Jeff Q&A

[Pod Saucerman 0]

Jeff! I first wanted to thank you for your work on Earwolf and the Wolf Den show, I always found it an extremely useful resource.

 

I run a sports podcast network myself, going on 3 years now. We've grown to just under 20 shows and have built a sizable audience. My biggest issue to date has been selling meaningful ad space across our network. I'd appreciate any advice you have on that would be extremely helpful. We've had some smaller companies on board but I've yet to hook a big fish, despite a large audience.

 

I also heard yourself and several guests reference a service or spreadsheet of marketing contacts at companies, if you could shed any light on that either on the forum in via message, I'd greatly appreciate it.

 

Have you seen any difference between Facebook and Twitter when it comes to building a show's audience? Does one tend to transfer over to more interest in listening to the actual shows. In my experience Facebook has translated far better but I was curious if Earwolf had seen the same.

 

Keep up the great work, big fan of Earwolf, when we spent about $4k upgrading many of our hosts' equipment I made sure to use the Amazon affiliate link, hope you guys saw some of that.

[VampiresVampiresVampires 303]

Has anyone brought up why Rafflecast seems to be the most difficult Earwolf podcast to sync with on iTunes? It's still not up after 12 hours. This is such a gem of a show that I would like to see it get its due.

[jeffullrich 652]

I'll be doing a live Wolf Den tomorrow at 4pm PST on Earwolf Radio and I'll be taking your calls! So call me tomorrow!

[Foam Corner 94]

Unfortunately, our Sundance episodes had some sound quality issues. They're being worked on, but as of right now, we're unsure if they'll ever be released.

 

You can still catch new Earwolf live stream shows every Thursday at 9pm EST/6pm PST on our YouTube channel!

 

How about just selling them to the die hard fans? If it's an issue of not wanting to look like they're bombing because of the audience's mic levels not being high enough, fans who are paying for it won't really care. I watched live and loved the first CBB. Either that or a slumber party/Sundance episodes viewing party at Julia's house.

[thadcar 13]

 

How about just selling them to the die hard fans? If it's an issue of not wanting to look like they're bombing because of the audience's mic levels not being high enough, fans who are paying for it won't really care. I watched live and loved the first CBB. Either that or a slumber party/Sundance episodes viewing party at Julia's house.

 

Yeah, I'm good with both of these. I just don't wanna miss anything!

[rushey82 38]

The fans of Professor Blastoff really want to see Professor Blastoff on VPN. We are dying to see them on VPN. Jeff, what is it going to take to make that happen?

[jeffullrich 652]

The fans of Professor Blastoff really want to see Professor Blastoff on VPN. We are dying to see them on VPN. Jeff, what is it going to take to make that happen?

Working on it!

[rushey82 38]

Working on it!

 

YAY! I'd kiss ya if I could. Whether you wanted me to or not. Thanks!

[RocHoover 400]

Hey Jeff,

 

Two things:

 

1. I have always wondered how the Legal Zoom deal works out. How can 100 percent of what is spent at Legal Zoom come back to Earwolf? I don't understand how that works on Legal Zoom's end. So any business they pull in that was directed from Earwolf is negated because they give the amount of what the customer pays back to you guys? That is incredibly generous of them, I just don't see how that works for them. If you can't answer this I understand! I have always wanted to inquire.

2. To me it looks like the patent that Personal Audio is using can apply to the ENTIRE internet. Not just podcasting. The patent states: “system for disseminating media content representing episodes in a serialized sequence,” in my opinion this can apply to writings/literature, and especially videos (Youtube, Hulu, Netflix, HBO, Showtime, NBC, ABC and any cable network provider that posts videos of their shows online), etc.

Did I not read into the wording of the patent enough? Because to me it looks like they could view most of the internet as infringing on their patent. Why are they ONLY attacking podcasting? Is their logic to just stay away from the giants to avoid being squashed? Is there a scenario where a huge entity steps in preemptively to stamp this out before it comes their way?

 

 

Thankyou for all the hard work that goes into Earwolf!

[choochoo_the_wonder_slut 740]

Howdy Jeff. Not a question per se but a thank you for giving the world Earwolf. You guys have almost totally replaced tv in my life. Unfortunately, modern technology does not yet allow us to hear nudity.

