SOLO vs. Co-Host Podcast Formats: Which is Right for You?

Tonight's podcast tips is going to focus on the benefits and challenges of doing a solo show podcast or a solo show that's an interview program, um, and, um, the option of co-hosting formats. So, you know, that's the option. That we're going to discuss tonight on the show. And I thank you so much for being here with me tonight. I certainly appreciate it, and it's great to have you here. If you're a new listener or viewer of this show, my name is Rob Greenlee. I'm a 20-year podcast creator. I am a member of the Podcast Hall of Fame and have hosted many shows and have also worked for many podcast hosting and distribution platforms. If you're not really that much familiar with me and my background. And I've hosted many shows of my own like this one and, and a few for other companies too, like Spreaker, you know, podcast hosting platform. And I, I did one for, for Microsoft for a few years, and I've just had many of my own shows. And I started a radio show back in 2004, was nationally syndicated to talk about technology and the internet. And did that for about 7 years. That's what really got me into podcasting. So what I'm going to talk to you tonight is really based on my 20 years of doing all sorts of different kinds of formats of shows, from having co-hosts to doing more recently solo shows, which I really hadn't done that much of in the past. So it's one of the reasons why you're seeing me today doing a show like the one I'm doing right now, which has a history as an interview show And I will go back to that again, but what I wanted to do was really kind of drill in on this solo format and get good at that too. I think oftentimes you can kind of get caught up with this interview format and you can get caught up with co-hosting, and it causes you maybe to be not as, I don't know, aggressive in the show or forward or being confident in the show. You're kind of relying on someone else to kind of back you up to some degree. And that certainly was the case when I started on the radio. I had 3 other co-hosts, so you could tell I was pretty insecure about my, my abilities to, uh, to run a show on my own. So, so that, you know, it's an example of my progression over the years. I've, I kind of went into doing shows that were with 1 co-host and then doing shows not too much on my own, but doing a lot of pre-recorded stuff too. And I have dabbled around with the solo side of, of podcasting, and, and that was where I wanted to start tonight, was to talk about the solo format. And because that's my most recent experience, and I wanted to talk about that a little bit. And the, the advantages of that are, are really manyfold. And, but it really gets back to— and I'll talk about this too— it talks about your personality, it talks about what you feel comfortable doing. And it's not always an easy thing to get in front of a microphone. You're alone in your studio, whether you're doing it live or pre-record. I think to some degree doing it live is probably easier if you're a solo show because you can, you can feel like you're connecting with others, uh, real time. Like I'm talking to someone in a, in a coffee shop or something like that, or I'm at a conference, you know, like I just went to the NAB conference in New York and and the Advertising Week and was able to connect with other people, talk to other people, and do a live show from, from a, a venue there as part of Podfest Expo Pod Tour. And so I did that yesterday as a, as a live show, but that, that was in a format as a co-hosted show. So I'm playing around with these formats all the time. But really, I think one of the really big benefits of doing a solo format is the ability to have total control over the content. Not that I don't really have that with a co-host to some degree, as long as there's coordination back and forth. But, you know, being the, the sole presenter puts you in a, in a situation where you don't have to necessarily share the microphone with someone else. And it also creates the opportunity of creating shorter content too. Typically, if you add a co-host or something like that, it tends to make the show longer and it makes it more of a restraint on the creative process to hold it to a certain duration. Now, granted, a lot of people think that a podcast is as long as it needs to be, and that's, that's okay. You can go as long or as short as makes sense in what you're trying to do in the content.. But really, at the end of the day, it's about, you know, my ability to control the message in this show around my experience. And that's kind of what I wanted to take this show back to a little bit, where most of the episodes have been done as an interview format. I will talk about that a little bit more later, but the big thing of flexible schedules, being able to record on or go live on your own time, not so much trying to coordinate with someone else, is a big factor. Whether that be an interview guest or a co-host, there requires a certain amount of coordination and scheduling and getting people prepared to be on your show. And so there is a lot more time that goes into getting a show together, where a show like I'm doing tonight is really I put together an outline and a format, and I just do what I feel like doing at the