Caveat City: "22 Useful Concepts for Podcasting, Marketing, and Audience Growth in 2026"

Caveat City is a recurring self-imposed counterweight installment to any advice or statements I share that may accidentally border on sweeping or non-specific

Welcome to Caveat City

Population: creators who understand that “it depends” is a legitimate answer. I’m the acting Mayor of our great municipality. Glad to have you with us.

Caveat City is a recurring segment in the This & That newsletter that will usually follow an issue where I might have shared broad or non-specific ideas about podcasting, marketing, or content making.

My goal is to always deliver actionable to-dos for readers, and when I cannot do so (or I re-read something later on and realize there could be some nuance added), I’ll bring you to CC.

Caveat City comes from the idea that unfortunately, advice often spreads when it’s simple and straightforward. And this can be a good thing. But it can also lead creators to believe things can only be done one way. And that’s not true! What works for you and your audience doesn’t work for all.

So, let’s widen out on a few things from the article I published here:

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1. “Be Specific” → but know that specificity can also box you in

Specificity means you’ll come to know your community in and out. You’ll learn how to serve them and to be in conversation with them. But, it may be worth experimenting every so often with a wider message.

And especially when you’re getting started, you can:

• Test broadly before narrowing down

• Evolve your focus and be transparent about that process as you go

• Outgrow the parameters you originally set for yourself

Sometimes you’ll discover your niche and the audience therein by publishing consistently, not necessarily by defining that niche in advance.

Example: I’ve been writing EarBuds for 9 years. It has changed a lot over that time. And I’m ok with that because I would make it whether there was a huge audience or none at all.

Questions to ask yourself:

• Does this niche really matter to me?

  • AKA will I want to be doing this a year from now?

  • Do I have a real stake in it?

• If I have a plan to monetize, do I understand that I’ll need to be very pointed in my sponsorship outreach?

  • Do I know that tracking specific metrics will be key in this effort?

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2. “Community Is a Distribution Strategy” → but not every room is strategic to be in

Collaboration compounds… but not automatically. You probably knew this without knowing it.

• Not every guest appearance converts

  • You could pitch yourself to be a guest and then be a great guest on tons of shows, but you’ll need to do some experimenting to see which shows / niches / audience pick up what you’re putting down

• Not every panel leads to alignment

  • And that’s ok! It’s all data. And if one of your goals is to get better at public speaking (or even honing your message), practice is practice.

Questions to ask yourself:

• Does this partnership share values and audience with me and mine?

• Is the upside mutual for everyone involved?

• What’s the time cost? And am I ok with potentially “wasting time?”

  • I put “wasting time” in quotes because I’m of the belief that nothing is a waste of time — it’s all data — but if you are balancing your creative work with full time responsibilities, this might be a consideration.

See here for a conversation I had with Shreya Sharma of Podcast Marketing Magic on tracking metrics beyond downloads and how to calculate ROI for time spent:

📈Beyond Downloads: What Metrics You Should Be Tracking for Your Podcast🎧

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3. “Consistency Builds Routine” → but sustainability is the piece that builds longterm growth / career

Publishing weekly (or with regularity) is not virtuous. Don’t do it just because you think you should. Being consistent without capacity can lead to burnout. You might just get sick of it!

Sustainable consistency, though, can mean:

• Seasonal publishing

  • And! Seasons look different for all creators and at different stages in your creative project

  • They could be 8 weekly episodes and then a 2 month break

  • They could be 1 monthly episode for a year and then a 3 month break to analyze and iterate

  • Or anything in between

• Transparency with your audience

  • If you’re changing up the cadence of your work, let listeners know what’s up. As much as you can, let them know why things are shifting (you can be as personal as you’re comfortable).

• Publishing when there’s actually something worth publishing

  • Don’t put out a shitty episode or issue of the newsletter or YouTube video just because you think you have to for the sake of consistency.

