Prologue
Why do people listen to podcasts?
I was watching a show on HGTV this week (don't judge!) and a real estate agent was trying to sell a $5 million condo in New York City. And probably 70% of the show was her trying to throw a party to let other agents know her listing was available.
That's not a bad idea – it can be very smart to go to people who have a built-in audience and can reach a lot of people at once rather than try to find individual buyers (or listeners, in your case).
But it struck me how so many people, whether podcasters or real estate agents, find one thing that works and focus on only that thing.
You can only go to the well so many times before it runs dry.
In this issue, I'm giving you a few things to consider when it comes to how you market your podcast and grow your audience.
I hope you're staying healthy and finishing out a great week!
Podcast Marketing
People Don’t Buy Products, They Buy Better Versions of Themselves
Why is Harley-Davidson such an iconic brand? If has little to do with the actual product...
Getting more listeners to your podcast comes down to one of two things and if you have the first one, you'll likely also have the second one:
- Selling people on a community/identity they can be part of.
- Offering a solution to a problem.
Follow this advice if you want to grow your podcast.
How Niche Communities Are Changing Online Conversations
Quick – think of one way to use a brick.
Chances are your answer falls into one of three categories:
- Building something.
- Hitting something.
- Weighing something down.
Remove these three options and you could easily think of 100 ways to use a brick.
Limitations open creativity. And the same thing happens when you have a "niche" podcast. Being limited by a niche causes you to get creative when it comes to audience growth and advertising. It also allows you to go exactly to where your potential listeners are.
This is a great resource that will give you a lot of ideas on how to build your own niche community as well as existing places you can go online to connect with people who would love to hear your podcast.
Podcasting Events
On Air Fest
This is a free event that is perfect for podcasters. Terry Gross will be there, so that alone will make it worth a look.
Podcast Production
Four Ingredients to Cook a Delicious Podcast
Everything on the menu at Taco Bell is basically five ingredients – beans, cheese, lettuce, corn, and tomatoes. Of course, they serve it up different ways...
Your podcast is the same, in this case:
- Concept
- People
- Questions
- Audio
More details on how these ingredients fit together are in this great article by Emily Shaw.
How at-home pandemic recordings are changing pubmedia’s standards for audio quality
A year ago, 97% of the interviews I did for my radio show were in-person at our Nashville studio. Since then, we've been 100% remote, with me, the engineer, the producer, and the guest all in different places, none of which matter as long as there's a good online connection.
It's not perfect and in some ways it's not fair – guests now have to do their own engineering. We do worth with them on how to do this though.
There has been a lot of upside. In the last month, we've had guests connect from NYC, Nashville, Woodstock, and Boulder.
As it turns out, we're not the only ones in this situation. And this is good news for podcasters who have been doing episodes this way for way longer than the last year.
Podcasting Deals
Audacity Bootcamp: Beginner to Advanced
I've been talking a lot about Audacity, the free and open-source program millions of people use to podcast, on my podcast for podcasters. And because of this, I was doing a little research on it.
I found this course for under $20 and it's amazing. I've been using Audacity for about 20 years, even before I started podcasting, and I've learned a ton from it. It's definitely worth investing both your time and money in, even if you have a high level of experience.
The course is divided into three sections: beginner, intermediate, and advanced. There's something here for everybody, whether you're a brand-new user or an experienced one.
And it's only $20! Crazy!
The instructor, Mike Adams, does a great job of explaining everything and has a cool, laid-back delivery style. He makes it both easy and fun to learn.
If you use Audacity for your podcast, (or want to), you will love Mike's course.
The Wrap Up
Like This Newsletter?
My goal is to better empower podcasters to be more successful spreading their messages and make more money with their podcasts.
I'd love it if you'll help me spread the word about this newsletter by sending your podcasting friends to bigpodcast.com/newsletter.
Or, view archived issues here.