0:00

- And if you're not listening to podcasts yourself, you need to,

0:03

- I can't imagine starting a podcast without actually listening to 'em. But people do

0:06

- It. And, and you're going to know how intimate this conversation is

0:12

because this is a one-to-one, one-to-one,

0:15

but yet one to many medium.

0:18

So enhancing that audio quality so you sound good in their ears

0:22

so you don't drive 'em crazy. Now, you can't change your voice.

0:26

I don't consider I have a voice for a radio,

0:29

but you know, somehow it's worked. Good sound is, is, is really, really critical.

0:34

And they will forgive you if you ever do bad video,

0:37

but they will not forgive you for bad audio.

0:40

- Clear and confident is the way to go. That's how you sound professional.

0:43

Even if you don't have what is quote unquote, a professional budget.

0:47

- You are listening to Podcast Insider hosted by Mike Dell,

0:51

Todd Cochran, and McKenzie Bennett from the Blueberry team,

0:56

bringing you weekly insights, advice, and insider tips

0:59

and tricks to help you start, grow

1:02

and thrive through podcasting. With all the support of your team here at Blueberry

1:07

Podcasting, welcome. Let's dive in.

1:10

- I'm Todd Cochran, CEO and co-founder of Blueberry Podcasting.

1:13

- And I'm Mackenzie Bennett, marketing specialist here at Blueberry.

1:16

- One of the most common questions we get is,

1:20

how do I grow my podcast? Oh, I hear that 10 times a week

1:24

- And it's never gonna stop. Take our word for it. Growing a podcast can be done.

1:29

And here is how - To grow your audience quickly

1:35

and effectively, especially in 2024.

1:37

We're going to give you some strategies here.

1:40

And I vowed, this is my, I'm working on my 20th year in podcasting. And one thing

1:47

- That's amazing, by the way, <laugh> just gonna interrupt you

1:50

and say, congratulations on that

1:53

- <laugh>. It's like, oh my God. But one thing is clear in, in 2004,

1:59

we did not have to deliver high quality content

2:02

because it was, it like 16 bits or something <laugh>

2:06

because we couldn't afford to deliver the media.

2:09

- It was 16 bit and like 16 people <laugh>, right?

2:12

- And there was, well there was more than 16 people,

2:14

but there was no blueberry podcasting and it was expensive.

2:18

But now that, that has kind of all went by the wayside,

2:23

and this is something that's super important here, ladies

2:25

and gentlemen, you have to deliver

2:30

high quality content, and I kind of call it sustained superior content.

2:36

You have to consistently provide valuable content tailored

2:40

to your audience's interest, giving them value.

2:45

The key is giving them value each and every episode.

2:49

'cause if you give them value, they're gonna come back.

2:53

So, so each episode builds upon the success

2:55

of the previous one. And think about what you can bring

3:01

to them within the content that brings them the, the a value.

3:06

And it could be engaging topics, insightful interviews

3:10

or unique perspectives. And, and I think the thing that I like,

3:13

that I keep harping upon is imagine,

3:19

let's say, okay, you look at your podcast stats

3:22

and let's say it's a hundred listens per episode.

3:25

Let's say it's a thousand or 1500 or whatever the number is.

3:29

Let's say it's 10,000. Go on Google to their image search

3:34

and say, show me a picture of 150 people.

3:39

Print that picture out. Put it somewhere where you can see it.

3:44

And remember, and think about

3:48

instead of walking up and pulling up the mic, think about

3:51

that you are now walking onto a stage

3:56

and you are going to be presenting your podcast

4:01

live in front of these 150 people.

4:04

I can guarantee you, if you think it in that mindset,

4:08

you're gonna spend more time on the preparation

4:13

to delivering that episode than you would if you had just

4:16

sit down and talk into the mic. So delivering high quality content is critical.

4:23

And if you keep that mindset that this huge audience is in front of you,

4:27

even if it's just a hundred people, that's a huge audience.

