Podmastery: podcasting insights and advice for indie creators

Podknows Podcasting
Podknows Podcasting
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Are you a podcaster who's looking to improve and grow your podcast? You're in the right place. Together, we'll help you attain 'podmastery'. I'm Neal Veglio, a veteran podcaster who first started dabbling with RSS in the early 2000s. Podcasting is such a complex medium, with so many factors that can impact your success. It's my goal to cover all these topics with you, and help you maximise the results you're getting from your efforts. And while my shows now enjoy thousands of listeners every single week, it wasn't always easy. When I took a career break from radio for a few years in 2007, I had to learn how to build audience without the lift of an FM frequency. I learned a lot from that experience. I now help other podcasters to achieve their goals. Each episode, I'll be offering you some insights into what I've done and what I've helped my podcasting agency clients to do with all our podcasts in the hope we can help YOU increase your podcast's chances of becoming more successful! And ensuring you can avoid the dreaded 'podfade'! Take one step closer to Podmastery. Click follow in your favourite podcast app, and let's grow together.

  1. 1d ago ·  Bonus

    Opinion: They’re Telling Us There Are Too Many Ads

    54.8% of podcast listeners say shows already carry too many ads. 8.6% say they’d put up with a few more to keep their favourite shows free. That’s roughly one in 12, and honestly, I’d quite like to check he’s okay. Same week, Joe Rogan re-signs with Spotify (Podscribe reckons his recent episodes carried 15 ads), and audio fiction network Fable and Folly says it’s closing because podcast advertising changed under it. Bit of a week for ads. And if you’re thinking “but Neal, I don’t run any ads”… I know. This is still your problem. Your listener’s patience for being sold to doesn’t belong to each show. It’s one tank, the big shows have been draining it all evening, and by the time they press play on yours, your rate and review ask sounds exactly like a mattress advert. The people who walk first aren’t the casuals, either. It’s Mary. Your best listener. I also owe you an asterisk on something I said recently about empty sponsor slots, and Spotify’s relaunched Memberships has accidentally pointed at the one asset nobody can skip, and nobody can take 10% of. The one thing to change on your next episode is at 08:22. Chapters 00:00 Listeners have filed a complaint 00:44 54.8% say too many ads 01:34 Rogan’s 15 ads and a network closing 02:19 But I don’t run ads 04:37 Mary skips you 05:47 The asterisk 06:53 Beyond the pre-roll 07:30 The tenant put the rent up 08:22 Your one action this week 09:45 The small print Links The Podcast Study 2026 on ad load: podnews.net/press-release/podcast-ad-load-2 Beyond the Preroll, the follow-up: podnews.net/press-release/new-revenue-opportunities Fable and Folly to close: podnews.net/update/fable-and-folly-closes Spotify Memberships: podnews.net/update/spotify-memberships The landlord and tenants episode: podmastery.co/episodes/opinion-podcasters-youre-the-landlord-the-platforms-are-just-tenants When it’s bigger than one episode: podmastery.co/need-podcasting-help Free 7-day podcast makeover email course: podmastery.co Listener survey (free download as a thank-you): podmastery.co/listener-survey Got your own opinion on this? I’d love to hear it: podmastery.co/get-in-touch

    Opinion: They’re Telling Us There Are Too Many Ads

  2. 4d ago

    How to Read a Podcast Script Without Sounding Like You’re Reading

    My script said “leave”. My mouth said “ditch out”. Nobody listening ever knew, and that’s exactly why your script is the problem, not your voice. If you sound like you’re reading when you record, someone has probably told you it’s your voice. Smile more. Slow down. Warm it up. It’s very rarely your voice. It’s the page. In this episode I play you the line I couldn’t get through last time, take Dennis (of imaginary biscuit tin fame) through the wrong fixes, and tell you what happened when I tried to say the same passage twice, word for word, with 30-odd years of practice and the script right in front of me. I couldn’t do it. Most scripts are written to be looked at. Long sentences, the important bit buried mid-clause, words nobody says out loud. Your eyes can go back over a sentence. Your listeners’ ears can’t. Your mouth knows that, so it argues with the page the whole way through, and that argument is what people hear. The fix takes one voice memo and a bit of humility. It’s at 07:57 if you want to skip straight to it. Chapters 00:00 The line I couldn’t read 01:05 Dennis has a lovely voice 02:40 Scripts are written for eyes 04:30 One job: say it twice 06:22 Why good writers sound worse 07:57 The fix: let your mouth rewrite the page Links Ep 98, the quality floor episode: https://podmastery.co/episodes/heres-what-definitely-wont-make-your-podcast-sound-better/ When it’s bigger than how you sound reading: podmastery.co/need-podcasting-help Free 7-day podcast makeover email course: podmastery.co Listener survey (free download as a thank-you): podmastery.co/listener-survey

