RSS.com has released their Free Local and Nice podcast hosting plan, and it's a truly free plan that doesn't limit you based on uploads, hours of content, or duration of episode in feed.
It's a fantastic development for people who want to start a podcast with a little bit less risk.
Here's what it means for you.
Learn more at https://joec.pro/rss (affiliate link)
*Disclosure: I am an evangelist for RSS.com, However, they did not ask me to create this episode; I think it's a truly great think for podcasters.
00:00:01 --> 00:00:05 Welcome to the streamlined podcaster, a podcast
00:00:05 --> 00:00:08 that shows you how to put the right systems in
00:00:08 --> 00:00:11 place so you can stop spinning your wheels, focus
00:00:11 --> 00:00:14 on making great content and see your show grow.
00:00:14 --> 00:00:17 Because there's nothing worse than putting a
00:00:17 --> 00:00:20 ton of effort into your show to see very few
00:00:20 --> 00:00:23 benefits and even fewer downloads. My name is
00:00:23 --> 00:00:26 Joe Casabona and I know you're strapped for time.
00:00:26 --> 00:00:29 So let's get into it. One of the biggest questions
00:00:29 --> 00:00:35 I get from just my audience and podcast coaching
00:00:35 --> 00:00:39 clients is where should they host their podcast.
00:00:39 --> 00:00:43 And there are a lot of services out there. Full
00:00:43 --> 00:00:46 disclosure, I am the evangelist for RSS .com
00:00:46 --> 00:00:50 and so I make content for them. And generally
00:00:50 --> 00:00:54 it's not really something I talk about on the
00:00:54 --> 00:00:59 show, right? I don't want to bias or color anybody's
00:00:59 --> 00:01:04 opinion. I do have a tools page over at streamlinedpodcaster
00:01:04 --> 00:01:09 .com slash tools where I recommend several including
00:01:09 --> 00:01:14 RSS .com. I try to make those recommendations
00:01:14 --> 00:01:19 based on feature needs. So, you know, if RSS
00:01:19 --> 00:01:23 .com just doesn't have a feature that the podcaster
00:01:23 --> 00:01:27 needs, I'll recommend some other host. But today
00:01:27 --> 00:01:30 I want to talk about something Really exciting
00:01:30 --> 00:01:34 that rss .com has released now that we've released
00:01:34 --> 00:01:39 to rss .com and that is the free local and niche
00:01:39 --> 00:01:46 podcast plan free local and niche and so In the
00:01:46 --> 00:01:51 past I have told you I've told people to not
00:01:51 --> 00:01:56 use Spotify for creators Spotify for podcasters
00:01:56 --> 00:02:00 anchor whatever name it was at any given time
00:02:00 --> 00:02:04 and that's because I tell people that if there
00:02:04 --> 00:02:12 is a totally free service Then you are the product
00:02:12 --> 00:02:18 right With Facebook you don't pay for Facebook
00:02:18 --> 00:02:23 Facebook makes money off of your data and gathering
00:02:23 --> 00:02:25 information about you that they can then serve
00:02:25 --> 00:02:29 to advertisers or sell to third parties. Spotify,
00:02:30 --> 00:02:33 you know, this is unsubstantiated. I don't know
00:02:33 --> 00:02:36 this for sure, but Spotify definitely operates
00:02:36 --> 00:02:38 the same way in the advertising space. I don't
00:02:38 --> 00:02:41 know if they sell people's data. I generally
00:02:41 --> 00:02:44 assume that big companies that give stuff away
00:02:44 --> 00:02:49 for free do. Spotify does sell ads and their
00:02:50 --> 00:02:54 The name of their game is content and what they
00:02:54 --> 00:02:57 don't have to do with free podcasts on their
00:02:57 --> 00:03:03 platform is Pay those podcasters a royalty so
00:03:03 --> 00:03:08 it's beneficial for Spotify for creators to have
00:03:08 --> 00:03:11 free hosting because they get Content that is
00:03:11 --> 00:03:13 essentially free to them that they can then sell
00:03:13 --> 00:03:18 ads to and then just give you a cut of anyway
00:03:18 --> 00:03:22 All of this is to say that up until recently,
00:03:22 --> 00:03:27 like today basically, free plans for podcast