4:30

Not many of us get to go talk, I get to go speak at podcasting events.

4:34

And a typical session is a 50 to 75 people.

4:38

So if you're reaching a hundred, you're reaching more than I reach at a podcast

4:42

conference session and I prepare two

4:47

or three days do that presentation in front

4:51

of those 75 people. So again, consider the value

4:58

of your audience's time and to deliver them that high quality content.

5:02

If you do that one thing, and we're gonna give you more here,

5:07

I guarantee you're gonna grow your audience by leaps

5:10

and bounds, deliver high quality content,

5:13

keep that top of mind. - There's a reason. It's number one on the list.

5:18

Number two though, enhance your audio quality

5:22

as time goes on. People are less likely

5:25

and less forgiving nowadays for bad audio simply

5:29

because we, we have something in our ears at all hours of the day.

5:34

And that you have the ability to have good audio,

5:36

you just have to be responsible for getting it done.

5:40

- And it goes back to delivering the high quality content.

5:43

You are tapped. And if you're not listening to podcasts

5:47

yourself, you need to, - I can't imagine starting a podcast without actually

5:51

listening to one, but people do it. - And you're going to know how intimate this conversation is

5:57

because this is a one-to-one, one-to-one,

6:01

but yet one-to-many medium.

6:04

So enhancing that audio quality so you sound good in their ears

6:08

so you don't drive 'em crazy. Now you can't change your voice.

6:11

I don't consider I have a voice for a radio,

6:14

but you know, somehow it's worked. Good sound is, is is really, really critical.

6:20

And they will forgive you if you ever do bad video,

6:23

but they will not forgive you for bad audio.

6:26

- Clear and confident is the way to go. That's how you sound professional, even if you don't have

6:30

what is, quote unquote a professional budget.

6:33

- Exactly. And also less editing.

6:37

Less editing when you have done significant prep

6:40

for your episode in delivering that high quality content.

6:43

Less editing means more time to do things that you love

6:47

besides working on your podcast. - So one of those things, if you are, you're doing this

6:54

good job prepping beforehand, one of the things

6:57

that you can do instead of editing the episode is edit clips

7:01

from the episode to utilize on social media.

7:03

That is gonna bring people in for sure.

7:07

Yes, we all say just get on social media,

7:09

create an audience, build from there.

7:12

But one of the ways to do that is hashtags are becoming less relevant but are still useful

7:19

and share snippets of your episodes.

7:21

People love it. There is like soundbites, clips, whatever

7:25

that's gonna draw them in for sure.

7:28

- You can do shorts now on Instagram, YouTube, Facebook,

7:33

where else can you do shorts on on x?

7:35

I don't know if you can do shorts on X probably. - No, but you can still do video and audio. So yeah,

7:40

- So these, and, and be honest with you, we're all,

7:44

everyone's doing a little TikTok. I know 90% of you listen to this or listening, doing TikTok

7:49

or, or watching TikTok. So do a short for your TikTok.

7:53

There's, there's lots of ways here to

7:57

garner interest to grow your show.

8:00

And I think a short is probably one

8:03

of the most effective things going right now because everyone has 30 seconds to listen to a short,

8:10

which may drive someone to say, Hmm, who is this?

8:15

Where can I find out more? And make sure you share where you can find out more at the

8:19

end of that clip so that they know where to come find you.

8:22

- I think one of the most crucial parts of that is post consistently

8:26

because I, I don't even know what the numbers are nowadays,

8:29

but there's a certain number of times that you need

8:32

to see something or hear something, whether it's the same ad

8:35

or like the same clip over and over or different ones

8:38

before someone actually goes to listen or download or watch

8:43

or whatever it is to take the action.

8:47

And so you have to be in their feed

8:49

without annoying them. <laugh>. - Yeah. And make sure that that clip brings value.

