Prologue
Don't Follow the Money
Don't follow the money. That may seem like a weird way to start the "Get Paid" edition of this newsletter, but it's also something you should think about before there's any money.
"Money" is out there, even if you can't see it now. If you keep showing up with your podcast, producing great episodes and connecting with listeners, you will have people show up and want to give you some of it. And there will be certain times when that money will be very tempting.
Have a plan now for what you will do and, perhaps more importantly, won't do for money.
Jeff Sanders of The 5AM Miracle Podcast has Six Rules About Podcast Advertising. All are important, but I want you to focus on one right now ...
#4 Ethical Match
What does this mean? For Jeff, who is vegan, it means the companies he works with need to do one of two things:
- Offer products and services that are ethically viable for vegans (e.g. they do not use any animal products).
- Offer a vegan option (e.g. Blue Apron's vegan meal plan).
Having these restrictions in place makes his decision on whether to work with a company easy. And he turns down meat-based companies more often than any other potential sponsor.
Alignment Matters
If you say you're vegan, people expect "vegan" content. If you say you're pro-women, people expect "pro-women" content.
You don't build a church and let an atheist give a sermon about how God doesn't exist without getting pushback. And if you work with gay people, having Chick-fil-A cater your office lunch will likely do the same.†
The bottom line: Get clear on who you are, what you stand for, and what you will (or won't) do for money.
†You're probably OK, if you work with these ladies. (NSFW)
Podcaster Opportunities

You Are the Podcast "Scene"
Nashville has a great creative culture, which has been here for decades thanks to the music business. The songwriters we have are great at telling stories and we have audio engineers to record things, which I believe has helped the city to transition to a great place for podcasters.
Also, what really made us "Music City" and attracted all these people was that we had big ass radio towers that transmitted what we made here. These towers, as well as the record labels who made music for then, were built by entrepreneurs, which is also part of our culture.
What is it like where you live? If you're looking to improve the culture and "scene" of podcasters in your city, there are a few things you can do to make that happen. The big one is supporting other podcasters in your area.
Here are some things you can do right now and in the next couple of minutes:
- Share an episode or post.
- Like or favorite an episode or post.
- Repost/remix their content.
NOTE: I have several creative ways to do this in the 101 Podcast Episode Templates book.
- Tag a Friend
- Reply/Comment with a Nice Word
- Shout Them Out on Your Podcast
These things are easy to do and will help you and everybody around you grow.
Does your city have a podcast scene or local meetup? Let me know and I'll give them a shoutout.
Also let me know your answer to this question – What makes a good podcast scene?
Podcast Marketing

Your biggest opportunity for podcast growth ...
Jeremy Enns has some good advice for growing your podcast.
Among the things he recommends, knowing the answers to these four questions:
- Who is your podcast for?
- What is your podcast for?
- Why does your podcast matter?
- What differentiates your podcast from existing shows?
If you want to go deep into this topic, I've got a podcast launch planner coming very soon. Until then, read what Jeremy has to say about podcast growth.
Podcasting Deals

FeedBlitz – Feedburner Alternative
Feedburner is dead. Fortunately, FeedBlitz allows you to "own" your feed in the same way. This means that, instead of being stuck using the RSS feed and domain of your media host, you can set up your own. And this makes transferring between media hosts or making changes to your feed extremely easy. No more 301 redirects when you need to move your podcast!
As a bonus, FeedBlitz also has an "RSS Newsletter" feature, which will automatically send emails to listeners with episode notes and other content, each time you publish a new episode of your podcast.
This is a must-have for podcasters.
Don't understand why? Reach out with your questions.
Podcast Humor

Podcasters Know ...
I was working on a project where I was getting an interview outside. Just as I started rolling tape, a utility crew literally started cutting into the street with a big ass circular blade.
Every podcaster has experienced something similar.
How do you deal with it?
Izotope RX is software that can help you with various kinds of noise on your recording, from mouth clicks, to refrigerator hum, to construction crews using heavy machinery. The "Advanced" version is around $799 (on sale), but right now, the "Elements" version is only $49.
Features include:
- Repair Assistant
- De-hum
- De-click
- De-clip
- Voice De-noise
If you're looking to make your podcast audio sound better, RX Elements is a great place to start. It works as a standalone tool and also integrates with popular audio software, including Adobe Audition and the upcoming version of Audacity, which will be released next month.
I use RX (the Advanced version) on Build a Big Podcast, if you want to hear it in action.
The Business of Podcasting

How to Ask for Payment Politely (+ easy email you can copy)
As the popularity of podcasts rises, I've seen more and more podcasters jump into the business of podcasting by doing podcasting work for others.
But what happens when you do the work and the client is slow to pay you?
I've got you covered. Use these email templates and a quick and easy solution that works ... most of the time. :)
The Wrap Up
Like this newsletter? Tell a friend...
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.