December 26, 2024 • 20 mins
As we take some time off for the holidays we figured it's time for rerun episode on that focuses on some of the best tools that Blubrry has to offer. Tune in to find out if there's any cool features you didn't know we offer that you can use in the upcoming New Year!
Blubrry’s Innovative Podcast Tools
Hosting and Publishing
Podcast Hosting: Various plans from Standard to Pro, including unlimited storage and advanced tools.
WordPress Integration: PowerPress plugin for seamless management from WordPress.
Private Podcasting: Secure podcasts for designated listeners.
Vid2Pod: Converts YouTube playlists into audio podcasts.
Monetization
Programmatic Advertising: Automatically inserts ads into your podcasts.
Dynamic Ad Insertion: Allows sophisticated ad campaigns for both new and existing episodes.
Premium Podcasting: Provides options for ad-free, bonus content, and early releases.
Value4Value: Accepts donations in Bitcoin and traditional currency.
Analytics and Growth
Podcast Statistics: Detailed analytics including geo, apps, and devices.
Audience Surveys: Collects demographics directly from listeners.
Media Kit: Creates a comprehensive overview for potential advertisers.
Additional Features
Podcast AI Assistant: Assists with planning, production, and promotion.
Thrive Bundle: Enhanced tools including advanced stats and ad insertion.
Pro-Production: Professional assistance for podcast launch and regular publishing. blubrrypro.com.
Concierge Service: Full setup assistance for your podcast.
Transcription and Closed Captioning: Makes podcasts accessible with transcriptions.
Media Mastering: Professional audio processing by Auphonic.
Podcasting 2.0 support: Blubrry is the #1 podcast hosting company for supporting Podcasting 2.0 features. Learn more at podcastindex.org.
Blubrry offers a robust set of tools and services to support podcasters from inception to monetization and growth, making it a comprehensive platform for both new and experienced podcasters.
The best place for support with any Blubrry product or service is our ticket system. Tickets give the whole team access vs. direct emails or calls. General podcasting discussion and more can be shared on the Blubrry Podcasting Facebook group.
Fill out our listener survey at surveys.blubrry.com/podcastinsider
Hosting customers can schedule a one-on-one call with Todd or a tech checkup with Mike.
todd@blubrry.com and mike@blubrry.com
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
I'm Todd Cochran, CEO and founder of Blueberry
(00:02):
Podcasting. And I'm Mackenzie Bennett, marketing specialist at
Blueberry Podcaster. In this episode, we're gonna talk
about some of the features that you may
not know about here at Blueberry.
You're listening to Podcast insider hosted by Mike
Dell, Todd Cochran, and Mackenzie Bennett from the
Blueberry team,
bringing you weekly insights, advice, and insider tips
and tricks to help you start, grow, and
(00:23):
thrive through podcasting,
all with the support of your team here
at Blueberry Podcasting.
Welcome. Let's dive in.
Well, you know, Mackenzie, we've been been really,
really busy.
And I think our
stack of stuff has gotten so big that
maybe people have lost track. So I think
today, let's go all
(00:45):
over
the innovations
that Blueberry offers. We've got it separated into,
you know, some different segments
so that people can keep their head on
straight. But first and foremost,
we offer hosting. We offer podcast hosting and
help with publishing. And the we have various
plans
of podcast hosting,
(01:07):
from, you know, $12 month plans that offer
standard features that are just kind of, you
know, need to have all the way up
to unlimited storage with very advanced tools. And
then, of course, there's a couple of layers
here, but we're also really famous for our
WordPress integration with our PowerPress plugin and really
what's allows
(01:28):
podcasters to have a WordPress website to power
their podcast with PowerPress. And it's completely integrated
with Blueberry's
production system so that you can basically post
upload and publish, and, we take care of
the rest.
Of course, within that, there's also folks that
are on our dashboard that aren't using WordPress
that just want a more simple system. So
(01:51):
really there's 2 pieces to that, the WordPress
integration and,
publishing within the dashboard as far as the,
you know, having your own website and and
those
two options. Well, another way to publish is
private podcasting, which we released a couple years
ago.
It allows podcasters to secure their show
(02:13):
and only make it available for designated listeners.