00:03:27 --> 00:03:30 hosting have been insufficient. Spotify for creators
00:03:30 --> 00:03:34 does not have the creator in mind and every other
00:03:34 --> 00:03:37 free podcast hosting plan I've seen has fallen
00:03:37 --> 00:03:41 short by putting limits on the number of hours
00:03:41 --> 00:03:45 you can upload or the number of days a episode
00:03:45 --> 00:03:49 stays on a free feed or the Size of the files
00:03:49 --> 00:03:54 that you can upload But RSS calm and again, I
00:03:54 --> 00:03:55 know I gave the disclosure in the beginning,
00:03:55 --> 00:04:01 but I do I'm I get paid by RSS calm RSS calm
00:04:01 --> 00:04:05 has launched their free local and niche plan
00:04:05 --> 00:04:11 what makes this free plan different is that First
00:04:11 --> 00:04:15 of all, it is not limited by anything like the
00:04:15 --> 00:04:20 number of episodes or the amount of hours you
00:04:20 --> 00:04:25 upload, it's strictly limited by features, which
00:04:25 --> 00:04:29 is, I think, how most services should work. You
00:04:29 --> 00:04:33 pay more money to get more stuff. And if you
00:04:33 --> 00:04:38 are offering a free plan that is not billed as
00:04:38 --> 00:04:43 a free trial, then it shouldn't be handicapped
00:04:43 --> 00:04:48 by stuff like that. So the Local and niche plan,
00:04:48 --> 00:04:52 the free local and niche plan has unlimited episodes,
00:04:52 --> 00:04:55 unlimited audio. You get the embeddable podcast
00:04:55 --> 00:04:59 player, a website, episode scheduling, promotional
00:04:59 --> 00:05:01 tools, analytics for up to 90 days. That is,
00:05:01 --> 00:05:05 that's one of the limits, right? I think that's
00:05:05 --> 00:05:09 a perfectly reasonable limit. If data and analytics
00:05:09 --> 00:05:14 are really important to you, then it is reasonably
00:05:14 --> 00:05:17 something that you should pay for. And what you
00:05:17 --> 00:05:19 get on the paid plans, right, are things like
00:05:19 --> 00:05:23 the paid ads, right, programmatic ads inserted
00:05:23 --> 00:05:26 dynamically, the ability to use Apple podcast
00:05:26 --> 00:05:29 subscriptions, converting your audio to video
00:05:29 --> 00:05:32 for YouTube videos, show collaborators and other
00:05:32 --> 00:05:34 power ups. So that's what you get when you upgrade
00:05:34 --> 00:05:37 to a paid plan. And then there's also the podcast
00:05:37 --> 00:05:39 networks plan, which for less than 20 bucks a
00:05:39 --> 00:05:45 month gives you unlimited podcasts, unlimited
00:05:45 --> 00:05:49 team members. Analytics for up to 365 days. I
00:05:49 --> 00:05:51 should say the all -in -one podcasting plan gives
00:05:51 --> 00:05:54 you analytics up to 180 days so you can kind
00:05:54 --> 00:06:01 of see a and it says I should say advanced analytics
00:06:01 --> 00:06:06 So, you know advanced analytics, you know gives
00:06:06 --> 00:06:10 you location time trends and things like that,
00:06:10 --> 00:06:13 so You can see like what your downloads look
00:06:13 --> 00:06:17 like over a certain amount of time But the advanced
00:06:17 --> 00:06:19 analytics, again, I think is something worth
00:06:19 --> 00:06:23 paying for. So. And then the other side of this,
00:06:23 --> 00:06:26 right, which is like a service that's completely
00:06:26 --> 00:06:31 free is probably using you, right? RSS .com has
00:06:31 --> 00:06:34 a business model. Just like you can use Notion
00:06:34 --> 00:06:39 for free and then pay for extra stuff. RSS .com's
00:06:39 --> 00:06:48 paid plans give you more stuff. Spotify for creators
00:06:48 --> 00:06:52 doesn't have a paid upgrade path. And they actively
00:06:52 --> 00:06:56 get people who aren't hosting them with them
00:06:56 --> 00:07:00 to move to them for free. So they're definitely
00:07:00 --> 00:07:03 playing on, you don't want to pay for podcasting,
00:07:03 --> 00:07:07 right? So I love that RSS .com has launched this
00:07:07 --> 00:07:11 plan. It makes podcasting more truly accessible.
