We asked host Steff Garrero to tell us a bit more about the process, what listeners can expect – and what they hope subscriptions on Spotify can do for the podcast.

You’ve just launched The Socially Distant Sports Bar Extra on Spotify – tell us more about your bonus content offering and why you decided to launch this?

Distant Pod Extra is an extended version of The Socially Distant Sports Bar. We’re not going to just be adding content for the sake of it though – if people are paying for it then it needs to be even better than what we already create. So there’ll be a whole section in the middle of the podcast which is just for subscribers. There are 3 of us on the pod me, Mike Bubbins and Elis James and each week we bring 6 sports clips from YouTube, a documentary and a book for us to riff around, it’s a sports format but it’s very much a comedy podcast. So 3 of the sports clips we talk make up the bonus content.

Why did you decide to go with the type of bonus content that you chose to go with?

If you’re going to start asking people pay directly for content then you have to make sure that you’re providing them with something worthwhile – something which they feel happy about spending their money on. We wanted it to be a whole section of the show which is just for them – still a part of The Socially Distant Sports Bar – but not a tag on just to make money. The bonus content on its own is longer and hopefully funnier than most other pods! We also think that the bonus section being in the middle of the pod rather than the start or end makes it feel like you’re missing out on something if you don’t subscribe, rather than it being an add on if you do.

Did you already have a subscription content offering prior to launching on Spotify?

We’ve been running a Patreon subscription for the past 15 months or so and it works really well in terms connecting with the audience. We’ve been offering various different levels of subscription which get you various different gifts. The audience have been amazing in supporting us financially via Patreon – Global DAX have been great with bringing in a regular advert revenue for us too.

The only drawback of Patreon is that the RSS feeds don’t work on Spotify – we have a large section of our audience who want to support us financially but love the way that Spotify app works. Linking up with Spotify makes perfect sense for us and adds to the ways in which we can reach the biggest possible audience. They were amazing at promoting us when we first launched in March 2020. We’re an independent podcast with no huge media machine behind us, so the help Spotify gave us at the start meant a lot.

Do you think there is an ideal time/audience size you think creators should consider before they go ahead with bonus content?

I don‘t think it’s about size or timescale when it comes to bonus content or asking for subscriptions.

It’s about engagement. If people are reacting to what you’re creating then there’s an emotional response – they like you a lot (or they don’t!) If your completion rate percentages are very high then your audience like what you’re doing and 5-10% of them might be prepared to pay for more content.

Realistically, unless you’re in the top 10 podcasts in the UK then the advertising revenue alone isn’t going to sustain your product long term.

Have you tweaked your bonus content based on audience feedback? Why and how?

When we started our subscription model we spread the bonus content throughout the episodes. The audience would get 30 minutes more than the free version but it was hard for them to identify where the content was within the pod – it was longer but it was too slick. So we rejigged it so that one of the sections of the show went fully behind a pay wall. The length of the free version stayed exactly the same, but moving part of the show to subscription only worked really well for us in two ways. The audience we already had could identify where the bonus content was and make a decision on the quality of it more easily; it also provided the incentive for far more of our audience to subscribe to the bonus content because they felt they were missing out.

Are there any best practices you’d like to share for podcasters looking to produce their own bonus content, but haven’t started yet?

It has to be part of the product you’re already creating and your heart needs to be in the extra content too. If it’s just an add on to make money then people will feel short changed pretty quickly. The same production values, the same effort & energy from your hosts are needed for it to be a success.

There are a million podcasts out there, streaming platforms and subscription channels – what makes your content stand out for your audience demographic? Podcast listeners are, on the whole, a loyal bunch. But that loyalty and trust goes two ways. If you launch something substandard just to get money in, it will damage your brand.

Listen and subscribe to The Socially Distanced Sports Bar Extra on SPOTIFY!

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This post was created in partnership with Spotify.

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Who are you and what’s your podcast about?

I’m Adam Read, I’m the co-creator of the production company The Chancer Collective and the podcast Podcaster.

Podcaster came about when we wanted to make a show that wasn’t reliant on having to work around the schedule of a main host. So we had the idea to create a character called V-The Voice of Pod, who asks the guests all sorts of random and simple questions that they might never have thought about before, whilst also promoting the podcast they host.

There are a LOT of podcasts out there, which means the potential for a show to run and run, and not struggle to find guests that fit a certain criteria.

What was the first podcast you ever listened to?

This American Life back in 2013. An old co-worker told me about it and as soon as I listened to my first episode, I binged on others. Around that time, like everyone else, I also got hooked on Serial and a show called Film Junk.

Cats or dogs?