8:54

Mm-Hmm, <affirmative> again and bringing value. Don't throw a clip on there where it's chaos

8:59

in your podcast episode. That happens sometimes.

9:02

But make sure that whatever you're bringing is something

9:05

that makes people again go, Hmm. Drives that curiosity to, to click through to see and follow

9:12

and subscribe to the show. - Yeah. Tailor that content to each platform too,

9:16

because that will, that can sometimes make the difference.

9:20

Okay, so moving on from social, one of the other things

9:23

that we'd tell people to do is to invite notable guests on if that is something

9:28

that you have access to or want to get started down that road of reaching out

9:35

to people that have a, a good reputation online.

9:39

There is no doubt that sometimes the right guests

9:42

can change your show. - Next thing is, and this is like the most critical,

9:48

consistent publishing schedule listeners build you

9:53

yes, you into their lives.

9:56

And if you're gonna miss an episode or you're gonna be going on vacation,

10:00

make sure you tell 'em in advance and I'm gonna be out next week

10:02

and there will be not an episode or record one in advance

10:05

and make sure it's plugged in there. They get it on time. So consistent publishing

10:11

is the thing. If you don't do this,

10:14

if your podcast is coming out on Tuesday, make sure it comes out on Tuesday at the same time.

10:19

You may record it on Sunday or Friday or whatever,

10:22

but make sure it comes out the same time because your listener is gonna either listen

10:28

to car at the gym, wherever they may be.

10:31

They built you into a segment of their time

10:34

and you don't wanna miss that segment 'cause they will replace you.

10:37

- Yeah. This is one of the things that you are just so,

10:40

so in control of a lot of it, whether it's social

10:43

or what can just be kind of

10:46

a throw it out there and see what happens. And this one is just no doubt something that you can,

10:52

you can know is going to work for you.

10:55

- And definitely my pet peeve is have a dedicated website

10:58

for your podcast with episode transcriptions

11:01

and show notes to improve search engine visibility.

11:04

Again, writing titles that people are actually searching

11:09

for that relates to your content is critical.

11:12

If you write a title that no, you gotta think about Google

11:16

and how you use Google today. When you go search for information, you need to think you,

11:21

you record for your audience, you write for Google,

11:24

it's as simple as that. So the title may be a little bit,

11:29

you just gotta get something that is where if you've talked about how to make toothpicks,

11:34

then you better the title of that episode. Better be How to make Toothpicks.

11:38

And that's oversimplification. No,

11:40

- But it doesn't have to be fancy, it just has to be relevant,

11:44

- Relevant and, and back that up with the first paragraph of

11:49

how this episode is the best episode ever on how

11:52

to make toothpicks and some basically some metadata writing

11:57

to back up that title and chat, GBT

11:59

and all that stuff is real helpful now in writing a supporting paragraph that you can edit to

12:07

help you back up your title so that you get that good SEO

12:11

optimization for your website. But again, if you just have a website, great show notes

12:17

and great title that will help yourself over the long term

12:22

more than anything as well. - Something else long term is email marketing.

12:26

So if you are building this audience at the same time,

12:29

you should be building an email list through your website,

12:34

your social, any way that you are in touch with them.

12:37

Try and do that. You can use this to notify your subscribers

12:40

of new episodes. Provide additional, additional value.

12:45

The possibilities are endless here of what to do.

12:48

- And don't put a whole bunch of popups on your website

12:51

that irritates a lot of people. <laugh>

12:54

- <laugh>, - Leverage guest appearances.

12:58

So I do this a lot. I appear on other shows and it taps into their audience

13:05

and I can share stories and it's not necessarily going on there

13:08

to promote, promote, promote. Because when I go into a show

13:13

and as, as a guest, again, the goal is

13:17

to deliver value. So deliver value to the audience.

