Should I Join a Podcast Network? Alex Sanfilippo's Vision for the PodMatch Network

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Alex Sanfilippo 02:34

like, we're not supposed to talk about the green room too much, because it's like, puts everyone as an outsider. But yeah, everyone, just all you need to know is, I really appreciate Marc in this space. And the thing that I said I want to highlight is we don't always see eye to eye on things, but the end of the day, we're always still friends and support each other in this space. And I love that, because I think often that's what helps people grow the most, is a little bit of like friction, not just, oh yeah, I agree with everything Marc says. It's better when Marc like Alex, I question that about what you just said. It helps me grow. So anyway, that lets y'all into our little love fest that we had. So

Marc Ronick 03:04

yeah, I was gonna say it if you didn't. I think that's the beauty of not always agreeing, is if you can do it in a respectful way, you can grow a lot more than you thought, right? You're it's opening your perspective at the very least. But yeah, and you've turned me around on some things and on this topic that I want to get into today, I It's not that I disagree with the idea of having a network by any stretch. I've just had some experience with it, and haven't seen it work well in many cases. And if anybody can make it work, well, I do believe you can. So that's why we're here. We I want to dig into that today. Yeah, thanks. I'm excited about that. Yeah, so let's just jump right in. And just in case, for some reason, if people don't know who Alex is, he is the brains behind pod match. He's the the founder, and you'll probably see him all over the place if you've been in the space at all for any period of time. And you may have seen him at the Empowered podcasting conference. He was a big supporter, sponsored there, and now we're working together on doing some more local community stuff. We were going to do it in the Asheville area. Not sure if that's going to happen now, based on everything going on there, but if anything, we'll go back to Charlotte and do it there. So let's jump in. You've started a network. You announced it just about a month ago. What inspired you to create a podcast network after the success of pod match and the guest booking services that

Alex Sanfilippo 04:35

it offers? Yeah, so it's I would consider to be an extension of that. A lot of what we're able to provide is automated through our through the software itself. And we don't need to necessarily dive in all that, but just in and outs of how pod match works, we're like, Okay, this would actually really well, or support a podcast network very well. And the reason it even came up is I had just so many people asking about it. They had many of them had joined networks and decided to leave later, typically. Be not on great terms, which, listen, there's two sides every story. Sometimes the podcaster just is, like, saying things about the network. Sometimes the network saying they need to leave, right? So, like, it just wasn't a fit. And if there's something we've been good at, it's been really matching the right people together. And so I was like, man, maybe there's something here that will actually serve podcasters. So the whole idea just came from the fact that people were asking about it, and we knew we had a soft had a software that could support the idea without causing a terrible amount of work for us. It was like, like we'd have to put pod match aside and do this instead. It's like, Could this come alongside and support both the podcaster and the platform?

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Marc Ronick 05:34

So you're basically, is it safe to say you're using a lot of the technology that you use for pod match, and somehow have made you're now using it for your network as well. How does that work? If it's not too technical,

Alex Sanfilippo 05:48

yeah, just keep it really simple. When you are in pod match, like that's one of the requirements being in the network. You have to be in pod match. That's why we say it's for interview podcast. At some point we might expand, but I don't know what that would look like yet, because it would require more software to be done, but basically we can. We built a flag in the system that puts you in the network. So it adds a, simply put like a badge, to your profile, letting people know that you're in the network, and also adds you to a network landing page. In addition, gets you access to like, we just consider all the premium education around the idea of the network, including the community aspect of it, where we bring we've, we've just did our first one of these. We brought everyone together. We started off in like a, like a webinar type room, where it's just the speakers on stage, yeah. And did some like, we brought in, we're bringing in paid people to basically come in like, Hey, this is the best person at this, teach all of us how this is done. And then we go into, like, a more typical Zoom Room, where we're all on screen, just getting to collaborate and meet each other. That's kind of like the gist of what we're doing. We're helping podcasters get paid. We're working on some ways to grow the audience as well, but we're letting it happen really organically by just talking to people that are joining the people that are interested. So we've got, I think, at time of recording this, when you are talking Marc, I think there's 48 people in it right now, which I'm really happy with. We have, like, a very ambitious goal to put a lot of people in there, but that's kind of the way it works. So yeah, without getting too technical, it's just kind of kind of like, enable you to enter all this whole world and have your own custom pages and stuff like that inside of pod match. That's

Marc Ronick 07:08

awesome. Very cool. Okay, so then you've also made it clear that this network, and I know this about you too, it's geared toward independent podcasters. I know that's an area that you and I both share a passion for what specific feedback did you receive from the community that really shaped its direction?

Alex Sanfilippo 07:27

Not the feedback I thought, like, I thought I was gonna hear very specific things. And so we built out, like a pretty big form, a lot of it being just kind of like free form field, like fields where people can just kind of enter whatever they want, right? But some pointed questions, and I was shocked, like, the number one thing people wanted was some sort of indicator on their profile that they would be in the network. And then they wanted a network page where people could see their podcast, they could click through to their podcast and to us. That was, like, the easiest thing to do. I was like, Oh, really. And then so I started asking, like, do you want us to help you find advertisers? Do you want to do any cross promotion? And most people indicated

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that that is what they had problems with in other networks, or what caused them to not join was that they just didn't have the time to to keep up with it, to, like, either do the cross promotion or to put ads on their podcast that they didn't believe in or align with. So some of these networks, like this is the ad that we got a big dollar amount from. You have to put it here, and some just flat out, we're like, Hey, I don't agree with that. Believe in it against my podcast stands for and that ultimately led to them leaving. So people didn't even really want those type of things. Now, will we go out and try to find that for them? Yes, absolutely. Will we try to build those friendships where they can let that happen naturally, organically? Yes, absolutely. But the big things I found, once again, were just what they want, is exposure and recognition for what they're doing. And so everything we're doing is around those ideas. Is, how do we elevate them as creators that are making a really big difference in the space interesting?

Marc Ronick 08:52
So monetization wasn't a big one.

