Sound Strategy with Lucas Dickey: The Most Meta Podcast About Podcasting Ever - Navigating The Podcast Profit Map: SEO, Audience Growth, and Monetization Strategies with Adam Schaeuble

Navigating The Podcast Profit Map: SEO, Audience Growth, and Monetization Strategies with Adam Schaeuble

05/09/25 • 51 min

Sound Strategy with Lucas Dickey: The Most Meta Podcast About Podcasting Ever

IN THIS EPISODE: Podcasting entrepreneur Adam Schaeuble reveals how creators can transform their podcasts from hobby projects to sustainable businesses by implementing strategic naming, focused content creation, and smart monetization approaches.
TOPICS: Monetization, Content creation, Podcasting, SEO, Marketing
KEY FIGURES: Charlie Munger, Tim Ferriss, The Great Mental Models, Joe Polish, Justin Welsh, TikTok, LinkedIn, YouTube, Dave Jackson, Voxer, Threads, Amy Porterfield, Rob Walsh, Allison Melody, Adam Schaeuble, Podcasting Business School
SUMMARY:
Adam Schaeuble shares his journey from gym owner to podcast business coach, urging creators to treat podcasting as a business with the passion of a hobby. He advises starting with one strong weekly episode and building a focused, searchable brand. Schaeuble shares his monetization tactic—the “14-day coaching offer”—and emphasizes audience clarity and platform strategy. By simplifying his output and focusing on key channels like Threads, he’s grown income while reducing effort.

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KEY QUOTES:
• "As content creators, as podcasters, we get to do something that 99 point whatever percent of the humans on earth never get to do, and that is impact complete strangers." - Adam S
• "Love your podcast like a hobby, build it like a business." - Adam S
• "If you can't produce a weekly episode, I'm like, oh, that's a little spicy hot take. If you can't produce a weekly episode, say you're not an expert at what, at the topic that you're trying to podcast on." - Adam S
• "We get excited and we try a more complex solution where a simple solution would work better." - Adam S
• "If you keep showing up for your audience, they will keep showing up for you." - Adam S
KEY TAKEAWAYS:
• Successful podcasters should focus on a singular, clear call-to-action and avoid overwhelming listeners with multiple requests
• The podcast naming strategy should include two key search keywords, clearly indicate the show's topic and target audience, and optimize the first word for SEO
• Podcasters can monetize effectively by starting with a simple, focused offer like a 14-day coaching package before scaling to more complex offerings
• Less content can be more powerful: podcasters should prioritize quality over quantity and focus on platforms and strategies that genuinely work for their audience
• Audio podcasting remains viable and powerful, despite pressure to create video content across multiple platforms
• Consistent content delivery (weekly episodes) is crucial for maintaining audience engagement and routine
• Podcasting offers a unique opportunity to impact strangers' lives in meaningful ways, with less than 1% of people having this ability
• Organic discovery through strategic SEO and keyword optimization is more e

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Previous Episode

Anchoring Knowledge: Metacast's Journey to Transform Podcast Retention with Arnab Deka & Ilya Bezdelev

IN THIS EPISODE: Metacast founders explore the potential of transcript-based podcast technology to enhance content discovery, retention, and user experience while preserving the authentic connection between podcasters and their audience.
TOPICS: AI, Podcasting, Discovery, Transcripts, technology
KEY FIGURES: Google, Apple, Artificial Intelligence, Spotify, YouTube, Jason Fried, 37signals, ChatGPT, Joe Rogan, Neil de Grasse Tyson, Tim Ferriss, Descript, Josh Waitzkin, Whisper, Transistor, Overcast,
SUMMARY:
In this episode, hosts Lucas and Allison interview Metacast co-founders about their app that enhances podcast listening through transcript technology. Frustrated with platforms that don't help users navigate content effectively, they identified podcasting's key problem: linear audio is difficult to reference, while transcripts offer interactive, searchable engagement. The conversation explored transcription challenges, AI's potential, and preserving authentic host-listener connections while improving discovery and retention.

