guy can't

Speaker:

go away or we just lose our investment. And in podcasting, that's different

Speaker:

because it is all about the personalities. That's true. People are coming

Speaker:

for you and your co host. One one thing you said earlier that I wanna

Speaker:

just touch on real quickly, you know, you you talk to these

Speaker:

wholesalers and you interview them and then you get them to

Speaker:

sponsor. They need to pitch them to have their own show and you you

Speaker:

help them target their specific audience, which are the retailers.

Speaker:

What is your strategy for real

Speaker:

efficient podcast marketing

Speaker:

targeting something so specific as that? It's the media

Speaker:

partners. It's the partners we have because they have the audience

Speaker:

already. So in this case in this case, it was kinda easy. So when you

Speaker:

have the wholesale show, they already have a you know, they they know who their

Speaker:

clients are. They know who the retailers that come to the show are. So we're

Speaker:

targeting them directly. It becomes a little easier because they're already in communication with them

Speaker:

through social media and email and all of that. With a

Speaker:

more general show like Courses in the Morning, it's word-of-mouth. You know, you

Speaker:

know, you still see the statistics come out. It was more so

Speaker:

years ago that the only way people came to your show is through

Speaker:

word-of-mouth. 70% of people found you through word-of-mouth because search wasn't that

Speaker:

good years ago for podcasting. You know that. That's only gotten better since

Speaker:

COVID, really. And yeah. Yeah. And you're right. It's still not great. Right?

Speaker:

You search horses now and and you'll get all but horse in the morning

Speaker:

doesn't come up first. Depending on what search engine you use.

Speaker:

So we knew word-of-mouth. So we actually did campaigns throughout the year

Speaker:

to encourage our our listeners to tell their friends. You

Speaker:

know, you're at the barn today. Go tell your all your friends at the barn

Speaker:

that you listen to the show. Or better yet, put the if they own the

Speaker:

barn, put the show on and let them listen to it. And a lot of

Speaker:

our listeners actually play the show in the barn, on

Speaker:

speakers. So they listen to it every day because we hear from them all the

Speaker:

time, you know, that they're we do horse whinnies throughout the show occasionally.

Speaker:

And they said, every time that horse whinnies, my horse is whinnying back.

Speaker:

You know? So it's that kind of thing. It was it's word-of-mouth. And

Speaker:

you know as well as I do, for somebody to subscribe to a new

Speaker:

podcast, it's a commitment for them. They're thinking

Speaker:

about, do I have time for this? They're subconsciously going, we do it too when

Speaker:

we subscribe to stuff. We're going, do I have time to listen to this show,

Speaker:

or will I have to take the time to listen to this show?

Speaker:

So it's a real commitment. I think that's become harder over the years.

Speaker:

I think now it's harder for people to commit because there

Speaker:

are they have all this other stuff they can commit to, audiobooks

Speaker:

and, you know, a million podcasts and all of that.

Speaker:

So our our challenge has become, how do we teach people what a

Speaker:

podcast is to how do we now get

Speaker:

people to listen to ours as opposed to the 5,000 others, you know, that are

Speaker:

in our niche? Yeah. I I

Speaker:

it's interesting. I I find that I don't have a problem with, do I have

Speaker:

the time to commit to a different show? Because usually I'm finding something because I'm

Speaker:

getting bored of something else. It's it's the time

Speaker:

to figure out if I'm gonna like it. Right? Because because it

Speaker:

you know, you listen to the first episode, you you have no familiarity with it.

Speaker:

Right? Maybe they're inside jokes or, you know, maybe there's something about the personality that

Speaker:

is just new to you, and it takes a while for you to get so

Speaker:

comfortable with it that you wanna listen. And, you know, that that's usually

Speaker:

my struggle is, you know, I know I'm looking for a show about x, and

Speaker:

I listen to a bunch and I go, Right? Like and then I I

Speaker:

find myself just going back to the shows that I don't like because at least

Speaker:

there's that familiarity with it. Isn't that interesting?

Speaker:

And, you know, we always say, like, with the morning show, with the daily show,

Speaker:

it's even it's a serious commitment, right, for people to subscribe to that.

Speaker:

So we always say it takes them people and our our surveys have

Speaker:

proved this. It takes people about a week to to figure it out

Speaker:

and to go, okay. I really like this. I'm gonna hang around. They almost have

Speaker:

to have to listen for a week. Now I would say, though,

Speaker:

with most podcasts that you try, you determine in the first three minutes whether

Speaker:

you're gonna hang around or not. You determine in the first three minutes that you're

Speaker:

not gonna hang around. Right? You may not commit

Speaker:

to to it for a long term. You may give it more time to do

Speaker:

that, but in the first three minutes, you're determining whether you're gonna you you bugged

Speaker:

out if you're totally not into this. And it why? It's because you

Speaker:

usually don't like the host. Yep. Yep. That that is

Speaker:

true. Well, we do like this house. We're speaking with Glenn Heber to Glenn McGeek,

Speaker:

founder of the Horse Radio Network, host of Horses in the Morning.