Alex Sanfilippo 08:55

Like, I think all podcasters want their show to grow and monetization, right? But like, when it came to the network. They didn't necessarily put the like, I don't know how to say it. They didn't say the network should be responsible for them doing that. The training is heavily involved with how to monetize and also how to grow your audience. And we kind of give some like, just some tactics that we think work really well for that that we've seen people who have done really well on pod match achieve through these same exact things. Some of it is automation through pod match. Marc, you know this like pod match pays podcast hosts that use the platform. When you're finding guests, it's, I'll say this, it's not enough to quit your full time job, sure, but it should be enough to offset your production cost. And the early findings in the network, some people were making up to I believe it was just under $300 a month, is what some podcasters were making by using pod match, and it's helping them do things a little bit faster, right? So it's streamlining the process and the time, but it's also helping them earn a little bit and so for us, from a monetization standpoint, that's something we were help we wanted to be able to help with. Now, the audience growth side pod match, we are working on something for that. I think we're still a little bit off from really, like. Having it figured out. I don't know if anyone's really figured out, like, the the audience grows, side of things, from like, a system standpoint, there are some platforms that do a good job. I think that that's a bit more of a complex problem. Yeah, absolutely. So

Marc Ronick 10:11
is there going to be some, a lot of cross promoting between the shows that are a part of the

network? Yeah, we

Alex Sanfilippo 10:17

want that to happen. We want to happen organically. So again, that's why we're starting to do these mixers, because we're going to kind of, I guess, kind of set the stage of, hey, we want you to find your people in this group, and we want you all to help each other. And everyone

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who has joined has been open to that. That was one of the big things that, like, when we have our actual onboarding form, we want to know that you're you're interested in community, you're interested in collaborating. And so far, like I said, everyone has really addressed that. They are. We are going to build it again. I'm all about starting organic and just seeing how it goes. Once we kind of figure out what works, we will build some sort of internal system within pod match that will help people actually facilitate that to again, remove some of the frictions involved. But to start, we want to see, can this happen naturally? Can it happen organically? Does it go well for anybody, or does everyone hate it, right?

Marc Ronick 11:00 Yeah,

Alex Sanfilippo 11:01

I don't want to. I've learned the hard way, don't build software until you've confirmed that it's actually going to solve a pain point. If not, you're just building for the sake of building, which my co founder, Jesse, who's the developer, does not like doing that, especially when I'm like, okay, delete all that code you just spent two months on. Yeah? Well, I

Marc Ronick 11:18

mean, you could apply that same logic to anything to business, right? Like starting a business or starting a new product or service within the business, yeah, do a little research before you go all in on it, right? Yeah, for sure, I'm with you there, all right, so you've definitely shared some of the benefits here. And my next question really was about what you feel are the biggest benefits to joining your network or and any Podcast Network for that matter, because this is where I paused again. This isn't that I disagree with starting a network, but I paused because I've owned and or operated podcast networks before, probably two or three since I've been at this, and I see how they could help, but at the same time, I feel like it either benefits one side or the other more, like the podcaster either gets a lot of the benefits and then the network sometimes suffers, or vice versa. So I'm curious what your vision is, and particularly like where you feel the biggest benefits are to joining pod matches network

Alex Sanfilippo 12:24

you know is truly insightful and proves that you've done this before. Because that's always the problem. It's either too heavy on the podcaster side, and then the the network itself can't sustain itself, or it's more on the network side, and the podcasters feel under, heard, underserved, right? And the reality is, it's got to, can't serve two masters. It's got to be one of the other. And again, that kind of goes back to why we're excited to have built it on our software, because we don't need it to really benefit pod match. The benefit to pod match is that you're on pod match, which maybe sounds like a little repetitive. So that way we can just give all the every bit of value to the actual podcasters, including if a big like, let's imagine a big brand comes through and like, a percentage of the people in it, like, whenever required. But let's say, let's say there's 100 people in it, and 85 of them want to run an ad for Best Buy. Just

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gonna use an example there. I'm thinking, like, microphones and stuff, right? Who knows? Um, then what we want to do is, we don't. We want to cover our costs. So if I don't know what administrative costs that be, but very little. Because, again, we've built it through the software. We want to give everything among the podcasters and split that up and not say, okay, network keeps 50% and the other 50% gets split up among the podcasters like that. Doesn't seem right to me. Granted, if we only had the network, we would have to do that, because we can't keep our doors open without it. Right? We don't need anything from the network, the benefit to us, once again, is podcasters using pod match. Beyond that, all the value can go to them. And so to me, that that's going to be the biggest benefit and value beyond that, what I see being valuable about a show, being in a network, kind of goes to some research I did about a year and a half ago now, around the ideas of what makes a podcaster stick with it, and community was one of the big things. And Marc is why I love that you do meetups. It's why I love that you host an incredible event. Like, absolutely love being there and being part of that was an honor. And I love it because it brings people together. And I know that everyone who's in that room is more likely to stick with it than somebody who has never met another podcaster whose family is tired of hearing about their podcast, right? It makes it really easy to stop. So for me, it's like, okay, the community aspect, having some togetherness is super important. And I don't know about you, but like, man, whenever I'm like, not in podcasting, like, perfect example, just this week, I've been on vacation. I don't have a lot of podcasting thoughts that are, like, innovative, but as soon as I get in a room with someone like you, I'm like, my head, my wheels start spinning. I'm like, Ooh, I got an idea. I got something I might want to try, right? And so I just think being in a position, an environment, a room like that, is one of the biggest benefits.

Marc Ronick 14:49

Yeah, I love that. I love that answer. And I want to share another concern that was shared during the podcasting morning chat a few weeks ago. It was whether independent. Creators will find an audience within the pod match network, as listeners are always, or I should say, already accustomed to consuming podcasts on major platforms like Apple and Spotify, right? So the question, I guess, really is is, how do you plan to address and make sure that pod match stands out as a network when a lot of people just go to Spotify or Apple or maybe even good pods to go listen to a podcast.

Alex Sanfilippo 15:30

Yeah, I personally like good pods. I do think it's a lot of podcasters that use good pods, though, right? It's very like podcaster forward, even the comments I get in, there are other podcasters, which actually both you and I have podcasts about podcasting. So maybe that means this work, I don't know. Yeah, see, that's the part that I'm personally struggling with. We actually, and this is supposed to be inside information, but you're a friend, and so is everybody here today, so I'm gonna share it. We were looking at buying a platform that's a podcast listener app that already has every year. They've grown a little bit each year, and right now, they have in the seven figure mark of people who listen every year. But we started diving into like, who's listening it didn't mirror a lot of our podcasts, like, it wasn't the right listener, and so a lot of them were very like, it was very heavy on true crime, which is sometimes from the biggest stuff, but true crime is typically not an interview based podcast, right? Like some, sometimes, there's a few of them, sure, but I was looking at them like, man, like, even if we spend the money to do this so we can support our podcasters, it's the wrong audience. And again, I think this is kind of like

