Podcasting Is Dead - So I Recorded 24 Episodes Anyway

Hey everyone, Austin Dandridge here!

When I hit “record” for the very first episode of The Marketing Factor last spring, I didn’t have a grand media plan in mind. I’d been running Cobble Hill for thirteen years and found myself craving unfiltered conversations that I generally have with business owners. My goal was to capture those builder-to-builder chats and share them with the rest of us who learn best by hearing how someone else wrestled a blank sheet of paper into a brand.

Fifty-two Wednesdays later we’ve logged 40+ hours of raw conversation, 25 guests, and 20K downloads. I debated Discord communities with Emmett Shine, bootstrapping with Krista Leray, brand archetypes with Peter Kang, and micro-influence with Jackie Thomson. I’ve filled two notebooks and a hard-drive with ideas. Distilling them down was brutal, but here are the ten insights that changed how I think and work:

1. “Brand is a living promise.” — Emmett Shine
   Every touchpoint is a receipt for a vow you already made. Let it slip and customers notice before you do.

2. Generosity compounds. — Krista Leray
   Give away something that hurts a little, education, transparency, slack, and the right people stick around.

3. Narrative beats novelty. — Peter Kang
   Launches that read like the next chapter (not a whole new book) turn customers into co-authors.

4. “Feature bloat sells this quarter; subtraction sells forever.” — Tony King
   Add less, obsess more. Simpler products travel further on word-of-mouth fuel.

5. “If your site copy can’t fit on a Post-it, start deleting.” — Dan Kenger
   Eyes glaze after ~40 words. Editing is a growth lever.

6. Community > channels. — Jackie Thomson
   The most valuable metric is bodies in a room, not followers on a feed.

7. “Profit is a lagging indicator of clarity.” — Max Berry
   Get the product, price, and promise ruthlessly aligned first; the revenue shows up as a side-effect.

8. “Stop chasing virality—earn locality first.” — Tanner Sutton
   Own one zip code (or micro-niche) so completely that spillover becomes inevitable.

9. Win your first 100 fans.
   A tight inner circle who buys everything and evangelizes is the cheapest paid media on earth.

10. Marketing should feel like friendship.
    Show up curious, generous, and unforced—or expect to eat alone at the dinner party.

Where I think podcasting goes next

• AI makes filler unforgivable. We’ll clip ums and tangents in seconds, so the bar for keeping ramble inside the final edit is sky-high.

• Short-form video is kingmaker. A 90-second TikTok that nails a single insight will drive more net new listeners than a guest’s PR blast.

• Contextual sequencing beats chronology. Listeners want “the three-minute take on influencer seeding” grouped with other seeding clips, even if they were recorded months apart.

• Personal narrative has to earn its keep. Background stories still matter, but only when they unlock empathy or a tactical takeaway.

• Niche depth trumps mass reach. A 5,000-subscriber show that owns “email retention for indie beauty brands” can sell out a workshop overnight; a 50K general-marketing show can’t.

Practically, that means you’ll start seeing tighter 25-minute episodes, more LinkedIn and TikTok snack-clips, and the occasional multi-guest round-table when a topic demands competing viewpoints.

If you missed any of the conversations that shaped these insights, every episode lives on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts. Hit subscribe so the next one lands automatically.

Finally, thank you. Whether you listened while commuting, shared an episode with a colleague, or sent me a follow-up question, you turned a side experiment into the most energizing habit of my week. I’m doubling down for year two and I hope you’ll ride along.

Some of my most popular episodes

P.S. You’re receiving this email because you’re a friend or supporter of Cobble Hill. If you no longer wish to receive these, no worries - just unsubscribe. If you know someone who would benefit from this content, I’d appreciate it if you’d share it with them!

If you’re new, here’s how you can follow along with my weekly podcast:

→ Weekly episode on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple. Every Wednesday.

→ Short-form content on LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok.