In this episode of Consulting Spotlight, host Michael Bernzweig interviews Alesia Galati, a podcasting expert and founder of Galati Media. They discuss Alicia's journey into podcasting, the importance of strategic planning, and the key elements of a successful podcast strategy. Alicia shares insights on market research, defining goals, and the significance of community in podcasting. The conversation also covers content repurposing, audience growth strategies, and measuring podcast success beyond just downloads. Alicia highlights future trends in podcasting and the increasing importance of unique voices in the space.
In this episode of Consulting Spotlight, host Michael Bernzweig interviews Alesia Galati, a podcasting expert and founder of Galati Media. They discuss Alicia's journey into podcasting, the importance of strategic planning, and the key elements of a successful podcast strategy. Alicia shares insights on market research, defining goals, and the significance of community in podcasting. The conversation also covers content repurposing, audience growth strategies, and measuring podcast success beyond just downloads. Alicia highlights future trends in podcasting and the increasing importance of unique voices in the space.
Connect with her on LinkedIn, Pinterest, Instagram and Facebook.
Takeaways
Sound Bites
Chapters
Michael Bernzweig (00:02.549)
Are you ready to unlock the secrets of consulting success? Tired of sifting through endless noise to find actionable insights that actually move the needle?
Welcome to Consulting Spotlight, your weekly deep dive into the transformative world of professional consulting. Your host is Michael Bernzweig, who in 1998 launched Software Oasis as one of the first platforms enabling businesses to download, license, and deploy software instantly across their networks with a single click. Today, Software Oasis has evolved into one of the leading communities where businesses find top consultants across the USA and Canada.
Each week, Michael sits down with industry titans, innovative leaders, and game-changing executives to bring you exclusive insights you won't find anywhere else. From emerging methodologies to market trends, Consulting Spotlight delivers the strategic intelligence you need to accelerate your consulting career and stay ahead of the curve.
Join our growing community of consulting professionals and decision-makers. Subscribe now on your favorite podcast platform and visit softwareoasis.com/subscribe to get our bi-weekly newsletter delivered straight to your inbox.
Get ready for weekly data, trends, analysis, interviews, and insights that will propel your consulting career forward.
Subscribe to our bi-weekly newsletter https://softwareoasis.com/subscribe/ to stay updated with more insights from technology leaders and transformation experts.
I'd like to welcome everyone to this week's edition of the Consulting Spotlight. I'm your host, Michael Bernsweig, founder of Software Oasis. And this week, we actually have a special guest joining us live, Alesia Galati from Galati Media. And she is an expert in the area of podcasting and...
all of the business details behind podcasting. So I'm hoping we can take a deep dive into everything going on over there. But for any of our guests that may not be familiar with either yourself or Galate Media, if you can give us a little bit of your backstory, a little bit of the journey getting to where you are.
Alesia Galati (00:53.038)
Yeah. So first of all, thank you so much for having me on the show. I'm so excited to chat. I started in the online space, uh, doing some blogging and digital marketing back in 2015. So we are now at 10 years in the online space, which feels really weird to say, but I started listening to podcasts around the same time. I was a guest on a podcast in 2016. And then in 2018 was like,
I I want to launch my own podcast. And at that time I had shifted the business to be focused more on what I did at my corporate job, which was manufacturing and supply chain, which was really boring. So that podcast fell away. I stopped the podcasting with that after I want to say about 50 episodes. It just got to a point where I did not want to talk about what I did at my day job on a fun podcast.
Michael Bernzweig (01:34.326)
I love it.
Michael Bernzweig (01:48.129)
Sure.
