Sandy Mann, Director of Marketing
SPI Media
[email protected]

Smart Passive Income (SPI) is excited to announce the merger of its two entrepreneurial online communities into one unified SPI Community. This integration introduces a three-tiered membership structure designed to provide targeted resources and benefits that support entrepreneurs from the early stages of ideation to achieving full-time income.

The decision behind the merger

For years, SPI successfully operated two distinct communities: the All-Access Pass for early-stage entrepreneurs and SPI Pro for advanced business owners. While these communities served members well, SPI recognized the potential to deliver even greater value by combining them into one unified space.

“When I joined SPI, we began exploring why these two communities existed separately,” said Caleb Wojcik, CEO of Smart Passive Income. “It became clear that merging them into one place would enhance interactions, learning, and networking opportunities for everyone. This also led us to implement a tiered structure to better meet the needs of entrepreneurs at every stage, including features like mastermind groups, sprints, and quests to foster connection and progress.”

These changes ensure members can share insights, collaborate, and grow together within a more dynamic, supportive entrepreneurial ecosystem.

The new tiered membership structure

The SPI Community now offers three membership tiers tailored to different levels of entrepreneurial growth and unique learning needs:

• Start: Geared toward beginners, this tier provides DIY education through self-paced courses, live events, and discussion channels to help members build a strong foundation.
• Accelerate: Designed for those seeking additional support and accountability in a do-it-with-you setting, this tier includes everything in Start plus benefits like cohort-based course accelerators, peer-led masterminds, monthly quests, and office hours with Pat Flynn.
• Thrive: Built for established entrepreneurs, this application-based tier with quarterly enrollment periods offers exclusive access to vetted Mastermind groups, quarterly Sprints, additional office hours with Pat Flynn, the Full-Time Entrepreneur Playbook, and expert-led Thrive-only discussion channels.

This marks the start of an exciting new phase for Smart Passive Income. By uniting its communities and introducing a tiered membership structure, SPI is reinforcing its commitment to equipping members with the knowledge, tools, and connections they need to achieve their business goals — supported by a community of like-minded entrepreneurs.

To learn more about the decision to restructure and merge the communities, listen to the bonus podcast episode, The Updated SPI Community Is Here—Behind the Scenes of What’s New with Caleb Wojcik. The episode is available at https://www.smartpassiveincome.com/podcasts/the-updated-spi-community/.

About Smart Passive Income

Smart Passive Income (SPI) is committed to guiding entrepreneurs from idea to income through education, feedback, and accountability. Founded by Pat Flynn, SPI equips individuals with the tools and support to achieve personal fulfillment, financial independence, and long-term success. By offering a range of resources and a thriving membership community, SPI fosters collaboration, innovation, and growth. Rooted in the belief that entrepreneurship is the best path to controlling your future, SPI empowers its members to build meaningful and sustainable businesses. Learn more at smartpassiveincome.com.

The post Smart Passive Income Unites Two Entrepreneurial Communities with a Tiered Membership Model appeared first on Smart Passive Income.

If you’re looking for your next email marketing platform, and you’re curious if Kit is right for you, well, you’re in the right place! Here’s our comprehensive Kit review for 2024, which will cover:

• What Is Kit?
• Why do I need an email service provider (ESP)?
• The rebrand from ConvertKit to Kit
• Kit Features
• Kit Pricing
• Key Benefits of Kit
• Drawbacks of Kit
• Kit & Email Marketing: More Resources to Read, Listen & Learn

What is Kit?

Kit is an email service provider (ESP). Essentially, it’s a technology service that lets you send email campaigns to a list of subscribers. Kit is one of literally hundreds of ESPs out there, and—full disclosure—it happens to be the one we prefer and use at SPI.

Although we’re biased, we can still be objective! In this post, we’ll cover the features, benefits, and drawbacks of Kit as we see them, to help you decide if it’s the right ESP for your business.

Email marketing strategy: Why you need an ESP

If you’re reading this, you might already know what an ESP is and why you need one. But in case you don’t, an ESP is the most important piece of technology to support your email marketing strategy.

Email marketing is one of the most powerful methods to build relationships and market your products and services to your audience. Let’s talk about why that is.

In its most basic form, email marketing involves you sending emails to a group of people who’ve chosen to hear from you by “subscribing” to receive emails from you. You could technically use a simple email program like Gmail to accomplish this—but we don’t recommend it, because you’ll quickly find it insufficient (and because your personal email account will get flagged as spam if you send too many emails from it!).

As your business grows and more people subscribe to get your emails, you’ll want the ability to do more sophisticated things with your email marketing, like customizing the emails people get according to their interests, and using reports and analytics to determine what’s working well or not.

You also need to make sure you’re respecting people’s privacy and not spamming anyone. An email service provider also helps you to stay in compliance with government regulations around the world, such as the CAN-SPAM act in the United States, the General Data Protection Regulation in the European Union (GDPR), and the Canada Anti-Spam Law (CASL).

Things can quickly get out of hand without the help of a dedicated email marketing platform. That’s where an ESP like Kit comes in.

Okay, let’s get into the nitty gritty of Kit’s features!

Psst… Want to grow your email list and learn powerful segmentation and automation strategies that allow your business to run on its own? Check out the Email Marketing Magic course.