The founders also discussed podcasting's landscape, noting its decentralized nature as both strength and weakness. This openness enables barrier-free content creation while complicating discovery. Their vision for Metacast is making podcast content more accessible and valuable by addressing retention needs current platforms don't fulfill, while maintaining the authentic human connection listeners value.

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KEY QUOTES:
• "The beauty is the decentralized nature of podcasting. I don't need a sponsor to go create a show, unlike I would need to for TV." - Arnab Deka
• "If you want to humiliate someone, publish what they said verbatim." - Ilya Bezdelev
• "I want to listen to Neil DeGrasse Tyson talking eloquently in a hilarious way about the historical mishaps that has led to us doing this. I'm there for that connection to his voice and the way he describes this rather than just the facts out of it." - Arnab Deka
• "The cool thing about podcasting is that it's not censored. During COVID, while YouTube would shut down anything not approved by CDC, in podcasting you could always get the RSS feed and load it into another player." - Ilya Bezdelev
KEY TAKEAWAYS:
• The decentralized nature of podcasting is simultaneously its greatest strength and weakness, allowing anyone to create content while making discovery and quality assessment challenging
• Current podcast apps fail to adequately leverage transcripts, often treating them as a passive feature rather than an interactive tool for navigation and information retrieval
• Podcast discovery remains a significant challenge, especially for niche or new shows, with most listeners currently discovering podcasts through recommendations from other podcasts
• Knowledge

Next Episode

Signal and Story: Maribel Quezada Smith on Media, Identity, Independence, and Impact

IN THIS EPISODE: Media producer Maribel Quezada Smith discusses her path to creating meaningful content, the importance of understanding diverse audiences, and the future of creator-driven media production.
KEY FIGURES: Faybeo'n Mickens, Alex Santiago, Diferente Creative, BIPOC Podcast Creators
SUMMARY:
MQS, founder of Diferente Creative, recounts her journey from a high school broadcasting enthusiast to a seasoned media producer, shaped by her entrepreneurial upbringing and her grandparents’ resilience. Initially challenged by barriers to entering journalism school, she laid the groundwork for her career through early internships and a self-initiated high school broadcasting program. After working in unscripted television on true crime and reality shows, she pivoted to podcasting in Phoenix, launching the ‘Differente’ podcast as a creative outlet that grew into a media production company. With an MBA and strong technical skills in video editing and production, she successfully bridged business acumen with content creation. In the episode, she underscores the importance of audience insight, authenticity, and inclusivity in media, forecasting a future where creators wield greater control, bypass traditional networks, and form direct brand partnerships while retaining ownership of their intellectual property.

Want to bank the long-form summary of this episode in your knowledge base? Visit the blog version of this episode here.

KEY QUOTES:
• "I think that at the end of the day, if you're a creator or someone who knows how to make content in a really strong way, and you have that storytelling ability and you can find a way to build your audience... you don't need the networks anymore because you can go direct to brand and make that money, make more money that way and keep your IP." - MQS
• "You need to be very, very, very clear about what it is you're offering and what makes you unique from the beginning. That boils down to storytelling." - MQS
• "At the end of the day a producer gets shit done. You tell me what you need, that's honest and we just get it done." - MQS
KEY TAKEAWAYS:
• Meaningful content requires understanding your audience deeply, asking questions, and having diverse perspectives represented in the creative process
• Building a successful media production company requires leveraging existing professional experience, personal branding, and strategic planning
• Producers are essentially generalists who 'get things done', particularly in digital media where they must handle multiple aspects of content creation
• The future of content creation is shifting towards creators having more direct power, bypassing traditional networks and maintaining their own IP
• Entrepreneurial success often depends on having a supportive ecosystem, including financial and personal support that allows risk-taking
• Audio quality and editing for listeners remain