Continuing Studies: for Higher Ed Podcasters

[00:00:00] Justin Jackson: A lot of folks are using these for internal corporate communications, for training, for educational purposes. You have to be invited to it. It's not a podcast you can find on the web. You have to be invited to it. And in the same way, you can remove access to it afterwards.
[00:00:22] Neil McPhedran: Welcome to Continuing Studies, a podcast for higher education podcasters to learn and get inspired. I'm Neil McPhedran.
[00:00:29] Jennifer-Lee: And I'm Jennifer-Lee. We want you to know you're not alone. In fact, there are many of you higher ed podcasters out there and we can all learn from each other.
[00:00:37] Neil McPhedran: That's right. Before we jump into this episode, we just want to please remind you to follow our Continuing Studies page on LinkedIn.
[00:00:45] So Jen, this is part two of our conversation with Justin Jackson. In case you didn't listen already to the previous part of our conversation, the episode before this one, please go back and catch that first part of our chat with Justin. Just a reminder, Justin is the founder of Transistor.fm, a podcast hosting and analytics platform.
[00:01:10] In this episode, as we teased last time, we dig into private podcasts. A whole new segment that is growing on campuses.
[00:01:18] Jennifer-Lee: I love private podcasts. I talk about them a lot. And I know with Transistor specifically, they have an amazing private podcast platform that I've been able to tour around in. And they're an amazing opportunity for a higher ed podcast too, especially in internal communications departments.
[00:01:34] You could use them for many things, look for specific departments like the art department, science department, anything that you want to put on a private podcast. I think it's great that you don't necessarily want to give all your secrets to outside world. I'm excited for him to take us through the world of podcasting in the private space.
[00:01:52] Neil McPhedran: Okay. And Jen, we've got a little bonus at the end of this one. Our conversation with Justin is a little bit shorter as it's the second part of the larger conversation, so we're going to introduce you to a new project that we've been working on called Higher Ed Pods. We've been listening to our guests mention on nearly every episode how podcasting is a lonely venture.
[00:02:12] Well, we've got news for you. So keep listening at the end of this episode to find out more.
[00:02:17] Jennifer-Lee: Yeah, it's a double whammy. You get two for the price of one. We get a short, sweet conversation with Justin and we get to find out more about what you've been working on. So let's get started.
[00:02:29] I actually took with your lovely lady from London, I got to take the little tutorial of the private podcasting. Can you explain to us what a private podcast is and how Transistor fits into that?
[00:02:40] Justin Jackson: Yeah, private podcast is generally just instead of a podcast that you can find on you know, Apple Podcasts and Spotify by searching for it. Private podcast requires that you be invited to it and it works differently on different platforms.
[00:02:54] On Transistor, the way it works is you get this landing page where people can subscribe to the show with their email address and then they'll get sent either a QR code that they can scan and add a unique private podcast feed that's just for them to their podcast player or in our case we'll also email them new episodes.
[00:03:13] So a lot of folks are using these for internal corporate communications, for training, for educational purposes. You have to be invited to it. It's not a podcast you can find on the web. You have to be invited to it. And in the same way, you can remove access to it afterwards. So because I'm generating a unique RSS feed, that's just for you. If, for whatever reason, I don't want you to have access anymore, I can delete that RSS feed, and now you don't have access anymore. You can't get new episodes in your podcast player. And uh, yeah, we've seen all sorts of folks use this, especially in the educational space. A lot of, a lot of people are using it for internal communication, communication to faculty, especially when there's, you know, maybe, um, a bunch of campuses getting everybody on the same page. Message from the president. Students are using them as well. Teachers are using them for, you know, like classroom notes or classroom discussions, give people access to a private podcast during the course, and then remove access at the end of the course. So yeah, there's lots of different ways you can use it.
[00:04:16] I think, uh, actually we're seeing private podcasting as one of the, the big places we've been growing lately. It's just way more interest in it. And, uh, yeah, it has lots of, lots of potential.
[00:04:27] Neil McPhedran: Yeah, I think there's a ton of runway for the audience listening here in higher education. All those, I was about to ask you the question and you gave the answer.