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Kit features

These are the key features of Kit, organized by how you’ll use them.

Sending emails

• Autoresponders/drip campaigns (sequences): Send a sequence of pre-written emails automatically to a specific segment of subscribers on your list, triggered by a specific event or action, with the aim of guiding them to take a specific action. 
• Broadcast emails: Send standard announcements or one-time emails to your subscribers on a specific date.
• CAN-SPAM, GDPR, and CASL compliance: CAN-SPAM, GDPR, and CASL are laws that set the rules and requirements for commercial email messages, and give recipients the right to have you stop emailing them—so compliance is crucial!
• Dynamic (personalized) email content: Your email content can display different text or images, according to your customer segmentation.
• Responsive email templates: Ready-to-go email designs, as well as the ability to create your own custom templates. Kit automatically formats your landing pages for various devices, such as desktop computers and mobile phones.
• WYSIWYG email editor: The built-in email editor lets you see how your email will look with your template’s styling applied while you’re composing it.

Collecting new subscribers

• Custom responsive landing pages: Use the included tool to quickly create a landing page to collect email addresses. Kit automatically formats your landing pages for various devices, such as desktop computers and mobile phones.
• Embeddable forms: Collect email subscribers anywhere on your website by dropping in a Javascript or HTML form, or by using the WordPress plugin.
• Site builder: Create a website directly on Kit to publish newsletters, host a digital storefront to collect payment for one-time or subscription products, and build custom pages. Set up a landing page and collect payment for one-time or subscription products right inside Kit.
• Visual automations: Kit allows you to create rule-based paths using if-then logic, so that when a subscriber takes a particular action, you can send them pre-defined emails or add them to a segment.

Learning about your subscribers

• A/B testing: Kit lets you test different subject lines for your emails, and automatically determines the winner based on their respective open rates.
• Reporting/analytics/ROI tracking: Learn how often your subscribers open your emails, click on links, and complete various actions.
• Segmentation/tagging: Segmenting your subscribers into different categories (similar to but more powerful than other programs’ “lists”) allows you to send them emails that are better tailored to their needs and interests.
• Polls. Add polls directly to emails to engage with and collect information about subscribers, which you can then use to build segments.

Growing your income

• In 2022, Kit Commerce was added to the platform, allowing users to try selling digital products to their subscribers by creating customized product pages that can be embedded in your emails, along with automated sales funnels.
• The current iteration of Kit also features a site builder. You can create a website directly on Kit to publish newsletters, host a digital storefront to collect payment for one-time or subscription products, and build custom pages.

Connecting with and supporting other creators: The Creator Network

• In 2023, Kit launched the Creator Network, which helps users guide their audience members to discover other creators and get discovered in turn.
• You can also get paid for Creator Network recommendations you make via the aptly named Paid Recommendations.

Expanding the platform’s capabilities: App store

• As part of the 2024 rebrand, they also launched an app store, where you can find custom apps to do more with Kit. The app store will launch with five apps: KitBoard (add CRM to your account), Wordsmith (turn YouTube videos into newsletters, SavvyCal (add booking widgets to emails), Mighty (connect your Mighty community and content with Kit), and SegMetrics (learn about how you gain, engage, and convert subscribers).
• Kit also offers a self-service app builder to create your own add-ons. (As of this writing, the service is currently in beta.)

Start your Kit account — free for your first 10,000 subscribers!

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From “ConvertKit” to “Kit”: Behind the rebrand

In summer 2024, the company previously known as ConvertKit officially became Kit. The new name was announced in July during the Craft + Commerce Creator Conference and went live in October. (They had previously rebranded to Seva in 2018, but considerable negative feedback to the new name caused them to revert to ConvertKit until this year.)

The change to Kit was more than a name change, though, because the company launched several big new capabilities to their platform as well. We covered some of the new features in the section above, but here are the highlights:

• An app store where developers can create add-ons to augment Kit’s capabilities
• A central data hub with enhanced reporting
• An expanded Creator Network to help users find new collaboration partners

Kit also made a point of rebranding in public by sharing information about the rebranding process through blog updates, live-streamed design sessions, and a four-part YouTube mini-documentary. This transparency gives an interesting insight into the company’s thinking. And we think it’s a smart move given how their previous rebrand went.

With that out of the way, let’s talk about pricing.

Kit pricing

For a long time, Kit only offered paid plans. But in December 2019, the company announced a new free tier if you have fewer than 1,000 subscribers. They recently expanded the free tier to include creators with up to 10,000 subscribers.

Here are Kit’s pricing options as of October 2024:

Kit Newsletter Plan

• $0/month for up to 10,000 subscribers

The Newsletter plan includes:

• 1 basic Visual Automation
• 1 email Sequence
• 1 user
• Unlimited landing pages, opt-in forms, and email broadcasts
• Audience tagging & segmentation
• Sell digital products
• Run paid newsletters & subscriptions
• Newsletter feed & website
• API Access
• Free Recommendations (required—at least one recommendation slot to grow your list by cross-promoting with other creators)
• Smart Recommendations (auto-recommendation of similar creators to help you grow your list)
• 24/7 support

Kit Creator Plan

• $9/month for up to 300 subscribers (paid annually; $15 if paid monthly)
• $25/month for up to 1,000 subscribers (paid annually; $29 if paid monthly)
• Tiered pricing up to $1,916/month (paid annually; $1,916 if paid monthly) for up to 400,000 subscribers