13:20

And that's not an advertisement for blueberry,

13:22

but if they like what I've said in added value,

13:25

when I'm on my way out and I give my information on where they can find me

13:30

and where I, where I'm at, those that appreciate

13:32

that will come back to blueberry

13:35

or come back to my personal website and,

13:38

and follow and see what's going on. So this is a way to really kind of grow your,

13:43

your stature in the space by being on other shows.

13:47

- Something else that you can do is constantly,

13:51

or not constantly, but consistently ask for ratings, reviews

13:54

and feedback in your episodes. This can be really helpful at the beginning

13:58

of starting your show as well. When you're just getting your footing

14:01

and deciding this is, this part's going well,

14:04

this part could be improved, that type of stuff. But really engaging with your audience on a regular basis

14:09

helps convert those listeners that you have

14:12

into advocates for your podcast. Those are the ones that are,

14:15

that are gonna tell others about your show. They're gonna be your word of mouth marketing.

14:20

- One of the best things that I've found and that I've been ecstatic about over the last couple

14:24

of years is stuff that we're doing and then now in the podcasting 2.0 realm

14:27

and getting a boost. And basically all that is, is it's essentially a, a donation

14:34

to the show and it's also contains a message.

14:37

And that donation amount may not be a lot

14:39

because it's sent in Satoshi.

14:42

Go look at podcasting 2.0 on the blueberry website

14:45

to get the full rundown of that, but that's a new type of engagement

14:49

that I've absolutely fallen in love with and get more engagement that way than I've ever got

14:54

in getting emails or social mentions

14:58

or stuff like that, which is all real valuable, don't get me wrong.

15:01

And those reviews are great as well and that feedback,

15:04

but it's just an additional outlet to help you stay motivated.

15:09

And when you're motivated, it comes through in your voice

15:11

and your audience appreciates it. And guess what? They stick with you.

15:16

- You know, something a little that I hadn't really thought about until now

15:19

for literacy listener interaction is also a lot of people,

15:22

if they're doing anything live, can interact

15:25

with their viewers like in the moment.

15:28

And I think that really has like a lasting effect on the

15:33

viewer that really can turn them from a listener

15:35

into an advocate very quickly. - That's one of the reasons why I started doing live.

15:39

I was lonely all those years ago

15:42

and I wanted someone to at least to say Hi,

15:44

I am out here listening. And that was just the single digit numbers of folks

15:49

that were coming in those early days and live that were actually tuning in from Australia really

15:54

made all the difference in the world. - Well that leads us into our next one,

15:58

which is monitor your analytics and your feedback so regularly, but not obsessively.

16:04

Check your podcast statistics and take a look at any audience feedback you have overall,

16:11

and then just figure out what content is working and what's not.

16:15

- If you have our Thrive plan, and I just showed this to a customer of ours today,

16:19

you can actually compare five episodes

16:22

and see how they paced. In other words, what was the uptake

16:26

by the audience, how quick it was. And you'll be able to see which episodes

16:30

were quicker on the uptake than others. That may give you an indication of things

16:34

that you may wanna focus on from a a content standpoint.

16:38

There's all kinds of little tells within the stats.

16:41

You just gotta get in there, play around a little bit. Again, don't get too obsessed, but there might be a takeaway

16:46

or two that you get each time. - The same is experimenting

16:51

with different social media platforms. Don't obsess over them. That's <laugh>.

16:55

Easier said than done, but you're gonna find your audience is probably more likely

17:00

on different platforms. You could post on all of them and see what sticks,

17:04

but you're not gonna spend equal amounts

17:07

of time on each one. So figure out where they are most active.

17:11

- My tribe hangs out on X and on Facebook

17:13

and then probably your tribe. Mackenzie doesn't hang out on X at all.

17:17

They're probably on Instagram again, I'm,

17:19

I'm just guessing. But yeah, - I mean it's changed over the years of which ones

17:24

that I'm on on a regular basis.

17:26

But you know, some of 'em, like I I am not a person

17:31

that is going to be found on Facebook and LinkedIn.

