👀 In Case You Missed It—Podcaster Edition 👀
👩🏼💻8 tips we stole from the internet👩🏼💻
Hello, hello! It’s that strange time of year between Spotify Wrapped and all the “best of” lists trickling out. Maybe you’re preparing your show for a little holiday break or working on a year end recap of your own (hint: Tink might have something special dropping, too)! And on top of everything else, there’s the ongoing weirdness of the Twitter situation. In case you’re feeling lost or out of sorts with the turmoil of Twitter, where many of us went for podcasting advice, articles, and conversations, we thought we’d pull together some of our favorite things we’ve found lately. Let’s have some fun!
💌 Connecting with Community 💌
Discovering Discord
Conversations and new interactions with other people working in podcasting can be so valuable, especially for finding podcast friends to collaborate with! In order to ensure there’s still a place for those connections to happen, Arielle Nissenblatt and a great team of moderators have set up a Discord channel. They’ve done some introductory sessions for anyone who is new to using Discord and it’s buzzing with chatter every day! You can also hear Arielle discuss how and why to build a community on Grow My Podcast Show.
To tweet or not to tweet
Speaking of Arielle, as the Queen of Podcast Twitter, she spoke with Skye Pillsbury for a recent issue of The Squeeze about her thoughts on the future of Twitter and how she crafts her exceptional tweets. Even though the status of Twitter is changing every day, especially since this interview, you still might find it a helpful perspective.
Don’t be a stranger
So we’ve talked about how to stay in touch with fellow industry professionals, but what about your audience? The fragility of social media is feeling VERY REAL right now. Sorry, I’ll calm down. But if you do want to ensure you still have a way to connect with your audience, an email list is an important asset to build. And a newsletter is a great way to do that! We’ve talked about our love of newsletters before, but Courtney Kocak also joined us recently to share how newsletters can help foster your community.
🎙 About Podcasting 🎙
TikTok about it
Have you been wondering about branching out to another platform? Spending a lot of time on TikTok and thinking maybe your podcast could have a presence there? Lurking is definitely an important first step! But if you’re looking for more advice or examples of podcasts who are on TikTok, Descript shared a round-up of accounts and tips.
Podcast marketing for your niche
Does having a niche show make marketing a challenge? Niches are great and valuable, but it can mean that your marketing strategy will be unique to your show, your subject matter, and your audience. Actually, that’s always true! With a niche like cannabis, it can feel even more unique! If you’re feeling that way about your podcast marketing, check out the recording from this Twitter Space with Arielle Nissenblatt and Ellen Scanlon, host of How To Do the Pot. With her content and specific audience, Ellen is always making adjustments to her show and her marketing to better suit her audience.
Apple’s guide to pitching
Pitching your show to Apple Podcasts just got a whole lot easier! Apple themselves released a breakdown of how to optimize your pitch. No more guessing what they want, they’re laying it all out for you and providing some valuable guidance on what they like to feature, what a strong pitch includes, timing your request, and more.
Guest prep has never been more fun
Booking your guests is one thing, making sure they’re prepared is a whole other ball game. Thankfully, Buzzsprout put together a retro-style how-to video with everything your guests need to be ready for their recording session. And I can only assume the Buzzsprout team had a blast gathering all the nostalgic tech, props, and graphics they used in this video, because it’s so fun to watch!
Grow your show in 30 days
How much can a show grow its audience in a month? When go all in, a lot is possible! But it can also take a lot of work. Lauren doubled a podcast’s audience in just one month and it actually got her even more passionate about podcast marketing. She shared how she did it, what you should and shouldn’t do, and some more ideas for you to try on Grow The Show.
💃 Fun Stuff🕺
Hotline ring
Have you called Tink’s hotline yet? There might be a new episode of our call-in show coming soon and we’d love to hear from you! Listen to episode one and episode two of the show, then give us a call at 1-844-POD-AT-ME (1-844-763-2863).
Thriving without Twitter
Eric Johnson, host of Follow Friday and writer of the accompanying newsletter, made a quick pivot from his once Twitter-centric content to a new style. While the podcast is on hold indefinitely, his newsletter now features a fun curation of podcasts, articles, and more interesting things Eric collects from around the internet. There is life after Twitter!
A study of ‘anything and everything’ podcasts
Anything and everything podcasts tend to be the butt of many jokes and usually go against a lot of podcasting advice. But is there still a place for shows like this? And what makes for a good one? Kattie Laur did a deep dive into this style of podcast in her newsletter Pod The North and found some really interesting conclusions. She recommends some that she enjoys and shares some tips on what makes a good “witty banter” podcast. Even if you don’t have a banter-centric podcast, you still might find some tips to apply to your hosting style!
Do you like narrative podcasts?
Whether you like listening to them or you produce them, you might enjoy Bingeworthy. It brings narrative podcasts out from the fringe shadows, makes them a subject of critical discussion, and recognizes them as their own storytelling format. Samantha Hodder asks questions like: What is this narration? How is the sound is cut? Why did they interview that person? Does the story, the order, the sequence work? She has opinions about the music choice, the midroll…even the closing credits. She listens for what parts of the story are included, and what is left out. And she asks lots, and lots, of questions.
✨ From the desk of Tink ✨
Skyline Drive is a skeptic’s personal and curious exploration of the impact that astrology has on people’s lives and decisions all around the world. Mangesh Hattikudur documents his journey to better understand how and why it’s such a cultural and lucrative obsession. Even though he’s always had astrology in his life and he’s not sure how to feel about it, but astrology keeps happening to him. From the doctor in Dubai who reads palms in utero to determine the exact moment a woman should have a c-section, to the way Nancy and Ronald Reagan were first lured by astrology then used it to guide national policy, to the millions of potential marriages across the globe that are either ended or initiated by the stars, Mangesh is taking listeners along for an investigation far beyond your daily horoscope.