[00:04:36] There's so many different ways, I think, that it could be utilized. And that's great to hear that you're seeing that already happening.
[00:04:43] Justin Jackson: I've also seen people using them as, um, audiobooks. So, as an alternative to publishing an audiobook, they publish each chapter as a serial podcast. So, episode one is chapter one, etc.
[00:04:55] Also commentary, you know, uh, folks that have authored a textbook will have it as commentary to the textbook. You can publish the QR code in the textbook, get people to scan it, they get access to the private podcast and then can listen to the commentary for each chapter or the review material for each chapter.
[00:05:13] Yeah. So there's lots and lots. And then of course people are using these for monetizing as well. So people are charging for access to these private podcasts. I think Malcolm Gladwell has done a good job of this. He's got a great biography. For Paul Simon, uh, that is, he calls it an audio book, but really it's like a whole new format, a paid private podcast that you pay for access and then you get your unique RSS feed and you can listen to it in your podcast player.
[00:05:41] Neil McPhedran: A bunch of episodes ago, back in the summer, we interviewed, uh, uh, Craig Van Slyke from Louisiana Tech. And, um, what he's done is he created five to seven minute episode for each of the chapters of his textbook. He teaches cyber technology. It's funny. We had a conversation about that. He chose not to make it private. He just sort of wanted it kind of, it kind of out there, but, but, but you could see how there would be a lot of use to, to make it a private version as well too.
[00:06:08] Justin Jackson: Yeah. And also people like might start out with a podcast and have it private and then convert it into a public podcast later.
[00:06:16] So some folks are also using it as a way of just stair stepping into getting a public podcast, testing out some material and stuff like that.
[00:06:24] Jennifer-Lee: That's awesome. I just feel like I could talk to Justin all day and he's given me so much, like I'm even thinking because I've pitched private podcasts in different aspects. I was like, I don't really necessarily want to talk to Justin about it in the public because I've got some secrets, but I can tell you guys, you and Neil later, uh, later date.
[00:06:41] Justin Jackson: You got to save that for the private podcast feed, Jen, just for members.
[00:06:45] Jennifer-Lee: What do you really like about, because obviously you've been on many podcasts, you have some podcasts. What do you love about podcasting and the fact that you have a hosting platform?
[00:06:56] Justin Jackson: I mean, the medium to me has always been fun. I grew up in Alberta, Canada, where there's a lot of talk radio and that's like, a lot of my memories with my dad were us driving around in a pickup truck listening to CBC or 630Chad and I liked it so much that I would sometimes, like my dad would go into the store, and I would like pretend to be a talk show host or on the radio while he was in the store. So I've always loved the idea of being able to broadcast like this.
[00:07:27] My dad knew a guy that bought a radio station. I was talking to him as a kid and just asked him like, you know, what's it take to get into radio? And he was like pretty like, realistically, he just said, it's like really hard. And, uh, you know, I knew to start my own radio station would be like, impossible.
[00:07:46] So when I heard about podcasting, it was like, wait a second, I can have my own radio station and all it takes is a microphone and a computer and some hosting. Like that's it. That blew me away. And I've kind of loved it ever since I found it. It's a extension of talk radio for me. You know, when John and I started our company and it was new and we, we still had no idea how it would go.
[00:08:08] From day one, we just said, well, let's just start a podcast together. And every week we're going to get together and we're going to talk about what's going on at this given moment. So, uh, hey everybody, we're starting this company. We're scared, trying to figure out the legal stuff. Right now we're trying to figure out how we're going to fund this thing. And we're just really open and honest and vulnerable every week. Honestly, I found it so cathartic that I would have done it even if nobody was listening. I think there's just something about getting on a microphone. It was good for us as partners. It forces you to be a better version of yourself when you're recording something.
[00:08:43] And so just getting to talk to him every week was already reward enough. But then at the same time, people started listening and those folks became our biggest cheerleaders. They helped us solve problems. We were able to put out things out into the world and ask them for help and they would respond. So it's actually changed my life in numerous ways.