17:33

It's just not gonna happen <laugh>. So if, if people are trying to reach me there I am not that,

17:40

I am not that audience member. So

17:42

- Nothing you can do is advertise if your budget allows.

17:45

And again, you don't have to spend a lot, but if you are gonna spend money, you can take a little time

17:50

to learn where to advertise. And I would advertise on the platform where you're,

17:56

where people are hanging out. We've done a little advertising on Facebook,

17:59

a little bit on X, a little bit on I think Instagram.

18:03

We've done a little bit on LinkedIn.

18:05

And again, it doesn't take a lot of money

18:08

to get some exposure, but what you're retargeting there is not existing

18:14

listeners you wanna go after new ones.

18:16

So think about that in your strategy. And again, the advertising strategy is the message is this

18:22

is the value I'm going to give you by listening to my show.

18:26

We don't wanna advertise, the people are already listening.

18:29

You wanna a, you wanna be trying to reach out and find those folks that, that are not.

18:35

- And wrapping up this episode, kind of going back to

18:38

what value are you providing is within networking as well.

18:42

So you're building relationships with other podcasters

18:45

and relevant industry figures, but you have

18:48

to be providing value just the same that they are to you.

18:51

It is a symbiotic relationship there.

18:53

And one of the ways that we really encourage people to do

18:56

that is just finding online communities

18:59

and going to podcasting events.

19:02

Whether that is just like a general podcast show,

19:05

for instance, we are at podcast probably the week

19:08

that this episode is airing. And then just, if you're doing a show about

19:14

crime scene investigation, then go to a show about that

19:18

because someone's gonna care about your podcast. It's really that simple.

19:21

- Now the beauty is, and this is, this is relevant for those of you

19:25

that are listening at this given time.

19:28

And this is again being recorded in January of 2024.

19:32

Right now it is the absolute best time to be in podcasting.

19:36

And here's why. We have,

19:38

obviously the economy's a little tight, not

19:41

as many people are producing podcasts.

19:44

And the audience though is craving our content.

19:48

And we're seeing across the board shows are seeing upticks

19:51

in growth unlike they have seen in many, many years.

19:55

And the reason is those that are actively podcasting

19:58

and putting out great consistent content

20:01

are getting audiences that they may not have reached before

20:05

because there is literally less competition

20:08

in the space right now. So this is, in my opinion, an opportunity

20:14

that may not last forever, but at this point in time in history, it is the best time

20:20

to be growing a show and doubling down in your efforts

20:24

and really being focused in 2024, I believe will be the year

20:29

that we will see breakout shows, shows

20:32

that are popular today, like Rogan

20:34

and others came in at a time of period

20:37

that we are in right now in the past.

20:41

And then they found success and grew massive shows.

20:44

So don't think that if you've been in this for a while,

20:48

that there's no chance for you. No, no, no, no, no. This is, this is the marathon

20:52

and right now we have the wind in our back

20:56

and we have a three degree grade down

20:59

and it's gonna be the easiest marathon you're gonna run for the next year.

21:04

So do not miss this opportunity

21:07

at this given point to grow your show.

21:09

And if you follow these things that we've talked about today

21:12

and take one, maybe one thing from each of the topics,

21:17

I guarantee you're gonna grow your audience. There's no reason you shouldn't.

21:21

- It takes valuable time and effort,

21:23

but it is a worthwhile way to, uh, grow your show with all

21:28

of these strategies. - Thanks for listening. And

21:31

of course please subscribe if you're not already

21:34

to us on your favorite podcast app. And if you don't have a great podcast app. Podcast apps.com.

21:39

- Thanks everyone. - Thanks for joining us.

21:42

Come back next week and in the meantime, head to podcast insider.com

21:47

for more information to subscribe, share,

21:51

and read our show notes to check out our latest suite

21:54

of services and learn how blueberry can help you leverage your podcast.

21:59

Visit blueberry.com. That's blueberry without the ease.

22:03

We couldn't afford the ease.