This is really good for,
business teams,
education,
you know, HR teams. We have, like, a
bank,
I think a police,
team that's using this. It's really easy to
lock down the content while still making it
easily accessible. And on top of private podcast,
(02:35):
we've also got Vidapod,
which is a relatively new pod a product
and, been pretty popular so far. We're pretty
surprised with the successes for those that are
a video first creator, allows a video first
creator to convert their YouTube playlist
into an audio podcast automatically. It's kinda set
it up and forget it. Every time you
publish a new episode to a YouTube playlist,
(02:57):
we, basically generate an audio podcast episode and
auto publish it. So it's a great product
for those that are willing to or wanting
to save time and don't wanna have that
dual that dual publishing mode. Well, another thing
that we offer for all of this publishing
and, you know, all the varying things that
we have for hosting is a way to
monetize that content as well.
(03:18):
We offer programmatic as well as dynamic ad
insertion. So the programmatic will be super easy
for any Blueberry customer, any level of Blueberry
customer to do. It automatically inserts ads into
your show, and then the dynamic ad insertion
allows for a more sophisticated
way to go about it. You are adding
(03:39):
spots for both new and existing episodes.
You're setting up a campaign.
You are
inserting these spots into previously recorded episodes. So
both of those are great ways to monetize.
Premium podcasting is one that's,
got a full integration with Apple as well.
The premium podcasting provides options for ad free
(04:00):
bonus content and early releases. So you can
do premium
not only on the Bluberry side, but auto
publish to,
Apple premium as well. And it makes it
be able to do have a a kind
of a 2 in one type of option
there. So,
option there. So, you can monetize
on the Bluberry side. You can also monetize
on Apple Podcasts and, through a single post.
(04:21):
It's, it's really, really slick. So premium podcasting
is something folks should consider.
And value for value is just one of
the ways that people
can really advance their show with some of
this new technology that's around.
Value for value accepts donations
in Bitcoin and traditional
currency.
(04:41):
It's really just a way for your audience
to support your show in
very small monetary amounts,
if they would like on a, you know,
regular basis, on a onetime basis.
It's really just a simple but advanced way
to support audiences.
(05:01):
If they are, you know, if they're fans,
then set it up for your show and
see what happens. One of our original core
products that we built in the very, very
beginning, which, matter of fact, we've released some
new features in the past day or so,
is our podcast statistics where we have detailed
analytics, including,
geographical data, apps, devices,
(05:22):
mapping to,
looking at the trajectory of episode launches.
We've got,
just a whole host of different,
stats that we now provide, including category comparison
where if you're on Thrive, you have the
ability now to see how you compare to
other shows in your category. So the podcast
(05:43):
statistics is probably one of our most in-depth
products. It's been around for many, many years
and continues to get improved upon. But we
also, at the same time, integrated
audience surveys. The audience survey data is part
of the analytics and growth section.
Basically, we allow you to collect demographics directly
from listeners by providing a short by providing
(06:04):
you the ability to share a link to
a very short survey, that, ultimately ties down
to even additional product that we'll talk about
here in a little bit. So something else
that we've always had or have had for
quite some time,
is our own podcast directory. So you can
promote your show in the largest directory out
there for podcasts.
(06:25):
It's just a, you know, a sophisticated
page that incorporates
all of your
content. You know, if you don't wanna have
your own website, this is a great thing
to use for that. Now my cast is
one that is not
really we don't talk about a lot. But
if you're on the directory and you're signed
in to your account, you have the ability
to add a show to what's called your
(06:46):
mycast, and then we provide you a single
RSS feed with all of those,
shows into a single playlist. And, basically, it's
a the playlist style is newest to oldest.
So as each show updates it, that RSS
feed that is your private, my cast feed,
updates, and you have the ability to subscribe
to that or use that in a variety
(07:07):
of different ways. But that's something that's kind
of buried a little bit, but it is
available within the, within the platform itself. Now
one of my
favorite
tools that we have is the media kit.
And this is a comprehensive
overview
of your show,
that you can
showcase to advertisers,
(07:28):
to potential guests, anyone you really want to
have the inner,
information about your show. It includes your statistics,
information about your
audiences on social media.
If you have any of the demographics that
you have gathered from your audience surveys as
well.
Some of that information will be included on
(07:48):
here. It's really a great way
to show what you have accomplished to someone
who would like to be involved. It's not
necessarily for showing to your audience,
but it is for kind of the behind
the scenes
of podcasting. What I love about that media
kit is that it's dynamic, and we update
it every 24 hours. So, oft, I remember
(08:10):
in the old days, I would make a
media kit, and then, like, 3 months later,
it'd be completely out of date. Now I'd
have to pay someone to help me design
it again. And what we've really done here
is given you the ability to have a
a living
media kit,
that is really up to date day to
day, and it's it's quite the beautiful thing
and that you don't have to worry about,
you know, updating it or going through and
(08:31):
doing new graphics. You know, we've kinda got
that covered for you. You know, we've got
a whole stack of additional features as well.