time based on what I think the show is all about and what the audience might get some value from. So that's the, that's the path that I've gone down here with this show. And I also feel like I have a more of a direct— and I mentioned this before— I have a more of a direct connection with the audience, right? And Martin writes here, I am doing both solo shows and podcasts with co-hosts. And Martin, I think that's a great way of doing it. You know, I think mixing it up a little bit is probably a good thing to do and to not just stick with one type of format in your podcast. But I can understand also, and I did this for many years in some of the shows, is I came up with a format, I came up with a co-host, and I just stuck with it, right? And, and that was— that's an okay thing to do, especially if you have a co-host And you, you've been able to refine that chemistry with the co-host. But let me talk a little bit about the challenges of the solo format. And so let's, let's go through that. The challenge is maintaining energy. And that's one thing that I've learned with this show too. And it's not always easy because it's difficult to, to be able to keep that energy up, especially if I'm doing like maybe a hour and a half, uh, live stream. I mean, that's not easy to, to hold. I know a lot of big commercial radio broadcasters do like 3 hours a day or 4 hours a day live as solo shows. I mean, a lot of those shows will bring on guests and things like that, or call-ins or things like that. So there is a little bit of a dynamic there, but, but I really have a lot of respect for those big, um sindicated radio show hosts that are able to hold an audience for, you know, 3 or 4 hours. You know, granted, there's breaks and things like that that go on, especially on the radio side, but to be able to do that in a podcast for 3 hours, I think it's difficult, um, in a solo format. I think, you know, going much beyond maybe an hour is probably about as far as you probably need to go on that path. And then also, and I mentioned this earlier a little bit, is being able to do a show kind of solo without anybody else's input on the program and to not feel kind of maybe a little lonely, especially if you're prerecording. I think it's mentally a little bit of a challenge to bring energy to a prerecorded program. And I did that a little bit with the nationally syndicated radio show that I did, because for many years I did it as a prerecorded program. And I did it in pieces, so it was almost like putting a jigsaw puzzle together. So I had to come at the show in various times during the week to record various parts of the weekly show. Like, I would do like one day, like Tuesday, I would do an interview, and then Thursday I would do another interview, and then Wednesday I would, I would probably record some lead-ins and some solo sections as well, and then banter back and forth with my co-host. So you know, it can be a little bit mentally challenging to maintain the same level of energy throughout that process on a prerecorded program. And doing a solo show as prerecorded is especially challenging because it can make it feel like you're kind of just sitting here in front of a microphone and nobody's listening and nobody cares. And that's, that can be an energy drain from you too. So that's why live is something that I do. I could do this show as pre-recorded, and technically I probably could do maybe a better job of it if it was pre-recorded and maybe grow the audience a little bit more because I was able to edit it and add elements to it. But it's, it's not— it doesn't have the same energy. And I've, I've kind of spent a lot of years doing live, and so I like the energy of live. My New Media Show that I've been doing for about 12 years or so, I think we crossed over 600 episodes of the New Media Show that I do with Todd Cochran from Blueberry. Um, that show has always been live and live video. Um, so it's been around a long time and that's just the energy and the vibe, you know. But I don't have that loneliness issue with that show. Now granted, this show, it's, it's different. Because I'm approaching it from a different mental place. But let's, let's move on from that and talk quickly about the interview format. So you're still a solo podcaster if you're doing an interview format. So, you know, your co-host of sorts is a revolving door of all sorts of personalities, ways of speaking, ways of communication, knowledge level. That should be viewed as an addition to you as the host. So I kind of view the interview format as just a little bit of an extension of the solo podcaster, and that's why I kind of lump them together, is that a solo podcaster, I think, has to do an interview program. This is just a personal preference. I think other people will maybe have a different orientation to this, But I think they need to approach it from this guest as a value add to the host, not a replacement for the solo host. Like, like I think about when I go into doing an interview show, I want to challenge the guest. I want to talk about issues that maybe the guest hadn't thought of or questions that the guest hasn't dug into to really challenge those folks. Because I have a genuine interest in the topic of the show and I have a certain amount of knowledge and expertise going into