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3 Reasons to Add Video to Your Podcast (And 3 Reasons to Not) · Abbey the Podcast Lady

• 0:04
  Are audio podcasts dead in 2026? I'm not panicking
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  yet, but yet might be the key word in that sentence.
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  Hey, it's Abbey. Welcome to another episode of
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  Abbey the Podcast Lady. This week we are chatting
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  about some big news in the podcasting industry,
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  and that is the fact that Apple Podcasts has
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  announced that they are branching out into video
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  in 2026. Today we're going to talk about what
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  that means for you, what that means for your
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  show, what you should be doing when it comes
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  to video elements for your podcast, and three
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  reasons why you should add video and three -
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  reasons why you shouldn't add video to your show.
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  So let's just dive right into it. Here's a question
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  I've been seeing across the internet this week.
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  Is Apple podcasts just trying to turn into another
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  version of YouTube? And I guess my answer to
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  that is not. Really video podcasts are not a
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  new thing when Apple announced that they were
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  adding video to their platform I honestly kind
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  of thought that they were a little behind the
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  times on this Spotify has been doing this for
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  a really long time They implemented video years
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  ago onto their platform. So Apple was kind of
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  a slow adopter to this new medium of video podcasting
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  what I want you to look at this as is not a replacement
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  for YouTube, but just a different way to consume
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  video podcasts. Every single podcast listening
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  platform, whether that's Apple, Spotify, iHeart,
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  all those places, they want you to stay on their
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  app as much as possible. By adding video podcasting
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  to their service, that gets people to stay on
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  their app, especially if it's a show that someone
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  listens to where it does have video already being
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  made and they had to leave to go watch it before.
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  An example of this is Girls Next Level. I love
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  listening to Girls Next Level and I know they
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  have a video version of this But if I want to
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  watch the video version, I have to leave Apple
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  podcasts and I have to go watch that on YouTube.
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  Now, I'm not really a video podcast consumer.
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  I like listening on those apps like Apple and
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  Spotify. So I wouldn't go to YouTube to watch
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  the video, but now that video is being implemented,
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  I'm much more likely to consume the video version
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  of Girls Next Level because they do talk about
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  a lot of things and they include visuals and
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  pictures in their show. So this is just kind
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  of another way to go deep. with the audience
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  that is using that specific platform, and I don't
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  see it as another YouTube, I see it as just going
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  deeper. with the users. So when I got the email
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  about Apple podcasts adding the video feature,
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  my first gut instinct as a podcast producer of
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  nine shows every week is, what does this mean
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  for me? What does this mean for my workflow?
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  Is this gonna be a bunch of extra work? Is it
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  gonna be another hefty upload to another platform
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  every single week for every single show? What
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  does this look like? And that's... kind of been
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  what I've seen across like threads and other
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  places I hang out on the internet is what does
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  this look like? How are we going to be streamlining
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  this process to add the video because obviously
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  they want it but what does it look like on a
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  given basis for the average creator? Right now
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  from what I've read online I haven't found like
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  a real clear -cut answer of how this works with
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  your workflow but based on what I have been reading
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  here's what I've learned it's that the Apple
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  ecosystem is being set up to support your video
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  as we speak. So this is not rolling out to everyone
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  right away, it's rolling out to select users
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  of certain platforms that implement video already.
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  So depending on who you host your podcast through,
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  you might already have access to ad video, you
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  might get that access later on, or you will have
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  to switch hosts if this is your primary goal
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  to have your video on Apple podcasts. I don't
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  plan on switching my hosting from RSS .com anytime
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  soon, and I don't plan on switching my clients
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  out of rss .com anytime soon. I think that I'm
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  probably gonna pump the brakes as much as I can
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  on this and hold off as long as I can on this.
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  One, because I'm an audio purist and two, because
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  I want them to work out the kinks on other people's
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  stuff before I start bringing me and my clients
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  over to this video podcasting platform that Apple
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  is turning into. So at the moment, I'm not planning
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  on switching my workflow for anything. And depending
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  on who you are hosting your podcast through,
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  this might already be available to you. So definitely
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  poke around on your RSS feed providers website
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  and check and see if this is an option for you
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  already. And if not, I would just wait until
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  they send you an email saying, hey, this is available.
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  You can do it now, because that's what I'm doing.