Obviously, we've launched a bunch of our AI
stuff. Our podcast AI assistant really assists with
planning, production,
and promotion. We've actually worked pretty hard behind
the scenes on the clip creator,
trying to get
(08:51):
the the prompt right to have a good
output. It's basically done. We're just tweaking it
a little bit, so that'll be coming soon.
So, you know, 4 different pieces to the
AI assistant.
One thing that we have released,
is the art generator. So now if you
are any hosting customer level, and you are
(09:12):
having challenges creating your show art, we've got
the ability for you now to create, your
show art right in the dashboard. And I
think that's a cool add on to help
folks in in coming up because I'm not
an artist. I'd rather try to describe what
I want and see if the AI can
produce
something that I can use and it's been
pretty successful so far. So the art creator
(09:32):
is part of the AI package but it's
it's something available to everyone. I mean, we
just released our first AI tools back in,
what, April or May or something like that.
So we've only had it for a couple
months, but we've been working on this for
quite some time to really find out exactly
what it is that podcasters need,
for their AI tools. And everything is just
(09:54):
happening so quickly in that in that industry.
So we're looking forward to continuing to, you
know, advance our own AI tools. But with
our Thrive bundle,
that is enhanced tools, including our advanced stats
and ad insertion,
for for our podcasters. So all of our
AI stuff is included in that Thrive bundle.
(10:15):
It's a really,
really great
combination of tools that that can help podcasters
on a day to day basis. And I
think the bundle itself, we've continued to add
value to it. It is probably the best
$10
add on that we have I would agree.
Considering all the things that we provide with
it. So, you know, if you haven't looked
at the Thryv bundle, this is something you
(10:36):
should look at it. Just there's a whole
scope of features now that I think we're
up to
9 or 10, maybe even 12, additional features
now, that you get additionally when you when
you purchase Thryv. So, definitely check that out
for sure. The pro production side,
and this is a service that we partnered
(10:57):
with the company that we vetted for a
couple of years and,
it's can be found at blueberrypro.com.
It's basically a professional assistance for podcast launches
and regular publishing.
Great team over there. Matter of fact, they
the Blueberry Pro team produced this podcast. So
if you like how this podcast sounds and
the transitions,
it's all done by our Blueberry Pro team.
(11:19):
So, again, definitely check them out at blueberrypro.com.
I I definitely if I was doing a
show
and not working for a podcast company, I
would probably be looking for something similar to
pro production
as well as our concierge service. So our
onboarding concierge is
a full setup assistance for your podcast when
(11:40):
you start with Blueberry. Our wonderful, wonderful customer
support team,
will essentially take care of everything that you
need to get your show up and running
within your Blueberry account as well as your
website.
It's it's a valuable
asset of, you know, peace of mind of
knowing that you are setting things up correctly,
(12:02):
and then it's gonna get out to your
audience. I think it's a really good thing
to do for people that haven't really found
their community yet of people that they that
they can ask questions to or they don't
feel comfortable,
you know, reaching out to a stranger on
social media or something like that,
as well as perhaps businesses that are doing
this.
(12:22):
Typically, they have a higher budget or even
just a set amount in said budget saying,
like, make sure this gets done correctly. Use
this to to get that done. I think
it's a really cool service that we came
out with,
at the end of last year and can
be very, very valuable for some people. We
were the first company to embrace closed captioning
and transcriptions within podcast, and it really makes
your podcast accessible. And
(12:42):
transcriptions within podcast, and it really makes your
podcast accessible.
You know, transcripts of, people have been creating
them for a long time, but the way
we incorporated is not only is it linked
within your metadata of your RSS feed, but
also in the Bluberry player. If you've got
the transcription service turned on, you have the
ability to have closed caption,
(13:04):
show up when people play back your,
your podcast within the Bluberry player.
I think this is a, just absolutely invaluable,
service for those that are hearing impaired.
It allows you to really kinda be on
the cutting edge. There's still very, very few
podcasting companies today that support closed captioning. So,
(13:25):
again, this makes your podcast accessible and, of
course, with a high quality transcript.
And we've, continued to improve transcript quality
since this introduction, which is really more than
a year ago. Yeah. I would say that's,
something that I am really proud of us
for getting out, but also
I've been team closed captions and for, you
(13:47):
know, close to 20 years now.
