Why Podcasters Should Pay Attention to AI

Hey y'all!

It's another AI-related newsletter…

But I would feel like I'm doing you a disservice if I don't warn you. So just think of me like the podcasting Paul Revere.

But in any case, if you're here reading this, it's either because you're sold on the power of AI, or you're on the fence about it and unsure whether it's just a fad that will go away.

I don't think it is – in fact, I'm almost positive that unless there's a huge seismic shakeup in the tech world, AI will become increasingly prevalent in almost every aspect of our lives, including podcasting.

And the reason I feel so strongly about talking about this is that those who adopt it now can really begin to set themselves apart from the rest of the shows in their niche. AI allows for an indie podcaster to suddenly have a highly trained copywriter, graphic designer, and editor on their team.

THIS IS HUGE!

Because it means that smaller podcasts can actually compete with the shows that have a huge budget and team.

So let's get into how AI can actually help.

AI Can Save You Time.

This is a big one. Because if you're an independent or entrepreneurial podcaster, then that should be music to your ears. Podcasting takes a lot of time, and AI isn't going to fix that completely. But it can give you back precious hours that you can either use to do something else - like spending time with your family or on your business. Or it can give you the ability to reinvest those hours back into the show.

For our podcast production company, AI does a lot of the heavy lifting with regards to writing show notes, creating transcripts, and identifying key moments in the episode. We like to use Momento.fm to do this because we can upload our episode and it'll spit out potential titles, almost-ready show notes, and all the potential clips we can use to promote the episode on social media.

I have to mention again that AI is not perfect, and it does still require some human input before it's fully polished. However, these tools can get you 80-90% of the way there so that all you have to do is make a few minor adjustments or tweaks.

AI Can Save You Money.

Because AI can now be your writer, designer, and soon even your editor - you don't have to pay what it'd normally cost to have a professional do these for your show. Now, does that mean that some people's jobs are going to be shifted around? Yes, absolutely. But that's why I would encourage people to embrace this technology sooner than later so that you can be one of the beneficiaries of the tech. Because writers and designers who utilize these technologies can scale their output and creativity tenfold, so they might be the ones who benefit the most. Perhaps.

I mentioned on the most recent episode of my podcast that as recently as last year, we used to spend thousands of dollars every month to get the show notes written for our podcasts. And that was a worthwhile investment because the show notes do so much for SEO and search, they also create a great listener experience, and they allow you to repurpose that content and promote it via social media and email. And now we can get all that done for less than $20 a month.

You can listen to that episode here:

AI Can Make Your Show Better

Yes, these tools can make you more efficient, but can they actually make your show better? Yes – if you do it right. There will undoubtedly be people who use AI to water down their content and create more noise than we're already accustomed to. However, others will use these tools to enhance their content, from a visual and copywriting standpoint as well as content and audience perspective. It can help you understand your target audience and niche in ways you couldn't on your own.

AI excels in two areas. First, it does EXACTLY what you tell it to do. If you give a very specific "prompt" to one of these tools, it's more likely to give you something that fits your needs. AI is also great at spotting trends and identifying things that might not be as obvious to us. You can use this to research potential topics that your audience might be interested in, find insights about a particular niche or segment of your customers, or even identify elements that you can incorporate into your show to resonate with them further.

We like to ask Chat GPT for content ideas for our show, segments we could incorporate, and potential promotion avenues for growing our show. While the tools aren't perfect and all-knowing, they can get you started and generate ideas for you.

If you want more specifics on HOW to get started, leave a comment below and let me know. If there's enough interest, we'll make the next post more tactical.

Until then,

Keep Publishing!

Hector Santiesteban

P.s... If you want to get started using AI, your first episode from Momento is free. CLICK HERE TO TRY IT OUT.