The Creator plan includes:

• All the features of the Newsletter plan
• Unlimited Visual Automations
• Unlimited email Sequences
• 2 users
• Free migration from another tool
• Free Recommendations
• Paid Recommendations
• Remove Kit branding
• Third-party integrations
• RSS campaigns
• Polls

Kit Creator Pro Plan

• $25/month for up to 300 subscribers (paid annually; $29 if paid monthly)
• $50/month for up to 1,000 subscribers (paid annually; $59 if paid monthly)
• Tiered pricing up to $2,166/month (paid annually; $2,599 paid monthly) for up to 400,000 subscribers

The Creator Pro plan includes:

• All the features of the Creator plan
• Unlimited Visual Automations
• Unlimited email Sequences
• Unlimited users
• Facebook custom audiences
• Newsletter referral system
• Edit links in sent broadcasts
• Subscriber engagement scoring
• Advanced deliverability reporting
• Insights dashboard
• 24/7 Priority support

Both the Creator and Creator Pro plans offer a 14-day free trial so you can see if it’s right for you before committing.

We’ll keep this post updated with the latest Kit pricing, but you can also visit the pricing page on the Kit website.

Let’s get into the reasons we like Kit next!

Benefits of Kit

We’ve used Kit to power Smart Passive Income’s email marketing for several years. In that time, we’ve found it to be the ideal ESP for our needs. We also think it’s a great solution for a range of entrepreneurs and digital creators looking for a robust, feature-rich email marketing platform.

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From where we sit, the power of Kit falls into two main categories: user benefits, and audience benefits.

Kit benefits from the user’s standpoint

First, Kit has everything a business owner needs to get up and running quickly:

• You can collect emails.
• You can set up a simple landing page to collect emails.
• You can sell products (one-time purchase or subscription).

These features allow someone to start selling even while they are in the process of setting up a website somewhere else. It also makes it easy to execute on one of the main lessons in our Smart From Scratch course: using selling as a key step in the idea-validation process.

Second, the Kit team designed their platform to grow with the sophistication of the user. When you start, you probably just want to collect email addresses and send emails. But as you grow, you’ll want to start tailoring your message and segmenting your audience. At that point you can take advantage of things like automations and dynamic content. As you and your business become more advanced, the Creator Pro Plan is your next step—you won’t have to switch to a different email service provider five years down the road. This sets Kit apart from some other ESPs, particularly Mailchimp.

Some people find Kit a bit daunting (see Drawbacks below), but if you’re somewhat tech-savvy we think it’s pretty approachable. In particular, we like the accessibility of Kit’s automation builder, which lets you create automations in a straightforward, linear way.

We tried Infusionsoft for a year and found its automation builder innovative but overwhelming. You had to already understand how automations work, as well as the various symbols common in automation builders. We find Kit’s automation builder, on the other hand, makes it easy to string automations together in an advanced way. With multiple templates to choose from, setting up an automation for the first time is easy for any user.

We also like Kit’s approach to subscriber management. With Kit, all your subscribers go into one big pool; there are no lists. Instead, subscribers can be put into segments by assigning them attributes using tags and custom fields. These let you treat your subscribers as unique humans with different needs; not all subscribers are created equal. The other benefit of the way Kit treats subscribers? You’re only charged once for each unique subscriber, unlike some other ESPs.

Kit’s recently launched Creator Network is also a big plus in our eyes, from both a business-building and community-building perspective. It allows you to grow your subscriber base while also fostering connections with other entrepreneurs and creators.

Last but not least, if you’re moving from another ESP like Mailchimp or AWeber, Kit offers a free migration service that can take some of the headache out of switching.

Kit benefits for your audience

Kit gives you the opportunity to tailor your messaging to your audience. You can have as many forms and landing pages as you want. You can have as many tags, custom fields, and segments as you want. You can be as specific in talking to your audience as you want to be.

As you collect information about your audience, you can start to segment subscribers so you don’t bother people with things they aren’t interested in. Kit makes it easy to collect details about your audience along the way, and you aren’t penalized for that through higher costs, as you would be with a list-based email platform.

Drawbacks of Kit

No solution is perfect, of course. Here are some of the drawbacks we and other Kit users have noticed.

• Moderately steep learning curve. The interface can be a little overwhelming for a beginner. Taking full advantage of all of Kit’s features—like segmentation, tagging, and automations—requires some learning (and potentially coding). You can shorten this learning curve by following their Getting Started video series, as well as the rest of the content on their well-organized support site
• No list-based organization. Although we like the way Kit lets you organize subscribers using tags (and doesn’t charge you for duplicate subscribers, as we mentioned above), the lack of a list-based organization system can be confusing if you’re coming from other platforms. Over time, though, we think you’ll find this system more flexible than managing lists.
• Barebones email and landing page templates. Kit requires CSS coding to create custom advanced email templates and landing pages beyond the included options. Some users report that the email design tool can be buggy.
• Analytics could be more robust. The free and Creator plans don’t offer the same advanced deliverability reporting, subscriber scoring, and analytics features of the Insight feature that the Creator Pro plan offers, which makes sense but may be a bother to some users.