Alesia Galati (01:48.687)
Then in 2019, launched a podcast with my sister called Two Sisters and a Cult where we talked all about cults and related them to the one that we grew up in. And with that one, I was able to see what podcast success really looked like. And I don't think that it was just because it was about cults and people like cults. It was because I took a more strategic approach with that show. So while I was
with that first one, just kind of winging it. And I got to a point where I was like, I don't even know if I have anything for this week. And it just kind of got to the point where it was really frustrating. But with the second one, I wanted to be really strategic and I wanted to show up regularly for our audience. Really took time to launch it strategically and saw some really great success with that. Then at the end of 2019, going into early 2020, I thought,
Michael Bernzweig (02:24.684)
Yeah.
Alesia Galati (02:45.804)
You know what? I've been doing this side hustle thing for a while. Let me see if I could launch a podcast for someone else. Then I got let go for my job due to COVID and yeah, it was like the universe was like, Hey, remember that thing you just said a few weeks ago that you were going to do? Let's go ahead and do that. So I launched Galati media at that time and super, super grateful to say that the
Michael Bernzweig (02:56.759)
Great timing.
Alesia Galati (03:14.072)
person who said yes to launching with us is actually still with us to this day, which just is amazing. That was my first client. And yeah, so I've been in the podcasting space for quite a long time, launched over 50 podcasts for clients and myself by this point, managed tons. And I do everything from workshops to done for you services with Galati Media.
Michael Bernzweig (03:23.457)
That is amazing.
Michael Bernzweig (03:42.827)
And I think if you're passionate about something, it shines right through. I think even just listening to your journey, finding what you do want to do, figuring out the things that you don't want to do is as important to figuring out what you do want to do, if that makes sense in a way to arrive at your destination.
you know, it's all part of what makes you the person that you are today.
Alesia Galati (04:13.472)
Yeah. And honestly, I'm so grateful that I've had this time in the online space because I see newbies come in, especially in the last few years and that pendulum swing of like, I got to do the webinars or, I want to do services or no, I'm not supposed to do services. I'm supposed to be selling hundreds of courses. I don't have that because I already went through that in the first, you know, five years. And so now I feel.
Michael Bernzweig (04:40.673)
Sure.
Alesia Galati (04:43.502)
Like every quote unquote failure, AKA lesson that I've learned up to this point has helped me decide like, okay, what kind of business do I want and what kind of business makes sense for me? And also checking in regularly to say, is this still working for me? Which I think is so important for us as business owners, but also content creators too, because there gets to a point where you have to really decide.
Is this where I want to keep going with my podcast, with my content, with my business, with my life?
Michael Bernzweig (05:19.167)
I love it. love it. And, and I want to throw in a shameless plug because obviously in addition to the podcasting business, you also have your own podcast. Is that the podcast thing unlocked?
Alesia Galati (05:33.623)
Yes. So we just hit 200 episodes at the time of this recording, which is really exciting. And I wanted to make sure that I had a podcast that was showcasing my expertise, but also connecting me with other podcasters in the industry. And really the goal of the show is to express to our audience that there's no one right way to podcast.
that you get to decide what works for you. Here are all the strategies and tricks that other people have used. Here are the tips and tricks that I've used, but ultimately you get to decide what's going to work for you.
Michael Bernzweig (06:13.567)
Yeah, and I think it's all a matter of finding your people and your community and figuring out where you can add some value and going back to what we were talking about before, figuring out what you want to do when you wake up every day that makes you happy and brings happiness to your life on this end of it.
Consulting Spotlight has been a lot of fun because in the early years of Software Oasis, I did some consulting myself and a lot of the organizations in the community on the platform are consultants. So, you know, being able to find a space where a lot of the organizations on the platform could speak directly to
the organizations that they're doing consulting for was really important to me to really figure out how to tie all the pieces together and podcasting has been a great way to do that.
Alesia Galati (07:11.298)
Yeah, and I can't imagine also that it helps you with keeping those relationships alive and well nurtured, where maybe someone, you you invite them to your space and you're like, hey, I have this platform that you can go on. And then maybe you go your separate ways and it's not the right time. And then three months later, you can circle back and say, hey, I really love what you do. I'd love to feature you on my show.
have them on your show and that reignites the conversation too.