Speaker:

Before we let you go, there's three questions that we've been asking everybody about the

Speaker:

podcasting world. And since you've been in it for so long, I think, you know,

Speaker:

the audience is gonna find real value in your answers. The first thing is, is

Speaker:

there a place in podcasting where you would like

Speaker:

to see some improvement, whether it's from production,

Speaker:

distribution, marketing, consumption, right, like discovery? What's that

Speaker:

one thing where you're just like, man, we we still need to fix this?

Speaker:

I would say, and this has been my preaching for the last

Speaker:

several years, is we need Apple and the major podcast

Speaker:

players to segregate out dead shows from active

Speaker:

shows. There's you know, when you take a look at the

Speaker:

4,200,000 shows that are out there, what what do

Speaker:

we see recently? It's almost 400,000 that are active in the last ninety

Speaker:

days. That's a lot of crap just sitting there that's not being

Speaker:

updated. And I know when I go look for shows in a specific topic, the

Speaker:

first thing I look at is, are they still producing? And it's so

Speaker:

frustrating because you'll go through 20 shows that haven't done an

Speaker:

episode in in two years and to find the one that's still

Speaker:

active. So I know we because of,

Speaker:

you know, seasoned shows like Serial, we can't get rid of those

Speaker:

shows. They can't just disappear off the podcast player. So I am

Speaker:

proposing that we have an archived section and an

Speaker:

active section on podcast players. So you can search

Speaker:

specifically for active shows. And maybe that's whatever active is determined to

Speaker:

be. You know, they produced an episode in the last ninety days, six

Speaker:

months, whatever that is, year. And then you can

Speaker:

also search the archive shows. I think that's the solution to that

Speaker:

problem, and I do think it's a problem. It's frustrating. You know,

Speaker:

that's that's a really interesting idea. And as soon as you said that, I was

Speaker:

thinking of a few shows that I listened to that were, like, you know, specialized

Speaker:

niche topics. Like, Rob Reiner did a whole thing on the JFK assassination,

Speaker:

and, you know, there was, one on

Speaker:

Uber or Airbnb, right, the rise and fall of these, you know, tech CEOs,

Speaker:

Jeffrey Epstein kind of stuff. And, like, those are small

Speaker:

series, and, yes, they haven't put out an episode in two, three years,

Speaker:

but they're still interesting and topical. My concern to what

Speaker:

you're saying but I think it's fascinating, interesting, but, you know, what

Speaker:

we will see now are shows that will have done

Speaker:

something like that, right, short series, and then they'll just release

Speaker:

weird stuff every ninety days just to make sure they stay in the good section.

Speaker:

And and that's why I think that if I were to do it, if I

Speaker:

was a Pocket Casts, let's for instance. Right? I

Speaker:

would have the search automatically go to both sections, but then you can

Speaker:

so the default is everybody, all the shows. But

Speaker:

then you can you can go, hey. Look. I just wanna search archived, or I

Speaker:

just wanna search active. So so it's up

Speaker:

to us as the listener then to have control. And I'm always

Speaker:

about listeners having control. So I still think

Speaker:

that's still my biggest pet peeve. Yeah. No. I I like it. I think

Speaker:

you're frustration from being a listener searching for shows. Yeah. I

Speaker:

think you're definitely on to something. I I, you know, I think it the bad

Speaker:

idea needs massaging, but Apple, I know you're listening.

Speaker:

Get on it. Glenn Glenn is asking you. What about tech? Is

Speaker:

there any tech on your list, wish list, whether it's something out there

Speaker:

that you haven't purchased or something that you're like, god, I need somebody to make

Speaker:

this to make my life easier. Again, production or or

Speaker:

consumption. You know, I think it was solved for me

Speaker:

when the Rodecaster, came out and when the

Speaker:

mixers that are specifically made for podcasting came out.

Speaker:

That's what solved it for me. The Zoom p four for going to shows.

Speaker:

So the Zoom p four, I can hook four microphones up to, hook it to

Speaker:

my laptop, show up at somebody's barn, and I don't even need power.

Speaker:

And everything runs off battery. I can do an entire episode right

Speaker:

there in their barn aisle, and I can carry it in

Speaker:

a small case. So, you know, when

Speaker:

we first started, we were using music mixers. And to be honest, I didn't

Speaker:

understand 95% of the buttons on it. Right? I didn't know when any of them

Speaker:

did. I I didn't wanna know. So when the RODECaster Pros

Speaker:

and those came out, that that really solved a lot of the problems that

Speaker:

that I had. So I would say I'm happy with where things are now.

Speaker:

Microphones, we used to have to pick from one, you know, or

Speaker:

two. And now we have, you know, a hundred to pick from. And I bought

Speaker:

a lot of them, and I don't even know what I'm using currently. Yeah. I

Speaker:

have no idea. I don't care, as little as it sounds. You just

Speaker:

cycle through a I'm not really a better if you have a stock. Not a

Speaker:

stuff guy. So it you know, I have content over

Speaker:

stuff. Fair enough. I I like that idea, by the way, because, yeah, you're in

Speaker:

barns. How many barns have power outlets? Probably not very many,

Speaker:

if if not any. So it's a really interesting find. And then with the p

Speaker:

four, right, the batteries, that that works really nicely. Alright. And then the last

Speaker:

question is, what is, what podcasts are you listening to

Speaker:

today? Like, what is that show that when the new episode comes out,

Speaker:

you are going to stop what you're doing, check it out, or what's

Speaker:

that show that you know I'm I will not miss an episode.