the show that will hopefully make that guest think on the spot. Now granted, if you've done a pre-interview, which a lot of podcasters do, well, they will do a call with their guest and they will talk through the topics. And though that can be good, but it can also kind of like placate your interest in diving into deep subjects on this and, and being able to keep that process of that conversation going. There's definitely a lot of advantages to having a guest. They can bring a whole other level of energy. They can bring— and that's some of the benefits of having a co-host, and I'll, I'll get into that here next, but But having a, a guest can be, if you've picked your guests very well and the alignment with you and your interests, can be a fantastic experience for the audience. It can really dive deep. And I think we've seen this a lot in the YouTube side of things with these big, long conversational interviews with like Lex, Lex Fridman, Joe Rogan does this very well. You know, Adam Crolla, Mark Maron, you know, the list goes on and on. You know, Stephen Bartlett from the Diary of a CEO is another example of it. There's just so many great examples of great interview content that's being made out there. And it's increasingly not necessarily being seen necessarily primarily as an audio podcast, but has been seen as a video production, multi-camera shoot, and there's transitions in the video, and there's a lot of kind of energy in the conversation, and the lighting is done very well. And it's a very dynamic conversation, and those, that's what it needs to be. I mean, if you're going to have somebody listen to what you're doing for 2 or 3 hours, which some of these shows are, you really need to be creating a dynamic conversation that's diving into very important topics. To your audience. And more and more, we're seeing today, a lot of those topics are based on, you know, what could be seen as conspiracy theories or the dynamics in politics and what's happening in the world that people are seeing today. And that is an important component of doing an interview program now, is that dynamic conversation that kind of dives deep into topics that people have top of mind right now. They're thinking about as important topics in their lives and they're looking for answers. And I think that's what's really driving a lot of terrific podcasts now is podcasts that are focused on the zeitgeists of the human experience right now and really diving into those topics and exploring them and finding out, you know, what are the new ways of looking at that? Whether it be nutrition, health, food, politics, what's happening with the weather now, and all sorts of topics going crazy out there. And it's, and it does kind of stretch all of our ability to absorb all this because oftentimes it does create an environment of change. But I think doing an interview podcast can help the reputation of the host as well. So if you bring on really knowledgeable people, then over a period of time, you as the host start learning from these folks and you get more knowledge, you get smarter. And I think this is the dynamic that's happened with, let's say, Joe Rogan, is that he's brought on all these experts. And over, over the years, he's been doing that show for well over 10 years now. He's learned a lot from these experts and he's processed that information. And I think it really can add to the, the host knowledge as well as the audience's knowledge to have that dynamic in the show, um, every time that you do an episode. And if you can get that, um, it is so valuable. That's exactly what I did with my nationally syndicated radio show, my WebTalk radio show I did for 7 years that was on the radio and the XM satellite radio network, was, was I would have as many as 3 guests on my show in each episode., and I would do like 10 or 15-minute conversations with them, um, in a pre-recorded format. And that really elevated my knowledge about technology. Back then I was kind of naive to technology. It was back in 1999, in the early years, um, well, as the dot-com collapse was starting to happen and people were, were still learning about what was happening with the internet and the web. And so I was bringing on people that were engulfed in, in browsers and the internet connections and wireless and mobile and all these areas and how to build websites and all, you know, and, uh, and online security and those kind of things, which were all hot issues back, back in, back in that day. And that really built my knowledge of what was happening in the market, and it really translated into me producing a, a terrific show because then I would do segments that would be just me talking and talking about a particular issue leading into an interview. And so doing it in that way, I think, can enhance your credibility and your reputation as an expert as you build your, your own personal brand. And I think that's, that's a big thing to think about here. And, and bringing in different points of view too from these guests can also um, enhance the appeal of your show because it isn't just your thoughts, right? It's, it's seen as more credible because it's coming from another person. It's not just from you. And that's one of the dangers of doing a solo show, is that this show is tonight is all about my, my