[00:09:05] And the connections that I've made podcasting have definitely changed my life. The, the people I've interviewed, almost every good thing that's happened in my career, I can kind of bring back to podcasting or blogging. It's just, there's something about meeting people, working in public, putting stuff out into the world and having a community of people who care that are listening that is, uh, it's really good for increasing your luck surface area. Yeah. I think that applies kind of no matter what you're doing.
[00:09:35] Neil McPhedran: Oh, that's great. Well, we've learned a ton from you. So thank you so much. We appreciate it.
[00:09:41] Justin Jackson: Yeah.
[00:09:41] Neil McPhedran: Love all, love all your insights. Okay. So you have, you've got a couple of podcasts, but you've recently launched one called Podcast Marketing Trends Explained, right? That's, you're couple episodes in, two, three episodes in.
[00:09:54] Justin Jackson: Yeah. I'm doing that with Jeremy Enns.
[00:09:57] Neil McPhedran: Awesome. Okay. Well, we'll make sure to put that in the, in the, in the show notes. I think that'd be a podcast that would be super applicable for this audience.
[00:10:04] Justin Jackson: Especially if you're trying to get more listeners, you know, podcasting is a hard medium to get listeners in. It's hard to grow an audience with podcasting. And so each week we're just kind of delving into this research study that Jeremy did and looking at those stats, but then going, okay, those are the stats, but now how can we kind of move beyond that? Yeah, it's been fun. A lot of it kind of covers like, the, uh, you know, there's the average podcast and my, my, I probably shouldn't say this, but that my, my, my phrase has been, the average podcast is not that good.
[00:10:36] And that's actually a huge opportunity for anybody who's podcasting. Because, if I was just going to randomly get a podcast on Spotify or Apple, if I could just like spin a wheel and get one, it's very likely that that show is not going to be that compelling. And so let's dig in as podcasters and figure out how we can make these shows that we're pouring all of this energy and time into more compelling, better than average. We just started and it's been really fun.
[00:11:04] Jennifer-Lee: And better production because that drives me psycho.
[00:11:07] Justin Jackson: Better production. It's all of those elements. It's all of those elements. Yeah. We're, we're digging into all of it.
[00:11:13] Jennifer-Lee: And the good sounds. You have shitty sound I won't listen to your podcast. Thank you.
[00:11:17] Justin Jackson: Yeah. Yeah. This is why we need more radio, former broadcast people in podcasting because they, they know how to sound good.
[00:11:25] Jennifer-Lee: We do.
[00:11:25] Justin Jackson: And then on the podcasting side, I think one thing podcasting can teach the broadcast community is, you know, podcasting is a bootstrap thing. You know, you're bootstrapping your own audience. You're like bootstrapping your own production. You're bootstrapping your own marketing. So yeah, there's lots of things both sides can learn from each other.
[00:11:40] Jennifer-Lee: It's so fun because they're so similar. And like, some people are like, no, they're so separate. But like a lot of things, like I remember I was talking to someone because I, one of my mentors owns a scripted podcast company and they sell to Disney plus. And then I was telling them, I was like, it's scripted. There's music. And they're like, oh, you mean like a radio play? And I said, exactly.
[00:11:59] Justin Jackson: Exactly.
[00:12:00] Neil McPhedran: Okay. Well, thanks. Thanks so much, Justin. We appreciate all your time and, and, and everything. I'd love to circle back and talk about the whole philosophy side of it. I do think that was great.
[00:12:07] Jennifer-Lee: We didn't get to what is podcasting 2.0.
[00:12:10] Neil McPhedran: We have no time for that today.
[00:12:13] Justin Jackson: Well, have me back sometime. I'm happy to come back. And if your listeners have any questions about specifically like challenges, they're having with a higher education podcast, marketing or production or whatever, get in touch with you guys, like whatever feedback mechanisms you have and collect all those questions. And I'll come back sometime and we'll answer all of the challenges they're having in one episode. That'd be fun.
[00:12:35] Neil McPhedran: Ooh, I like it. A follow up episode idea. We're going to do that. That's a good idea. I love it. We just, we just spit balled an episode on the spot. Perfect. Okay. Thanks, Justin.
