Episode 142
The Why Wordpress.com Show
May 25, 2018 · Mike Murphy
EP142: THE WHY WORDPRESS.COM SHOW Today is the story of why I wrote an eBook about podcasting on WordPress.com? It all started with an email I received in the Fall of 2017. Episode Summary: The Anatomy of a Good Email Is WordPress.com a legitimate podcast host? What makes WordPress.com a good option for some podcasters? What ultimately made me decide to write my first ebook on Podcasting on WordPress.com?
Episode Summary: The story of how one unexpected email led to Mike’s first eBook, How To Podcast on Wordpress.com — and a case study in what makes a cold email actually work.
What You’ll Learn
- The anatomy of a good cold email, illustrated by a real one Mike received
- How a 30-minute Skype call turned into 4 hours and changed Mike’s mind about WordPress.com
- Why podcasting on WordPress.com was such an under-the-radar topic in 2018
- How this conversation became the origin story for Mike’s first eBook
Shortly after attending Podcast Movement 2017 in Anaheim, California, Mike got an email through his website contact form that grabbed his attention from the very first line.
The Anatomy of a Good Email
Credibility. A university professor introduced himself and mentioned he’d listened to all 100+ episodes of the podcast. Tip: you never know who’s listening — every listener matters.
Flattery. The professor said he’d reached out because Mike demonstrated qualities he respected: knowledge, motivation, productivity, personality. Tip: appealing to someone’s ego, sincerely, genuinely works.
Kindness. He’d noticed Mike sounded like he was struggling with something in a recent episode and thought he might be able to help. Tip: podcasting can feel lonely, and you’re never quite sure anyone’s listening — but the people who are listening feel like they know you. That’s the power of the medium.
Intrigue. He said he’d stumbled onto a podcasting resource that no one seemed to be talking about, and wanted 30 minutes on a call to explain. Tip: telling a podcasting nerd you’ve got a secret game-changer and you’ll only share it for 30 minutes of their time is a great way to get a yes. Mike said yes, and they scheduled the call.
Summary: introduce yourself as a human, make a genuine connection, offer something of value, and make it hard for the other person to say no to a short conversation.
The 30-Minute Call (That Lasted 4 Hours)
The professor’s pitch: WordPress.com — cheap, dependable, all-in-one podcast and website hosting he’d personally used since 2015, with almost no documentation or discussion of it anywhere in the podcast community. He thought Mike was the right person to teach others about it. Mike was skeptical — he remembered WordPress.com as the “lite version” of WordPress.org — but stayed open. The 30-minute call ran close to 4 hours.
Just How Under-the-Radar Was This?
The professor had researched extensively: he listened to every podcast he could find about podcasting, and couldn’t recall a single one covering WordPress.com as a hosting platform. Top-10 lists and roundups of podcast hosts consistently left it out — even an “Ultimate List of Podcasting Hosting Services” making the rounds at the time, with 27 entries including some genuinely obscure hosts, skipped it entirely. Nearly every search about “podcasting on WordPress” surfaced the self-hosted WordPress.org instead. He’d found only a couple of small blog posts and one tutorial over six years old. WordPress.com as a podcast platform was, in Mike’s words, a ghost.
The Case for WordPress.com
Price/value — at $4/month for a fully functioning podcast, website, and blog with unlimited bandwidth, it was worth a serious look, especially for podcasters treating this as a hobby that can get expensive fast. Longevity — WordPress has been around a long time, and roughly 30% of websites run on WordPress.org or WordPress.com; unlike flashy new free tools, it wasn’t going anywhere. Flexibility — plans can be upgraded anytime, with support for multiple shows, private feeds, and monetization.
The Icing on the Cake
The professor’s proof: 7 podcasts on WordPress.com with over 2.5 million combined downloads and zero technical glitches or listener complaints. More proof: WordPress.com had started advertising on TV and podcasts — a sign they were making a real push. Mike remembered seeing WordPress.com at Podcast Movement 2017 and not thinking much of it. In hindsight, they’d been quietly waiting for the right moment. By the time Mike was preparing this material in early 2018, WordPress.com had become a Gold Sponsor of Podcast Movement 2018 — while Blubrry, Libsyn, and Podbean were only Silver. The professor was right: WordPress.com was coming out of the shadows.
The Conclusion
By the end of the call, Mike had a new friend and a new project — the opportunity to teach, write, podcast, and make tutorials about something nobody else was covering. That single email from “the Professor” in the fall of 2017 is the reason How To Podcast on Wordpress.com: The Step-by-Step Guide exists.