Michael Bernzweig (07:43.495)
Absolutely. know, being in a B2B tech space, definitely opens up the window because there are so many organizations that, you know, may or may not have the skill set that they need internally to get a lot of the things that they need to get done. Done.
or they may not have the right resources in the house. So sometimes finding a niche subject matter expert is so important. So that's interesting. So when you're working with a new client, what do like, if you were to kind of bullet point.
the key elements of a successful podcast strategy for impact driven businesses. What would that be? Like what are?
Alesia Galati (08:32.268)
Yeah. So I would say first of all, and I've said this to people who have been, Hey, Alicia, I'm ready to pay you money to help me launch my podcast. And I said, you're not ready. So this is a really important part. typically I will work with people who are established in their business. Not to say that they're not experts yet, but they might not be able to articulate yet what it is that they do, how they serve their clients.
Michael Bernzweig (08:42.391)
You
Alesia Galati (09:00.62)
And I don't know that a podcast is the best spot for that, especially if someone is looking for quick sales, their business needs money, right? Like a podcast is really not the thing that you need to be doing next. It's getting in front of your potential clients, talking to them, getting in the DMs, getting in the inboxes. Those are the kinds of activities that you need to be doing. So I would say if you're at that point, then a podcast might not be the right step.
Michael Bernzweig (09:08.447)
Yeah.
Alesia Galati (09:29.772)
a limited series might be an option for you, which we could get into that a little bit later. But when someone wants to launch a podcast to launch it strategically and successfully, one, you have to know exactly who you're talking to and what kind of pain points you are serving them in with your content. So being really clear on what exactly you want to talk about, what does your audience need, and then how can you...
make yourself stand out against the people who are also talking about this. Right? Because even though podcasting is the least, the word I'm coming up with is infiltrated, but that's not the right word at all. there's the least amount of people podcasting as opposed to blogging or YouTubing is where I'm going with this. That
Michael Bernzweig (10:11.071)
Yeah.
Michael Bernzweig (10:20.023)
Right, Accurated, maybe that's the word, right?
Alesia Galati (10:23.636)
Yes, thank you. Even though it's the least saturated content space, there are still other people who are talking about your topic. And so how can you set yourself apart from them? What is that maybe one or two things that really you are against in your industry that you have really big opinions about? How can you talk about those to make sure that you're expressing them in a way that attracts the right kind of people?
Michael Bernzweig (10:51.927)
So what I'm hearing from you is if you're early in your business journey and you're still trying to find that product market fit and still trying to figure out who your people are, a podcast is not the place to do that. But once you've figured all of that out, you've locked in on your ICP, you know who you're trying to get in front of, you've got users on your platform or you've got clients that are up and running in your business that you're providing services to.
Alesia Galati (11:04.707)
Right.
Michael Bernzweig (11:20.723)
it's a great space to find more of those type of clients or more of those type of relationships or just to be able to give back to the community at large.
Alesia Galati (11:31.683)
Yes, any of those things are great goals to have, whether it's you want people to get in for your business, you want to educate your audience. We also work with some nonprofits as well. So theirs is more about impact, nurturing the audience they already have, educating the audience they already have. And obviously it varies depending on which space the nonprofit is in.
But then the second thing that you'll want to do once you're like, okay, I know exactly who I'm talking to and I'm very strategic on this. I've got that down. Awesome. Is don't just launch tomorrow, which is what I see a lot of people do. You know, you'll see programs that are like launching two weeks, launching 24 hours. We actually take two months to launch a podcast. And the reason being that we put about eight to 10 hours of market research at the forefront.
And what that allows us to do is like, doesn't matter if you know your audience, but is podcasting the right space for your audience? And so, yeah.
