Guess how many podcasts Barstool has?

TWENTY-FIVE!

If you're building a brand, a podcast is the best way to attract loyal fans.

Here's why:

Quick poll: what makes or breaks a podcast for you?

1. The power of the human voice.

It's more personal to listen to someone's voice than read their words. That personal touch leads to stronger creator-fan affinity.

2. Same-room intimacy

Podcasts are literally conversations in a small room, which makes them more intimate than a YouTube video or lecture.

3. Regular cadence

More than a blog or YouTube channel, podcast hosts set a cadence & stick to it. Cadence builds habits, & sticky habits lead to fandom.

4. Rawness

A podcast episode is raw & less edited than a YouTube video. In fact, many podcasts aren't edited at all, which makes them more real.

5. Quality content wins

You can edit a cool video out of boring footage, but you can't edit a boring conversation into a fascinating podcast.
This means that the best podcasts are guaranteed good content, not just good editing.

My favorite podcast hosts know this well:

@david_perell
@APompliano
@ShaneAParrish
@tferriss
@bizcasualpod with @KinseyGrant

But more important than the host is the guest. In fact, most new podcasts I discover are because of the guest:

My 10 favorite recent guests:

@jimcramer
@naval
@michael_saylor
@chamath
@stoolpresidente
@EricJorgenson
@mkobach
@combinatorial
@davenemetz
@tylercowen

Any podcasts I'm missing?