Podcast: Looking for feedback/help - I watch those strange movies Netflix recommends

SomeJerkFromBoston

Hey everyone!

For the last year, I've been producing a movie review podcast called "What Did I Just Watch?" specializing in the strange and bizarre movies that pop up on Netflix and other VOD services. You know you've seen them, they might have even piqued your curiosity, but I doubt you watch them. Why would you? I rotate through different guests each episode and take on flicks like "Karate-Robo Zaborgar", "Shaolin Grandma", and "Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale".

Even after something like 11 episodes (not including the shorter movie reviews), I'm still trying to find my stride. I don't know what my strengths and weaknesses are. Ideally, each episode should be between 30-45 minutes (I like to keep it short for those who listen at work), but some episodes can be too short, clocking in at only 25 minutes or so. I'd like to add more segments to keep the conversation going, but I'm not sure what anyone outside my personal group wants to hear.

I guess what I'm asking for is, what can I do to make you want to listen to my show? What should I add/cut? What are my strengths/weaknesses? When I start a Facebook page / Twitter feed (I know, I know, that should have been one of the first things I did), what could I do to promote it to you without looking like a complete douche?

Give it a listen if you're interested. I really want this show to be something great and I appreciate anything you guys have to offer.

iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/what-did-i-just-watch/id718402918?mt=2

Stitcher: http://app.stitcher.com/browse/feed/39331/episodes

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgPHolmkK8hFQEE70rHeQtA

Iruka

Without really having really tuned into your show, (I just skipped around the recent two on youtube) I can say that there are a few with a pretty similar premise, the flop house: http://www.flophousepodcast.com/and how did this get made: http://www.earwolf.com/show/how-did-this-get-made/ not that there aren't a million podcasts with identical premises. But if you aren't, you should be aware of what else is out there.

As some one who listens to a ton of podcasts, but has never made one, all I have a pretty biased and anecdotal opinion. I find that, in general, I will tolerate the most amount of flaws in quality in a podcast when I'm tuning in for information. Gaming news, particularly, I tune in just to get up to date, the banter is a bonus in the case of giant bomb. Sometimes the audio on gamers with jobs is spotty, since its a conference call, but I'm there for the info. If I'm just going to listen to people talk, it better be either hilarious or extremely personal and introspective. When its just banter little things like crisp audio make a HUGE difference.

So, When I hear your podcast, (at least, the conference call one) I hear a banter podcast. I don't need to catch up on shitty movies, so I'm going to come for the awesome chemistry and wit of the hosts. I know a lot about the podcasters that I listen to for banter, usually. They put their personal touch on talking about everything, I know that they bought a TV this weekend and that they have quirky opinions on life. Podcasts with a bunch of comedians tend to be able to insert this and also keep it funny. This is personable and easy to work/drive/workout to, which is how people consume podcasts and why a lot of popular ones are super long.

The ones of just you talking about a movie by yourself.... I'm not sure who you are and why your opinion should matter to me. I don't really need an opinion on a shitty movie I'll never watch. I'm not saying you should like, scrap movies and start a live journal via podcast, but I think you need a solid cast of people who aren't just walking me scene by scene through a movie I'll never watch. Make it feel like you guys are actually having a conversation, give me the impression that you guys may surprise me with an interesting side tidbit.

So, that was longer than I meant it to be, but there you go. Also, Podcasts usually hit their stride after 100 episodes or so, 11 is pretty low, and there's no real incentive to listen to a podcast that updates infrequently, You'll need to step up your game on that if you want regular listeners.

ceres

FYI, you shouldn't really be linking your own stuff here as it can be seen as self promotion. You can ask for more general advice though, and "what would you guys like to hear from this concept" doesn't require direct links.

ElfWord

A few suggestions I'd make:

• Use a better cover image. The one you're using now looks depressing, not comic. At YouTube's thumbnail preview resolution, the text is pretty hard to read.
• On iTunes, try different podcast descriptions. Make it less about you and more about the potential listener. "Ever wonder how bad those weird movies Netflix recommends actually are? Listen to some of the most hilarious, mind-blowing moments from these bottom-of-the-barrel gems."
• Look at how other B-movie media describes itself.
• Get more reviews. Beg, bribe, and blackmail your friends into it. Write the reviews for them so all they have to do is copy and paste, and you can ensure they don't seem over-the-top complimentary.
• Improve your individual episode descriptions. "Some Jerk reviews a forgettable Indie comedy" makes me think it's going to be a pretty forgettable podcast as well. Do you like Red Letter Media's Harry Plinkett reviews? They're not popular because they're a review of a bad movie, they're popular because it's fun to hear someone who knows their shit tear apart the movie. Use your episode descriptions to make us feel like we're going to be entertained and informed, not like we're going to spend 5 - 30 minutes hearing that a movie was bad.
• Create show notes. I rarely listen to podcasts if I can't get a sense of what's inside it. Give me the highlights, some excerpts of hilarious moments, and some teasers "12:15 - My mom finds a moment that horrifies her, and says something that horrifies me."
• For twitter, spend more time interacting than promoting. Your first goal should be to build an audience, and that's done by connecting with other people who like bad movies / are Netflix addicts / etc. Use twitter search, and find tweets by them that you can chime in on in a way that adds value / starts a conversation. They'll follow naturally if they like interacting with you / think you have things in common, and then they'll be among the followers that see your tweets announcing new episodes.