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Hindsights a b*tch ain’t it?
After 2.5 years of podcasting, I still discover things I should have been doing all along. Did you know an AI tool can make your podcast sound baller? I do now…
It’s too late for me to go back and do it right. But if you’re still early in your podcasting journey, this list can help you.
1. Launch with a trailer
A trailer seemed so decadent. So professional. I didn’t know how to record a podcast. Why would I have needed a trailer? How wrong I was.
Having a trailer as your “first episode” creates your podcast page on all the platforms. This means that people have somewhere they can follow your podcast in anticipation of its release.
And A trailer is easy. It just needs to be 30 seconds of you saying the name of your podcast, what you talk about, where people can find you (on social media), and finishing with an ask to subscribe to you. You can do that, right?
Don’t overthink it, and make the best trailer you can. Besides, you can always make another trailer later.
2. Make your podcast sound professional with Auphonic
No sound engineer? No problem. We have AI.
Sure, you could pay an expensive producer to fiddle the bazillion dials on one of those giant mixer boards. Or you can do what I do. Upload your finished audio file to Auphonic and let it work its magic.
Auphonic boosts your voice while minimizing other sounds. So listeners don’t have to crank up the volume of their phones to listen. It’s well worth the sub $10 a month I spend on it.
Our recording studio, AKA our house, is surrounded by farms, so we often have tractors rattling past. With Auphonic, the listeners don’t hear them.
It can also do other things, like cut out silence, but I prefer to do that manually in Garageband.
It’s an easy, out-of-the-box way to get your podcast to sound professional.
3. Reach out to other Similar podcasts in the niche
When we started our podcast, I saw everyone as competition. I assumed everyone else did it better, so they were “the enemy”.
It’s not true. Podcasting isn’t a zero-sum game. People who listen to podcasts in a niche tend to listen to multiple shows, so the more listeners, the better for everyone.
Reach out to other creators like you and say hey, maybe even ask them if they’d be happy to chat, and you can ask them for advice. Or, once you have a bit of rapport, take it one step further.
Try to guest on other people’s podcasts
Interview-style podcasts are always looking for interesting guests. If you’re starting a podcast, that’s interesting.
Put yourself out there. If there are podcasts you follow in your niche, email them a pitch to have you on as a guest. If their audience and yours cross over, then you have the potential for a flood of new listeners to come over to you.
Here’s a helpful guide on pitching to be a podcast guest.
4. Tell everyone you know you’re starting a podcast
I was a little bit embarrassed when I started my podcast. I’d feel awkward telling people about it and shy away if the opportunity came up.
Now I shout it from the rooftops, and people always respond well. They always ask a little more and even whip out their phones to follow it so they can listen later.
It can be scary, but you’ve got to put yourself out there. Podcasts spread by word of mouth, and the first mouth to start spreading the news is yours.
5. Make lists of podcasts on Podchaser
This is the most effortless and most actionable advice on the list. Head over to Podchaser and create an account. It’s a podcast discovery platform you can use to promote your podcast.
How? I’ll tell you.
You use their “Lists” feature to make lists of podcasts and include your own! I’ve done lists on Scottish history podcasts, scary history podcasts, spook podcasts, you get the idea.
These will all appear within Podchaser when people look for podcasts. You might not get 1000s of new listeners, but it’s an easy way to start getting your name out there.
I regularly get emails from Podcasher telling me that people have followed or liked my lists.
Final Thoughts
You’ll hit the ground running if you do these things early in your podcast journey. Podcasting isn’t all about growth, but if you’re interested in getting more listeners, here’s the TLDR:
- Launch your podcast with a trailer
- Make your podcast sound amazing with Auphonic
- Reach out to similar podcasts to yours to say hey
- Shout about your podcast from the rooftops
- Make podcast lists on Podchaser
Go put yourself out there.
How I Can Help You
1) Free 5-day Podcast Marketing Fundamentals Course – Learn the basics of what it takes to grow a popular show, get more listeners, and earn more money from your podcast. The five day email course is totally free
2) The Template Vault – Learn how to grow your podcast on autopilot. Get fill-in-the-blank templates to set up your podcast’s foundation for growth, success, and making money.
3) Podcast Marketing Coaching– I am an experienced podcast coach, and I want to help you master your podcast marketing. Check out my full list of services and discover how we can work together.
4) Recommended Tools– These are the tools I use to grow my podcast. I focus on tools that improve quality and save time.
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