Thankfully, one of the previous drawbacks of Kit, that there was no free option, hasn’t been the case since 2019. This free tier makes Kit comparable at the entry level to other popular ESP options like Mailchimp.

Lastly, this is by no means a drawback, but as Kit continues to expand its offerings to include things like the Creator Network and Kit Commerce to its core email marketing capabilities, there’s a chance that the platform’s value could get spread thin. To be clear, we don’t think this is going to happen and have a lot of confidence in Nathan and the Kit team, but it’s worth keeping in mind.

Our big takeaway on Kit

With the recent updates, Kit is coming closer to being a one-stop shop for creators who want to grow, nurture, and sell to their audiences with a platform that’s largely ready to use and automatable. If you’re looking for your first or next email marketing platform, we think it’s a great solution for growing your audience and increasing your income while retaining creative control over what you put out into the world!

Kit & email marketing: More resources to read, listen & learn

So there you have it—our review of Kit’s email marketing platform! We’ll leave you with a few more resources if you’re curious about Kit, or want to dig further into email marketing.

Kit [Full Disclosure: As an affiliate, we receive compensation if you purchase through this link.]

SPI 825: Behind the Scenes of a Major Rebrand & Lessons Learned After a Hard Fail—my conversation with Kit CEO Nathan Barry about setting his company’s sights on more ambitious goals with the rebrand.

What Is Email Marketing? + Best Practices:
An SPI How-to Guide

Email Marketing Magic Course

AP 0712: How Do I Migrate an Email List from AWeber to Kit? – Smart Passive Income

Why I Switched from Aweber to Infusionsoft to ConvertKitI hope this post has been helpful in deciding whether Kit is the right ESP for your business. Whatever email marketing platform you choose, nothing is more important than having the right email marketing strategy, so be sure to check out our essential guide to email marketing and consider the Email Marketing Magic course if you want more hands-on support with your email marketing, available inside the SPI Community. Good luck!

The post Kit Review 2024 appeared first on Smart Passive Income.

Hundreds of hours of research and 73 pages of notes—that’s what it took for Aprilynne Alter to multiply her YouTube subscriber count by 12 times in 30 days!

By the time you finish reading this post, you’ll know how she did it, too. More importantly, you’ll have actionable steps that you can use to boost your subscribers and grow your channel on YouTube.

There’s a lot of competition on YouTube — Is it worth it?

To understand this in context, let’s look at some facts first. YouTube is the world’s second-largest search engine. It’s also the top streaming platform. Hundreds of millions of creators jump onto the YouTube bandwagon yearly—but only a tiny percentage succeed.

Is it worth investing the time to become a better YouTube Creator?

Absolutely—and the numbers confirm my thinking, too. YouTube’s 4.95 billion monthly active users eclipses Netflix’s 40 million. And according to SocialBlade, YouTube has over 61 million creators. The platform has one of the best creator programs in the world, and it has a growing collection of high-quality, free resources. If you put in the time and energy, I believe YouTube can open up incredible opportunities for you and your business.

As a YouTube Creator, I always leap at the opportunity to learn from others in this space. In the past, we’ve gained wisdom on The Smart Passive Income Podcast from more prominent YouTube creators like MKBHD and Sean Cannell. But this time, I wanted to speak to an up-and-rising YouTube creator. We liked what Aprilynne was doing with her YouTube channel, so we invited her to the show.

Listen to Aprilynne on The Smart Passive Income Podcast:

12x YouTube subscriber growth in four weeks

Aprilynne grew her YouTube channel from 1,000 to over 12,000 subscribers in four straight weeks.

And yep—those are real numbers. As I write this post, I see that her channel has over 52,047 subscribers. But that’s not why I’m sharing Aprilynne’s lessons with you. Here’s why I think her approach is worth examining:

Like most internet-based platforms or social media, YouTube is rapidly evolving too. And that’s why Aprilynne’s learnings are very relevant—because everything you’re about to learn is based on what she discovered by doing in the last six months.

Adding tens of thousands of new subscribers to a brand-new YouTube channel isn’t easy. Aprilynne doesn’t have a background in media or video either—in fact, she previously quit a career in finance! She also had a challenging experience with her first YouTube channel.

She’s also achieved this without creating too many videos—her channel has just twenty-four videos as I write this. It’s evident that Aprilynne’s success comes from careful research—she’s been studying the best YouTube creators. Take a closer look, and you’ll see the results of her study: four out of the twenty-four videos have over 200K views. And one of the four videos has over 800K views!

So, what did Aprilynne do differently with her second YouTube channel?

When I spoke to her on the podcast, it all started to come together. So, without further ado, let’s get into Aprilynne’s four-step process for YouTube subscriber growth. Implementing these four steps will definitely help you grow your YouTube channel fast. So get ready to take notes because this one is super actionable!

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The All-Access Pass community has the courses (like YouTube From Scratch!), resources, support, and accountability you need.

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Aprilynne’s four-step process for YouTube subscriber growth

What you’re about to learn is simple to understand, but it can be hard to implement if you miss the details, so pay close attention. Here are Aprilynne’s four steps:

1. Start with the Packaging
2. Focus on the Intro
3. Pay Attention to Your ENTIRE Audience
4. Preplan Like a Boss

These steps may appear self-explanatory, but let me walk you through each one of them step-by-step.