[00:12:47] Justin Jackson: Yeah, thanks.
[00:12:49] Jennifer-Lee: I want to do so many things in the private podcasting world now after talking to Justin. I think it's so inspiring, especially from a continuing studies point of view. Like I said, each department, because a lot of campuses are bigger, could do their own internal with onboarding training and extra goodies. But I'm going to wrap it on that note because I'm just, uh, we could gush about private podcasting all day long and I know we have something exciting coming up.
[00:13:14] Neil McPhedran: Yes, but we would love to hear from you. If any of you have any of experience or you've been doing any private podcasting, we'd love to hear how things have been going. We'll drop an email in our show notes. We'd love to hear from you. Okay, bonus time. We're going to talk to you about a project we've been working on.
[00:13:33] We're going to introduce you to another voice here in the meantime. One of the things that we've been hearing over and over and over again from our Continuing Studies Podcast conversations with, uh, for, uh, you know, across the board with higher education podcasters. Is they didn't know, or they couldn't find. There is this vibrant ecosystem of fellow higher ed podcasters out there. They wish they could have found it. They wish they could connect and network and share resources. Well, we've got version one of an answer to that, and there's going to be a lot more features to come, but let's introduce Greg Oldring to talk about version one of this project we've been working on and Greg's the nerd who's building out this platform with us, and we're super excited about it. Greg, welcome.
[00:14:21] Jennifer-Lee: Don't make the audience fall asleep though, Greg.
[00:14:24] Greg Oldring: Alright, well, thank you very much, Neil. I appreciate that very kind, uh, introduction. And hello, listener. And presumably higher ed podcaster. Yeah, we've built a really cool community and discovery engine for you.
[00:14:40] So it's a way for, uh, the general public, and for other higher education podcasters, and for the media to find and discover your podcasts. So, essentially, you can add your podcast to this if it's not already there. There's about a hundred podcasts already there, and you can join the community. That's I think the part that I'm most excited about is connecting with other people and learning from one another a little bit more directly.
[00:15:05] Neil McPhedran: Yes, totally. Okay, so it's called Higher Ed Pods, and you can find it at higheredpods.com and we'd love to hear your feedback. So this really is version one, alpha one, if you will. We're open to hearing anything and everything. Input and critique and, and, and whatnot, but ultimately...
[00:15:29] Greg Oldring: And some love, and some love.
[00:15:31] Neil McPhedran: And some, we'd love to hear a lot too. Yes. Yes. Positive, positive feedback.
[00:15:36] Greg Oldring: Haters are fine too, but love. We definitely want some of that too.
[00:15:39] Neil McPhedran: True. Yes, definitely. Okay, if you have any comments, questions about higher ed pods, please email us. Again, we're going to drop that email in the shownotes and we'd love to hear from you. Otherwise, Jen, Greg, I think that's a wrap for this episode.
[00:15:58] Greg Oldring: My first time! Woohoo!
[00:15:59] Neil McPhedran: Way to go, Greg. Good to have you. You can come back anytime. You're still, if you're still listening, just so you know, Kylé, who is our producer, has been our producer up till now, is having a baby. So, Greg is stepping in to also be the producer while Kylé is off on maternity. So Welcome, Greg.
[00:16:18] Jennifer-Lee: Welcome, Greg.
[00:16:20] Neil McPhedran: Okay, that's the wrap. Thank you for tuning in to the Continuing Studies Podcast, a podcast for higher education podcasters. We hope you found this episode informative and inspiring. If you enjoyed the show, we encourage you to follow and subscribe to our podcast on your preferred platform so you'll never miss an episode.
[00:16:39] And if you've found this episode particularly valuable, please, consider sharing it with your friends and colleagues who also might be interested in higher education podcasts. We also invite you to join the University Podcasters Network group on LinkedIn. Just search for University Podcasters Network where you can connect with other podcasters in higher education and learn from others in the field.
[00:17:01] Thank you for being part of our community. We look forward to continuing to bring you valuable insights and conversations around higher education podcasts. See you in the next episode.