    How to Read a Podcast Script Without Sounding Like You’re Reading

  3. Oct 7

    Here's What Definitely Won’t Make Your Podcast Sound Better

    I recorded this one on a USB mic at a hotel desk, next to a kettle and some UHT milk I’m going to regret. If you can’t hear much difference, that’s the whole episode. There’s a quality floor in podcasting. Below it, people leave. Above it, something odd happens: nobody notices anything at all. Nobody has ever finished an episode, turned to their partner and said “lovely compression on that one.” Most of us got over that floor years ago, thanks to Descript’s Studio Sound, Adobe’s free Enhance Speech button and Auphonic. Nobody told you. So we keep buying things our listeners can’t hear. In this episode: The same hotel-room recording played twice, raw and cleaned up (try it in one earbud)Why I stopped swearing by iZotope RX 11Dennis, his vintage biscuit tin podcast, and the gear spiral that took the paint off his wallThe £300 metal box still sitting in my loftWhy February me was only half right about one-click audio toolsThe wardrobe test: a free check to do before you buy anything else Chapters: 00:00 The same recording, played twice 02:24 The quality floor (and when you got over it) 05:23 Dennis, the biscuit tins and my £300 box in the loft 07:39 February me was half right 10:31 What actually makes a difference 11:28 Your one thing: the wardrobe test Links: The Podmastery community founding-members waitlist: podmastery.co/podcasting-community Got a problem that’s bigger than your sound? podmastery.co/need-podcasting-help Auphonic (free for 2 hours a month): auphonic.com The February episode I mention, When Tools Make Bad Audio Sound ‘Good’, Who Loses?: https://podmastery.co/episodes/when-tools-make-bad-audio-sound-good-who-loses/ Descript (affiliate link: you get a bargain, I get a kickback, that’s how this works):

    Here's What Definitely Won’t Make Your Podcast Sound Better

  4. Sep 28

    How Long Should A Podcast Episode Be? (The Honest Answer)

    There's a moment about nineteen minutes into a lot of podcast episodes where you can hear the host has checked out. They made their point at minute six. It was quite good. But there were eleven minutes of slot left, so they made it again, slightly differently, this time with a story about their brother-in-law's conservatory. This one's about the clock. The one radio had, the one podcasting got rid of, and the brand new one we all built ourselves about five minutes later. It's short on purpose. You'll understand why. In this episode: — The radio news jingle, and the best podcast editor I ever had — How we escaped the clock and built a new one immediately — The dinner party and the single Twix — Gareth (made up, but you've heard his show), his caravans, and 28 minutes of car park — The question that'll make you wince. It made me wince. My last one was 26 minutes. — The Post-it test Six minutes of me, plus a podcast from one of our Podmastery Community members — which doesn't count, because it's theirs and they can make it as long as they like. Want in on the Podmastery Community? Doors open in October. Get on the waiting list at podmastery.co/podcasting-community Stuck on something specific? Come and get your next podcasting challenge solved one-to-one with me at podmastery.co Podmastery: Podcasting Insights is my podcast for people who've actually had a go at this and are a bit sick of being told they're doing it wrong by people who've never properly done it at all. I'm Neal Veglio, the Podmaster.

    How Long Should A Podcast Episode Be? (The Honest Answer)

