December 2024, and Andrew and I find ourselves in front of the microphone for the final time until 2025 – from my perspective a mere 28 days away. It is the annual state of the state address where we look back at all the interesting bits and pieces covered over the last 12 months while providing a sneak peak at the adventures to come in 2025. . …  Welcome to EP 166: 2024 Yearapalooza.

[Note: If you are reading this via email, click here to access the on-site audio player]

Today we are wrapping up the 2024 podcast season. I don’t know about you but I am ready for a break. Any part of wrapping up should include some sort of reflection but we will also be spending a portion of the show – presumably towards the end – of looking forward, what do we think we are doing and what might we be talking about.

I built todays conversation based on a similar format to how we wrapped up 2023 – a pulling back of the curtain to talk about what matters – at least where this website and podcast are concerned, and what we are thinking for next year. In an effort to look forward, I am a believer that you have to look back, take a look at what work – and what didn’t – so that you can modify behavior in a way that is beneficial and meaningful to all those involved (us as creators, you the listener as participants.)

impossible to read but even at this size, this is only 4 of the 8 years worth of downloads

By the Numbers jump to 6:56

I will admit that I used to be obsessed with the numbers associated with the blog site - and eventually the podcast - but the reality is that I don't care so much anymore. That doesn't meant that I don't ever look, but my reasons for looking have less to do with how the show or site is performing and more about what topics and discussion are of interest to the people who visit this site and listen to the podcast. While I still end up choosing topics that represent my current activities and interests, it's interesting to know what people think is worth their attention.

Since there is a lot of secrecy surrounding the true metrics of how podcasts perform, most of the benchmarks I refer to are fairly generic and all are free to access. The gold standard to determine how a podcast is performing is how many downloads an episode has at the 30 day mark, and according to data commonly cited by platforms like Libsyn and Buzzsprout, this is where ALL podcast (regardless of genre or topics) fall based on that standard:

Podcast Performance by Percentile

Top 50%: ~30 downloads per episode in 30 days.

Explanation: This is the median—half of all podcasts achieve fewer than 30 downloads within 30 days.

Top 25%: ~100 downloads per episode in 30 days.

Explanation: Podcasts in this range are doing better than 75% of shows and likely have a niche audience with consistent engagement.

Top 10%: ~400-500 downloads per episode in 30 days.

Explanation: These podcasts are often well-established and attract a steady audience, making them appealing to niche advertisers or sponsors.

Top 5%: ~1,000 downloads per episode in 30 days.

Explanation: At this level, a podcast is highly successful in its niche, with a strong following and the potential for premium sponsorships or monetization.

Top 3%: ~3,000 downloads per episode in 30 days.

Explanation: These podcasts are industry leaders within their category and are often approaching mainstream popularity.

Top 1%: ~5,000+ downloads per episode in 30 days.

Explanation: These podcasts are typically professional productions with large budgets or significant marketing reach. They often attract substantial sponsorship deals and are highly recognized within the industry.

For the 2024 season, the Life of an Architect podcast averaged 4,847 downloads per episode at the 30 day mark ...which puts us just shy of hitting the Top 1% of all podcasts. Andrew and I are obviously proud of this accomplishment but the reality is that neither on...