1. Start with the packaging

“If you think about what goes into the success of a video, it’s around 50 percent the packaging,” says Aprilynne.

Packaging is about the three critical elements of a YouTube video:

1. Idea
2. Title
3. Thumbnail

Aprilynne realized she spent 99 percent of the time creating the video and just one percent on the packaging. I like the word packaging because it is something we experience every time we buy physical products at a store—packaging is what you see before you experience a product.

It’s the same with videos, too—people experience the above three elements before they watch the actual video. And if they aren’t clicking on your video, then the video might as well not even exist.

Start with the idea—what do you want to communicate to your audience? How would you describe your video in one line?

Once you’ve nailed your packaging, it’s time to move on to step number two.

2. Focus on the intro

Aprilynne spoke about this on the show, but I learned everything else from this step in this video on her channel. Here are four specific tips from Aprilynne on this:

2.1. Focus on the first five seconds

The first five seconds play a massive role in deciding the success of your video. That’s because YouTube looks for a match between your packaging and what you say in the first five seconds. For example, if your video is about “how to create killer thumbnails,” make it clear in the first five seconds.

Second, it also helps the viewer decide whether to continue watching. Promising “killer thumbnails” and discussing your new backyard vegetable garden in the first five seconds is not a good idea.

2.2. Keep the intro length short

The intro is the time you spend at the beginning of the video, including the first five seconds. Keep the intro to anywhere from ten to about forty-five seconds—not more than a minute.

2.3. Nail the setup

“Setup” refers to three essential elements: curiosity gap, context, and input bias. Here’s what you want to do to nail your setup:

1. Create a curiosity gap: In simple words, give your viewers enough to want more. This topic deserves an entire post, but here's a great post from Descript.
2. Establish context: Tell your viewers what the context is. If your title includes “killer thumbnails,” tell them if they are thumbnails for YouTube videos or podcasts in Apple Podcasts.
3. Input bias: This is based on human behavioral psychology. It refers to the idea that the more time, effort, and money you spend on something, the more you'll value it. In the context of this post, one way of doing this is to tell your viewers how much effort you put into researching the stuff they are about to learn. If you want to dig deeper, read this great HubSpot article about how MrBeast uses input bias in his videos.

2.4. Front-load the stimulus

Keep changing the visuals fast in the first few twenty-odd seconds. According to Aprilynne, MrBeast changes visuals at the beginning of his videos every 1.4 seconds. Mark Rober does it every 1.6 seconds.

3. Pay attention to your ENTIRE audience

This post is about YouTube subscriber growth. Everything I’m sharing in this article is based on what Aprilynne uses to create what she calls “banger videos.”

These videos help you reach new audiences, and they do that without ignoring your audience—casual and core viewers included.

In other words, make your videos appealing to your subscribers, but don’t ignore folks who aren’t subscribed. Design your videos also to pull in casual YouTube viewers who don’t (yet) know who you are.

4. Preplan like a boss

Most folks script and then shoot. There are two problems with this.

First, this can put a lot of pressure on the editing process. You might realize while editing that you needed product footage or a second camera angle.

Second, the jump from scripting to filming can clip your creativity. In other words, you may now stick to the script and ignore other perspectives.

That’s why Aprilynne annotates her videos after scripting. She lays it all out before the camera starts to roll, mapping every scene, every shot. Here’s how she breaks it down:

“I used to film everything and then edit. Now, I script it, go through it line by line, and annotate what I want on screen. So I separate it into talking head footage, B roll that I film, screen shares, and visuals I make. And so I plan all of that out beforehand. It makes filming a lot easier because I know for my talking head portion, which [lines] I need to say to the camera, what I can just read—which is a lot easier.”

Go deeper with YouTube growth

If you want to start a YouTube channel, my YouTube From Scratch course—which I created with my friend and videographer Caleb Wojcik—is the perfect place to start. Two of my YouTube channels have collectively clocked over 200 million views and over a million subscribers—I put everything I learned from growing these two channels into the course.

YouTube From Scratch—and our entire course library—are exclusively available in the All-Access Pass and Pro communities. My team and I created them to help you find like-minded creators and establish accountability on your entrepreneurial journey. It’s the best way to grow as an entrepreneur online, so check it out today!

The post How to Rapidly Grow Your Subscriber Count as a YouTube Creator appeared first on Smart Passive Income.

New to the world of podcasting? You might be wondering, well, what is a podcast? And how do they work? In this article I'll cover what a podcast is, what they're used for, and how to get started as a podcast listener or creator. Plus, I have several free resources for you on this page to help you get started right away.

What is a podcast and how do they work?

A podcast is a digital audio “show” or program that you can download or stream from the internet on your smartphone, computer, or tablet and listen when it’s convenient for you.

A podcast “episode” is a single instance of a podcast, much like the episode of a TV show.

Here’s an example—an episode of our very own SPI Podcast, which has been running since 2010:

For beautiful, easy-to-embed podcast players like the above, look no further than Fusebox — the official podcast player of SPI! [Note: I am a compensated affiliate for Fusebox.]

Podcasts are an extremely popular form of media that’s growing quickly. The first podcasts were produced by individuals, but now they’re also made by companies, news outlets, and other organizations. Podcasting has become big business, with companies like Apple, Spotify, iHeartMedia, SiriusXM heavily invested in podcasting.