  5. Sep 21

    Need Podcast Coaching? Have You Tried Dave Jackson? He's Three Stalls Down

    I was minding my own business, about ten minutes into a podcast I listen to every week, when the host said my name out loud and told his audience to go and listen to my show. Nobody asked him to. There was no deal, no swap, no "I'll do yours if you do mine." Which is incredible, given that, on paper, the man is my competition. This episode is about the one group of listeners the ideal listener exercise specifically tells you to ignore — and why they're the only people in your audience who arrive with an audience of their own. There's a bit in here I don't soften, and it's aimed squarely at me as much as at you. In this episode: — The three approved British responses to being complimented in public — Why a man with 1,000 episodes and a Hall of Fame induction owes you nothing, and said it anyway — The Saturday morning cheese market, and why Trevor sends people to Maureen — Same counter, different cheese: the reason "but they might not come back" is the wrong worry — Bev, the Martins, and two allotment podcasts that have never spoken — Why the promo swap is a hostage exchange, and what to do instead — The column that isn't on anybody's connection spreadsheet Mentioned in this episode Dave Jackson — Attention vs. Connection, School of Podcasting (14 September 2026): https://www.schoolofpodcasting.com/connection-attention School of Podcasting: https://www.schoolofpodcasting.com Ask the Podcast Coach — Dave Jackson and Jim Collison, Saturday mornings: https://www.askthepodcastcoach.com Podnews Weekly Review — James Cridland and Sam Sethi, every Friday: https://weekly.podnews.net In & Around Podcasting — Rob Walch and Elsie Escobar (the "Rob and Elsie" I apologise to about seven minutes in): https://podnews.net/podcast/ic1o5 Building The Brand with James Burtt — two Ts, which I did not manage on air: https://podnews.net/podcast/i11l3c David Hooper's Big Podcast: https://www.bigpodcast.com Mark at Podcast Branding: https://podcastbranding.co Switchy — Dave Jackson's affiliate link, not ours: https://www.supportthisshow.com/switchy That's Dave's affiliate link, not mine. If you buy through it he gets the commission, which is entirely the point — it's the fastest thank-you I could think of. I've had it about five minutes, so treat this as a thing I bought, not a thing I'm recommending. Want in on the Podmastery Community? The waiting list is open — come and be in a room with other indie podcasters being genuinely useful to each other: podmastery.co/podcasting-community Stuck on something specific? Come and get your next podcasting challenge solved one-to-one with me at podmastery.co Podmastery: Podcasting Insights is my podcast for people who've actually had a go at this and are a bit sick of being told they're doing it wrong by people who've never properly done it at all. I'm Neal Veglio, THE Podmaster. LOLZ

    Need Podcast Coaching? Have You Tried Dave Jackson? He's Three Stalls Down

  6. Sep 7

    How Much Does A Podcast With 1,000 Listeners Make? (The Real Number)

    A podcast with a thousand listeners makes about a hundred and forty-four dollars a month. I checked that properly. So then I say the second thing, which is the bit that makes people go quiet. You don't want a hundred and forty-four dollars a month. You want one thousand four hundred and forty-four. And the way you get there is by not doing ads. In this episode: — Why the hundred and forty-four dollar figure is right, and why that's the problem — The only lever CPM gives you, and where it leads — The arithmetic that made me laugh — What renting your mid-roll actually costs you — My affiliate disclosure, said out loud, because this episode demands it — One thing to do this week that takes sixty seconds of 'tape' Tools I use and get paid to mention. I record on Boomcaster, edit in Descript most weeks, and Captivate hosts this show. Affiliate links below — I earn a commission at no extra cost to you. I'm telling you because the whole episode is about people who don't. — Boomcaster: https://www.boomcaster.com/?ref=AzyWVAUu8UgsoCAZT (free trial + 50% off first three months) — Descript: https://descript.cello.so/Kct9xUy3ilR (50% off first two months) — Captivate: https://www.captivate.fm/signup?ref=nealveglio The Podmastery Community is open soon. Come and join us: https://podmastery.co/podcasting-community Stuck on something specific? Get your next podcasting challenge solved one-to-one at https://podmastery.co Podmastery: Podcasting Insights is my podcast for people who've actually had a go at this and are a bit sick of being told they're doing it wrong by people who've never properly done it at all. I'm Neal Veglio, the Podmaster.

    How Much Does A Podcast With 1,000 Listeners Make? (The Real Number)