Michael Bernzweig (12:32.477)
I love it. actually, have a consulting firm in our community that does market research for clients that are going to market with SaaS solutions. And, you know, in speaking with them, the number one thing that just kills them is when a client comes to them after they've launched versus before they've launched because
after you've launched, it's way more expensive to correct what you mucked up in the first place. Doing the research in the first place, you can kind of like go right directly to the core and get to where you need to get to and hit that audience. And maybe there is no audience. Way better to learn that ahead of time before you plunk down all kinds of time and money.
Alesia Galati (13:24.61)
Yes. And so that was one thing that we actually found with one of our clients. And I would say this isn't going to be very common in the podcasting space, especially for business owners. In this case, she wanted to do a podcast on GMOs. She was in the health space and she wanted to do it all about GMOs. What we found from our market research was that there were a lot of episodes about GMOs, but not a lot of podcasts.
about GMOs, meaning there's not a lot you can actually say at this point. This was three or four years ago. So there's not a lot that you could say about GMOs that you can go 50 episodes for. And so what we came back to her with was, Hey, we can launch this for you. Not a problem. We got the trailer plus the three episodes. That's your launch package. But when we go to ongoing, I would recommend doing a limited series instead.
Michael Bernzweig (14:03.351)
Right.
Alesia Galati (14:17.826)
So picking 12 industry experts that you want to talk to, you can kind of bookend this in a really strategic way to be the go-to GMO podcast, right? And so being strategic in that way. And so what that allowed us to do is give her valuable information to be then be able to make a better decision rather than just jumping in and then feeling really frustrated that it wasn't working.
Michael Bernzweig (14:28.823)
Sure.
Michael Bernzweig (14:42.807)
So just backing up a little bit, pulling on the thread of what you just said. When you're doing market research to help a client figure out, does it make sense? How do we move forward? What are the, if you're at a bullet point that the elements, what do you look at in terms of market research to figure it all out for them?
Alesia Galati (15:03.564)
Yeah, so what we look at is what their business is about, what kind of potential clients maybe they're trying to attract or audience members, listeners they're trying to attract from their podcast. We then go into what is the competitors, what are the competitors doing, how are they showing up? We also bullet point how our client can show up different than the people that are already in the space.
And then we also give them a list of potential topics that they could talk about to really hit home for this particular audience.
Michael Bernzweig (15:38.593)
Sure, how do you differentiate your podcast from the pack? Makes a lot of sense. And I could hear in your previous answer that a lot of clients come to you and they say, how do I get leads? How do I get clients? How do I do all of that with my podcast? And it may not always be the space for that is what I'm hearing.
Alesia Galati (16:01.814)
Yes. And so we have to be really clear on what the goal is right up at the front. We had one client where she kept coming to me and she would say, well, I want listeners, but I also want that to get clients from it. And I want this and I want that. I was like, okay, let's set clear goals. What are the clear goals that you want? Do you want to turn? Cause in this case, she was trying to turn her guests into collaborators, clients and connections.
Michael Bernzweig (16:30.39)
Mm-hmm.
Alesia Galati (16:30.444)
which is a great strategy, right? But at that point, you're not worried about the listeners. You don't care how many downloads you get. You're worried about what that conversion rate is for the guest to a client, collaborator or connection. And so I had to go back to that and say, is that still your goal? Cause if that is still your goal, then the listeners don't matter. Sadly. Right? But really it's up to you to decide what your strategy is going to be. And
Michael Bernzweig (16:42.273)
Sure.
Michael Bernzweig (16:52.481)
Great.
Alesia Galati (16:58.542)
if you want to make those connections. And so for her, she was in the SaaS user experience space. And so it made sense that she might not be talking to listeners specifically, but more so showcasing people who she could potentially work with or collaborate with or connect with. And so you get to decide what that looks like, but someone like me can come in and say, all right, let's get clear on those goals.
Michael Bernzweig (17:07.167)
Okay. Yeah, sure.
Alesia Galati (17:25.206)
Okay, from here, here are the things that you need to do over the next six months to actually achieve those goals and create systems around it without just throwing spaghetti at the wall saying, I got new episodes up. It's not working. Right.