Just in a loud household,
that was kind of what happened when watching
TV. And then we saw it slowly adapt
to YouTube and videos and Instagram and TikTok,
and it just it absolutely makes sense to
include it. So I really appreciate having that
one. But one of our other additional features
(14:07):
is media mastering. This was also something I
would have appreciated,
back in 2015 when you when, Todd, you
sent me on course to
do the company show
by myself. And I had done editing before
for content,
before that show, but it's not my favorite
thing. And, you know, trying to record in
(14:28):
an office an open office,
back then was
was challenging.
So media mastering will professionally
mix your final episode to level it out,
make everything sound a little bit more polished.
And
it's a really, really great, add on that
you can include with your hosting and just
(14:48):
takes care of it when you are already
in your publishing process. You know? When you
upload your file to whether that is PowerPress
or the publisher,
it just takes care of it right then
and there, and then you just continue to
post as usual. It's really useful. And, you
know, many folks don't have the budget to
have a professional editor. And, you know, I
think we all can handle the basics of
(15:11):
editing a podcast, take the umms and ahs
out, but when it comes time to do
the leveling and get everything right to curiosity,
especially if you're doing an interview and there's
2 different levels for 2 different people like
we're doing today, ultimately, what will happen is
this audio processing will level everyone out, put
it at the right levels,
DS,
take out any noise it finds. It's really
(15:32):
a fantastic product and it's actually processed by
a company called Auphonic. I've been using Auphonic
literally since the they came into existence
many, many years ago. So really, really happy
to have them as a partner here doing
the media mastering for us. One of the
things that we're really proud of is our
Podcasting 2.0 support. Podcasting 2.0 is an initiative
(15:55):
to expand features,
within podcasting. And I think today,
we've enabled
close to 26
or 27
features. Some of them you won't even really
know that it's a podcasting 2.0 feature. You
go through the dashboard, you'll see, okay, well,
you know, where's my show located? Or, you
know, what is the medium of my podcast?
(16:17):
And these type of settings that you're you
set throughout the dashboard and in PowerPress. And
these are really just features to help enhance
on the listening end through apps that are
supporting,
the Podcasting 2.0
initiative@podcastapps.com.
But Blueberry is proud to be the number
one podcast hosting company for supporting Podcasting 2.0
(16:39):
features. And you can see some of this
at podcastindex.org.
But the most important piece really here as
a podcaster is as you're digging through our
settings,
and you see something you say, oh, I
wonder what that is. Read the info button
if there is 1 or some is just
self explanatory. You should be able to set
up and, make the settings correct, and you
(16:59):
basically become podcast 2.0 enabled.
Yeah. I I had no idea that we
were up to what number did you say?
27? I think 26 or 27. Yeah. That
that is amazing.
And it just goes to show, like, yeah,
we wanna
to do this episode to give people who
are just, you know, maybe new or haven't
(17:20):
really taken a look in the past year
or 2 what we have and what we
offer. But when you put it like that,
it just it just goes to show that
we are constantly trying to put out new
things and keep up with this industry.
Not only keep up with the industry, but
continue to innovate and provide things that we
don't see other podcast hosting
companies providing. You know, so one of the
(17:41):
cool things that we just recently
added was something called alternate in closure. And
alternate closure was really designed to be able
to have 2 types of media within a
single podcast post. But because some folks have
YouTube channels,
the alternate enclosure actually allows you to link
a YouTube episode
as the alternate enclosure. And then,
(18:03):
for apps that support it at podcastapps.com,
when people go to play your show, they'll
have the choice of listening or watching if
you're doing video. So they'll actually be able
to see the YouTube embed
or listen to the audio only. So that's
one of the small little tweaks to alternate
enclosure that we did,
that is starting to be adapted by other
apps. So it's just these little tiny little
(18:25):
features here and there. And,
folks who are listening to the show definitely
need to read the prepper
on podcasting 2.0 that we have in Blueberry
that list all of these features now. Because
there's so many, it'll probably take you 5
minutes to get through the whole
stack just to kinda get a handle on,
what this stuff is. But ultimately, our goal
(18:47):
has been to offer robust set of tools
and services to support you from inception of
your show,
monetization
and growth, giving you actual information and making
it a comprehensive platform for both new and
experienced
podcasters.
