How to Build a Million Dollar Audience with Podcast Legend David Hooper of Big Podcast

First Class Founders: Creators | Solopreneurs | Personal HoldCo

06/07/23 • 35 min

E34: Today's episode is a masterclass in audience building by none other than podcast legend David Hooper. He's worked with big clients including AT&T, RunDMC, Victoria's Secret, and Fedex.
David and I spoke at length about how his career shaped up over the years and discussed several things, such as how living and growing up in the Music City influenced his career, the long journey from a college radio host to podcast marketing consultant, ideas and strategies to grow a big audience, which he picked up from his years in the radio and podcasting business, as well as several anecdotes from his interactions with celebrities in the music business.
Let's get down to business!

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EXCERPTS:
Building a Smaller But More Engaged Audience: "You can be more successful having a smaller operation. So that's kind of the counterintuitive thing for podcasting that I think people miss."

— David Hooper (27:55)
The Power of Niche Podcasting: "But I will tell you that I've gone with the production that I've done as niched down as a per neighborhood podcast only for this neighborhood. And we have made more money CPM cost per thousand out of any other thing I've ever been involved with."
— David Hooper (28:38)
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TOPICS:
[00:07:03] David Hooper: From American Bandstand Fan to Radio Jock
[00:08:35] People Don't Care About Your Stuff As Much As You Do
[00:11:12] From Radio to Music Conference to Podcasting
[00:15:49] Lessons for Founders: Pivoting for Audience Engagement
[00:17:40] Be Open and Flexible in Your Creative Journey
[00:21:40] Winning by Twinning: Be Relatable, yet Aspirational
[00:27:12] How to Increase Your Sponsorship CPM by Niching Down
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LINKS:

BigPodcast.com
Justin Gordon's Episode

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First Class Founders is a show for indie hackers, bootstrapped founders, CEOs, solopreneurs, content creators, startup entrepreneurs, and SaaS startups covering topics like build in public, audience growth, product marketing, scaling up, side hustles, holding company, etc.
Past guests include Arvid Kahl, Tyler Denk, Noah Kagan, Clint Murphy, Jay Abraham, Andrew Gazdecki, Matt McGarry, Nick Huber, Khe Hy, and more.
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06/07/23 • 35 min

First Class Founders: Creators | Solopreneurs | Personal HoldCo - How to Build a Million Dollar Audience with Podcast Legend David Hooper of Big Podcast

Transcript

Yong-Soo Chung [00:00:00]:
The other day, David Hooper was at his local Whole Foods in Nashville, Tennessee, when something curious happened.
David Hooper [00:00:07]:
And one of the things you do after Whole Foods is you sort your stuff. You put the plastic here, the glass here, the compost here. And I finished my meal, and I'm up there trying to sort things, and I don't know what goes what. There's a guy next to mhm me, he doesn't know what goes what. And I looked at him and he looks

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