00:07:12 --> 00:07:15 to as many people as possible. We're calling
00:07:15 --> 00:07:20 it the free local and niche plan because, you
00:07:20 --> 00:07:25 know, local journalists or small audience podcasters
00:07:25 --> 00:07:28 who just want to get their message out there
00:07:28 --> 00:07:33 shouldn't have to pay a bunch of money a year
00:07:33 --> 00:07:37 for it. And so we've enabled that at RSS .com,
00:07:37 --> 00:07:42 which I love. The other thing I'll say is I've
00:07:42 --> 00:07:46 been seeing other services start to wade into
00:07:46 --> 00:07:52 podcast hosting. So like Kit, formerly ConvertKit,
00:07:53 --> 00:07:57 put out a survey asking about, you know, where
00:07:57 --> 00:08:00 do you host your podcast and would you use hosting
00:08:00 --> 00:08:06 if we offered it? I will be very disappointed
00:08:06 --> 00:08:12 if Kit decides to start hosting podcasts. I am
00:08:12 --> 00:08:17 big on a do one thing well mentality, and there
00:08:17 --> 00:08:21 are a lot of things that Kit can improve before
00:08:21 --> 00:08:26 they wade into the very difficult business of
00:08:26 --> 00:08:30 hosting podcasts. It's not just about throwing
00:08:30 --> 00:08:34 audio up there and having an RSS feed. It's about
00:08:34 --> 00:08:37 being reliable and offering a number of services.
00:08:37 --> 00:08:40 Otherwise, if that was the case, I would just
00:08:40 --> 00:08:44 put all my podcasts episodes on on AWS, right?
00:08:44 --> 00:08:50 If I just need a place to host MP3 files, right?
00:08:50 --> 00:08:54 And so, like, I fear that podcast hosting would
00:08:54 --> 00:08:57 be an incredible distraction for kit .com. And
00:08:57 --> 00:09:01 I'm, this isn't hyperbole. If they start to do
00:09:01 --> 00:09:04 that, then I'm going to look elsewhere for an
00:09:04 --> 00:09:06 email service provider that's truly focused on
00:09:06 --> 00:09:10 email. But I've also noticed that Riverside rolled
00:09:10 --> 00:09:15 out podcast hosting. I love Riverside. I think
00:09:15 --> 00:09:17 that they are the best remote recording tool.
00:09:18 --> 00:09:22 It makes a little bit more sense for them to
00:09:22 --> 00:09:25 possibly try their hand at podcast hosting, but
00:09:25 --> 00:09:30 my early experience is poor. They are missing
00:09:30 --> 00:09:33 some core features like the ability to replace
00:09:33 --> 00:09:37 audio and video for scheduled posts. There's
00:09:37 --> 00:09:42 No website. It's kind of hard to find the RSS
00:09:42 --> 00:09:46 feed. They're really it's not really podcast
00:09:46 --> 00:09:48 hosting. They're billing it as a way to publish
00:09:48 --> 00:09:54 to three places. Spotify, YouTube and Apple podcasts.