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4. “Loyal Fans > Big Downloads” → but scaling your show or goals isn’t antithetical to that

Loyalty from your niche audience is powerful, but if scaling your impact by way of more downloads, followers, or engagement is a goal, the two can coexist.

If you’re building towards an ad-supported show, seeking network partnerships or distribution deals, or raising money, reach and deep engagement matters.

For this, I come back to: test, test, test, and then double down on what’s working. It’s reasonable to assume that if you’re getting feedback, comments, email replies, and other forms of engagement consistently… that there’s more where that came from.

Go back through your podcast backend, your newsletter views and stats, or your YouTube dashboard. See which installments of your work performed. Notice patterns. Try another installment using what you’ve learned from audience feedback.

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5. “Own Your Channels” → but don’t let that stop you from starting something small now

Yes, you should build your email list and have it available to you as a communication channel with your audience.

But in order to start building that, you can start easy:

• If you already have a website, create an email capture form that pops up when someone visits (or have it strategically placed elsewhere on the site)

• If you use podcast website service like Podpage, gopod.io or even your hosting provider’s native web builder, insert an email capture form

• Create a free account on beehiiv, Substack, Ghost, or any other email service provider — set up your email capture form and don’t worry about the subscriber numbers yet.

• Throw your new subscribe form into your show notes, onto your social media bios, and tell your audience about it.

  • I’ll write more at another time about how to make a newsletter that differs enough from your podcast or YouTube channel

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6. “Some People Will Pay You” → but be aware that timing matters

The path to monetization is delicate — and it can be a long one. Launch your Patreon too early and listeners or followers will wonder what you’re actually gonna give them (you haven’t proven yourself yet). Launch it too late and people will wonder why they should pay now after getting all of this great free stuff for so long.

But, there’s a middle ground: ask their appetite for paid memberships early on, find out what types of perks they’d be interested in. And when the time comes, be transparent with your audience about what you’re doing, why you’re doing it, and how you’ll use their money.

Speaking of, you can support my work here 😜

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7. “Test Local” → but know that building relationships is work

IRL events are awesome — both from an attendee and an organizer POV. I do both pretty often. But they’re also logistically complex, physically tiring, and hard to scale. Though, of course, scale may not be your goal.

A cool example: I met a creator recently who actually started their podcast as a live event (recording each installment to later be edited and published). Attendees are added to a mailing list when they sign up to attend — the host of the show will later use this mailing list for marketing.

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8. “This Is Still Fun” → it really just is (or should be)

No real caveat here. I just think you should be having fun / feel energized by your work.

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The Bigger Point of It All

The internet (AKA web crawlers, people looking for quick wins, and marketing “guru” types trying to sell you a course) loves…

• “You must publish weekly!”

• “You must be on video!”

• “You must niche down!”

• “You must monetize immediately!”

These are fun proclamations. And they’re offered with a sense of certainty that no one has business giving.

To all of that, I say: Learn from others. Borrow frameworks. Study what works. And then TRY IT YOURSELF.

Track your own data and metrics that matter to you —> Adjust to your own energy and capacity —> Design around your own goals. And most importantly, be flexible, iterate, and be transparent with your audience about what you’re changing and why.

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Caveat City Citizen Spotlight

Each time we come to Caveat City, I’ll share a Citizen Spotlight — introducing you to a creator that embodies nuance in their creative work.

Citizens might be…

• A reader who tested an idea and learned something unexpected

• A creator who followed the broad advice, didn’t like it, pivoted, and found some success

• Someone who bucks the best practices norms

If this is you (or someone you know), hit reply or leave a comment.

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Mayoral Notes

As Mayor of Caveat City, my official platform is simple: there are no universal rules! Please reject (or at least question) it when you see big statements being thrown around willy nilly.

See You at The Next City Council Meeting

We’ll go to Caveat City whenever a trip is merited (see #3 for more on that). And if you’d like to run for office (or at least Citizen Spotlight), let’s talk!

—Arielle Nissenblatt