Michael Bernzweig (17:38.827)
Right, right. you know, we've tried and it's interesting. We've had kind of a circuitous route, I would say, in our podcasting. Mainly because, you know, the business goes all the way back to the 90s. So, you know, the podcast came later. And the original podcast that we launched was called Software Spotlight, which is focused on software and SaaS and that whole section of tech.
And as we journeyed down the path of podcasting, we really very, very tightly identified who the audience was, who was listening, what they wanted to hear. And what we realized was that a lot of the guests that were showing up on our doorstep were in different areas. And while they weren't, you know,
bad, they just weren't the right guests for that particular podcast. And that's when we really branched off into the other two podcasts. So we now have the software spotlight, we have consulting spotlight, which ties right in with our whole consulting community. And then a lot of, and maybe this is more just giving back, we have a lot of people that are interested in tech and tech careers.
So we launched a career spotlight, which is kind of like bookends to the whole thing and provides a lot of insight, a lot of really nitty gritty, what are the different careers in tech? What is it that you can do in tech? Maybe you're not even in the space and you just wanna figure out how you can get from where you are to where you wanna be. So just three very different.
audiences and three very different types of guests. So, know, niching down, I think is super important because it lets you focus like a laser on your audience and your guests.
Alesia Galati (19:40.983)
Yes. And that's one thing that I found with coming up with new podcasts. So I just launched a hobby podcast this year called We Read Smut, which is all about people who read smut because I've had this bookstagram or bookish Instagram account for the uninitiated for almost three years now where I share book recommendations of books I love.
Michael Bernzweig (19:53.143)
I love it.
Michael Bernzweig (19:59.937)
Yeah.
Alesia Galati (20:06.242)
I don't make any money from it. I get some free books from it, which is pretty cool. And as if you can see my background, a lot of books and I love to read. And I would talk really openly on my podcast about podcasting, about how much I like to read that, you know, I read upwards of 250 books a year and I love to read smut unapologetically and had been fiddling with this idea of launching a podcast.
Michael Bernzweig (20:27.392)
I love it.
Alesia Galati (20:34.922)
And I had to be really strategic with it because there are a lot of bookish podcasts out there. And so how could I make sure that I set myself up differently? And so when I was coming up with it, and I think this is one thing about being in this podcasting space and launching new podcasts regularly is that I'm able to see what's working now rather than, we launched this podcast in 2018 or 2019, and this is what worked then. But like, no, what's working now.
And so what we found was that market research still super relevant and important for people. But then also that setting yourself up for what do I want out of this show and how is it going to be different? So I knew that I wanted to make connections and I wanted to spotlight people that would be helping other listeners who are romance readers.
And one thing that I wanted to do different because a lot of the romance podcasts tend to be review podcasts. And I am a glorified dummy reader in that I base my reviews and my ratings off of vibes. like there was a plot hole, doesn't matter. How did I feel? Right? Like how did the book make me feel?
Michael Bernzweig (21:44.651)
Yeah?
Michael Bernzweig (21:50.583)
brought it up so I'll share with you obviously I've had a entrepreneurial journey from a young age one of the first and earliest businesses that I owned was a paperback bookstore and number one section in that store was romance and the volume of
reading and you know books that the individuals in that section would read you know you understand but would just blow your mind just absolutely voracious readers and just you know really you know it's kind of one of those things that it takes your mind off the world you're in a you're transported to a whole different place and that's the the amazing thing about reading it's the amazing thing about podcasting you can you know
Alesia Galati (22:27.34)
Yes.
Michael Bernzweig (22:46.091)
be in a different space.
