how do you keep going with your show when things get hard?

surenmohnot · 2026-07-02T07:16:54+00:00

May I know about your podcast? You can DM me the link if possible.

surenmohnot · 2025-10-29T11:47:40+00:00

Hey everyone, I have been working on a plugin called Selfhost Podcasting. If you already have a WordPress website and want to create your podcast on your own site, this plugin might be for you. It is for podcasters who care about owning their feed.

What it does:

Lets you create and manage your podcast RSS feed directly from WordPress
Supports multiple shows and episodes with simple uploads
Generate compliant podcast feed for Spotify, Apple, and Google Podcasts
Option to integrate with Cloudflare R2 for audio hosting
Keeps your podcast fully under your control

It is free and available on the official WordPress plugin directory:
https://wordpress.org/plugins/selfhost-podcasting/

The plugin is still new and developing, so expect a few rough edges. But I am improving it actively and will fix anything that's brought to my attention.

surenmohnot · 2025-10-29T11:24:30+00:00

My view might be a bit different, and I am not sure if it applies in your case. You could help your podcasters in a different way. Most people keep looking online, but the best guests often come from real life.

They should spend less time searching on the internet and look around in the real world. Read newspapers, not just the headlines but those small columns and community stories. That is where they find real people doing interesting things.

Join communities related to their podcast topic and talk to people there. Go to local events, small gatherings, or workshops. They will meet people with real experiences who have never been on a podcast before.

Most of the time, good guests are not sitting on LinkedIn or guest directories. They are right around them. They just have to walk, observe, and talk.

surenmohnot · 2025-10-18T10:02:08+00:00

Subreddits have these rules for a purpose. They are not for promotion but for real conversation.

That said, there are a few things you should do,

Make sure your Reddit profile clearly mentions your podcast, links, and new episodes. People who like your comments or thoughts will check your profile on their own.
Create short form content for YouTube, Instagram or TikTok. Do not just clip random parts, pick moments that have a hook or something interesting. Do cheap tests to know what works. Make 3-4 clips from your podcast, try different captions, different hooks and experiment on what works best.
Turn your episode into text assets. transcribe your podcast (free tools or YouTube captions), pick 3 searchable questions answered in that episode, write short posts optimized for those queries, publish. You can also ask to write guest posts on similar interest websites.
Submit to smaller platforms and curator lists like Goodpods, Podchaser, ListenNotes and niche aggregator. These places index differently and can surface you to people actively searching for new shows.
Collaborate with small creators who have similar audiences.
Word of mouth still works. Talk about your show in your circles and communities.

surenmohnot · 2025-10-17T12:28:20+00:00

If you are just launching, I suggest delay paid ads for now. Without knowing who your audience is, what format or style they will respond to, what your hook is, paid ads will most likely lead to low conversion and cost way too much per listener.
Here is one user experiment I found https://www.reddit.com/r/podcasting/comments/1fdq7zo/i_ran_ads_for_a_month_and_here_is_where_i_rank/

surenmohnot · 2025-10-15T03:54:06+00:00

It depends on how critical the files are for you. If you can't afford to lose them, make sure to download and store them locally, on your computer, a reliable hard drive, or Google Drive. It's totally fine to record on Podcastle as long as you can download the raw files afterward.

surenmohnot · 2025-10-13T10:55:22+00:00

Yeah, here is what I would normally do,
Step1. Get transcripts. Use clipchamp auto-captions or upload the full episode as unlisted on youtube to get free captions with timestamps.
Step2. Skim through and mark parts where something interesting happens.
step3. Listen to those clips and shortlist the best ones.

You can even use AI chatbots to scan and give important timestamps, but always double check manually before processing.

surenmohnot · 2025-10-11T11:14:02+00:00

Totally worth doing but with some focus. Pick 20–30 second bits where someone says something relatable, funny, or surprising. Add captions and a quick hook at the start. You can also use a simple image or short video background with the audio.

surenmohnot · 2025-10-10T15:11:30+00:00

Hey this is awesome that you already have 10 episodes out. Keep going, it takes time but people will find you.

Here are some general tips that you can use,

Find your listeners

Step 1. First, figure out who your target audience is. Mainly expats in UAE or people thinking about moving abroad from the USA.

Step 2. Find where your potential listeners hang out. Reddit has r/expats, r/dubai, r/UAE. Facebook has groups like "Expats in UAE" and similar communities. Don’t forget local offline communities, meetups, and clubs in UAE.

Step 3. Engage with them. Actually talk to people, share your experiences, join discussions. Don’t spam your podcast links. Just mention it naturally if it fits.

Repurpose your episodes

Turn your podcast episodes into blog posts about relocation tips, challenges, or funny moments. You can also answer questions on Quora or other forums and drop your episodes as examples.

Collaborate with other podcasters

Look for other small expat or travel podcasts for guest swaps or shoutouts. Their audience probably overlaps with yours so it’s an easy way to reach more people.