Speaker:

I'm still, after thirty years, listening to Bob and Sherry.

Speaker:

That was the syndicated radio show. Of course, that was a podcast now.

Speaker:

And they've started other podcasts. And I know the, the producer of

Speaker:

that show. I've met him at conferences, and we talk all the time. And he

Speaker:

actually asked me about podcasting stuff. So I listened to that. That's one I

Speaker:

will not miss. Ironically, I have two daily shows I listen to all the time,

Speaker:

and that's DT and S, which is the daily tech news show.

Speaker:

That was Tom Merritt. And I listened to him from probably about twenty

Speaker:

years ago doing multiple different shows. He's his own network now. They do very well

Speaker:

with Patreon too. They have about, it was a

Speaker:

16,000 Patreon subscribers at Daily Tech News Show. They're one of the

Speaker:

biggest, and they're completely supported by

Speaker:

Patreon, support. So those two, Bob and Sherry and

Speaker:

the Daily Tech News Show. And then, of course, ask the podcast coach,

Speaker:

one of my favorites. And then, of course, School of Podcasting. Dave

Speaker:

Jackson's been my mentor. He doesn't know it, but he's been my mentor

Speaker:

since day one, you know, years ago, when I met

Speaker:

him. So, yeah, those are the ones I listen to religiously. And then

Speaker:

there are one other two, and I'll mention him because, he's a friend of mine,

Speaker:

and I love the show, was What Was That Like with Scott

Speaker:

Johnson. That's an interesting Yeah. Yeah. He gets the weirdest

Speaker:

stories of people who've been through, like, you know, my parachute didn't open and

Speaker:

I lived. You know? And then they tell the story, that kind of thing. And

Speaker:

some are highly selective about his show because some of the things I

Speaker:

can't listen to. You know? But, he's one of the shows that I can't

Speaker:

listen to every episode because because I my brain don't handle it.

Speaker:

But I like that show too. Yeah. You know, I I I remember his

Speaker:

marketing is so effective because he would put up a a picture or, you

Speaker:

know, a a big post with words on it, and he would say, right. Like,

Speaker:

I, you know, jumped out of a plane and my parachute didn't open and I

Speaker:

lived. You're like, yep. I've got to hear more. Right? Like, it was

Speaker:

just great FOMO marketing. He has done

Speaker:

probably better than anybody I know at marketing and also

Speaker:

creating a community, which we have too, but he's created

Speaker:

community on Facebook of listeners. He provided them a place to

Speaker:

go, which is a mistake that a lot of podcasts make because they don't give

Speaker:

their listeners a place to talk. And he did that, and it's it's

Speaker:

one of the most active I've seen. It's very active.

Speaker:

Ours is too. You know? Ours are a lot alike that way, but, yeah,

Speaker:

we are we've limit our closed group to

Speaker:

Patreon supporters. So I kinda put a paywall in the way of our

Speaker:

closed group because I wanted people who are really serious so I'd keep out

Speaker:

the you know, so there wouldn't be political posts and things like that. Riffraff.

Speaker:

Yeah. Yeah. And and, you know, that that idea

Speaker:

of having a community and having it, a paywall to get

Speaker:

into it is for podcasters who are trying to monetize and don't have

Speaker:

a budget, a free and easy way to start earning

Speaker:

money right away. It costs you nothing to start a private

Speaker:

Facebook group and to just invite people in. Yes, it's a little bit slower,

Speaker:

but, right, somebody somebody will pay you $510 20 for

Speaker:

access to a group that provides value versus hoping that you

Speaker:

get 5,000 downloads and have an advertiser pay you $25 for

Speaker:

every thousand you get. So, great great mention, great callback to,

Speaker:

the power of community and and whatnot, and my god, great advice. We could probably

Speaker:

do this for six days and, still not go through all the knowledge that you

Speaker:

have, but we have been listening to Glenn Hebert, Glenn the Geek,

Speaker:

founder of the Horse Radio Network, host of Horses in the

Speaker:

Morning. And if you have never been to Podfest

Speaker:

in Orlando, I implore you to go. You can

Speaker:

just go. Always there, and he's always doing something to make

Speaker:

the crowd laugh and to put on a good show, and, you know, go there

Speaker:

and say hi to him. He's he's a great great person,

Speaker:

and really appreciate your time today. Thank you so much. Thanks, Matthew. Thanks

Speaker:

for joining us today on Podcasting Tech. There are links to all the

Speaker:

hardware and software that help power our guest content and

Speaker:

podcasting tech available in the show notes and on our website

Speaker:

at podcastingtech.com. You can also subscribe to the show on your

Speaker:

favorite platform, connect with us on social media, and even leave a rating and review

Speaker:

while you're there. Thanks, and we'll see you next time on Podcasting

Speaker:

Tech.

Links

Chapters

Video

More from YouTube