And as always, we're looking to add new
things. One of the the new statistics that
(19:07):
we added with the category comparison was purely
from phone calls that I've had with podcasters
saying, Todd,
how do I compare to other podcasts in
my category? And we have the ability to
answer that question. And that's why we released
that new feature in stats for our Thrive
customers. And it gives people a really good
kind of a thumbprint to say, okay, my
(19:27):
show is averaging, let's say, 600 downloads an
episode, I'm doing 3 episodes a month. And
I can look at that chart. I say,
here's the other shows in my category
that's doing 3 episodes a month. Here's the
average number for them and it really gives
you kind of a an an eyeball on
where your show compares to others in the
space. Sometimes that news is gonna be great
(19:48):
news. Sometimes that news is gonna be maybe
we need to work a little harder, but
at least you have actual information for your
show. And everything that we add to the
Blueray platform is trying to fill holes that
you have in your production process and helping
you helping you grow. And many of the
ideas that we have come directly from you.
So keep those ideas
(20:08):
continuing to come to us. Please. Please. Please.
If you have questions about these services or
any issues that arise,
please contact our support team. They would love
to help you out and get you set
on the right path. And there's your wrap
up of Blueberry products and services
for mid 2024.
(20:28):
Thanks for joining us. Come back next week.
And in the meantime,
head to podcast insider.com
for more information.
To subscribe,
share, and read our show notes. Check out
the latest suite of services and learn how
Blueberry
can help you leverage your podcast.
Visit blueberry.com.
That's Blueberry without the e's because it can't
(20:49):
afford the e's.
I'm Todd Cochran, CEO and founder of Blueberry
(00:02):
Podcasting. And I'm Mackenzie Bennett, marketing specialist at
Blueberry Podcaster. In this episode, we're gonna talk
about some of the features that you may
not know about here at Blueberry.
You're listening to Podcast insider hosted by Mike
Dell, Todd Cochran, and Mackenzie Bennett from the
Blueberry team,
bringing you weekly insights, advice, and insider tips
and tricks to help you start, grow, and
(00:23):
thrive through podcasting,
all with the support of your team here
at Blueberry Podcasting.
Welcome. Let's dive in.
Well, you know, Mackenzie, we've been been really,
really busy.
And I think our
stack of stuff has gotten so big that
maybe people have lost track. So I think
today, let's go all
(00:45):
over
the innovations
that Blueberry offers. We've got it separated into,
you know, some different segments
so that people can keep their head on
straight. But first and foremost,
we offer hosting. We offer podcast hosting and
help with publishing. And the we have various
plans
of podcast hosting,
(01:07):
from, you know, $12 month plans that offer
standard features that are just kind of, you
know, need to have all the way up
to unlimited storage with very advanced tools. And
then, of course, there's a couple of layers
here, but we're also really famous for our
WordPress integration with our PowerPress plugin and really
what's allows
(01:28):
podcasters to have a WordPress website to power
their podcast with PowerPress. And it's completely integrated
with Blueberry's
production system so that you can basically post
upload and publish, and, we take care of
the rest.
Of course, within that, there's also folks that
are on our dashboard that aren't using WordPress
that just want a more simple system. So
(01:51):
really there's 2 pieces to that, the WordPress
integration and,
publishing within the dashboard as far as the,
you know, having your own website and and
those
two options. Well, another way to publish is
private podcasting, which we released a couple years
ago.
It allows podcasters to secure their show
(02:13):
and only make it available for designated listeners.
This is really good for,
business teams,
education,
you know, HR teams. We have, like, a
bank,
I think a police,
team that's using this. It's really easy to
lock down the content while still making it
easily accessible. And on top of private podcast,
(02:35):
we've also got Vidapod,
which is a relatively new pod a product
and, been pretty popular so far. We're pretty
surprised with the successes for those that are
a video first creator, allows a video first
creator to convert their YouTube playlist
into an audio podcast automatically. It's kinda set
it up and forget it. Every time you
publish a new episode to a YouTube playlist,
(02:57):
we, basically generate an audio podcast episode and
auto publish it. So it's a great product
for those that are willing to or wanting
to save time and don't wanna have that
dual that dual publishing mode. Well, another thing
that we offer for all of this publishing
and, you know, all the varying things that
we have for hosting is a way to
monetize that content as well.
(03:18):
We offer programmatic as well as dynamic ad
insertion. So the programmatic will be super easy
for any Blueberry customer, any level of Blueberry
customer to do. It automatically inserts ads into
your show, and then the dynamic ad insertion
allows for a more sophisticated
way to go about it. You are adding
(03:39):
spots for both new and existing episodes.
You're setting up a campaign.
You are
inserting these spots into previously recorded episodes. So
both of those are great ways to monetize.
Premium podcasting is one that's,
got a full integration with Apple as well.