 

I would also thank Scott Aukerman however he has never once selected a catchphrase submission of mine for CBB. Up yours, Scott! So I'll thank Paul F. Tompkins for his many CBB appearances instead. Thanks Paul.

[jeffullrich 652]

 

YAY! I'd kiss ya if I could. Whether you wanted me to or not. Thanks!

 

Thursday night!

[jeffullrich 652]

Hey Jeff,

 

Two things:

 

1. I have always wondered how the Legal Zoom deal works out. How can 100 percent of what is spent at Legal Zoom come back to Earwolf? I don't understand how that works on Legal Zoom's end. So any business they pull in that was directed from Earwolf is negated because they give the amount of what the customer pays back to you guys? That is incredibly generous of them, I just don't see how that works for them. If you can't answer this I understand! I have always wanted to inquire.

2. To me it looks like the patent that Personal Audio is using can apply to the ENTIRE internet. Not just podcasting. The patent states: “system for disseminating media content representing episodes in a serialized sequence,” in my opinion this can apply to writings/literature, and especially videos (Youtube, Hulu, Netflix, HBO, Showtime, NBC, ABC and any cable network provider that posts videos of their shows online), etc.

Did I not read into the wording of the patent enough? Because to me it looks like they could view most of the internet as infringing on their patent. Why are they ONLY attacking podcasting? Is their logic to just stay away from the giants to avoid being squashed? Is there a scenario where a huge entity steps in preemptively to stamp this out before it comes their way?

 

 

Thankyou for all the hard work that goes into Earwolf!

1. Good question. This only applies to the ads that run in our archives. It's called CPA, or cost per action. It is very generous of them. The benefit to them is that they aren't paying us for the ads, they only pay us for the business that comes from the ads, so there is no risk on their part. Additionally, they don't pay us for any subsequent orders from the same customers, and they believe that people will keep coming back because their stuff is so great (it is).

2. I don't have anything new to add to this conversation, not right now anyway. Sorry. I know, it's frustrating!

 

Thanks for the kind words!

[jeffullrich 652]

Howdy Jeff. Not a question per se but a thank you for giving the world Earwolf. You guys have almost totally replaced tv in my life. Unfortunately, modern technology does not yet allow us to hear nudity.

 

I would also thank Scott Aukerman however he has never once selected a catchphrase submission of mine for CBB. Up yours, Scott! So I'll thank Paul F. Tompkins for his many CBB appearances instead. Thanks Paul.

Thanks! It really means a lot when you guys say such kind things. There are dark days and this makes those easier to get through. And I couldn't agree more, PFT is a gift to all of podcasting!

[RocHoover 400]

Thanks Jeff!

The repeat customer thing makes sense. It didn't cross my mind.

[Memphish_Boognish 249]

Jeff, do y'all have any plans at releasing any new shows any time soon? I'm loving the new ones you released so far this year and I can never get enough Earwolf!!!!!

[VampiresVampiresVampires 303]

Jeff, Earwolf is my life. I literally (figuratively) use it to fuel my days at work. Why do you have, to put it lightly, a VERY unfriendly website. Bad players with no volume control. A horrible front page. And shoulder-slumping times to get things on iTunes (Rafflecast). It would literally take minutes to rectify. I forgot some of your shows existed because your why is Earwolf racist show is always on the front page.

 

Minutes.

[BobWisniewski 0]

Jeff, I am a printer in the MIlwaukee area and I have an idea that I would like to produce and send to you. However, I need some hi-res images of your logos. Or at least one of them. I don't care which one (Although I would prefer the CBB or HDTGM ones), but this is just to send to you so you get the idea. How do I obtain said images? Any help would be great.

 

Thanks,

 

Bob Wisniewski

Avalon Graphics

[Mar6647 0]

I find myself somewhat frustrated with the advertising from time to time, though I realize that it's a vital part of funding Earwolf, and thus is something that I'm more than willing to put up with. That said, is it at all practical to run a Kickstarter or something to fund Earwolf without advertising, for some period of time? The more I think about that the dumber it sounds (it would probably just be a good way to jeopardize your relationship with the advertisers), so I guess I'm just asking how thoroughly dumb that idea is...