For the listener, podcasts are a versatile medium! The audio-only format of podcasts makes them easy to consume in various settings, such as while commuting, cooking, traveling, or working.

You can think of podcasts as “background” content, but you can also give them your full attention if you like.

Speaking of content, podcast topics can cover a huge range, from true crime to business strategies to parenting tips to comedy or kids’ content. If you have a topic in mind, there’s probably a podcast out there for it! And if there isn't, that might mean an opportunity for you to start your own podcast on that topic! 

Podcasts are typically available either in seasons with a set number of episodes or in an ongoing series. Our podcast Flops came out with an eight-episode season in 2021, while other SPI Media shows like AskPat 2.0 and The Community Experience were released weekly (until being sunsetted last year). The Smart Passive Income Podcast is still released every week on an ongoing basis.

How podcasts started (a brief history of podcasting)

Podcasts have their roots back in the 1980s, but they didn’t take off until the early 2000s. In September 2000, the company i2Go introduced a digital audio news and entertainment service called MyAudio2Go.com that allowed users to download news, sports, entertainment, weather, and music in episodic audio format. The following month, tech entrepreneur Tristan Louis proposed attaching sound and video files in RSS feeds (see below). This idea built steam over the next few years, and in 2004 the term “podcasting” emerged to describe this new way of distributing audio content. In 2005, Apple added a podcast subscription feature to iTunes 4.9 and launched a podcast directory in the iTunes Music Store.

Since then, the sky has been the limit for podcasting, with somewhere between 3 and 5 million podcasts in the world right now!

What are podcasts used for?

So what’s the point or purpose of a podcast? What are they good for? A whole lot!

For the listener, a podcast is a great way to learn about a given topic—and/or be entertained!—in a way that’s convenient to them. Podcasts are free (for the most part) and easy to find, and given their growing popularity, cover a wider and deeper range of topics than ever before.

For the podcaster, the uses and benefits of a podcast can be enormous. Podcasts are a great way to build and serve an audience by entertaining and/or educating listeners on a given topic.

One of the key advantages of a podcast for the podcaster is that you get to speak directly to people, using your voice. Your podcast episode may be heard by thousands or even millions of people, but for each listener, it’s just you and them.

It’s been said that podcasting is the best way to scale intimacy and make a direct connection with each of your listeners.

What is a podcast host and why do you need one? (How an RSS feed works)

Podcasts are made available to listeners via a Really Simple Syndication (RSS) feed.

An RSS feed allows content creators to publish notifications of new content such as blog posts or, of course, podcasts.

Here's how that works. The podcast creator submits their podcast’s RSS feed to a directory, which makes it available to listeners via a podcast app or the creator’s website.

A podcast listener can receive new installments or episodes of a podcast automatically by subscribing to the podcast’s RSS feed in their chosen podcast app. 

But how do you create your podcast's RSS feed? 

That’s where a podcast hosting platform (or podcast host for short) comes in.

A podcast host is a service that provides a place to store and distribute your podcast's audio files via an RSS feed. The podcast host automatically generates the RSS feed for your podcast, and then submits it to podcast directories, such as Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, and others.

You might be thinking, Do I have to use a podcast host? Can I host my podcast on my website? The short answer is yes—but hear me out.

There are several benefits to using a podcast host instead of DIYing it. A podcast host can:

• Provide storage for your podcast episode files, and allow them to be downloaded by listeners.
• Automate the creation and syndication of your RSS feed to podcast directories.
• Offer built-in analytics, so you can see how your show is growing and which episodes are the most popular.

Yes, you can technically host your podcast’s RSS feed on your own website. And yes, most podcast hosts cost money, with those costs generally increasing as your show grows.

But for most creators, hosting your podcast on your own website is way more trouble than it’s worth. 

You might save a few bucks, but in our opinion, the lack of analytics alone makes hosting your podcast on your website a bad choice.

Thankfully, you have plenty of options to choose from when it comes to podcast hosts. Our recommended platform is Fusebox, thanks to its ease of use and helpful features. [Note: I am a compensated affiliate for Fusebox.]

Other popular hosting platforms include Buzzsprout, Libsyn, Podbean, Anchor, and Blubrry.

It’s relatively easy to work with a podcast host. You set up an account on their website, where you can enter the details of your podcast, upload episodes, and explore options for monetizing your show. Some platforms charge a monthly fee (variable depending on how much content you publish), while others are free.

Last but not least, you might be thinking, Isn’t a podcast host also a person? Yes! A podcast host can also refer to the person who is the face and voice of a podcast. (For instance, Pat is the host of the SPI Podcast.) Glad we cleared that up.

Types of podcasts and podcast examples

As a medium for entertaining and sharing information, podcasts can take many different forms! Here are some of the most common podcast formats, along with examples.