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the tough part, because so many people are like, Oh, I'm building a podcast player app. I'm like, great. How are you gonna compete with Apple, Spotify, Amazon and now YouTube? Right? Like, right. People know, those are household names that people know when you're like, I got XYZ listen app. It's like, okay, I don't know if people are going to want to download a new app to do this. So for us, right now, we're really weighing heavy on is training people how to position themselves, to get found on those apps really well. And Marc, you and I both know this. It's it's kind of wild. How many podcasters don't know how to properly title and position their content to be found on these apps. Like, I'm not saying anything bad about anybody that we just don't know, but we've already seen a few of them. There's we took our like, very first round when we started, I think we had eight podcasters in it, or something like that, maybe, and then we quickly jumped to 28 but we started with like, eight, and we went in there and, like, one of them reticulated very first one. Like, hey, let's remove the words season five, Episode 20, thick, a conversation with and you laugh when I say that, because it's like, we've been in the game long enough. I'm like, let's call this episode what it is, which is how someone went from homeless to full time entrepreneur, or like nine figure entrepreneur, and just changing titles and descriptions of shows like that made their listenership double or triple almost overnight. It seemed like it was over a couple weeks, but like that, training will do more than us. Having a additional million people who might listen to your podcast, the best thing you can do is position your show properly. So that's why, up front, we're gonna weigh really heavy into the education. And beyond that, we're looking for other solutions, including some, like, paid ad stuff. But again, I don't really know when I say pay ad stuff, like paying for people to to get their show promoted, like, with a network will take X dollars that. Here's 100 shows we have right now, and we'll, we'll put these dollars out and get it all in front of the right people. Possibly we're looking at doing that, but I don't know the stickiness yet. I'm testing it with my own show. This is all up in the air, man, I wish I had a better answer for you. I feel like I ran No, that's

Marc Ronick 18:21

no, that's okay. And I I'm curious. So let's get into some semantics. If, for some reason you you have a podcast on the network, everything's going well. They're, you know, their audience continues to grow, etc, but let's say, like, they are refusing to change their episode titles, even though they're making those common mistakes. You're training them properly, and they're like, Nope, this is the way I'm doing it. What happens to them in the network? Does it matter? Or do you eventually have to part ways because they're not conforming to some of the standards that you have for the network. You

Alex Sanfilippo 19:01

know, it's like the old saying, you can lead someone to water, but you can't make them drink, right? And I'm not saying, I know have all the answers, and I know you wouldn't say that either. Like, we don't, like we're still, we're students of podcasting ourselves. We've just, after, I don't know, you've been in it for like, 75 years, or something like that, right? Yeah, we've just learned some things. But if somebody doesn't really, at the end of the day, if they're passionate and purposeful in what they're doing and they're they're using pod match along the way, like, I'm okay with it. We do have some people on the platform that have no desire to really grow their show, and some of them have a very small, niche audience, but they're very happy with the audience they have. If we can just help them get better at serving those people without having to do any of the administrative stuff. Like, how can we help them interview better? Then, right?

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Like, I'm actually okay with that. Creative freedom is easily the biggest point to me in this like, I want to make sure that we do not take an ounce of that, like, not a piece of it. Like creative freedom, who you have on your show, what you talk about within reason, of course. Like, if Apple and. Modifier moving your show, for some reason, will probably do the same, but within reason, like we want to make sure that we really support that, so that that freedom side is important. If somebody's just like, hey, no, I'm doing this having fun, it's working. And they again, they are actively using pod match still, like we're going to be okay with that, ultimately okay.

Marc Ronick 20:17

And then so creative freedom, I appreciate that, and glad to hear you say that that's important to you, giving those podcasters that creative freedom sometimes when we bring sponsors and advertisers and they have some very specific requirements. So how do you intend on dealing with that? Yeah,

Alex Sanfilippo 20:36

we're just going to tell them, hey, we have 100 shows in this network, and we're going to position what you have to them, and we'll see how many are okay with it before we do anything. So be like, step one to me. Like, so I used Best Buy as an example earlier. Let's say Best Buy did something that was really, I don't know, immoral, inhumane, right? Like, which wouldn't make any sense, not a good example. But let's just imagine only, like, three podcasts are like, yes, and the other 97 are like, Absolutely not. There's no way I can stand for that. We're just going to tell them that, hey, we got three. Do you want to do something? Yes or no. At that point, they're going to say no, right? Like, and that's okay. So we'll just kind of position it, and we'll tell them, hey, no matter how many podcasters we have, you're never getting them all. Here's the percentage that said they would be interested in something like that, knowing that also some of them in there are never going to want to run an ad, because they've already got their own product and service that they're really doing well with. And so again, if there's 100 in there, there might be 50 who say, Never, ever anything, right? But the other 50, I'd be like, yeah, sure, let's, let's do something, and then we'll kind of look among that percentage. And again, we're building that into the software to really simplify it. I don't want to be like, manually asking, like, hey, Marc, yes or no on this one, right? Like calling you up on the phone, like we want a way to make it really simple, and to me, host red ads are always a position I want to take, because I really like those a lot. Personally. As a podcast listener, I am far more likely to to act if it's the host that already know like and trust, which I'm Marc, you know the data better than I do. I'm sure there's data around the fact that those it's got to convert. Oh yeah, yeah. We

Marc Ronick 22:01

talk about it during the podcasting morning chat all the time, usually when we cover news stories, that's a common story that we offer behind Yeah. So you've talked about some requirements of joining the network, right? So one of them being that you got to be a part of

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pod match. There's another aspect that people were questioning, when we were having this discussion, that I think there's a requirement that you have to have at least three new episodes every week. Is that right? So

Alex Sanfilippo 22:27

fresh off the press, we officially dropped that we wanted to start with that to bring up to the first 50 some odd shows. The whole idea behind that was we could get data faster, like we wanted to see if it was working, and if someone was posting once a week. It would just take me more weeks to figure it out, right? And so now, like, we do request one episode per week or more, and on, like, the the actual application form now you can actually just say, I'm one through seven or more or less. And at some point, when I open up to everybody, some people, they just do, like, a monthly show, even, right? Like, I don't want to discriminate against that. Early on, I was just like, hey, if we're gonna get if we're going to get any sort of data to know if this works, I don't want to, like, add 50 people and have to wait six months to be like, sorry, guys, this didn't work, right? I'm like, one of the people we added, they were doing seven episodes a week, and so, like, daily. By the way, I don't know why, but Apple and Spotify can see that three or more a week. So I don't, I really don't understand the logic. Because then I'm like, Oh, well, I go to the gym every day. Then, if three days, day, then every day. Yeah, right, right. Daily. Real good. So yeah, we were looking at three or more, and we got a few of them that were, like, 765, and that kind of gave us what we needed. So now it's officially opened up to everybody now that are, again, weekly or more at the moment, all

Marc Ronick 23:37

right, cool. I will update the community. Then that's an important factor to know. And we've talked about a lot of key factors that some may hear and think, yeah, this is something that makes pod match and their network stand out, right? That makes them different? I'm curious if you have an opinion on the one key factor that you think really makes this network different than all the rest. You know, the