The premium podcasting provides options for ad free
(04:00):
bonus content and early releases. So you can
do premium
not only on the Bluberry side, but auto
publish to,
Apple premium as well. And it makes it
be able to do have a a kind
of a 2 in one type of option
there. So,
option there. So, you can monetize
on the Bluberry side. You can also monetize
on Apple Podcasts and, through a single post.
(04:21):
It's, it's really, really slick. So premium podcasting
is something folks should consider.
And value for value is just one of
the ways that people
can really advance their show with some of
this new technology that's around.
Value for value accepts donations
in Bitcoin and traditional
currency.
(04:41):
It's really just a way for your audience
to support your show in
very small monetary amounts,
if they would like on a, you know,
regular basis, on a onetime basis.
It's really just a simple but advanced way
to support audiences.
(05:01):
If they are, you know, if they're fans,
then set it up for your show and
see what happens. One of our original core
products that we built in the very, very
beginning, which, matter of fact, we've released some
new features in the past day or so,
is our podcast statistics where we have detailed
analytics, including,
geographical data, apps, devices,
(05:22):
mapping to,
looking at the trajectory of episode launches.
We've got,
just a whole host of different,
stats that we now provide, including category comparison
where if you're on Thrive, you have the
ability now to see how you compare to
other shows in your category. So the podcast
(05:43):
statistics is probably one of our most in-depth
products. It's been around for many, many years
and continues to get improved upon. But we
also, at the same time, integrated
audience surveys. The audience survey data is part
of the analytics and growth section.
Basically, we allow you to collect demographics directly
from listeners by providing a short by providing
(06:04):
you the ability to share a link to
a very short survey, that, ultimately ties down
to even additional product that we'll talk about
here in a little bit. So something else
that we've always had or have had for
quite some time,
is our own podcast directory. So you can
promote your show in the largest directory out
there for podcasts.
(06:25):
It's just a, you know, a sophisticated
page that incorporates
all of your
content. You know, if you don't wanna have
your own website, this is a great thing
to use for that. Now my cast is
one that is not
really we don't talk about a lot. But
if you're on the directory and you're signed
in to your account, you have the ability
to add a show to what's called your
(06:46):
mycast, and then we provide you a single
RSS feed with all of those,
shows into a single playlist. And, basically, it's
a the playlist style is newest to oldest.
So as each show updates it, that RSS
feed that is your private, my cast feed,
updates, and you have the ability to subscribe
to that or use that in a variety
(07:07):
of different ways. But that's something that's kind
of buried a little bit, but it is
available within the, within the platform itself. Now
one of my
favorite
tools that we have is the media kit.
And this is a comprehensive
overview
of your show,
that you can
showcase to advertisers,
(07:28):
to potential guests, anyone you really want to
have the inner,
information about your show. It includes your statistics,
information about your
audiences on social media.
If you have any of the demographics that
you have gathered from your audience surveys as
well.
Some of that information will be included on
(07:48):
here. It's really a great way
to show what you have accomplished to someone
who would like to be involved. It's not
necessarily for showing to your audience,
but it is for kind of the behind
the scenes
of podcasting. What I love about that media
kit is that it's dynamic, and we update
it every 24 hours. So, oft, I remember
(08:10):
in the old days, I would make a
media kit, and then, like, 3 months later,
it'd be completely out of date. Now I'd
have to pay someone to help me design
it again. And what we've really done here
is given you the ability to have a
a living
media kit,
that is really up to date day to
day, and it's it's quite the beautiful thing
and that you don't have to worry about,
you know, updating it or going through and
(08:31):
doing new graphics. You know, we've kinda got
that covered for you. You know, we've got
a whole stack of additional features as well.
Obviously, we've launched a bunch of our AI
stuff. Our podcast AI assistant really assists with
planning, production,
and promotion. We've actually worked pretty hard behind
the scenes on the clip creator,
trying to get
(08:51):
the the prompt right to have a good
output. It's basically done. We're just tweaking it
a little bit, so that'll be coming soon.
So, you know, 4 different pieces to the
AI assistant.
One thing that we have released,
is the art generator. So now if you
are any hosting customer level, and you are
(09:12):
having challenges creating your show art, we've got
the ability for you now to create, your
show art right in the dashboard. And I
think that's a cool add on to help
folks in in coming up because I'm not
an artist. I'd rather try to describe what
I want and see if the AI can
produce
something that I can use and it's been
pretty successful so far. So the art creator
(09:32):
is part of the AI package but it's
it's something available to everyone. I mean, we
just released our first AI tools back in,
what, April or May or something like that.
So we've only had it for a couple
months, but we've been working on this for
quite some time to really find out exactly
what it is that podcasters need,
for their AI tools. And everything is just
(09:54):
happening so quickly in that in that industry.