• Interview: A host invites one or more guests to discuss a given topic. This show format requires research and outreach to find guests for each episode. (The Smart Passive Income Podcast, Armchair Expert, Fresh Air)
• Solo Talking/Storytelling: As the name suggests, a single host “runs the show.” The time that would be spent on guest research and outreach for an interview show is instead directed toward research and preparation of the show’s content. (Hardcore History, Revolutions)
• Cohosted: A show with two or more hosts who can provide different personalities and perspectives and sometimes humorous banter.  (Stuff You Should Know, My Favorite Murder, Flops, The Community Experience)
• Roundtable: An expanded version of a co-hosted podcast with more hosts who engage in conversations and banter around a given topic. (SmartLess, Pod Save America)
• Documentary: Similar to a TV documentary, this podcast format typically has a narrator, and can include interview segments, sound effects/music, and even scripted scenes. (Serial, Startup Podcast)

Note that many podcasts are a hybrid, incorporating elements of multiple formats. For example, the New York Times’ The Daily is a cohosted podcast that incorporates interviews.

Who makes podcasts?

Podcasts can be created by just about anyone, from an individual to a small team to a large company!

What is a podcast producer?

When it comes to podcasts, a producer is someone who works behind the scenes to make sure the show is as good as it can be. They typically wear several hats, and their duties may include finding guests, organizing the episode schedule, overseeing the recording and editing processes, promoting the show, and more.

How to listen to a podcast

How easy is it to listen to a podcast? Pretty darn easy! Here’s what you’ll need:

• A smartphone, computer, or tablet with an internet connection.
• A podcast app

You’ll need an internet-connected device, such as a smartphone, computer, or tablet to access podcasts. Since you’re already reading this post, I’m guessing you’ve got this one covered.

Whether you’re searching for a specific podcast or want to search for a new one, a podcast app will come in handy. Here are some of the most popular ones:

• Apple Podcasts
• YouTube Music (formerly Google Podcasts)
• Spotify
• Audible
• SiriusXM (formerly Stitcher)
• TuneIn Radio
• Pocket Casts

Each of these apps can be downloaded to your device or accessed via the web.

So which one should you choose? To be honest, there’s not a ton of difference between them, especially if you’re just getting started as a podcast listener.

If you’re a Mac/iOS user, then Apple Podcasts is your go-to, and if you use an Android phone, then the Google Play Music app is the easiest option.

Each app also provides a podcast directory that you can search to find new shows. Many of these apps can even provide personalized recommendations based on the shows you listen to on the app.

If you find yourself turning into an avid listener of a large number of podcasts, you might find benefit from using an app like Pocket Casts, which is designed to filter and organize a large number of podcast subscriptions. But for 99 percent of listeners, most apps will do just fine.

Once you’ve found the podcast you want to listen to in your podcast app, you can either stream it or download it to your device to listen later. Your podcast app should also allow you to “subscribe” to a show so you’ll be alerted when new episodes are released.

Some podcast creators also make their podcast episodes available directly on their website via a web-based podcast player like Fusebox.

Here’s an example of how to use an embedded web player like Fusebox to play a podcast episode right on a webpage:

How to start a podcast

If you’re interested in how to start a podcast, you’re in the right place! At SPI, we have a ton of resources for first-time podcasters (and more advanced podcasters too, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves…).

In order to start a podcast, you need a few key ingredients:

• An idea for your show, of course!
• A podcasting microphone
• A podcast host to store and distribute your RSS feed
• Podcast artwork

That’s not all, though, and if you want the full scoop, check out our “How to Start a Podcast STEP-BY-STEP” guide.

It includes the lowdown on things like:

• Picking a podcast topic you can commit to
• Writing a compelling podcast description
• Choosing a podcast hosting service
• Recording your episodes
• And much more

The “How to Start a Podcast STEP-BY-STEP” guide makes starting your podcast easy and doable so that you can build your audience—and even start and scale a business with the help of your new show.

You can also check out our video guide to starting your podcast!

What is a podcast FAQ

Here are some commonly asked questions about podcasts, and our answers!

Why are podcasts called podcasts?

The word “podcast” is a portmanteau (combined word) of “iPod,” Apple’s original portable music player, and “broadcast.” Some people have also suggested “portable on demand” as a “backronym” for the word “podcast.”

Podcasts vs. radio: What’s the difference?

Are podcasts the same as radio shows? While podcasts and radio share a lot of similarities, since they’re both audio formats, podcasts are more versatile in a lot of ways. You can think of podcasts as the next “evolution” of the radio show.

Here are some of the key differences between podcasts and radio:

• Podcasts are usually edited, while radio is typically live.
• Podcasts can be streamed or downloaded on demand, while radio shows typically need to be listened to live. Radio stations are increasingly making their previously aired shows available online, but most radio content must be accessed when it goes live.
• Most radio content is aimed at a broad audience, while podcast content can be extremely niche.
• Most radio shows need to fill a specific time block, whereas podcast episodes can be any length.
• Radio shows typically have higher production costs, so they contain advertisements to help offset these costs. While podcast advertising is a growing industry, many podcasts don’t include ads because the cost barrier to entry for podcasting is so much lower than for radio.

Are podcasts free to listen to?

One of the best things about podcasts is that they are usually free to download and listen to. Yes, you’ll need a device to listen to them and an internet connection to download them, but the content itself is generally free of charge.

In recent years, some podcasters have begun creating additional paid content for their subscribers. These paid podcasts are becoming increasingly popular, although free podcasts are still a lot more common.

What is a podcast network?

A podcast network is a collection of podcasts under the umbrella of a single company, which produces, distributes, and/or makes those podcasts available to advertisers. Podcast networks can provide exposure and revenue for podcast owners and are a great option to consider once your podcast has grown a bit.