Alex Sanfilippo 24:03

biggest thing I can think of is gonna be the community aspect of it. To me, that's just, like, really important. There's other networks that are creator first. I don't wanna be like, oh, you know, we're the only one that's for the Creator. Like, that's just not true. But the community aspect, I think, is the one thing within pod match that we've always worked really, really hard on and so to me, I'm just going to double down on that, making sure that there's true community around it, true collaboration, and building an environment that really fosters that. Well, the only thing I'll ever say I've done right in this thing is that element of it is really build something that fosters community. I'm going to keep on doubling down on that, because I know it's the value that we can add and it resonates with people. So that's that's the real value,

Marc Ronick 24:43

fair enough. And has the network officially launched? I know you're bringing in people, but there are podcasters, but has it actually, is it out there in the world to consume now? Oh

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Alex Sanfilippo 24:53

yeah, yep. So pod, match.com/network, is a live page that has the shows listed there. They're on people's profile. All, all those people were kind of going through the whole process, and we're learning and growing as we go. But yeah, we officially launch it is open. There's, like, literally on that page, there's a button that says join network and everything like that. So yeah, and it's been a lot of fun. We're getting a lot of great feedback, and also getting some feedback that we're taking into consideration or making adjustments in real time, which has been, again, that's kind of the beauty of launching things a little bit early, I

Marc Ronick 25:22

suppose. Do you feel like and I mean, it's as I'm about to ask it. I'm thinking, Well, of course he wouldn't, but I'm wondering if 100 shows or right now, it's how many that you have? 48 Okay, so half that for right now. So let's say 50 shows like that feels like a lot of shows on one network to where maybe, if I which I intend to be a part of it, but being on it, I would feel almost like, Man, am I gonna get lost in this shuffle too? How are people gonna find me among 100 different shows? Certainly a lot easier than going on Apple and trying to sift through, you know, millions, but still, it feels like a lot. So what are you doing to handle that?

Alex Sanfilippo 26:08

Yeah, that's going to be one of the things that we know we want to be able to to kind of overcome. It is a lot, and even if they're like, our goal is, would be to have 1000 and the idea is to make that attractive, from a network standpoint, to other people, and kind of use that as clout to bring people to see, okay, what shows are in this like, that's pretty cool, right? We looked at I Heart Radio. They have, like, 920 or did 920 some odd shows, and it's, I think it's always moving up and down a little bit, right? Yeah. But somehow they've made it work, because the shows seem to be pretty happy there. And so we're kind of following their model of just like we give the opportunities, we give the platform, but the amount that somebody within it wants to engage is solely up to them to a certain extent. Of course, right? They're gonna make sure, hey, you're not posting episodes anymore, right? They'll, they'll check in. But it's kind of do that, and I've always run by the mentality I'm gonna do for one what I wish I could do for all, like, I really wish I could have a one on one meeting with them every week, each one of them. I'm not gonna be able to do that, but to do that, but as often as we can, me and other key people in podcasting or do our best to reach out, we'll set a schedule for that just to make sure that, hey, remember, you're part of this inner circle of this network. And in the grand scheme of things, yeah, 1000 shows, if we reach that one day, that's a lot, but when you think about how many shows there are in total, it is a very small percentage of them, and so the idea is just to support them well, to do for one we wish we could do for all, and to rely on our software quite a bit to kind of fill in some of the gaps. Awesome. All right, so we're going to wrap up, and I want to make sure everybody understands not only how to be a part of this network, but all of the requirements involved. I think we've hit them all, but I want to make sure. So would you elaborate a little bit more? Sure? There's one requirement we didn't cover Okay, which is we don't want a pod match network logo on your podcast. Cover art. Again, we want the freedom to stay. The one ask we have is at the bottom of your description, Show

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episode, put Hey, if you're interested in being a guest, go here, and we use that as your it's your pod match profile, which doubles as an affiliate link. That's one of the ways some people have been able to monetize it. And some, some people on pod match, I shouldn't say some, a lot of them have covered any costs they've ever had associated with anything podcasting related, just through that now. So the idea is just, hey, we want pod match to be mentioned. We want to be mentioned in a way that adds value to the podcaster. So again, at the bottom, we have, like, a little script. But some people, I always tell people, I always tell people, put in your own words, right? Just have a link to your profile you want to be a guest. Here's my link where you can do that again. It's a it's your profile. Doubles as an affiliate link. Someone clicks. It says message. It tells them they need to sign up as a guest, and then they can, they can do that. So that's the other requirement. Beyond that. Everything about the network is pod match.com/network, and there's a join Network button, which has like a video from me, all the requirements, spelled out the benefits and stuff like that. Awesome.

Marc Ronick 28:43

And you know, I want to get you back to interview you, and maybe it's on something that you don't get interviewed on a lot. I want to get into a lot of your habits. I'll call them, for example, this morning, when I was asking you or getting you the link to our Riverside. Here, you showed me a screenshot of your phone where it had no ability to click on any links. It was very simple, like three buttons, and that was it. And I noticed that kind of thing, not just that, but you have these little habits, quirks, things that you do that I know are very intentional. And I want to, like, break that down with you a little bit on the next time when we sit down and talk, if that's cool, man, that'd

Alex Sanfilippo 29:29

be fun. I love that. You notice that and realize that, like, people like, oh, Alex is superpower podcasting. The reality is, it's actually that type of thing, like organization, time management, having a strategy and system behind it. I literally never get to talk about it. So, yeah, I think I would geek out quite a bit.

Marc Ronick 29:44

Yeah, well, I do another show, and I'm gonna talk to you about that. Maybe we'll do it over there so far. Man, thank you. You're welcome. And I will ask you this final question, what's the future for Alex and Filippo? Right? We've seen pod match. We've seen. Pod lottery. We've seen those, the monthly podcast reports you're putting out now you've got the network out. What's the ultimate goal here for Alex San Filippo,

Alex Sanfilippo 30:08

yeah, thanks for asking that. Pod match is our big hub, and will continue to be. You notice that, like the network, the report, this stuff is on pod match, and even pod lottery, we bring it into pod match as well, and expanding it to to all, like, right now it's strictly on iPhone, because up till recently, that was the only way to leave a review on for a podcast. But we're going to be

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expanding that into guest and host and do, like, allow people to swap a podcast review for a book review on Amazon. Like, we're really going to open it up and bring it into the software. The whole idea is just the connectivity between guest and host and anything happens in between your recording like, yes, Riverside has their place. Buzzsprout is my hosting provider has their place, right? Whoever it is that we're all using, but we want to kind of be that glue that mirrors all those things together while simplifying the entire process. So we're just going to double down on that. We don't have any other products or services we're trying to build out or anything like that. This point, it's just to get really good about serving people within this vertical of podcasting.