Alesia Galati (22:49.27)
Yes, I love it so much. But yeah, it really calls to that point of, all right, how are you going to set yourself up to be different? Which I think is something that a lot of podcasters think that they have to find their way. But you can set yourself up, especially if you already know you're listening, you already know what you're trying to talk about. You set yourself up successfully right out the gate. So
One thing I did was, all right, I know I'm not going to review because I know how that's going to go. No, thank you. And so let me make sure that when I'm highlighting as a woman of color, highlighting black indigenous people of color, making sure that I'm highlighting them. So of season one, 80 % of them were black indigenous people of color, making sure that I'm highlighting marginalized communities across the board. And then also.
alternating between authors, because I don't just want it to be, hey, the listener's only going to show up for this one author, they might not stay for the rest. And so instead, alternating between authors and then other bookish content creators. And then digging a little deeper into the conversations that us content creators are having in our DMs. So the average romance reader might not think about these things.
And so like we had one episode where we talked about how to become a, how to create your own weekend reading retreat at your home, because this one person does a weekend retreat every weekend. And so that is kind of like what she's known for or Hey, here are plus size recommendations for romances. And here are some authors that you should check out if you like want to read more plus size romance. So yeah.
Michael Bernzweig (24:31.273)
And bottom line is AI can't do that. So, you know, it's really something that at the end of the day, you're sharing a unique novel experiences and you're adding to the internet, you're adding value, you know, along the whole hallway. So I guess the other question that comes to mind, you know, obviously you're creating, you know, unique content and in podcasting, are there some purposeful ways in which
Alesia Galati (24:34.358)
Yes, exactly.
Michael Bernzweig (25:01.143)
podcasters can take this content, push it out across different channels to help achieve some of those goals that you talked about at the beginning.
Alesia Galati (25:11.308)
Yes. And this is something that I highly recommend that people do and there's something that we do with our clients and that is repurposing that content. I think so often we have this idea, especially as business owners, that we have to create native or original content on every single platform. Our audience does not have the attention span nor the time to get through all of that stuff.
Michael Bernzweig (25:34.881)
great.
Alesia Galati (25:37.153)
And so if you're someone who says, okay, I can commit to an every other week show. Cool. That is going to be your original content from there. My team, your team, whomever's team, even if you have to do it yourself, you can take that episode, turn it into a blog post, turn it into an email, turn it into a LinkedIn article. I did this for my solo episodes in all of 2024.
And I did every week, I would have a new LinkedIn article. And I was able to grow my LinkedIn newsletter to almost 400 people in just that year, which LinkedIn, one, it helps with SEO because then LinkedIn shows those articles in Google searches. And then two, it goes directly to the subscribers inbox from LinkedIn, which has more authority than say my website and my email.
Michael Bernzweig (26:26.881)
Right.
Alesia Galati (26:31.168)
And so it's really, really impactful and a great way to get in front of your audience and to sell your things or to create that authority that you want. So LinkedIn article is another one. Infographics. Pinterest is slept on so hard by business owners. And I think that it is such an underutilized space. Most of my new subscribers, I think I get anywhere from five to 10 new subscribers every week.
just from Pinterest. So people who are finding my blog posts from my podcast, these are not just new blog posts, these are blog posts made from my podcast. And then in my sidebar, I have my freebies or my, know, maybe that for you, that's your white papers or whatever it is that you have for your audience. So I'm getting new subscri- yes, a free trial, right? Like anything.
Michael Bernzweig (27:22.091)
You got me pegged.
Alesia Galati (27:28.318)
that works for you, then that could be your freebie. And I'm getting people regularly just from Pinterest. And so that's another space. And then you've got, of course, all the social places that you could repurpose that content in different ways, whether it's video, carousels, reels, etc. There's lots of ways to repurpose it. But that's the whole point, right? Is that you get to just create that one episode and then the rest almost makes itself.
Right? Especially if you have a team helping you do it.
Michael Bernzweig (28:00.275)
And one question I have to ask, because it came in in so many different directions and so many forms from so many different people. I think that the number one thing people wanted to know is, speaking directly to a podcaster, if you could share some strategies that you recommend for growing an audience in such a crowded market that we have today.
