The Podcast Life is a newsletter by Deanna Chapman that helps you create a great podcast.

New Episode!

This week’s episode is all about podcast ads. Ray Harkins is a Senior Account Executive at Wondery and he is the perfect person to talk to about ads! You can watch it below or listen here. Keep reading for a look at how he’s kept his own podcast running for over 600 episodes.

Bonus Content!

Here’s part of our chat that was not included in the episode. We dive into Ray’s podcast 100 Words or Less to talk about how he’s kept the podcast going for over 600 episodes and how he manages ads for it.

(This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.)

Deanna Chapman: I want to talk about 100 Words or Less because recently you hit the 600 episode mark and you had Fred Armisen on your podcast. What has been your secret to the longevity of your show and how are you still getting bigger and bigger guests after I don't even want to speculate on how many years it's been.

Ray Harkins: I think it's close to 10 years now. The secret is just really doing all that I can to make it as simple as possible for myself in regards to being able to record episodes well in advance, handle as much of the production as I can myself, and give myself the space to create these things without completely blowing up my own personal life and my own professional life.

Ultimately, because I work in the industry it benefits me in a lot of different ways because people are impressed that I have a podcast and they're like, “Oh my gosh, it's so cool,” Even when I'm talking to clients and agencies it gives me this cachet that I wouldn't have if I didn't have any experience podcasting.

The secret is just making it as simple and tight as possible at one point I was working with a person who edited, but now I'm at a spot where I'm able to do a lot of, for lack of a better term, real time editing where I know I'm going to cut this out.

I let the conversations play out as they do. But then in regards to just the caliber of guests, a lot of it is friends of the show. Now that the show is a quantifiable commodity, I don't necessarily need to go out there and pitch a lot of people.

And if I do, I can reference back the fact that I've had these people on the show. And so it just automatically lends credibility. And trust they're just like, “Oh, okay. My seven friends went on the show. I know that I'll be taken care of and I know that this will be a relatively good time.” That's been really a blessing that it's just like the people have a good experience, not only in my show, but then podcasts in general that they're open to the idea.

I know I've been on shows myself as a guest and within five minutes, you know this is gonna be bad. You're not ready for this. And not in a dick way, just in a way where it's like, “oh, okay, this is just us hanging out, and that's fine.” There are podcasts that exist like that. But the fact that the show has been able to exist for as long as it has, it just kind of becomes a, flywheel where it starts to work on itself.

I still work hard at it, but do I work as hard as I did five to six years ago?

No, but because I've worked on it for so long, it kind of perpetuates it.

Deanna: I have to imagine after 600 plus episodes now, you get a feel very early on in the interview of this person is going to answer anything I ask or who's going to be a little more tight lipped and which ones are going to be a little more chaotic.

That all just comes with those years of having to put a lot of time into it. I used to do a music podcast and I've had some interviews where it was like five band members were trying to talk into the same microphone and I was just like, no, it's not how you do a podcast. And I was like, “Oh, I should specify next time, just one person.”

Ray: You have to set parameters because otherwise it does become difficult. To be able to thread the needle in regards to the point of the show, I want to know this person or I want to know this particular thing, and when stuff gets put upon you, I know myself.

Any time there's been that voice in my head where I'm like, I probably shouldn't do this. I absolutely listened to it because the times that I haven't listened to it, I just don't feel that confident about it you really do have to listen to that voice after you have, done it for long enough to where you build a little bit of that instinct.

Deanna: Yeah. As someone who still says yes to almost everything, I understand your pain with that one. Since your show has been running so long, what is your approach for running ads on your own show? Obviously, it's probably a little bit different from your day job at Wondery because Wondery is such a different variety of shows in comparison to yours being more in the hardcore scene and music focused. Does Wondery even have any music shows?

Ray: No, and it's funny, iHeart still sells my show just because I didn't want to switch hosting platforms. I could have brought it over to Wondery, but I was just like, “no, it's fine.” As far as my approach to ads, I have my own direct relationships with certain sponsors that have been long time supporters, whether it's Rockabilia or a company called Evil Greed that I've been working with for the better part of two years. Any time I'm able to have those, direct relationships with stuff that is incredibly endemic to the punk and hardcore space.

I will keep that close and I'll just do that on my own. There are other sponsors like I've worked with better help for the better part of like five years or so. And so I still get advertisements from, them and other brands that are running through I heart. But I mean, I still get, vetting requests for like, Hey, would you be comfortable reading for this, client and this, particular product or whatever.

I still say yes and no. For me personally, in regards to the, non host read portion, I basically just, go through approved categories and say yes, I'll do this. No, you can't run the show, even if it. Isn't voiced by me. I just don't want alcohol brands or whatever the case may be.

Stuff that I don't feel comfortable promoting in any capacity. I have no problem running non host read ads in my show because that's just another, added revenue stream for myself and I don't have to do anything for it besides say yes or no.

If you enjoyed this newsletter and really want to level up your podcast, I interview the smartest people in the business. I’m always looking for the best ways to help you grow your podcast. So be sure to subscribe and share this with a friend! And if there’s something you’d like to see covered, reply to this email.