Marc Ronick 31:00

Awesome, awesome. And by the way, if anybody wants to learn more from Alex, you can certainly reach out to him, and don't forget his podcast as well. Podcasting made simple, you can catch that. And he does a quarterly event under that brand as well. And I know you just had that recently. I heard it went really well. I wasn't able to make it, but I heard it went really well. Yeah, man, it was great. Thank you. Awesome, awesome. Well, thanks again, Alex, appreciate your time. Appreciate you really digging into some of these big questions that we had on the show and looking forward to doing this again with you for sure. Marc, thank

Alex Sanfilippo 31:32 you again. Appreciate it. All

Marc Ronick 31:33
right. Take care. All right. So there you go. There is

31:39

ironic media production,

31:41

I R, O, N, I, C, K, media.com

Marc Ronick 31:44

There it is. Okay. So there we are. I hope you got some good information out of that. I know that when I walked away from it, I felt more comfortable about the idea, and actually, even genuinely a little excited about the idea being a part of that network. I mean, why not? One of the things he told me when we were talking before, you know, I was saying, Yeah, I'm interested in learning more, to see if maybe I want to be a part of it. He seems to think, based on five days a week, every day of the month, you know, each week, I think he was saying I

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could bring in somewhere around a grand every month for this show, just being a part of that network. That certainly perked me up, too, because I'd like to be able to cover some of the costs that I'm paying right now. You know, I pay Ashley to help us produce this, edit this, get it all together, and there are other expenses involved in doing this every day. So yeah, it would be nice to find something to at least cover the costs. And yeah, so if anybody has any questions, whether it's more about the interview, or maybe about how I conducted the interview, because look, this is a podcast about podcasting, and if you want to ask and about how I'm doing it, I'm happy to answer I

Dianne-Romelle Fay (DR) 33:05
have some questions. So one of them is being a part of his network. Does that mean that he's

handling any of the post production costs? Of it, the editing, the at all the post production stuff.

Marc Ronick 33:25

Yeah, I think the way it's supposed to work is you continue to do your thing with your podcast. I don't think he's looking at least right now. I don't think there's any offer of doing editing show notes, etc. But, like he talked about in a little bit during the interview, he is helping by training and giving people knowledge, information, tips, tricks, etc, to help improve what they're doing if they're a part of the network, but he's not actually doing the the editing stuff. So hey, if you need your editing done, I'm happy to do that for you. That is something, not a service they're offering through the network. Okay,

Dianne-Romelle Fay (DR) 34:04
okay. And when you walked away from the interview, how'd you feel? Well,

Marc Ronick 34:10

I felt good about it. I felt I like I said. I definitely felt like I I'm more interested now, I think I was a little more skeptical about, Oh, it's another network when we heard about it, and I like where Alex is going with it. I think it does have potential. And as far as the interview, I thought I did, if I could pat myself on the back, I thought I did a good job of getting to the questions that we had. And also even just go so going off script, if you will, like, not with my planned questions, and paying attention to what he was saying and then some time zeroing in on some of the things I hadn't prepared for.

Dianne-Romelle Fay (DR) 34:50

Yeah, that's one of the things that I love about your interviews. So tell me about any of the I don't know, mind blowing, you know? Oh, what? Revelations that you maybe you went in with a preconceived notion in your head and you walked away with, oh, okay, that's that changed my mind, or Oh, I see now.

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Marc Ronick 35:09

It surprised me when he was talking about how, when he was surveying his community, learning about what they would be interested in if they were to be a part of a Podcast Network. And I was surprised that monetization and growth weren't the focuses number one, right? Yeah, that they wanted more of that community aspect. They wanted some exposure, which you could equate to growth, in a way, but really not the big focus, growth and monetization. I think that that was my, my biggest surprise there. And I wanted to let me just check in with Alex real quick. I saw he had his hand up. And then if you have more questions here, we can check back in with you. Alex, good morning.

35:50

Yeah, two things. One, it doesn't surprise me about the monetization thing. If it's an interview based podcast, they're gonna want to do their own thing, and they can probably get their own guests if they're a pre established podcast, but I missed it. He talked about the whole using their guests, and he scrapped it, and then that's all I heard, because I had to do something. What was the whole thing with that part of it? If you don't mind me, I'm not sure which part you're referring to. Remember how we talked about how to use his guests, like three days a week, or five days a week or, Oh, that

Marc Ronick 36:23

was so, if you remember when we first talked about the his announcement, one of the requirements was, as a daily you had to have a daily podcast, and he was defining daily by three days a week or more. And since then, he's gotten rid of that. Now you just have to do once a week at a minimum, and you you have to use his guests every time. No, I don't think you have to use the pod match, guess every time. But yes, I there is, I think you have to do it at I mean, if you're doing it once a week, then I would, I guess yes, that would probably mean you do if you're doing it, like we're doing it. No, I wouldn't have to do that. Okay, thanks. Does anyone else have any other questions before we check back in with Dr, and if you're in the audience and have questions, feel free to put it in the chat or come up on stage and be a part of the conversation. Yeah. Dr, do you have anything else

Dianne-Romelle Fay (DR) 37:13

I do aside from this interview? When you do interview someone, what's your strategy for handling moments when an interviewee answers challenges your preconceptions, for instance, like when Alex revealed that the monetization wasn't actually a top priority for network members. How do you pivot your question approach in in real time?

Marc Ronick 37:38

Yeah, I think that if Alex were to say something first that I strongly disagreed with it, it would be important to me to make sure that I was clear with my perspective. I'd want to make sure I'm not going to just let him or any guest just share their opinion if it differs from mine. I want to

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make sure that I'm sharing what my beliefs are, too. So I think that's an important element for me. Now, if he's or any guest has started to sway my opinion, I'll also fully admit it right there in the moment that okay, you're changing my opinion. I want to just be real about it. I think that's really the most important thing for me is just wherever I am in that moment, as long as I'm expressing that, I that's what's most important to me.

Dianne-Romelle Fay (DR) 38:27 Yeah, I see Dominic's hand is up. Yeah.

Marc Ronick 38:31
Good morning, Dominic. If sorry about your cowboys, what did you want to add?

Dominic Lawson 38:37
Good morning everybody. Hope everybody as well. And congratulations to your commanders.

You have one hell of a quarterback. Wow. Yeah,

Marc Ronick 38:44 a little bit of luck too.