Alesia Galati (28:24.588)
Yeah, it is so difficult to market your podcast, especially on social media right now. Like if you had tried a few years ago, you would have been great. Right now it is extremely difficult. Just the algorithm and everything going on, censorship, et cetera. There's a lot. The number one way to grow your podcast today is to be a guest on other people's podcasts. That is the number one way because you already have a podcast listener's attention.
Michael Bernzweig (28:54.967)
Sure.
Alesia Galati (28:55.446)
And then your call to action is not, go check out my website or hey, go do this other thing. Get off of your podcast platform and do this thing. It's you're already on your podcast app. Type in my podcast name. Make sure that you hit follow and you'll get new episodes sent to you. All right. It's so easy.
Michael Bernzweig (29:14.487)
And I think that someone has already had the opportunity to say, is Alicia someone that resonates with me? Do I want to check out Podcasting Unlocked? Is it the kind of space I might want to explore? yeah, that's a really, really amazing idea. you almost want to say, so obvious, why didn't I think of that, right?
Alesia Galati (29:23.628)
Yes.
Alesia Galati (29:41.991)
Yeah, I know. And I get it. It can be really hard. You've got the pitching, you've got the navigating the calendars, and then the finally sitting down and then maybe it's a couple of months before it goes out. There's a lot of nuance to it, but we have seen clients double and then triple their download numbers by doing this really strategically.
Michael Bernzweig (30:05.463)
And that leads me to my next question. So thank you for the transition there. So beyond just looking at the numbers, know, how many downloads, all of that, what metrics should podcasters be looking at in terms of measuring success?
Alesia Galati (30:25.154)
Yes. this is one of my favorite questions. So yes, our downloads, that's one that we see it's very in your face, but some things that I would highly recommend that people dig a little deeper into and your hosting platform most likely will not have this information. You're going to have to dig a little deeper on the actual podcast apps. So you should be able to access Apple Podcasts Connect as well as
I want to say it's Spotify for creators or Spotify for podcasters. The website is there. It's super easy to find. And then from there, looking at deeper information of your podcast, what is the completion rate of your podcast episodes? This gives you a lot of information. And it's called the completion rate on one thing. It's called something else on another, but it's pretty much the same, meaning how much of an episode
does your average listener consume? Most of the time, and there's no actual data to say this, but from the clients that we've worked with and what we've seen across the board, anywhere from 60 to 75 % is average for how much of your podcast people will consume. Now what that tells you is that if you have a call to action for your audience, it should be before the 50 % mark.
of your podcast. So if you're someone who has ads and you are getting paid per click or paid per purchase, then you need to make sure that that ad is towards the beginning. Now, it doesn't have to be in the first five minutes unless your podcast is 10 minutes long, right? But it should be in that first 50%. If you plan on mentioning a service that you offer or maybe you have a workshop coming up and you want to make sure that you mention it,
Michael Bernzweig (31:57.814)
Right.
Michael Bernzweig (32:08.097)
Right.
Alesia Galati (32:18.284)
then that is a great place to put that information is in that first 50%. But then what it also can show you is you might have some episodes that get 110 % completion rate, 120 % completion rate. And what that means is that people went back and listened to it again.
Michael Bernzweig (32:38.155)
I love it.
Alesia Galati (32:39.16)
that gives you more information for what is my audience interested in? Because podcast listeners might not necessarily send you a DM or send you an email.
Michael Bernzweig (32:48.545)
Yeah, but they may be sharing it with, you know, one on a company, you know, thread or stream or with other people. They're like, I need it. I need someone else to listen to this. So I have someone to talk to about what's going on on this podcast. It was that good, you know?
Alesia Galati (33:01.75)
Yes, exactly. So things like that. So that one's one that I would highly recommend that people look at every three months at least just to see what's resonating with your audience and if there's any adjustments that you might need to make to the length of your podcast. So I had a conversation with someone recently. She talks to burnt out millennial moms and I noticed that some of her episodes. Yes, plenty. I noticed her episodes were closer to an hour.