thoughts and my opinions on all these topics. But that may not be the whole picture, right? There may be guys out there, and I've done some past, uh versions or the episodes of this series, the Podcast Tip Series, when I was with, with StreamYard, with this show, with a few guests that were— I, I would consider to be kind of at the, at the cutting edge of doing that conversational type of content, right, where you're, you're bringing in a guest that's an expert and you're able to kind of extract from them that detail that the audience is like craving. And if you're doing an interview podcast, I think preparation is very important, and that's what you need to also spend a lot of time on doing. And if it's a book author, oftentimes what you'll see is that the host will read the book, or they will get a summary of the book, or they'll have some experience. I had that happen a lot to me on on my nationally syndicated radio show where I would have an author come in and talk about, um, this topic that they, they were covering in this book. And I wanted to dive into it, not to share everything that was in the book, but to get that guest to talk maybe beyond the scope of his book, right? Because then it's adding context to the conversation that is actually deeper than actually buying, buying the books. I was I was trying to give more to my audience than maybe they would even get from reading the book. But I would ask the guest to give me kind of snippets from the book, right? So that woman or that man would give me kind of like a synopsis of a couple of different chapters in the book that I was most interested in, and I thought my audience would be most desiring to, to hear more about because of the topic of the show that I was doing. It was more about exploring the internet and, and the, the web and what was happening with that from a cultural perspective and a technological view. And, but I think as a, as a host of an interview show, I think you really have to think about, you know, each person's role in that process of doing that episode. And it can be very complex, you know, the The host needs to be a host, right? It can't just like ask a question and then kind of stop talking, right? That host needs to be active and dynamic in the conversation, needs to contribute to the conversation, needs to express their views and then have that contrast with the host's view, right? And to create a little bit of a tension between the host and the guest, right, to create, to pull out pieces of it. And the host needs to be an active listener too, which can be challenging because a lot of hosts of interview shows will go into the interview with, let's say, a list of questions, right? They will want to cover those questions and make sure that they cover it. And what that does mentally is it tends to distract the host because they probably have their notes in front of them, whether it be on a piece of paper or on a screen. And while your guest is talking, they're reading ahead of what question they're going to ask next in the conversation. And they could miss these little nuggets of what your guest is talking about in, in his or her conversation with you that then maybe you can like forget what's on your list and dive into something that sounds a lot more interesting, right? Because you may have created this list of things that you wanted to talk about that you thought were interesting, but maybe that guest shared something with you that was like a Pandora's box, right? And maybe that Pandora's box maybe really needs to be dug into and explored. And if you're not actively listening, you're going to miss it. And I think a lot of shows do that because it's happened to me before. And I'll just say that it's not, you know, if you go back and you listen to the episode and you realize that the guest said this, right? And that was something that was far more relevant to what I'm talking about But because I wasn't listening, because I was reading ahead on, on my notes, I missed it. And I should have like said, well, why don't you expand on that a little bit and tell us a little bit more about your this or your that experience in your background and why that drove you to doing that, or what was the, the real reason that you made that change or made that adjustment in your life? Was it, you know, and you can really kind of dive in and get more, more depth. And so, and then the other thing is chemistry, you know, and that gets back to voices and it gets back to the host and the guest's kind of ability to communicate with each other, right? And what that exchange of back and forth is and how natural is it, or is it where the host feels like that they have to interrupt the guest because maybe the guest is a little bit long-winded and likes to go too long in their explanation of something, and then the, the host needs to feel like that they need to interrupt them. And that's happened to me many times where I've, I've had a 15-minute segment and I did want to get to some depth but the host would, or the guest would kind of elaborate too much. They would take one of my conversational questions and spend 5 minutes on it, and I'm like going, time's running out. I, you know, this isn't the direction I was hoping it would go. But some people have that kind of personality where