Some podcast networks are focused on a single theme, while others accept podcasts across a range of topics. The biggest podcast networks include iHeartRadio, Wondery, PodcastOne, HubSpot Podcast Network, and Audacy.

What is a video podcast?

Video podcasts are an increasingly popular form of podcasting. As the name suggests, they incorporate video and audio, allowing listeners to see and hear your content. Adding video to your podcast is typically more work, but it can help expose your show to a wider audience through platforms like YouTube and TikTok.

What equipment do you need to start a podcast?

As mentioned above in “How to Start a Podcast,” a microphone is the most important piece of equipment you’ll need to start your own show. However, there are a few other pieces of tech to consider:

• A desktop microphone stand
• A boom arm and shock mount to reduce unwanted vibrations
• A pop filter to reduce plosives (harsh sounds from certain syllables) in your recordings
• Software for recording and editing, such as GarageBand or Audacity
• Sound dampening materials to reduce room echo

Do podcasters make money from their shows?

They definitely can, and many of them do!

The most common way podcasts make money is through advertising or sponsorships. You can also use affiliate marketing to promote products on your show and earn a commission when someone purchases them using your link.

Our Amp'd Up Podcasting course — available exclusively to our community members — is designed to help podcasters grow and better monetize their shows while also reducing production time.

A free checklist for starting your podcast

Make sure you don't miss a step! The Podcast Cheat Sheet gives you all the steps you need to start your show.

Are you ready to start your podcasting journey?

I hope this primer on podcasts was helpful! Maybe you’re inspired to go find a new show to subscribe to, or even become a podcaster yourself!

Before you leap, however, it’s important to weigh the pros and cons of podcasting.

Pros and cons of starting a podcast

The benefits of having a podcast can be numerous. A podcast can help you:

• Grow your brand or business
• Meet new people
• Develop new income streams
• Expand your audience

At the same time, podcasting may not be for everyone. It takes time, energy, commitment, and resources to start and maintain a podcast. To be successful, you need to produce a high-quality show and publish it regularly.

More resources for the aspiring podcaster (or just the pod-curious)

If the idea of starting a podcast is still exciting to you, great! We’ve got lots of helpful resources if you’re ready to keep learning about podcasts and what they can do to help you grow your business and connect with your audience.

If you’re interested in starting your own podcast, our How to Start a Podcast Guide gives you practical next steps.

But if you're ready to start your podcast in the most streamlined way possible, our Power-Up Podcasting® 2.0 course is for you. It's a step-by-step guide to launching a successful podcast that gets found and grows your online brand. You can take the course as part of the SPI Community — membership gets you all our courses and the support of a vibrant learning community to guide and motivate you towards podcasting success.

You can also explore The Smart Passive Income Podcast and read more about podcasting on the blog.

Ready to learn podcasting the smart way?

The SPI Community has the resources you need.

Learn more about the SPI Community

The post What is a Podcast? How podcasts work and how to get started appeared first on Smart Passive Income.

Sandy Mann, Director of Marketing
SPI Media
[email protected]

SPI Media announces the addition of award-winning author, speaker, and agency owner Pamela Slim to its Experts in Residence Program. Pamela joins a distinguished roster of members, including Amy Nelson, Nausheen I. Chen, Yasmine Salem Hamdan, Caleb Wojcik, Terry Rice, Jason Feifer, Pat Flynn, and Matthew Gartland. With three decades of experience helping business owners scale their enterprises, Pamela brings invaluable expertise to the SPI Pro community.

About Pamela Slim

Pamela Slim, author of Escape from Cubicle Nation, Body of Work, and The Widest Net (winner of the Best Sales and Marketing Book of 2021 award from Porchlight Books), is also the co-founder of the K’é Community Lab in Mesa, Arizona. Alongside her husband, Darryl, Pamela provides support and resources to numerous BIPOC entrepreneurs, contributing to the social, health, and economic development of their local community.

Pamela is frequently quoted as a business expert in publications such as the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Forbes, and Entrepreneur. She also runs an agency specializing in developing certification and licensing programs.

About the Experts in Residence Program

The Experts in Residence Program within SPI Pro offers exclusive insights, mentorship, and expert-led events designed to equip entrepreneurs with essential skills and foster continuous growth across key business domains.

When asked about joining the program, Pamela expressed excitement to share her expertise, helping SPI Pro members overcome roadblocks, accelerate market entry, and scale their businesses. She looks forward to learning about everyone’s business ventures and contributing to the exchange of ideas within the community.

About SPI Media

SPI Media is a trusted learning and development ecosystem serving a global community of online entrepreneurs. Comprising two vibrant online communities — the All-Access Pass and SPI Pro — SPI Media caters to entrepreneurs at various stages of their journey. The All-Access Pass is tailored for early-stage entrepreneurs, while SPI Pro is an application-based community designed for established business owners seeking guidance for accelerated growth. SPI enables members to achieve their goals through top-tier educational content, community-building opportunities, and training experiences. To learn more about SPI Media and the Experts in Residence program, please visit SmartPassiveIncome.com.

The post SPI Media Welcomes Award-Winning Author Pamela Slim to Its Experts in Residence Program appeared first on Smart Passive Income.