A Podcaster classic question. I’d go for a dog. I’ve been asked by neighbours to feed their cats whilst they’re away, and recently I dog-sat for a few days. The dog was a lot more fun.

Which podcasts do you take inspiration from?

There isn’t really a podcast we took inspiration from. I was a producer on Big Brother years ago and there was always something interesting in calling a housemate to the diary room, asking them a question, then just sit a listen to them answer with no interruptions.

We wanted to create an experience for our guest’s that was different to being on any other podcast. Some of them assume that it would be me asking the questions and we drop V’s voice in later, but we don’t. The guests are left alone to answer her questions, and we love seeing how each of them reacts to filling a quiet space by basically thinking aloud.

Who’s your dream guest for the podcast?

Can I have two? If not, then Fearne Cotton. Happy Place is a really nice show, something we all need right now and I think she’d have fun in the Podcaster chair.

If I can have two, Chris Gethard. His show Beautiful / Anonymous is so simple, yet the random conversations he has with his guests are always really captivating and he handles them brilliantly.

What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learnt so far as a podcaster?

No matter how much time you prep for a series or schedule guests, have a plan B in case something unexpected comes up. The beauty of making podcasts is that they can be relatively easy to set up and record, so if a guest pulls out last minute and the show is due to drop in a couple of days, what have you got in your back pocket that can be turned around quickly? If you rely on guests, can the show change slightly for an episode to just feature you?

What are you too afraid to try?

Another Podcaster question we ask our guests. Easy, skydiving. I don’t trust having a bit of fabric rolled up in a backpack to stop me falling to my death. No way.

Where can the Pod Bible readers find out more about you?

The podcast is available at Acast as well as the usual other platforms. Or you can find us on Twitter at @podcasterpod and Instagram at @podcasterpod.

We hope any new listeners out there will not only enjoy our podcast, but also then go on to enjoy the shows that our guests make.

Listen to Podcast on ACAST, SPOTIFY and all other popular podcast apps.

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POD BIBLE: Who are you and what’s your podcast about?
JAY RAYNER: My name is Jay Rayner, I am a journalist, writer and broadcaster, possibly best known as the restaurant critic for The Observer and for my judging on MasterChef. In Out To Lunch, I take big names – the likes of Mel C of the Spice Girls, actor Richard E. Grant and comedian Romesh Ranganathan – out to a great restaurant, where terrific food lubricates the chat. In the current lockdown, we’re now staying In For Lunch, talking over video link with cracking take-aways. The series includes the likes of singer George Ezra, film director Edgar Wright, former Labour minister and Strictly star Ed Balls, and actress and writer Sharon Horgan.

PB: What’s the first podcast you ever listened to?
JR: It was the Butterfly Effect, the podcast series about the American porn industry by my old friend Jon Ronson, who was very early into podcasting.

PB: Why did you decide to start podcasting in the first place?
JR: I love long form interviewing. Before I wrote about food and restaurants, I wrote a lot of magazine profiles of big names, and enjoyed the opportunity to get to grips with a subject. Clearly a major broadcaster wasn’t going to let me do that, but I realised I no longer needed to wait for the call. We could do it ourselves.

PB: Which podcasts do you take inspiration from?
JR: The James Acaster and Ed Balls double act that is Off Menu is a lot of fun. (I was once a guest.) I like the detail and emotional intensity of James O’Brien’s Full Disclosure and Liz Day’s How To Fail.

PB: Who’s your dream guest for the podcast?
JR: I have been trying to get Jeff Goldblum. I’ve interviewed him once before, for The Observer, about our shared interest in jazz piano, and now I’d like to go a little deeper. I’ve found that some of the very best interactions have been with people I know a little before the podcast, like artist Grayson Perry and the actor Jamie Dornan (who had previously bought my companion slot on a review for charity.)

PB: What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learnt so far as a podcaster?
JR: That however relatively new the format or medium might be, all the skills and technique of traditional media apply. You still need to do your research into the person you’re interviewing and then you need to edit. No one wants to listen to people bang on for over an hour just because there’s no old media gate keeper telling them they should cut it. Everything benefits from editing.

PB: Which episode would you say is the perfect introduction to your podcast?
JR: As grand as it sounds there are none which make me cringe, or which I wish weren’t out there. So start with whichever is the most recent, then go right back to the beginning with Richard E. Grant and work forward.

PB: Where can the Pod Bible readers find out more about you?
JR: My website, jayrayner.co.uk, has a lot of glorious stuff about me which I know is accurate because I wrote it. Also, my latest book My Last Supper, about my search for my last meal on earth, has lots of memoir in it.

Subscribe to Out To Lunch with Jay Rayner here.

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