they get started and they can't stop, right? And that also is a sign that maybe that person ultimately needs to be doing a solo podcasts. Like my, my co-host Todd Cochran with the New Media Show, when I started doing that show with him, he only had experience doing a solo show. So he came from doing— I mean, he does a show called the Geek News Central podcast, and, and so he's been doing a solo show. It's basically a newscast of sorts about the technology sector. And so he was used to just doing just him, right? He wasn't really used to doing an interview-type co-host type of dynamic, and, and I think doing the New Media Show with me kind of opened his views on how to do that. And so over a period of time, that chemistry started to come into play where I could almost answer, um, his response to things exactly like he would. Because I understood him so well. And so that is a, is a point where, where you reach this conversational quality that, that, um, that can be maybe a little bit too agreeable to some degree. And then I've had other co-hosts, like the co-host that I had for the Spreaker Live show that I did for the Spreaker platform, um, that was very different in personality, had a lot more energy, was very bombastic. In his views, was very kind of aggressive and was loud, and it was very much of a contrast to my personality, which tends to be a little bit more laid back, a little calmer, not so bombastic and extreme in one's views. And I think these days, if you look at the content platforms and the content creators now that are most successful are the ones that kind of have a big personality. They're really kind of Type A personalities. They're not very laid back. They're basically in-your-face type of personalities, tend to get a lot of, a lot of attention today. So if you get two people like that where they're just going at each other, and I think there's lots of examples of that in the in the current podcasting and YouTube space today where you have shows that have co-hosts and each of those co-hosts has such a different personality and a different way to go at topics and to talk with the other co-hosts that it creates a very interesting dynamic and it creates, there's oftentimes there's friction there too between all the parties involved. And that can be very interesting from an audience perspective. Because people will align themselves. And this was definitely the case with my, my Spreaker Live show that I did for a few years on the Spreaker platform, was my co-host and I attracted different listeners. Each, each of us attracted a different kind of listener. Some listeners like a more laid-back approach, more calmer, and then some listeners like that extreme attitude. So sometimes having a co-host that has contrast like that has a lot of power. And so, and then, you know, and then, yeah, and I think that there are some challenges to having a co-host too, uh, scheduling conflicts, right? Um, there's different visions that can lead to kind of creative disagreements to some degree. And that's where I was talking about before, about that, that friction in the content, right? Um, that, that you have a different way of going about it And if that co-host is very out there and very extreme, they can dominate the conversation so much. And that is another example of what can happen in a podcast where that'll make the show longer, right? And I found that to be the case. You know, I started out doing, let's say, like a 40-minute co-hosting type of show. And over time, it got longer and longer and longer because my guests or my co-hosts was, was elaborating more, right? And I had an agenda I was trying to get through, and over time that, that show got longer and longer and longer. And, and I had to kind of like pull it back at one point because we could wind up doing a, doing a 2-hour show, um, easily. But I was trying to stick it to like maybe an hour, hour and 15, which has typically been the, the length of this show. Um, but The challenges of a co-host are scheduling conflicts and also creative differences between the two parties involved. So as a host in a co-host type of situation, you need to be a real leader. So you need to lead the show. That guest co-host or that co-host— and I've had multiple guest co-hosts before, so I've had a show where I would have maybe 2 or 3 different people that had a co-hosting position in my show. I did it with my radio show too. I would bring on like a different co-host for a certain, certain number of years. I would have like 3 different co-hosts that would be regulars on the show, but they would come in and maybe do one of my weekly episodes per month, each one of them. And then over a period of time, that, that kind of refined it down into like maybe 1 or 2 that I would bring in on a regular basis, as the audience gave me feedback about, you know, which of the co-hosts that they preferred. And that was a good, good process to go through because it really kind of trained the audience as well as it trained me about, well, who's the best co-host, right, to co-host with me? What, what was the best dynamic? And, and that's, that's a good thing. It's always good to listen to your your audience and your, your, the most passionate people in your community, right? And what they think is the right thing to