Michael Bernzweig (33:21.911)
Thank
Plenty of them out there.
Alesia Galati (33:32.247)
And I said, I'd be curious to look into your completion rates to see how much of your episode listeners are actually listening to. Because if you're serving this demographic of people who are burnt out millennial moms, they want quick tips and they might not have an entire hour to spend with you. Bringing it down closer to 35 minutes might make more sense. And then test that out.
Maybe you have some, I talked to her specifically, said you have some solo episodes that are closer to 30 minutes. What's the completion rate on those? Let's dive into that.
Michael Bernzweig (34:07.083)
and you're in such a unique space because you've been doing this for a while, you're working with so many clients. What do you see as some of the big trends that are coming up over the next few years and in the podcasting space that really excite you?
Alesia Galati (34:23.37)
excited because with the increase of censorship on social media, we are going to see an increase in podcast hosts. So new podcasts coming out, which is really exciting and also a little scary for some of my established podcasters who are like, wait, everybody stay away. This is my space. I get it. And so I'm excited to see new podcasters in the space. I'm excited to see new voices in the space, but I'm also excited to see more money.
Michael Bernzweig (34:37.815)
Sure.
Michael Bernzweig (34:43.446)
Yeah.
Alesia Galati (34:53.034)
in the space because right now we are seeing a influx of ad revenue coming into podcasting and that's really exciting and an increase in talking about podcasting as a way to get your message out there and to not have the censorship. So yeah, that's something that I'm really excited about.
Michael Bernzweig (35:14.783)
And I have to share with you just, you know, it's amazing to me because it's such a deep level of connection to an audience. And I think a lot of advertisers are just missing the boat in terms of, maybe they're looking at specific metrics and trying to decide on podcast advertising versus something else that may not be exactly the same, but.
You know, for us, all three of our podcasts are in the B2B space. They're completely sold out. So, you know, I think, you know, that goes hand in hand with what you're saying. think it's really an amazing time in podcasting because I think, you know, you're able to reach an audience that is very engaged, you know, very focused on some unique topics. And, you know, as long as you're adding value and, know, being
insightful and you know bringing aboard you know topics that are of interest to your audience. think the sky is the limit so it is an exciting time in podcasting. So from this end we're going to leave a link in the show notes for anybody that would like to to reach out but it sounds like you and your team have put together a formula that seems to be working for a lot of different organizations.
Alesia Galati (36:37.612)
Yes, it's something I'm obviously you can tell from how I talk about it. I'm very passionate about podcasting and I want to make sure that yes, we help the, you know, the businesses and the nonprofits that come to us. But even the solo podcasters that are like, I just need a quick help or I need a downloadable that's going to help me get from A to B. I don't need to go to Z. Then having resources for those folks as well is something that I'm equally as passionate about.
Michael Bernzweig (36:56.887)
See ya.
Michael Bernzweig (37:07.677)
And I'm gonna leave it on this note. Are there certain types of organizations that you feel like you're able to add the most value to in terms of the clients that you're connecting with?
Alesia Galati (37:20.278)
Yes, those who are really trying to make an impact with their podcast, whether that's through sales coming into their business or they want to maximize their reach. Those kind also nonprofits are also great space that we really like to be in. We've worked with nonprofits in the education space as well as the investment space. So it's been quite a range, as well as agencies because they get it.
what we're trying to do here. So those ones are always really great clients as well.
Michael Bernzweig (37:49.364)
Sure.
Now, it's, it is, it's a lot of work. I mean, it's not something that just happens on its own. So at the end of the day, there's, there's a ton of value to add there. So, well, anyways, I really appreciate your joining us on the consulting spotlight this week. We've had Alicia Galetti from Galetti Media and Podcasting Unlocked. So thank you so much for joining us on Consulting Spotlight this week.
Alesia Galati (38:19.288)
Thank you for having me, I appreciate it.