38:46

Yeah, that's

Dominic Lawson 38:47

true. But I mean, you know, you toss for 326 and ran for 52 yards. That's not Oh no, that's luck, man, that's true. But no, I was curious, and forgive me for being late. I didn't hear the entire interview. But I'm curious if monetization isn't the top priority for the network. I'm curious what is yes, because I know a lot of times networks are trying to, you know, pull shows together in order to attract, like, a big sponsor, and then, like, spread that wealth across everybody. So I'm curious what's the top priority, I

Marc Ronick 39:21

guess, yeah. So according to Alex, and this is he's based this off of what he's asked his community. So what they told him was that community, that feeling, yeah, and that feeling of is super important to his community. They believe it's, you know, that's what's going to help them stick with what they're doing rather than get discouraged and quitting. He also said that

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being in an environment that fosters that community and collaboration is is a key value for pod match and for their network. And so, yeah, I think that's really what it's about. It's about community. And he wants to. To help those in the network get better, get stronger, however that they feel that, however they feel that would be for them, right? Like, he's not going to just say, Okay, everybody has to conform and follow all of these rules if they want to be better. But what he wants to do is provide that education. Should they want it? But yeah, he's and then as far as monetization, yes, he also said that's important. They're going to still focus on that. So if they get a an advertiser, their their hope is that, you know, that advertiser is going to be a part of many of the different programs on his network, but it's just not the number one thing, because that was what his community told him. But he knows, I mean, he said it, he knows that every podcaster wants either a way to monetize what they're doing or grow what they're doing. So he that's in kept in mind, but just not necessarily the number one priority. I hope that answers your question. No,

Dominic Lawson 40:58

it does. Just curious because, you know, because I've been in these conversations quite a, no, few times, and definitely more recently, about joining a network and stuff like that, he even mentioned one that I've been in conversation with in the part of the interview that I did here. I guess I am curious, however, and I'll just ask this last question or make a comment, I guess I'm not sure just people for for everybody to think of when you're thinking about joining a network. Is one of the things I've seen is like, sometimes some of the smaller shows gets lost in the sauce, if you will, and sometimes the priority and the promotion go towards the larger shows, or perceive larger shows. And so I would be curious how Alex handles that in the future. Because he mentioned, I heart, you know, in that part of conversation I did hear, but even some of those shows again, you know, the some shows have higher priority than others, right? For obvious reasons. And so I would be curious how he manages that part of it. I don't know if he addressed that earlier, but moving forward, I would, I would monitor that part of the network. I guess. If that makes sense, I kind

Marc Ronick 42:12

of asked a little bit about that, because my concern is, how does even though, let's say it's 100 shows that he ends up with right now, the he's got around 50. But okay, so even that, it feels like that would be, yeah. 50 is not a small number, yeah. And it still though, to me, sounds like it would be challenging, like, how is somebody going to know to pick my show over if they're looking at 50 or 49 other pieces of cover art, how do they know to really pick mine, or that it's the right one for them? And that's the that's still, I feel like I'm curious too. How is he going to highlight some of these shows, the smaller ones, the bigger ones? Yeah, I that. I don't know yet right now. You can see it for yourself. Pod, match.com/network, it looks like basically, he's just showing all the different shows available on the network, and that's about it at the moment. So I don't think anybody's being favored. And I think there needs to be something that puts different shows in the spotlight every day, every week, whatever that ends up being. But I think that has to happen for sure. Billy's on stage. Let's say hello to you, Billy. Good morning. Welcome back to the stage. What did you want to add to the conversation? Hey,

Billy Thorpe 43:26

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good morning, Marc. I'm kind of like everybody else. Have been in and out a little bit trying to do other projects, but so when you become a part of the network, do you switch your show over to their hosting? I don't know if I heard that or not. And then everybody is on the same hosting account. Is that a part of

Marc Ronick 43:44

it? I think right now it's really it's continue doing it however you do it, and be a part of the network if you'd like to be. So you apply to be a part of the network. Then he accepts it, and all he asks is that you put in the show notes, a line about checking out pod match. But you don't have to join a certain podcasting host platform. You don't have to, you know, get on their RSS feed. It's do things how you normally do them. And now, say you're a part of the pod match network. That's That's how they're doing it. Go ahead. Nick

Nick Nalbach 44:21

Good morning. I was just going to comment on what you guys are talking about with the number of shows on the network. And I think where I can see kind of a slight advantage of being inside the network, if pod maps is able to drive attention to the network, now you're in a way, competing. I know they're talking about, like it being a community, and everyone's working together, but in a simple sense, you're competing with right now 50 podcasts to gain attention versus all the podcasts to gain attention. So yes, there, I feel like there's. Responsibility for the network to help bring eyes onto your show, specifically, since you're a part of the network, but in the same instance, I mean, we talk about a lot of strategies, like, how do you get your show to stand out amongst millions of other shows that are out there? If you apply that same concept to the shows that are in your network, now you're only competing with 50 to 100 shows, as opposed to every show that exists. So I think you can kind of take a little bit more strategic approach to it and look at in a way, like me against these other shows. Like, how do I stand out amongst all the others? To me that seems a little more attractive me versus 50 people versus me versus a million?

Marc Ronick 45:41

Yeah, not to mention those are also a bunch of different types of shows, so it's probably even less when you talk about what kind of show you're doing, right? So if you're a true crime, you might be one of the only ones of that 50, which I think puts you in a bigger spotlight, especially when we're comparing it to being on a platform like Apple and all the different True Crime podcasts over there. Yeah, I'm with you there for sure. Let me go back to Billy. I feel like maybe he had a follow up question, and I didn't let him get to it. So go ahead, Billy.

Billy Thorpe 46:14

So I guess that was my only question was the was the network? Is it all on? Because, you know, from a monetization standpoint, if you go to a best buy for his example, instead, hey, we're, you know, we can dynamically insert these ads. I think you can monetize a lot faster than trying to wrangle 50 cats to put individual ads into their podcasts. That might be a little bit more of a

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logistics headache, but that's more on the strategy side of sponsorship deals. So and it's easier to check that way, and it's easier to deliver, because at that point you're probably going, well, let's just do a CPM model. It's that easier. And 50 shows can bring a lot more downloads or impressions or whatever you're after. So in that case, I am a CPM fan. I had another question, but I'll hold it. I can't remember exactly what it

Marc Ronick 47:03

was, okay. Yeah, I'm with you, Billy. It's, it's more for, really, for Alex to think about as far as, how is he going to do that? Because, yeah, I agree with you. If he had some way of doing dynamic ad inserts that would be a lot easier for him and his people at pod match to manage it. I'm definitely with you on that. And