do. So yeah, if you have any questions or comments, uh, on, on any of these topics, uh, I, I would love to see you comment in the, in the commenting area on the platform that you're watching this on. It would be great because I'll see it right in front of me when it pops up. I know I got one from Martin. And I appreciate it, Martin. And if you have more comments or questions on, on your own experiences and what you think of each of these, these particular formats, that, that would be great. And, and so, you know, what's the process that you should go through to choose which of these formats is, is right for you? You know, I think it's a, it's an important question. Of many questions when you start a podcast is, is, well, what's the right format? You know, it depends on one's personality. It depends on one's confidence in their ability to hold a show and what they're trying to do with their show. What's the goals of the show? Is the goal of the show to build your network of contacts, to build your, your professional kind of reputation in a particular area or genre or field? If that's the case, then I think a guest format is probably a good one. But it's also good to do a solo show. But it just depends on, on you. And it also, you know, having a co-host is, is great too. Especially if that co-host is from the same industry or has maybe a little bit of a different background than you do. It's a little bit like with talk radio with sports. They oftentimes will have a real strong lead host of a sports program, right? But then they'll bring in what they call a color commentary person that will come in to give stats and details and, and more or analysis type of content to the program. So the host can kind of like lead the show, but then he can or she can hand it off to a co-host to go, well, you know, what do you think about this player and what his background was? And do you think that this player is going to have a big impact on the, on the season for that team? And really kind of dig into it and dig into their stats and things like that. And I think it's very, very, very helpful. But, you know, but you have to compare these things. You really have to understand. I would do a lot of conversations via Zoom or whatever platform that you prefer using to get more acquainted with this person and maybe even meet them in person and have a couple of hour conversation with them to really try and dig into and also look into their background, look into the the other content that they've produced online. Hopefully, they've got experience, right, and of being on microphone and talking and being able to hold a conversation online. And you should be able to tell that pretty quickly if a person has a background with it. And, you know, and if you're starting a new show, I think playing around with these formats at the beginning to find out what, you know, what you feel more comfortable You know, I've had many years of doing this, so I can, I can tell you right now what kind of format I would prefer to do for a particular kind of show, just based on me having 20 years of experience of doing a variety of different formats. But if you're new, that may not be a view that you have going into it. So you just may not know what the, what the right direction to go is. And sometimes you just have to pick something and start doing it. And then over a period of time, you can evolve it into something different. And that, that is a great way to go too. But whatever you do needs to play into your talents, your abilities, and your desired outcome on these formats. And because they all come with advantages and disadvantages. So I would test it, play around with it, maybe do some pre-recorded content with a co-host or something like that. And, you know, you don't necessarily have to publish that, but just create it like you think you are going to publish it and then evaluate it and see if that makes sense and see if it, if you think it sounds good. And then try and refine it and maybe try a different co-host or something like that. It can be a little difficult, though, to trade around co-hosts. I think you have to have confidence in them going into it, um, so you don't feel like you're jerking your audience around too much. But doing this whole thing of having regular different co-hosts is something that you just kind of have to build over time. So you start out with one co-host, and then you add another one, and then you add another one. Each one of them needs to add a different perspective and a different dynamic to the show that aligns with the goals of the show. So I'm not really advocating for any one format because I think they all have advantages and disadvantages. It just needs to be evaluated based on what you're looking for from the show. And, and as far as monetization and growth strategies for all these formats, I think a, a solo show is great for building a strong personal brand. So, if you can bring the personality, you can bring the perspective, you can bring the energy into a program like this. But that's probably the ability to do that is going to come from some sort of experience in doing, whether it be on-stage presentations or doing an audio program or doing something with someone else as a co-host or being a guest on podcasts. There's got to be a little