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  I'm just waiting for an email from RSS saying,
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  hey, you can now put your video here and we'll
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  put it on Apple. So let's get into the title
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  of this episode, what you came here for. Three
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  reasons you should add video podcasting to your
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  to -do list and three reasons that you shouldn't
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  do it in 2026. We're going to start out with
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  the three reasons that you should be adding video
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  podcasting to your to -do list of content creation.
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  Now this is coming from someone who has already
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  said in this episode that I am an audio purist.
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  At its core, podcasting is an audio file and
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  I am a audio listener so when I consume podcasts
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  I'm purely consuming the audio the video for
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  me is consumed in the form of short form clips
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  or reels or tik -toks that sort of thing I like
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  the audio aspect of a podcast now I would not
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  call myself the average bear in 2026. I think
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  a lot more people are consuming video podcasts.
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  We've seen the numbers from YouTube on people
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  watching on YouTube and consuming on Spotify.
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  And obviously Apple has been monitoring this
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  too with them adding video elements to their
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  hosting as well. So video isn't going anywhere.
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  And yeah, you probably should. at least consider
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  making a video podcast in 2026. So reason number
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  one that you would want to add video to your
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  podcast is that it does help with retention.
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  Listeners will spend more time with you when
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  they can see you talking to the camera, when
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  they can see your face, when they can see your
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  emotions, they're gonna hang out longer because
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  they see you, they're connecting with you in
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  that way. It's the same reason we watch our favorite
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  creators on TikTok and Reels and all those things.
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  We see their face, we recognize... we want to
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  hang out with them, it kind of becomes this parasocial
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  relationship. So that would be my first reason
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  for adding video podcasting to your content creation
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  list is just keep that retention up and keep
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  that long -term viewership up as much as possible.
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  Reason number two is that video is gonna help
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  you stand out to both in the algorithm and in
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  just social feeds and places like that. In the
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  algorithm, obviously Apple is prioritizing video
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  podcasts, so they're gonna send more love and
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  more listeners and more eyeballs to your content.
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  if you are providing that video. They're telling
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  you what they want. They want video podcasts,
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  so make it. That's kind of as simple as it is.
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  Another reason to add video is, this is part
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  of my content remix strategy, is you can take
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  the video and chop it up into short form things
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  like reels and TikToks and YouTube shorts and
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  Pinterest pins, and people can see you and see
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  clips of the show. Even if you don't have the
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  capacity to produce a full blown video version
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  of every single episode, you can at least take
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  the video file and turn it into short form content
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  and that helps you stand out in Facebook feeds,
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  Instagram feeds, YouTube shorts, all that things
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  that works way better than just a plain audiogram
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  for those sorts of short form content. So video
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  is a great thing to add for just standing out.
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  And reason number three for adding video is kind
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  of tied into reason number two. It gives you
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  more content. You have way more to work with
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  with a video file versus just an audio file and
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  it just helps you Create more and more and more
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  from just one recording so like I'm recording
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  this video episode right now And I will be able
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  to turn it into like I said Pinterest pins and
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  shorts and tick tocks and clips and still frames
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  of images video can be stretched a lot further
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  than just a simple audio file can. So that would
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  be my third reason for adding video to your content
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  creation this year. Now let's get into three
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  reasons why you shouldn't add video to your podcast
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  in 2026. Number one, video adds so much more
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  to your workload. It's a bigger file to edit.
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  You gotta be more concise with your cuts to make
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  sure it's flowing as smoothly as possible. If
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  you don't feel comfortable using video editing
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  software, that might be a big hurdle for you
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  as well. So if you don't have the budget to pay
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  a video editor and you're doing it all on your
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  own and you're just overwhelmed by the thought
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  of it, don't do it. That's a great reason not
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  to do it. If you're overwhelmed, you don't have
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  the capacity to hire someone, don't add video
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  to your podcast. Reason number two to not add
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  video to your podcast content creation is that
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  video gets expensive really quick. Podcasting
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  can get expensive quick if you're not careful.
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  You buy all this gear and all the fun stuff because
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  you think that's what's going to make it better.
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  But in reality, that's not what makes it better.
