Making a podcast takes more than just a microphone.
With the audio space becoming increasingly oversaturated, finding your voice in a sea of shows is definitely a challenge. Thankfully, Dear Media President Paige Port is pressing play on her biggest tips.
“Focus on the show that you want to make and the conversations that are important to you,” the media empire executive told E! News in an exclusive interview. “Often, people look to what someone else is doing and their success. For someone who’s looking to start their own show, look internally and figure out, what is the show that I want to make?”
Paige emphasized that it’s essential to focus on a topic that you can ideally talk about “week after week for, hopefully, years to come.”
“Beyond just great voices and hosts who are willing to share a lot and add value to their community, it’s just being consistent and building something,” she explained. “If you post on Instagram once and never post again, you’re not going to build something. Creating this habit—whether it’s a weekly tune-in or a daily tune-in—keeps the audience coming back.”
As for how Paige knows? Well, helping lead a company that has transformed the podcasting landscape while also hosting her own podcast Day in the Life has given her some insight.
Looking at Dear Media’s star-studded catalog—which includes Khloe Kardashian‘s Khloe in Wonder Land and Amanda Hirsch‘s Not Skinny But Not Fat—Paige noted that fans “feel like they’re in a group chat, like they are chatting with their smartest, funniest, most in-the-know friends.”
So, being a host who can draw in listeners is vital since, Paige explained, “they’re the ones who are driving the conversation.”
“You feel this really intimate connection with this voice in your ear and it feels like you are at the table having that conversation with them,” she said. “You are wanting to respond. You are wanting to ask those questions.”
Paige added that when listening to a podcast, fans want to close out the app with a “takeaway.” That could mean building a deeper bond with the celebrity host, asJosh Peckdoes on his Good Guys podcast, or inspiring fans to research a new product for their own routine.
That’s how Dear Media—founded by Michael Bosstick in 2018 alongside wife and founding partner Lauryn Bosstick after the success of their podcast The Skinny Confidential: Him & Her Show—has managed to keep fans coming back for more.
“There’s a ton of value that’s coming out of these shows,” Paige reflected. “I think that you, as the listener, are along this journey with them. As they’re growing and evolving in their own lives, so are you.”
Simply put, “You take what you want and leave the rest.”
With Dear Media continuing to thrive in the industry, it’s no surprise that the company has found success in all genres. So, acquiring obé fitness—a premium on-demand workout platform loved by stars like Kelly Ripa and Kaitlyn Bristowe—was the perfect leap.
Paige added, “It’s a fun, fitness entertainment app that is so loved by celebrities, influencers—everyone.”