bit of an experience background in order to really kind of pull that off, to make it attractive to a sponsor and to, to be able to hold that show. Now, granted, it's, it's something that I've even, I've even had to really work on in this show, like what I'm doing tonight. I haven't spent most of my career doing a solo show like this. It just hasn't been the format that I felt most comfortable with. But I forced myself into trying this and, and seeing if I can make it a go and, and, and learn from it so I can, I can, I can become a better podcaster myself for being able to actually, um, Matt, uh, thank you so much, uh, for your hand claps for me. Thank you. If you have any questions or any comments about this stuff based on your own experience, we'd love to hear it. And then so, so your strong personal brand is really going to be the benefit of doing a solo show. And it's also if you're busy and you have a frantic schedule, you know, granted, if you're doing it live, you're probably doing it at the same time, same day every week. So scheduling is not an issue if you want to bring on a guest. It's easy to do that. You just say, I do this show live every Thursday night at 7 PM Eastern. And if you can be there, great. If you can't, then I need to find somebody else. Right? So it really kind of simplifies that process. And I think doing a solo show has the opportunity to build more of a direct personal trust relationship with your audience because they're listening to you. They're getting your personality, they're getting who you are, they're getting your perspectives and your views on this, and they either like it or they don't. It's, it's really, really as simple as that. And I think that's, that's the challenge, and it's also the opportunity, um, because sometimes if you bring on a co-host or a guest, you can kind of skate by with maybe less personality and less approach in the in the podcast that will hold down kind of a solo format. Now, I don't necessarily think this show— I've been massively successful in a solo format, but I'm working on it, trying to get better and trying to refine my ability to present for an hour completely on my own. Now, granted, I've done this many times on stage at events or moderated panel sessions, but that really dives into my ability to be a host of, in a guest format where I'm moderating a panel or something like that. But really, I think being a solo caster is a great way to build trust and also to build your brand reputation in the, in the medium in helping others. So, and then if you're trying to monetize a co-host, situation, it's really not that much different. There are sponsorship opportunities and a co-host shows can attract a wider range of sponsorship potential because of the variety of perspectives on a, in a particular topic area. Because if you're a solo caster, you typically have one perspective, right? And you're going to bring that to the show. But if you have a co-host, you could have a variety of perspectives on a particular topic or a genre that can be more appealing to a sponsor or an advertiser or may attract a larger audience. So that is the opportunity of a co-host show. At least that's been my experience, is that if I have a variety of voices on the show, I think it makes for potentially a more engaging listening experience to some degree that has a range of views and a range of perspectives and a range of experience. Now, that may have value, but like I'm doing tonight, you know, maybe my views are wide-ranging enough with 20 years of experience and dozens of shows might be enough, you know. And, and I do see a lot of, a lot of successful shows on YouTube, whatever, that are solo shows. That the host really does a terrific job, you know, of running through the topics and talking about it in a passionate way that holds the audience's attention. Now, granted, a lot of those shows are done as prerecorded shows that can have a lot more kind of transitions and different camera angles and things like that and overlays and things like that that they can add that will add a much more kind of, kind of dynamic experience on, on that presentation. And I think that, that is okay too, um, to, to have that. And I've oftentimes thought that with Podcast Tips, uh, what could I do in a pre-recorded format too? And I might play with that. So, you know, it may not always be, be live, but it is in the name of the show, um, Live Podcast Tips. Now, I mean, I've I've evolved the, the name of the show. It used to be Podcast Tips with Rob Greenlee, and, and though it is still that, um, the, the live component of it is something that is, has been the history of this show. And I think that there is a certain amount of expectation that that is going to be, um, the, the presentation that's made here, and it's going to be live. And And so I think, uh, Martin, uh, thanks for the comment here and praising Matt. So it's awesome. Yeah, I love it when you guys talk to each other. Um, oftentimes I don't hear a lot of conversation from the audience coming back at me, but I, I certainly welcome that and open to that. So if you want to do that, I'd be happy to share that and to talk about your ideas. And at the end of the show, I'll open it up to everybody that's watching this show to ask me questions or, or have