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  Everyone's just looking for great content and
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  learning something and taking things away from
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  what you have to say in your perspectives. So
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  video can get really expensive, buying a nice
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  camera, making sure you have a microphone that
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  can connect to that camera, video editing software
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  is... expensive if you are paying for some really
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  good stuff so it can get expensive and if you
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  don't want to invest in video and you don't want
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  to do video then you shouldn't have to do video
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  so that's reason number two to not add video
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  to your content creation and reason number three
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  to not add video to your podcast in 2026 would
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  be that your audience might not want it from
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  you they just straight up might not want video
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  versions of your podcast i know for my own show
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  the one that you're listening to right now the
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  youtube numbers way lower than the actual audio
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  podcast download numbers. I'm still making a
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  video version of every episode because it's just
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  part of my content stack and honestly I use this
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  show to test out new things and it's kind of
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  a guinea pig for all of my clients but I am still
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  making the video version in hopes that maybe
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  people want it. I don't know. I think people
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  are just resonating more with the audio version.
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  If I was paying for this video service and seeing
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  the results I'm seeing, I would probably cut
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  back on it if I'm being honest. Like I'm not
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  getting the results from the video version that
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  I am from the audio version. So think about that
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  in your own show's terms. Like if people are
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  resonating with the audio, just keep focusing
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  on making great audio. There's some really great
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  services that can turn it into a video. It's
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  more of an audiogram. It's not like a face -to
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  -face video like the one that you're maybe watching
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  on YouTube or maybe watching on Apple podcasts,
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  but there are ways to take your audio and make
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  it a video file. RSS .com actually does it automatically
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  with just the click of a button as part of their
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  distribution system, so. If you don't have the
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  capacity to make this full -blown video, don't
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  do it. And if your audience isn't resonating
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  with it, don't spend the time and energy and
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  money on it because obviously they're getting
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  enough from you with just the audio. So just
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  put all your eggs in that basket. So what does
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  Apple Podcasts adding video to their platform
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  mean for people in this industry in 2026? It
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  means that podcasting is no longer just the audio
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  only show that we all have known it to be the
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  past couple decades. It's changing into a multimedia
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  format for every. Buddy, this isn't just for
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  the big name shows. This is for every one. I
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  mean even Netflix is Sharing video podcasts now.
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  That's a big thing that is coming up in 2026
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  So what this means for podcasters is that if
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  you stay audio only you're gonna want to be really
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  intentional about it Make sure you're putting
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  out some really great audio content making some
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  good clean edits Making it sound really professional
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  because that's what's gonna help you stand out
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  in the long term If you add video, make sure
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  that you're setting it up in a way. That is a
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  system that is simple and repeatable and doable
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  for either you or an editor to accomplish because
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  you're gonna want to stay consistent with no
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  matter what choice you make whether that choice
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  is to add video or not and either way your show
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  can still grow. The biggest thing that I tell
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  every single podcaster that I work with is do
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  what is consistent for you to do without feeling
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  burnt out or overwhelmed. I just had a session
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  right before I recorded this actually where she
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  was asking me like, well, what does it look like?
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  Do I need to have a half hour episode? Do I need
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  to put out an episode every week? What do I need
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  to do? What's the right answer? And I always
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  say there is no right answer. The right answer
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  is what works best for you and your life and
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  your goals with podcasting. If it's an audio
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  only podcast, that is doubling as an email newsletter
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  for your audience and a way to connect with them
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  deeper, great, do that. If it's a video podcast
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  where you're grabbing social clips from it, so
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  you have something to share on social media,
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  awesome, do that. Do whatever makes the most
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  sense for you and your business and your goals
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  and whatever you can do to stay consistent because
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  that's the most important piece. If you're looking
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  to add video to your Apple podcasting setup,
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  be sure that you check out the link in the show
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  notes below. I have some great resources for
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  different articles talking about how that is
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  working. And I'm excited to see how this plays
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  out over the next couple months. I'm excited
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  to see what podcasts really latch onto this.
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  I'm excited to see what it looks like to upload
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  video and get it out there from. Production standpoint
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  obviously we're kind of all figuring this out
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  as we go together So I'll definitely be sure
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  to update you with anything that I think is interesting
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  on that front But in the meantime if you are
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  looking for help with your audio or video podcast
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  I can help produce both for you, or if you just
• 13:34
  have questions. I'd be happy to answer those
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  as well We are here to learn and grow and make
• 13:38
  some great podcast content both audio and video
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  together So be sure you reach out to me at abbygravesproductions
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  .com I will catch you next week for another episode
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  of Abby, the podcast lady.