[Kickpuncher 5012]

I find myself somewhat frustrated with the advertising from time to time, though I realize that it's a vital part of funding Earwolf, and thus is something that I'm more than willing to put up with. That said, is it at all practical to run a Kickstarter or something to fund Earwolf without advertising, for some period of time? The more I think about that the dumber it sounds (it would probably just be a good way to jeopardize your relationship with the advertisers), so I guess I'm just asking how thoroughly dumb that idea is...

 

If that was something they wanted to pursue, I would think a more realistic version would be some sort of premium subscription model where individual users could choose to pay a periodic fee to get ad-free versions of the shows (and possibly some other benefits).

[jeffullrich 652]

Jeff, do y'all have any plans at releasing any new shows any time soon? I'm loving the new ones you released so far this year and I can never get enough Earwolf!!!!!

Thanks Memph! We're always working on new shows, some happen, some don't, it's hard to say. It's been especially hard with Scott working so hard on season 2 of CBB TV. Sorry, I wish I could be more informative.

[jeffullrich 652]

Jeff, Earwolf is my life. I literally (figuratively) use it to fuel my days at work. Why do you have, to put it lightly, a VERY unfriendly website. Bad players with no volume control. A horrible front page. And shoulder-slumping times to get things on iTunes (Rafflecast). It would literally take minutes to rectify. I forgot some of your shows existed because your why is Earwolf racist show is always on the front page.

 

Minutes.

Not enough time to answer thoughtfully. I can say, you are right. Except for the iTunes part, that an invalid complaint. We are best in class on that. iTunes can be slow to update feeds, but we have built a custom piece of software that goes in and refreshes our feeds when iTunes doesn't. So it's not a problem for long when it happens compared to everyone else who just makes you wait for iTunes to catch up.

 

I guess, that's my answer. For each problem you see that would take minutes to solve, we've solved 10 more that you didn't know about. And ran out of minutes.

 

But we are starting to brainstorm on new website ideas because I hate this one. But keep in mind, it was awesome when it was new

 

Thanks for listening and caring so much!

[jeffullrich 652]

Jeff, I am a printer in the MIlwaukee area and I have an idea that I would like to produce and send to you. However, I need some hi-res images of your logos. Or at least one of them. I don't care which one (Although I would prefer the CBB or HDTGM ones), but this is just to send to you so you get the idea. How do I obtain said images? Any help would be great.

 

Thanks,

 

Bob Wisniewski

Avalon Graphics

Hi Bob! You can email ele@earwolf.com and she can help you. Thanks!

[jeffullrich 652]

 

If that was something they wanted to pursue, I would think a more realistic version would be some sort of premium subscription model where individual users could choose to pay a periodic fee to get ad-free versions of the shows (and possibly some other benefits).

I find myself somewhat frustrated with the advertising from time to time, though I realize that it's a vital part of funding Earwolf, and thus is something that I'm more than willing to put up with. That said, is it at all practical to run a Kickstarter or something to fund Earwolf without advertising, for some period of time? The more I think about that the dumber it sounds (it would probably just be a good way to jeopardize your relationship with the advertisers), so I guess I'm just asking how thoroughly dumb that idea is...

Yeah, Kickpuncher is right. That is what we'd do. It seems too complex to worry about right now. Maybe someday. For the most part, people are good with the ads. The MOST we ever sell is 3 minutes/hour. Compare that to radio which is what, 20 minutes/hour? More? And you'll realize it's not that much. Or think about watching a 30 second ad on a 2 minute video. However you slice and dice it, our content to ad ratio is very high.

 

BUT - You often will hear much more than 3 minutes of ads, even if that is what we sell. Why? Because the hosts want to put the ads in their own words/voice to maintain their integrity and make them interesting to listen do, which makes them longer than the advertiser requires. Which I think is worth it, for the listeners especially.

[choochoo_the_wonder_slut 740]

BUT - You often will hear much more than 3 minutes of ads, even if that is what we sell. Why? Because the hosts want to put the ads in their own words/voice to maintain their integrity and make them interesting to listen to.

 

I find myself yelling "Bonobos!" Aukerman-style at least twice a day now, so I'd say that approach is working.

[Kickpuncher 5012]

Absolutely. Scott is the best at it, and I love that the Sklars, Kulap & Howard, and others also put some effort into making the ads genuinely entertaining.