comments that they might have about all of the topics I've tried to cover tonight. Um, but one of the other advantages of monetizing with a co-hosted show is, is to leverage growth in a faster way, and that sponsor could see the show at a different level because maybe that there's an opportunity for more cross-promotion because you have a co-host that has a network behind them that can spread the word about the show as well. And that's the dynamic that I have with Todd Cochran with the New Media Show is that I have a, I have a co-host that's got a, you know, a decent social following and, and is doing other shows. So he's got a large reputation in the podcast medium as the CEO of a one of the original podcast hosting companies. And, and so that, that helps the credibility of the, of the New Media Show. Um, it's— so this show is really kind of on my back to, to make work or not. And so, so I hope, um, that was all helpful to you. I think the key takeaway here for me to share with you tonight about all this topic is that All the— just know all these things are available to you, and if you choose to make a change or an adjustment to what you're doing, that, you know, these are common pathways and that you can make these changes. I would just try and make them maybe a little slow and make these adjustments kind of, you know, bring your audience along on this and get their ideas and their feedback on it if you can.. And I would love to get, you know, feedback from you guys too about all this and, and, um, also talk about some, you know, future episodes of this show. And if you wanted to send me an email, you're certainly welcome to rob.greenlee@gmail.com. I'm also on the X platform, and so, and that's @robgreenlee. So you certainly follow me over there. I'm also on YouTube, so that's just youtube.com/@robgreenlee, and that's with two Es on the end. And I'm also working on the Podcast Hall of Fame, which is also out there too at podcasthof or podcasthall.com, I believe it's com or org, one of the two. I think we've added a couple of new domain names to that. And then, and then also my own personal website, robgreenlee.com. This show is an audio and video podcast, so it's available on Apple Podcasts as a video feed as well as an audio feed. So if you do a search in Apple Podcasts, you can find this show in a video format as well as an audio format. So you have your choice. You don't have to watch it on YouTube if you don't want. So you can get it on your phone as part of Apple Podcasts, and there are other apps out there that support video podcasts. So yeah, I hope you, you tell your, your friends or your colleagues about this show and, and the type of topics that I cover in this show. And I hope, um, that tonight's show was helpful to you and your understanding of the podcasting space and being a a podcaster, which is not as, uh, like I say, there aren't as many new podcasters coming into the medium as there were in the past. And so it's interesting, I think the entry point now is increasingly, uh, people that are thinking about video. And this is a pretty hot topic in the podcasting space right now. I think people are coming at podcasting from a lens of video these days more and more. And audio is kind of like, you know, for some it's a secondary thing. There is a perspective that audio comes with some advantages. People can consume audio in a lot different type of situations out there in the real world. They can be out walking the dog, they can be going to the gym, they can listen to your audio that way, where if you're doing just video, there's more limited ways that people can consume that content. So, you know, get out there and make a, make a show, and let's see what fantastic things that you can do with the show. I know most of the people that are watching this tonight probably already have podcasts, so all this is just kind of like helping you kind of get started. And I'll just put it out there again, if you have any questions post them into the comment field, and I'll be happy to address them here. And if you don't, then, you know, I'll just wrap it up for tonight and just tell you that I appreciate you being here, and thank you so much for being a part of this program. So if you want to post a question or a comment, I'll keep talking for a couple minutes, and I will address your your questions or your comments about having a co-host or doing a solo show or your own experience with it. I would love to hear your thoughts of it. But if not, then I will call it a close for the night. And I know that the— there's a big Robotaxi event with Tesla that's happening at 7 PM Pacific and 10 PM Eastern tonight. That's going to be a live stream. I was hoping to fit this in before that happened tonight. So, uh, thank you so much for being here, and, uh, look for this episode to come out as a podcast, uh, here soon. So you could start it on X, or you could start it and then you can finish it as a podcast. So, so it's all in the, the show notes, all the links to all of the places to get this as a podcast. So if you can't make the live show, you can at least get it as a podcast. So Like I say, thank you so much for being here, and back next week, uh, next Thursday at 7 PM Eastern, 4 PM Pacific. So good night and thank you so much. Good night. Bye-bye.