00:09:54 --> 00:09:56 And that's great because publishing to those
00:09:56 --> 00:09:59 three places is hard. But, you know, I'm not
00:09:59 --> 00:10:05 seeing. I haven't seen anything that makes me
00:10:05 --> 00:10:11 think. Riverside is worth recommending. Even
00:10:11 --> 00:10:15 if there are workflow gains by not having to
00:10:15 --> 00:10:20 publish in three separate places. And I have
00:10:20 --> 00:10:24 a lot of opinions about podcast hosting. The
00:10:24 --> 00:10:27 reason I work for RSS .com in the first place,
00:10:27 --> 00:10:29 right, or I do work for RSS .com in the first
00:10:29 --> 00:10:32 place, is because I think they offer a really
00:10:32 --> 00:10:35 great product. With a lot of great features and
00:10:35 --> 00:10:38 and they care about the podcasters experience
00:10:38 --> 00:10:46 And so All of this is to say that if you haven't
00:10:46 --> 00:10:49 launched your podcast yet because it's been Cost
00:10:49 --> 00:10:51 prohibitive or you're worried about the long
00:10:51 --> 00:10:56 -term investment I would encourage you to Check
00:10:56 --> 00:11:01 out the free local and niche podcast plan It
00:11:01 --> 00:11:04 gives you so much more than any other free plan
00:11:04 --> 00:11:09 out there. And it gives you a clear upgrade path
00:11:09 --> 00:11:12 when you are ready to start paying for podcast
00:11:12 --> 00:11:15 hosting, which I strongly think you should do,
00:11:15 --> 00:11:19 right? If you are building a business or making
00:11:19 --> 00:11:21 your podcast part of your business. You know,
00:11:21 --> 00:11:25 I talked about this in the hobbies episode. Invest
00:11:25 --> 00:11:30 in your hobby, but Also, if you are making your
00:11:30 --> 00:11:33 podcast a business or part of your business,
00:11:34 --> 00:11:39 invest in that as well. The free local niche
00:11:39 --> 00:11:42 plan allows you to invest those funds elsewhere,
00:11:42 --> 00:11:50 like in a VA or maybe in an editor. But this
00:11:50 --> 00:11:54 makes it easier to get started. And I think that
00:11:54 --> 00:11:57 when you're ready, you can do the upgrade path
00:11:57 --> 00:11:59 and You'll be in a much better position because
00:11:59 --> 00:12:01 you won't have to change hosts or migrate anywhere
00:12:01 --> 00:12:08 or feel like you got spurned or screwed by Spotify
00:12:08 --> 00:12:11 for creators because they've changed the way
00:12:11 --> 00:12:15 they measure things or they did things in the
00:12:15 --> 00:12:19 interests of themselves and advertisers. You
00:12:19 --> 00:12:21 know, the podcast hosting companies that charge
00:12:21 --> 00:12:26 for hosting, their customers Their business relies
00:12:26 --> 00:12:30 on their customers. Advertisers are not their
00:12:30 --> 00:12:33 customers. Their board is not their customers.
00:12:33 --> 00:12:38 We are their customers. And that's a good thing.
00:12:39 --> 00:12:42 So anyway, check out, it's over, you know, I'll
00:12:42 --> 00:12:44 have a link in the show notes. This show is hosted
00:12:44 --> 00:12:48 by RSS .com. So, you know, you can head over
00:12:48 --> 00:12:52 to josee .pro slash RSS. That's my affiliate
00:12:52 --> 00:12:56 link. Or not. Just go to rss .com slash pricing.
00:12:56 --> 00:12:58 If you want to see the free and local plan, check
00:12:58 --> 00:13:01 it out. I'm really, you know, I, nobody asked
00:13:01 --> 00:13:05 me to do this episode. I just think it's in the
00:13:05 --> 00:13:11 grand scheme of how I approach podcasting and
00:13:11 --> 00:13:14 podcast workflows and things like that. And what
00:13:14 --> 00:13:18 people ask me about hosting is a consideration
00:13:18 --> 00:13:23 that everyone needs to make. And this offers
00:13:23 --> 00:13:28 a really great opportunity for people to launch
00:13:28 --> 00:13:32 their podcast with a little bit less stress.
00:13:34 --> 00:13:37 So it lowers the risk of starting a podcast,
00:13:37 --> 00:13:40 which is a great thing. All right. Well, that's
00:13:40 --> 00:13:41 it for this episode. Let me know what you think
00:13:41 --> 00:13:44 over at streamlinedfeedback .com. Thanks so much
00:13:44 --> 00:13:46 for listening. Are you going to try the free
00:13:46 --> 00:13:51 and free local and niche plan? Let me know that
00:13:51 --> 00:13:53 too. I really appreciate you. And until next
00:13:53 --> 00:13:56 time, I hope you find some space in your week.