Billy Thorpe 47:22

I have one more question for you, Marc, while I'm thinking about this. So when I was at the Ecamm Creator Camp, I was talking about dynamically inserted ads into podcasts. And then one of the ladies that's been in the YouTube space for a long time, she was like, Oh, you can kind of do this on YouTube, because you can go through the YouTube editor and edit the one piece without deleting the entire video and re uploading it. So you can actually kind of go through and sell, you know, three, 612, month spots within certain videos. Was it? It's a little bit of a logistics headache to think about it that way, in my opinion. But I wonder, is there any podcasting host platforms that allow you to edit within their ecosystem without having to re upload? So I can just come in there and manually, kind of take stuff in and out. I

Marc Ronick 48:13
know that Riverside now is also a hosting platform and you can edit. I

Alex B 48:20

know with the network that I'm part of, he uses, he used to use Spreaker, and now he's back to red circle, and you just go in there and you can put whatever ad you want in there at any point. And he's kind of put, put it exactly where you want it when there's no editing involved. So it is possible, Billy,

Marc Ronick 48:40

and by the way, that editor on YouTube, I don't want to mess with that. That thing is awful. I can't stand it. I've tried to use it just to trim like the the beginning and ends of some of the lives that I do for menvo and it's a nightmare. It is just awful. I can't stand it. Okay, let's see, Alex, did you also have a question? I saw you had your hand up a moment ago? Yeah.

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I mean that, not so much question. But I'm part of the network, and the CPM model, that's, that's what my the guy that runs it uses, and he's got, I want to say, you know, not 50, but I want to say, maybe 25 podcasts under his little belt. And then what we do is we have to go in, we have to download it on our feed, and then we fat, we down, we re download it on his his feed, and then we just put the dynamic ads in there, and away we go. It's going to be interesting, because if they can, if they can bulk, like, let's say there's like three interview shows, or for interview shows, they're in the same kind of genre that could be really interesting, that for advertisers, I think that could be where they could make their their impact. Because I think that's the biggest problem with, you know, trying to get these. Ads is, you know, one, trying to find them. But two, if you can say, I have three, three podcasts in this space, it could be a better sell. And if they're, you know, host red, that can make it even better. So, I mean, I could see that. But the way, probably eventually he's gonna make, if you want more exposure, you're gonna have to pay more money. I'm convinced that's what he's gonna end up doing.

Marc Ronick 50:24

That's an interesting point. I don't know for sure. I feel like he would, I don't feel like that's his plan, and not that that's a bad plan or an evil plan, but I just, I don't know if that's in alignment from what I know of Alex. I don't know if he would do that,

Alex B 50:37

but you know, if he doesn't do it. Maybe I'm coming off bad, but that's bad business, because unless the price of entry is so high, yeah, you can, you can say what you want, Billy, but then you're talking on both sides of your face. Because you want more access, you got to pay more money. You've said that and, and that's, that's my point is, you know, I'm not saying. He's doing it. I'm not saying, but I can't see him not doing it down the road, because he's got 50, he's got 50 podcasts. Now, if this thing blows up the way it should, if you have 1000 podcasts, you can't serve that many people. You have to have tears. That's my point.

Marc Ronick 51:16

I think that's fair. I think it's a fair point. And yeah, I think that that's a smart way to do it, as far as business wise goes, if you're going to have a bunch of podcasts and you want a way to start highlighting and promoting them, that could be one way. You could also do it based on popularity, or you could do it on a lot of different factors, besides just who's paying to be up on top, but it's certainly a logical way to do it. I can't argue with that. Alex, let me go to Jonathan, and then I see a lot of other people want to comment, Jonathan, go for it.

Jonathan Howard 51:55

So I would, Alex, I understand what you're saying, and it would be good business for it to be tiered, but from what I heard from Alex in that interview, it would more likely be even just who's participating in the community that's getting highlighted, I think, more likely than who's paying more money. I'm just from what he's putting out there. He's not putting a lot of

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requirements on it. He's really being open to building community. I think that's what he's going to want to focus on. And building community can be really good business. It may not be the same business we're used to running, but it can be really good business. And it's definitely a direction that a lot of places are going

Marc Ronick 52:37
fair point. Jonathan and Dominic, did you have something too you wanted to

Dominic Lawson 52:41

add? I did want to highlight. I guess she's gone now. Jackie had her hand up so she comes back. If we could prioritize her and, oh, yeah question. But no, I It's not saying that I necessarily agree with Alex or Jonathan or whatever, but to Alex's point, that's kind of what I was talking about earlier, because, like, I've seen networks like this start off where it is community based and stuff like that, but over time, there's some that, like, start to rise higher, whether they paid for whether it just happens organically, whether some are just a little bit more active in the community or whatever. Because I, like, I just left a podcast festival a few weeks ago, and, like, there was multiple networks who started the same way and eventually started charging because they kind of had to. So it's like, it's one of those things where it's like, I think I'm still skeptical, if that makes any sense, yeah,

Marc Ronick 53:36
and totally fair and good points to be skeptical. Thank you for pointing it out. Dominic, I

Nick Nalbach 53:41

think the one thing that Alex mentioned that makes their situation a little bit more unique is that this is an extension of something that they already have, like they're not building a network from scratch where they have all these extra operating costs and things that they have to worry about paying for upfront to keep the thing running. He made it pretty clear that pod match is kind of their main source, their main driver. And at least right now, I don't know how sustainable it is if he hits 1000 podcasters like he's talking, but like for now, it seems like the main focus is getting people to pod match. And as long as people are using pod match and using the platform like that, is what they get out of providing this network. It's not necessarily okay. We're gonna land a big sponsorship and take a cut of the ad revenue that could be going to the podcasters. Like to me, it sounded like you wanted to give 100% back to the podcasters and something like that. Yep. So, like I said, it might be not as sustainable with 1000 shows, but at least where they're at right now, I don't see why they couldn't basically be offering up a network as like a like all for the podcasters. We take none of it, kind of. Thing,

Marc Ronick 55:00
yeah, because he is getting money. If they, if they, because they have to first sign up for pod

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match and pay to be a part of pod match, that's the number one requirement. So yeah, they're getting their money. And so yeah, if they're going to offer us a service, for lack of better term, like a network, it makes some sense that they could just give all of the the money earned for the network to those hosts. That does make some sense, and that's what gives me a little bit of hope for this network. And I have my doubts too. Still. I'm still with you, Dominic. I see

Alex B 55:35

what people are saying, and I hope I'm wrong. Like, I really do hope I'm wrong, like, what Jonathan was saying about community, I totally get it. I just know that it's going to be very difficult to please. It's hard to please 50 people. It's even harder to please 100 people. And being part of a network, I mean, maybe because I'm a little jaded, because of that. I just see that it's all fun and games until, until it happens. But like I said, I really do believe he's got a great opportunity to batch sponsors, and I think that's what's going to be great about what he's doing, however, however, I just, I'm just concerned about the smaller podcasts that are busting their butt and might not get all the things that are quote, unquote in the in the print, so to speak. But I could be wrong. I hope I'm wrong. I really do.