  7. Aug 31

    I Told Them My Podcast Audience Wasn't For Sale... To THEM

    About four years ago, a very popular remote recording platform offered me money to talk about them on this show. I'd been using it that week. It had also, that week, lost one of my recordings. Not glitched. Lost. I said no. And I want to be clear that this wasn't a moral decision, because it wasn't. It was arithmetic. This episode is about the thing you're holding and consistently failing to price. Because the belief is that sponsorship is a reward for volume — hit some magic download number and you're finally allowed. So you wait. And when someone eventually offers you something, you say yes very fast, because you've been told this is the gate opening. Here's the problem with that. Only 7% of podcasts reach 5,000 downloads an episode. Two per cent reach 20,000. The benchmark show you've been measuring yourself against is a rounding error. You've been waiting for permission from a category that's almost entirely empty. Meanwhile the advertising industry — not me, them — describes mid-tier and niche shows as underpriced. They're on record. And when you look at what they actually pay, business and B2B shows pull $40 to $80 CPM while the big broad comedy and lifestyle shows pull $15 to $35. Narrow is worth more per listener than popular. So the question stops being will anyone ever pay me? and becomes what's the cheapest I'd take for it? Most podcasters have never answered that. Which is exactly how you end up saying yes to something you've never used. There's an uncomfortable bit in here about what actually happens when you do. It isn't unsubscribes. Nobody storms off. It's quieter and considerably worse than that. In this episode: — Why the download benchmark you're chasing barely exists — The word the ad industry uses for shows your size, and why it should annoy you — Why a $50 CPM show can be a better buy than a $15 one — What it actually costs you when you endorse something you haven't tested — My entire sponsorship policy, which is one sentence long and slightly embarrassing — One thing to write down today, on the back of a receipt Tools mentioned in this episode. I record on Boomcaster, I edit in Descript most weeks, and Captivate hosts this show. I have affiliate links for all three, which means I earn a commission if you sign up through them at no extra cost to you. I'm telling you that because the whole episode is about people who don't. If I stopped using any of them, I'd stop talking about them. — Boomcaster: https://www.boomcaster.com/?ref=AzyWVAUu8UgsoCAZT (Free trial, plus 50% off your first three months) — Descript: https://descript.cello.so/Kct9xUy3ilR (50% off first two months) — Captivate: https://www.captivate.fm/signup?ref=nealveglio Want in on the Podmastery Community? We're opening the doors to the public soon. To join the founding members, go to https://podmastery.co/podcasting-community Stuck on something specific? Come and get your next podcasting challenge solved one-to-one with me at https://podmastery.co Podmastery: Podcasting Insights is my podcast for people who've actually had a go at this and are a bit sick of being told they're doing it wrong by people who've never properly done it at all. I'm Neal Veglio, the Podmaster.

    I Told Them My Podcast Audience Wasn't For Sale... To THEM

  8. Aug 24

    Why Your Podcast Numbers Make You Feel Like A Failure

    I was on YouTube the other night. Not for a good reason. Twenty minutes later I'm looking at one of the big ones — two lads in a studio worth more than my house, four cameras, somebody just out of shot whose entire job that day was deciding where the lamps went. Two point three million views. Up about a day and a half. And I'm sat on the edge of the bed with my shoes still on thinking: how the hell am I supposed to compete with that. I think that every few weeks. I'd love to tell you I don't. This episode is about that moment, because I've decided it isn't what we all think it is. Everyone will tell you comparison is the thief of joy, which is a lovely thing to put on a tile in a nice font and about as much use as a chocolate mixing desk. So instead, let's look at what you were actually doing. A download is a file moving from one computer to another. It doesn't mean anybody listened. A YouTube view is a video starting to play — a completely different event. Chart positions aren't a measure of size at all; they're a measure of momentum. And Spotify and Apple count things differently and won't tell you exactly how. So when you put your number next to theirs, you aren't making an unfair comparison. You aren't making a comparison at all. Which raises the more uncomfortable question of what you were really asking. Because nobody has ever done competitive analysis at half eleven at night with their shoes on. And then there's the number you had in your head when you started. You've almost certainly passed it. You almost certainly didn't notice. One thing to go and do at the end, and it takes about a minute. Founding member doors for the Podmastery Community open soon — podmastery.co/waitlist Everything else, including the emails Sangeeta was on about: podmastery.co

    Why Your Podcast Numbers Make You Feel Like A Failure
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About

Are you a podcaster who's looking to improve and grow your podcast? You're in the right place. Together, we'll help you attain 'podmastery'. I'm Neal Veglio, a veteran podcaster who first started dabbling with RSS in the early 2000s. Podcasting is such a complex medium, with so many factors that can impact your success. It's my goal to cover all these topics with you, and help you maximise the results you're getting from your efforts. And while my shows now enjoy thousands of listeners every single week, it wasn't always easy. When I took a career break from radio for a few years in 2007, I had to learn how to build audience without the lift of an FM frequency. I learned a lot from that experience. I now help other podcasters to achieve their goals. Each episode, I'll be offering you some insights into what I've done and what I've helped my podcasting agency clients to do with all our podcasts in the hope we can help YOU increase your podcast's chances of becoming more successful! And ensuring you can avoid the dreaded 'podfade'! Take one step closer to Podmastery. Click follow in your favourite podcast app, and let's grow together.

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