So we're looking forward to continuing to, you
know, advance our own AI tools. But with
our Thrive bundle,
that is enhanced tools, including our advanced stats
and ad insertion,
for for our podcasters. So all of our
AI stuff is included in that Thrive bundle.
(10:15):
It's a really,
really great
combination of tools that that can help podcasters
on a day to day basis. And I
think the bundle itself, we've continued to add
value to it. It is probably the best
$10
add on that we have I would agree.
Considering all the things that we provide with
it. So, you know, if you haven't looked
at the Thryv bundle, this is something you
(10:36):
should look at it. Just there's a whole
scope of features now that I think we're
up to
9 or 10, maybe even 12, additional features
now, that you get additionally when you when
you purchase Thryv. So, definitely check that out
for sure. The pro production side,
and this is a service that we partnered
(10:57):
with the company that we vetted for a
couple of years and,
it's can be found at blueberrypro.com.
It's basically a professional assistance for podcast launches
and regular publishing.
Great team over there. Matter of fact, they
the Blueberry Pro team produced this podcast. So
if you like how this podcast sounds and
the transitions,
it's all done by our Blueberry Pro team.
(11:19):
So, again, definitely check them out at blueberrypro.com.
I I definitely if I was doing a
show
and not working for a podcast company, I
would probably be looking for something similar to
pro production
as well as our concierge service. So our
onboarding concierge is
a full setup assistance for your podcast when
(11:40):
you start with Blueberry. Our wonderful, wonderful customer
support team,
will essentially take care of everything that you
need to get your show up and running
within your Blueberry account as well as your
website.
It's it's a valuable
asset of, you know, peace of mind of
knowing that you are setting things up correctly,
(12:02):
and then it's gonna get out to your
audience. I think it's a really good thing
to do for people that haven't really found
their community yet of people that they that
they can ask questions to or they don't
feel comfortable,
you know, reaching out to a stranger on
social media or something like that,
as well as perhaps businesses that are doing
this.
(12:22):
Typically, they have a higher budget or even
just a set amount in said budget saying,
like, make sure this gets done correctly. Use
this to to get that done. I think
it's a really cool service that we came
out with,
at the end of last year and can
be very, very valuable for some people. We
were the first company to embrace closed captioning
and transcriptions within podcast, and it really makes
your podcast accessible. And
(12:42):
transcriptions within podcast, and it really makes your
podcast accessible.
You know, transcripts of, people have been creating
them for a long time, but the way
we incorporated is not only is it linked
within your metadata of your RSS feed, but
also in the Bluberry player. If you've got
the transcription service turned on, you have the
ability to have closed caption,
(13:04):
show up when people play back your,
your podcast within the Bluberry player.
I think this is a, just absolutely invaluable,
service for those that are hearing impaired.
It allows you to really kinda be on
the cutting edge. There's still very, very few
podcasting companies today that support closed captioning. So,
(13:25):
again, this makes your podcast accessible and, of
course, with a high quality transcript.
And we've, continued to improve transcript quality
since this introduction, which is really more than
a year ago. Yeah. I would say that's,
something that I am really proud of us
for getting out, but also
I've been team closed captions and for, you
(13:47):
know, close to 20 years now.
Just in a loud household,
that was kind of what happened when watching
TV. And then we saw it slowly adapt
to YouTube and videos and Instagram and TikTok,
and it just it absolutely makes sense to
include it. So I really appreciate having that
one. But one of our other additional features
(14:07):
is media mastering. This was also something I
would have appreciated,
back in 2015 when you when, Todd, you
sent me on course to
do the company show
by myself. And I had done editing before
for content,
before that show, but it's not my favorite
thing. And, you know, trying to record in
(14:28):
an office an open office,
back then was
was challenging.
So media mastering will professionally
mix your final episode to level it out,
make everything sound a little bit more polished.