Marc Ronick 56:36
Thank you, Alex. And for the sake of time, I'm going to keep it moving and go to Dominic and

then check in with Jonathan and Billy. Go ahead, Dominic.

Dominic Lawson 56:44

Oh, no, same thing with Alex. Like I said, you know, I am not part of a network, but part of that reason is because I've said in these conversations, and I've said in these negotiations, and there were certain questions that couldn't be answered. And it's to Alex's point, a lot of times, those small ones get lost in the sauce based on preferential treatment, who paid what, and this and the other. And so again, I'm just, I'm again. I hope I'm wrong. I hope I'm wrong. You know how I feel about independent podcasters, but it's just, I'm always weary because, like I said, I've been having these conversations lately and and then offer contracts, and it's like, no this, this ain't it. And that's why I haven't, that's why you haven't seen black as America on a network or so well that they just said because, you know, they really do try to take advantage of of small, independent podcasters sometimes.

Marc Ronick 57:34

Yeah, this is where I do believe in Alex, based on the work I've done with him, based on what I know of him, I think it's important for him to make sure that that independent podcaster is well taken care of, that they feel empowered, and that they are getting the same treatment as anybody else that's a part of his community. I genuinely believe that, and it's a matter of remaining to be seen, right? Jonathan, did you want to add something else?

Jonathan Howard 58:05

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I had a question for you. Marc, it may not keep things short, but you came off that interview seeming pretty confident that you would maybe join the network. So what made you so confident in it?

Marc Ronick 58:18

I think the fact that I keep my creative control that there's not really much more I have to do other than the big thing would be to get more guests, which is something I've been wanting to do anyway, and so joining pod match and having this ability to easily Get more guests is pushing me in that direction. So I feel like, why not give it a try, especially if there's no big commitment I can always leave whenever I want. So yeah, I'm feeling more compelled to try it out. That's an look as the guy who, for lack better term as the leader of the community. I think it's important that I do try some of these things that we talk about. That's why, like, that's why I use pod page. That was initially why I started using pod page, because I recommend it to everybody. So why not use it as well? I use it with my clients, but I figured for myself, let me do the same thing that I often encourage people to do and I feel like trying these things out, being that guinea pig, and then being able to report back to you is a service to you, the community. So yeah, that's why I am interested

Dianne-Romelle Fay (DR) 59:34

Marc, just to piggyback off of what Jonathan asked. So he asked about, you know why you were excited to come on, the reasons, but I'm going to ask you about the reservations you had going into it, and the reservations that you have coming out of the interview. What? What would prevent you from wanting to join? I

Marc Ronick 59:59

think that. If I What would prevent me is if I have to change anything about what I'm doing again? Yes, the big change would be adding more guests, which I love, that I want to do that, but that would be my hesitation. Is if something changes or something that I haven't uncovered yet through the interview reveals itself, that would make me do things differently. I want to do, continue to do them my way. Did I have any other new reservations? Not really, although, I'll admit, I think some of the things that Dominic's sharing, some of the things that Alex is sharing, yeah, it's, it's causing me to pause because, yeah, I want to see how this can work, where everybody is taking advantage of it, and that everybody is put on an even playing field, as opposed to people getting some people getting special treatment versus others. I'm just curious to see how that all shakes out. And would it be hesitate a little bit,

Dianne-Romelle Fay (DR) 1:01:01

right? And would it be this show that we're talking about, the PMC show? Yeah? Yeah, it would be this show, okay? Because one of the things that I think is such a big draw for this show is the fact that it's a round table. And you know, when we do these interviews, they are few and far in

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between, these half hour interviews that take up, you know, the half of the space of the Round Table this, if you will. So how would that coincide with, you know, having to to use some of his people in pod match. How would that coincide with the with the spirit of the show,

Marc Ronick 1:01:43

yeah, my thought is to first always invite those potential guests to the actual 7am live clubhouse room, much like we did with the last guest we had, which was Nick Redman and how she was the vocal coach, and she joined us here in the morning, and we interviewed her as a community, we had that round table discussion. So that's my first My priority is to first do that, and I also recognize that I'll be they'll potentially be people from the West Coast, and 7am is going to be way too early for them. So it's it's the people who can't necessarily make the 7am live time that I'll sit down and do what I did with Alex, and then we'll play the interview, and hopefully then still leave some time like we've done today to talk about that interview. So if I were doing that once a week, I'm okay with that, and I get it that that does change it up a little bit, and I got, I gotta just say to you guys, like, I need a little bit of a change of pace right now that it's gonna help me as a host, especially because I love doing interviews. I love hosting interviews, so I'm scratching that itch, and I'm changing things up a little bit, which is something I really want. In the mornings, doing the same round table type thing every day is getting a little monotonous for me. So to be able to still deliver value to you, just in a slightly different way every so often, I think, is a good thing for all of us.

Alex B 1:03:15

Hey, Marc, would you ever consider doing it on the chatter or on the other ones that we do. I'm just saying, just to kind of help those West Coast people, or whatever it may be, bump up the and still put it on the the podcast. But I'm just saying you could do it on the other platforms, whether it's the Friday night or whatever, or this, or just saying to kind of spread it, to make it easier for guests too.

Marc Ronick 1:03:37

Yeah, I could. I could absolutely do that like we don't have to do it at 7am Eastern. Do the live round table interviews. We could do them at any time, really, and just do them here, do them on chatter or another platform, so that we can kind of keep that round table feel to it. So, yeah, it's a good suggestion. I like that. Alex, thank you, Billy, did you have something I was just

Billy Thorpe 1:03:59

gonna say. I can't remember what I was gonna say before, but I before, but I loved this morning jumping in and even listening to an interview for a half hour and then talking about it. I mean, I think it's too easy on all these social platforms to get into an echo chamber with the same people, so it was refreshing to hear somebody else's voice a whole different side of the industry, like even though I'm not even involved in podcasting that heavy right now, it was refreshing. So just wanted to encourage you. All

B

Marc Ronick 1:04:28

right, thanks, Billy. Appreciate that. All right. Well, look, we have gone over just a little bit, and so I think that this is a good place to stop today. But don't forget, we're back tomorrow at 7am Eastern Time, back to our usual format. We'll do the round table discussion, talking all things podcasting. And remember, we do this every Monday through Friday, at 7am Eastern live on clubhouse. You can get a link in the show notes, and if you can't meet us here live, you can always catch the podcast just a few hours. After we wrap up here. So until tomorrow, make it a great day. Everybody. Take care.