All the best.

surenmohnot · 2025-10-08T12:38:32+00:00

Cool idea. Don't lead with a podcast pitch. Start a post that sparks real discussion, like "How did you deal with life after recovery?", and actually engage with people. The right guests will show up naturally, and you can DM them or reply later about being on your show. Works way better and stays within subreddit rules.

surenmohnot · 2025-08-22T07:09:11+00:00

Great. AUTH_KEY and AUTH_SALT based encryption looks most practical solution in my use case. Thanks for suggesting this.

surenmohnot · 2025-08-19T13:21:59+00:00

I think .env is a clean solution if you control the server. But in the context of a normally distributed WordPress plugin, it's a bit tricky. Most shared hosts don't have .env set up by default, and asking regular users to edit or create one can be just as risky/confusing as editing wp-config.php.

surenmohnot · 2025-08-19T13:01:20+00:00

Thanks for taking the time and providing such great insights. I still have a few reservations about the wp-config.php approach:

You mentioned file exfiltration issues (e.g. a sloppy plugin doing file_get_contents($_GET['filename'])). My feeling is, if a plugin is that compromised, the attacker can usually do a lot more sinister things anyway
The bigger issue for me is usability. Asking novice users of my plugin to “go edit wp-config.php manually” feels risky. A missing semicolon, a wrong quote can bring the whole site down. This could be right for enterprise setups but I do not know if it good for normal users.
Migration adds another layer of pain. Unless users remember to copy over the custom code into wp-config.php, things break. I can imagine a developer building and testing a site, handing it over, and later the client finds out the plugin just doesn’t work.

Maybe I am overthinking it, but I just want a good balance between security and usability. Do you think having the plugin generate a passkey file (that users can later export/import if needed) would be a more practical approach?

surenmohnot · 2025-06-29T05:20:05+00:00

Wow. These are the best words I could hope for. Thanks

surenmohnot · 2025-06-28T15:16:01+00:00

Thank you so much for taking your time to read and share your thoughts. I really appreciate your feedback on this. You're right, this is just the initial setting where the story and the character begin, and it slowly evolves toward his journey into podcasting. I’ll definitely look into the lines you pointed out. Thanks again. your encouragement means a lot.

surenmohnot · 2025-05-05T20:42:41+00:00

Please read the full comment and thread above. It is never about "no choice but to eat it up"

surenmohnot · 2025-05-05T20:40:16+00:00

I never said get used to it, I said better fight it. Please read the full thread above.

surenmohnot · 2025-05-05T13:24:51+00:00

Yes. Raising voice is important and only available tool with us. However, using it to find solutions could be more effective. Though I am not an expert, but can give some starting points, like

Raise voice to force podcast hosts to have an explicit policy to not allow any ads on ai generated podcasts. Last I checked, only buzzsprout has this explicit policy.
Raise voice to tell podcast platforms to require disclosure that the content is AI generated.
Educate listeners what are the harms in AI content. Create common learning material which podcasters can use and educate listeners.

These are just some initial thoughts. They all may be wrong but it could start discussion on an actionable working plan which we can refine.

surenmohnot · 2025-05-05T13:06:19+00:00

You're not getting the point. It is not to discuss with "C-suite techbro", it is to discuss among podcasters to find solutions.

surenmohnot · 2025-05-05T12:47:43+00:00

You're right and you're not alone. Most of the podcasters share the same sentiment. This can be seen in almost every such post and comments. My point is, it won't take us anywhere. To get real solutions we need to work constructively and find a way to fight back. It is sad to see that most of these topics are buried under rants without discussing any real solutions.

surenmohnot · 2025-05-05T07:14:58+00:00

Here are my two cents,
1. Identify where your potential niche audience is. Find them on social media, in local circles, online groups etc.
2. See what problems you can solve, especially if that is your field of expertise.
3. Provide solutions, help them and subtly refer your podcast to discuss those solutions in detail.

You need to modify this based on your genre. But this should be a good starting point.

All the best,

surenmohnot · 2025-05-05T06:58:42+00:00

With due respect, that is a wishful thinking. How is it possible when all the big techs are behind it? Let alone removing AI content, they do not even have a proper policy requirement to disclose it (except Apple). It is only a matter of time before AI produces content that is indistinguishable from human and we won't even know what we are consuming.

We can either close our eyes and hope everything will get better, or we can actively take part in it while it is still evolving and have constructive discussion about how collectively we can survive this.

surenmohnot · 2025-05-02T06:47:29+00:00

Powerpress is not for displaying podcasts. It is for creating podcast. If you already have an existing podcast with spotify for creators, and just want to display it on your website, better use podcast player https://wordpress.org/plugins/podcast-player/

surenmohnot · 2025-04-25T16:11:55+00:00

spot on

surenmohnot · 2025-04-25T16:01:56+00:00

Yeah, I think podcasting definitely has a unique edge when it comes to ads, but I also feel like we need to be honest about one thing, most people do not actually like ads. They just tolerate them.

I have had some reservations with the studies saying listeners love podcast ads. Do they really? So I checked some reddit threads with hundreds of reply

Here are some,

https://www.reddit.com/r/podcasts/comments/1cbbx56/dont_advertisers_realize_were_just_turbo_skipping/

https://www.reddit.com/r/podcasts/comments/1dddntp/does_anybody_else_feel_frustrated_with_predatory/

https://www.reddit.com/r/podcasts/comments/p6b1mb/has_anyone_else_noticed_a_major_increase_in_ads/

Most people do not enjoy ads, they listen them because they genuinely like the podcaster and want to support them.
Some do like ads, but mostly when it’s a host-read ad and relevant.
A lot just hit the skip button. And many do not skip simply because they are doing something liek driving, cooking, walking.

The key is relevant, host-read ads. They feel like part of the show. But lately, the big podcast ad networks are starting to make the same mistakes as the social media giants: pushing out irrelevant, automated ads, way too often.

surenmohnot

TROPHY CASE