And
it's a really, really great, add on that
you can include with your hosting and just
(14:48):
takes care of it when you are already
in your publishing process. You know? When you
upload your file to whether that is PowerPress
or the publisher,
it just takes care of it right then
and there, and then you just continue to
post as usual. It's really useful. And, you
know, many folks don't have the budget to
have a professional editor. And, you know, I
think we all can handle the basics of
(15:11):
editing a podcast, take the umms and ahs
out, but when it comes time to do
the leveling and get everything right to curiosity,
especially if you're doing an interview and there's
2 different levels for 2 different people like
we're doing today, ultimately, what will happen is
this audio processing will level everyone out, put
it at the right levels,
DS,
take out any noise it finds. It's really
(15:32):
a fantastic product and it's actually processed by
a company called Auphonic. I've been using Auphonic
literally since the they came into existence
many, many years ago. So really, really happy
to have them as a partner here doing
the media mastering for us. One of the
things that we're really proud of is our
Podcasting 2.0 support. Podcasting 2.0 is an initiative
(15:55):
to expand features,
within podcasting. And I think today,
we've enabled
close to 26
or 27
features. Some of them you won't even really
know that it's a podcasting 2.0 feature. You
go through the dashboard, you'll see, okay, well,
you know, where's my show located? Or, you
know, what is the medium of my podcast?
(16:17):
And these type of settings that you're you
set throughout the dashboard and in PowerPress. And
these are really just features to help enhance
on the listening end through apps that are
supporting,
the Podcasting 2.0
initiative@podcastapps.com.
But Blueberry is proud to be the number
one podcast hosting company for supporting Podcasting 2.0
(16:39):
features. And you can see some of this
at podcastindex.org.
But the most important piece really here as
a podcaster is as you're digging through our
settings,
and you see something you say, oh, I
wonder what that is. Read the info button
if there is 1 or some is just
self explanatory. You should be able to set
up and, make the settings correct, and you
(16:59):
basically become podcast 2.0 enabled.
Yeah. I I had no idea that we
were up to what number did you say?
27? I think 26 or 27. Yeah. That
that is amazing.
And it just goes to show, like, yeah,
we wanna
to do this episode to give people who
are just, you know, maybe new or haven't
(17:20):
really taken a look in the past year
or 2 what we have and what we
offer. But when you put it like that,
it just it just goes to show that
we are constantly trying to put out new
things and keep up with this industry.
Not only keep up with the industry, but
continue to innovate and provide things that we
don't see other podcast hosting
companies providing. You know, so one of the
(17:41):
cool things that we just recently
added was something called alternate in closure. And
alternate closure was really designed to be able
to have 2 types of media within a
single podcast post. But because some folks have
YouTube channels,
the alternate enclosure actually allows you to link
a YouTube episode
as the alternate enclosure. And then,
(18:03):
for apps that support it at podcastapps.com,
when people go to play your show, they'll
have the choice of listening or watching if
you're doing video. So they'll actually be able
to see the YouTube embed
or listen to the audio only. So that's
one of the small little tweaks to alternate
enclosure that we did,
that is starting to be adapted by other
apps. So it's just these little tiny little
(18:25):
features here and there. And,
folks who are listening to the show definitely
need to read the prepper
on podcasting 2.0 that we have in Blueberry
that list all of these features now. Because
there's so many, it'll probably take you 5
minutes to get through the whole
stack just to kinda get a handle on,
what this stuff is. But ultimately, our goal
(18:47):
has been to offer robust set of tools
and services to support you from inception of
your show,
monetization
and growth, giving you actual information and making
it a comprehensive platform for both new and
experienced
podcasters.
And as always, we're looking to add new
things. One of the the new statistics that
(19:07):
we added with the category comparison was purely
from phone calls that I've had with podcasters
saying, Todd,
how do I compare to other podcasts in
my category? And we have the ability to
answer that question. And that's why we released
that new feature in stats for our Thrive
customers. And it gives people a really good
kind of a thumbprint to say, okay, my
(19:27):
show is averaging, let's say, 600 downloads an
episode, I'm doing 3 episodes a month. And
I can look at that chart. I say,
here's the other shows in my category
that's doing 3 episodes a month. Here's the
average number for them and it really gives
you kind of a an an eyeball on
where your show compares to others in the
space. Sometimes that news is gonna be great
(19:48):
news. Sometimes that news is gonna be maybe
we need to work a little harder, but
at least you have actual information for your
show. And everything that we add to the
Blueray platform is trying to fill holes that
you have in your production process and helping
you helping you grow. And many of the
ideas that we have come directly from you.
So keep those ideas
(20:08):
continuing to come to us. Please. Please. Please.
If you have questions about these services or
any issues that arise,
please contact our support team. They would love
to help you out and get you set
on the right path. And there's your wrap
up of Blueberry products and services
for mid 2024.
(20:28):
Thanks for joining us. Come back next week.
And in the meantime,
head to podcast insider.com
for more information.
To subscribe,
share, and read our show notes. Check out
the latest suite of services and learn how
Blueberry
can help you leverage your podcast.
Visit blueberry.com.
That's Blueberry without the e's because it can't
(20:49):
afford the e's.
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